Wayne County, NC - Heritage Series Reprinted with permission of the Mount Olive Tribune and cannot be reproduced without permission. The Grady Family of Duplin "Our Heritage" By Claude Moore The Grady name was originally O'Grady and at an earlier time it was Gradha, meaning noble. The O'Grady's were Celtic, came originally from Spain and were descendants of King Milesius of Spain. In Ireland they were descendants of King Brian Boru (1002 A.D.) who was king of Ireland and was killed by the Vikings. The first Grady to come to America was William Grady of Donegal County, Ireland, who came to Virginia and then to Bertie County, N.C., in 1717 and much later to that part of Craven County which became Lenoir. William Grady married Anne Barfield, the daughter of Richard Barfield of Virginia, and had at least one son John Crady (1710-1787). John Grady was married in 1733 to Mary Whitfield, the daughter of William and Elizabeth Goodman Whitfield of Dobbs County. This William Whitfield was the forebear of all the Whitfields in Wayne and Duplin, so that makes all the Gradys and Whitfields kin. John Grady received a grant of land in 1739 on Burntcoat Swamp on the Northeast River and the present B.F. Grady School in on this tract. John and Elizabeth Grady had the following 11 children: Mary Grady who married Henry Goodman, lived on the Neuse River and had six children; William Grady (1735-1803), soldier of the American Revolution, who married and had nine children, two of whom married Outlaws; John Grady, who may have been the John Grady who was the only patriot killed at the Battle of Moore's Creek Bridge February 27, 1776, married and had four children; Charity Grady who married a Mr. Herring and had six children; Anne Grady who married a Mr. Croom and had two children; Alexander Grady (1744-1821) soldier of the American Revolution, married Anna Thomas (1746-1825), lived in Duplin and had 10 children; Frederick Grady (1753-1818) soldier of the American Revolution who married Elizabeth Durham, lived in Duplin, had 12 children; Lewis Grady, no record; Elizabeth Grady (died 183O) who married Captain James Outlaw; a daughter who married William Laws; and Margaret Grady who married Isaac Dawson. The grandchildren of John and Elizabeth Grady married into the Outlaw, Whitfield, Kornegay, O'Daniel, Barfield, Herring, and Williams families. Some of the decendants settled in Duplin and others moved to Tennessee, Kentucky, Georgia, Alabama, and some other states. Many of the descendants come back to the Grady-Outlaw family reunion. One of the descendants, Durham Grady (born 1776) married Susan Slocumb, the daughter of the famous Mary Hooks Slocumb of Mount Olive who is believed to have made the herioric ride to Moore's Creek Battle in 1776. Several of the Grady family fought in the War of 1812, and many served in the Confederate Army. One of the descendants, William Henry Grady (1841-1921), farmer and school master, married Emmaline Simmons and lived at plantation called "Waterloo" near Albertson, and they were the parents of Albert Sidney Grady, lawyer and mayor of Mount Olive, Zebulon Vance Grady, Emmaline Grady, Raphael Semmes Grady, Foutaine Maury Grady, Preston A. Grady, Maud Grady, and Malcolm Laurens Grady, all deceased. The first four were named for Confederate heroes. Another distinguished member of the Grady family was the late Honorable Benjamin Franklin Grady (1831-1867), a son of Alexander Outlaw Grady (1800-1867) and Anne Sloan Grady. Two of his brothers, William and Lewis, were killed in the Confederate Army. B.F. Grady was graduated from the University of North Carolina and was teaching at the University of Texas when he joined the Confederate Army. He married 1) Olivia Hamilton 2) Mary Charlotte Bizzell of Clinton. He had one son by his first wife and 11 children by his second wife. All are now deceased. The oldest son by his second wife was the late Judge Henry A. Grady of Clinton. B.F. Crady was known far and wide for his great mind and scholarship. He was a teacher, county supt. of schools of Duplin, and a member of Congress, 1890-1894. While living in Turkey, N.C. in 1898, he wrote the book "The Case of the South Against the North." The Gradys have been great friends of our family all during the years, and on two occasions I have made the address at the Grady-Outlaw reunion. (Source of data: From the late Ben Grady and Judge Henry A. Grady) ============================================================== USGENWEB NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the Internet, data may be used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material. The electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or for presentation by other persons or organizations. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for purposes other than stated above must obtain the written consent of the file contributor, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. 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