Does anyone know who may have originally written this? This document was sent to Andrea Autrey Marshall by Chuck Autrey, 2000. It is a photocopy of information received by his grandfather from the National Archives. This has been retyped by Andrea Autrey Marshall exactly as originally written. Note: Every page of this was stamped “AUTREY RT. 2 BOX 210 NEWTON, TX 75966” T H E A U T R Y F A M I L Y (2) Introduction: 1. Origin and spelling of the name Autry – The name Autry is most probably of French origin. The word “Autre” means different and the final “e” could have been changed to “y”. In the United States the following spellings are found in deeds, marriage records, in United States Censuses and in other papers: 1. Autry, Autery, Autrey 2. Awtry, Awtrey 3. Aughtry, Aughtrey 4. Ottry, Ottrey, Ottery 5. Autre, Autay, Auty 6. Aubry, Audry 7. Daughtry Miss Rhoda Chavet who works in the capitol at Washington, DC and who is a descendant of Absalom Awtry in Georgia, states that there are 27 different ways of spelling the name Autry. She has worked in the Archives Department and should know. In North Carolina where the Autry family seems to have first settled in the United States the name is spelled “Autry”. The Autry’s in Georgia, all of whom moved to that state for North Carolina, use the spellings: Autry, Awtry, Awtrey, and Autery. One family near Spartenburg, S.C. spells the name Aughtry. Most of the Autry families in Alabama employ Autrey. The three spellings most often met with are: Autry, Awtry, and Autrey. Mrs. J. E. Gifford of Marietta, Georgia, a descendant of Cornelius Autry and his son Absalom Awtry, was told by her parents and by older Awtry relatives that the name Autry was originally “D’Autre” in French. The “D” or “de” was dropped and “y” took the place of the “e”. Then “w” was used instead of “u”. This may be the explanation. County, State and Federal officials are responsible for so many different spellings. Unable to spell Autry they used Ottry, Auty, Autery, and other forms. In Aubry and Audry “b” and “d” were substituted for “t” and “d” and “D” was combined with Aughtry in Daughtry. 2. The Autry home in Europe -- My father’s brother, Miles Thomas Autry, had from his father James Autry the information that the Autry family lived in NorthEast France in a village by the name of Autrey. A large map of France shows a small town, “Autrey”, in Haute Saone Province in NorthEast France, and also a village named Autryville in the Vosgaso District. Many other Autrys have written me that France was the home of the Autry family in Europe. Just following World War I in 1918, a cousin of mine, George Autry, of Amarillo, Texas, visited the little town of Autrey in Haute Saone Province in France and found that Autry families still live there. On one store building he read the name “Autry” – no “e” in it. Hence, North Eastern France must have been the European home of the Autry family. I contacted hundreds of Autrys in the United States and in two foreign countries and all except two gave France as the Ancestral home of the Autry family in Europe. One gave Glen Ayre in Scotland as his old home, and a second claimed England as the home of his family. It is very probably that some of the Autrys who were Huguenots fled to Scotland and England to escape religious persecution in France and later emigrated to North Carolina. I have just lately received a letter from an Autry who claims England as the European home of the Autry family. Also, a research worker in Charleston, South Carolina, has offered to sell me a Coat of Arms of the Autry family. Also a research worker in Charleston, South Carolina, has offered to sell me a Coat of Arms of the Autry Family. He claims the family is English with branches in Ireland and Scotland. A Great Uncle of Mrs. J. E. Gifford of Marietta, Georgia owned the old books that gave the history of the Autry family, and one of these books was written in French She herself saw these books which were destroyed after his death. The proof of the ancestral home in Europe is based largely on Family Tradition, it is true, but I have contacted dozens of Autry families and all except two give France as their old home in Europe. 3. Early home of the Autry Family in America – Early deeds, marriage records and other papers show that the Autry Family settled in Edgecomb, Pitt, Duplin, Sampson, Beaufort and other counties of North Carolina between 1740 and 1770. Cornelius Autry was perhaps the earliest Autry to settle in Edgecomb and Sampson counties. Letters from Autrys in many states all give North Carolina as the home of their forefathers in the United States. The County Records of Wilkes County, Georgia, show that Absalom, John, Jacob and Alexander Autry, the earliest Autry’s in Georgia, came from North Carolina. Micajah Autry who was killed in Alamo in Texas, was descendant of Theopholus Autry in North Carolina. The evidence in favor of North Carolina as the original home of the Autry family is overwhelming – all Autrys contacted, regardless of how their names were spelled, claimed North Carolina s their ancestral home in America, and early deeds and other records bear out this conclusion. 4. Race and Religious creed of the Autry family – Mrs. J. E. Gifford of Marietta, Georgia, a descendant of Absalom Awtry, a son of Cornelius Autry in North Carolina, has had wide contact with the Autrys of Georgia, and she states that the Autry Family is of French ancestry. Dr. E. L. Awtry of Atlanta, Georgia, had from the older members of his family that the Autrys are French people. A great uncle John Autry of Dr. E. L. Awtry’s family often spent the night with them and he gave the history of the Autry family in France and in America. My uncle, Miles Thomas Autry, of Dallas, Texas, gave me the same information. He had received this history verbally from his father, James Autry, my grandfather. All Autrys contacted who had received the family tradition with two exceptions stated that the Autry family was French Protestant or Huguenots who were persecuted in France and fled to North Carolina, but they probably first went to England or Scotland and then emigrated to North Carolina. In Georgi a and in other states they generally accepted the Baptist faith, and there are many Baptist ministers among them today. My father was a Baptist preacher. 5. Location of the Autry Family today, 1955 – The earliest Autry Family in North Carolina, seems to have been that of Cornelius Autry. He had ten or more children who first bought land in Edgecombe, Pitt, Bertie, Sampson, Duplin and in other counties of North Carolina, raised large families and these families broke up and pusehd southward into South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, and westward into Tennessee, Mississippi, Arkansas, Louisiana, Texas and on to Missouri, California and west and north. Today members of the Autry Family are found in every state in the United States and in most foreign countries. All Autrys in the United States are descended from the same family regardless of how the name is spelled. (typed from photo copy in possession of Evert Allen Autry – June 5, 1980.) 3. Outline of Families Partial Digest of the History of the Autry Line (This epitome of the Autry Story was made to be used at the reunion at Wall Doxey Park, June 16, 1963). 1. European Home of the Autry Family. – Autrey, a small town I Haute Saone Province, was given by (1) Uncle Miles Thomas Autry, (2) By most of many Autrys contacted in U.S. 2. Nationality, (1) Uncle Tom Autry gave Irish-Dutch, 2) Most Autrys contacted gave French origin. 3. Original home in America: North Carolina is given by practically all the Autrys. They first settled in Edgecombe, Pitt, Bertie, Sampson, Duplin, Moore, and Anson Counties. They first worked on Pine products. 4. Earliest Ancestor: -- Cornelius Autry in Edgecombe County, North Carolina is given by a majority of Autry families as the earliest settler in America in 1745 – this is an estimate only – he bought 160 acres of land for 35 pounds. (2) I found a deed to William Autry made 1767 with Alexander Autry having land adjoining. (3) An Autry is said to have settled in Pennsylvania.