Below, back right by the check mark with the catcher's mitt is Charles S. Stansbery (1893-1957) this writer's maternal grandfather posing with the Tusculum College baseball team, Afton, Tennessee 1912. From the Greenville Sun, 1975.
My mother's (Geraldine Stansbery Holliman Feick) father, Charles S. Stansbery, was born on a farm in Washington County, Tennessee near Limestone, the son of William Luther and Anna McCray Stansbery. In this posting, we explore the McCray family and other maternal lines, some of the first Anglo-American families to move in the 1770s and 1780s into what became East Tennessee.
The 1880 census states that Anna McCray (1866-1936), my generation's great grandmother, lived in the 3rd district of the county, which includes Limestone, a sleepy village near the Nolichucky River. It's most famous son, born 1786, was one David Crockett who went on to serve in Congress and died at the Alamo in 1836.
The 1880 census states that Anna McCray (1866-1936), my generation's great grandmother, lived in the 3rd district of the county, which includes Limestone, a sleepy village near the Nolichucky River. It's most famous son, born 1786, was one David Crockett who went on to serve in Congress and died at the Alamo in 1836.
Recently in visiting web sites under McCray Family history, I have been able to move our McCray family back to its Scottish origins. Here is what is known.
Anna McCray was the eldest daughter of John McCray (1838-1909) whose middle name is probably Daniel (named after his great grandfather) and Mary Elizabeth Beard McCray (1845-1876). More on the Beard and other lines including the Bayless families in future posts.
Below the gravestone markers at New Salem Baptist Church Cemetery in Limestone, Tennessee near the Nolichucky River for John and Mary Beard McCray. This writer took the photo in March 2012.
John McCray's father was William McCray (1797/98-1836), the oldest of thirteen children. William McCray's wife, Hannah Lenizy Taylor, was born 1800 and died 1858. Her father was one Henry Taylor, whose family story we will examine later.
John Daniel McCray was the fourth child and borne during the year of his father's death, if indeed 1836 is accurate on the McCray Family web site. The 1880 census has John McCray born in 1839. His grave stone reports 1836. He and his wife had seven children.
Anna McCray was the eldest daughter of John McCray (1838-1909) whose middle name is probably Daniel (named after his great grandfather) and Mary Elizabeth Beard McCray (1845-1876). More on the Beard and other lines including the Bayless families in future posts.
Below the gravestone markers at New Salem Baptist Church Cemetery in Limestone, Tennessee near the Nolichucky River for John and Mary Beard McCray. This writer took the photo in March 2012.
John Daniel McCray was the fourth child and borne during the year of his father's death, if indeed 1836 is accurate on the McCray Family web site. The 1880 census has John McCray born in 1839. His grave stone reports 1836. He and his wife had seven children.
So who was William McCray's father? The McCray web site states the parents are Captain Henry McCray (1775 ca - 7 February 1847) and Mary Moore McCray who died in Washington County, Tennessee in 1825.
Henry, who died in Summerville, Chattooga County, Georgia, first saw the light of day in Loudon County, Virginia and moved south with his parents to occupy East Tennessee in the early 1780s. During the War of 1812, he served as an officer with the 1st Regiment, East Tennessee Militia. His role in the Redstick Creek Indian War at the Battle of Horse Bend, Alabama will be written about later in this blog.
Henry's father was Daniel McCray, born in Ross-Cromarty, Scotland in 1845 and died in Jonesborough, Tennessee 25 June 1819. He is buried at the Cherokee (Baptist) Community Cemetery in Jonesborough. Below, the Daniel McCray headstone photo found on the Internet.
Henry, who died in Summerville, Chattooga County, Georgia, first saw the light of day in Loudon County, Virginia and moved south with his parents to occupy East Tennessee in the early 1780s. During the War of 1812, he served as an officer with the 1st Regiment, East Tennessee Militia. His role in the Redstick Creek Indian War at the Battle of Horse Bend, Alabama will be written about later in this blog.
Henry's father was Daniel McCray, born in Ross-Cromarty, Scotland in 1845 and died in Jonesborough, Tennessee 25 June 1819. He is buried at the Cherokee (Baptist) Community Cemetery in Jonesborough. Below, the Daniel McCray headstone photo found on the Internet.
The McCrays, Taylors, Baylesses and others - were pioneers of the Watauga settlements of the State of Franklin and later East Tennessee. They lived through the dangerous and bloody 'contact period' when European settlers intruded upon and acquired Cherokee and Creek traditional homelands.
From the 1770s and into the middle 1790s, reprisal Indian raids of plunder and murder were common in the Watauga region and later Middle Tennessee. Militias turned out regularly to pursue Native Americans. The Revolutionary War was part of this multi-decade conflict which involved my additional maternal ancestors who lived on the North Carolina side of the mountains - families such as the Wilsons, Greers and Osbornes.
Law and order were in short supply leading in the 1780s to the formation of the State of Franklin, a frontier example of an attempt to establish constitutional law while separated by rugged mountains from the home state of North Carolina. There are several valuable books on this period of history to recommend, two for example being 'The Wataugans" by Max Dixon and "The Southwest Territory 1790-1796" authored by Walter D. Durman.
Further information on these families and individuals can be found at Holliman-Long Ancestry.com site and at the virtual archive www.bholliman.com.
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