RAY
FAMILY
| Grandfathers Family | Grandmothers Family | JOHN AND MARY SWEARINGEN | BEALL |
Fathers Family |
THOMAS AND RUTH SWEARINGEN |
||
Patric Dolan sent me this on June 11, 2002. Note he has the middle name of Burkett Bowmer as "Dillard". Martha McHann had it as "Brikett Devenport Bowmer". -SJT
Here are the parents of Ruth Clary Ray, who married Burkett Dillard Bowmer. I have her mother, Verlinda Ray's, line back several generations. I will send them if you want. John Ray's lineage is rather difficult and controversial. - Patrick T. Dolan
Family Group Sheet by Patrick T. Dolan, August 25, 2001
Husband: John RAY, Born: 1765-1784 [15], Married: abt 1792 [1] prob MD [20], Died: 13 Oct 1820 [3] St Louis (St Louis) MO [3] bur “Lot #27 Lucas Cem. 18-19 & N. Washington 3rd. & Vine, St. Louis, Mo” [17]
Other information:
John Ray was present in KY by 1797, when he appears in the Warren Co tax list.
Evidence of a Maryland connection includes a Warren Co KY deed dated 11 Nov 1808, “Page 43 Power of Attorney from BENJAMIN RAY to trusty friend BENJAMIN RAY JR of Montgomery Co, Maryland, to obtain from JOSIAH RAY, Washington, DC any property that may be coming to said Ray as Heir at Law of WILLIAM RAY, Deceased. Dated 11 Nov 1808. Wit: JOHN RAY, AARON PINSON JR.”
This Benjamin Ray would be not John Ray’s son, Benjamin B. Ray, but a Benjamin Ray who appears at age 45+ in the 1810 Warren Co KY Census. He first appears in the 1806 tax list. Perhaps he is John’s elder brother or father.
Benjamin Ray also appears as a surveyor of roads in 1806 in Warren County KY. According to the Directory of the KY General Assembly, 1792-, he served in the KY House of Representatives 1803-1810, and in the KY Senate 1813-1817, representing Warren and Allen Cos.
A slave-holder [9], he was elected to represent Howard Co., MO, at the 1820 Missouri Constitutional Convention at St. Louis (according to [8], he had sat in the Territorial Legislature), and, according to [9], he introduced “an important measure” which was passed. After the convention, he was elected to the first Missouri State Legislature, and died at its first session [9]. Ray County, MO was named in his honor [10].
Judging from the births of his children as given in [1], from the censuses, and from his appearances in deed books, he must have resided in Warren Co., KY until 1816, when he must have moved to Howard Co. MO, where he lived until his death.
His will mentions only “my wife, Verlinda...Burket D. Bomer; two of my sons, James Ray and Benjamin Ray.”
Wife: Verlinda SWEARINGEN, Born: 1770-1780 [23] Montgomery Co MD [19],
Died: Will pr. 9 Mar 1846 [13] Johnson Co MO [13]
Parents: Thomas Swearingen [16]
Children:
1. James Swearingen: b abt 1794 [1] MD [21]; m Mary Adams 17 Jan 1816 TN
[18]; d 1844 Potosi MO [2] or St Francois Co MO [18].
2. Ruth Clary: b 15 Oct 1795 [17] MD [21] ; m Burkett Dillard Bowmer 24 Dec
1812 Bowling Green (Warren) KY [17]; d 2 Dec 1855 Williamson Co TX [17].
3. Mary H (Polly): b 1797 [18]; m Thomas E Dickey 18 Jul 1815 Warren Co KY
[6] d aft 1862 Jackson Co MO? [18].
4. Benjamin B.: b 1798 [1] KY [1]; m Angeline Rose [1] 26 Aug 1825 [17]St
Louis MO [22]; d Aug 1833 Manchester Springs (St Louis) MO [17].
5. Elizabeth Moore: b 7 Aug 1802 [4] KY [5]; m Robert Davis Morrow 23 Nov
1820 Howard Co MO [7]; d 29 Dec 1880 [4] bur Columbus MO [4].
6. Verlinda Griffin: b 13 May 1809 [1] Bowling Green (Warren) KY [1]; m Pleasant
Rice Lafayette Co MO 2 Aug 1826 [18]--13 ch [14]; d 10 Jun 1890 [1] bur Columbus
MO [12].
7. John Guinn: b 12 Sep 1812 Warren Co KY [24]; m 1st Polly Hall 12 Feb 1832
Lafayette Co MO--5 ch, 2nd Harriett Gearheart 1 Aug 1844 Lafayette Co MO--4
ch, 3rd Rosalia McCharles 1871 Garberville, CA [24]; d 6 Aug 1888 Garberville,
CA [24].
8. Sally S.: b 16 Jul 1816 KY [18]; m John Kelly 20 Aug 1832 Lafayette Co
MO [18]; d 7 Apr 1844 Johnson Co MO, bur Kelly Cem Johnson Co MO [18].
Documentation:
[1] Marvin Basil McCarley, The Rays Look Back, 1972.
[2] Query 4192: Baker, Griffin, Randolph, Ray, in Kentucky Ancestors 8:4,
April, 1973.
[3] Death notice in St Louis Inquirer, 14 October 1820.
[4] Gravestone transcription in Cockrell, History of Johnson Co. MO, 1918.
[5] Her obit in Cumberland Presbyterian, 20 Jan 1881, p. 8.
[6] Helen Thomas, Warren County, KY Marriages 1797-1851 from the Original
Marriage Bonds and Consents, 1970.
[7] Susan Ormesher, Missouri Marriages Before 1840, 1986.
[8] Walter Williams, History of North West Missouri, 1915: biographical note
on William Ray Dobyns.
[9] Floyd Calvin Shoemaker, Missouri’s Struggle for Statehood, 1804-1821,
1943.
[10] “Ray County” in Encyclopedia of the History of Missouri,
1901.
[11] “John Ray,” Historical Notes and Comments, Missouri Historical
Review, vol. 20, October 1925-July 1926, pp. 140-141.
[12] Gravestone inscription at Columbus Cumberland Presbyterian Church
cemetery.
[13] Will and probate records at Johnson County Courthouse, Warrensburg,
MO.
[14] Group sheet by gr granddaughter of Verlinder Griffin Ray and Pleasant
Rice, Gladis Rice Adair, at Warrensburg Heritage Lib.
[15] 1810 US Census Warren Co KY.
[16] Distribution list among probate papers of Thomas Swearingen, d 1794
Montgomery Co MD names “John Ray, the husband of Verlinda Ray one of
the legatees.”
[17] DAR Application #581131 by Mrs. Lee Harvey Ewing.
[18] Group sheet by Barbara L. Brown, Overland Park, KS.
[19] Thomas Swearingen evidently lived his whole life in Montgomery Co.
[20] Family still in MD in 1795, as Ruth Clary gives MD as her birthplace
in 1850 Census.
[21] 1850 Census.
[22] Barbara L. Brown quoting newspaper reference.
[23] 1830 and 1840 US Census.
[24] File by Cathy Doyle, a John G. Ray descendant.
JAMES SWEARINGEN |
b abt 1794 [1] MD [21]; m Mary Adams 17 Jan 1816 TN [18]; d 1844 Potosi MO [2] or St Francois Co MO [18]. |
|
RUTH CLARY |
b 15 Oct 1795 [17] MD [21] ; m Burkett Dillard Bowmer 24 Dec 1812 Bowling Green (Warren) KY [17]; d 2 Dec 1855 Williamson Co TX [17]. | BRIKETT AND RUTH BOWMER |
MARY H (POLLY) |
b 1797 [18]; m Thomas E Dickey 18 Jul 1815 Warren Co KY [6] d aft 1862 Jackson Co MO? [18]. | |
BENJAMIN B |
b 1798 [1] KY [1]; m Angeline Rose [1] 26 Aug 1825 [17]St Louis MO [22]; d Aug 1833 Manchester Springs (St Louis) MO [17]. | |
ELIZABETH MOORE |
b 7 Aug 1802 [4] KY [5]; m Robert Davis Morrow 23 Nov 1820 Howard Co MO [7]; d 29 Dec 1880 [4] bur Columbus MO [4]. | |
VERLINDA GRIFFIN |
b 13 May 1809 [1] Bowling Green (Warren) KY [1]; m Pleasant Rice Lafayette Co MO 2 Aug 1826 [18]--13 ch [14]; d 10 Jun 1890 [1] bur Columbus MO [12]. | |
JOHN GUINN |
b 12 Sep 1812 Warren Co KY [24]; m 1st Polly Hall 12 Feb 1832 Lafayette Co MO--5 ch, 2nd Harriett Gearheart 1 Aug 1844 Lafayette Co MO--4 ch, 3rd Rosalia McCharles 1871 Garberville, CA [24]; d 6 Aug 1888 Garberville, CA [24]. | |
SALLY |
b 16 Jul 1816 KY [18]; m John Kelly 20 Aug 1832 Lafayette Co MO [18]; d 7 Apr 1844 Johnson Co MO, bur Kelly Cem Johnson Co MO [18]. |
Ray References: