John Bray (ca. 1751-1834)

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This white person has 3 related events in the database, listed at the bottom of this page.
Identifier
NJS-PER-00614
Given Name
John
Family Name
Bray
Birth Date
1751
Death Date
1834
Sex
Male
Occupation
Marketing, Retail, and Trading
Biographical Description
John Bray was an enslaver who lived in Middlesex County during the Revolutionary Era.

It seems he was born in Piscataway around 1751, although this date is uncertain. He was the son of Daniel Bray (1716-1778) of Piscataway. He was a merchant and did business at Raritan Landing and in New Brunswick, providing supplies for the Continental Army during the war and then supplying the New Jersey Militia in the 1790s. In the early decades of the 19th century, he was the president of the Old Fountain Company, which delivered water to New Brunswick residents.

The 1830 U.S. census shows that he had 3 Black people in his household, one being an enslaved man aged 24 to 35, and two being Black boys under age 10. The boys are listed in the census as "free colored persons," but it is important to keep in mind that the federal census did not have a column for recording "slaves for a term," and Black children were usually listed as "free," when in fact they were not. Most Black boys in New Brunswick were "slaves for a term" until the age of 25 under New Jersey's gradual abolition law.

John Bray placed ads for the sale of enslaved people in local newspapers. He died in 1834 and mentioned an enslaved girl named Flora Ann in his will.

He is, no doubt, related to Queen's College (now Rutgers) alumnus John Bray, class of 1780, but the exact relationship has not been confirmed.

The Bray family of colonial New Jersey originated with the Rev. John Bray, a Baptist minister who settled in Monmouth County in the 1680s. Different branches of the family are associated with Middlesex County, where they had a trading business along the Raritan River (Piscataway, Raritan Landing, and New Brunswick), and with Hunterdon County (particularly the areas of Kingwood and Lebanon), where they acquired large tracts of land and were engaged in farming, sometimes with the use of enslaved labor. Because their progenitor was named Rev. John Bray, the name John was carried on in the family and each generation of the family has several men named John Bray, often leading to confusion when it comes to connecting different records associated with this name.
Keywords
white person
enslaver
Places
New Brunswick
Piscataway
Raritan Landing, Piscataway
Enslaver of
Flora Ann
Child of
Daniel Bray (1716-1778)
Spouse of
Ellen Tunison Bray
References

Stillwell, John Edwin. Historical and Genealogical Miscellany: Data Relating to the Settlement and Settlers of New York and New Jersey. Vol. 3, Early Settlers of New Jersey and their Descendants. New York, N.Y., 1914. https://archive.org/details/historicalgeneal03instil/page/216/mode/2up.

From Alexander Hamilton to John Bray, 1 September 1794, Founders Online, National Archives. [Original source: The Papers of Alexander Hamilton, vol. 17, August 1794 – December 1794, ed. Harold C. Syrett. New York: Columbia University Press, 1972, p. 170.] https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Hamilton/01-17-02-0137.

Enclosure: Payments for the Support of the Civil List, 26 December 1794, Founders Online, National Archives. [Original source: The Papers of Alexander Hamilton, vol. 17, August 1794 – December 1794, ed. Harold C. Syrett. New York: Columbia University Press, 1972, pp. 498–543.] https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Hamilton/01-17-02-0471-0007.

Pierce, Morris A. "New Brunswick, New Jersey," in Documentary History of American Water-works. http://www.waterworkshistory.us/NJ/New_Brunswick/.

Yamin, Rebecca. Voices from Raritan Landing. https://www.middlesexcountynj.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/1618/637659405279870000.

Goodspeed, Marfy. "Bray Family." Goodspeed Histories: New Jersey History and Genealogy (blog). https://goodspeedhistories.com/category/families/bray-families/

This person is represented on the following page(s):
Find a Grave: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/241336339
Record Contributor
Jesse Bayker
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