That our forefathers kept such detailed records absolutely astounds me every single time I read a story such as this. It's an incredible peek into the lives of our ancestors, as told by them. Thank you for sharing Samuel's words with us!
Wow I love this post Jane! What a story! I was drawn to it because my maiden name was Gray - I wonder if I am distantly related to Samuel? I admit I don't know too much about the Revolutionary War, but this really brought it to life for me. It's amazing that these accounts still exist and in such great detail.
Oh, Jane! This is fantastic. I've just been talking to folks at the Daughters of the American Revolution, a legacy society for families related to Revolutionary War Veterans. It makes me crazy that they haven't prioritized storytelling for each of these individual Patriots, on which their organization is founded. Reading a story this way, complete with maps, makes the story so much more compelling.
You've done a beautiful job. I'm now inspired to tell the story of my 5th great-grandfather, William Coffin (1720-1803), who supported the Continental Army at the Battle of Guilford County Courthouse. There's something quite magical about making these connections with friends. 🥹
Oh yes, and you know what? Your fourth great-grandfather is my fifth cousin, six times removed. Your most recent common ancestor is William Carter, 1599-1655 (my 10th great-grandfather, or so FamilySearch says.)
Thanks Barbara. I haven't researched much back on Samuel's line ... I will check out what Family Search is saying when I get home to my laptop ... Not always the most reliable but you never know!
Great story of Samuel Gray. Loved the image and the way you pieced together his involvement in the Revolutionary War. I am guessing you have some other interesting Research articles of him on your archive at WeAre.xyz.
Thanks Carole. To be honest my knowledge of Samuel is somewhat limited. I was really fortunate that his declaration of service and a transcript of his family Bible were sent to me by a cousin I met via DNA matching. The declaration can be found in my Archive at weare.xyz (and is linked to in the post). I am not sure if I have put the Bible transcript in my Archive yet. I must check as it should be there.
Thanks for looking. I will do something about that when I get home from travelling. I have been focusing on my One-Place Study Archive lately but I really need to tidy up my Family History Archive because I have shifted in the way I want to do things since I first started in.
Sometimes it's a toss up whether an article is a better approach than a document on weare.xyz. I like the way you have done that one as an article. I have tended to use Documents for his kind of thing because the transcription stays with the document wherever it goes. Theoretically, there is room for both even for the same document,
That our forefathers kept such detailed records absolutely astounds me every single time I read a story such as this. It's an incredible peek into the lives of our ancestors, as told by them. Thank you for sharing Samuel's words with us!
Thanks Kirsi. Yes so fortunate to find records like this in the person's own words ... albeit recalled by memory from years before.
Thanks Bill. Let me know if you find any Gray connections.
Great story! Some of my family lived in the same area as yours. I’ll have to look to see if there are any Gray connections.
Nicely done. Good catch you made on the county change in Tennessee. I have seen others miss that sort of thing.
Thanks David. Yes. All those boundary changes are certainly something to look out.
Wow I love this post Jane! What a story! I was drawn to it because my maiden name was Gray - I wonder if I am distantly related to Samuel? I admit I don't know too much about the Revolutionary War, but this really brought it to life for me. It's amazing that these accounts still exist and in such great detail.
Thanks Kelly.
Oh, Jane! This is fantastic. I've just been talking to folks at the Daughters of the American Revolution, a legacy society for families related to Revolutionary War Veterans. It makes me crazy that they haven't prioritized storytelling for each of these individual Patriots, on which their organization is founded. Reading a story this way, complete with maps, makes the story so much more compelling.
You've done a beautiful job. I'm now inspired to tell the story of my 5th great-grandfather, William Coffin (1720-1803), who supported the Continental Army at the Battle of Guilford County Courthouse. There's something quite magical about making these connections with friends. 🥹
Oh yes, and you know what? Your fourth great-grandfather is my fifth cousin, six times removed. Your most recent common ancestor is William Carter, 1599-1655 (my 10th great-grandfather, or so FamilySearch says.)
Thanks Barbara. I haven't researched much back on Samuel's line ... I will check out what Family Search is saying when I get home to my laptop ... Not always the most reliable but you never know!
Great story of Samuel Gray. Loved the image and the way you pieced together his involvement in the Revolutionary War. I am guessing you have some other interesting Research articles of him on your archive at WeAre.xyz.
Thanks Carole. To be honest my knowledge of Samuel is somewhat limited. I was really fortunate that his declaration of service and a transcript of his family Bible were sent to me by a cousin I met via DNA matching. The declaration can be found in my Archive at weare.xyz (and is linked to in the post). I am not sure if I have put the Bible transcript in my Archive yet. I must check as it should be there.
I don’t see the Bible transcript in your archives?
Thanks for looking. I will do something about that when I get home from travelling. I have been focusing on my One-Place Study Archive lately but I really need to tidy up my Family History Archive because I have shifted in the way I want to do things since I first started in.
I have just published a new article showing pages of a handwritten letter and transcripts beside them - just using the simple text and image format.
https://app.weare.xyz/public/allery-ancestors/articles/5jxl9hr9zrxn
Sometimes it's a toss up whether an article is a better approach than a document on weare.xyz. I like the way you have done that one as an article. I have tended to use Documents for his kind of thing because the transcription stays with the document wherever it goes. Theoretically, there is room for both even for the same document,