Paul Gray

Birth Name: Paul Dedrick Gray

Date of Birth: April 8, 1972

Place of Birth: Los Angeles, California, United States

Date of Death: May 24, 2010

Place of Death: Urbandale, Iowa, U.S.

Ethnicity:
*mother – English, some Choctaw Native American, German, remote French, remote Irish, remote Scottish

Paul Gray was an American musician. He was the bassist and backing vocalist, and one of the founding members, of heavy metal band Slipknot. Corey Taylor is also a member of the band. He was also a member of rock band Reggie and the Full Effect and heavy metal supergroup Hail! He was also known as #2, The Pol, The Pig, The Ghost, and Paulie.

Paul was the son of Nancy and Paul Gray. He was raised in Des Moines, Iowa. He was married to Brenna Friedman, until his death, with whom he had a daughter.

Paul’s maternal grandfather was Paul Sterling Cary (the son of Sterling Paul Cary and Effa D. Tucker). Paul’s grandfather Paul was born in Oklahoma. Paul’s great-grandfather Sterling was the son of William H. Cary and Martha Elizabeth Keltner. Effa was the daughter of William Anderson Tucker and Emily W. Cox.

Paul’s maternal grandmother was Helen Elizabeth Bolling (the daughter of John Franklin Bolling and Nancy Isabel Denton). Helen was born in Oklahoma. John was the son of George Franklin Bolling and Octavia Toole. Nancy was the daughter of John Denton and Johnie Chapin.

Nancy was Choctaw, being listed as #8290 on the Dawes Rolls. Paul’s great-great-grandmother Octavia was the daughter of Alfred Toole and Belinda Yates. Paul’s great-great-great-grandmother Belinda was the daughter of a white father, Allen Yates, and of Millie Nail, described in one account as “a half-breed Choctaw woman.” The family were official members of the Choctaw Native American tribe.

Sources: Obituary of Paul Gray – http://www.hamiltonsfuneralhome.com

Marriage record of Paul’s parents – https://familysearch.org

Paul’s maternal grandparents, Paul Sterling Cary and Helen Elizabeth Bolling, on the 1940 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org

Genealogy of Paul’s maternal grandmother, Helen Elizabeth Bolling – http://www.choctawnation.com