(The following biographical sketch of William Abraham and Abigail Ann (Gray) Gray appeared in "Some Descendants of Thomas and Jane (Jefferson) Stephens of Baltimore County, Maryland, 1745-2005" by Edmund G. Fisher, 2005. It is reprinted with the author's permission.)
Abigail Gray spent the first four years of her childhood at Flint Hills, Iowa, or "Burlington," as it was later renamed, where her father was a founding partner in the Gray & Stephens dry goods establishment. In 1839 she made a thrilling overland journey with her parents to Gonzales, Texas, where her enterprising father began a short career as a horse trader. By 1842 she was again living with her parents in Iowa, first at Agency City, where her mother's sister, Agnes Sturdevant, lived, and then briefly in Hard Fish, near another of her maternal aunts, Margaret McIlvain. Agency City and Hard Fish were both small frontier settlements in Mahaska County, Iowa.
In May 1843, Abigail settled with her parents on a 360-acre homestead on Gray's Creek, several miles from the Des Moines River in what is now Monroe County, Iowa. She was educated with her siblings in the pioneer schools near her childhood home. According to family tradition, during her youth Abigail became acquainted with several legendary local Indian tribal chieftains, including Black Hawk, Wapello, and Keokuk.
On December 18, 1853, at Gray's Creek, Monroe County, Iowa, Abigail married William Gray, a Maryland-born farmer who had lived in Iowa with his widowed mother since early in his childhood. During the first months of the Civil War, William began a four-year enlistment with the Iowa Volunteer Cavalry, Third Regiment. Late in 1862, while at the front lines with his company, he was taken prisoner by Confederate troops, and, after a brief incarceration, was parolled to the Union command. Alonzo Barber, Abigail Gray's brother-in-law, was a fellow member of the Iowa Third with William, and the two men shared many wartime experiences which were recorded in a journal kept by Alonzo. Both Gray and Barber were honorably discharged in August 1865.
William and Abigail Gray spent the first decade of their 58-year marriage on farms in Wayne and Decatur Counties, Iowa, but after 1863 they resided permanently at Albia, in Monroe County. They had seven children. Abigail died at 76.
Abigail Gray spent the first four years of her childhood at Flint Hills, Iowa, or "Burlington," as it was later renamed, where her father was a founding partner in the Gray & Stephens dry goods establishment. In 1839 she made a thrilling overland journey with her parents to Gonzales, Texas, where her enterprising father began a short career as a horse trader. By 1842 she was again living with her parents in Iowa, first at Agency City, where her mother's sister, Agnes Sturdevant, lived, and then briefly in Hard Fish, near another of her maternal aunts, Margaret McIlvain. Agency City and Hard Fish were both small frontier settlements in Mahaska County, Iowa.
In May 1843, Abigail settled with her parents on a 360-acre homestead on Gray's Creek, several miles from the Des Moines River in what is now Monroe County, Iowa. She was educated with her siblings in the pioneer schools near her childhood home. According to family tradition, during her youth Abigail became acquainted with several legendary local Indian tribal chieftains, including Black Hawk, Wapello, and Keokuk.
On December 18, 1853, at Gray's Creek, Monroe County, Iowa, Abigail married William Gray, a Maryland-born farmer who had lived in Iowa with his widowed mother since early in his childhood. During the first months of the Civil War, William began a four-year enlistment with the Iowa Volunteer Cavalry, Third Regiment. Late in 1862, while at the front lines with his company, he was taken prisoner by Confederate troops, and, after a brief incarceration, was parolled to the Union command. Alonzo Barber, Abigail Gray's brother-in-law, was a fellow member of the Iowa Third with William, and the two men shared many wartime experiences which were recorded in a journal kept by Alonzo. Both Gray and Barber were honorably discharged in August 1865.
William and Abigail Gray spent the first decade of their 58-year marriage on farms in Wayne and Decatur Counties, Iowa, but after 1863 they resided permanently at Albia, in Monroe County. They had seven children. Abigail died at 76.
(The following biographical sketch of William Abraham and Abigail Ann (Gray) Gray appeared in "Some Descendants of Thomas and Jane (Jefferson) Stephens of Baltimore County, Maryland, 1745-2005" by Edmund G. Fisher, 2005. It is reprinted with the author's permission.)
Abigail Gray spent the first four years of her childhood at Flint Hills, Iowa, or "Burlington," as it was later renamed, where her father was a founding partner in the Gray & Stephens dry goods establishment. In 1839 she made a thrilling overland journey with her parents to Gonzales, Texas, where her enterprising father began a short career as a horse trader. By 1842 she was again living with her parents in Iowa, first at Agency City, where her mother's sister, Agnes Sturdevant, lived, and then briefly in Hard Fish, near another of her maternal aunts, Margaret McIlvain. Agency City and Hard Fish were both small frontier settlements in Mahaska County, Iowa.
In May 1843, Abigail settled with her parents on a 360-acre homestead on Gray's Creek, several miles from the Des Moines River in what is now Monroe County, Iowa. She was educated with her siblings in the pioneer schools near her childhood home. According to family tradition, during her youth Abigail became acquainted with several legendary local Indian tribal chieftains, including Black Hawk, Wapello, and Keokuk.
On December 18, 1853, at Gray's Creek, Monroe County, Iowa, Abigail married William Gray, a Maryland-born farmer who had lived in Iowa with his widowed mother since early in his childhood. During the first months of the Civil War, William began a four-year enlistment with the Iowa Volunteer Cavalry, Third Regiment. Late in 1862, while at the front lines with his company, he was taken prisoner by Confederate troops, and, after a brief incarceration, was parolled to the Union command. Alonzo Barber, Abigail Gray's brother-in-law, was a fellow member of the Iowa Third with William, and the two men shared many wartime experiences which were recorded in a journal kept by Alonzo. Both Gray and Barber were honorably discharged in August 1865.
William and Abigail Gray spent the first decade of their 58-year marriage on farms in Wayne and Decatur Counties, Iowa, but after 1863 they resided permanently at Albia, in Monroe County. They had seven children. Abigail died at 76.
Abigail Gray spent the first four years of her childhood at Flint Hills, Iowa, or "Burlington," as it was later renamed, where her father was a founding partner in the Gray & Stephens dry goods establishment. In 1839 she made a thrilling overland journey with her parents to Gonzales, Texas, where her enterprising father began a short career as a horse trader. By 1842 she was again living with her parents in Iowa, first at Agency City, where her mother's sister, Agnes Sturdevant, lived, and then briefly in Hard Fish, near another of her maternal aunts, Margaret McIlvain. Agency City and Hard Fish were both small frontier settlements in Mahaska County, Iowa.
In May 1843, Abigail settled with her parents on a 360-acre homestead on Gray's Creek, several miles from the Des Moines River in what is now Monroe County, Iowa. She was educated with her siblings in the pioneer schools near her childhood home. According to family tradition, during her youth Abigail became acquainted with several legendary local Indian tribal chieftains, including Black Hawk, Wapello, and Keokuk.
On December 18, 1853, at Gray's Creek, Monroe County, Iowa, Abigail married William Gray, a Maryland-born farmer who had lived in Iowa with his widowed mother since early in his childhood. During the first months of the Civil War, William began a four-year enlistment with the Iowa Volunteer Cavalry, Third Regiment. Late in 1862, while at the front lines with his company, he was taken prisoner by Confederate troops, and, after a brief incarceration, was parolled to the Union command. Alonzo Barber, Abigail Gray's brother-in-law, was a fellow member of the Iowa Third with William, and the two men shared many wartime experiences which were recorded in a journal kept by Alonzo. Both Gray and Barber were honorably discharged in August 1865.
William and Abigail Gray spent the first decade of their 58-year marriage on farms in Wayne and Decatur Counties, Iowa, but after 1863 they resided permanently at Albia, in Monroe County. They had seven children. Abigail died at 76.
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