Railey family

The Raileys were a large slaveholding family with plantations in both Louisiana and Mississippi, some of whom appear to have taken slaves to Texas during the Civil War. The Register of the Kentucky State Historical Society has a genealogy that mentions James and Matilda Railey, whose slaves appear to have been among those moved.

Current Evidence

  • James Railey & co. appear on the 1864 Tax Rolls for Van Zandt County with 82 slaves valued at over $100,000.
  • WPA Interviewee Lyttleton Dandridge recalled being owned by James and Matilda Railey and refugeed to the Tyler area, where slaves were put to work making bullets. This recollection says that James Railey died before the war, which is confirmed by the Kentucky State Historical Society genealogy, which puts his death on September 2, 1860.

Questions

  • Could the Raileys mentioned in the Van Zandt tax rolls be the sons of James and Matilda?
  • Where in Louisiana and/or Mississippi did the slaves on the tax rolls come from?
  • Can Dandridge’s recollection of slaves working in ammunition manufacture be confirmed by other evidence? (For example, in local newspapers seeking to hire slaves for work making bullets?)
  • Are there Railey papers anywhere?

Important Notes When Researching the Raileys

  1. Flake’s Daily Bulletin–comes up the most when searching for the Raileys in Texas newspapers, but this only holds the advertisement for James A. Railey’s merchant store.
  2. “Rileys” were another major slaveholding family in Texas, but share not relationship with the Raileys. When searching for the Raileys in databases or newspapers, make sure you put “Riley” in the “do not search for these words sections.”
  3. Railey have strong connections to Kentucky. The assassination attempt on Mr. Railey jr., example, was told to the newspaper by a yeoman farmer visiting from Kentucky. Moreover, most of the newspapers talk about Kentucky when mentioning the Raileys.
  4. James Railey and James Railey Jr. are also referred to as Jas. A Railey
  5. Alternative spellings for Railey: 1) Raily 2)Railley

Raileys Information (First glance)

After some biographical research, I believe the Raileys have a family biographer: William Edward Railey (1852-1943). He has written several books (see below) on the family history of the Raileys. The Railey family appears to have first lived in Woodford Kentucky, and later generations moved throughout the South. In The Families of Woodford Kentucky, William noted that marriage between James Railey and Matilda Green. They had a daughter—Mary Elizabeth (I believe in 1843). I am have requested two of the works from ILL (Brief sketches of the Randolphs &The Raileys and Kindred Families) and located the other two works on Amazon.

I have also read sections on Amazon preview. From these sections, I have found that William mentions that the Raileys had a disagreement with William Dunlap and Mary Shepard (who he mentions were abolitionists and later anti-slavery leaders in Ohio), interesting and possibly promising that Raileys’ family were interested in slavery, and possibly why the moved to Louisiana and Mississippi.

Once I get into these books, I will be able to look at the footnotes to see if the Railey’s have papers anywhere.

William Edward Railey’s Works

  1. Brief sketches of the Randolphs, the Woodsons, the Keiths, the Strothers, the Pleasants, the Raileys, the Mayos, the Owsleys and the Whitleys

  2. The Raileys and Kindred Families (1929), reprint as the History of the “Railey’s and Kindred Families”

  3. History of Woodford County

  4. The last reflections of Wm. E. Railey and appreciative responses of many friends concerning his work of a lifetime, available on Amazon.

American Colonization Society and James Railey

  • I have located James Railey was on the Role Call List for the American Colonization Society in 1848. The membership list was published in the North Star on 24 March 1848. The list cites . “James Railey , of Mississippi.” The newspaper article criticizes the ACS for their attempt to whiten the United States by removing “free blacks.”

James A Railey

Problem? I have found the a James Railey, who moved to Texas and was a captain and named Quarter Master of the Marine Department. This note came from Houston Telegraph in September 1864. This might have been his son, but I am not sure. Or he was not dead.

James Railey in Louisiana 1860

I have found a work that notes slaveholders in Louisiana in 1860.

James Railey: slaves owned 154 James Railey: slaves owned 170

James Railey owned two plantations in Louisiana. If we look at the number of slaves in Louisiana and Texas, we can see that the Railey family lost a significant number of slaves compared to the 1865 Van Zandty Count census.

See link

Wills Point Chronicle* (11 March 1910)

Lists the slaveholders in Van Zandt County 1864 James Railey (appears twice)

  1. James Railey $102,800 (82 slaves owned)

  2. James Railey $36,000 (18 slaves owned)

Railey Business

J.A. Railey (which I am assuming is James II) owned a merchant store in Texas. He advertised weekly selling everything from cigars and liquor to guns. This might give some support to the question about “Dandridge’s recollection of slaves working in ammunition manufacture.”

The Railey Merchant Store Burns Down (story in newspaper, April 6, 1859)

See: Flake’s Daily Bulletin. (Galveston, Tex.), Vol. 1, No. 136, Ed. 1 Tuesday, November 21, 1865

one example from Flake’s

Assassination Attempt On Mr. Railey Jr. (July 13, 1866–Texas Countryman)

Newspaper add discusses the assassination attempt by a African American shot at Mr. Railey. The article states that two shots were fired at Mr. Railey, who was unharmed, but the African American escaped. The assassin was followed by a party of white. No mention of the outcome. They article states, however, that it might have been an African slave returning from the war, who was armed. article

Mrs. Railey, H Letters

There are several newspapers that announced letters arriving from the War front. Newspapers are announcing these letters and who they are addressed to. The question is where can we find these letters? I will attack links to the specific newspaper links as I continue to work through the various databases.

Letter 1-Weekley Civilian Gazette, Galveston Texas

Mike Tyson Incident involving John Railey–son of James Railey

In 1891, John Railey was a witness in a court case dealing with an African American. S.G. Scott who “was representing the negro” made a few harsh remarks. This led Mr. Railey to bit off Scott’s ear in the courtroom. Although the case is interesting, it created a lot interests in the local community. In trying to learn more about the Raileys and how they came to Texas, it might be fruitful to track down the court records for this case. Which I am doing now. Chewed Off Ear