Nemaha County Herald Online

Well, since this doesn't seem to be a well-used forum, I guess I'll be the first to post here.

So, why is someone from Oklahoma (Oklahoma City, to be exact) posting here? Well, it all goes back to some of my cousins, who settled in Pawnee and Nemaha Counties, probably back in the 1880s, if not earlier.

My first cousin, three times removed, James Azel Rea (1849-1937), who was named after my great-great-grandfather, settled in Pawnee City sometime after 1874. His wife was Lydia Ann Wolfe and they were married in Clarinda, Iowa in 1874. Some of their children were born in Pawnee City, but it appears they moved to Nemaha County at some point prior to 1892.

James' son Ernest W. Rea (1892-1954) was born in Nemaha County, though I don't know exactly which town.

Another bit of information: though the family surname is Rea, at least since 1774, when the family arrived in Pennsylvania from Northern Ireland, my great-great-grand uncle Robert Scott Rea, Jr. (father of James Azel Rea, mentioned above) decided to start spelling the name Ray, instead. Considering how often I have to correct the spelling and pronunciation for people, I don't blame him! But, this had the unfortunate consequence of forcing all of his descendants to spell it Ray, also. Therefore, anyone who is old enough to recall the Reas or know something about them probably knows them as the Rays.

Given that, Ernest and his family would be Rays. Now, back in Pennsylvania, the Rea/Ray family lived in the Amberson Valley of Franklin County, and their neighbors then included the STAKE family, with which they intermarried.

It appears the Reas and the Stakes migrated to Iowa and Nebraska together, as I have noted that there are Stake descendants still living in Burchard today. These would be descendants of Robert Scott Rea, Jr's daughter Savilla Ann Rea (1843-1883) and Eli Stake (1839-1911), who were married in Pennsylvania and settled in Page County, Iowa. Their son, Albert Stake (1866 - ?) settled in Burchard at some point and all twelve of his children were born there, between 1892 and 1912. The Stakes are also cousins of mine, of course. So are some of the STEINER family, by way of the marriage of my third cousin (once removed) Dorothea Leota Stake to Leonard John William Steiner in 1927. Their children and other descendants would also be cousins of mine.

So, now you know my connections to the area. I would be delighted to hear from anyone, especially Reas/Rays, Stakes and Steiners, who are interested in their family's history. Anyone who wants to can contact me at: garyrea@cox.net

Gary Rea
Oklahoma City

How could you blow your No.1 ranking like that? Well Missouri had it for about 4 hours after you blew it so I guess you just joined the ranks of Missouri, Southern Cal, Florida, LSU and Ohio State this year. Please o please Penn State do the same.