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Note: directories as Thomas W. and others as William Thomas. We have a picture of William T, Zuella and the 3 girls, Helen,Bessie and Anna. The Gray family seemed to maintain the 1229 Wyoming address. This street name was later changed to Custer. William Ernest Tracy lived there in the early years Ernest and Bessie were married. Unable to find him in 1880 census of Missouri but found Zuella age 17 living with her mother and brothers John and Abraham in Boonslick Mo.
1900 census of Wyandotte Co Kansas KCK page 14 lists him as Thomas Gray and born Oct 1859 age 40. Wife Zuella age 37 Bessie 18 Annie 15 Helen 9 Roy A. 6 and Wayne 1. Living at 232 No Boeke KCK. They probably moved here after leaving Missouri.
Aug 01: Again found Thomas and William both listed at the same address and found Roy Tracy as well (this would be his son LeRoy) William T is buried at Maple Hill Cem. KCK with Zuella in Blk 11 Lot 90. Grave visited 9/27/01. Nice headstone.
1/02: Original birth date now believed to be the correct one (1856?)
The family lived in Howard Co. Mo. Bessie was born there in 1882 but the other children were not.
There is an infant Gray buried in Maple Hill Cemetery Lot PF Argentine blk. Not sure if any connection to this family.
May 2004: Still searching for William T Grays parents.The best guess at present is the info from 1860 Mo Howard Co Boonslick pg 1.Listed are William T Gray age 5 son of Frances (a female)age 33. No male head of household. Also another son James S age 7 (or 9). Also living with them is a Ruth Jones age18 (may be a sister of Frances whose maiden name was Jones). The 1850 census of Howard Co has a James Gray as head of household age 29 b Kentucky with Frances age 23 b MO and James W age 70. Also are Araminda 14 and H.C.16. This family is probably connected. Confusing the issue is another James Gray age 28 b KY, Frances age 26 b MO and James W Gray age 1 also in Howard Co same census page 157. The later is the most probable however Frances is 3 years off in age to fit.
It appears that William's father died when William was a baby and that an older brother James Wiley Gray died at age 2 in 1850. Another son was named James S. and was born in 1853.
Williams death certificate states his birthdate as Feb 7 1868 and that he was 71 years 11 months and 2 days when he died. This would be incorrect and if he was born Feb 7 1856 he would have been 84 years old at death.
Name has been found spelled Grey in many places.
1915 Johnson Co KS census: listed as W.D. (I entered a correction) age 55 Z.E. 51 Wayne 16
1925 Wyandotte Co KS: Wm age 65 Zuella 61 at 1229 Wyoming (Custer)
son Wayne A Gray age 26 and Nellie age 24 at 1214 Custer
son Arthur Gray age 31 Margaret age 28 at 1210 Custer with 3 children
Evelyn E age 7 Gwendolyn age 5 Bettie Lee age 1 The consensus seems to prove out his birth year as 1856. October is shown as birth month in the 1900 census of Wyandotte Co. There are several errors on documents concerning his birthdate. The census of 1860 shows him age 5 which would be close. He would actually be 4 yrs and 5 mos in July 1860 when the census was taken.
Note: Some confusion about William Thomas's name. It appears in some census and city
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