Typed by Theresa Carhart
Kay, Harris
Surnames: KAY, DUNN, HANCOCK, ADAIR, SMYTH, FORBES, HOWELL,
DARDEN, SOWDERS, BROTHERS, MAULDING, BROWN, STEELE, ERSKINE
Harris Kay, b 1825 in Alabama, d 1889 of pneumonia at Stranger, Falls County,
Texas and buried in Stranger Cemetery--married Sarah Dunn, b 1825 in Georgia, d
1871 at Stranger in Falls County and buried in Stranger Cemetery. According to
the 1870 cenus of Texas, the couple's six children were all born in Georgia.
Harris and Sarah came to Falls County after the Civil War, buying a part of the
J.P. Moffett farm. Harris erected a store near his south of the Joel W.
Roberts home--a son of Mrs. Cynthia(Hodge)Roberts Moffett. He hauled supplies
from Kosse, Texas to his store, and always brought the mail before Stranger got
its own post office.
Harris farmed, planted an orchard, and was very active in the Blue Ridge
Missionary Baptist Church at Stranger--being a charter member and a Deacon when
it was organized on July 24, 1869. He organized and taught a Sunday School Class
for about twenty years, and is said to have been a favorite with children. It
was a result of his allowing the children to cover him with snow that caused his
pneumonia and resulting death.
Sarah had died a few years after his arrival in Stranger, and Harris Kay promply
married the young widow, Mrs. Louisa Jane(Adair) Hancock--whose first husband,
Samuel B. Hancock, died in 1871 also. Harris reared her surviving child, Holman
Kendal Hancock, and they had two children.
The children of Harris and Sarah(Dunn)Kay were:
James Madison Kay, b 1847 in Georgia, d ca 1867 in Arkansas after the Civil War.
He married Mary Smyth and had James Madison Kay, Jr., and Mary Elizabeth Kay. A
descendant, Louise(Kay)Horton of Houston, Texas has visited Stranger to see the
Harris Kay homesite.
John Thomas Kay, b 1849 in Georgia--married March 23, 1870 to Edith Eletha
Forbes--daughter of James H. and Eliza(Howell)Forbes. John T. Kay broke his back
trying to get oxen out of a mud-hole, and died in 1872--leaving a daughter,
Elizabeth Kay, b 1871. Edith(Forbes)Kay moved to Hill County, Texas, with her
relatives, and did not remarry.
Henry Petty Kay, b 1841 in Georgia,--married Mary Jane Darden--a daughter of
Richard W. and Elizabeth(Sowders)Darden, and had a large family of children.
David Crockett Kay, b 1851 in Georgia--married Nancy Brothers--a daughter of
Jesse D. and Matilda Barzilla(Maulding) Brothers.
Mary H. Kay b 1854 in Georgia--married December 28, 1870 in Falls County, Texas
to Samuel Foote Brown, b 1838 in Louisiana.
Samuel Dunn Kay, b 1858 in Georgia--no information.
Harris and Louisa(Adair) children were:
Fleetwood Kay, b ca 1872--married Florence Steele--a daughter of Henry and
Elizabeth(Erskine) Steele, and they had Steele Kay--a daughter.
Saletta Kay, b 1874
Copyright Permission granted to Theresa Carhart for printing these bio of these
Falls County Family to this page
"Families of Falls County", Compiled and Edited by the Falls County Historical
Commission, page 472, column 1
Member of Falls County Historical Commission
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Update from Harris
Kay's GGG Granddaughter, Louise Horton:
Harris Kay Family
Author:
Louise Horton
Thank you Theresa for posting my GGGrnadfathers Bio. I really appreciate it... I
do have a few corrections to the information so I will post it here...
Children of Harris Kay and Sarah Dunn:
1. William James Kay b: 1847 Cobb Co. Ga. d:ca 1871 presumably Falls Co..
married Elizabeth Jane Smyth(e)( I have also heard her mentioned in family
discussions as Sarah Elizabeth) in about 1865-66 presumablely Ark(no marriage
record has been found) I am sure this family came to Falls Co. for my
Grandfather Madison Kay was born in Falls Co. March 31,1867.
However after Jim Kay died Elizabeth and Madison returned to Ark to be with her
family. I know of no other children of this couple... They are in Ark by 1880,
living with her parents in Hempstead Co. Ark.
2) John Thomas Kay b:1849 Cobb Co. Ga. Married Edith Elizabeth Forbes March 23,
1871 Blue Ridge,Falls Co. Texas, they moved to Bell Co. where he was working in
a mill. He dies March 6, 1872 in Bell Co.one month and one day after the birth
of their only daughter Sarah Elizabeth. He was running a gin and little store in
Bell Co.,his death was a result of pulling an ox cart out of the mud when an
accident occured and his back was broken.. as mentioned.. Edith never remarried
and moved to Taylor Co. Texas in the 1891's with her daughter and husband
Lenoard B. Ivey. I visited with one of there daughters in the early 1980's and
she found a picture of Harris Kay in an old box. I was able to get a xerox copy
of it and it is now one of my prize possions. She still had the old wagon and
bows for the wagon cover in an old barn on the old Ivey Place in Lawn Texas.
Edith Elizabeth is buried in Tuscola Cem. Her headstone reads Edith E. Kay wife
of Tom Kay Born June 11, 1849 Died Nov 7, 1912.
