From Adda Lewis:
"According to information passed down through the generations, and told by some of the older descendants, James Ray came from North Carolina to Pike Co., Kentucky at the age of 16. My grandmother, Polly Ann Ray, said she had always heard he was driving a herd of cattle when he came to Pike County.
He obtained a land grant from the government. The home he built was said to have had the front door underground to keep the wild animals out. He traded part of this land to Watt Burris for a 22 rifle and a horse.
This land is located on Brushy Fork on Johns Creek in Pike Co., Kentucky and now has a road sign, "Ray Branch" leading to the site of where the house once stood. Large rocks that once was part of the chimney are still lying on the ground at the old home site. An old barn that was built by one of his sons (Thomas or Joseph) still stands a few yards away, and is still in use by a Ray descendant, Wayne Ray.
James was said to have been very discreet about his parents. He supposedly visited them occasionally, but mentioned little of them. Where they were living at that time is unknown.
James and Polly are both buried down the road from the old home site on top of a small hill in the family cemetery. These graves are marked with large flat rocks and the writing on James's grave is barely visible today, while writing on Polly's marker is completely eroded."
