The Gay Family came to America on the MARY and the JOHN in 1636 and settled in Dedham, Massachusetts. Three brothers came over together. Some descendants moved north to Maine in the vicinity of Waldoboro and sometime thereafter, another branch of the family moved south and married in with the Indians. The Southern branch included here begins with Henry Gay born 1628 in England.
In my personal genealogy research, I often spent days in courthouses, libraries and cemeteries, as well as considerable expense copying, records only to discover that I was following in another researcher’s footsteps. Sometimes I even discovered I was following the wrong path. I could have saved myself time, effort and a lot of money if I’d only known of the research sooner.
While not an authoritative book on Henry Gay, since this is not my family line, this book includes research I have compiled over the years which has been completed by other researchers on Henry Gay. It is up to Henry Gay’s researchers to accept or disregard the data with additional documentation. Hopefully, this book will provide a place to start for beginning researchers.
Some Southern Descendants of HENRY GAY (1628-1688)
The Southern branch included here begins with Henry Gay born 1628 in England. Descendant surnames included in this book include: ALLEN, AWBREY, AWTREY, BABB, BARFIELD, BENTON, BRIDGES, BUSTER, CASTLEBERRY, COLLEY, COTTINGHAM, DANIEL, DENNIS, DEVAUN, DOBSON, DODSON, EADY, ELBERT, FOSTER, FRENCH, GIFFORD, HANSON, HARRIS, HARWELL, HAWS, HAYNES, HEFLIN, HEMPERLEY, HINTON, HUNT, JACKSON, JORDAN, KILGORE, MCDANIEL, LANDERS, LAWRENCE, LOVVORN, MANN, MCCONNELL, MCMURRAY, MCRITCHIE, MELTON, MILNER, MOORE, NELSON, PAGE, PHILLIPS, PICKETT, POWELL, PURIFOY, REYNOLDS, RICHARDSON, RUSKIN, SANDERS, SHELL, SIKES, SIMS, STEVENS, STEWART, STOKES, STONE, TERRELL, TOMPSON, TRAVIS, TURNER, VENTRESS, WALKER, WHEELER, WILSON, WOOD, YATES
Accepting what some one else has done makes you lose the excitement of discovery. It also perpetuates mistakes made by others. As an example you show in one of your books that the parents of my $th great grandfather (Moses Johnson 1746) is a Joseph Johnson and Elizabeth Shepherd. This is not true but was posted on the Internet by someone that I know and who has since discovered the error and removed it. Unfortunately it was picked up by people that accept posted family history as gospel and now appears everywhere. The actual parents of my Moses is as yet unknown after years of searching by many real historian but it certainly cannot be Joseph and Elizabeth. Their Moses was also born in 1746 he married a woman named Mart and is buried in New Hampshire. My Moses married Ellener Havis and they are buried neat Columbiana, Ala.. The key to good history is verify, verify before you accept
Papa’s Nubbin’s
Shirl King