Robert
Gray
Born in England
Ancestors 
Son of Thomas Gray
and Ruth Grey
Brother of
Susanna Gray and Jane Gray
Husband of
Elizabeth (Wickes) Manning
— married
1651 in Salem, Essex, Massachusetts
Descendants 
Father of
Elizabeth (Gray) Priest, Joseph Gray Sr., Bethia (Gray) Peters, Robert Gray and Hannah (Gray) Taber
Died
at age 42
in Salem, Essex, Massachusetts
Profile last modified
| Created 4 Aug 2014
This page has been accessed 1,143 times.
Contents |
Problems to be Addressed
- As there was no Salem, Massachusetts in 1620, Robert Gray could not have been born there.
- There is no evidence that his wife's name was Elizabeth Wickes; Robert's wife's name is unknown.
- As his will was proved 25: 4: 1662, Robert could not have died in November 1662.
Biography
Robert and Elizabeth resided in Salem and were there prior to 1651 when the baptism of their eldest child is recorded. Robert and Elizabeth were parents of seven known children: Elizabeth (baptized 9: 1: 1651), Joseph (9: 3: 1652), Bethiah (11: 4: 1654), Thomas (12: 3: 1656), Hannah (26: 4: 1659), Robert (10 May 1659), and Mary (3: 2: 1661).[1] In his will written the first day of the eleventh month 1661 and proved 25: 4: 1662, Robert Gray made a bequest of land to his daughter Elizabeth, small bequests of land to his sons Joseph and Robert, and a bequest of land to his three other children Bethiah, Hannah, and Mary. This last-mentioned property was to be sold and divided equally. There are then bequests to his servant Elizabeth Wickes and George Hodges. The remainder of the estate was left to his wife Elizabeth Gray who was also named executrix.[2]
Elizabeth, the widow of Robert who died in 1662, married Nicholas Manning before 1664. The daughter Elizabeth married John Priest on 25: 12: 1672 (she did not marry William Abbott as Cutter suggests). Son Robert married Sarah Grover in 1685, and Joseph married Deborah Williams in 1675.[3]
The children of Robert and Elizabeth Gray were involved in land transactions that clarify some of the relationships. In 1679, sons Joseph and Robert separately addressed disputes related to their property with their stepfather Nicholas Manning, this being property received from their father Robert. These deed records also mention the property of John Priest which was property given to his wife Elizabeth by her father. In 1699, John and Elizabeth Priest conveyed property to their daughter Elizabeth for love and affection. In 1718, Elizabeth Ashby, daughter and only heir to the estate of Elizabeth Gray alias Elizabeth Priest, sold land from the estate of her mother to Michael Driver.[4]
Name
Birth
- 11 Apr 1620 Salem, Essex, Massachusetts[6] There was no Salem, Massachusetts in 1620 so Robert was not born there.
Event
Marriage
- Wife: Elizabeth Wickes
- 1651 Salem, Essex, Massachusetts[7]
Death
Sources
- ↑ Dates as given in Salem Vital Records, volume 1, pp 384-387
- ↑ Essex County, Massachusetts, Early Probate Records, 1635-1681, volume 1, p 384-385
- ↑ Salem Vital Records
- ↑ Massachusetts Land Records, Essex County, 5:51, 5:53, 13:209, 33:189
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Filby
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 AGBI
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Torrey
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Holbrook Research Institute
- Records and Files of the Quarterly Courts of Essex County, Massachusetts, 1636-1686 (The Essex Institute, Salem, Mass.,1912) Vol. 2: 1656-1662, Page 425-6: Will of Robert Gray of Salem.
- Raymond, Marcius Denison. Gray Genealogy: Being a Genealogical Record and History of the Descendants of John Gray, of Beverly, Mass. (Tarrytown, New York, 1887) Page 266
- Cooke, Harriet. The Driver Family, A Genealogical Memoir of the Descendants of Robert and Phebe Driver, of Lynn, Mass. (Universtiy Press, Cambridge, Mass., 1889) Page 90-91: sketch of Capt. Michael Driver, mentioning ancestor and immigrant, "Robert Gray"
- Torrey, Clarence Almon. Torrey’s New England Marriages Prior to 1700 (Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc. Baltimore, 1985)
- Filby, P. William, ed. Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s-1900s (Farmington Hills, MI, USA: Gale Research, 2012)
- Yates Publishing, U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900 (Provo, UT, USA, The
- AGBI: American Genealogical-Biographical Index, Godfrey Memorial Library, Middletown, CT, USA
- Holbrook Research Institute (Jay and Delene Holbrook) Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988
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Source attached (The Driver family ...) reports Robert Gray's will was proved 25 Jun 1662, so before the date of death here reported. (One, or the other, would seem in error.) Further reports the will calls out widow, Elizabeth, and children including a daughter Elizabeth Gray. Also reports the will calls out a "servant Elizabeth Wicks."