John Wright Gray (1846 - 1895)

Born 8 Mar 1846 in Limerick, County Limerick, Ireland

Descendants

Died 10 Sep 1895 at age 49 in Bozeman, Gallatin, Montana, United States

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John Gray

^[1] John Gray, a Montana Pioneer was born in Limerick, Ireland, in 1846, son of John Richardson Gray, who spent his life in Limerick, was a member of the landed class, and had a tenant lease under the Crown and was well-to-do. John Gray though reared in a home of substantial comfort chose a life of independence and adventure in extreme early boyhood. He went around the world from Cork, Ireland, as a first cabin boy on an English man-of-war. Much of his time while on the war vessel was spent patroling [sic] the waters of Algeria. He next joined a whaling expedition to the North Seas. He was only fifteen years of age, but had seen many ports of the world when he left his vessel at San Francisco, California. Not long afterward he joined an overland train engaged in a hunting expedition to the wilds of Montana. He reached the Gallatin Valley in 1863 and for several years was employed by freighters and stockmen, rode the range and in 1872 bought a ranch on Reese Creek in Gallatin County. In the fall of 1889 he left his ranch and moved to Bozeman, and after that conducted an extensive business as a brokers' exchange, dealing in mining and real estate mortgages, and handling many interests with uniform success. He owned a farm of 520 acres on Reese Creek, three dwelling houses in Bozeman, and an examination of his estate at the time of his death also disclosed possession of various mining properties and real estate mortgages. His success in business was matched by his splendid public spirit and an influence freely extended in behalf of the welfare of his home city. He was a leader in the fight for the location of the state capital at Bozeman. Politically he was a democrat, was a member of Gallatin Lodge No. 6, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, a member of Bozeman Chapter No. 12, Royal Arch Masons, St. John's Commandery No. 12, Knights Templar, and was a thirty-second degree Mason. He was deeply interested in the Masonic craft and went abroad to Paris, France, to take his higher degrees. During the early '90s he was also a member of a Masonic excursion to China. John Gray married Martha F. Phipps, who was born at Kirksville, Missouri, August 22, 1863, and is still living at Bozeman. They had a family of seven children: Charles E., a farmer at Kewanee, Illinois; Mary G., wife of Alvin C. Busby, a mechanic at Ellensburg, Washington; John W., an agronomist with the State Agricultural College at Bozeman; Ellen V., who died at the age of twelve years; Frank M.; Agnes G., wife of Kenneth A. Wilber, a civil engineer at Glendale, California; and Robertz M., an accountant living at Los Angeles. Frank M. Gray attended the rural schools of Gallatin County while a boy on his father's ranch, was graduated from the Gallatin County High School in 1910, spent one year in the Missouri State Normal School at Kirksville, his mother's old home, and another year in the Montana State College at Bozeman. Mr. Gray has a broad and extensive knowledge of the United States, acquired during a period of 2 1/2 years in which he traveled in practically every state in the Union and also in Canada and Mexico. In preparation for the law he was first in the law office of H. A. Bolinger at Bozeman, and was admitted to the bar, January 13, 1914. For the past five years he has conducted a general civil and criminal practice. Three years of that time he was justice of the peace and is the present coroner of Gallatin County. Mr. Gray has an interest in his father's estate. He is a democrat in politics, a member of the official board of the Christian Church, is affiliated with Gallatin Lodge No. 6, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and is a member of the Gallatin County, State and American Bar associations. He owns a modern home on the Yellowstone Trail at 109 North Seventh Avenue. July 22, 1915, at Livingston, he married Miss Shorley M. McCartney, daughter of John H. and Mary L. (Oldham) McCartney. Her parents reside at Cambridge, Ohio, her father being a retired business man. Mrs. Gray is a graduate of the Cambridge High School in Ohio, attended a Pennsylvania college, and before her marriage was a teacher in the public schools of Cambridge. Mr. and Mrs. Gray have one son, Frank M., Jr., born October 25, 1917. [Montana, Its Biography and History, Volume 2. transcribed by Vicki Bryan]

• Fact: Residence (1880) New York City, New York, New York, USA

• Name John Gray
• Event Type Burial
• Event Date 1895
• Event Place Bozeman, Gallatin, Montana, United States of America
• Photograph Included Y
• Birth Date 08 Mar 1849
• Death Date 10 Sep 1895
• Affiliate Record Identifier 74397840
• Cemetery Sunset Hills Cemetery

• Name John Gray
• Event Type Census
• Event Date 1871
• Event Place Chadderton, Lancashire, England
• Enumeration District 2
• Gender Male
• Age 21
• Marital Status Unmarried
• Relationship to Head of Household Son
• Birth Year (Estimated) 1850
• Birthplace Dublin, Ireland
• Entry Number 10
• Affiliate Image Identifier GBC/1871/4104/0078

Household Role Gender Age Birthplace

• Thomas Gray Head M 59 Gateside, Durham
• Mary Gray Wife F 52 Northumberland
• John Gray Son M 21 Dublin, Ireland
• Sarah A Gray Daughter F 19 Manchester, Lancashire
• Catherine Gray Daughter F 17 Oldham, Lancashire
• Fact: Burial (1895) Bozeman, Gallatin, Montana, United States of America

Sources

1. ↑ Gallatin County, Montana Biographies http://genealogytrails.com/mon/gallatin/bio2.html#Frank_M._Gray_

• "Family Tree," database, FamilySearch (http://familysearch.org : modified 13 February 2018, 23:55), entry for John Gray(PID https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/4:1:K89J-Y4Z); contributed by various users.
• "Public Member Trees", database, Ancestry.com (http://person.ancestry.com/tree/34489835/person/69001041003/facts : accessed 15 February 2017), profile for John Gray.
• Find A Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 02 November 2019), memorial page for John Gray (8 Mar 1849–10 Sep 1895), Find A Grave Memorial no. Find A Grave: Memorial #74397840, citing Sunset Hills Cemetery, Bozeman, Gallatin County, Montana, USA ; Maintained by RobMinteer57 (contributor 47389024) .
• "Find A Grave Index," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QV2P-ZN3J : 13 December 2015), John Gray, 1895; Burial, Bozeman, Gallatin, Montana, United States of America, Sunset Hills Cemetery; citing record ID 74397840, Find a Grave, http://www.findagrave.com.
• "England and Wales Census, 1871", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KDDT-6TW : 24 July 2015), John Gray in entry for Thomas Gray, 1871
• Gray Family Name History
• Gray History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms