McCray family in CT USA

Hi Jean,

Thank you for your message.

Unfortunately it may be difficult to find information on William as there are few record sources in Ireland that date that early. Also, without a more specific place of origin in Ulster it is difficult to know where to search for any possible records. Most Irish record sources- church records, land records, census records- are based on specific locations. Until you know a specific location within Ireland, preferably a parish or placename, it may be difficult to do anything more with these records.

There are a few places where you could do a general search to see if there were any McCrays recorded, however it will be difficult to know if these are descendents of your William:

The Flax Growers List:

This was part of a government scheme to encourage the linen trade, free spinning wheels or looms were granted to individuals planting a certain area of land with flax. The lists of those entitled to the awards, covering almost 60,000 individuals, were published in 1796, and record only the names of the individuals and the civil parish in which they lived. The majority, were in Ulster, but some names appear from every county except Dublin and Wicklow. A microfiche index to the lists is available in the National Archives, and in PRONI. i did a search for McCray?s however no results came back. Some results did come back for McCrea:

http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=flax1796&rank=1&new=1&so=3&MSAV=1&msT=1&gss=ms_db&gsln=mccray&msrpn__ftp=Ireland&msrpn=3250&msrpn_PInfo=3-%7C0%7C1652381%7C0%7C3250%7C0%7C0%7C0%7C0%7C0%7C0%7C&uidh=000

In Ireland in the mid-19th century there were 3 McCray households recorded in Antrim and Fermanagh:

http://www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/surname/index.cfm?fuseaction=Go.&UserID=

You can look closer at these if you search Griffith?s Valuation. this was a property valuation survey carried out in Ireland 1848-64:

http://www.askaboutireland.ie/griffith-valuation/index.xml?action=doNameSearch&Submit.x=42&Submit.y=3&Submit=Submit&familyname=mccray&firstname=First+Name&baronyname=&countyname=&unionname=&parishname=

There were 6 McCray?s recorded in the 1901 census records, again most of them in Northern Ireland:

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/search/results.jsp?census_year=1901&surname=McCray&firstname=&county=&townland=&ded=&age=&sex=&search=Search&relationToHead=&religion=&education=&occupation=&marriageStatus=&birthplace=&language=&deafdumb=&marriageYears=&childrenBorn=&childrenLiving=

Some other websites that you may find useful are:

The National Archives of Ireland http://www.nationalarchives.ie/genealogy1/genealogy-records/introduction/

The National Library of Ireland http://www.nli.ie/en/family-history-introduction.aspx

The National Archives UK ? genealogy search: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/records/looking-for-person/

The Public Records Office of Northern Ireland http://www.proni.gov.uk/index/family_history.htm

Irish Times: http://www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/index.htm

Family Search: www.familysearch.org

Genealogy links: http://www.genealogylinks.net/uk/ireland/index.html

It may be an idea to contact the Ulster Historical Foundation for more assistance, however a fee may apply. Here is their email:

enquiry@uhf.org.uk

Best wishes,

Genealogy Support

Emma, Thank you for your extensive reply. Since making my inquiry I found a book by Phillip Roger McCray published in 1993 on the history of the McCrays in America. Unfortunately the author knew little about the CT McCrays, although he did say  William McCray and his wife Margeret appeared in Hartford in 1754 at the time of the birth of a daughter. He quoted an earlier source which referred to a William. That earlier source said "So tradition goes, Samuel McCray I emigrated from Scotland with at least 4 sons...(including) William McCray who drowned..." We know that William McCray lived to 1776 (age 74)  and is buried in the Ellington Cemetary. Perhaps there was more than one William McCray.

According to the  1903 "Commemorative Biographical Record of Tolland and Windham County", William was from the North of Ireland.  That record is on the internet and I have seen a copy of an original edition at the Ellington Library. There are other Scots Irish families buried in Ellington, so apparently there was a group of them arriving in the 1700's. 

The next time we are in Ellington we will see if there is any more specific information on William. My husband's grandfather, Walter Frederick McCray, is buried in the same cemetary. My husband carries the name McCray as his middle name as his grandfather had only one living child, a daughter. My mother-in-law always referred to the McCray family as Scots Irish. 

Jean.