Greenville Bray


GREENVILLE BRAY (1809-1884), who went by the name "Green," was born about 1807 in North Carolina. He moved with his parents Henry and Martha Bray to Mississippi in the 1830's. Apparently they first settled in Greene County, Alabama for a few years, and here Greenville Bray married Lavina Lucinda Smith (1814-1883); they took out their marriage license on January 28, 1834.

Lavina was the daughter of William Smith from Scotland, who had emigrated before 1800 to South Carolina, where he married and raised a large family, later migrating westward to Mississippi. Her mother's name has not yet been discovered, but in the census of 1880 Lavina stated that her father was born in Scotland and her mother in South Carolina. An excellent webpage by Mark Freeman gives an account of William Smith and 4 generations of his descendants, including the Brays. Unfortunately, William Smith was murdered by a slave in 1844 in Yalobusha County, MS.

Green Bray was a farmer in Oktibbeha County, Mississippi, and later in Chickasaw County further to the north. He & his wife Lavina raised a very large family -- 15 children, 12 of whom married. In his old age Green moved back to Oktibbeha County, MS where he lived with one of his sons for a time, while his wife Lavina remained in Chickasaw County with some of her other children (1880 census records). Perhaps one or both of them were in ill health and had to be cared for by their children.

Green Bray owned a few slaves prior to the Civil War, but they were always treated well and were like part of the family. Most of them chose to remain with the Brays even after gaining their freedom, and became sharecroppers on the Brays' land.

In this area of Mississippi many people were very poorly educated, but the Brays could all read and write. They read the Bible in their home every day. The children each got at least a couple years of schooling. Because most of them were needed at home to help with the farm work, only one or two of the children were sent to school each year, and they took turns. In the evenings they passed on the lessons to the others at home.

The Civil War and its aftermath caused great hardship for the Brays and their neighbors. There were battles fought in the immediate vicinity, and many lives were lost together with destruction of property and livestock. After the war ended the situation was just as bad, because "carpetbaggers" came through and stole whatever they could. The Brays and their neighbors had to drive their remaining livestock to an island in the river to prevent them from being stolen.

In the late 1880's two of Green & Lavina Bray's sons & their families joined the LDS Church and came to Utah on the train with their families in 1888. The anti-Mormon sentiment was very strong in the South at that time, and they were essentially forced out, which caused some bad feelings between the Brays who went to Utah and the ones who stayed in Mississippi. The two brothers who joined the Church were John Alexander Bray (1846-1908) and George Washington Bray (1853-1922), the 7th and 11th children in their parents' family. John Alexander Bray had married Irene Roland Berry in 1872, and George Washington Bray had married Masina Alice McKnight in 1877. John Alexander Bray's wife, Irene Roland ("Molly") Berry, also had family who joined and went west: her parents, two married brothers and their families, and a younger brother and sister.

Information Compiled
by Karen Bray Keeley

INTERNET Adaptation
by Sandra Shuler Bray