THE WESTRAYS IN THE USA
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Westray is the 23,295th most popular surname in the United States; [SourceCBN] |
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There are several trees in the USA, which many people are trying to link together. The main tree is that of Benjamin Simon Westray born around 1755 in Chatham County, North Carolina. They rapidly spread to Logan County, Kentucky. From there they moved all over the USA, including St Louis, Mississippi, and Illinois. Originally they were farmers and plantation owners and had slaves, and the members who fought in the American Civil war were on both sides.
Westray: Simon Benjamin Westray is the earliest known
member of this family and immigrated to Logan County, Kentucky from Virginia.
In his will dated March 5, 1817, Simon Westray names his wife Mary, Benjamin
his eldest son, John his younger son, his two daughters Polly and Nancy, and
his grandson Thomas Blanchard. Simon came to Logan County, Kentucky from Isle
of Wright County, Virginia. His will was probated on the 18th of May 1817. His
father's name is Benjamin Simon Westray and his mother was Elizabeth Sawyer,
both from Virginia, Simon's wife was Mary Saunders, daughter of John and
Elizabeth Saunders, also from Virginia. Simon's children were Elizabeth,
Benjamin, John Henry, Nancy, and Mary (known as Polly). John married Elizabeth
"Betsy" Gibbs with whom he had children prior to his death in March
1841. Ironically, John was killed in a fight with his brother-in-law, Joseph
Hildabrand, husband of his sister Nancy.
Benjamin, the eldest son, is
Benjamin Simon Wester! There was an argument over Simon's will and Benjamin
broke from the family, changed his name, and moved to Butler County, Kentucky.
John Henry Westray was killed by
Nancy's husband, Joseph Hildabrand, in 1842. John and Joseph had been out
drinking, got into an argument on the way home and John was killed as a result.
Joseph took over caring for John's family.
I am indebted to the work of
many researchers, principally Cal
Westray, Richard Howard (Skip)
Westray and Rocky
Strickland. I have finally decided to include their work as a tribute to
them, and so that it may reach an even wider audience, and in the hope that the
unanswered questions may finally be resolved.
I have produced the trees using GenoPro (which can be downloaded free from the link on the logo); the family listings can be seen on the links above.
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Family Trees |
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It is obvious that most these trees must be interlinked, but the documentation does not currently exist to confirm this. I have included a schematic tree to reflect this speculation. |
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