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:
- Allen Richard b. before 1823 Orange co. Ind. d. 1846 West Union,
Morgan co. Ind. m. 5 Jun 1837 Morgan co. Indiana Lavina Johnson
- Seth Wilson b. 22 Jan 1822 West Union, Morgan co. Ind. d. 1870's
Arkansas or Kansas m. 17 Sept 1842 Oskaloosa twp., Mahaska co. Iowa
Hezekiah (Kessiah) Beals b. 22 Dec 1825 Indiana. d. after 1880. Seth
was a wagon maker by trade. They lived in Penn township, Jefferson
co. Iowa in 1856; lived in Miami Village, Lykins county, Kansas territory
in 1859, and in Alexandria, Leavenworth county, Kansas territory in 1860,
when they requested a certificate of their right of membership to be conveyed
to their new Meeting in Kansas. They then moved to Osage township,
Benton co. Arkansas between 1865-1870. Hezekiah was listed as a widow,
living in Lowell towship, Cherokee co. Kansas in 1880. 7 children,
maybe more.
- Rosa Ann "Rosey" b. ca. 1820 Lick Creek MM, Indiana d.
1890, last living Washington co. Kansas m/1. 20 Jan 1837 Morgan
co. Indiana Elijah Anderson II, s/o Elijah Sr. & (Susannah Cain or
Mary Thatcher) Anderson b. 18 Jun 1817 Clark co. Ohio d. either
ca. 1847, or 7 Feb 1890 Mahaska co. Iowa, and they were divorced or something,
3-5 children; m/2. 10 Oct 1847 Mahaska co. Iowa Joseph Foscett/Foskett/Fosket/Fossett
b. 1780 or 1796 Massachusetts or Monticello, Virginia d. 1870's,
2 children. Rosey was disowned by the Quakers, I believe at her first
marriage.
-
Isabella "Ibby" Scott b. 12 Jan 1824 Lick Creek MM, Orange co.
Ind.
d. 12 Dec 1864 Iowa, buried Ackworth Cemetery, Warren County,
Iowa; m/1. Lincoln Caleb Bales b. 1 Jan 1820 Washington co. Iowa, d. 29 Jun 1892 Warren co. Iowa
- Nancy "Nanny" Ann b. ca. 1828/9 West Union, Morgan co. Ind. d. 14 Feb 1899 Cloud co. Kansas; m/1. 22
Jan 1848 Jefferson co. Iowa Benjamin Beals, who d. 1850-1856; m/2. 1856-1860 Solomon Dubois Welch who d. 3 Sep 1915
- Keziah Massey b. 1822 West Union, Morgan co. Ind. m/1. 20
Mar 1842 Jefferson co. Iowa William Beals m/2. 25 Jul 1849
Mahaska County, Iowa Adam Vinnedge
-
Abijah Jones b. 10 Mar 1829 West Union, Morgan co. Ind.
d. 3 Nov 1840 West Union, Morgan co. Ind.; never married, buried West Union Cemetery, Morgan co. Ind.
- Martin Riley
b. 1830/1 West Union, Morgan co. Ind. d. 18/20 Jul 1864 Buried Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery, Lemay, Missouri. Joined
Co I, 1445th Illinois Infantry on 9 May 1864 at Bloomington, IL. Age
given as 34; residence as Old Town, McLean Co, IL. Mustered in at Camp
Butler, IL on 9 June 1864. Died 20 July 1864 at Benton Barracks (St.
Louis), MO, but headstone says 18 July. m. 17 Jul 1852 Oskaloosa, Mahaska
co. Iowa
Mary Jan Mason b. 1833/4 Ohio d. 5 Nov 1866 McLean co. Ill? Their
death dates are listed with no place attached, but they lived in Padua
township, McLean co. Illinois in 1860. One son, John, was then
living
with the David & Angeline Hoover family of Oskaloosa, Mahaska co.
Iowa
in 1870. At least 4 children.
- Ruth Jane b. Feb
1834 West Union, Morgan co. Ind. d. 5 Dec 1902,
probably Bogart twp., Carroll co. Missouri m. 28 Aug 1847
Oskaloosa,
Mahaska co. Iowa Henry Parker b. 1829/30 Harrison co. Indiana d.
between 1883-1895, probably Bogart twp., Carroll co. Missouri.
They also
lived in Padua twp, McLean co. Illinois, from at least 1850 through at
least 1873. At least 11 children.
- Sarah Elma b.
1834/5 West Union, Morgan co. Ind. (lived with her
brother Seth in Mahaska co. Iowa in 1850) d. after 1910
m/1. 10 Jul 1856 Jefferson co. Iowa Phillip G. Crees d. 23
Feb 1888 Kellerton, Ringgold co. Iowa; m/2. 20 Jul 1893 Creston, Union
co. Iowa Earl Thompson s/o J. M. & Mary Daimery Thompson b. ca. 1864 Union co. Iowa
- Jemima Edith b. 5 Dec 1836 d. 11 Sept 1839
West Union, Morgan co. Ind.; never married, buried West Union Cemetery, Morgan co. Ind.
-
John Henry b. ca. 1838/9 West Union, Morgan co. Ind. m/1. 11 Oct
1841 Mary Ann Courdman? (obviously the marriage date makes no sense
- it's either the marriage date of an uncle, Mary Ann's birthdate, or complete
fiction); m/2? 1 Mar 1855 Sarah I. Lucas?
-
Andrew b. ca. 1840/1 Salem MM, Henry co. Iowa d. Jun
1842 Mt. Pleasant, Henry co. Iowa Territory (as discussed above)
Author:
Matt Scott