Examining Wray Family Circumstantial Evidence Part 3 : Information from the book "The Genesis of the Virginia Frontier"

Richard Randolph 
I believe our Wray family bought land from his estate? This was mentioned in the book.

During my recent reexamination of the Wray family history I forgot the family was mentioned in a Franklin County, Virginia history book called "The Genesis of the Virginia Frontier: The Origins of Franklin County, Virginia, 1740-1785, by T. Keister Greer (you can borrow the book from archive.org). In my previous blog posts I lay out the numerous county changes as southwestern Virginia is settled. The book, referred to above, begins with the earliest county formations and ends with the actual formation of Franklin County, Virginia. 

We have the Wray family traced back to the 1740s when they lived in the area that would later become Franklin and Bedford Counties, Virginia. In order to trace the family farther back we need to know the relationship of 3 Wray, Ray, or Rea men who were listed on the Lunenburg County, Virginia tithe lists for the late 1740s and early 1750s. As I explained in my previous blog posts their names were Benjamin Ray, Joseph Ray, and Moses Ray. 

My own theory is that Benjamin Ray was likely the father because according to a visitor to the Ray cabin on Maggoty Creek, in what is now Franklin County, Benjamin Ray and his wife were older people, and maybe even elderly in the early 1750s? Moses and Joseph were not that old because they had young children in the 1750s and 1760s. 

Looking at the sketch of the family found in "The Genesis of the Virginia Frontier" it is odd that on different tax lists Joseph and Moses were listed as if they were heads of the household? The passage below lays that out. 

I wrote to Virginia to try to get copies of the original tithe lists. Since we are in the holidays I don't expect to get the copies for a week or two. 

Rethinking the tithable lists problem I surmise that since Benjamin isn't on the lists in the 1750s he aged out of paying tithes. Since he was described as old by visitors in the 1750s that would make sense. Also if he aged out of paying the tithes in the 1740s the Benjamin Ray on the tithe lists in that decade might be a son. So it's possible Joseph, Moses, and Benjamin Jr. were brothers and their father was Benjamin Sr.? A younger Benjamin does show up in court records in the 1760s, he was too young to be my ancestor Benjamin son of Moses. 

Digging through the records I have access to from California, basically those on the internet, I've only found the older Benjamin mentioned by the visitor, and he is possibly on one tithe list. 

As the author of the book said, the Ray family of Maggotty Creek constitutes a real problem as far as establishing the relationship of the men. Hopefully we can work this out eventually?

Another interesting fact brought up

Joseph Ray or Wray was a vestryman which would mean he belonged to the Church of England. This might suggest the family was English, not Scottish or Scots-Irish as some thought? That might be the case, but the official church of Virginia in Colonial days was the Church of England. In order to hold an office like sheriff he may have had to belong to the official church, and may have converted? We do know there was a Francis Ray of eastern Virginia who left a will and had sons named Joseph and Benjamin, which would be a good match as the book relates below.. Francis' son Joseph was certainly not the same man, but it's interesting both families used the names Benjamin and Joseph.

I loved visiting England and would love to find ancestors from there but it is very difficult to trace colonial Americans back to England. 

I will post copies of the original Lunenburg tithe lists when I get them. 

Examining Wray Family Circumstantial Evidence Part 2/ Taking the Wray family farther back

 

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. 

Map from usgwarchives website

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. 

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.

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.   

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. 

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 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. 

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. 

Examining Wray Family Circumstantial Evidence Part 1 : Is Elizabeth Morris mother of all the Wray Children?

Was Elizabeth Morris the mother of all of Moses Wray's children?

Elizabeth Morris, wife of Moses Wray, was the daughter of  Daniel Morris and Tabitha (possibly Anderson). She may have been born in the 1730's. Her father was a resident of Augusta County, Virginia in the 1750s (now Botetourt County, Virginia) and he also had land in Bedford County, Virginia. The children of Moses Wray were born between the mid to early 1750s into the 1770s. 

The best evidence to answer the question, as to whether Elizabeth was mother of all the Wray children, would be a marriage record for this couple. I have not been able to locate a marriage record. In areas and time periods when marriage records weren't kept or they were lost it's always been a challenge determining whether all of the children mentioned by a father in his will belong to one wife. Women sometimes died young and many died from childbirth. 

Looking at some previous research for this couple there is speculation that Elizabeth Wray may have been a 2nd wife. This speculation seems to arise from the fact Elizabeth wasn't referred to as Elizabeth Wray or Ray in her father Daniel Morris' will. None of the children were listed with a last name and likely that has no significance. Also we don't know when the will was written. The date recorded was 1767 but was added in 1951, and was said to come from the original will.

Below is the will of Daniel Morris. He didn't state the year when he made out this will.

Below is the note added by the clerk in 1951 said to be from the original will.

Daniel Morris' wife Tabitha died in 1778 and has a will recorded which names her daughter as Betsy Ray so we know for certain that she is married to Moses Wray by this date. (of course Betsy is a nickname for Elizabeth). 

Some people have speculated that Elizabeth Morris married Moses Wray some time after the 1767 date on Daniel's will?

Another reason why there is speculation about whether Elizabeth was mother of all the children is the fact that Moses named 17 children in his will. Is it likely one woman could have given birth to this many children? If she were a very young woman when she first married it is possible, rare, but possible. A woman can give birth up until menopause although the likelihood diminishes with age. My mother was 43 when I was born and here I am. 

Multiple births did occur in the past like they do today. Just because a woman had 17 children doesn't mean she gave birth 17 times. A neighbor of mine had 8 children and all of them were twins. 

Elizabeth provided some clues as to when she married Moses by naming some of her children after her parents and siblings. Since there are no birth records available for that time and place establishing the ages of the children named after her family members would have to come from marriage records and when the males appeared on tax lists. 

Daniel Wray, Moses and Elizabeth's son,  would likely have been named after Elizabeth's father. He first appears on Bedford tax lists 1782. He was over 16 that year. 

The categories at the top of the tax list indicate that the 2nd to the last row gave the number of white males over 16 on this 1782 tax list. 

 

Daniel doesn't appear on tax lists again until the area the family lived became a part of Franklin County, Virginia. In 1786 he was over 21 so he must have been born in 1765 or 1764. 

Elizabeth Morris also had a brother named Ezekiel. She named a son Ezekiel also. Her son Ezekiel was first listed in tax lists as over 21 in 1787. He was likely born about 1766. 

It definitely is possible that Elizabeth Morris married Moses Wray just before Daniel's birth in 1764 or 1765? But it's also possible the family waited before they named a child Daniel after Elizabeth's father or there was a Daniel born earlier who died? 

The eldest daughter of Elizabeth and Moses has been speculated to be Mary. She was married to John Wright but exactly when is not known? According to several trees posted online at Ancestry.com she was born between 1753 and 1756. Three of the children said to belong to John Wright and Mary Wray are Tabitha Wright, Ezekiel Wright, and Elizabeth Wright. The use of these names would suggest Elizabeth Morris likely was Mary's mother and Tabitha her grandmother. Since I can't confirm when John and Mary were married I have not been able to document the trees I've found. According to Tabitha's tombstone she was born in 1771. If I could confirm she is a daughter of Mary I could surmise when Mary was born?

Were Daniel Morris and Tabitha old enough to be grandparents of the Wray children born in the mid to early 1750s? Daniel Wray definitely does sound like he would be old enough because he aged out of taxation back in 1753. According to court orders he is exempted from being taxed due to his great age and infirmity. 

Since women were seldom recorded in colonial records in Virginia it's impossible to determine the age of Elizabeth Morris. Looking at the possible ages of her brothers her eldest brother Ezekiel could have been born in the 1730s? If his sister was also born in that decade she definitely would have been old enough to have been the mother of the eldest Wray children. 

This is important to me because my ancestor Benjamin Wray was born in 1756 and I would like to confirm Elizabeth Morris was his mother, as has been assumed. 

My ancestor Benjamin Wray's, born about 1756, son of Moses Wray and maybe Elizabeth Morris, full name is often recorded in online trees as Benjamin "Oat" Wray. Actually I believe my Benjamin is being confused with a descendant named Benjamin Oat Wray. It was very uncommon for someone to have a middle name in the mid 18th century.

A descendant of Benjamin Wray named Benjamin Oat Wray was born in 1855 in Franklin County, Virginia. 

Benjamin Wray's brother James, who likely was a year or two older, had some connection to an Otey family. The name Otey was used by his family for generations as a first name or middle name. It could be a wife of James Wray was an Otey? If it comes down through the Wray family is it related to Benjamin's descendants using the name Oat as a middle name. Could James and Benjamin's mother have been an Otey instead of Elizabeth Morris?

There was an Otey family living in Franklin County, Virginia but they didn't show up in local records until after the birth of both James and Benjamin Wray. So I'm tending to think there is another relationship with these families that occurred much later. 

James Wray, likely being the eldest male also gave me pause for thought. Where didn't the name James come from? It didn't come from Elizabeth Morris' family, apparently. Thinking about it, it is possible James was named after the river he was probably born by. The James River could have been the inspiration for the name?

 

So is Elizabeth Morris my Benjamin Wray's mother? Benjamin never names his mother in any documents I've seen. In his Revolutionary War pension file Benjamin states he was born in James River, Virginia. I always felt like he must have been born in eastern Virginia because I had never been to that part of Virginia didn't know the river ran through todays Bedford and Botetourt counties. The Wray family lived on Maggotty Creek in today's Franklin County, Virginia. This area was previously in Bedford County. The county seat of Bedford County wasn't far from the James River which formed a boundary between Bedford and Albemarle, now Amherst County. 

Elizabeth Morris' father owned land on the James River in what was Augusta County, Virginia and now is Botetourt County. This suggests that Elizabeth Morris could be the mother of my Benjamin Wray. 

Daniel Morris had his land surveyed on the James River in 1753 which was before the birth of my ancestor Benjamin Wray. We know the location of the land because it is on the James River at Catawba Creek. 

Moses Wray appears on tax lists for the Maggotty Creek area in 1749 with Joseph "Rae" or Wray and then disappears from the lists. He disappears from the lists in the 1750's and doesn't appear in local records again until about 1760. I believe he was living on the James River, possibly near Daniel Morris. There was a gap in the mountains in what is today Franklin County which would lead up to the James River in today's Botetourt County which at the time was Augusta County. The James River would have been a good waterway to transport crops farther east to places like Richmond. The Wray and Morris family were pioneers in western Virginia. The markets for their crops would have been farther east. 

A likely brother of Moses Wray named Joseph owned some land near Daniel Morris in Bedford County. The Morris family had land on Elk Creek and Joseph Wray purchased land on Elk Creek in 1756. The question is did Moses Wray meet and marry Elizabeth Morris after Joseph Wray bought land on Elk Creek or did they meet in the area of James River or in Bedford County earlier? Did Elizabeth give birth to Benjamin on the James River land her family owned?  

Another thing I discovered during my years of genealogy research is names like Mary, Sarah, and Elizabeth were very common. One of my ancestors lost his first wife Mary and then married another woman named Mary. So it's not impossible for a man to marry more than once with a wife who has the same first name adding more confusion to the situation. 

It's definitely a guess that Elizabeth Morris is the mother of all of the Wray children. It has not been proven without a doubt. If anyone has any additional information please leave a comment below. 

Researching in Virginia Court Order Books

I've been paging through Virginia court order books now that they are searchable from anywhere online at FamilySearch.org. These books can be found by searching by county. Researching in these books often requires keeping up with boundary changes when new counties were formed. I found this interactive map showing boundary changes very helpful at Rootsweb. 

(You need to be signed in to unlock these books at FamilySearch).

I've found both lists of jurors and roadwork lists of men to be good census substitutes. This is especially helpful before 1782 in Virginia when the most complete tax lists are available. 

Certain kinds of cases seemed to be handled all at the same time and are listed together. I found a string of adultery cases listed together and a bunch of cases against people hiding tithes handled on the same day. 

Some of the indexes to court orders aren't complete, and sometimes names were badly misspelled so it's a good idea to page through the books to find everything. It's also a good idea to read through the books to get to know the names of neighbors and learn more about the history of the area. I discovered a many times great-uncle had travelled to Williamsburg (the colonial capital or Virginia) which was a long distance from Bedford County, Virginia. When I visited Williamsburg I wondered if any ancestors had been there. My ancestor Moses Wray served as a constable, in Bedford County, Virginia, and I would never have known that without the order books. 

There are transcriptions of court order books for some counties but like the indexes they are often incomplete. The order books cover thousands of pages and the transcriptions are generally only hundreds of pages. One such book is "An Old Virginia Court: Being a Transcript of the Records of the First Court of Franklin County, Virginia, 1786-1789, with Biographies of the Justices and Stories of Famous Cases" by Wingfield.

Examples of Order Book entries:

 Roadwork entry :

Jury duty:

Jury duty lists are useful in determining if ancestors were in an area at a particular time. 

Imported into country from Great Britain or Ireland:

I found this to be very interesting. Some men came to court regarding exercising importation rights to land they were entitled for immigrating to the colonies. I found a possible ancestor named Henry Morris who was imported from Great Britain. 

Deed Proven in Court:

I found a gift deed mentioned in court orders that doesn't appear in the deed books. Some deeds proven in court apparently are not in the deed books.

 

Military:

I've found a number of Revolutionary War related entries. 

Wives of soldiers were sometimes mentioned and given rations to live on. Below the wife of a prisoner of war received assistance. 

Lists of people who supported the military with food supplies and other necessities can be found in the order books. 

Miles Traveled to Courthouse: 

This can be useful for separating people who have the same names.

Taxation:

Some people were brought to court for hiding tithables. 

Someone might be mentioned in court orders if they were added to the tax lists such as Joseph Ray below. 

When someone was exempted from paying taxes because of age or another reason that fact would sometimes be recorded in court orders .My ancestor Moses Ray, or Wray, was exempted due to age. This gives us a hint regarding his age. 

 

Church Entries:

Looking at these entries I discovered my family lived in the Russell Church of England Parish in Bedford County, Virginia. If a vestry book could be located I might find more family information. 

Vestry men and churchwardens belonged to the Church of England. These men often appear in court order books. 

Not attending church could lead to a person being punished during the colonial period before a relaxing of laws against non conformists. 

Wolves heads:

A bounty was paid for killing wolves. 

Whippings:

A "negro" man was whipped for burning the whipping post down.

Orphans:

Churchwardens would bind out orphans. 

African Americans:

Slave children were often brought to court to determine their age. 

Children orphaned if their parents were free would be bound out by churchwardens just like white children. 

A free person could have their status questioned and show up in court orders. Below Thomas Coleman is in court defending his free status. His freedom was confirmed by the court. 

Women in Court Orders

Women's names can be found in court orders. They sometimes appeared in court as witnesses, or mentioned in estate cases, or giving up their dower rights. 

Women often came to court when their husbands died in order to settle his estate. 

Living in Adultery;

Oaths to King:

Anyone holding an office in Colonial America had to swear the Oath of Allegiance and Supremacy to the King. They would take the oath in court. 

Brands:

Brands were sometimes recorded in court orders. 

Poorhouse lists:

Sometimes poor house lists were included. The one below gives the occupations of the inmates and any handicaps they had that prevented them from working. 

Famous names may be found:

Thomas Jefferson's uncle Field turned up several times in a book I was searching.

Thomas Jefferson's plantation Poplar Forest was located in Bedford County, Virginia. I found a couple of references to Thomas Jefferson paging through the order books for that county. One entry regarded one of Jefferson's slaves breaking into a still house. Another entry was for a road he wanted worked on leading to the Blackwater river. 

Just a few examples of what might be found in court orders. You never know what might be found in these books until you page through them. 

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