I've been able to document my Wray family back to Moses Wray of Franklin County, Virginia. He left a will mentioning my ancestor Benjamin Wray as his son. Moses was likely born in the 1720's, where isn't known. He died in 1802 in Franklin County, Virginia. There was another Moses Wray about the same age as my Moses who lived in Amherst County, Virginia. The two Moses Wrays are often confused with each other.
Tracing the family farther back requires looking at county changes. In order to do this I used an interactive county map at Rootsweb to follow the county changes. The Wray family lived in the Maggotty Creek area of today's Franklin County as early as the 1740's. This was the frontier of Western Virginia. The fact they lived on the frontier meant they lived very far away from their county courthouse and seldom appear in the county records until new counties are carved out from the old large counties that stretched west over 100 miles.
In the early to mid 1740's, when the Franklin County, VA, area was first settled, it was a part of Brunswick County. The courthouse was about 129 miles away, over 40 hours walking. They may have been able to travel by river for part of the distance cutting down on the travel time?
When Lunenburg was formed from part of Brunswick County the county courthouse moved a little bit closer to Maggotty Creek. It was still over 100 miles away at about 103 miles away. We don't see the family mentioned in these records.
When Bedford County was formed in 1754 the county courthouse was much closer but still miles away. Even so we begin to find the Maggotty Creek Wrays in the county records. The New London courthouse was still about 57 miles away.
A Benjamin Wray is listed in court orders as working on a road in Brunswick County in 1733. Since my ancestor was also named Benjamin there could be a relationship. My ancestor Benjamin was born in 1756 so this wasn't him.
In 1746 Lunenburg County, Virginia was carved out of Brunswick County, Virginia and the Maggotty Creek area was now in this county. We know the Wrays were in this county by 1748 because they appear on tithe lists for that county beginning then. In that year Moses, Benjamin, and Joseph Wray (they appeared on the Lunenburg lists under Rae or Ree) first appear on the lists in 1748 (beginning in 1738 settlers of the area that became Lunenburg County were exempted from paying tithes for 10 years).
The ages of the men Moses, Benjamin, and Joseph on the tax lists are unknown? We do know they would have all been over 16 years of age, based on the fact you had to be over 16 years old to be included on the tithable lists. We also don't know how these men are related to each other? We can only use circumstantial evidence found in records to surmise their ages and draw a tentative conclusion regarding their relationships based on that.
We don't know for sure if they were living on Maggotty Creek in 1748? We do know they were living in that general area according to the area covered by the person in charge of taking the tithables. Below you see a map of the areas covered by the men taking the tithables. John Phelps was in charge of taking the titables near Maggotty creek and Joseph, Moses, and Benjamin appear on his list in 1748.
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| From Lunenburg County Court orders book 1749 |
We do know Benjamin Wray was living on Maggotty Creek in the early 1750's because he is mentioned by someone traveling in the area, along with his wife, as having a cabin on Maggotty Creek. In 1753 Moravian travelers stopped at the cabin of Benjamin Wray and his wife. They were described as elderly, but I doubt if they were 90 and 100 years old as recorded in one of the men's diaries. I'm sure living on the frontier aged people resulting in them looking older than they were.
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| Mereness, Newton. Mereness's Travels. United States: Applewood Books, 2007. |
Based on records of Bedford County, after it was created from Lunenburg County, and the Moravian Diary Benjamin Wray was likely the oldest of the 3 men listed on the tithable lists. He disappears from the records in the 1750's, he likely died during that decade but Joseph and Moses continue to appear in records until their deaths. They both are younger men with young children in the mid 18th century according to their participation in the community and their wills.
There was a younger Benjamin who appeared in Bedford County records in the 1760's. He was married at that time so he wasn't my Benjamin born 1756. His wife's name was Mary and he may have been another brother of Moses Wray.
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| Benjamin Wray and wife Mary 1768 Bedford County, VA court orders |
The evidence suggests the older Benjamin was likely the father of Joseph, Moses, and possibly Benjamin. In order to take the Wray family back another generation I need to find a possible father for Benjamin. There was a Benjamin Wray doing road work in Brunswick County in 1733 before the Maggotty Creek area was settled and the bulk of the population of the southside of Virginia was farther east. I wasn't able to find out anymore about this Benjamin Wray in the Brunswick records. Brunswick had been carved out of Prince George County, Virginia. Checking those earlier records I found a will for a Francis Rea or Ray who had sons named Benjamin and Joseph.
Francis Rea or Ray died in 1718 in Prince George County, Virginia. Children listed in his will were Mary Wiggans, Jane Cooper, Benjamin Rea, Jone Nicholson, Joseph Rea, and Francis Rea.
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| Francis Wray Will Prince George County, VA |
Below is a chart showing county formation as the area southwest of the James River began to be settled.
I believe Benjamin Wray, son of Francis, is mentioned in court records in 1717 for Prince George County. He is married to a Sarah who was accused of theft. Benjamin must have been at least in his 20's by that year. His wife Sarah is a witness of Francis her father-in-law's will. She witnessed it in January 1712, so if she was Benjamin's wife this couple was married by then.
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| From "Origins of the Virginia Southside, 1703-1753 : a social and economic study" by Mike Lee Nicholls |
The Benjamin Wray of Brunswick county disappeared from the area after he 1730's. His brothers Francis and Joseph remain in that area. The area of Brunswick they lived in apparently is the area that became Lunenburg County. According to local records Francis Wray lived near the Meherrin River in Lunenburg;this area remained in Lunenburg after the county was carved up. Francis and Joseph are often mentioned in Lunenburg records.
A Joseph Ray absconded from the area near the courthouse in Lunenburg, before 1752, according to court records.. I wonder if he ended up in the area near Maggotty Creek? He did seem to return to the area farther east shortly after absconding to report the theft of his doubloon. He was likely the son of Francis Ray and mentioned in his will.
Joseph had a Doubloon stolen at one point. Since the area where Joseph Ray of Maggotty Creek was so far from the courthouse I don't believe the reference to Joseph in the Lunenburg court records relate to him. I'm fairly positive they relate to Joseph living near the courthouse.
Actually there is no way of knowing how many Wray men were in Bedford County at the same time because in the 1750's, when that county was created, many of the tithe lists have been lost. There was a Joseph Ray described as living on Maggotty creek, so was there another one living in the area too? This entry in court orders regards Joseph being added to the tithe list. It could be that he was just asking to be added to the list for that particular place?
The Joseph Ray who served as sheriff of Bedford County appears to be around the same age as Moses Wray and is likely his brother. He was also a Vestryman for Russell Parish Church of England. Moses and Joseph appear together as witnesses of a deed in Bedford County in 1761.
Moses doesn't name any children after his likely brother or he did and the son died before his will was created? It is odd but Moses' wife Elizabeth Morris had a brother named Joseph so you would expect a Joseph based on that fact alone because she used sibling names to name her children.
We really need to prove Benjamin was the father of the younger men on Maggotty Creek on the tithable lists.
My ancestor Benjamin Wray apparently was Moses Wray's 2nd son. Although some believe he was his first son? It would make sense that Moses would have named one of his first sons after his father.
Was the Benjamin Ray son of Francis Wray old enough to be the father of Moses and Joseph Wray? We can surmise Moses Wray's age because he was exempted from having to pay levies in 1787. His age isn't given but he was likely over 60. We can surmise he was likely born before 1727.
I would surmise Benjamin Wray, son of Francis, was born about 1790?
His brother Joseph apparently wasn't of age when his father died in 1718. The settlement record of his father Francis' estate stated money was paid for "keeping Joseph Ray for two years". He must have been born in the mid to late 1790's.
Benjamin Wray could have been in his 30's when Moses and Joseph were born?
A gift deed mentioned in court orders could prove Benjamin was the father of the other men. There was a Ray gift deed to Ray in 1759 mentioned in Bedford county court orders. This could be a deed of Benjamin Wray to a son or sons? I have not been able to find the actual deed.
As I said Moses Wray had a son named Benjamin. Joseph Wray (husband of Martha) didn't have any sons named Benjamin however. His 1766 will lists sons Andrew and John. His daughters were Mary and Priscilla. The children seem to have been young at the time of Joseph's death. Joseph was supposed to have been an overseer on a road just before his death and he was replaced according to court orders for Bedford County, so my guess is he wasn't an elderly man and could have been born in the 1720's.
Age wise I would say it's definitely possible that Benjamin Wray, son of Francis, was Moses and Joseph Wray's father. The older Benjamin also would be about the right age to have been the son of Francis Ray and his wife Mary.
The conclusions in this post are all based on circumstantial evidence. More research is needed to prove or disprove these suppositions.
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