Margaret A. Ray was born in South Carolina ca. 1831. At the time of the 1860 Census, she and her husband, Andrew Ray (b. AL ca. 1833) were living in the Cherokee County, Alabama household of his widowed mother, Nancy Ray (b. GA ca. 1806). Besides a farm, Nancy Ray also owned $4,600 in personal estate, which almost certainly included several slaves. Andrew and Margaret had two sons, Barney (b. ca. 1860) and Andrew Buckner Ray (b. ca. 1862). Andrew Ray enlisted as a private in what became Co. E, 47th Alabama Infantry on April 30, 1862. He rose in ranks and was elected lieutenant on February 3, 1863. Andrew Ray was wounded in the thigh on July 2, 1863 at the Battle of Gettysburg. Ray’s military records indicate that he was “left in the hands of the enemy” and died of his wounds on July 22. His mother and three sisters were still living in Cherokee County in 1870, but it is not known what became of Margaret Ray. Her two sons are listed in the both the Census of 1870 and 1880 living in the household of their unmarried uncle, John Ray (b. ca. 1824).