Grady County GaArchives Obituaries.....Ray, Duncan Samuel March 3 1910
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Janet Sumner http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00011.html#0002510 May 23, 2004, 7:48 pm

The Cairo Messenger, Friday, March 11, 1910
     Duncan Samuel Ray, a native of Thomas County, Georgia, was born June 21st, 
1836 and departed this life March 3rd, after a lingering illness.  Stalwart in 
both mind and body, the fight with the last enemy was both long and painful.  
Inch by inch the ground was contested, but at last, this strong man yielded and 
closed his eyes in his last sleep like a babe in its mother's arms.  It was not 
the fear of death that caused this great struggle, but the great physical 
strength that sought to drive back the advance of the enemy.  He was ready for 
the change.  Death, for him, had no terrors.  Several times, recently he had 
expressed himself as ready and waiting for his departure and so, when it came, 
he was not surprised, neither was he afraid.

     The funeral service was conducted at the graveside, in the presence of a 
number of friends, by Rev. W. E. Towson, assisted by Rev. W. C. Jones and Dr. 
R. H. Harris, the latter making the principal addresses.  It was very fit that 
it should have been so, as the Doctor had known the deceased since 1854, when 
they lived near each other.  Perhaps not another person could have furnished 
the facts that entered into this most interesting and touching address except 
Dr. Harris.  After referring to an incident connected with the great physical 
strength of "Dunc Ray", as he was familiarly called, and which impressed his 
boyish imagination, the Doctor dwelt upon his early life, his being "well 
born", his having been reared in affluence, --all of which was swept away by 
the war, --his career as a Confederate soldier and his latter struggles against 
diverse circumstances.  He closed with the touching recital of his last visit, 
in company with Rev. W. E. Towson, when, as life's tide was fast ebbing away, 
he was aroused to consciousness by the sound of the familiar voice of his long 
time friend and from him received a message, "Dunc! Dunc! old fellow, tell them 
that we are coming and that it will not be long."  The return to consciousness 
on the part of this old soldier, as he received this message from his former 
companion in arms, was strikingly impressive and suggestive.  There were few 
dry eyes among his auditors at the close of this most impressive address.

     Misses Sarah M. and Mamie L. Lowrie, sisters of his wife, Carrie Lowrie, 
to whom he was married Nov. 15, 1851, were present as chief mourners.  His 
grave is by the side of his wife whose death preceded his two years ago and 
together they sleep in Jesus, awaiting the resurrection of the just.  

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