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From: <>
Subject: [RHEA-L] Tennessee Rheas-
Date: Sat, 21 Feb 1998 23:23:09 EST

To the Rhea-l group- There are 8 or 9 of us cousins in this group who descend
from John Rhea Sr (b. abt 1760- d, abt 1848)of the Hancock Cty ( Sneedville
) Tennessee area. It is not proven that we are connected to the main group of
Rheas. All of us are searching for the parents and origin of John Rhea Sr
(wife Febra ---probably Febra Norcross or Northcross -- she, probably an
Indian and probably Cherokee)

The following message was sent me recently by one of the cousins.
Unfortunately, she is committed to other projects for the next several months
and has asked others of us to gather whatever information this posting may
evoke.

We ask that you read the following and PLEASE SEND ANY INFORMATION THAT WOULD
either tend to PROVE or DISPROVE the possibility that the below mentioned JOHN
and HANNAH RHEA might be the parents of John Rhea Sr.

the text of her e-mail follows:

I copied parts of this book a few years back and have rediscovered it and
went back to Salt Lake to copy more. I think there is a good possibility that
the John and Hannah Rhea mentioned here could be the parents to John Ray sr.
Unfortunately This account is very sparsely documented and needs a lot of
work. Most of this stuff I have heard before in various places and probably
have some of the documentation in my files. My Frosts, who of course married
into the Ray line via Celia, were also in NC. VA. And Washington county before
they came to Tennessee. I know I have seen a Joseph Ray in the state of
Franklin records spelled as I recall RH-E-A and Wray and R-A-Y.

You may send whatever you want to the others just make sure they realize it
is the work of Joseph Ray Jr. I dont know if he is still living or not but he
obviously related to the Blackenbecker-Blackenbaket line. I have tried to not
leave anything out. I have read this book at Ft Wayne Library and at the SLC
library, I dont know whether they have filmed it.

Joseph wrote the rest (the words in parenthesis are my editorial comments.
Please keep me informed of your opinions and what the others have to say )

Copied from Ray- Rhea
A family book of History and genealogy for the Rhea and related families.
By Joseph C. Rhea , Jr. 1969

Thus we begin the History of a segment of the Rhea- Ray families. Little more
than a half a century passed between the death of the ninth earl of Argyle and
the point in time we begin the narrative of John Ray. While resemblances
between members of the John Ray and Matthew Campbell, Jr. are pronouced and
there exists several notations that Reverend Joseph C, Rhea (Parish Laughlin,
Ireland and Joseph C. Ray (Rhea) were cousins. I t cannot be stated on the
basis of Documentary evidence that the 2 families are related.

John Ray was born in approximately 1720. He married Hannah Hasty and resided
in the province of Connaught, county Roscommon. (Said to be the home of the
Irish Country Folk) It is not known with any degree of certainty what the
occupation of John was. However a silver spoon found in the Lewis Blankenbaker
family indicates that he may have been a silversmith. (Lewis Blankenbaker has
some research found on the Family Tree website that deals with later Rheas I
cant remember how or if they tie in. It would seem from this comment they do.
This book has a chapter 5 that deals with the Blankenbakers. Next time I am in
Salt Lake I will look this up.)

John and Hanna (Hasty) had 7 children. According to the author there is no
record of their births and deaths but genealogical reports around 1900 give
the following order of birth. (Don > as a note he gives no documentation for
which genealogical reports) John, James, William, Joseph C. (The authors
direct relative of whom much is written in this book and who I think could be
the brother to the father of our John sr.) Thomas, and Hannah. The 7th son is
generally reported as unknown, although the reports give the name as Hamilton.
(What Reports?)

Sometime between the years of 1770 and 1790 the decision was made that the 5
eldest male children would emigrate to the United States. It is not known
when this decision was made, or whether all the boys emigrated at the same
time,They landed at Philadelphia the source says (What Source?) The source
indicates that John and Hannah later followed their children to the United
States, First to NY then to Virginia.

John Ray Jr. was possibly born between 1740 and 1742 and is reported to have
settled in North Carolina. His youngest son was born in Virginia, and other
records indicate that the family may have finally settled in East Tennessee.

Little is known of this John Ray, the brother of Joseph C. Rhea.The
genealogical record that have been discovered and accumulated to date are
presented in the hope they will serve to promote further research. This
presentation may help to bring to light the descendents of the other brothers,
William, and Thomas who may also have settles in Eastern Tennessee, Anyone
Having information of the descendents of John, William, or Thomas should get
in touch with the author. (Unfortunately He doesnt indicate where he may be
reached)

The other brothers are listed in the book with the following sparse
information.
James Ray: worked as a whitesmith (Tin smith) settled in Philadelphia
or Western Pa. (I think I have run into this guy in Washington county Pa where
I have done other research on other lines) He spelled his name R-A-Y.

William Ray is believed to change his name to R-H-E-A.. He is
usually reported to have settled in West Virginia or Eastern Tennessee. One
account indicates that he had a large family"

Joseph C. Ray, who later changed his name to R-H-E-A is reported to have been
born in 1746. He emigrated and settled in Western Virginia, ultimately
settling in Washington county VA. He married Margaret McComb. His
descendents are the major subject of this volume. He died in 1807 at the age
of 61. His actual date of death according to Washington County Will books was
sometime in October of 1829. (This is actually what the book says, i.e.: the 2
different death dates, obviously we need to check the Washington county will
record. Several records, none of them official, state that our Joseph C. was
a revolutionary war soldier and fought at the battle of Kings Mountain,
October &, 1780. The single record of a Joseph C. Rhea of the 8th VA rat.
Frequently cited in this respect, actually belongs to the son of Rev, Joseph
C. Rhea. (Therefore the author recognizes there are 3 Joseph Rays. Rev.
Joseph Ray Sr,.,Joseph Ray Jr., of 8th rgt. And his direct relative of whom
his book is about Joseph C.Ray who may have been cousins back in Ireland.)

The author claims that His Joseph C. Ray traveled through Virginia or North
Carolina on their way to Washington County.It is not known exactly when
Joseph C. (Ray) Rhea arrived in SW Va. Or exactly where he first settled. All
accounts (Again what accounts?) state that he settled in Augusta County VA in
the part that became Washington County. However no account of him exists until
August 17, 1802 when Joseph C. bought a farm.

Joseph C. Married Margaret Mc Comb. She died before her husband and had 10
children by him the oldest being 20 when they bought the farm in 1802. They
had 2 more children after 1802.

I have more on this gentleman. If you want me to snail mail the whole bit let
me know. Send me your address again, I know that I have it but I have packed
it away.

Thomas Ray, who may have changed his name to Rhea is reported to
have emigrated to Easter Tennessee. No more known

Hannah Ray and the son variously called unknown and Hamilton
were according to all accounts born in Ireland. One account states that she
married twice. But no records have been found.

end of quoted e-mail and quoted portion of book.

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