I have had a couple of kind responses to my quest for John Bray. As part of that, I am looking for further information on the children of Thomas Bray who married Elizabeth Bowlby. I can find no birthdate for their son, John, who went to Canada, but it is certainly the same time frame.as my gggrandfather John who was born 1783. I have a copy of an extract from Pioneer Families of Northwestern New Jersey, by William Armstrong that describes Thomas, the son of Andrew Bray of Monmounth Couty Thomas Bray who married Elizabeth Bowlby, they had nine children. ...They lived in Warren county, N. J. Thomas was a loyalist and later in life removed with some of his children to Canada. Nine (sic) children of Thomas and Elizabeth Bowlby Bray: I. Rachel married James Egbert II. Mahlon married Rachel Freeman (Mahlon was born in 1776 according to other sources) III Anne married Abraham Woolston (Anne's was born in 1779 according to other sources) IV. Abraham married Mary Haggerty V John removed to Canada where he married three timess. no further record. VI Mary married Jacob Taylor. they lived in Mansfield township where Jacob owned amill and a frarm. They had two children: Lydia who married John Johnson and lived at Washington, N. J. and George who married sine prole Sarah Fritz VII Richard married Anne Tindall and settled in Michigan about ten miles from Pontiac I X Jesse married Miss Boltonhamer and removed to Canada Both Mahlon and Jesse turn up in "Upper Canada" (Ontario) as does the name John.. My ggrandfather described his father, John as follows: "His father, John Bray, was a native of Warren County, N.J.(which would have been Sussex back then) and was a tanner by trade although he followed farming to some extent. He died in Canada in 1867, at the advanced age of eighty-four years, having been born in 1783. He was a British soldier in the War of 1812. His wife was Joanna Swayze of New Jersey, died in 1854 at the age of 61 years. Both she and her worthy husband had been for many years active members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Their three children still survive them. " He also adds: "He is very naturally and properly proud of his ancestry, his great grandfather having come from Yorkshire, England, before the time of the Revolutionary War. Richard, the grandfather of our subject, was a Revolutionary soldier and died in New Jersey. " There is no mention of any previous families, but it certainly was possible and my ggrandfather could have been mistaken on the name of his grandfather. John was 52 when he married Joanna and she was a widow with three children at the time. She had 3 more children with him. My ggrandfather didn't mention this either, but the info is well documented in the Swayze line which is extensive in New Jersey. I have not been able to find any reference to a Richard Bray in Sussex or Warren Counties.. -----Original Message----- From: Barbara Bizani [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Sunday, September 02, 2001 11:11 AM To: [email protected] Subject: [NJSUSSEX-L] Bray in Sussex county Thank you, Brenda, for your kind offer. I'm interested in any Bray's in Sussex County. I'm particularly trying to connect my GGGrandfather John Bray who was born in what was then Sussex in 1783 with any other Bray families there. Given the large families that the English had then, he must have had siblings. My ggrandfather recorded that John's father was Richard Bray, but he could have been mistaken. There was a John Bray, son of Thomas Bray born somewhere around there around the same date. They both have in common that they went to Ontario because of their loyalist connections. Thomas's ancestry is fairly well documented with the Monmouth County Brays. Barbara Bizani in California [email protected]