Author: sthomas

Clarence Bray (1894-1931)

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by Symone Thomas

Clarence Bray was born Vincent Clarence Bray on December 26, 1894 in Portsmouth, Virginia. He was the only son of his parents Abraham Bray and Elizabeth Bray.

Clarence had seven siblings: Ellen Bray, Tennie Bray, Jellentina Bray, Mary Ann Bray plus 3 other siblings listed under the 1900 census. Ellen and Mary Ann did not live past infancy.

The highest level of education Bray had was Grammar school. Before the war he worked as a laborer for the Colonial Marine Railway Company and lived on Chapel Street in Norfolk.

He enlisted as a high class private into the regular army as a stationary engineer. He belonged to the Company 35, 22nd Division. As a Stationary Engineer, Bray’s responsibilities included operating engines, boilers, and auxiliary equipment, read gauges, meters, and charts to track boiler operations. Monitor boiler water, chemical, and fuel levels. Bray got out of the military April 23, 1919 at Camp Lee now known as Fort Lee, Virginia as a private.

Bray married Cozy McDowell on July 18, 1917 in Norfolk. After the war, they lived on Henry Street in Norfolk with their adopted son, Eddie Benns. Both Cozy and Clarence worked in a tailor’s shop. They also occasionally took in lodgers. Clarence Bray died on October 5, 1931 of pneumonia, and is buried in Calvary Cemetery in Norfolk.

Sources:

“Virginia Births and Christenings, 1584-1917”, database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X529-X3B : 28 January 2020), Va. E. Bray in entry for Jelletina Bray, 1889.

“Virginia Births and Christenings, 1584-1917”, database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X52S-V47 : 28 January 2020), Elizabeth Bray in entry for Vincent Clarence Bray, 1893.

“Virginia Births and Christenings, 1584-1917”, database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X52S-8LC : 28 January 2020), Elizabeth Bray in entry for Ellen Bray, 1896.

“United States Census, 1900,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MMNV-5V9 : accessed 30 April 2021), Elizebeth Bray in household of Abraham Bray, Deep Creek District, Norfolk, Virginia, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 35, sheet 1B, family 13, NARA microfilm publication T623 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1972.); FHL microfilm 1,241,719.

“Virginia Deaths and Burials, 1853-1912”, database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XR9R-9YM : 29 January 2020), Va. E. Bray in entry for Mary Ann Bray, 1889.