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Archiver > RHEA > 2000-08 > 0965418647


From: "Mack Rhea" <>
Subject: [RHEA-L] More stuff from my files
Date: Fri, 04 Aug 2000 14:50:47 -0500


Some of you already have this, but some others may not. This was sent to be by Kathleen Pennington. I don't know the publication or publication date. I have never seen anything else by the author.

This is an excerpt from a larger article:

THE VALLEY OF URIAH
By David Moore

"Nestled in the mountains of the Cumberland Plateau of Middle Tennessee is the valley of Uriah - Uriah York and his children, his grandchildren and his great grandchildren. If one will let his eyes travel down the valley, erasing the two or three houses, the old Crain Hill church and the cemetery, surely it will appear much the same as it did to the young surveyor from Grainger County when he first looked upon it from the bank of Rocky River more than one hundred and fifty years ago. And if he will stand quietly and listen carefully he may hear the many sounds of long ago; axes biting into trees; the bell on the oxen's yoke tinkling its accompaniment to the gees and haws of the driver; the jangling trappings of the Yankee cavalry as it invaded the valley striking fear, resentment and hatred in the hearts of the people; the school bell calling reluctant students to class; the voices singing hymns of praise to God come Sunday; share their grief as they buried their dead and hear the laughter of an offtimes happy people. Here in their great-grandfather's valley the ten sons of Oliver were born and grew to manhood.
The Yorks and Crains have gone from Uriah's valley - except for those who lie in the little cemetery. But Crains and Yorks in far away places will always be drawn to the valley of their forefathers where they will pause to hear the gentle music - and yes, the drumbeat too of all their yesterdays gaining understanding and perception for all their tomorrows.
Uriah was born in North Carolina, probably Randolph County, May 17, 1784. Sometime before 1790 Uriah's father, Seymour, decided to move his family across the Blue Ridge Mountains into what was then called the Southwest Territory. This territory did not become the State of Tennessee until 1796 and by that time Seymour, his brothers, Jabez and Jerimah along with friends from Randolph County had settled in Hawkins, one of the eight counties of the territory. By 1799 the area where they lived had become Grainger County and we find deeds indicating the York brothers bought land on Crooked Creek in Hinse's Hollow.
Reverend John Ray, former pastor of Sandy Creek Baptist Church where the Yorks had worshiped in North Carolina, moved his family west about the same time Seymour moved. This is a matter of interest to us because John's daughter, Frances, became the wife of Seymour's son, Uriah. We have been unable to determine the exact date or place of their marriage, but John Ray was living in Hawkins in 1799, then in 1805 he was paying taxes in Grainger along with the Yorks. The two families probably never lived more than a few miles distance from each other, but when Grainger was cut from Hawkins the Yorks found themselves in the newly organized county while the Rays remained in Hawkins. However, John evidently moved because he appears on the 1805 tax list of Grainger. At any rate, Uriah and Frances did marry, and we guess it was in about 1805.
The new state of Tennessee was rapidly being settled and by 1805 the United States Government had purchased from the Indians a section of Middle Tennessee and opened it to settlers. Included in this purchase was a section of the Cumberland Plateau from which White County was organized in 1806; then in 1807 part of it was organized into a new county named Warren. Slowly the settlers began to arrive from East Tennessee and beyond the Alleghneys, and on arriving their first order of business was to apply for grants of land. This boom in the land business created a need for government surveyors, and Uriah was not only a surveyor but he was a young man eager to establish himself in life, so he filled the post in Warren County.
We are not sure just when Uriah and Frences, nicknamed Fanny, moved from Grainger to Warren, but we do know the first grant made to him was dated 1813, and since the law required three years to prove a claim we assume he arrived no later than 1810. Between 1813 and 1827 Uriah obtained eight grants of land totalling 1182 acres which lay in a valley running south from Rocky River in the eastern part of Warren County.
His father-in-law appears in the early records of Warren County. So he, Uriah and Fanny along with other members of the family may have moved together. He obtained his grant of land directly across the river north from Uriah, and because he died so soon after moving west, we will devote some space here to what we have learned about him. According to the inscription on his tombstone, he was born in 1739 and we think it was probably in Virginia.
The 1790 Heads of Families for North Carolina reveals four John Rays and it has been difficult to establish which was the John we are interested in. Worth Ray devotes pages 526 and 527 of his book TENNESSEE COUSINS, to the families of John Ray and Uriah York, and we will refer to this publication more than once. In his book, John Ray is identified as the, "John Ray who served as licentiate, assistant to Rev. Enathan Davis of Sandy Creek Baptist Church in Chatham County, N.C.". Sandy Creek was in Randolph County in 1790, but it also had been in Orange, Chatham and Guilford at one time or another while county lines were being stabilized. He also mentions the land for the church had been given by Uriah's grandfather, Seymour, Sr., in 1755. The author names John's father as Moses Ray of the same area of North Carolina. Apparently, the basis for this contention is the fact that John named his first son Moses. He names John's children: Moses, born 1767; Isham, died at 21; William born1772; Mary, born1769; Joseph M., born 1775; Robert P., born 1777; Nancy, born 1782; Looney and Lewis; Frances, married Uriah York.
Court minutes of Warren County reveal Moses was appointed administrator for John's estate and one of the witnesses to the appointment was Uriah York. John died in 1813 and was buried in a little family cemetery on the plantation north of Rocky River where he lived. There were about ten graves in the cemetery when Worth Ray, the author, visited it in the 1950's, but only four tombstones remain at this time. The inscriptions on these read:

JOHN RAE
died Feb 16, 1813 age 74
for 40 years a Baptist minister

NANCY COOPER
dau of J. M. Ray
died June 1, 1843, aged 61 years

MARY BRAZEAL
dau of J. M. Ray
died 1811 aged 42 years

ISHAM RAE
died in the 21st year of his life

Elijah Drake bought the Ray land and since that time it has been referred to as the Drake place. Mr. and Mrs. Joe Lee Roscoe, present owners of the property, have protected the remaining tombstones by fencing the little cemetery."






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