Dr. Joseph Hardy Ray (1806-1875) was born in Baltimore, MD in 1806 to Miles Sherbrook Ray, a sail maker, and Rachel Hardy. Joseph Hardy Ray married Maria L. Wood (1804-1890) in New York in 1826. Maria Wood was the daughter of Joseph Wood (1778-1830), an artist based in New York City, and Margaret Haring (1782-1830).
In New York City, Joseph Hardy Ray studied medicine and was appointed as a physician for the Board of Health during New York City's cholera epidemic of 1832. The Ray family moved to Huntington, Long Island, N.Y. in 1837 where Dr. Ray set up practice. Louie Ray Decker (1846-1921) was born to Joseph and Maria Ray in Huntington, N.Y. in 1846. Louie, named after an aunt, studied piano and went on to become a noted concert pianist in the New York City area. In 1865, the Ray family moved to Brooklyn where Dr. Ray continued to practice medicine. Louie married George M. Decker (1825-1927) in 1869 and they had one daughter, Josie Ray Decker (circa 1870-1964). Josie, a Brooklyn native, was a long-time resident of the Brooklyn Heights neighborhood. She lived on Montague Street in Brooklyn Heights until her death in 1964.
From the guide to the Decker family papers, Bulk, 1815-1895, 1815-1932, (Brooklyn Historical Society)
