Ray returned to Indianapolis in 1846 to establish a law and advisory business, what he called at "Law, conveyancing, writing, abstract-making, land-agency, general and emigrants' intelligence and counsel office." The business soon folded for lack of customers. Ray purchased a home in Indianapolis that was built in 1835 and originally stood on the site where the Marion County Jail now stands. The home was moved in 1977 and is located within the Lockerbie Square Historic District.Ray's home is believed to be one of the oldest remaining in the city. His treatment led him to become even more firm in his views, which further hurt his standing. His behavior only worsened the situation; he was known to walk with a cane, for appearance only, and stop in the street and write in the air with it for no apparent reason. He ran advertisements in the newspaper offering to sell a "tavern-stand", a farm he did not own, and offering to construct a railroad from Charleston, South Carolina to Indianapolis. He had few friends and most people believed he had become mentally deranged. Ray fell ill during a trip to Wisconsin in the summer of 1848 and returned to a relative's home in Cincinnati, Ohio, where he died of cholera on August 4, 1848, aged 54. He was buried in Cincinnati's Spring Grove Cemetery. Governor Ray is the namesake of Ray Township, Franklin County, Indiana. James Ray at FindAGrave