Ray/Curtis Genealogy

Ray/Curtis Genealogy Research by Peter Ray

The ancestry of Edward Tinsley Ray 1912-1976 and Isabel Douglass Curtis 1913-1988 has been studied by their son Edward Tinsley Ray Jr (Peter Ray). The research is largely original, and of high quality. Only original documents and fully documented sources have been used. The primary work is:

A History of the Families of Edward Tinsley Ray and Isabel Douglass Curtis
In Three Volumes
Compiled by Peter Ray
peter.ray@comcast.net

Preliminary Draft of a 2nd Edition (on CD) For Family Members to Review and Correct
Lahaska, Pennsylvania
April 11, 2008

Volume 1, intended for casual reading, is in narrative form with abundant illustrations.
Volume 2 is a detailed treatment of the Ray/Tinsley ancestry.
Volume 3 is a detailed treatment of the Curtis/Carpenter ancestry.

Public Files

Ray Genealogy vol. 1.pdf (704 pages)                       (195MB) 4/13/08
Ray Genealogy vol. 2.pdf (664-13=651 PDF pages) (109MB) 3/7/10   see Note.
Ray Genealogy vol. 3.pdf (540-35=505 PDF pages) (  64MB) 3/7/10   see Note.

Note: The following pages, intended for family members only, have been removed from the public files.
Volume 2: pages 568, 570-575, 583-584, 586 and 596-598 (13 pages) contain information about living persons.
Volume 3: pages 445-451 and 463-490 (35 pages) contain information about living persons.
Contact Deane Merrill, dwmerrill@charter.net, or Peter Ray, peter.ray@comcast.net, to request information about living persons.

Known errors and omissions

Please contact Peter Ray, peter.ray@comcast.net, regarding errors and omissions.

Volume 1:

(internal document page numbers, not PDF file page numbers)

p. 9-11 (dwm 6/8/08): page numbers in the Table of Contents are incorrect.  Add 2 to all page numbers 144-662.

pp. 277-278 (jam 6/10/08): In a tape made by RPR in 1959 at Aunt Lina's home, he cited the following dates:

Volume 2:

(internal document page numbers, not PDF file page numbers)

p. 252 (jam 6/10/08): Our mother, Harriet Merrill, told me a long time ago that at Mount Riga in the winter of 1930 the Ray farmhouse burned down (this piece of information didn't get into the oral history I did in 1977). I think we can assume that from that time on, the Rays never spent any more time at Mount Riga except to visit friends (she took Dad to show him Mount Riga around 1931; Dad remembered seeing it).

The South Salem house was bought in spring 1930. I don't know anything about keeping the Mount Riga land until 1944; it seems unlikely they would hang on to the land at Mount Riga after the house was gone and they bought South Salem. RPR probably started renting out South Salem after he married Helen and moved into her stone mansion at 25 Lovell Road , New Rochelle.

RPR's three heirs sold South Salem around late 1961 but retained an adjacent piece of land to the left of the house, but it too was sold a few years later. The house was still there in 1995 and looked about the same.

In Emma's diary, she mentioned that they started renting out the White Plains house in 1942 and moved permanently at that time to South Salem. Presumably, the White Plains house was sold after Emma died in 1948. Around 1981 Pace University bought the entire street of Crane Avenue, and the Ray house was no longer there in 1988, although the garage was still there. Neighbors told me that the house was razed due to being in disrepair.

The original address was 8 Crane Avenue; in 1937 it was changed to 25 Crane Avenue. Today Crane Avenue ends at the top of a cliff overlooking Interstate 287.

p. 301 (jam 6/9/08): at beginning of William Tinsley article, an extra "n" in "Minnie."

p. 303 (jam 6/9/08): suggest adding "Nellie" to the Ella Frances Tinsley listing, to make it consistent with "Minnie" and "Carrie" right above it.

back to: Genealogy of Deane W. Merrill 1938-

Deane Merrill
Asheville NC
dwmerrill@charter.net

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