Sarah (Wilson) Ray (abt. 1712 - bef. 1802)

Born about 1712 in Province of Maryland [uncertain]

Descendants

Died before 9 Nov 1802 before about age 90 in District of Columbia, United States

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Caroline James [send private message]

Biography

Sarah was born about 1712

Family

A marriage record for John Ray and Sarah has not been found

They had at least 12 children, 11 of their births were recorded in Prince George’s Parish, Prince George’s County (until 1748 when Frederick County was created), Maryland.^[1]

John Ray Jr, June 24 1732

Elizabeth Ray, January 20 1734

Sarah Ray, October 7 1735

Mary Ray, November 20 1737

Benjamin Ray, November 7 1739

William Ray, September 19 1741

Phillis Ray, August 8 1743

James Ray, June 12 1745

Lucinda Ray, June 28 1747

Anne Ray, November 4 1749

Samuel Ray, May 5 1753

Josias Ray, January 4 1757, recorded in All Saints Parish, Frederick County^[2]

Census of 1776, John and Sarah Ray in Prince George’s County^[3]
John Ray Sen. 69:27:18:40:30
Sarah Ray 62:20
Free white males over 16 years - 4
Defective white males above 16 - 1
White females - 2

Timeline

Will of John Ray, Prince George’s County, Maryland. August 9 1773 - April 19 1779 ^[4]
Wife, Sarah Ray receives her dower of estate.
Children, John Ray Jr, Elizabeth Harbin, Sarah Collier, William Ray, Phillis Ray, Lucinda Riddle, to each receive one shilling sterling.
Benjamin Ray receives £5 currency for his trouble in selling the land in Virginia.
Samuel Ray and Anne Ray each receive £10 currency, a cow and a calf.
The remainder of estate both real and personal to sons, James Ray & Josias Ray and wills that the remainder of his lands be sold to pay debts and legacies.
James Ray to be executor.

May 17 1790, James Ray, his wife Cressey Ray, and Josias Ray, all of Prince George’s, Maryland, sons and devisees, of John Ray, late of the same county and Sarah Ray, relict and widow of the said John Ray sell to Andrew Wales of Alexandria, Fairfax, VA the land that was purchased by John Ray from William Gladding which has been found to contain 110 acres.^[5]

Death & Legacy

Will of Sarah Ray, Washington, D.C. May 15 1802 - November 9 1802^[6]
To Anne Ray and Josias Ray the 1/3 of a tract of land “John & Mary” being about 33 acres, left to her in the will of late husband, John Ray.
Witnessed by Abraham Boyd, William Ferguson & William Ray, son of John

Research Notes

Despite 100s of online public family trees and books written on the history of the Ray family that state that Sarah, wife of John Ray was born to Lancelot Wilson, no proof of this has been found, I have looked through as many wills of Wilson’s in Maryland as I could find, along with land records and have not yet found nothing to even suggest that Sarah was a Wilson.

SAR Sarah’s maiden name has not been proven by a primary source. The earliest record of her maiden name that I have found is in a SAR Application filed in 1919 by Anthony Moreland Ray, her 4x great grandson. Berg-4697

Theories

Sarah and John Ray witnessed the will of William Renshall, Jan 14 1741 in Prince Georges County, Prince George’s County.^[7] This is most likely just because of how close John & Sarah lived to the Renshaws, William owned Cuckholds Delight, John and Sarah owned part of an adjoining tract, Turkey Thickett (aka John & Mary), but the connections of other family member of both overlap a lot, John Ray received part of Turkey Thicket from his uncle John Ray in his 1718 will, which also gave half of his estate to George Riddle, son of John Riddle, and was witnessed by John & Ruth Halsell(sp?). The more I look into these familys that are tied to Fletchalls and Halsells the more connections i find, I think this is a theory worth researching further, more to come.

• Anne, wife named in Renshaws will is the widow of Thomas Fletchall, they had 2 children, Thomas and Elizabeth, more info in Elizabeth would be nice to find.

Sources

1. ↑ https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-G9XH-V73T
2. ↑ https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-89XH-V7MS
3. ↑ Maryland records, colonial, revolutionary, county and church : from original sources by Brumbaugh, Gaius Marcus, 1862-. 1915. Baltimore, Md. : Williams & Wilkins. Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center. Page 23. https://archive.org/details/marylandrecordsc01brum/page/n43/mode/2up
4. ↑ https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-9TYR-HGJ Maryland Register of Wills Records, 1629-1999. Prince George's > Wills 1770 vol 1 > image 56 of 337; Hall of Records, Annapolis.
5. ↑ Fairfax County Deed Books, Book T, pages 17-23, page 409-410. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSL6-M9X6-Z
6. ↑ https://www.ancestry.com/sharing/6268555?mark=7b22746f6b656e223a224a54455646505167623436582b6a7956614571574c5a7a644f2b334534566f6e3568527a724f5558656c773d222c22746f6b656e5f76657273696f6e223a225632227d Probate Records (District of Columbia), 1801-1930; Author: District of Columbia. Register of Wills; Probate Place: District of Columbia, Washington, D.C.
7. ↑ "Maryland Register of Wills Records, 1629-1999," images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-9TYR-4DP?cc=1803986&wc=SNY4-FMS%3A146535401%2C147178401 : 20 May 2014), Prince George's > Wills 1698 > image 179 of 335; Hall of Records, Annapolis.

• North America, Family Histories, 1500-2000
• Source: S-182875245 Repository: #R-797940450 Title: Maryland, Compiled Census and Census Substitutes Index, 1772-1890 Author: Ancestry.com Publication: Ancestry.com Operations Inc APID: 1,3552::0
• Repository: R-797940450 Name: Ancestry.com
• Source: S-182875260 Repository: #R-797940450 Title: U.S., Sons of the American Revolution Membership Applications, 1889-1970 Author: Ancestry.com Publication: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc. APID: 1,2204::0