Abijah & Isabella Scott Bray family

Isabella Scott d/o John Wilson & Nancy Keith Scott b. ca. 1800 probably Pendleton district, S. C.  d. Jun 1842 Mt. Pleasant, Henry co. Iowa Territory  m. before 31 July 1819  Abijah Bray, s/o Henry & Keziah Huff Jones Bray  b. 18 Nov 1797 Springfield, Guilford co. North Carolina  d. Jun 1842 Mt. Pleasant, Henry co. Iowa Territory.  They lived in Orange county, Indiana in 1820, then moved to Morgan co. Ind. by 1830; they still lived there in 1840. 

On 31 July 1819, Abijah was called before his church elders, because he had mustered for the local militia, and had married Isabella contrary to church discipline (Abijah's family were Quakers).  They were not disowned, but it appears simply that Isabella joined the church:

Members had to appear before the Monthly Meeting and publicly state their marriage intentions at two Monthly Meetings in a row. Following the first appearance, a committee would be appointed to investigate the "clearness" of the individuals to marry. If an impediment was found, the couple were not permitted to marry. Usually a couple would be privately advised not to make the attempt to "pass the meeting" if the impediment was well known or obvious. In this instance they would quietly get married by a magistrate then come & condemn their misconduct of "marriage contrary to discipline" (mcd). Following the 2nd declaration of intentions, if no impediments were found, the couple would be "liberated to marry" or allowed their freedom to accomplish the marriage.

It has been doubted that this Isabella Scott was in fact the daughter of John Wilson Scott I.  I believe she was.  I was convinced by the documents showing Isabella listed as child of John & Nancy's, which didn't show other children that we know lived (and were living at the time).  I believe that the reason Isabella has not been extensively researched is because she did not come to Illinois, like Wilson (another sibling about whom little research had been done).  It may also be that, knowing that Abijah Bray married against Quaker discipline, Isabella may have married against her parents wishes.

Proof is easy- I need to find a maternal descendant of Abijah & Isabella, and a maternal descendant of Thomas & Anna Scott Glenn, and compare their Mitochondrial DNA.  If they match, they share a maternal ancestor (in this case, Nancy Keith Scott).

Abijah served as a grand juror in Hendricks county Indiana in 1824.

Abijah Bray "was perhaps the largest man in the county (Morgan co. Ind.). He weighed 430 pounds. He had a chair made for his own use and when he came to town he came in a wagon and his chair almost reached from one side to the other. He would not sit down in a chair without first testing its strength" - Early Mooresville Centennial Souvenir, 1824-1924.

From the notes of Larry D. Anderson:

"I can find no records of Abijah and Isabella (Scott) Bray's burials in the Quaker recors - only mentioning they cmae back to there in March of so of 1842 and died in June.  The lady in charge of the Quaker records in Oskaloosa Yearly meeting said she ran across the information recently that Isabella lived a few days longer than Abijah.  Therefore, since none of the older children died in any kind of epidemic, it is thought they became ill on the way back from Indiana and died from it or had had an accident.  A son, Andrew, accoring to the Indiana Quaker Records, must have been born between 1840 when they came back from Salem MM to Indiana and when they left in the winter before March 1842.  I have found nothing at all more about him and assume he may have died with them."

 From a letter to Betty Holmes by Opal Lousin, Aug 12, 1982: "... Abijah and Isabella must have died in the early summer of 1842.  The country was overcome by Indians and there were skirmishes all the time together with slave problems crossing into Iowa from Missouri and since Abijah had already been quilty of mustering after the militia, possibly disaster of some kind happened, who knows. "

 "Quaker records of Pleasant Plain MM stated the children were orphans and suffering"

 "Salem MM records in Henry Co.,[Iowa] indicate that in their meeting they discussed the problems of the "orphan children of Abijah Bray" and on June 25, 1842 a committee was appointed to visit them for their help and encouragement. By September 1842 some of the girls were being married and there was no futher mention of Abijah and Isabella Bray in their records.  It was as if there had been a tragedy or serious illness that caused their deaths to require the Quakers to refer to the orphan children.  Therefore, I assume we can say they died in the spring of 1842 in Salem MM jurisdiction in Henry Co., Iowa. "

 From a letter to Jean, 22 July 1985: Abajah Bray and wife, Isabella Scott went the second time to Henry Co., Iowa early in 1842 and then in June 1842 Quaker Minutes is where I found the grandchildren of "Abijah Bray are suffering". 

They had 13 children:


Author: Matt Scott