I am descended from James Gray, who I believe was probably a brother of William C. Gray for a couple of reasons. First, their families are listed next to each other in the 1850 Grainger County census, and second, because James's oldest son is also named William C.

James Gray married Lucinda Wolfenbarger and in 1860, they moved with their family to Stoddard County, Missouri, settling in an area that became known as Gray's Ridge. I have been unable to find the family in the 1860 census, probably because they were moving at the time, but they do appear again in the 1870 Stoddard County census. They are also mentioned in an 1888 history of that county. According to it, James had died in 1872. James and Lucinda had had nine children before his death.

This is where a little mystery begins. According to information that my grandmother collected on the family years ago, James Gray's wife died and at that point a Sarah Jane Lawrence Howard (maybe Layton) moved into his household to take care of the housework and young children, bringing with her her daughter, Nancy Howard. Nancy became pregnant, and no one was ever able or willing to tell my grandmother whether she and James Gray were married. Nonetheless, in May of 1870, their son, my great-grandfather, James Howard Gray, was born. According to what he knew, his mother died when he was 2 and his father when he was 4 (i.e., 1874 rather than 1872), and thereafter he was passed from relative to relative.

There are some problems with this story, though. For example, in the 1870 census there is a 51-year-old woman in the Gray household named "Levina," who I'm assuming is "Lucinda," (although her age is not right) meaning she was not dead after all in 1870. There is a 22-year-old Nancy Gray in the household who does not appear with the family in 1850--she could have been Nancy Howard, but this would seem a very strange living situation. William Howard and John T. Howard are listed as laborers living with the family. John Taylor Howard was Nancy’s brother, but he was born in Missouri, and this John T. is said to have been born in Tennessee. I've been unable to find Sarah Jane Howard or my great-grandfather, James H. Gray, in the 1870 census.

Oddly, Sarah Jane Lawrence Howard appears to have been born in North Carolina, but according to my grandmother's information, her mother's maiden name was "Wolfenbarger," the same as James Gray Sr.'s wife Lucinda, who came from Tennessee.

And there's one final mystery. This is the story of the Gray family that my great-grandfather dictated while he was still alive:

"In the beginning there were five brothers. That would be my father and four brothers. My father's name was James and one was Edward and Thomas and William. Don't know the other name and the four younger boys left Ireland and came to US. The older one stayed at home to take care of the father and mother. The four brothers landed in New York and there they separated and went out two together. My father and the one that was with him went to Missouri. Father settling at what is now Gray's Ridge. The other went to
Arkansas. They never heard of the other two after they left New York..."

Edward (or Ephraim) is said to be the brother who moved to Eureka Springs, Arkansas (and married Eliza Wedders), but I haven't been able to find him in the censuses.

Obviously, this story doesn't jibe with the fact that James was from Tennessee, not Ireland. I am certain that this is the correct James Gray, however, because of his other children. I'm wondering if perhaps it was James Sr.'s father who came from Ireland. Or maybe the story was just entirely concocted. It is confusing, though, because I am sure my great-grandfather believed it absolutely, but I am also sure (because of the Stoddard County history book) that his half-brother William knew that his father was from Tennessee, not Ireland.

Any light that anyone can shed on this would be greatly appreciated.