Abel Gray

Here I go off on a completely different tangent, although I am staying on my paternal side of the family.  Abel Gray has been one of those people that irks me in that I have been unable to confirm something about him that I feel is very important.  Abel is my great-great-great-great grandfather. He was born on October 13, 1791 in Wilton, Hillsborough Co., New Hampshire. He died on April 22, 1862 in Olney, Richland Co., Illinois. He is buried in Wesley Cemetery in Clay Co., Illinois. There is a memorial with a bronze plaque giving a biography of Abel and his wife Elizabeth, which was very nice of the person who did that - saved me some research.

It is his marker that bothers me. You can see that it states that Abel was a Captain in the Vermont Militia during the War of 1812.

Abel and his family had moved to Vermont from New Hampshire, so that part of it is okay.  My problem is with the "Captain" part, or actually even the "Vermont Militia"; I am unable to find Abel listed anywhere in any of the online resources for the Vermont Militia.  There is an Abel Gray listed in resources for the War of 1812, but my research has proven that he is not mine; he is from Massachusetts, served in the Massachusetts Militia, and had land in Illinois from his war bounty, but he never left home.  I know my Abel actually moved to Illinois.  In my research, I stumbled upon a listing of all the Grays that are in the Vermont Militia rolls, but my Abel is not listed there.  I just searched what Fold3 has so kindly made available for free during this month for the anniversary of the War of 1812, but again, not a mention of Abel. So, I am hoping that one day something will come to light; I hate to think that he invented a past for himself, hoping that the distance from Vermont to Illinois would keep his story safe.