John Gray Jr. (abt. 1660 - abt. 1739)

Born about 1660 in Aghadowey, Londonderry County, Province of Ulster, Ireland

Ancestors

Husband of Elizabeth (Parsons) Gray — married 23 Apr 1691 in Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England

Descendants

Died about 4 Apr 1739 at about age 79 in Worcester County, Province of Massachusetts Bay, British Colonial America

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Biography

John Gray Jr was born in 1660 in Aghadowey, Londonderry County, Province of Ulster, Ireland. ^[1]

John Gray Jr. was born and grew up in the region where state-sponsored settlements were part of the Plantation (colonization) of the Province of Ulster in Ireland, which had begun in 1609. This scheme, instituted by James VI of Scotland when he became King of England, was intended to confiscate all the lands of the Gaelic Irish nobility in Ulster and to settle the province with Protestant Scottish and English colonists on confiscated land. ^[2]

Several generations of both Ulster-Scots and resettled English weathered the turbulent relocation and colonization, but throughout the 18th century, considerable numbers of Plantation settlers began immigrating to the North American colonies. This immigration trend is consistent with John Gray Jr’s arrival in the Americas in 1718. ^[2]

John Gray Jr's grandfather, Robert Richard Gray, had relocated no later than 1640 as part of the Ulster plantation settlement from Essex, England, to Londonberry, Province of Ulster, Northen Ireland, where John Gray Sr was born. ^[3] It was John Gray Jr who later immigrated to colonial Massachusetts. ^[4]

He married Elizabeth Parssons on 3 Apr 1691 in Wilford Parrish, St. Nicholas Church, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England. ^[4]

John and Elizabeth landed in Boston Aug 4, 1718 and, according to historian Charles Bolton, they arrived in the Province of Massachusetts Bay, British Colonial America, settl9ng in Worcester, Worcester County, where he "had land laid out to him by the town's committee [on] November 26, 1718." They were accompanied by sons Robert (age 21) and Matthew (later, Sr., but at the time only age 8), as well as Samuel, William, John, Mary, and Sarah (pp. 187-88). ^[5]

Research by Charles Hersey confirms that John Gray was granted a lot "very early" in settlement of Worcester, Province of Massachusetts Bay. ^[6]

Since the new royal land charter of 1692, voting in colonial Massachusetts had shifted from church membership to land ownership, and created the Province of Massachusetts (succeeding the previous Massachusetts Bay Colony charter of 1629, which had run as a theocracy). In effect, this political change shifted authority from exclusive control by Puritans and allowed others – i.e., non-Puritans of other religious persuasions – to settle in the colony. ^[7]

According to Bolton, "Cotton Mather had in mind very early that the emigrants from Ulster would be useful settlers on the frontier. In 1718 the village of Worcester could claim a position on the Massachusetts frontier, although it lay only forty miles from Boston. First settled in 1674, it was deserted in King Philip 's war, 1675, and again in Queen Anne 's war, 1702" (p 178). ^[5]

But the Ulster Presbysterians "came to act as a buffer against the Indians, and instead of welcome they received surly conversation from the few inhabitants who turned out to meet them (p. 179). ^[5]

John was among those seated in the Worcester orthodox church in 1724 and 1733, ^[8] and in 1739 it seems his son is still being referred to as John Gray Jr. in regards to the settlement of lands in Pelham, suggesting that John lived at least until 1739. ^[5]

Ruth T. Ravenscroft's manuscript, "John Gray and His Descendants of Worcester and Pelham, Massachusetts," Salt Lake City, Utah: Filmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah, 1986, may have much more information.

The Presbyterian "orthodox church [in Worcester] was built in 1719 in front of the site of the present city hall. At this period it was plain, without steeple, and at first filled with benches. The committee on seating in 1724 had no Scotch Irish members, nor did they grant any places for private pews to these new settlers. In the fore seat or bench was John Gray" (p. 182). ^[5]Other Scotch Irish settlers sat in benches behind Gray's family.

By 1733, "there were in the 'fore seet' John Gray with five English sitters," and again, other Scotch Irish settlers sat behind his family on other benches. Bolton continues, "It will be seen that in 1733 there was a considerable Scotch Irish colony within a church-going radius of the Worcester church.... In 1737 the Irish petition had been voted down. The lands now included in the town of Pelham were being opened for settlement, and on the 21st of January, 1738-39, John Stoddard arranged to settle a number of families ' ' such as were inhabitants of the Kingdom of Ireland or their descendants, being Protestants.'" John Gray and his family were among those who resettled. (pp. 183-84). ^[5]

John maintained standing and relations in Worcester, some 30 miles from Pelham. His grandson Matthew Gray Jr had married the daughter of Worcester's wheelright, Hugh Kelso, and when Hugh made out his will close to the time of his death in 1737, John Gray was present as a witness and was named as co-executor of Hugh Kelso's estate. ^[9]

John Gray Jr passed away on 4 Apr 1739 in Pelham, Worcester County, Province of Massachusetts Bay, his remains now buried in the Worcester Common Graveyard. ^[1]

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} Biographical vitals, John Gray, Ancestry.com
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} “Ulster-Scots” Wikipedia.
3. ↑ Robert Richard Gray (John Gray’s grandfather), biographical details, Ancestry.com
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1} "England & Wales Marriages, 1538-1988," Ancestry.com, database. Collection: St. Nicholas, Film Number 503803
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5} Bolton, Charles Knowles. Scotch Irish Pioneers in Ulster and America. Boston: Bacon and Brown, 1910. Reprint. Heritage Books, Bowie, MD, 1989. p. 187. Full digital text
6. ↑ Hersey, Lincoln, William, and Charles. History of Worcester, Massachusetts, from Its Earliest Settlement to September 1836: With Various Notices Relating to the History of Worcester County. Worcester: Charles Hersey, 1862. Digital copy
7. ↑ “Massachusetts Bay Colony.” Wikipedia
8. ↑ Leavitt, Emily W. The Blair Family of New England Boston: D. Clapp & Son, 1900 . Digital copy
9. ↑ "Massachusetts, Wills and Probate Records, 1635-1991 for Hugh Kelso," Worcester Probate Records, Vol 1, 1731-1739, 1778-1814 and 1863-1870. Ancestry.com database, with original image of the will

See also:

• Greenwood, Frederick. Greenwood Genealogies, 1154-1914 (Lyons Genealogical Co., New York, 1914) Page 229

• Gray, Asa. Letters of Asa Gray (Houghton, Mifflin and Co., Boston, New York, 1893) Page 1

• His son: Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/79422033/robert-gray: accessed 24 September 2023), memorial page for Robert Gray (1697–6 Jan 1766), Find A Grave: Memorial #79422033, citing Worcester Common Burial Ground, Worcester, Worcester County, Massachusetts, USA; Maintained by Denise (contributor 46820671).