Person talk:Henry Gay (10)

Parentage [11 September 2011]

Was noticing a different parentage on my tree and was hoping we could produce some historical sources to differentiate which is the correct parentage.--Tsr9651 17:34, 8 September 2011 (EDT)

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Hello, I believe if you check his father's will (John Gay), you'll notice a clear indication of Henry Gay's parentage:

• Page 361.--6th December, 1759. Jno. Gay's will--To son Henry Gay (infant), part of 347 acres promised to John by his (testator's) father, Henry Gay; to wife, Mary Gay; to father. Henry Gay, all wearing apparel; to be educated in reading and writing (this must refer to son Henry). Executor, father Henry. Teste: Arthur Hamilton, Fras. McDonald, Nathanl. Davis. Proved, 20th May, 1760, by the witnesses. Executor qualified (his "H" mark), with Francis McDonald, James Lockhart.

Unless you have any records to the contrary, it looks pretty solid to me.

Best regards,

Jim:)

I guess I'm concerned that there may be two Henry Gays that we're talking about then. My ancestor is Dr. William Henry "Red" Gay who was George Washington's doctor during the Revolutionary War and I see nothing here attributing this notability to this Henry Gay. Our family history records us as "Red Bollings" and the association with the Bolling/Bowling families of Eastern Kentucky has a fair amount of anecdotal connection. The line of this Henry Gay does not correspond, though dates seem to.

Also I am aware that many lines can be convoluted to create an association with Pocahontas, sometimes beyond credulity. I will continue my research to nail down a specific assertion. The line is documented in print elsewhere and I will present some sourcing as soon as I can.--Tsr9651 17:59, 9 September 2011 (EDT)

This document from the Owsley County Historical Society best explains my understanding of the line.

http://www.owsleykyhist.net/img/Thomas_Gay_BGChristenson.pdf

This would mean that he (Dr. William Henry "Red" Gay) was a second doctor of the line and born after William Gay.

A John Gay line is mentioned in the "John Jay Dickey Diary" sourced there.

The "Red" Gay line as I understand it is also mentioned in the Wyndham Robertson text about Pocahontas, but I am suspicious of that source.

One cousin of mine set about to disprove the line and ending up finding mention of the line in a family tree of President Thomas Jefferson. http://awt.ancestrylibrary.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=gayfamilyfile&id=I000219&ti=5542

At present there is an evaluation of our question here: http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=gayfamilyfile&id=I012216 stating that "It is still being debated [as of 2010] as to whether or not ... William Gay is the father of Henry. Also whether or not this is the William that married Margaret Walkup."

In all I think this should mirror the understanding at the DNA page at world families and leave it as an unmerged line until a more definite conclusion can be reached as to differentiation/parentage of William Henry "Red" Gay. My personal doubts in verification stem from the tacet assertion that his mother would have given birth at age 49. More later.--Tsr9651 17:08, 11 September 2011 (EDT)