Adam E. Ray
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Adam E. Ray (1808 - September 20, 1865) was an American farmer politician from
Troy Troy (/; ; ) or Ilion (; ) was an ancient city located in present-day Hisarlik, Turkey. It is best known as the setting for the Greek mythology, Greek myth of the Trojan War. The archaeological site is open to the public as a tourist destina ...
,
Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...
who served several terms in the
Legislature A legislature (, ) is a deliberative assembly with the legal authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country, nation or city on behalf of the people therein. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial power ...
of
Wisconsin Territory The Territory of Wisconsin was an organized and incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 3, 1836, until May 29, 1848, when an eastern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Wisconsin. Belm ...
, and a single term in 1851 as a
Free Soil Party The Free Soil Party, also called the Free Democratic Party or the Free Democracy, was a political party in the United States from 1848 to 1854, when it merged into the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party. The party was focused o ...
member of the
Wisconsin State Assembly The Wisconsin State Assembly is the lower house of the Wisconsin Legislature. Together with the smaller Wisconsin Senate, the two constitute the legislative branch of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The Assembly is controlled by the Republican ...
from Walworth County.


Background

Ray was the son of Martin Ray and Caroline Phelps Ray, born in
Kingston, New York Kingston is the only Administrative divisions of New York#City, city in, and the county seat of, Ulster County, New York, United States. It is north of New York City and south of Albany, New York, Albany. The city's metropolitan area is grou ...
in 1808. (His brother George Augustus Ray, who would also serve in the legislature, was born in 1819). Adam Ray came to Milwaukee in
Wisconsin Territory The Territory of Wisconsin was an organized and incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 3, 1836, until May 29, 1848, when an eastern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Wisconsin. Belm ...
around 1837, and represented
Milwaukee Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...
and
Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...
counties A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...
in the territorial Legislature; lower house from 1839 to 1842; upper house in 1845. About 1846 he settled in Troy with his wife, Eliza. They would have children: Patrick Henry, Eliza, Mary, Augusta, Jane, Fred, Ira, and Ida. Patrick Henry Ray would retire as a brigadier general; the
Ray Mountains The Ray Mountains is a mountain range in central Alaska named for the Ray River, itself named for United States Army Captain Patrick Henry Ray, who established a meteorological station in Barrow, Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous ...
and Ray River in
Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...
are named after him.


Public office

In 1847, Ray was chairman of Troy's town board and a member of the county's Board of Supervisors. In 1850, he was elected to the Assembly as a Free Soiler for the 1851 session, succeeding Whig Alexander O. Babcock. He was succeeded in 1852 by fellow Free Soiler
Stephen Steele Barlow Stephen Steele Barlow (August 17, 1818October 5, 1900) was an American lawyer and Republican politician. He was the 10th Attorney General of Wisconsin and served four years in the Wisconsin Legislature. He also served several years as a dis ...
.


Agriculture and beyond

In 1851 Ray was a member of the
executive committee A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly or other form of organization. A committee may not itself be considered to be a form of assembly or a decision-making body. Usually, an assembly o ...
of the newly organized Wisconsin State Agricultural Society. He served as a judge in two categories of the first
Wisconsin State Fair The Wisconsin State Fair is an annual event held at the Wisconsin State Fair Park in West Allis, Wisconsin, a suburb of Milwaukee. The modern fair takes place in August (occasionally beginning late July) and lasts 11 days. History The first ...
: Merinoes, and
flour Flour is a powder made by Mill (grinding), grinding raw grains, List of root vegetables, roots, beans, Nut (fruit), nuts, or seeds. Flours are used to make many different foods. Cereal flour, particularly wheat flour, is the main ingredie ...
and
corn meal Maize meal is a meal (coarse flour) ground from dried maize. It is a common staple food and is ground to coarse, medium, and fine consistencies, but it is not as fine as wheat flour can be.Herbst, Sharon, ''Food Lover's Companion'', Third Editio ...
; and took several prizes in farm implements: best hay fork, manure fork, grass
scythe A scythe (, rhyming with ''writhe'') is an agriculture, agricultural hand-tool for mowing grass or Harvest, harvesting Crop, crops. It was historically used to cut down or reaping, reap edible grain, grains before they underwent the process of ...
, grain scythe, and
hay knife A hay knife is an agricultural hand tool: a long-bladed knife which may have large rounded serrations on the edge, or a smooth edge used for sawing off sections at the end of a stack or compact pile of hay or silage Silage is fodder made from ...
. He is also reported as keeping a
tavern A tavern is a type of business where people gather to drink alcoholic beverages and be served food such as different types of roast meats and cheese, and (mostly historically) where travelers would receive lodging. An inn is a tavern that ...
in Little Prairie. In later years, he would be remembered in Little Prairie for giving or selling a lot for the
Methodist church Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...
in 1858; a field for a
cemetery A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite, graveyard, or a green space called a memorial park or memorial garden, is a place where the remains of many death, dead people are burial, buried or otherwise entombed. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek ...
in 1860; and a lot for the
Bible Christian The Bible Christian Church was a Methodist denomination founded by William O'Bryan (born Bryant), a Wesleyan Methodist local preacher, on 18 October 1815 in North Cornwall. The first society, consisting of just 22 members, met at Lake Farm ...
church in 1861.


After the Assembly

Ray served as a member and Chairman of the Walworth County board of supervisors in 1856 and 1857. About 1858 Ray went to
Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...
, planning "to try northern ways of farming there". The political conflicts he encountered on the eve of the
American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...
, led him to return to Wisconsin before the outbreak of the war. He soon afterward moved to Waukesha, where he died on September 20, 1865.Beckwith, Albert Clayton. ''History of Walworth County'' Indianapolis: B. F. Bowen & Company, 1912; pp. 552-553


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ray, Adam Farmers from Wisconsin County supervisors in Wisconsin Members of the Wisconsin State Assembly Members of the Wisconsin Territorial Legislature Politicians from Kingston, New York People from Troy, Walworth County, Wisconsin Wisconsin Free Soilers 1808 births 1865 deaths Farmers from New York (state) 19th-century members of the Wisconsin Legislature