Holbrook line: John Pray abt 1653-1733

Rhode Island, the smallest state in the country in terms of size, was the home of several of our families in the Holbrook line, during the first 100 or so years of its existence.  Some of those ancestors were famous, and some were not.  The Pray family is one that was not famous, although they were definitely a part of the community of Providence Plantation.  

John was probably born in Providence, although I've not found a document that states that.  His parents, Richard and Mary Pray, were there at least as early as 1652, when Richard purchased the home lot of Robert Coles there.  So if the 1653 date for John is correct, Providence was his birthplace.  He may possibly have been born more or less in transit.  John is known to have at least two brothers, Ephraim and William, and a sister, Mary.  

The family home was one of the original home lots of Providence, first owned by Robert Coles and purchased by Richard in 1652.  It was just a block or two from the Providence River, near the center of town, and just a few lots from the house lot of Chad Brown.  Chad is important to this story because John married Sarah Brown, a granddaughter of Chad's.  So these two people grew up knowing each other.  

John and Sarah married on November 14, 1678, after King Philip's war had ended.  Most of Providence had gone to a nearby island to wait out the war, and most of Providence was burned to the ground.  John, along with his brother Ephraim and their father Richard, had stayed in Providence, doing what they could to protect their property and their crops.  They probably had to rebuild their own homes, as about one hundred homes were burned by the native Americans and only twelve were spared.  They certainly would have worked to help rebuild the homes of their neighbors. Sadly, it appears that John, among others, profited from the sale of native Americans who were sold into slavery, as a reward for staying in town. 

John's father Richard died in 1693 (his mother had died a few years earlier) and it may be about this time that John moved his family to Smithfield.  John and Sarah had at least eight children.  I've found little to indicate that John was active in government, nor have I found indication of his religion.  His wife's family background was Baptist, but there doesn't appear to have been a Baptist church at Smithfield until 1822.  

In his will, John refers to himself as of Providence, because the town of Smithfield wasn't formed until 1730/1731.  His will was recorded in Smithfield.  In it, he calls himself a husbandman, and leaves half of his estate to his son Richard, with the other half to his wife until or unless she remarried.  At her death or remarriage, Richard was to receive the other half of his lands, dwelling house, and orchards.  The other children were left 5 shillings apiece, so one wonders if John had given them other things of value, or money, before it was time to write the will.  The will was written in 1726 and proved in March 1733/34. John died on October 9, 1733. I don't yet have a death date for Sarah, but it was before the estate was settled.

John's inventory is not extensive.  It totaled, not including land and dwelling, just 61 pounds and 4 shillings.  I see no mention of arms or ammunition, so perhaps he had given those items away.  He did have 6 shillings worth of books, so we can guess he could read and probably write.  He still had animals-two cows and a calf, fifteen sheep, and two small swine, and a minimal amount of household goods and farming equipment.  

I would love to know more about John.  Why did he decide to stay in Providence during King Philip's War?  Would there have been a discussion with Sarah, or did he just make up his own mind?  What religion was he?  And what stories could he tell, that we don't even know enough to wonder about?

The line of descent is:

John Pray-Sarah Brown

Mary Pray-Richard Brown

Deborah Brown, Othniel Brown

Sarah Brown-Enos Eddy

Enos Eddy-Deborah Paine

Joseph Eddy-Susan Lamphire

Susan Eddy-Hiram Stanard

Louis Stanard-Mary Alice Hetrick

Etta Stanard-Loren Holbrook

Gladys Holbrook-Richard Allen

Their descendants