John Henry Bray

Spouse: Hannah Shelton Other: Age 95 years, 6 months, and 17 days. "He was perhaps the oldest man in the county" -- from the Diary of Elam Harvey, Nov. 25, 1875. "John H. Bray of Mooresville, one of the oldest citizens and one of the first settlers in Morgan County, died last Friday." Born May 8, 1780. Father of Asa Bray.

[From the Morgan Co. Republican for Oct. 20, 1870: "The oldest Mason, John H. Bray, now living in this county, was made a Mason in Virginia in 1802 and has therefore been a member of that Order sixty-eight years."]

[From the Morgan County Republican for Sept. 14, 1871: "John H. Bray is one of the oldest residents of Indiana...He was born in Chatham Co., North Carolina, May 9, 1787. [Son of Henry and Keziah Huff Jones Bray.] He went to Kentucky in 1803 and to the Indiana Territory in 1815, settling in Jefferson County, and moved to Morgan County 49 years ago. Mr. Bray has raised twelve. Never had a death in the family til his youngest daughter, who died after marriage and having a family of four children."]

He had a fulling mill on McCracken's Creek, with the machinery powered by water from a brush dam. As long as he lived, he was called "Fuller John." (Source: A Brief History of Mooresville and Vicinity, by Almira Harvey Hadley.)

Married on Dec. 24, 1807 in Madison Co., Kentucky. Father of: Elizabeth, Henry, Mary, Kezia, Susannah ("Susan"), Edward William, John S., Sarah, Asa, Eunice, Gulia Elma, and Hannah. [Cemetery index gives his wife's name as Sarah.]

Cemetery: White Lick Obituary Source: Martinsville Republican, Dec. 2, 1875 Source Information: Cemetery index/Friends Records-Mooresville Library Legacy Link