Mel Ray married Mary Jane
Byrom (1845-1915) on
January 26,
1866 in Lincoln County, Tennessee.
He then married Annie Moorhead. According to the 1910 Moore County, Tennessee
Census they had fifteen children and eleven children were still living. They had
been married for 43 years. Both Mel Ray and his wife, Mary Jane Byrom, were
buried at Hurricane Church Cemetery.
(Big Hurricane Baptist Church Cemetery), Moore County, Tennessee.
William Melvin Ray joined CSA on Dec 1, 1861 and was discharged on Nov 15,
1862. He states below in Confederate Pension Application he was married and had
3 children plus a grandchild age 4.
NAME: Ray,
W.M.
PENSION #: S4961
COUNTY: Moore
UNIT: 37th Inf.
The pension file of Melvin Ray produced the following notes from my review in
January, 2003:
William Melvin Ray signed his
Confederate pension application and wrote and signed several documents in his
file and also those of James Byrom and John W. Anderton. Mel said he was born
1844 in Franklin County, Tennessee and enlisted in the 37th Tennessee Infantry
in October, 1861 under Captain Hunt and Colonel White. When the application was
file he stated that he had a wife age 55 and children 10,12
and 14 years of age plus a grandchild age 4. He stated his occupation as farming
and listed among his possessions a mare worth twenty dollars and one hog. Of his
reasons for a request he wrote "on the retreat from Fishing Creek, Kentucky I
was in rain and sleet all day and night and almost froze and have never been
well since". He contracted "pneumony" and pleurisy and was discharged in the
fall of 1862. "not able to do anything". His file
included a statement from a Dr. Taylor that he suffered from gallstones,
cystitis and an enlarged bladder. He was honorably discharged at College Grove,
Tennessee "just a few days prior to the battle of Murfreesboro" in Nov 1862. An
affidavit included in the file further states that he was (after Fishing Creek)
transported with Johnson's army to Corinth, Mississippi to the hospital at
Bontville? When General Bragg started on his raid in 1862, W.M. Ray was taken
with the army "somewhere in the mountains near Chattanooga". He "got sick again"
and was taken to a hospital near Chicamauga in Georgia and was later transported
back to Middle Tennessee where his sergeant advised that he be discharged. A
letter in his file, handwritten on company letterhead by his son W.R. Ray stated
in part:
W.R. Ray
General Merchandise, Shoes
Country Produce, Field Seeds
Tullahoma, Tennessee August 8, 1920
"I beg to ask of you if W. M.
Ray, deceased, will have to have an administrator appointed to receive his
pension now I am his son and am standing for his indebtedness", signed W.R. Ray
A later note says "private,
Company A, enlisted Dec 1, 1861 to serve 12 months and was discharged Nov 15,
1862 by reason of the transcript law". Melvin's pension was apparently granted.
Some information from his
Obituary: Mel Ray was a Minister. He professed faith in Christ when only about
14 years of age, and joined the Baptist church at the Head of Hurricane in
1861. He began the work of the ministry at the age of 21. He served four years
in the Civil War and came back home full of zeal for the work of his
Master . During his 55 years of ministerial works
he was true to his Faith in the teachings of God's word.
Submitted by Carol and Jack
Holt, Franklin County, Tennessee, carolh2000@yahoo.com
The information below was obtained from Milan
Hill
Based on an interview I had with a
person by the name of Alvin Ray a few years ago, Mel Ray was one of three men
who ambushed and killed Ky Hall along Thompson's Creek, at the junction of the
Hilltop and Smith Chapel road. Ky died in the creek, a bullet to his
stomach. They chased Ky's son (John) up Powell Hollow road to Mrs Powell's
house. Mrs Powell was John's grandmother. A gunfight ensued - John Hall was
killed inside the house- and a stray bullet hit Mrs Powell in the arm. As you
can see by his birth date he would have been a teenager when that event took
place. He stated that Ben Byrom ( Gilley Stevens grandfather ?) and Clayborn
(Claiborne) Prince were the two other men that helped in the ambush. After the
ambush they took the bodies of Ky and John up and down Thompson's Creek in a
wagon to show everyone that both were dead. Apparently the Hall's had been
such a problem that these three men took matters in their own hands. Ben and
Mel later became preachers. Clayborn farmed and operated a grist mill near
Cumberland Springs. Alvin stated that information came from Clayborn Prince.
Alvin was a nephew to Clayborn Prince.He must be related to Mel Ray also. All
three men were in Company A 37th Tenn. CSA. Prince is also buried at Hurricane
Creek church. Alvin was about 17 when Clayborn Prince died. It's very likely
that Ky and his son are buried in the Powell grave yard in unmarked graves.
