"COUNTIES OF MORGAN, MONROE & BROWN, INDIANA. HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL."
CHARLES BLANCHARD, EDITOR. CHICAGO: F. A. BATTEY & CO. PUBLISHERS. 1884.
F. A. BATTEY. F. W. TEPPLE
BROWN TOWNSHIP AND MOORESVILLE
PAGE 218
HARRIS BRAY, a pioneer of Brown Township, Morgan County, Ind., a native of
Chatham County, N.C., is the sixth child and fourth son of six sons and
eight daughters of WILLIAM and PEGGY (BROOKS) BRAY, natives of North
Carolina, and of English descent, and was born December 24, 1798; came into
Morgan County in the year 1822; entered from the Government a tract of land
in the year 1823; settled upon it, and here as a farmer he has since lived.
Until nearly twenty-one years of age, he lived with his parents in North
Carolina. His education was limited to that of reading, and something of
penmanship was acquired at the subscription schools of his native place. In
September, 1819, he was married in North Carolina to RACHEL MOON, by whom he
had born to him ten children--BRANTLEY, now in Iowa; AUSTIN, now in Iowa;
NANCY, now in Iowa; ELI, now in Kansas; WESLEY, now in Iowa; RILEY, now
in Morgan County, Ind.; ALFRED, now in Kansas; WILLIAM, died in the army
at Buford, S.C.; ELLEN, wife of DAVID SHEETS, in Morgan County, Ind.; and
YOUNGER, died at the age of thirty-eight years. The mother of these
children died in April, 1876, at the age of seventy-eight years. Mr. Bray
joined the Methodist Episcopal Church when about forty-five years of age,
and has since lived the life of a consistent Christian. His deceased wife
was a member of the same church many years of her life, and was noted for
her purity of life and Christian conduct. Together, these two people labored
as only pioneers of a new country can appreciate. Their home was for many
years the headquarters for all immigrants to the "new purchase," and what
they had they gave freely. They inherited nothing but cheerful hearts and
strong arms, and their worldly goods were acquired by their united industry.
Mr. Bray entered from the Government from time to time in Indiana about 240
acres of land, and has put about 100 acres in cultivation. He owns now a
fine farm, where he lives, of 108 acres, all in cultivation and well
improved. He has upon this farm a magnificent quarry of blue sandstone of
much value. About 1831, he erected a still-house on the East Fork of White
Lick, about one mile from where Mooresville now stands, and for twelve years
ran it with a capacity of about thirty gallons per day. After his
conversion, he abandoned the trade in liquor. About the year 1841, he put
into operation a grist mill at the confluence of the East Fork and the main
White Lick Creeks, and ran it about three years. As the mill was run mostly
to supply meal for his distillery, he parted with it soon after going out of
the liquor business. He is a Democrat. He has been a liberal giver to both
church and school.
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