| #3 Henry Bray7,12 was born on 22 July 1683 in St. Sepulchre, London, England. (Note: James E. Wall says this Henry Bray died in England, so the following will must go with some other Henry Bray.)
Will of Henry Bray
b.ca. 1683(?) d. 11 Feb. 1794
wife:Mary Wilson
Chatham County, North Carolina
Will Book
In the name of God amen, I Henry Bray of County of Chatham and the State of North Carolina be ing weak and infirm of body but of perfect mind and memory thanks be God, calling to mind th e mortality of my body and knowing that it is appointed once for all men to die do make and o rdain this my last will and testament, that is to say, principally and first of all I give an d recommend my soul into the hand of Almighty God that gave it and my body I recommend to th e earth to be buried in a descent Christian burial at the discretion of my executor and as to uching such worldly estate wherewith it has pleased God to bless me in this life I give and d ispose in the following manner. Item, I give and bequeath to Mary Bray my dearly beloved wife one bed and furniture and her ( saddle) as her own property, and the third part of all the rest of my household goods, chattl es and moveable estate as her own property and the use of my home plantation so long as she c ontinues to be my widow or as long as she pleases to live thereon except she marry. Item, I give and bequeath to my son Edward Bray the sum of twenty shillings to him and his he irs forever. Item, I give and bequeath to my son Henry Bray, my Land and all the remaining two thirds of m y estate with his paying out of my estate the sum of five pounds to each of my Daughters (viz . Sarah Ramsour, Mary Johnson, Catherine Jones and Elizabeth Poe) to him and his heirs for ev er. I hereby constitute make and ordain my son Henry Bray sole Executor of this my last will an d testament and I do hereby utterly disallow, revoke and disannul all and every other forme r testament, wills, legacies, bequests and executions by me in any (wise) before named, wille d and bequeathed ratifying and confirming this and no other to be my last will and testament. In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal this seventeenth day of June one thou sand seven hundred and ninety. Signed Sealed and pronounced. Henry Bray
Presence of
Tho. Ragland
Henry Bray
Siler City, NC history: The land on which Siler City eventually appeared was first mentione d in a request for a deed in 1754 by Herman Husband, a resident of the Sandy Creek communit y of Randolph County. The deed awarded him in 1757, was for 640 acres in the fork of Love's C reek entitled "The Desolate Tract". In 1769, Henry Bray purchased the tract and unlike Husban d, probably settled somewhere in the vicinity; the Bray name still exists today as a prominen t family name in the Siler City area. (Chatham Online)
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