John Gray married Ann Purdy in Ireland

(click to view full screen)

My ancestor John Gray immigrated from Ireland in July 1838. The immigration record stated his wife was Ann, his daughter was Elizabeth, age 3, last residence Queen's county, Ireland. John Gray's family immigrated with Nicholas Purdy's family. The two families also settled near eachother in Mecklenburg, VA. I am very thankful my friend and relative Hobson Scott Wright found this record, and sent me a copy.

A friend that visited Ireland was told that people who lived in Queens county, were often there to save up for their passage to the United States. Other Irish families (Purdy, Joyce) in the Brunswick, VA area had stated they from northern Ireland area (Armagh), so Queens county didn't really make much sense any more, as to where John Gray would be from. We now know, that John Gray married Ann Purdy in Armagh, Ireland. We do not know how or if she is related to Nicholas Purdy. John Gray and Nicholas Purdy show up in records in the Seagoe Parish, in Armagh County, Northern Ireland.  It is most likely the economic collapse of the linen industry in Armagh in 1837 that led John Gray and Nicholas Purdy to immigrate to the United States.

Elizabeth Gray, was the daughter of John Gray and Ann Purdy. She was born in Ireland, immigrated to Mecklenburg, Virginia as a toddler (age 3), and later married Washington Clary in 1857. After Ann Purdy died, John Gray married his neighbor Sarah Elizabeth Jones. John and Sarah had 9 children, one of which was my ancestor, Alginon Gray. John Gray and Ann Purdy's marriage record is attached. Click to view full screen.

guestbook information and goal

My guestbook is finally up and running! I will fine tune a few visual details over the next few days, including paying the nominal fee, so there is no ads. I want my blogs to be totally free, dedicated to just thinking about genealogy and preserving records. So, if you have Mecklenburg or Brunswick roots, feel free to sign the guestbook and state who some of your ancestors are. I have used a different guestbook for over a year on my Polish blog. That blog has received comments from around the world of people stating who and what they are looking for. The Slavic records and their availability are a bit more on the frontier in some ways, so I hoped we could all try to help each other along. People have commented they thought a guestbook could also help those searching for Mecklenburg roots. So I have now added a guestbook to see what collaborative efforts may be accomplished on the blog in this way. Click on the little icon, top right column. It is one more place for your message to be heard, (and indexed and made searchable on Google). I am listed on a few genealogy links because there is no profit or money, just the goal of sharing information and collaborative efforts. So, posting on the guestbook is one more way to get your message out about your Mecklenburg roots. I do very closely moderate my guestbook, and block spam the second I see it. Hope it may help us as we try to preserve some more of our Mecklenburg heritage!