Week 14 #52Ancestors: Brick Wall

Who was Henry Bray?  Well, he is turning out to be a solid brick wall.  Why am I researching him?  He is most likely the father that Melissa Jane Sutton never knew.  It appears that he died the year of her birth.  When Peter Wolfe indicated that Melissa was not his lawful child then this had me shocked and stumped so I connected with Larry Mills of Mooresburg, Tennessee to learn more about the Wolfe line and he really helped fill in some information on the connection to the McDaniel's and Wolfe's. 

There’s a story circulating that McHenry Bray was the stepson of Peter Wolfe and married his stepsister Cynthia Wolfe.  This story is important as it helped me make the connection to the Bray line in Hawkins County.  This is the county where Peter Wolfe lived in 1830 along with John McDaniel who was his wife’s father.  If Peter had a Bray in his household then I realized that his wife, Margaret Wolfe nee McDaniel, had previously been married to a Bray.  Oh and that story about McHenry marrying his stepsister?  No, this isn’t correct.  He married George Stumpy Wolfe’s daughter, Cynthia. Why do I think this?  Well, Cynthia and McHenry aren’t listed as legatees in Peter Wolfe’s will and he even included grandchildren of his deceased children.  Here is the best document I have on Henry Bray of Hawkins County:

In the Name of God, Amen.

I, Henry Bray, of Hawkins County and State of Tennessee, being very sick and weak of body, but perfect mind and memory, Thanks be to God, calling unto mind the mortality of my body and knowing that it is appointed unto all men once to die, do make and ordain this my last Will and Testament, that is to say, principally and first of all: I give and recommend my soul unto the hand of Almighty God that gave it and my body I recommend to the Earth to be buried in decent Christian burial at the discretion of my Executor, nothing doubting but at the general resurrection I shall received the same by the mighty power of God.

And as touching such worldly Estate wherewith it hath pleased God to bless me in this life, I give and devise and dispose of the same in the following manner and form:

First. I give and bequeath to Margaret my dearly beloved wife all that I possess — lands and stock of every kind — to pay my just debts, and whats left, to raise my children on.

And I do hereby utterly disallow, revoke and disannul all and every other former testament, wills, legacies, bequests and Executors by me in anywise before named, willed and bequeathed, ratifying and confirming this and no other to be my last will and Testament in writing. Whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal this 11th day of May, One Thousand eight hundred and twenty-seven.

SIgned, sealed, published, pronounced and ordained by the said Henry Bray to be his last Will and Testament.

Signed, sealed and acknowledged in the presence of:

Attest: Benjamin Bray, Jr.
Henry [X] Bray (seal)
Benjamin Bray, Sr. (his mark)

While the will lacked information, it did give some clues such as it was filed in the right county and then the year of 1827.  As I mentioned before, this would explain why Melissa didn’t know this man given he died in 1827 and she was born the same year.  Henry's wife is Margaret and that matches the name of Peter’s wife and the testator’s name fits with some naming patterns in the trees that have Henry’s or McHenry’s.  I wonder if McHenry was really Mack Henry?  I have to say that I really despise the destruction of documents that happened during the Civil War.   Not to mention the later courthouse fires because it has made it very difficult to document many families.   

What else do I know about Henry Bray?  He was the bondsman on Stogner Bray’s marriage to Sally Waters in Grainger County, Tennessee on August 14, 1814.  Henry was also involved in a court case in Claiborne County, Tennessee, “State Vs Henry Bray” that was dropped on November 12, 1818 (I wish I could find that document).  He is obviously related to Benjamin Bray of Claiborne County, Tennessee (b: Abt. 1760 and d: Abt. 1840), Benjamin Bray, Jr. (b: Abt. 1799 in Virginia and d: 1865 in Cedar Co., Missouri), and Stogner Bray (b: 1785 in North Carolina and d: 1881 in Milan, Sullivan, Missouri). That’s about it on his documented connections. 

Who are his children and why does everyone put most of the Bray lines with Stogner Bray?  It could be that Stogner is much easier to document and more interesting since he was a veteran of the War of 1812.  My thought is that Stogner was Henry’s brother but I have no idea what year this man was born (I have 1795 on my tree but that is just a wild guesstimate).  Henry’s children could possibly be:  Benjamin Bray (b: 1817 in Hawkins Co., Tennessee and d: 1862 in Arkansas) married Avarilla Hutchinson; Mary “Polly” Allen nee Bray (b: 1818 in Hawkins Co., Tennessee and d: 1860 in Hancock Co., Tennessee) married Walter Allen; Elizabeth Dalton nee Bray (b: 1823 in Hawkins Co., Tennessee and d: Bef. 1880 in Grainger Co., Tennessee) married Thomas Dalton; McHenry Bray (b: 1823 in Hawkins Co., Tennessee and d: 1909 in Idol, Hancock, Tennessee) married (1) Cynthia Wolfe and (2) Mary Montgomery; Melissa Jane Sutton nee Wolfe (b: 1827 in Hawkins Co., Tennessee and d: 1880 in Hancock Co., Tennessee) married James Sutton.

There are also other things to note when looking at that older Benjamin Bray as he purchases 50 acres of land in Claiborne County, Tennessee on July 19, 1815.  20 acres of land was purchased on December 11, 1817 in Claiborne County where Rachel Webb lives according to the land entry document.  I noticed there is a Rachel Webb who is widowed (possibly the wife of James Webb a private in the War of 1812).  Her daughter, Mary “Polly” Webb married Abijah Bray who might be the son of Stogner Bray.   Benjamin purchases another 20 acres on December 11, 1817 and that land was originally registered to Nathaniel Taylor.  10 additional acres were purchased on December 12, 1817 in Claiborne County.  He is enumerated on the 1830 Claiborne County, Tennessee census and then he disappears.

Apparently there is a book that traces many Bray lines, “The Brays of Fisher River” by Edna Reece. According to Wikipedia, this river is a tributary of the Yadkin River in northwestern North Carolina and rises in the Blue Ridge Mountains of the southeastern extremity of Grayson County, Virginia but flows nearly all of its length in Surry County, North Carolina.  If I can get my hands on this book, I hope it answers some questions because there are many Henry Brays in the early censuses and I can’t make any connections or find a marriage bond for Henry and Margaret.

Now if you have made it this far, you know what I know about my Bray line!