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).

Somewhere I read that Abijah Bray weighed over 400 pounds, and had a special chair made just for him.  I will correct that if necessary when I find the documentation.

They had 13 children:

Author: Matt Scott