|
Richard Wray (1814-1891) was the eldest of ten children of Thomas and Alice Wray. He came to America from England in 1833 with his parents and siblings and to English Prairie in 1836 with his father and siblings (his mother died in 1834 in Michigan).
His father made a claim on Richardson Road, but being a young man of 22, Richard homesteaded on his own property at 1804 English Prairie Road as soon as he could. In 1841, he married Jane Archdale, who was also born in England. They had six children from 1849-1859, four girls and two boys (one who died in infancy).
According to the 1885 History of McHenry County, Richard had “a quick, inquiring mind, and although his school-days ended when he was fourteen years of age, he had acquired a good education, which was the foundation of his success in life”. His fellow townsmen recognized his “executive ability” so choose him to fill many official positions. In 1861, he was appointed to the executive committee of the Agricultural Society of the County which met in the Woodstock Courthouse to conduct business. He was also on the County Board of Supervisors for Burton Township.
Richard bred shorthorn cattle and was considered an expert in sheep, cattle and hogs. At the1860 County Agricultural Fair, he was awarded Best in Show for his fall apples, pears and Isabella grapes (used in wine production). Three years later, he was awarded Best for two varieties of potatoes, grape wine, buck sheep, lambs, and a Durham cow, heifer and calf, all of which he was awarded “premiums” or cash prizes for. Jane Wray was on the County Fair Committee for butter, cheese, sugar and honey, and the Equestrian Committee, which would not award premiums “to anyone who rode faster than a hard gallop.”
In the 1860s, the Wray’s property tax bill included a $2 tax (about $64 today) for owning a two-horse carriage. The 1865 census showed they owned $1,515 in livestock, $540 in grain products, $180 in agricultural products, and 1000 lbs. of wool.
In May of 1867 Richard purchased a 510-acre farm on Richmond Township Section 10 in Richmond (where the Richmond Hunter Club is located) and moved there with his wife and family. He kept the English Prairie farm and rented it out.
In 1883, now an old man of 69, he was on the Executive committee of the Old Settlers’ Association of McHenry and Lake Counties, which planned the annual reunion of all the early settlers. He died in 1891 at 77 and is buried in the Imeson-Wary Cemetery.
In 1942, Frank May purchased the farm from the Wray family and owned it until 1956. Frank built a silo with his signature diamond on top and wrote his name in the fresh cement floor by the hog shed door. A second generation of the Starkweather family lives there today and they feel a special bond and guardianship over the almost 200-year-old farm. The exact ages of the two barns and outbuildings are unknown, but the farmhouse they live in was built in 1918.
Next week more about the Wray family children and what happened to Jane...
Story by Laura Frumet
| 
