Subject: J. W. Bray journal/memoir
Date: Sat, 5 Oct 2002 10:15:30 EDT

Fred,

This memoir? journal? is a typewritten, single-spaced document 56 pages long. 

J. W. Bray needed an editor badly. He repeated himself many times. I'm sure 
if he had lived in the computer age, he would have produced a more cohesive 
document. 

My grandmother, Cora Emma "Corinne" (Bray) Hoyt, May (1881-1971) - when she 
typed her deceased father's memoir - did not edit it. (I'm glad she did not. 
She may have been tempted: she was an excellent stenographer, bookkeeper, and 
clerical worker.) She just typed it, warts and all. Obviously in some 
instances she could not read his writing. To me it is fascinating to read in 
J. W.'s repetitions further details of events and peope and relationships.

Here is the good news: About 5 years ago I transcribed this 56-page document 
into a text file, 30 pages in length, including my end notes, which include 
corrections to obvious errata. I can easily attach this document to an e-mail 
message and send it to you.

I could photocopy specific page(s) and mail the same to you.

Here is more good news.On p. 35 of the memoir, J. W. Bray wrote of visiting 
"Adella's cousin Sim Pierce." In fact, they visited Sim twice (April 1876, 
March 1877). J. W. Bray wrote that Sim and his wife were living in Winona, MN 
then. I've wondered for nearly 20 years who Sim Pierce might be. Thanks to 
your Delanson Rockwell website, I just discovered he was Adam Simmons "Sim" 
Pierce, husband of Ann C. Hall, oldest child of Lydia Samantha (Griswold) 
Hall and Thomas Gibb Hall.

Let me know what you think.

Mary Ludvigsen

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Subject:  J. W. Bray autobiography - "The real story"
Date: Tue, 10 Dec 2002 12:24:47 EST

Hi Fred,

Here is an update on the "history" of the J. W. Bray autobiography. I 
believed that my grandmother, Cora/Corinne (Bray) Hoyt, May transcibed/typed 
it directly from the original that J. W. Bray (her father) wrote. My guess 
was wrong. A letter I received yesterday from J. W. Bray's only living 
grandchild, Lucile (Eaton) Town, sets the record straight. When J. W. Bray 
died in 1916, his survivors included his wife Adella Matilda (Rockwell) Bray 
and his two daughters: Cora "Corinne" (Bray) Hoyt and Bertha Matilda "Bert" 
(Bray) Eaton, and Bert's children Cecil Eaton (1911-1999, in 1935 m. Arlene 
Lucille Palmeter) and Lucile Matilda Eaton (b. 1912, in 1932 m. Donald Ryder 
Town). 

Lucile wrote: "About Grampa Bray's autobiography - Cecil's wife, Arlene, 
copied it, handwritten, into a composition book. Aunt Cora asked Mom if she 
could take it (the original) with her to Boise. Mom gave the original to her 
and she lost it along the way. Then I borrowed Arlene's book and typed the 
story from that and had copies made. Kay has the book her mother copied in."

So, the pages you have were typed sometime after 1935 by Lucile (Eaton) Town, 
granddaughter of J. W. Bray. The trip to Boise that Lucile refers to was a 
long one (from New York state where the Eatons lived to Boise, Idaho); I 
don't know when as my grandmother Corinne, with her second husband J. A. May 
(m. 1919), traveled together a great deal. In the 1930s J. A. and Corinne May 
were living in/near Boise. Kay (Eaton) Borden is the only daughter of Cecil 
and Arlene Eaton. Kay lives in Apache Junction, AZ, and is interested in 
family history. If you feel Xerox copies of selected pages from her mothers 
handwritten transcription would be of value I could ask her about obtaining 
such copies.

Mary Foster Ludvigsen