Caroline Gray

[CagneyBT]

According to the 1860 census, Caroline Gray, age 19, b. 1841 in R.I., was a servant in the Borden household. The 1860 census was enumerated in June of that year.

As we know, Abby Borden’s father was Oliver Gray, son of Ellery Gray.

Is it possible that Caroline and Abby were related?

My research is preliminary, but this is what I’ve unearthed so far:

On Nov. 18, 1860, a Caroline Gray, age 19, b. 1841, married Freeman Nickerson, Jr. in Tiverton, R.I. Her marriage record identifies her parents as John B. Gray and Mary A.

Caroline Gray Nickerson, age 75, died Jan. 9, 1917 in Fall River. On the death certificate, her parents are identified as John B. Gray, b. in Tiverton and Sarah A. Sisson, b. in Portsmouth, R.I. She’s buried in Oak Grove Cemetery. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/141 ... -nickerson

John B. Gray, was born in 1807 and died on Aug. 3, 1864 in Tiverton. On his death record, his father is identified as Ellery; mother’s name is unknown, but some sources identify her as Mary Pierce or Pearce. No birth record was located to substantiate it.

Oliver Gray’s marriage record to Jane Eldridge in 1862 identifies his father as Ellery and his mother as Rhoda Gray. Some sources give her the surname “Bailey.” To further confuse matters, Oliver’s death record identifies his mother as “Prudence.” Neither a birth record or first marriage record for Oliver Gray can be located through the usual genealogy sources.

It’s possible that Ellery Gray married twice, and John B. Gray was his son from a second marriage to Mary.

Though not definitive, the evidence suggests that Oliver Gray & John B. Gray were brothers or half-brothers. In Ellery Gray’s will, probated in 1858, he bequeaths his son, John B. Gray, “all my wearing apparel.” His other children, not named, were bequeathed $22 to be equally divided. His son, Oliver Gray, was named Executor of his will. Ellery’s wife, Mary,, was bequeathed the residue of the estate.

If this Caroline Gray who worked for the Bordens in 1860 was related to Abby, they were first cousins.,

If there was a familial relationship between Caroline & Abby, and Emma knew about it, did Andrew’s marriage to Abby create her disdain for the stepmother whose cousin was once their servant? Did Emma believe that Andrew married beneath him? Was this the root of the disdain toward Abby that Emma passed on to Lizzie?

[CagneyBT]

Just an update to my previous post:

Oliver Gray’s mother WAS Rhoda Bailey. This is from the transcribed journal of Peleg Burroughs’, a Bapist minister in Tiverton, in an entry for Jan. 1796:
“Today preached with usual freedom on Hebrew 12:4...after which attended the marriage of Joseph Baley’s daughter Rhoda to Ellery Gray.” From: Peleg Burroughs’ Journal 1778-1798, The Tiverton R.I. Years of the Humbly Bold Baptist Minister, edited by Ruth Widler Sherman, published by the Rhode Island Genealogical Society in 1981
https://www.dartmouthhas.org/uploads/1/ ... ressed.pdf

Sometime after Rhoda’s death (date unknown), Ellery remarried to Mary Pierce. This is confirmed in Seven Pierce families: a record of births, deaths and marriages of the first seven generations of Pierces in America by Pierce, Harvey Cushman: “Mary, daughter of John Pearce & Deborah of Tiverton, R.I. married 1.) Dennis Records in 1808 in Westport, Mass. Married 2d, Ellery Gray, six children.”

If Mary Pierce first married Dennis Records in 1808, she couldn’t have been John B. Gray’s mother as his estimated birth date ranges from 1800 (per 1850 census) to 1807 (per death record). It’s more likely than not that the mother of both Oliver and John B. was Rhoda Bailey. It’s also interesting to note that some unverified sources refer to John B. Gray as John Bailey Gray.

Oliver and John B. are also the only two children of Ellery Gray mentioned by name in his will.'

If my research is accurate, then Abby and Caroline Gray were indeed first cousins.

Note to administration: Sorry if this should have been posted in the Heritage section.

[camgarsky4]

Seems almost too coincidental that Caroline's prior position in the Borden household didn't somehow help get Abby and AJB initially acquainted.

Adding a little more information/context in regards to the AJB household in the early '60's.

1860 U.S. Census - Emma was 11 years old and Caroline Gray, age 19, was the live-in servant.
Lizzie born July, month after the census data gathered.

1863 Sarah Borden died.

1865 Massachusetts Census - Sarah Welch, age 21, was the Borden live-in servant.
Elizabeth Morse, age 29, also resided at the Borden home and was listed as the 'house keeper'. Elizabeth Morse was a first cousin to Sarah
Borden and John Morse. She must have moved in to help Andrew with raising two young girls after
Sarah's death in 1863
Emma was 16 years. Lizzie 4 years.

1866 Abby & Andrew married. Emma 17 years. Lizzie 5 years.