Henry Gray Jr

  Noted events in his life were:

• Family History: From Four American Ancestries by Peter H. Judd. Four American Ancestries:
White, Griggs, Cowles, Judd, Including Haring, Phelps, Denison, Clark, Foote, Coley, Haight, Ayers, and Related Families,
Volume 1
Peter Haring Judd, 2008

Henry Gray, b. ca. 1653, son of Lydia Frost and Henry Gray, d. 21 November 1731 at Westport, Conn. in 87th year (gs) [?77] [Old Fairfield 2: 234].

In 1692 at age ca. 39 Henry Gray deposed at the Disbroough (sometime Disbrow) witch trial and called Jacob Gray his brother [Old Fairfield 2: 234]. See Below.

He m. (1) __________; (2) ca. 1700 Hannah (Sanford) Gunn, dau. of Andrew Sanford and wid of Samuel Gunn; (3) Margaret ________ who d. 29 August 1754 at Westport. His will was dated 19 November 1731, proved 21 December 1731. Margaret was the mother of several sons; dau Martha.

Dau. Martha Gray m. John Nott [Old Fairfield 2: 234].
See Nott.

Henry Gray's deposition at the Witchcraft Trial of Mercy Disborough, Fairfield, 1692.

John M. Taylor wrote of the trial of Mercy Disborough in which Henry Gray deposed for the prosecution. “Witchcraft in the Connecticut towns reached its climax in 1692 - the fateful year at Salem, Massachusetts - and the chief center of the activity was [in the border settlements] at Fairfield. There several women early in the year were accused of the crime, and among them Mercy (Holbidge) Disborough.” [John M. Taylor, The Witchcraft Delusion in Connecticut, 1647-1697 (Bowie, Md.: Heritage Press, 1989, reprint of 1st ed,. 1908), 62.]

See below for details of the trial of Mary Disborough from John M. Taylor's book.

Henry Gray's deposition in the trial was recorded. The defendant allegedly bewitched his cow, converted a new kettle he bought of her into an old one, and she bewitched a neighbor's cow. Through the pernicious nonsense of the testimony can be perceived the rural life of the community at Compo, Fairfield.

See below for Henry Gray's deposition as provided in John M. Taylor's book.

The jury first hesitated to convict and referred the matter to the General Court. The latter referred the case back to the jury, which convicted. Mercy was subjected to the water treatment prescribed by law, bound hand and foot and placed in water; as she floated “like a cork” this was evidence of possession. The Governor pronounced a sentence of death and Mercy was executed*. The hesitation of the jury signified doubts elsewhere. Smith quotes statements by clergy condemning the trial, the only worthy outcome of the sordid business.

* This is inconsistent with the book by Taylor, see last line of the entry below which states that Mercy was pardoned.

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From The Witchcraft Delusion in Connecticut, 1647-1697, by John M. Taylor.

Note: Spelling below is consistent with the reference

CHAPTER XII
The testimonies against Mercy Disborouogh were unique, and yet so typical that they are given in part as the second illustration.

MERCY (DISBRO) DISBOROUGH

A special court, presided over by Robert Treat, Governor, was held at Fairfield by order of the General Court, to try the witch cases, and September 14, 1692, a true bill was exhibited against Mercy Disborough, wife of Thomas Disborough of Compo in Fairfield, in these words:

"Mercy Disborough is complayned of & accused as guilty of witchcraft for that on the 25t of Aprill 1692 & in the 4th year of their Maties reigne & at sundry other times she hath by the instigation & help of the diuill in a preternaturall way afflicted & don harme to the bodyes & estates of sundry of their Maties subjects or to some of them contrary to the law of God, the peace of our soueraigne lord & lady the King & Queen their crowne & dignity."
"BILLA VERA."

Others were indicted and tried, at this session of the court and its adjournments, notably Elizabeth Clawson. Many depositions were taken in Fairfield and elsewhere, some of the defendants were discharged and others convicted, but Mercy Disborough's case was the most noted one in the tests applied, and in the conclusions to which it led. The whole case with its singular incidents is worthy of careful study. Some of the testimony is given here.

HENRY GREY-The roaring calfe-The mired cow-The heifer and cart whip-Hard words-"Creeses in ye cetle"

"The said Henry saith yt aboute a year agou or somthing more yt he had a calfe very strangly taken and acted things yt are very unwonted, it roared very strangly for ye space of near six or seven howers & allso scowered extraordinarily all which after an unwonted maner; & also saith he had a lame after a very strange maner it being well and ded in about an houre and when it was skined it lookt as if it had been bruised or pinched on ye shoulders and allso saith yt about two or three months agou he and Thos Disbrow & sd Disbroughs wife was makeing a bargaine about a cetle yt sd Henry was to haue & had of sd Disbrough so in time they not agreeing sd Henry carried ye cetle to them againe & then sd Dibroughs wife was very angry and many hard words pased & yt som time since about two months he lost a cow which was mired in a swampe and was hanged by one leg in mire op to ye gambrill and her nose in the water and sd cow was in good case & saith he had as he judged about 8 pound of tallow out of sd cow & allso yt he had a thre yr old heifer came home about three weeks since & seemed to ale somthing she lay downe & would haue cast herself but he pruented her & he cut a piece of her eare & still shee seemed to be allmost dead & then he sent for his cart whip & gave ye cow a stroak wth it & she arose suddenly and ran from him & he followed her & struck her sundry times and yt wthin about one hour he judges she was well & chewed her cud allso sd Henry saith yt ye ketle he had of sd Disbrow loockt like a new ketle the hamer stroakes and creeses was plaine to be seen in ye cetle, from ye time he had it untill a short time before he carried it home & then in about a quarter of an hour, the cetle changed its looks & seemed to be an old cetle yt had been used about 20 years and yt sundry nailes appeared which he could not see before and allso saith yt somtime lately he being at his brother Jacob Grays house & Mercy Disbrough being there she begane to descorse about ye kitle yt because he would not haue ye cetle shee had said that it should cost him two cows which he tould her he could prove she had sed & her answer was Aye: & then was silent, & he went home & when he com home he heard Thomas Benit say he had a cow strangly taken yt day & he sent for his cart whip & whipye cow & shee was soon well againe & as near as he could com at it was about ye same time yt he tould Mercy he could prove what shee sad about ye two cows and allso saith yt as soon as he came home ye same time his wife tould him yt while Thos Benit had ye cart whip one of sd Henrys calues was taken strangly & yt she sent for ye whip & before ye whip came ye calf was well."

... the accused in order to her further detection was subjected to another test of English parentage, recommended by the authorities and embodied in the criminal codes. It was the notorious water test, or ordeal by water. September 15, 1692, this test was made, chiefly on the testimony of a young girl subject to epileptic fits and hysterics, who was carried into the meetinghouse where the examination was being held.
....
Mercy Disborough, and another woman on trial at the same time (Elizabeth Clauson), were put to the test together, and two eyewitnesses of the sorry exhibition of cruelty and delusion made oath that they saw Mercy and Elizabeth bound hand and foot and put into the water, and that they swam upon the water like a cork, and when one labored to press them into the water they buoyed up like cork. [Depositions of Abram Adams and Jonathan Squire, September 15, 1692.]

At the close of the trial the jury disagreed and the prisoner was committed "to the common goale there to be kept in safe custody till a return may be made to the General Court for further direction what shall be don in this matter."
October 28, 1692, this entry appears of record:

"The jury being called to make a return of their indictment that had been committed to them concerning Mercy Disborough, they return that they find the prisoner guilty according to the indictment of familiarity with Satan. The jury being sent forth upon a second consideration of their verdict returned that they saw no reason to alter their verdict, but to find her guilty as before. The court approved of their verdict and the Governor passed sentence of death upon her."

... in handwriting of Rev. Timothy Woodbridge. "Filed: Reasons of Repreuing Mercy Desbrough.

Mercy Disborough was pardoned, as the records show that she was living in 1707.

In 2023, the Connecticut legislature exponged her convition as a witch.

• Family History: From Gray Genealogy, 1887, Page 199. Henry Gray (2) had:

Isaac,
William (2), born 1685, and
Henry (3).

All the above sons of Henry Gray (2) received gifts of land from their father date of 1708.

• Family History: From History and genealogy of the families of old Fairfield, by Jacobus, Volume I, Page 234. Henry Gray, son of Henry. (Henry Gray, Jr.)

Born about 1653; died at Westport, 21 Nov. 1731 in 87 [77?] year.

He testified in 1692, age about 39, at Disbrow witch trial*, and called Jacob Gray his brother.

Married (1) _______________ _________________

Married (2) about 1700, Hannah, widow of Samuel Gunn, and daughter of Andrew Stanford.

Married (3) Margaret ______________, who died at Westport, 29 Aug. 1754.

Will 19 Nov. 1731 proved 21 Dec. 1731; wife Margret; sons Samuel, Isaac, William, David; grandson Benjamin Gray; granddaughter Elizabeth Gray; daughters Deborah Dickason (Dickerson), Mary Crane, Martha Gray.

Children [by first wife], all baptized at Fairfield, 30 Apr. 1699:

Isaac, died at Westport, 7 Nov. 1745, married ___________
Henry (III), died at Westport 29 May 1713 [Probate Recorded]; married (1) Sarah ___________; (2) Elizabeth ________________ .
William, died at Westport, 27 Aug. 1761; married (1) 23 Dec. 1714, Abigail Coley, daughter of Samuel, who died about 1715; (2) 31 Oct. 1716, Elizabeth Meeker, baptized 29 Mar. 1696, died at Westport, 6 July, 1772.
David.
Deborah, married __________ Dickerson.
Mary, married ________ Craine.

Child [by second wife]:

Samuel, baptized 25 June 1704; married (1) 24 Oct. 1734, Eleanor Sturges, daughter of Christopher, born 19 Oct. 1704, died 4 Feb. 1762 in 58 year (gravestone); (2) at Westport, 19 June 1763, Joanna Stone of Providence, who died 15 Jan. 1770.

Child [by third wife]:

Martha, baptized 6 Mar. 1714/15; married (1) in 1731, John Nott; (2) at Westport, 15 July 1759, Joseph Patchen.

___________________________________________

* In 1692, Mercy Disbrow of Compo, (part of present-day Westport) was one of six Fairfield County women accused of being witches.

• Family History: From The Genealogy of the Gray-Hort Family, 1969. The eldest son of Henry Gray, Sr., Henry Gray, Jr., born in about 1645, married Margaret Patchin and later, Hannah, widow of Sam Gunn and daughter of Andrew Sanford. Their sons Samuel, Isaac, William, and David lived in Westport, Conn., as children.

Note: This is only reference to Herny Gray, Jr. marrying Margaret Patchin. Patchin-Patchen Genealogy does not include her. It is known Henry Gray's great grandson, David Gray, son of Hezekiah, married Clarissa Patchen and his great granddaughter, Lucy Gray, married William Patchin.

Another researcher identifies Henry's first wife as Elizabeth Alcock. It is believed to be based on strong family history. Therefore, it is assumed that Margaret Patchin was Henry's third wife, not first.

• Will: From Ancestry com, 19 Nov 1731, Fairfield, Connecticut. Last Will and Testament of Henry Gray

Dated: 19 November 1731

Probate date: 21 December 1731, Fairfield, Connecticut

The opening paragraph of his will proclaims his trust in God, etc., followed by the two sentences below:

I give dispose devise & bequeath in the following manner and form. That is to say, after my just debts and funeral charges are paid & satisfied.

Imprimis I give and bequeath to my wife Margaret my dearly beloved wife one third part of my movable estate forever, and the improvement of ye like part of my real estate dureing the form of her natural life.

Item I give and bequeath to my loving and well beloved son Samuel Gray, the whole of my homested land esteemed to be about thirty acres more or less with all the buildings thereon and the remainder of my movable estate, only reserving Northeast end of ye dwelling house and one third part of my homested land ^ & Barn & cellar for my afor said wifes improvement (for) the term of her natural life as afor said. Also I give to my sd (said) son Samuel ye land ye town gave me that part which my dwelling house stands upon.

Item I give and bequeath to my three sons viz Isaac Gray, William Gray, & David Gray, beside what I have already given them, my upland & salt meadow lying on ye northwest side of Compo Creek to be divided equally among them so that Isaac shall have his share thereof in ye southwesterly part, William his share next & then David his share. Also I give and bequeath to my son David Gray twenty acres of land lying northerly of Aaron Fountain Jun's land & being a part of ye long lot that was Applegates - bounded southerly by ye sd Aaron Fountain's land, easterly by a highway, westerly by Lockwood's land, north by ye land that was Applegates.

Item I give and bequeath to my grandson Benjamin Gray the sum of twenty shillings and his sister Elizabeth five shillings.

Item I give and bequeath to my well beloved daughter Deborah Dickerson the sum of four pounds.

Item I give and bequeath to my well beloved daughter Mary Crain the sum of four pounds.

Item I give and bequeath to my well beloved daughter Martha Gray ye sum of fifteen shillings which sd bequests to sd three daughters is besides what I have hereto fore given them. And is to be paid them by my executor here after named. And lastly I do hereby constitute, make and ordain my afore sd sone Samuel Gray sole executor of this my last will and testament. In witness where of I have here unto sett my hand and seal the day and year above written.

Signed by three witnesses and Henry Gray's mark and seal

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Note: The land Henry gave to his son David is part of one of the long lots identified in the newspaper article included in the article "The Grays of Connecticuit and Bedford, New York" which is located here:

https://www.robertfgray.com/history/History_Trip_2018/The_Grays_of_Connecticut_and_Bedford.html

The land was part of lot 35 identified as "now called Applegate." Lot 34 is Weston Road. Lot 36 is owned by Jesse Lockwood. The land is in Weston.

• Cemetery: From Find a Grave, 1731, Westport, Fairfield, Connecticut. Birth: unknown Death: Nov. 21, 1731
Westport
Fairfield County
Connecticut, USA
Henry Gray died in the 77th year of his life.

"This small cemetery resides within Longshore Park near the 13th hole on the golf course. Of the estimated 36 burials at the site, only two have actual markers. Well documented is that of Henry Gray, one of the founders of our town. Gray's gravestone was damaged sometime around the beginning of the 1900's and in 1934, Wm. Gray Harmon, the 10th Wm. Gray in succession, had the stone reparied and encased in the large boulder where it stands today. The other gravestone, now illegible, is that of Nathanel (sic) Sherwood........"

"This burial ground was once part of a large 156-acre farm owned by John Hazard, whose farmhouse was used as a hospital during the battle of Compo Hill. With the lack of documentation for the remaining 34 graves, marked only with simple fieldstones, could it be that they are the graves of soldiers killed during the Battle at Compo Hill?"

From: Buried In Our Past. Used with permission of the Westport Historical Society, Copyright 2005 Westport Historical Society.
Burial:
Grays Cemetery
Westport
Fairfield County
Connecticut, USA
Created by: ann
Record added: Feb 13, 2007
Find A Grave Memorial# 17926763

• Gravestone: From Find a Grave, 1731, Westport, Fairfield, Connecticut. Original Stone

• Cemetery: From Find a Grave. Gray's Cemetery
Westport
Fairfield County
Connecticut USA

Henry married Elizabeth Alcock.

Henry next married Hannah Sanford, daughter of Andrew Sanford and Mary, about 1700 in Fairfield, Connecticut. (Hannah Sanford was christened on 4 Jun 1671 in Milford, Connecticut.)

  Noted events in their marriage were:

• Marriage: From History and Genealogy of the Families of Old Fairfield, page 234, Abt 1700.

• Marriage: From New England Marriages Prior to 1700, Genealogical Publishing Com, 1985.

Henry next married Margaret. (Margaret died on 29 Aug 1754 in Fairfield, Connecticut.)