Notes from Richard Smith:
The Pleasants County Court House has Gay's birth date as July 21, 1894.

1930 Census, Turtle Creek, Allegheny Co., PA
Rawson, Gay A., 36, widowed, b. WV, parents b. WV
Martin, Essie, sister, 32, b. WV, parents b. WV
John P., nephew, 9, b. PA, parents b. WV
plus three boarders/roomers

The social security death index says he was born July 24, 1894. His SS# is 178-12-9762. His last known residence was Wind Ridge, Greene Co., PA.

His second wife's name is Sarah.. born Nov. 2, 1899 in Romania. Gay had a first wife and only son, Nester who were drowned in Middle Island Creek when his car overturned in October, 1922. He and his first wife, Zelma, owned a farm in Ben's Run just south of Sistersville, WV. The county court records show that he bought property, March 13, 1922, from Stokes which adjoined the Morgan Martin property on Sheets Run - 21 acres. On Oct. 15, 1924, two tracts of land were willed to Zelma from her father H. O. Speece. The property was on the mouth of Sheets run to Morgan's property. Gay later married his second wife and they operated a grocery store near Cadiz, Ohio. They later bought a farm in Wind Ridge, PA. They spent equal time in PA and Ohio.

Obituary, from Richard Smith:
“Rawson, Gay A., 72, of RD 2, Dillonvale, (his store was there but for the last few years Gay moved to Pa.) died at 8:30 A.M. Sunday at the Ohio Valley General Hospital. Born in Pleasants County, W. Va., July 26, 1894, he was a son of the late Thomas and Hulda Grimm Rawson. He had been a resident of Wheeling for many years. A plumber by occupation, he had been for the last 15 years a proprietor of a general store at Pleasant Grove, Ohio. He was a Protestant by faith. Surviving are his wife, Mrs. Sarah Willis Rawson; a stepson, John Schaas; two brothers, Everett of Pasadena, Calif; Thomas of Wilmerdene, Pa; three sisters, Mrs. Hattie Jackson of Hollywood, Fla. Mrs. Norman Long of Wheeling and Mrs. Essie Martin of Hollywood, Fla. and a number of nieces and nephews. He was a veteran of WWI and was a member of American Legion Post No. 640 at Turtle Creek Pa, and the Veterans of Foreign Wars. Friends will be received at the Altmeyer Funeral Home, 1400 Eoff Street from 2-4 and 7-9 P.M. Services will be held at the funeral home at 11 A.M. Wednesday with Rev. John Streng officating. Interment will be in Greenwood Cemetery, Sistersville.”