Richard Paynter circa 1840-1877

This great grandfather is my biggest mystery and challenge.  The first fact I have that I am confident in is his marriage to Ellen Oliver on Nov 16, 1867, in Oregon, Wayne County, Pennsylvania, by the Rev. S. T. Cramp. This information is from a notice in the Honesdale Republic, Nov 27, 1867.  The couple appears in the 1870 living in Berlin Township with 2 children, Andrew and Richard.   The last record I found was a transaction dated June 12, 1874, in which Richard sold tree bark to Coe F. Young.  By the 1880 census, Ellen is listed as a widow with 5 children: Andrew, Richard, Mary Elizabeth, Amelia Anna and Joseph E.

Based on the information in the 1870 census, I believe he was born around 1842 in England.   There are a number of R. Paynters who can be found in the ship records of the era.  My best guess is with the record for a Richard Painter who arrived June 17, 1863 from Liverpool, England and Queenstown, Ireland on the ship Olympus.  He is listed as age 23, born about 1840. Going back into the English census records, I found a boy of the right age in 1851 and 1861, with parents Richard C. and Mary Paynter in Bermondsey, St. Mary Magdalen Parish, Surrey, England.  He is no longer with the family in the 1871 or 1881 census records.  If this is my great-grandfather, he may have had 6 siblings - Mary, Elizabeth, Thomasin, Henry William, John, and Maud.

I have found two other Richard Paynter's of the same approximate age.  The other two were born in 1838, one in Buckland Momachorum, Devonshire, England and the other in Calstock, Cornwall, England. Since the birth year for the Richard in Bermondsey is closer, I am leaning toward him being the right one.


I don't know exactly how or when Richard died, but the family story is that he was bitten by a rabid dog and died 41 days later.  I have been searching through old newspapers for evidence of this, but have not yet found it.  I have found stories of rabies in the area around that time.  I have not found his grave either.

Sometime between1880 and 1900 Ellen remarried John Gummoe.  Her older children were married by then and my grandfather, her youngest son Joseph, is shown living with and working for his sister Mary and her husband in 1900.  John appears to have had a son John from an earlier marriage living with him.  John was also born in England and the records I have found indicate that he had 7 children with his first wife Jane, John being the youngest.  A daughter, Verna also appears, born September 1887.  I am not sure whether she was a child of John and Ellen or the younger John's wife.  Ellen is buried with john Gummoe in the Aldenville Baptist Cemetery, Aldenville, Wayne County, Pa.

Abel Gray 1807-1887

Abel Gray was my great-great grandfather, and the father of Ashfield Gray.   Although it is difficult to be certain that I have tracked the correct person to birth, I believe he was born in Carlstadt, New Jersey on August 27, 1807. Sometime in the 1830's he married my great-great grandmother, Phoebe.  I don't know her maiden name yet.

There is are listings for a Phebe Gray and a John Gray in Hanover, New Jersey in 1830.  I think this may be a different Phebe. The 1830 census only shows the name of the head of the household.  This household includes a woman aged 50-60, who I'm guessing is this Phebe.  It also includes 1 boy aged 15-30, 2 girls aged 10-15 and 2 girls aged 15-30.  The household of John Gray  includes 1 boy & 1 girl aged 10-15 and a boy and a girl aged 15-30 In 1840.   Abel Gray would have been about 23 at this time, so he could be in either household.

I found Abel with his own family in Hanover, New Jersey in 1840, but they didn't stay there long.  By 1850 they had settled in Canaan Township, Wayne County, Pennsylvania, where they bought a farm and spent the rest of their lives. They appear to have had 9 children: Caroline, born about 1838; Charles, born about 1842; Caleb, born about 1843; Ashfield John, born about 1851; David, born about 1855; Daniel E., born about 1857; Ida, born about 1858; Ettie A. born about 1863; and Fanny E., born about 1861.  I say this appears true because the 8 year gap between Caleb and Ashfield seems suspicious.  I wonder if there may have been other children who didn't make it to adulthood.  

I found an obituary for Abel in the September 22, 1887 Honesdale Citizen.  It reads:
"Abel Gray died at his home in Canaan township, on Sunday evening, aged 82 years. He leaves a wife and five children. Deceased was born in New Jersey; came to Wayne county about forty years ago; was an honest, industrious and conscientious man, and a life-long Democrat."

Abel and Phoebe are buried in the Canaan Corners Cemetery, Waymart, PA.  I had found their headstone a few years back, then couldn't find it again though I kept looking every year.  Ray & I finally found it again this Spring.  The reason I couldn't find it was because I was looking for an old stone.  Something must have happened to the original stone, because they now have a fairly new one. That must mean there are cousins around taking care of the grave.  I hope I meet them someday.
By the way, there is a stone for Fanny nearby.

Ashfield John Gray abt 1851-1919

Carrie Gray's father was Ashfield Gray.  This man is one of several  mysteries that I have been trying for years to solve.  I have estimated his birth date based on census records and his death based on a plaque in the Canaan Corners cemetery.   Here is the little i have pieced together.
The first record for Ashfield is in the 1860 census.  He is listed as 8 years old, living with his parents, Abel & Phebe Gray, in Canaan, Wayne County, PA.  His brothers, Charles, Caleb, & Daniel, and a sister, Ida, are also listed.  In the 1870 census he is listed as John A. Gray, still living with his parents and working on the farm.  The only sibling shown is a sister Fanny E., who appears to have been born around 1861.
According to a notice in the Honesdale Citizen on July 26, 1877, he married Della Seely on July 22, 1877 at the Methodist Protestant parsonage in South Canaan.  The Rev.  M. Berriman presided.  The 1880 census shows John A. & Della Gray living in Fell, Lackawanna, Pennsylvania with 2 children, my grandmother Carrie age 1 and her brother Alfred, 4 months old.  His occupation is listed as farm laborer.

The 1890 Scranton, Pennsylvania Directories lists Ashfield as a laborer living at 181 Belmont Street in Carbondale.  By 1900, the family had moved to Plains Township near Wilkes Barre.  The census listing is incorrect.  His name is spelled Eshfield and Della is listed as Isabella.   Carrie had already moved to lived with her grandfather by this time, but the 2 younger children, Alfred and Isabella are shown.  The 1910 census listed John as a fireman in Parsons, Luzerne, PA, with Della as the head of the household and only Alfred remaining with his parents.  The Wilkes-Barre City DIrectory for 1917 & 1918 list Ashfield J. Gray as an engineer living at 423 Hollenbeck Ave, Parsons. In the 1920 census, Della is shown as a widow.

I have only 2 clues to Ashfield's death.  One is a small green marker I found in the Canaan Corners Cemetery, in Waymart, PA, with his name, birth and death years (shown here).

The other is a story my father told me, that his grandfather died in a "buggy accicent"  I have found no other evidence of this, but I am continuing my search.

Carrie Idelia Gray 1878-1922

I know very little about my father's mother.  She was born on June 15, 1878 to Ashfield John Gray and Adelia (Della) Seely Gray.  Carrie was the oldest of 3 children. Her younger sister, Arabella (or Isabella) married Augustus (Gus) James Fitzsimmons and had 8 children. Her brother, Alfred, may have had a mental disability.  He lived with his mother most of his life but was found in the Retreat Hospital for the Insane, Newport, PA in the 1920 census.  I have located a 1914 newspaper article in which he reportedly attacked his mother. The headline on this article is as follows:
"Crazed, Twice Shoots Defender of Mother
Fires Bullet Into Border's Head and Hand, Then Barricades Himself for Twelve Hours"
In 1930 he was back living with his mother.  In her will, Della specified that Alfred was to be cared for.

Carrie was born in Fell Township, Lackawanna, PA.  She appear there with her parents in the 1880 census.  By 1900, she appears in South Canaan, living with her grandfather, Jonas Seely (photo at left) and is still living there in 1910.  Sometime in the next few years she met and married my grandfather, Joseph Paynter. They had 2 sons, Russell born in 1913 and Clayton, born in 1916.  The marriage was short however.  Carrie contracted breast cancer and died Feb 1, 1922.   She was 43 years old.   Here is her obituary, from the Wayne Independent, Honesdale, PA, Feb 7, 1922:

"The funeral of Mrs. Joseph Paynter was held last Friday afternoon at one o'clock at her late home in Waymart and was largely attended by friends and relatives. The services were in charge of Rev. Mr. Lloyd, pastor of the Presbyterian church of which the deceased was a member.  Mrs. Paynter was a highly respected resident of Waymart where she spent the greater part of her life. She is survived by her husband and two little sons, Russell and Clayton, aged 9 and 6; also by her mother, Mrs. Della Gray; one brother, Alfred of Parsons; one sister, Mrs. G. Fitzsimmons of Forest City."

Carrie is buried in Canaan Corners cemetery, next to Joseph.