| Notes |
The Gray family clearly placed importance on their Williams blood because two children of Joseph Gray bore the Williams name. John Williams, age 80-90, was the male listed in the Joseph Gray household in the Monroe Co., Ga. 1840 Census, and is said by family record to have died in Muscogee County, Ga. and to have been buried in the city of Columbus. (John Williams died 7 Oct. 1840, in his 89th year [ref. Alfred L. Holman, "Williams Ancestry, John Williams" in "Gray History", 1917.] John Williams evidently had other children then living in or near Columbus.) Old family records preserved in the Gray-Hollis family of Forsyth, Ga. identify John Williams' wife as the former Elizabeth Moore and her mother in turn as the former Mary Davis. Joseph Gray's father Samuel Gray witnessed the will of William Moore in Tryon Co., N.C (will dated 1 Oct. 1770), naming wife Mary Moore and children Joseph Moore, John Moore (a minor), and daughter Mary Moore. Elizabeth (Moore) Williams may have been another daughter of this William and Mary Moore. A further connection between the Grays and the Moores in Tryon/Rutherford County occurred in 1802 when Joseph Gray's nephew Samuel Gray (son of James) made bond for his marriage to Frankey Moore (Rutherford County Marriage Bond, Samuel Gray to Frankey Moore, signed "James Gray for Samuel Gray" dated 22 Dec. 1802, the same date as the bond of Joseph Gray for his marriage to Elizabeth Williams, which James Gray had also signed).
Joseph Gray and his nephew Samuel Gray both evidently married on the same day (21 or 22 Dec. 1802), and perhaps in a joint ceremony, the brides Elizabeth Williams and Frankey Moore evidently being cousins. (The Uncle Joseph Gray was born in 1775; the nephew Samuel Gray in 1776, thus they were near the same age. The birth of this Samuel Gray, son of Major James Gray and grandson of the first Samuel in Tryon/Rutherford County, is proven by the Bible of young Samuel's brother David Gray (b. 1783), which in 1916 was in the possession of David's son William Arthur Gray (b.1823) of Rutherfordton, N.C. W. Arthur Gray was still living in 1916 in his 93rd year. His memory, described as then being perfectly clear, provides a proof for Joseph Gray as a son of Samuel and Agnes Gray and a brother of Major James Gray of Rutherford Co., as W. Arthur Gray stated in 1916 that he knew and clearly remembered his grandfather, Major James Gray. Arthur being twelve years of age when his grandfather died in 1836, and he clearly remembered that his grandfather had brothers named "Billy" (William Gray who went to Tennessee) and "Joe" (Joseph Gray of Georgia). [Reference personal interview, Alfred L. Holman with W. Arthur Gray, Rutherfordton, N.C, 10 Nov. 1916, under "16. Samuel Gray" in Alfred L. Holman. "Gray History," 1917.] At the same time, Mrs Thomas Baldwin Hollis (Sarah Frances Gray) of Forsyth, Ga. recalled in 1916 that her father Joseph Gray II (1821-1899) told her that his father Joseph Gray (1775-1857) had a brother known as Major James Gray of Rutherford County, N.C, thus corroborating the family connection recalled by W. Arthur Gray of Rutherfordton.)
JOSEPH GRAY (1755-21 Aug. 1857), son of Samuel and Agnes Gray, was born in Tryon (now Rutherford) County N.C and died in Monroe County, Ga. He married in Rutherford Co., N.C by family record on 21 Dec. 1802, Elizabeth Williams (1784-29 Oct. 1859), daughter of John Williams (b. 1750-1760, d. 7 Oct. 1840) and his wife Elizabeth (Moore) Williams of Tryon/Rutherford Co., N.C. (Marriage Bond dated 22 Dec. 1802, Joseph Gray to Elizabeth Williams, Office of the Register of Deeds, Rutherford Co. N.C bond signed "James Gray for Joseph Gray", James being Joseph's older brother. The marriage date of 21 Dec. 1802 is from an old family record and may be off by one day.)
The dates of the deaths of Joseph Gray and his wife Elizabeth (Williams) and their ages at the time of their deaths are established from old family records preserved in the Gray-Hollis family of Forsyth, Monroe Co. (Joseph Gray died in Monroe Co., 21 Aug. 1857, in his 83rd year; Elizabeth (Williams) Gray died in Monroe Co., 29 Oct. 1859, aged 75 [ref. Alfred L. Holman, “Gray History”, 1917]. The Monroe County 1850 Census corroborates their birth years.) While no carved stones seem to survive over their grave, it is supposed by the writer that they are buried in what is now known as the Shi-Howard Family Graveyard just off Shi Road about a mile from its intersection with present U.S. Hwy. 41 near Bolingbroke. (See Monroe County, Georgia: A History, referenced above under Cemeteries. “#98, Shi Cemetery-Howard Cemetery.”) Children of Joseph and Elizabeth (Williams) Gray were early settlers in Fayette and Henry Cos., Ga. and in the city of Griffin. The children were:
1. Absalom Gray, 1803-c.1865, married (1) Sarah Matthews, (2) Mary F.; lived Greenville, Meriwether County, GA, and Griffin, Spalding County, GA.
2. Ambrose Williams Gray, 1805-1867, married Sarah Collier Hodnett, lived Meriwether County, GA; Henry County, GA; and Fayette County, GA.
3. Ann Williams Gray, 1807-1888, married Alston Green Harris, lived Monroe County, GA; Upson County, GA; Meriwether County, GA; and Henry County, GA.
4. Martha Gray, 1809-1892, married Simeon Clower and lived in Henry County, GA, and Coweta County, GA.
5. Davis Gray, 1812-1874, married Media (Leslie) Jones and lived in Monroe County, GA; Harris County, GA; and in Greenwood, Jackson County, FL.
6. Eva Gray, born c.1814, married Charles N. Hartsfield and lived in Greenwood, Jackson County, FL.
7. Elizabeth Gray, born c.1816, married Joseph G. W. Howard and lived near Cartersville, Bartow County, GA.
8. Matilda Gray, 1820-1900, married Matthew P. Harris, brother of Alston Green Harris, above, and lived in Meriwether County, GA; Upson County, GA; and Stephens County, TX.
9. Joseph Gray, Jr., 1821-1899, married Elizabeth Amelia Howard, sister of Joseph G. W. Howard above, and lived in Monroe County, GA.
Posted by: Joseph Moore (ID *****3418) Date: June 07, 2002 at 19:15:26
In Reply to: Joseph Gray, Rutherford Co,NC; Wilkes & Monroe Co,GA; d.1857 by Joseph Moore of 14626
[Note by Joseph Moore: Addition to "Gray Ancestry" by Alfred L. Holman, Chicago, 1917. The following is quoted from Mr. Holman's report and was unintentionally ommitted from the preceeding segments of his Gray history.]
In order to make it a record in this report the following document is copied herewith:
Forsyth, Ga. March 12, 1917.
Joseph Gray Sr., died August the twenty-first, 1857, in Monroe County, Ga.
Elizabeth Williams Gray died October the twenty-ninth, 1859, in Monroe County, GA.
Joseph Gray Jr., died September the seventh, 1899, in Monroe County, Ga.
Joseph Gray and Eliza Amelia Howard were married December the twelfth, 1844, in Monroe County, Ga.
Joseph Gray was born December the tenth, 1821, in Wilkes County, Ga.
Eliza Amelia Howard Gray died March the eighteenth, 1889, in Monroe County, Ga.
Personally appeared before me, Charles D. Hollis, who certifies that the above data was taken from Family Records, and that all the information is entirely correct.
Signed: Charles D. Hollis (Seal)
George M. Banks N. P.
Notary Public, Monroe County, Ga.
The original document, of which the foregoing is a copy, is shown, maried Exhibit #22.
The foregoing report covering pages 1 to 53 (inclusive) is respectfully submitted.
Chicago, Ill., April 3, 1917.
[Signed] Alfred L. Holman
Genealogist.
In material circumstances, Joseph Gray was a prosperous farmer (or small planter for his place and time), his property near Bolingbroke consisting of several hundred acres of land. By 1850 Joseph Gray, Jr., and his young wife Eliza Howard and several infants were living in the Joseph and Elizabeth (Williams) Gray household and the combined black families belonging to Joseph Sr., and Joseph Jr., totaled seventeen persons, from whom the labor force of the farm was drawn. By the time of Joseph Gray’s death seven years later the black population of the farm probably numbered upwards of twenty persons. After the death of Joseph Gray, Sr., in 1857, the other Gray children deeded their interest in his landed estate to their brother Joseph Gray Jr., who made his permanent residence at his parents’ old home place. (See Monroe Co. Ga. Deed Book O, p. 141, deed dated 7 Dec. 1857 and signed by A. [Absalom] Gray, A. W. Gray, Davis Gray, Alston G. Harris [for wife Ann Gray],Matthew Harris [for wife Matilda Gray], Charles N. Hartsfield [for wife Eva Gray], Martha Clower [dau of Joseph Gray and widow of Simeon Clower], and Joseph W. Howard [for wife Elizabeth Gray], all grantors, to their brother Joseph Gray, Jr., the only member of the family who remained in Monroe County.)
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Abt 1775 - 1857 (82 years)