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| Joker's Wild had toes tapping at the 2012 Reunion of the Grays of Hancock County, Maine. |
For years the third Saturday of August has been set aside as
a day for the Grays of Hancock County to gather and celebrate their heritage.
This year’s reunion was an event reminiscent of the old fashion reunions decades
ago, complete with live music, dancing, and just plain old toe-tapping family
fun. If you’re a descendent of Joshua Gray and didn’t join the clan this past
August 18th reunion, you missed something special. You might even consider
marking your calendar now for next year’s event.
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| Food, Fun, Family (2012) |
It was George Gray (the one born in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1625 and died in Berwick, Maine in1693) who rather unwillingly started the historic
trail of tree roots from which 99.99% of all the Gray descendents of Hancock
County, Maine have grown their families from. George, descended from Alison Gifert and James Gray,
who reportedly was born on the 9th day of February 1606 in Edinburgh,
Midlothian, Scotland (the son of Barbara Sanderson and John Gray). George was also
one of 150 Scots who were—as the few last remaining prisoners of war from the Battle
of Dunbar—shipped to America on the Unity
in 1651 as “Scots for sale” or indentured servants to provide cheap labor for
industries being established in the New World.
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| Generations join together. (2012) |
Luckily—though five to eight years of being indentured seems
like a harsh and unlucky stint in life—it was not a lifelong sentence.
Seventeenth century records show how these unintentional immigrants became Maine
and New Hampshire’s first landowners by taking advantage of land grants upon
their freedom. It was these very same early Scottish settlers in the region who
were instrumental in making petition to divide Maine from Massachusetts. In 1670,
George was granted, on the 24th day of June, a 6o acre parcel of
land (per York Deeds, III Preface) in the upper division of the town of
Kittery, previously known as Unity and later known as Berwick.
A fellow Scotsman, Alexander “Sander” Cooper was also
granted an equal parcel on the 13th of April, 1671. The two Scotsman
who had shared hard labor at the Great Works Sawmill in Unity (now Kittery) and
other circumstances for years, would come to forevermore share in the Gray’s American
history when “Sanders” sixteen-year-old
daughter, Sarah Cooper, become the spit-fire bride of, the then forty-seven-year-old, George Gray. But, he was certainly
aware of her temperament when he married her; court records show he’d paid her
fine for public profanity and the striking of another woman.
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| Gray cousins reunite. (2012) |
Perhaps it was a good thing Sarah had a lot of fight in her,
as being a settler was not an easy occupation. She and George had five children.
One, also named George, was captured and
marched off to Canada by Indians during a raid and they never saw him
again. It was another of their sons, Robert, and his wife Elizabeth Freethy, who
became the parents of Joshua Gray who married Jennat Elliot. Joshua is credited
with being responsible for planting the Gray family roots so deeply in Hancock
County, Maine. (And that is another story.)
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| 2012, Orland, Maine |
Each person has their own unique and interesting story in life,
the more research I do, the more amazed I am at the lives of my ancestors.
Whenever I run into history in Maine with the Gray name attached to it, more
often than not, I can trace it to Joshua Gray. Grays have experienced some of
the hardest times in our local, national and world histories. Some have lost
their lives in doing so. Others are unsung heroes without public recognition, yet others were, and still
are, well noted for their leadership. That said, I can’t help but wonder if it
might just be the little bit of Sarah Cooper’s DNA which gave the Joshua Gray
bloodline the spark of determination and straightforwardness needed to
persevere all these years.
By the way, in George Gray’s last will and testament he referred
to Sarah as “my loving wife.” It appears she must have turned out to be well
worth the price of the fine.
—Gail J. VanWart
Another Hancock County Descendent of Joshua Gray
More history of the Gray family of Hancock County can be found in "The Descendents of Joshua Gray" compiled by the Gray Reunion Committee and printed in 2005 by Downeast Graphics & Printing, Inc., Ellsworth, Maine and, of course, on www.Ancestry.com. You can also find current information on their Gray Family of Hancock County, Maine group page on Facebook.
© Copyright 2012 Gail J. VanWart All Rights Reserved
