Today’s column will continue to examine the Jay family of Covington County and surrounding ones. At the close of last week’s column, it was stated that a generation of available genealogy on this family was completed, but that was not correct. Additional families of that generation will be continued in this writing before a new generation is covered.

William Marion Jay’s youngest daughter, Elizabeth McAllister Jay, was married to George Hare (1875-1940), and they made their home off Brooklyn Road in the Adellum Baptist Church and Cedar Grove Church of Christ community. George was the son of Martin VanBuren Hare, a well-known Baptist minister in the area who helped establish Adellum Baptist Church and served several others in the county.

Elizabeth “Aunt Betty” and George Hare reared the following children: O.C., b. 1901, d. 1964, m. Martha Huggins (1909-1988); Charlie Wilburn, b. 1903, d. 1906; Almer VanBuren, b. 1905, d. 1984, m. Maude Virginia Chesser (1903-1967); Ruth, b. 1907, m. Earnest Greely Garrett (1903-1967); Runie, b. 1910, m. Charlie Esker Thomasson; George William, b. 1914, d. 1979, single; Sara Joan, b. 1916, m. Ottis Franklin Thomasson; and J.C., b. 1920, m. Bessie Ward.

Next, the children of William Marion Jay’s sister, Elizabeth Jay, and her husband, Absalom Lafayette Stokes, will be presented. Elizabeth and Absalom’s first child, Mary P. Stokes, was married to a widower, William Fletcher, son of Andrew J. and Martha L. (Ward) Fletcher. She helped him rear his children by his first wife, Mary A. ?, and they had at least one son, Lorenza Dowe, b. 1884, d. 1959, single.

Their oldest son, Matthew Wright Stokes, was married in 1878 to Olivia “Olive” Elizabeth Caton, and they had the following four children: Clifton N., b. 1880, d. 1960, Addie Able; Addie Bedonia Stokes, b. 1885, d. 1957, m. Thomas Jefferson “Tom” Jay; Max J. Stokes, b. 1886, m. Grace Freeman; and Pearly E. Stokes, b. 1888, d. 1930, single. Addie Bedonia and Thomas J. Jay were cousins, and their family was presented in last week’s column.

Elizabeth and Absalom’s second son, Noah Stanton, and his wife, Amelia Caroline Bledsole, reared a large family in Covington County. They had the following children: Ivy Audrie, b. 1884, d. 1938, m. (1) Charley Storey (2) W.D. Jay; Elizabeth Georgia “Lizzie,” b. 1885, d. 1990, m. Nathaniel C. Cornett; Flora Mabelle, b. 1886, d. 1944, m. N.B. Wynne; Valdosta “Vallie,” b. 1888, d. 1980, m. James F. Bunch; Annie Myrtle, b. 1889, m John A. Odom; Homer Dewitt, b. 1890, d. 1891; Ruby Clyde, b. 1893, d. 1954, m. Cary Etheridge; Johnnie Stanton, b. 1896, d. 1991, m. Frances Evelyn Holland; James Austin, b. 1897, d. 1971, m. Cola Huggins; Charlotte “Lottie” Mims, b. 1899, d. 1993, m. (1) Isaac Watson (2) Hugh M. Marks; Eunice Inez, b.& d. 1902; Glady Raymond, b. 1904, d. 1969, m. Eula Brooks; Samuel Sanford, b. 1906, d. 1969, m. Bardee Walker; and Rexford, b. 1908, m. Ollie Mae Mott.

Elizabeth and Absalom Stokes’s third son, Burrell Jackson was married first to Cornelia Georgia Hare, daughter of the above Martin VanBuren Hare. They lived in the same communities of her father and brother, George Hare. Burrell Jackson farmed and delt in trading stock. They reared the following children: Lyda Mae, b.& d. 1884; Wright Absalom, b. 1887, m. Minnie Rabren; Mary Delilah “Lilah,” b. 1889, m. Fafayette “Fate” Rabren; Leland Congdon, b. 1891, d. 1949, m. Callie Alabama Fuqua; Justice Lamar, b. 1893, m. Flossie Huggins; R.V., b.&d.1895; Matthew VanBuren, b. 1897, m. (1) Agnes Eiland (2) Alma (Vaughn) Thompson; Allie Phyllis, b. 1900, m. Emory E. Rabren; Naomi Cornelia, b. 1903, m. James Wesley Fuqua; Ellie C., b. 1905, m. Lenzy Pruitt (2) ? Pope; and Eunice Eva Dell, b. 1907, m. (1) Virgil Gilmer (1) Wayne Hudgens.

Moving to the grandchildren of John Duncan Jay, son of William A. Jay. William A. was a brother to James A. Jay, the ancestor of the above families. John Duncan’s oldest daughter, Alabama Eufrazier Jay, and her husband, Robert James Daughtry, reared the following children: Maurice M.; Susie Elizabeth; Vera Corine; Travis Jeveille; James Adkins, b. 1892, d. 1947, m. Maggie Nantz; Clifton Morton, b. 1909, d. 1992, m. Easter Sarah Cassidy; and Robert Horton, b. 1909, m. Clara Ecie Scott.

John Duncan’s son, William Andrew Jay, was married to Alma Early. They reared the following four children: Alma, Jesse, Roy Corbett, and Clifton.

Another son of John Duncan, Toxie Caleb Jay, and his wife, Ruby, had one daughter, Lucy.

Another daughter, Dovie Lettie Jay, was married to Louie Jackson Early in 1907. They lived in Geneva County and later moved to Pensacola, Florida. They reared the following children: Bradley Fewster, b. 1909; Allie Ruth, b. 1911, d. 1994, m. Fred Adkinson; Infant, b.&d.1913; Louie Johnson, b. 1914, d. 1985, m. Ethel Sharpless; and Mary Elaine, b. 1918, m. Ralph Pate.

Moving to the next generation, Susanna Grimes, daughter of Mary Johannah Jay Grimes, and her husband, John Thomas Chavers, had the following children: Earl C., b. 1916; Eldo G., b. 1918; R.L., b. 1928; Era; Edith; Earnesting, b. 1921, and Johnnie Sue.

Susanna’s brother, William Orby Grimes, and his wife,Laura E. Fuqua, reared the following children: Louise Amelia, b. 1913, d. 1999, m. Burdett Bozeman; James or Jay Otis, b. 1916, d. 1997, m. Myrtle Atkinson; William Aubrey, b. 1919, d. 1986, m. Ella Elizabeth Williamson; Mary Ella, b. 1921, d. 1960, m. Alfred Hixon; Thomas Allen, b. 1923, m. Sara Grice; Ulay Black, b. 1926, d. 1977, m. Eula Mae Mitchell; Laura Elizabeth, b. 1928, m. (1) Ray Watson (2) Harold Wise; Walter Hubert, b. 1931, m. Dorothy R. ?; Lois Jean, b. 1933, d. 1984, m. Donald Griffin; and Betty June, b. 1935, m. Malcomb Thornton.

Susanna’s sister, Bonnie Lee, and her husband, A.C. Cross, had one daughter, Wanda Jane, b. 1929.

Mildred’s brother, Thomas Jefferson Jay, Jr., enjoyed family genealogy. He and his wife, Etta Pearl Dawkins, reared one son, Thomas Jefferson Jay III, b. 1945.

Mildred’s brother, Max Pearl Jay, and his wife, Mary Blanche Soles, reared three daughters: Rebekah Jane, b. 1951; Melissa Ann, b. 1958; and Mary Elizabeth Elizabeth, b. 1959.

Since there is much more information on members of this generation as well as later ones in this family another column will be presented next week. The source for today’s writing includes the records of Winston Dow Jay and this writer, Curtis Thomasson.

Anyone with and questions or corrections to the above information or who might have additional data on this family is requested to contact Curtis Thomasson by writing to 20357 Blake Pruitt Road, Andalusia, AL 36420; calling 334-222-6467; or e-mailing cthomasson@centurytel.net.

HISTORICAL MEETING:

The Covington Rifles Camp of the Sons of Confederate Veterans will be meeting at 6 p.m. on Thurs., June 4, in the Dixon Memorial Room of the Andalusia Public Library.