Family:William Gay and Margaret Walkup (1)

Caution! There are many errors in research of the Gay family of Augusta County, Virginia. It is highly suggested that the following source be consulted before any changes are made to this family.

Gay Families of Augusta and Rockbridge Counties, Virginia Author(s): Robert H. Montgomery Source: The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 59, No. 2 (Apr., 1951), pp. 195-215 Published by: Virginia Historical Society

CHRONICLES OF THE Scotch-Irish Settlement IN VIRGINIA EXTRA CTED FROM THE ORIGINAL COURT RECORDS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY 1745 -1800 ABSTRACTS OF WILLS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY, VIRGINIA. AUGUSTA COU NTY COURT. WILL BOOK NO. 2. ADDITIONAL MEMBERS OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE. page 39 Page 113.--9th May, 1755. William Gay's will of the Calf Pa sture--Wife, Margaret; eldest son, John, the plantation George Campbell lives on, formerly held by James Stevenson; to son, Robert, plantation testator lives on; to daughter, Mary; to daughter, Agness. Executors, wife and brother John Gay. Teste: Wm. Elliot, Jno. Fulton, James Stevenson. Pro ved, 20th August, 1755, by all witnesses. Executors qualify , with sureties Wm. Eliot, Ro. Campbell, Robert Gay.

In the Chronicles of the Scotch-Irish Settlement in Virgini a, Extracted from the Original Court Records of Augusta Cou nty, 1745 - 1800, by Lyman Chalkley, Vol. 1, p. 78: Nov. 16 , 1757: William Gay's estate to besettled and dower assigne d to the widow, Margaret Hamilton. p. 100: Aug23, 1762: Beverley's Executors vs. John Gay and Wm. Hamilton and Margaret, his wife, late Margaret Gay, Executor of Wm. Gay, decd . --Agreed. p 145: William Gay, orphan of Wm. Gay, deceased , to be bound to John Wahub.

http://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb/va/rockbridge/bios/bio-g.txt

GAY - William Gay, who fought at the siege of Londonderry, had at least six children who came to the Calfpasture. These were William, John, James, Robert, Samuel, and Eleanor. Robert and Samuel did not long remain in the locality. Eleanor married William Kincaid. William Gay, who owned 900 acres on what is wrongly called Guy's Run, died in 1755. His wife, who was Margaret Walkup, afterward married William Hamilton. James Gay, son of the pioneer James, and his brothers-in-law were the first men to introduce cattle of an improved breed into Kentucky. The Gays of Kentucky are derived from the Rockbridge families. They are among the largest landholders in the Bluegrass region and are connected with scores of the historic families of that state. Henry Gay, who married Jane Henderson, was a brother to the pioneer Gays, or at least a near relative, and he lived a while on the Calfpasture. His son, John H., born in 1787, became a millionaire merchant of St. Louis. Edward J. Gay, son of John H., was the largest sugar planter in Louisiana, and left an estate worth $12,000,000. The sugar mills and plantation are still in the Gay family.

Source: A History of Rockbridge County, Virginia by Oren F. Morton, published in 1920.

Transcribed and submitted by: "Marilyn B. Headley" <[email protected]>, 1997

Note

The existence of William Gay and Margaret as the progenitors of the early Gay Family in Augusta County, Virginia has not been supported by facts and source information, based upon the research of John B. Robb of Virginia, who has extensively researched this family.