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William Wray landed at Buffalo, New York, via the Erie Canal, all alone, on November 18, 1852 when he was 34 years old and made his way to Burton Township. One would presume he was related to the Wray family but his name is not listed in any family tree and somehow he didn’t get counted in the 1860 census, so there is no clue as to where he lived or what he did.
The first time he shows up in any account was when he enlisted in the Civil War on August 11, 1862 at age 44. The record shows his birth date as “abt 1818” and his place of birth as York, England. It also states he was a farmer in Burton Township. He enlisted as a private in Company H of the 95th Infantry regiment, was mustered in on September 4, 1862, and discharged on March 25, 1863 due to a disability.
This disability may have necessitated a change in his livelihood as the 1870 census shows a new occupation of “saloon keeper”. He’s 55 now and owns his home on lot 6 in the downtown area where The Grove Bar & Grill now stands. He lives alone and his real estate is valued at $1,000 (about $22,000 today), with an additional $700 in assets.
He makes it in the paper in 1876 when they reported, “William Wray is still keeping bach [bachelor] on the corner. He wants to take in boarders and will do their washing also. Old bachelors thicker than old maids. One had to move to Lake County for the women were getting too thick on English Prairie, and he talks of moving further on, for the last snow he saw the tracks of women around his house..."
In the 1880 census he still lives alone but has a new profession of “huckster” (meaning peddler). William was always on the go when the roads were passable, selling goods from his cart. He carried a full line of dry goods, notions, etc., selling anything as cheaply as possible. He was described as a “jolly old fellow, having a joke and smile for everyone he meets”. There was “no use to go away from home for your goods when Wray will bring them to your door at a less price than you can buy them in town”, said the paper.
In February 1882, they said, “The roads are good now and Wm. Wray is beaming all over with smiles to think that he can get around and gather up the farmers’ loose cash, sheep pelts and hides.” That year, Wray’s old horse died and “could pull the cart no more”. “The funeral procession was long and the remains were deposited in the sand bank graveyard, by the creek….” He got a new horse.
He made the news again in 1884 when he was having a bad time with a very sore ankle, but was still able to replenish his wagon with a new stock of goods from the city. But after seven years of peddling, the paper proclaimed, “Wm. Wray is not able to peddle now, so he will be very glad to sell you goods at his home and he will sell cheaper than the cheapest for cash or eggs.”
He lived another seven years and died in 1894 at about age 76. Because of his single status, Wray didn’t make the news for normal anniversary notices, parties, etc. So just who was he? His will gave us the best clue when he left his whole estate to Della Imeson Craine, a neighbor, who was also the executor of his estate. Left to Della was: “dry goods in a peddler’s wagon, household articles, horse, wagon, bob sleigh and harness”, along with the house and lot. But why would everything be left to a neighbor? Further research discovered that Della Craine’s mother was Mary Wray, daughter of early settler Thomas Wray!
A quick study of a map shows William lived only 15 miles from Thomas Wray back in England. So we can take a guess and say Thomas was probably his uncle and Della was his cousin Mary's daughter. But Della had five siblings who were still alive and not mentioned in the will. William was buried in the Wray family cemetery with his war credentials engraved on his headstone. In 1899 Dick Oxtoby “purchased the old Wm. Wray house and lot of [now deceased] Della Craine”. There still seems to be a lot of unanswered questions about William, but they will have to wait for a future historian or genealogist to answer.
Story by Laura Frumet
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