Conrey Family History
Version 1
Last updated Tuesday, May 2, 2006
Compiled by Jim Conrey
Conrey Family HistoryVersion 1Last updated Tuesday, May 2, 2006Compiled by Jim Conrey |
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The following information on the Conrey family is being summarized for the benefit of all Conreys but specifically for the descendants of John Wesley Conrey, my grandfather. The information has been compiled from research conducted by Sharon Conrey Turnbull, who has given many years of her life to investigate and piece together not just the facts but the story of how our ancestors lived after arriving in America. Sharon and her husband, Jay, live on the John Wesley Conrey farm just outside of Maxwell, Nebraska. Even though family information exists prior to the Revolutionary War (and some will be provided here), most of the following information will tell the story of our lineage from John Conrey, Sr., the Revolutionary War soldier. Realize that there are numerous descendants of John Conrey Sr., but this summary focuses on the line from John Conrey Sr. to John Wesley Conrey. I have now visited all but one of the places where he and his descendants lived and will attempt to share the facts in light of Sharon’s invaluable research and my experiences. I have tried to put the facts together in a purely scientific way according to the information that I have. If you feel that anything is wrong based on research you conduct. Please contact me so appropriate changes to this document can be made. I will send out updated versions as I double check information and find more that can be shared.
The early Conreys in America settled in the Monmouth County, New Jersey area in close proximity to New York City. The earliest Conreys probably lived in New York City based on records that have been found. (Monmouth County, New Jersey is directly south of Staten Island, New York if you are looking at a map.)
Originally, I had stated on this page that "a surveying record listed "Conrey Meadow" as a border to a tract of land being surveyed in 1673". This information I wrote in my own words based on verbal information provided me by Sharon Turnbull, who has done an extraordinary job of researching the Conrey family. An email from Tom Gregory, also a Conrey descendant, expounded on this information according to his research.
There is NO refernce to CONREY meadow found in the deed 1696; ie there is currently no proof/reference to a Conrey presence in Monmouth County, New Jersey ***prior to 1733***.
(1733 is a date of birth calculated from an age in a 1817 New York City death register entry for William Conrey.) The abstract is/was in error; or more likely "Conrey" Meadows was a
place known to the abstractor and was added to describe an area which did not have that name in 1696. The 1696 deed referred to property in the town of Freehold (which is one
of a number of small towns then in the area- such as Middleto(w)n, Shrewsbury, etc.)
So records show that a William Conrey was born sometime in the late 1600s and could be the father of a John Conrey. John Conrey was born close to 1710 and was married in Monmouth County (Date unknown). His will was proved on April 27, 1784. John had the following children: Jonathan, Peter, Ann, Mary, and Sarah. It was Jonathan who married Sarah Burge on May 5th 1759.
Jonathan and Sarah had at least two sons who we will identify as John Conrey Sr. and Jonathan. John Conrey Sr. was born on April 22, 1760 in Monmouth Country. My conclusions based on the information that I have is that Jonathan was a younger brother. (I don’t have Jonathan’s birth date)
Fighting between the British and the Americans broke out in 1775 with the Battle of Bunker Hill and continue in early 1776. When the United States declared its independence on July 4, 1776, the Americans had a difficult time during many battles that fall. British General Howe invaded New York’s Long Island in August of 1776 and pushed the Americans off the island after the Battle of Long Island. During that battle fourteen hundred Americans lost their lives as General George Washington’s 19,000 troops fought against 32,000 British regulars. It was a miracle the Americans were able to retreat off Long Island. Unusually cold weather, that brought fog, allowed the 17,000 troops to escape by small craft across the Long Island Sound in the direction of White Plains, New York. Here is a link where you can read more about the Battle of Long Island http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1279.html
Almost exactly two months later, John
Conrey Sr., sixteen at the time, fought in the Battle of White Plains, New
York, considered to be a mild British victory.
Description of the battle http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1283.html
General Washington removed his troops to New Jersey after the battle. A brief description of the battle with map http://www.nypl.org/research/midatlantic/topical_revwhite.html
Click on the map to enlarge. I don’t know of any details of the part John Conrey Sr. may have played in the battle. His military headstone in the Wynn Cemetery (also known as the Old Bloomfield Cemetery) 9 miles north of Paris Illinois. It lists him as a Private in Sackett’s Company, New York Militia. I do not know how many battles John Conrey Sr. may have fought in during the American Revolution.
John Conrey Sr. and his brother Jonathan inherited land in Kaintuck, as it was called at first, from their father after the Revolutionary War. The war ended in 1783 and in 1790 the brothers moved to Mason County, Kentucky which was then part of the Virginia Commonwealth. The area later became part of the Commonwealth of Kentucky.
I confirmed the marriages of both John and Jonathan in Mason County in 1789 and 1790 as recorded by Sharon on a trip there some years ago. The records exist in microfilm at The Genealogical Society in downtown Maysville, Kentucky. Jonathan Conrey and Nancy Downing were married Oct. 6, 1789. John Conrey Sr. (30) and Sarah Calvin (21) were married Feb. 15, 1790. Sarah was the daughter of Captain Luther Calvin. John Conrey Sr. was a friend of Luther Calvin. They may have fought together during the Revolution. I have a photostatic copy of both marriage licenses taken from the microfilm. Here is the wording of the John and Sarah’s marriage license:
“ Know all men by these present that we John Conrey and Luther Calvin are held and firmly bound unto his Excellency the Gov. of Virginia and his successors in the penal sum of fifty pounds current money to which payment will and truly to be made to bind ourselves our heirs ??? and ??? jointly and severally firmly by these present sealed with my seal and dated this fifteenth day of February 1790. The condition of the above obligation is such that whereas I Robert Parker Clerk of the County Court of Mason have this day issued a license for the marriage of the above bound John Conrey and Sarah Calvin. Now if there is no lawful cause to obstruct said marriage then the above obligation to be void otherwise to remain in full force. Sealed and delivering in presence of John Conrey and Luther Calvin.”
John and Sarah had 12 children. One died as an infant. Abram was the oldest son and six of his siblings were born in Mason Country Kentucky, including Stephen who was born on Oct. 1, 1799. The five remaining children were born between 1801 and 1811. Acenith Conrey was born in 1801 but I am not sure of the location. The other four children were born in Clermont County, Ohio close to Cincinnati. This identifies the time they moved from Mason Country, Kentucky to Clermont County, Ohio to between 1799 and 1804, since I don’t know where Acenith was born.
John Conrey Sr. was on several exploratory trips with Simon Kenton and Daniel Boone according to documents found in the Library of Congress in Washington D.C. by Sharon Turnbull. The documents are part of what are known as the Draper Papers. The Draper papers are accounts of events recorded by a man named Lyman Draper. I have been told that Draper interviewed persons like Daniel Boone to get information about events that took place. Sharon has found information in the Draper Papers at the Library of Congress in Washington D.C. that confirm that John Conrey Sr., Simon Kenton, and Daniel Boone were on several exploratory trips together along the Ohio River. Simon Kenton started a town in Kentucky called Washington just south of Maysville, Kentucky. Maysville, Kentucky is right on the Ohio River. Ft. Washington adjoined the town and was one of the earliest settlements in Kentucky. About thirty miles south of Washington, Daniel Boone lost a son in the battle of Blue Licks on August 19, 1782, the last battle of the Revolution in Kentucky. His men were ambushed by a group of Indians and British soldiers who had previously raided a fort near Lexington, Kentucky. Simon Kenton was considered by many to be the Economic Father of Kentucky and had saved Daniel Boone’s life once outside Ft. Boonesborough. The story goes as follows. A number of Indians lured Boone and some frontiersmen outside Ft. Boonesborough and were engaged in an ambush. Boone was stabbed and suffered a broken leg from the encounter. While the skirmish commenced, Simon Kenton, sixteen at the time, went out of the fort and carried boone back into safety saving his life. Daniel Boone and his wife returned to Virginia for a number of years after the Revolution and then returned to build a log cabin about 7 miles south of Blue Licks Battlefield in the spring of 1795. At that point John Conrey Sr. had lived just north of there in Mason County for about 5 years. If anyone finds out any information from research about the Draper Papers involving John Conrey Sr., please share it with me.
John Conrey Sr. moved his family to Clermont County, Ohio between 1799 and 1804. His oldest son Abram married Elizabeth Riley there on June 18, 1807. They were both 16. Elizabeth was the daughter of the Rev. Gerrard Riley and had been born in Mason County, Kentucky in 1790. I believe I have found the headstone of Rev. Riley in the Wynn Cemetery at Bloomfield, Illinois. This is the first evidence that multiple families made the move since Abram was born Nov. 13, 1790 and would have been 9-14 years old during the move. Abram and Elizabeth had 9 children. There oldest son was named Luther Calvin after Abram’s maternal grandfather and was born in 1810. When the family moved to Edgar County, Illinois around 1828, it is possible that Luther Calvin didn’t go. The year 1828 is an approximation and could be off as much as 5 years up to 1833. The other sons were John R. (the R possibly standing for Riley), Abram L., Frances T. , and Jonathan R. All of these sons made the move to Edgar County, Illinois.
| Information I have found from historical markers around Paris, Illinois, the county seat of Edgar County, provide the following information. In about 1809, Indians sold the eastern part of Edgar County to the U.S. as part of a treaty. This land was then sold to frontiersman from Vincinnes, Indiana. Vincinnes is on the western edge of Indiana along the Wabash River south of Edgar County, Illinois. On the lawn of the Edgar County courthouse in Paris, Illinois, a memorial plack embedded in a large rock commemorates the approximately twenty men who were verterans of the American Revolution. John Conrey is listed on this memorial. It still stands today and is seen at right. It was erected in 1921. |  |
A nice view of the Edgar County Courthouse in Paris, Illinois. |
Memorial plack is on rock in the background just below the "walk" (faded but lit) of the stop light on the southeast corner of the courthouse lawn. |
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To the left is a close up of the memorial plack with John Conrey's name in the left column. |
I am planning to spend a full day at the Edgar County, Illinois courthouse in the spring to see if I can confirm the dates of certain events like the move, births, and deaths. In June of 2003, I found the Wynn Cemetery nine miles north of Paris, Illinois on State Hwy. 1. |
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| The Wynn Cemetery also called the Old Bloomfield Cemetery is located on the Paul Lewsader farm. He gave me a partial list of the cemetery registry which included eight Conreys, including John Conrey Sr. and two other generations of Conreys, including his oldest son Abram and Abram's son John R. (Riley). Abram had married Elizabeth Riley, the daughter of a Baptist minister, Gerrard Riley. Many sons carry the middle initial R in reference to the Riley name. This is a picture of the cemetery as you drive up to it from a road on the farm. |  |
| It was easy to find the headstone for John Conrey Sr. He had been given a new military headstone sometime probably after the Civil War, which has his military information on it. However, at the time I found no other family headstones, even though I did not know who I was looking for at the time. Many headstones which had broken off or fallen down had been moved so that the cemetery could be mowed by volunteers. |  |
This is a close up of the John Conrey Sr. headstone. A nick at the right has destroyed the 34 of 1834. It says: John Conrey New York Pvt. Sackett's Co. (Company) Graham's N.Y. M.(Militia ?) Rev. War September 12, 1834 (date of death) |
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However, my family had been passed down a picture of his wife Sarah’s headstone. Because I only had a few hours, I was unable to research information as I was returning from a workshop at Illinois Wesleyan. As I thought on the cemetery over the fall months, I grew increasingly determined to make a trip to the cemetery to see if I could find Sarah’s headstone and any others of the other 6 Conreys. I felt badly that they were not where they should be. So I made a quicktrip the Saturday after Thanksgiving 2003, taking with me bleach and water to clean headstones. Several monument companies had told me that a 50-50 mixture would remove algae (just like removing it from a roof). On that day I found the following headstones which had been placed back in the cemetery, merely leaned up against other headstones. You need to go there to really see what its like. Remember this is a cemetery that has not had regular upkeep over the years. The picture of Sarah Conrey’s headstone taken sometime probably in the 1930s or 40s. When I found it, it was covered with algae and probably acid rain which I partly removed. The following is a list of the eight Conreys buried in the cemetery with the ones whose headstone I have found marked with an asterisk: John Conrey Sr., the
Revolutionary War Verteran ** I really would like to find the headstones of John R. and his wife Caroline. |
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** I was elated to find the original headstone of John Conrey Sr. – a
small miracle of the trip. I brought it back to Indiana with me to restore.
He died 170 years ago. It was found face up laying partially underground.
All of the digital camera shots I took do not allow you to read the informatin
on his original headstone, but the information can be read. The SR for
senior is visible but has suffered from wear. I made a video of unearthing John Conrey Sr.'s original headstone. The video gives you a better feel for the cemetery and how it looks. |
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It would be difficult for me to relay all the details of this
trip, but I did place all the headstones together near John Conrey Sr’s military
headstone. I hope to find where the individual burial plots are so the headstones
can
be placed in the proper places sometime in the near future. I also found headstones
for a George Gordon who died 9/23/1838 being 45 years, 3 months, and 28 days
old (located in front of cemetery 20 feet passed the big tree). It is possible
he is the father of Caroline Gordon. The Gordon family may have moved from
Mason County, Kentucky to Clermont Country, Ohio and then to Edgar County,
Illinois as Caroline was born in Mason County, Kentucky. Also found the headstone
of a Rev. Gerrard Riley who may be the father of Elizabeth Riley, even though
Gerrerd is the way it is spelled on the Family Group Record page. The headstone
specifically states that he was a Baptist Minister. We know Elizabeth’s
father was a member of the clergy from Sharon’s Family Group Record page
on John R. Conrey.
Four children where born to John R. and his wife Caroline.
They were George A., Ellen M., Buena Vista, and Jonathan R. George, born
1843, and Buena Vista, born 1845, would have been old enough to fight in
the Civil War. Sharon and I have surmised, but not confirmed, that possibly
after the Civil War, George returned to Edgar County to lead the family west
to Leon, Iowa. The parents John R. and Caroline having died in 1859 and 1853.
The youngest son, Jonathan R, born 1851, would move west with the oldest
surviving relative Elizabeth, the wife of Abram. It is unclear exactly who
moved west to Iowa. However, we do know for sure that Elizabeth and Jonathan
R. did. They year of the move is not exactly known, but would have been before
1867 when Elizabeth died. She is buried at the front of the Leon Cemetery
in Leon, Iowa. Here marker is a tall obelisk. I visited the cemetery during
July of 2003 after stopping at the City Hall which has the list of persons
buried in the cemetery. Jonathan R. and his wife are also buried in the cemetery.
Interesting Note: Abraham Lincoln campaigned for Republican Presidential Candidate John C. Freemont in 1856 giving a speech at the Edgar County Courthouse in Paris Illinois. Some Conreys may have heard this speech.
At this point the Conrey ranks were getting a little thin. At least Jonathan R. and his grandmother Elizabeth moved to Leon, Iowa to possibly homestead land or they may have tried to start a business in Leon. Eventually Jonathan R. became postmaster of Leon. I have a piece of stationary on which Fred Leroy, one of his sons, wrote a short letter to a friend. At the top of the stationary it lists Jonathan R. Conrey as postmaster. On April 22, 1875, Jonathan R. (24) married Melvina (Mellie) Dye at Eden Prairie, Iowa or at Leon, Iowa. However, they were married in the home of Melvina’s parents, Mr. & Mrs. Robert Dye (still confirming these locations). One of their wedding gifts which was a family bible. Inside the bible between the Old and New Testaments, the birth and some death dates are recorded for Jonathan and Melvina’s children. Also, many members of the Dye family, preceding Melvina, are recorded, but no Conrey family members prior to Jonathan R. This seems to indicate that Melvina probably recorded most of the information. I have this family bible in my possession. I am also in possession of a hall tree which is a mirror which would be hung at the end of a hall which coats could be hung from. It was given to Jonathan R. and Melvina at Christmas the year they were married. This was told me by my grandparents John and Mabel Conrey while I was in college. A photograph of the Jonathan R. Conrey family exists. It was taken on Christmas Day 1901.
top row(left to right): Lloyd, Fred Leroy, and Trippett
bottom row(left to right): Jonathan R., Ruth, Mellie, and Ellen
Fred Leroy is the father of John Wesley Conrey. John Wesley identified the people in the picture before his death.
Fred Leroy was the oldest son of Jonathan and Mellie and born
on July 17, 1876. He married Josie Maude Bowman. Her family may have been from
nearby Grand River (20 miles west of Leon) or Fred and Josie may have moved
there to live. John Wesley Conrey was born there.
Interesting Note: My first cousins Brian and Mike and my brother Calvin may
remember visiting Josie Maude before she died May 29, 1969. She was living
in an upstairs apartment on Willow Street in North Platte, Nebr. during the
summer of 1968, the year we all played on the John Wesley Conrey farm at Maxwell,
Nebr. I barely remember it as I was 13.
Because of time considerations, I need to complete the story of the move of Fred and Josie and family to Wray, Colorado and Cheyenne, Wyoming in the next version of this document and share what we know about the sons of Fred Leroy. I want to get this first version off to everyone. Future versions will include the move to North Platte by John Wesley Conrey and information about his sons. I will also try to include more jpeg pictures.
Notes.
Please note as you read the Family Group Record pages, there are a lot of Johns and Jonathans. It can be easy to get mixed up.
Our direct lineage is as follows:
William Conrey
John Conrey
Jonathan Conrey
John Conrey Sr.
Abram Conrey
John R. Conrey
Jonathan R. Conrey
Fred Leroy Conrey
John Wesley Conrey
Robert L. Conrey
Kenneth Kerwin Conrey
Jim Conrey, Sellersburg, IN.
Meg Conrey Elmore, Garland, TX.
Calvin Conrey, Atlanta, GA.
James Richard Conrey
Kathleen Desjacques
John Brian Conrey, San Martin, CA.
Michael Conrey, Berthod, Colorado
Ann Schwend, Montana
