Hello all, While perusing the article "Factory Location and Personnel
Timelines relative to the Automatic Musical Company and the Link
PianoCompany" on the Mechanical Music Press's website, I noticed some
info was lacking for their great arranger, Ray Deyo. See the original
here:

https://mechanicalmusicpress.com/registry/pdf_data/docs/Location_and_Personnel_Timelines.pdf 

In that article, other Link Piano Co. personnel had some basic info
as to their birth and who their parents were, but not so for him. So
I did a little digging and found this information, thanks to the great
detective work that had already been done by Rusty King -- much thanks
to him.

We already knew that his full name was George Raymond Deyo, and that in
1905 he lived at 14 Pearl Street, Binghamton NY. While the Binghamton
Vital Records are not digitized and free (you must pay a fee to the
City), I've been able to find other sources that tell us about his
origins. What follows is the additional information I've been able to
find:

George Raymond Deyo was born in Binghamton, New York, on March 30, 1888,
according to his Draft Registration Card for WW1 (when he was living at
2 Saratoga Ave., which we knew from Rusty King). (See 1st image.)

Given this info -- birth-date and birthplace -- I then searched for him
in other censuses.

This following info I gleaned from the 1910 U.S. Census: In 1910, he
and his wife Dollie were living at his parents' home on 14 Pearl Ave.
Much of the record has valuable information, despite numerous spelling
mistakes in the original.

His father, "George I. Deyo", 56 years old (born approx. 1854), born in
New York State, both parents born in New York State, and working as a
clerk in a grocery story. (See 2nd image. He is the final person listed
at the bottom of the page.)

His mother: listed as "Mary A. Dayer", 43 years old (born approximately
1867), born in New York State, both parents born "Can. French" and not
employed.

At this time, "George R. Dayer", the head-of-household's son, was
employed "Cuting music" at the Perforated Music Co. (See 3rd image.
This continues the Deyo household listing in the census.)

In several censuses, "Can. French" referred to any Québécois immigrants,
making Mary A. Deyo part of the ethnic group now referred to as
Franco-Americans.

The gravestone for the Deyo parents, located at the Calvary Cemetery
in Johnson City (near Binghamton), gives their names properly as

George E., 1855-1931
Amanda M., 1867-1948

Other census records corroborate this information. (See
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/85265500/george-e.-deyo )

Ray's mother's name was probably anglicized from Marie-Amanda to Mary.

Amanda or Amanda Mary, since Anglicization was a very common practice
in those days.

The grave record (accessed from Find A Grave) also give her maiden name
of Durocher, which makes sense given that in the 1900 U.S. Census, two
Durochers were listed as brother- and sister-in-law of George E. Deyo,
when the family was living at 3 Elizabeth Street. (See 4th image.
George and Amanda are the final two listings on the page. Their son
and in-laws are listed on the next census page.)

The Deyo family would have been included in the 1890 U.S. Census, but
because nearly the entire 1890 Census was destroyed in a fire, we have
no info for that year.

All said and done, this is what we know for certain:

George Raymond Deyo was born 3/30/1888 in Binghamton to George E. Deyo
(1855-1931) and Marie-Amanda Durocher (1867-1948).

The Deyo family lived at 3 Elizabeth Street in 1900, and moved to 14
Pearl Ave. during or prior to 1910.

So I close in saying: Happy early 133rd birthday, Ray -- we still love
your music! And again, great thanks to Rusty King for having done so
much work in preserving this Link Piano Co. history.

Best regards,

Sibelle Grisé
Dracut, Massachusetts, USA
mickeyodilon@gmail.com.geentroep [delete ".geentroep" to reply]

[   Ray Deyo's draft card
[ https://www.mmdigest.com/Attachments/21/03/07/210307_072137_Deyo_1.jpg 
[   Deyo family in 1910 Census, page 1
[ https://www.mmdigest.com/Attachments/21/03/07/210307_072137_Deyo_2.jpg 
[   Deyo family in 1910 Census, page 2
[ https://www.mmdigest.com/Attachments/21/03/07/210307_072137_Deyo_3.jpg 
[   Deyo family in 1900 Census
[ https://www.mmdigest.com/Attachments/21/03/07/210307_072137_Deyo_4.jpg