Edward Gray, US 1643

Generation One:

Edward Gray- b. bef 15 April 1523 at England; m(1) 6 January 1651 Mary Winslow at Plymouth, Plymouth, MA; m(2) Dorothy Lettice at Plymouth, Plymouth, MA; d. June 1681 at Plymouth, Plymouth, MA, aged 58 years.

M(1) Children:

1. Desire b. 6 November 1651 at Plymouth, Plymouth, MA; m. Nathaniel Southworth d. 4 December 1690 at Plymouth, Plymouth, MA, aged 39 years.

2. Mary b. 18 September 1653 at Plymouth, Plymouth, MA; d. bef. 24 August 1681 at Plymouth, Plymouth, MA, aged 27 years.

3. Elizabeth b. 11 February 1658 at Plymouth, Plymouth, MA; m. bef. 1680 Seth Arnold

4. Sarah b. 12 August 1659 at Plymouth, Plymouth, MA; m. 18 May 1682 Samuel Little at Marshfield, Plymouth, MA; d. 14 February 1737 at Bristol, Bristol, RI, aged 77 years.

5. John b. 1 October 1661 at Plymouth, Plymouth, MA; m. 9 December 1686 Joanna Morton at Plymouth, Plymouth, MA

6. Ann b. bef. 1664 at Plymouth, Plymouth, MA; m. bef. 169 James Le Blonde; d. 28 July 1728, aged 64 years.

M(2) Children:

7. Edward b. 31 January 1667 at Plymouth, Plymouth, MA; m. Mary Smith; d. 1726 at Tiverton, Bristol, RI, aged 58 years.

8. Susanna b. 15 October 1668 at Plymouth, Plymouth, MA; m. 1668 John Cole at Plymouth, Plymouth, MA

9. Thomas b. 1669 at Plymouth, Plymouth, MA; m. Phebe Peckman; d. 5 November 1721 at Little Compton, Newport, RI, aged 52 years.

10. Rebecca b. abt. 1670 at Plymouth, Plymouth, MA; m. 3 January 1687 Ephraim Cole at Plymouth, Plymouth, MA

11. Lydia b. 12 March 1678 at Plymouth, Plymouth, MA; m. 7 August 1696 Caleb Loring; d. 28 March 1771, aged 93 years.

12. Samuel b. 1682 at Plymouth, Plymouth, MA; m. July 1699 Deborah Church; d. 23 March 1712 at Little Compton, Newport, RI, aged 30 years.

"Edward Gray, to whom reference has been made, came to Plymouth, Mass., with his brother Thomas Gray in 1643. 'I'homas Gray was the. older of the two. He died at Plymouth, June 1, 1654. Edward Gray was then a mere youth, and according to a tradition of the family, the two brothers were smuggled on board the ship in which they came, and were sent to America by friends at home who had been intriguing for the possession of the property which rightfully belonged to them.

The oldest stone on Burial Hill is that of Edward Gray, on which is the following inscription: " Here lyeths: body of Edward Gray, Gent, aged about 52 year~, * and departed this life ye last of June, 1681." . This stone of Edward Gray" is roughly made of a common shaky blue native slate, rudely cut and carved, and considering its material, it has surprisingly survived the ravages of time." (Clarke, p. 66)

" A strip of land running on Main street from Leyden to Middle street was once owned by Stephen Hopkins, one of the Mayflower Pilgrims. He died in 1644, and not long after his death it came into the hands of Edward Gray, who sold it in 167.0 to .Iohn Cotton, then pastor of the. Plymouth Church." Robert Hicks was a leather dresser in London, and is supposed to have been a brother of Sir Baptist Hicks, a mercer of London, who was knighted in 1605, and afterwards became Vissount of Camden. He was the founder of Hicks' Hall, a Session House built in 1612, and made famous by the trial of Lord Russell] who was condemned within its walls, and of Count Konigsmark, the (Clarke, p. 66) Robert Hicks conveyed the estate under consideration in 1689, to his son Samuel, and after the removal of Samuel to Barnstable and Dartmouth, it passed into the hands of Edward Gray, who made it his residence. In 1673, Edward Gray conveyed it to J,Q Richard. This was a tract of land' between Middle and Leyden streets, on the north and south, and Coles's Hill and Le Baron Alley, on the east and west. This covers two original garden plots, which as far back as the earliest records of Plymouth, belonged to Robert Hicks, who built a house there, which he made his residence. The lot of land on whichthe Plymouth Rock House now stands, at the conner of North Street and Coles's Hill, was a part of the land granted to James Cole, one of the early settlers referred to. Before 1685, it came into the possession of Nathaniel Clarke, who before the year 1700 seems to have been . largely interested in land on that street. In 1697 he conveyed it to John Cole, and his wife Susannah Cole, who was the daughter of Dorothy, the wife of Clarke by her first husband, Edward Gray. In 1725 Susannah Cole, then a widow, conveyed it to Consider Howland, and the next year Mr. Howland conveyed it to John Foster, who sold' it in 1734, to his brother Thomas Foster. In 1639, Robert Hicks sold a lot to his son Samuel Hicks, and when Samuel removed to the Cape, it passed into the hands of Edward Gray. In 1673, Mr. Gray sold it to John Richard already referred to, and it remained the property of Mr. Richard, and bis son John until 1738, when it was sold by the latter to the second James Warren. In the same year Mr. Warren, sold it toLazarus Le Baron, who held it as a vacant lot' until 1775, when in the division of his estate, that part which belongs to the Samoset House was set off to his son William, and the remainder, including Cushman Street and all the lots on both sides of it, to his son Isaac. The following is the property referred to: "Stephen Dean (Clarke, p. 67)

" Dr. James Thatcher in his history of Plymouth says: "No· stone of an earlier date than 1681 is to be found on Burial Hill of Plymouth, though it is by no means probable that this was the first interment here." It is to the memory of Edward Gray: a, respectable merchant, whose name frequently occurs in the old' records of Plymouth. He made his mark for his name, as was not uncommon in those days. By habits of industry and good management, he gained the character of a respectable merchant" and acquired an estate worth £1250 sterling, the largest estate at that time in the colony. (Clarke, p. 68)