William Wright-Christopher McCray Bible

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by GeneJ on November 23, 2009 at 9:57am

Hi Arline:

Welcome. I know that members Robyn and Lisa were working with Gena to identify Horace McCray in a few census and other sources.

Have you identified your Horace in the following, and might you upload or point us to those sources:

(1) 1930 U.S. Census
(2) 1920 U. S. Census
(3) World War I draft registration

Again, welcome. Thank you for supporting Most Wanted.--GJ

Permalink Reply by Lisa A. (Thamm) Spegal on November 23, 2009 at 2:00pm

Gene, we have him in the 1930, but no prior censuses at this point. I do have him in directories and the WW1 draft, I'll upload those. I have alot of documents, but doubt you'd want them all posted here! ?? I can try to summerize the data here though, if that would work.

Permalink Reply by GeneJ on November 23, 2009 at 2:01pm

That would be just fabulous. TY Lisa! --GJ

Permalink Reply by Lisa A. (Thamm) Spegal on November 23, 2009 at 2:26pm

Here's the 1930 census for Horace McCray, the 1925 marriage index showing him marrying Addie Evans in 1925, and the 1910 census for a Blunt McCray whom I believe to be his father per marriage info.

Attachments:

• 4119998_290.jpg, 697 KB
• 4001716_133.jpg, 860 KB
• 1910.gif, 360 KB

Permalink Reply by Lisa A. (Thamm) Spegal on November 23, 2009 at 2:57pm

SSDI:

FLORA MCCRAY 10 May 1900 15 Mar 1973 (V)48202 (Detroit, Wayne, MI)(none specified)382-16-9713 Michigan

BARBARA MCCRAY 11 Oct 1932 29 Nov 2001 (V)48202 (Detroit, Wayne, MI)(none specified)381-34-4505 Michigan

------------------------------------------

CENSUS:



Name: Blount Mccray
Titles:
Residence: Huntsville city, Madison, Alabama
Birthdate: Mar 1850
Birthplace: Alabama
Relationship to head-of-household: Husband
Spouse's name: Mary Mccray
Spouse's titles:
Spouse birthplace: Virginia
Father's name:
Father's titles:
Father's birthplace: Alabama
Mother's name:
Mother's titles:
Mother's birthplace: Alabama
Race or color (expanded): Black
Head-of-household name: Mary Mccray
Gender: Male
Marital status: Married
Years married: 35
Estimated marriage year: 1865
Mother how many children:
Number living children:
Immigration year:
Enumeration district: 0100
Sheet number and letter: 31A
Household id: 614
Reference number: 35
GSU film number: 1240028
Image number: 00290
Collection: United States Census, 1900


Surname Given Name Age Sex Race Birthplace State County Location Year
MCCRAY BLUNT, 57, M, B, AL, AL, MADISON 1-WD HUNTSVILLE 1910

----------------------------------

I asked for directory lookups, here's what was found:

Lisa,
this is just a quick search. I have only access up to 1923. I did not find him
there before 1921.


1920 3405 Beaubien -Listed under Contractors
1921 3405 Beaubien Contractor-- AC McCray
1922 3405 Beaubien Cement Contractor
1923 3405 Beaubien Contractor
It sounds like you already have the marriage record?
Hope this helps,
Lee

Note: I found Horace in the 1928 Detroit directory at 3407 Beaubien- billiards and 3405 Beaubien - coal
and per his WW1 draft card, he was at 140 E. Larned in 1918 and wife Lydia was in Houston,TX.

Lee Ralph found the following for us:
Found deaths for Blount & Mary in Huntsville,AL.
Found Mary (husband Blunt) at Berrill Lanier Plantation in Huntsville ,AL in 1870 Freedman's Bank Records.
Found court case of attempted murder by someone on Blount McCrary who was a RR conductor (census also says he works for RR)

-------------------------------------

Groom's name: Horace Mccray
Groom's race or color (on document):
Groom's age: 52 years
Groom's birth year: 1873
Groom's birthplace: Alabma
Bride's name: Addie Evans
Bride's race or color (on document):
Bride's age: 33 years
Bride's birth year: 1892
Bride's birthplace: Alabma
Marriage type:
Marriage date: 01 Jun 1925
Marriage place: Detroit, Wayne, Michigan
Groom's father's name: Blunt
Groom's mother's name: Lizzie Pryor
Father of bride's name: Thomas
Mother of bride's name: Matilda Norman
Marital status:
Groom's previous wife's name:
Bride's marital status:
Bride's previous husband's name:
Additional relatives:
Film number: 2342772
Frame number:
Digital GS number: 4001716
Image number: 133
Reference number: v 11 p 56 rn 290617
Collection: Michigan Marriages 1868-1925

-------------------------------------------------

Permalink Reply by Lisa A. (Thamm) Spegal on November 23, 2009 at 3:05pm

Possible??
SurnameGivenNameAgeSexRaceBirthplaceStateCountyLocationYear JOHNSON, FLORA18 M B GAGATOOMBS1536-MILITIA DIST1920

NOTE: did these Edwards but then Arline said it was NED not Edward, but saved them just in case since Ned can be short for Edward and the town is right.....

Name: Edward Johnson
Residence: Canton, Cherokee, Georgia
Birthdate: 1879
Birthplace: Georgia, United States
Relationship to head-of-household: Son
Spouse's name:
Spouse birthplace:
Father's name: Henry Johnson
Father's birthplace: Georgia, United States
Mother's name: Sophia Johnson
Mother's birthplace: South Carolina, United States
Race or color (expanded): Black
Ethnicity: American
Gender: Male
Marital status: Single
Age: 1 year
Occupation:
NARA film number: T9-0139
Page: 122
Page: B
Entry number: 1143
Film number: 1254139
Collection: United States Census, 1880

------------------------------------------------

Name: Ned Johnson
Titles:
Residence: Canton town, Cherokee, Georgia
Birthdate: Jan 1876
Birthplace: Georgia
Relationship to head-of-household: Self
Spouse's name: Barbria Johnson
Spouse's titles:
Spouse birthplace: Georgia
Father's name:
Father's titles:
Father's birthplace: Georgia
Mother's name:
Mother's titles:
Mother's birthplace: Georgia
Race or color (expanded): Black
Head-of-household name:
Gender: Male
Marital status: Married
Years married: 1
Estimated marriage year: 1899
Mother how many children:
Number living children:
Immigration year:
Enumeration district: 0008
Sheet number and letter: 19A
Household id: 348
Reference number: 19
GSU film number: 1240187
Image number: 00315
Collection: United States Census, 1900

-------------------------------------------------------

portion of death certificate Arline sent me, this is her grandmother:

Certificate Of Death
Flora McCray Female Date of Death:3/20.1973
Race:Negro Age:72 Date of Birth:5-10-1900 County of Death:Wayne
City:Detroit Inside of city limits:(Yes) Hospital or Other:269 E. Edsel Ford
State of Birth:(Georgia) Citizen of what country:(USA.) Married:(Widowed)
Usual Occupation:(Housewife) Kind of Business:(None)
Residence:(Michigan) County:(Wayne) City:(Detroit) Inside city Limits:(Yes) Street and number:269 E. Edsel Ford
Parents:Father:(Ned Johnson) Mother:(Barbara Tate)
Informant:(Barbara McCray) MailingAddress:269 E.Edsel Ford,Detroit ,Michigan 48202

Permalink Reply by Lisa A. (Thamm) Spegal on November 23, 2009 at 4:34pm

Arline, I believe this is TWO people : William Wright & Christopher McCray, I find both of them mentioned in NC in several online sites. The copy of the article is available for $7.50 from the Allen County Public Library in Indiana, I believe I sent you the order form, it's also available from other libraries including the Family History Center (LDS).

Permalink Reply by Lisa A. (Thamm) Spegal on December 2, 2009 at 5:32pm

Here's the WW1 draft card

Attachments:

• Horace WW1draft.jpg, 121 KB

Permalink Reply by Lisa A. (Thamm) Spegal on December 18, 2009 at 5:33pm

We could still use some help on these families ;)

Permalink Reply by Robert J.Stevens, Sr. on July 19, 2010 at 5:10pm

I was contacted last week by Arline asking for help to identify her grandfather, Horace McCrary, and great-grandfather, Blount McCrary, both born in Madison County, Alabama.. Included in her email was family information and an 1880 census report for Williams Wright McCrary of Madison County, Alabama.

What Arline failed to tell me was that Blount and Horace McCrary were African-Americans. I am a professional genealogist/historian and have done extensive research, dating from 1755, on the McCrary family of South Carolina. Arline’s inclusion of the scant information about Williams Wright McCrary, who was Caucasian, led me to assume that Blount McCrary was also Caucasian and somehow connected to Williams Wright McCrary, so I sent her information about Williams Wright McCrary (1827-1891) who was a son of Thomas McCrary (1789-1865) and his second wife, Nancy W. Wright (1804-1895). Hearing nothing in response from her, I emailed her again to ask if she had received the information, but received no reply. It was in this site that I discovered that Blount and Horace McCrary were African-Americans.

Thomas McCrary was born in Laurens County, South Carolina, and went to Madison County, Alabama, in 1809. Since Blount McCrary was born in 1850, obviously into slavery, I am intrigued that the name of Williams Wright McCrary has been connected to him. Was Blount McCrary a son of Williams Wright McCrary? And, what is the “William Wright-Christopher McCrary” Bible mentioned herein? Since Blount assumed the name of “McCrary” after 1865, it certainly indicates that he had some connection, certainly previously owned by a McCrary, if not fathered by one.

I didn’t find Blount/Blunt McCrary on the 1870 census for Madison County, Alabama, but I did find a William B. McCreary [sic], 22, M, B, Farmer, born in Alabama. In his home were Mary (wife?), 22, F, B, Farm Laborer, born in Alabama; Francis, 18, M, B, Farm Laborer, born in Alabama; Eda, 53, F, B, Keeping House, born in Alabama; Albert, 12, M, B, Farm Laborer, born in Alabama; and Elizabeth, 10, F, B, Farm Laborer, born in Alabama. This family was in the general neighborhood of Williams Wright McCrary.

There is hope for identity solutions of African-Americans born into slavery. I have solved three such incidents, the last for a lady in Texas last year who descends from a South Carolina former slave.

Perhaps it would be wise for all to read the book, "Slave Ancestral Research, It’s Something Else," published in 1995 by Mary L. Jackson Fears, an African-American lady who descends from the McCrarys of South Carolina and Georgia. You may read most of it here: http://books.google.com/books?id=ewPq-H8WRW4C&printsec=frontcov...

If anyone can furnish more information on the subject of Blount McCrary, or answer any of the questions that I have posed, I would appreciate it.

Robert J. Stevens, Sr.
Darlington, S.C.
bobhist@yahoo.com

Permalink Reply by Lisa A. (Thamm) Spegal on July 21, 2010 at 6:18pm

Hi Robert,
Arline has computer problems, I just heard from her a couple of days ago but hadn't for quite some time. I am the one who has been primarily helping her with research and I have copies of what I've found and documents she's sent me on the family. Unfortunately, the paper files are not here at the moment as we are still moving. I do have all emails we've exchanged over the past many months and what's stored on my computer, a few on google docs and what I've posted above, if any of that helps. The 1870 census you found does not sound like Blount/Blunt & Mary to me, nor children's names. I have death records on both of these people...
Feel free to ask any questions you might have, I will do my best to reply to them and provide any documentation you might require.
The earliest record I've found thus far is the Freedmen's Bank Record for Mary, listing her parents first names and siblings and Blunt McCray as husband, she was on the Burwell Lanier Plantation in Huntsville in 1860-62 I think it was, will ck date again. I also have both their wills.
I have YET to find any concrete evidence linking Horace McCray (Arline's grandfather) with Blount & Mary although his marriage to Addie Evans stated his father was Blount McCray & mother Lizzie Pryor (we never located anything on her at all), as did his marriage after that to Flora Johnson (Arline's grandmother).
I've found lots of confusing possibilities but have been researching all of her family for her, not just this couple.
Lisa

Permalink Reply by Robert J.Stevens, Sr. on July 20, 2010 at 3:34pm

BTW, in the 1870 census report for William B. McCreary, I assume that Mary McCreary was his wife, Eda McCreary was his mother, and the others were children of Eda.

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