Rasey Family

**The Rasey Family** is an American family. We don't have much information on them, as the last known ancestor (currently; still researching) is Joseph MacLeod Razey (1660-?) from Bristol, Massachusetts.

## Origin & Evolution

The first known ancestor is Joseph MacLeod Razey, who was born in 1660 in Bristol, Massachusetts. Very little is known about his life. He married a woman named Mary Holland, who was the daughter of Christopher Holland and Anne Howe. Both of Mary's parents were from England. Joseph and Mary had a son named Joseph, who was born in Bristol, Massachusetts. He married a woman named Sarah Whipple, who was the daughter of Ens. David Whipple and Hannah Towers. They had six children named David, Mary, Joseph, Hannah, Sarah, and Abigail. Their first child, David, was born in 1710 in Cumberland, Rhode Island, where his mother was born. However, the rest of his siblings except Abigail (the youngest) were born in Bristol, Massachusetts. Abigail was also born in Cumberland, Rhode Island in 1726.

Joseph and Hannah's son, Joseph III, was born in 1718. He married Mehitable Sweetland, the daughter of John Sweetland and Mehitable Fuller. All of their seven children were born in Cumberland, Rhode Island, indicating that after they married, Joseph and Mehitable moved to Rhode Island. Their son, Joseph IV, married C/Katherine Arnold. Their family was raised in Cumberland, Rhode Island. Katherine and Joseph's son, Aaron, who was born in 1784, married Anna Fish, a woman from New York. Their first five children, who were born from 1811 to 1820, were all born in Orange, Vermont, except for Almadorus, who was born in Massachusetts. Their remaining five children were born in New York, indicating that Anna and Aaron moved to New York sometime between 1820 and 1821.

Aaron and Anna's oldest child, Edward, married Mary Lucy Lamb, whose family descended from the Lyon clan of Scotland as well as King Robert II and Robert the Bruce. They raised their seven children in New York, however, Edward and Mary as well as their grown children, would move south. Edward and Mary would move to Missouri, eldest child Norval to Oklahoma, daughter Mary to Kansas, Edward Jr. to Colorado, and Archibald to Illinois. To be clear, it is likely that the family moved to Missouri after 1861 with the children moving after getting married.

Norval married Ellen B. Harding in 1874. After they were married, they moved to Sequoyah, Oklahoma, where five of their six children were born (their sixth child Clyde was born in Illinois). Ellen and Norval died in 1899, leaving three of their children to be taken into foster care. Fortunately, Clyde was adopted by Hiram and Delila Hatfield when he was two years old. Unfortunately, their two youngest daughters, May and Ellen, would be separated in foster care. However, May would later go on to marry Hiram and Delila's son, Charles Martin Hatfield.

Their oldest son, William Rasey, would go on to marry Katie Rebecca Dixon, raising their six children in Oklahoma. After growing up, most of their kids moved to Texas. Norval and Ellen's second son, Charles, married Sarah Elizabeth McDuffy. Similar to his sister May, he raised his eleven kids with Sarah in Oklahoma before moving to Ventura, California. Five of their kids settled in different places in California, while the rest settled in Texas. Charles' younger brother, Isaac, stayed in Oklahoma with his wife Ruth Lee Hallond. Five of their seven kids were born there (however three did not survive past infancy), while the sixth child was born in Illinois. The seventh child's identity is not known. Two of their children would move to California when they were grown, while one would move to Arkansas.

Norval and Ellen's youngest child, Clyde, married Littie May Maxwell in 1920. They claimed guardianship of two children (Eugene Benson Huff and Fanny Helen Huff) while also having three biological children. Eugene and Fanny were born in Oklahoma, while Clyde Jr., Billy, and John were born in California. Most of the Rasey family ended up in California with a few exceptions. May Dora Rasey, who married Charles Martin Hatfield, also raised her family in California.