Anna Hudson (Gray), of Virginia - Anna Gray

Started by Thomas James Hudson on Wednesday, April 14, 2021
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Anna Gray is my 8th great grandmother and spouse of my 8th great grandfather John Hudson. I am collaborating with an historical society in Virginia to try to find where she was born and who her parents were. She was born earlier than Westmoreland County was created; according to my informed sources, no European lived in the Westmoreland County area in 1625. If you are interested in sharing information about her or John Hudson, please contact me. Many thanks. Tom Hudson

Hello Tom,
Thank you for reaching out to me regarding our shared grandmother. Anny Gray Hudson is my 9th great grandmother, making John Hudson, my 9th great grandfather. Unfortunately, I do not have any historical data or supporting documents for Anna Gray. The curator of this master file is Erica Howton, and on (2/6/2014) she indicated that there was no data to support who Anna's parents were.
If I find anything, I will be sure to pass on that information to you.

Peter Rutz

Thank you for posting about Anna Hudson, my 9th great-grandmother. After my grandmother’s elder sister died, I asked for her recipe book - - tucked away inside was a list of 10 generations of grandmothers last names. With help, and information I’ve found on this site, I’ve been able to find out much about my maternal family. I have no further information but would very much like to hear anything that you can find out. I know a bit about the closer Hudson ancestors. Thank you.

I do know that according to the Jonestown Society: "LISTS OF THE LIVINGE & DEAD IN VIRGINIA - February 16th, 1623 and THE LIST OF THOSE MASSACRED - March 22, 1622", there is an Edward Hudson and uxor (wife) Hudson, and Thomas Graye, uxor Graye, and Joan Graye all listed among the living (survirors) of the Jonestown Massacre. There location at the time of this survey was "West and Sherlow Hundred Island".

There is no listing of an Anna Gray(e) as of February 1623. Furthermore, there are no physical birth records to validate her birth, yet some suggest that she was born Jan 24 1625 - Surry, Virginia/Westmoreland, Virginia.

During this time in the Jonestown Colony, there was only one Hudson family and one Graye family.

Peter and Vanessa - Cousins!
Thank you for reaching out to me. I am making progress on Anna but don't have everything figured out yet. I will write more soon. For now, I have found a reference to Anna Gray(e) on Wikitree. Thomas Graye's son, (Captain) Francis Gray, mentions Anna Gray in his "Francis Gray's Geneology Chronology." It seems she is somehow related to Thomas. I have a list of his reported children, none of whom are named Anna. Also, he had a son in 1625 - her reported birth year - so it isn't likely that Anna is his daughter. I checked Thomas' siblings and could not find an Anna. The Graye family is quite interesting and can be tracked back a number of generations in Morpeth, Northumberland, England.

Thomas was married to Annis Margaret Graye (born "Gates (Valentine)" in 1611 in England. They had two children when they arrived in Virginia. In all, he had five children - Joan Gray Hux, William Gray, Thomas Gray Jr, John Gray and Francis Gray - with three wives: Rebecca Hutton Gray (mother of Francis Gray), Margaret/Annis Gray, and Mary Foster Gray.

So that you know, my Hudson line flows from John and Anna as follows:
Joshua Hudson
Caleb Hudson
Valentine Peyton Hudson, Sr.
Valentine Peyton Hudson, Jr.
Joshua Hudson (born 1789)
Charles Henry Hudson
Charles Lee Hudson
Charles Franklin Hudson, Sr.
Charles Franklin Hudson, Jr.
Me - Thomas James Hudson

Prior to John's ancestors generations in Barking, Essex, England, they were in Tamworth. The earliest I can trace a definite direct Hudson is Rudolph Hudson, born in Tamworth in 1475. They are all on Geni. I recently found evidence that Rudolph's father may have been Anthony Hutchinson, although Geni indicates this link is questionable. If it is correct, the Hutchinson direct line goes back to the 1200's on Geni.

I will send you whatever I learn about John's history in Virginia and Anna Gray's family. Meanwhile, all the best to you and thanks again for reaching out. Tom Hudson

I have been thinking that Anna Gray is related to Thomas Graye of Jamestown area (Surry, across the James River). He is one of the earliest inhabitants of that area and was a survivor of the 1623 massacre. He was listed as the only (adult male) named Graye (which became Gray in the next generation) in Virginia in that period. He had a son named Francis, who became "Captain Francis Gray". I have gone through so many records of that family and found no "Anna". Francis, however, was quite interesting and He travelled the coast extensively. When I read that one of the first inhabitants of Northern Neck, VA, was Francis Gray, I thought it must be him. Today, I found out it wasn't. There is another Francis Gray. "Francis Gray, Esq." He was the son of John Gray, born in England. This Francis was one of the earliest settlers of Maryland and then moved to the Machodoc area on the Northern Neck, becoming one of its first settlers. Machodoc is where Anna died.

I'm trying now to learn more about Francis Gray, Esq. I'll keep you posted. Wiki Tree has both of these Francis Grays in its database. I find Wiki Tree to be less reliable than Geni, but the good news is that is often has information that I wasn't able to locate elsewhere.

Tom

Thomas,
I believe that you are 100% spot on. With the information that I have collected, along with the stories and such that I have read, I firmly agree that Anna Gray is related to Thomas Graye of Jamestown. However, without official birth records, her identity may remain lost for now.

In speaking with Anne Brannen, who is a curator of this line and a distant cousin of mine that I met through Geni, it was determined that Anna Gray must retain an "unknown" status until records can validate who she is and who her parents were.

Keep me posted as to your findings with, Francis Gray, Esq.

Peter

Peter and Vanessa,
Thanks again for your insights and information concerning Anna Hudson (Gray). I continue to research her and the two most likely Gray/Graye family lines from which she may have come. I now have the Thomas Gray/Graye family back to before the year 1000. It is absolutely fascinating and fun. However, I will leave that potential discussion for another time. I'm writing you provide you with an update on my Anna research.

I have now found about six geneology website listing of Anna as having come from the Thomas Gray/Graye family. I have found no other alternative family lines in any of my extensive reviews. Anna seems to suffer from at least two challenges. First, she was born the year after the 1624 Muster, so she/we missed a chance to see which family would have claimed her. Second, Thomas had up to three wives. Fairly often, their children are linked to different mothers; these mothers are sometimes listed as have other unnamed children. Anna is consistently listed as the daughter of Annis (when she is listed at all).

Annis is listed fairly consistently as having died on Jan 24 1625, the same date on which Anna is sometimes listed as having been born. It would make sense that Annis is Anna's mother. Otherwise, this is quite a remarkable coincidence.

The 1623 massacre must have been quite a blow to every settler-survivor in the Jamestown-Surry (Surrey) (north and south of the James River) region. Anna often shows up in records as having been born in Westmoreland County, and more specifically, in Machodoc (which has been spelled in numerous ways over the years). It seems reasonable that Thomas could have moved to this unsettled but accessible area around 1625. I have even seen a couple of geneology web pages state that he died in Machodoc and/or Westmoreland County. That would help explain the change in location and the "sudden" arrival of Anna in this new area.

Unfortunately, Francis Gray of Maryland moved to the Machodoc area about the same time. He was intent on getting away from Catholic leadership in Maryland that he saw as too dominating. He was well known and there are many references to him in the literature and relevant web pages. However, I have found exactly zero references to any Anne or Anna or Ann or Annis connected to him. I am "fairly sure" he is not part of the explanation of Anna arriving or being born in the Machodoc area.

It is useful to know that there was no Westmorland County in 1625. That name didn't appear until 1653. Northumberland County was the area's original name but it too was organized well after Anna was born - in 1648. Before that, the area was generally known as the "Northern Neck." So, if Thomas went to the Northern Neck after the 1623 massacre (the "LISTS OF THE LIVINGE & DEAD IN VIRGINIA - February 16th, 1623" shows he was in the Jamestown area at that time), he was absolutely among the earliest residents there.

My Hudson family was in the Machodoc area by about 1638. There are references to our family in that period and fairly regularly before the counties were created. I hired a local historical society researcher to help me find such references and to look for the Grays/Grayes. He didn't find the Grays/Grayes until John Hudson married Anna in 1648. My researcher's work (mostly done at museums and county facilities in the immediate area) soon became fruitless so I ceased that avenue of investigation. I did, however, find out some very interesting things about my other Hudson in Virginia, especially William (directly line) and his brother Richard. I won't bore you with that material.

I then focused on Thomas. There are so many interesting references to him. He was "Sir" Thomas and his family line is among the most noble in the history of England. I'll go into that if we find Anna is definitely his daughter. The problem with Thomas is that everybody related to him comes with the baggage of inconsistent, sometimes conflicting, information. His son Francis (not to be confused with Francis of Maryland) is often shown as the son of Annis. He wasn't. He is the son of Rebecca - ok, I'm "almost certain" of that. Francis also had an interesting life, including being a ship captain trading up and down the east coast. But I digress.

Thomas is said to be sometimes confused with one or two other Thomas Grays. The other two - both of whom are genuinely other people and not him by a slightly different data set - are:

Thomas Gray of Wapping, mariner (b. abt. 1595 - d. bef. 1627), son of Thomas Gray of Harwich, co. Essex & Katherine Myles
Thomas Grey of Angerton, co. Northumb. (d. bef. 1656), son of Sir Edward Grey (d. 1632) of Howick and Morpeth, co. Northumb. & Catherine le Strange.

Today, I did a database review of every Thomas Gray/Graye/Grey and every Ann/Anna/Anne/Annis in Wikipedia (great tool). No other Thomas G. had a daughter Ann... anywhere during our time frame for her. Similarly, no other Ann... G... existed in this monumental database during our time frame except my other ancestor Ann Gray (Rush) who is two generations later.

The only two families that have ANY connection to the Northern Neck/Westmorland County/Northumberland County in our time frame are the two I've mentioned. Francis Gray of Maryland is well documented. Thomas Gray/Graye is not. I do find numerous references to an Anna Gray being born to Thomas Gray and Annis Gray in 1625 in the Northern Neck of Virginia. I have found one reference to Thomas Graye having moved to the Machodoc area in our time frame.

Next Tuesday, October 12, 2021, I will call the Surry County Historical Society to see if they can help us. (By the way, Thomas - being one of the first settlers in that area - was from Surrey County, England. Surry County, Virginia, was originally spelled Surrey.) If I find out anything useful, I will post it here. You probably know that the stream upon which he lived near the town of Surry is named Grays Creek to this day.

I hope all is well with you.
Tom Hudson
tjhidaho@gmail.com

One other point. The geneology website I use as my core focus is MyHeritage.com. I have over 3600 people in the family tree that I manage there. Geni has been very helpful; I use it often. However, I found the MyHeritage.com tools and database more attractive. If you go to MyHeritage.com to look at the history of the Gray/Grey family, my "manager" name there is Thomas James Hudson.

One other point. The geneology website I use as my core focus is MyHeritage.com. I have over 3600 people in the family tree that I manage there. Geni has been very helpful; I use it often. However, I found the MyHeritage.com tools and database more attractive. If you go to MyHeritage.com to look at the history of the Gray/Grey family, my "manager" name there is Thomas James Hudson.

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