John Bray and his wife Jane were my fourth great grandparents. John Bray was born in North Carolina and died in Anderson County, Tennessee. Jane was born in Virginia and died in Anderson County, Tennessee. Their son Edward Payne Bray was born in Kentucky, but he married and raised his family in Anderson County, Tennessee. So I think of the Brays as one of my Anderson County, Tennessee families.
Edward Payne Bray later moved around a bit. He was enumerated in the 1870 census in Knox County, Tennessee, but in a part of Knox County which is very near the Anderson County line. He was enumerated in the 1880 census in Roane County, Tennessee, but Roane County is adjacent to Anderson County. He moved to Missouri after the 1880 census. I don't know exactly when or where Edward Payne Bray died.
My nearest Bray ancestor was my great grandmother Mary Mahala Jane (Mahala or Haley) Bray. She is remembered in the family as Nother Mama. Nother Mama was my mother's maternal grandmother. While my mother was growing up, Mahala Bray was a widow and lived with the family. My mother's mother was called "Mama" by the family. Mahala Bray represented a second "mother figure" living in the family, so she was called "Another Mama" by her grandchildren, quickly shortened to "Nother Mama".
For the purposes of this Web page, I have broken my Bray data into descendants of John Bray and ancestors of John Bray. I could easily present the data as one larger tree. But I consider the descendancy tree for John Bray to be well researched and as accurate as I can make it. The ancestry tree for John Bray is more speculative, but it represents my best guess based on available evidence. So I decided to split the tree.
None of the ancestry tree for John Bray really reflects any of my own research at this time. Rather, it reflects the efforts of (distant) cousins who are very thorough and reliable. I am very grateful for their efforts and for their sharing with me.