I ordered the combined pension and service record for Joseph Columbus Ray and learned that his dad was Moses Ray and the maiden name given for his mom was Rossen but could be Rosson, with no 1st name on the Death cert. I tried an LDS site and think it might be Susannah Caroline Rosson. I would like to try and get more info on Moses and Susannah now. I had a previous message from Peggy that stated that Tennesseans in the Civil War mentioned Moses Ray was in company H of the 6th Tennessee Cav.

I learned from the service package that Joseph was only 18 when he enlisted in 1864, was a farmer and lived not only in Mcnairy, but went to Alcom County, Tenn., and Corinth, Mississippi. I think he followed his dad into the war. He had injuries from about the time of the war due to falling through a railroad bridge, which sounds like due to the type of stuff they were doing. It also appears that he might have had relatives that spelled the family name Ray as Wray and they were in Louisiana. He(Moses) is buried right next to his wife(Nancy) in the same cemetary as my grandmother(Lottie), so apparently much of the family is buried in St. Pete. I tried Find-A-Grave for Moses but could not really come up with much. I also learned that Joseph's 1st wife's name was Almira McVay, who died two years before Joseph married my grandmother Nancy Cordelia Carter. It seems like from the package that the Carter family, the Ray family, and the McVay family may have married into each other before.

Also, when I went into the Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System it showed a massive amount(in the hundreds) of Ray men who were on both the Union and Confederate side in that area of Tennessee, and upper Mississippi. It was a bit overwhelming! I feel like they are connected to the Ray Family that left Orange County, North Carolina. Thanks! Tabitha Bravo Rogers