My Pastor is a Gray and we went on a trip to Africa together. I said that I could look into his genealogy a bit if he would like. He mentioned that there were parts of his genealogy that he would be interested in. I started working on his genealogy on my phone, but it is easier to do research on a computer.

Here is how far I got doing research on my phone on my trip to Africa:

Pastor Joel’s four ancestral lines are:

1. Gray
2. Knarr
3. Garlow
4. Spohn

These ancestors were in Pennsylvania from my recollection.

The Gray Line

Melvin Emerson Gray – born 1906

I’ll start with Melvin Emerson Gray. Here are his basics:

I have that Melvin was born in Big Run, Pennsylvania. Here is Melvin in 1910:

Melvin went by Emerson to distinguish him from his father. Melvin’s grandparents were also from Pennsylvania. So the Grays had deep roots there. Melvin’s father Melvin was a painter. Here is Big Run, outside of Punxutawney:

Fast forward to 1950  and here is Melvin:

Melvin is an insulator at a refrigeration plant. He lives on a dirt road in Bell, PA with his wife and six children.

Melvin Odell Gray – Born 1885

I’ll start at Melvin’s end. Here is his death certificate:

Here is the McClure Cemetery noted in the Death Certificate:

Sadly, Melvin Odell died at the age of 30 of chronic alcoholism. This must have been difficult on his family. That means that his son, Melvin Emerson was 10 when his father died. Here is the family in 1920:

Nettie was working at a laundry to support the family.

Here is Melvin Odell in 1900 in Big Run:

Melvin Odell’s mother was also a widow. So here was another single parent family. Melvin’s older brother was working as a day laborer supporting the family. I’m sure that Melvin didn’t realize at this time that nearly half his life was over.

Enoch George Gray – Born 1831

The 1890 Census is missing, so the last Census Enoch is in is the 1880 Census:

Enoch was a carpenter. Both of his parents and his wife’s parents were born in Pennsylvania. This means that Melvin Odell was born when his father was about 52 and his mother about 42. Here is a fuzzy photo of Enoch from Ancestry.com:

Here is the 1870 Census:

I note the Yohe name above which is a Gray family name. Also note that the value of the house and property varied quite a bit between the Yohe family and the Gray family.

Enoch served in the Civil War:

This note appeared to the right of the record:

It appears that he was in Monroe, VA:

Here is a further report on the Regiment:

206th Regiment, Pennsylvania Infantry

OVERVIEW:

Organized at Pittsburg September, 1864. Left State for City Point, Va., September 9. Attached to Provisional Brigade, Defences of Bermuda Hundred, Army of the James, to October, 1864. 3rd Brigade, 1st Division, 10th Corps, Army James, to December, 1864. 3rd Brigade, 1st Division, 24th Army Corps, to June, 1865.

SERVICE:

Duty with Engineer Corps engaged in fatigue duty at Dutch Gap, Va., till October 26, 1864. Duty in trenches before Richmond north of the James till April, 1865. Occupation of Richmond April 3. (Temporarily attached to Devens’ 3rd Division, March 27 to April 22.) Provost duty at Richmond till May. At Lynchburg and Richmond till June. Mustered out June 26, 1865.

Regiment lost during service 1 Enlisted man killed and 29 Enlisted men by disease. Total 30.

It is interesting that more were lost to disease than to battle. Fortunately, Pastor Joel’s ancestor survived his sickness. Much more information can be found on Wikipedia including:

After the breakthrough, the 206th was among the first units to march into Richmond unopposed on 3 April,^[1] to discover that the Confederate forces had evacuated.

Here is Enoch’s Veteran Burial Card:

So while Enoch’s son only lived a short life, Enoch lived to 63 and died with money as seen by the probate records:

Benjamin Lever Gray – Born 1807

The link between Enoch and his father Benjamin is in the 1850 Census. That year was the earliest Census with family information:

Here we see that Benjamin had at least 10 children. The Census does not state specifically that all these people were Benamin’s children, but that is generally assumed to be the case. Before 1850, it is more difficult to figure out the family connections. Here is Pine:

It is on the other side of Punxutawney compared to Big Run. Here is Benjamin’s grave stone:

Here is some more information:

Benjamin’s mother’s maiden name was his middle name. Mercer is to the North of Pittsburgh:

In 1860 Benjamin was a teamer in Henderson:

My interpretation is that he drove a team of horses which were hauling a heavy load. However, the transcription says Farmer, so I will defer to that. Looks like a fancy ‘F’. Henderson is just to the North of current Big Run.

Adam Gray Born 1775

With Adam, it gets interesting as he was born just before the birth of our Nation. Ancestry shows three trees for Adam Gray. The first two show him born in Maryland:

The third tree has him born in Pennsylvania:

The War of 1812

There is a record of two Adam Grays from this period:

The second on the list appears to be an Adam A Gray. It is possible that neither is the one we are interested in. If I were to pick one, I would take the first, as I am not aware of a middle initial for this Adam of interest. Unfortunately, it appears that the first Adam deserted after camping near Buffalo:

Peter Gray Sr. Born 1745

This Gray is of interest as we would like to find an ancestor of Pastor Gray who served in the Revolutionary War. According to WikiTree:

Peter Gray was among the first settlers of Patton Township, Centre County, Pennsylvania.

The Peter Gray family and the Conrad Hartsock family were the earliest settlers to the area. They came to the Half Moon Valley in 1788, from Frederick County, Maryland, and settled in what is now Patton Township. The early days were strongly influenced by the Methodism. As soon as Peter Gray had a roof on his log cabin, he began Sunday School classes, and founded what is today Grays United Methodist Church.

Here is Patton Township:

There is even a Graysdale there. This must be the mecca for every Gray descendant. Here is Patton Township in relation to Pittsburgh:

Here is the citation of Patton Township from Wikipedia:

Patton Township was established in 1794 and named after Colonel John Patton, a revolutionary officer, who co-owned the Centre Furnace, along with Colonel Samuel Miles. The Peter Gray family and the Conrad Hartsock family were the earliest settlers to the area. They came to the Half Moon Valley in 1788, from Frederick County, Maryland, and settled in what is now Patton Township. The early days were strongly influenced by Methodism. As soon as Peter Gray had a roof on his log cabin, he began Sunday School classes, and founded what is today Grays United Methodist Church. These settlers also made pilgrimages to church at Warriors Mark, a 12-mile distance, because that was the nearest regular preaching point in the valley.^[3] Iron mining was begun in the early days of Patton Township, affording supply of ore for Centre Furnace. Scotia mines are located in this township, which is still rich in iron ore.^[4]

• • 

    Grays United Methodist Church

John Gray Born 1725

There is some confusion as to where John Gray was born. The candidates are Lancaster, PA, England, Netherlands and Germany. I am tending to favor Germany. It is believed that the original name was Krey (or some version thereof).

Here is a picture of what I have so far;

Here is what I have for the earliest Gray:

However, the Netherlands may or may not be right. One family legend has them from England.

Gray DNA

At this point, it would be helpful if DNA could give us some hints as to the origin of this Line of the Gray family. It is likely that there are many unrelated ‘clans’ of Grays as could be seen by a DNA study. FTDNA which is a DNA testing company has a YDNA Family Group for the Gray Family. YDNA tests just the male line of DNA, so it is ideal for surname studies.

Summary and Conclusions

• I attempted to start a genealogy of my Pastor’s Gray family
• I got back to the 1700’s to John Gray born 1725.
• Before that the picture is a bit less clear.
• Genealogical testing could help in getting an idea of where the Gray family goes beyond that.
• The male Gray line is one fourth of Pastor Joel’s genealogy.