Gray

Grace Elva Gray was born October 1, 1899 in Bluff Creek Township, Monroe County, Iowa, the daughter of Julia Moore Gray and Owen H. Gray. She was one of eight children, five girls and three boys. The following is a photograph of her family taken in 1917. She is on the left side of the front row.

Grace's childhood was spent on her parents' farm where she attended a one room country school. She then attended the Albia High School, graduating as an honor student and was also a member of the girls' basketball team. Her father was a very successful farmer and owned a large productive farm in Bluff Creek Township. He was also very active in public affairs and at one time served on the Monroe County Board of Supervisors.

After graduating from high school and a training course for teachers, Grace became a school teacher, teaching in one room rural schools in Bluff Creek and Troy Townships. It wasn't unusual for her to ride a horse to and from school, particularly during inclement weather. She met Guy Dewey while she was a school teacher and they were married June 25, 1925.

Grace's grandparents were all residents of Bluff Creek/ Pleasant Townships in Monroe County and with one exception emigrated from County Antrim, Ireland where they made their living farming the land and as artisans. They were devout Presbyterians and very clannish. Their decision to leave Ireland was undoubtedly based on the dire economic conditions that existed and the fact that fertile lands became available for settlers in Iowa in the 1840's and 1850's. When they emigrated from County Antrim, they came as a group and settled in Pleasant and Bluff Creek Townships where excellent farm land was available. Her grandparents were some of the early settlers that founded the Service Chapel Presbyterian Church, located five miles northeast of Albia.

William Gray was born in County Antrim, Northern Ireland, and came to the U.S. in 1858 settling in Pleasant Township, Monroe County, Iowa. His wife, Margaret Harbison, was born in Portland Mills, Indiana and moved to Monroe County in 1850. They were married December 30, 1862 and farmed in Pleasant Township.

Little information is available about the Moore branch of the family other than they emigrated to the U. S. from County Antrim with the group of Presbyterians that settled in Bluff Creek and Pleasant Townships, Monroe County where they farmed and were members of the Service Chapel Presbyterian Church congregation. It is known that Grace's mother, Julia May Moore Gray was the only daughter of six children. Her five brothers were James, Louis, Walter, Charles, and William, all of whom were farmers.

Grace's great grandfather and great grandmother, William H. Harbison and his wife Elizabeth Boyd Harbison were also early settlers in Monroe County. William and Elizabeth were both born in Chester County, South Carolina and moved to Monroe County, Iowa in 1850. William was killed when a saw log rolled onto him while he was clearing land on his farm near Lockman in Monroe County. William was born April 15, 1804 and died July 15, 1853. Elizabeth was born in 1808 and died August 18, 1892. They were married December 22, 1825 in Chester County and are buried in the Seceder Cemetery in Pleasant Township, Monroe County, Iowa.

Alexander Harbison, Grace's great great grandfather was born July 27, 1775 in Chester County, South Carolina and died November 23, 1846 in Portland Mills, Indiana. After the death of his first wife, Sara Spencer on Jan, 23, 1802, he married Elizabeth Stewart Sept. 6, 1803. She was born July 11, 1783, in Chester County, South Carolina and died November 2, 1834 in Portland Mills, Indiana. Elizabeth's parents were William Stewart and Jennett Martin. William served in the Revolutionary War as a private in Captain Feliz Worley's Company of South Carolina troops commanded by Col. William T. Thompson. William's military service is documented in the archives of what was then the U.S. War Department. The Stewarts were in sympathy with the Carolinas and did not wish to be considered British.

Alexander's father, James Harbison, Grace's great great great grandfather, based on Harbison family genealogy records prepared by Tracey Forsythe*, was born in 1739 somewhere around Londonerry, Ireland. He arrived in Charleston, South Carolina on the ship "Earl of Donegal" and had to swear that he was a Protestant before he was allowed to land. He married Elizabeth Elroy Oct. 22, 1774. He died June 6,1825 in Chester County and Elizabeth, born in Chester County, died June 7, 1822. They are buried in the "Old Stone Graveyard" near Landsford, Chester County, South Carolina. This cemetery, located on a side road off the main highway between Ft. Lauren and Rock Hill, is thought to be what was at one time the "Hopewell Presbyterian Church Graveyard". There is a written record of the grant from King George, III, dated July 8, 1774, giving James 200 acres of land in Chester County.