World of Redemption

The Grays immigrated to North America in 1755, fleeing Jacobite persecution in Scotland following the 1745 uprising. Founding family member Ross Gray, an informer, was rewarded with cash, cattle, and confiscated land by the Duke of Cumberland. They settled in Scarlett Meadows, which was then French territory, leveraging slavery for tobacco and cotton production, while disguising their true reasons for leaving Scotland by presenting themselves as exiled Jacobites. In 1806, Lucille Braithwaite disclosed the location of a substantial sum of gold to Douglas Gray. With her approval, he took this gold and additional funds from his family to support local abolitionist groups, resulting in a feud between them. The abolition of slavery caused financial difficulties for both the Grays and Braithwaites. By 1899, the Gray family had established a strong presence in western Lemoyne, particularly in Rhodes, where they owned the Rhodes Parlour House and controlled the local Sheriff's Office.