From collection Creating Acadia National Park: The George B. Dorr Research Archive of Ronald H. Epp

Page 1
Search
results in pages
Metadata
Gray Families
WILLIAM
G R A Y
Of Salem, Merchant
A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH BY
Coward Gray
With PORTRAITS and other ILLUSTRATIONS
BOSTON and NEW YORK
HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY
The Ribersine Press, Cambridge
1914
FOREWORD
HEN I undertook to write a life of William
W
Gray, I knew that all his papers with the ex-
ception of one letter-book, from which many
COPYRIGHT, 1914, BY EDWARD GRAY
of my ideas of his commercial transactions are taken, were
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
destroyed in the Boston fire of 1872, and that I should
have to rely on contemporary notices in the newspapers
Published July 1914
and in diaries of individuals for facts; but I little realized
what else was in store for me. In 1782 there were three
B
William Grays in Salem. The one here discussed was
qG795g
known as William Gray, Tertius, and not to be confounded
with William Gray, the sea captain, who made a brilliant
record as captain of privateers during the Revolution. In
319614
1798, at which date our William Gray was known as
Hist
William Gray, Jr., the confusion is even worse. There
were then at least five William Grays in Salem. I find in
the Laws and Resolves of Massachusetts, February 5, 1798,
chapter 37, that " William Gray the fifth of Salem in the
county of Essex, son of William Gray the third of said
Salem, be empowered to take the name of William Shep-
ard Gray"; also in 1802, June 23, chapter 14, "that William
Gray, a minor, son of William Gray Junior of Salem be
allowed to take the name of William Rufus Gray." In
FIVE HUNDRED COPIES PRINTED AT THE RIVERSIDE
writing this sketch, I have tried to err always on the safe
PRESS, CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A. NO. 419
side, and not credit my subject with anything which re-
fers to a William Gray about whose identity I am at all
doubtful.
The portrait of Mr. Gray reproduced here was painted
by
Foreword
t in 1807, and his signature is taken from
. John Quincy Adams dated August 4,
ILLUSTRATIONS
ams Papers. My thanks are due to all who
assisted me, and particularly to Mr. George
of the Essex Institute, Mr. Worthington
WILLIAM GRAY
Frontispiece
Massachusetts Historical Society, and Mr.
From a portrait by Gilbert Stuart, 1807. In possession of Miss Isa E.
Gray.
Gray.
E. G.
MRS. WILLIAM GRAY (ELIZABETH CHIPMAN)
8
CHUSETTS, 1913.
From a portrait by Gilbert Stuart, 1807. In possession of John Chipman
Gray, Esq.
A LETTER OF WILLIAM GRAY
24
From the original in possession of the Peabody Academy of Science.
WILLIAM GRAY'S HOUSE, SALEM
30
Drawn by Ralph W. Gray, Esq., from a lithograph of it (Lafayette Coffee
House), and a photograph taken at a later date (Essex House).
WILLIAM GRAY HOMESTEAD, CAMBRIDGE
48
The property of John Chipman Gray, Esq.
WILLIAM GRAY
80
From a bust by Dexter. In possession of the Peabody Academy of Science.
SHIP FANNY, WILLIAM GRAY, OWNER; CAPTAIN KINSMAN,
MASTER
98
From the copy of the painting by M. Corné, 1801. In possession of the
Peabody Academy of Science.
SHIP ULYSSES, WILLIAM GRAY, OWNER; WILLIAM MUG-
FORD, MASTER
100
From a water-color by Anton Roux, painted at Marseilles, 1804, showing
the temporary rudder, by means of which the ship safely reached that port,
about to be put in place. In possession of the Peabody Academy of
Science.
WILLIAM GRAY
Of Salem, Merchant
CHAPTER I
1750 - I 800
ILLIAM GRAY, or, as he was often called,
W
"Billy" Gray, was the oldest son of Abraham
Gray, of Lynn, Massachusetts, and Lydia Calley,
daughter of Francis Calley, of Marblehead. He was born
in Lynn on June 27, 1750, old style, equal to July 8, new
style, in a gambrel-roofed wooden house which stood
until quite recently on Marion Street, near the Boston
Road. William Gray, his grandfather, for whom he was
named, I find mentioned in the Essex County deeds as
husbandman and cordwainer, and he is said to have ini-
tiated the manufacture of shoes by operatives in Lynn.2
Our William's father, Abraham Gray, seems to have fol-
lowed along the same lines, being one of the first shoe
manufacturers in Lynn who employed journeymen and
apprentices. When William was still a small boy,
I have the above dates in Mr. Gray's handwriting. - Author.
2
Lynn Weekly Reporter, July 2, 1864.
3
Alonzo Lewis, History of Lynn (second edition), p. 243.
Abraham
4
William Gray
of Salem, Merchant
5
Abraham Gray moved to Salem; he took this step some-
who wishes to compare the signatures of Wm. Gray Ter.,"
time between 1760 and 1763, as the Lynn records show
as bonder of letters of marque, or as signed to the pe-
that his son, Samuel, was baptized in Lynn, August IO,
titions to the Governor of Massachusetts for the appoint-
1760, and the records of the First-Church in Salem that
ment of masters to the said letters of marque,2 with the
"Francis Cawley [Calley], infant son of Mr. Abraham
later signatures of our William Gray, can assure himself
Gray," was baptized December 29, 1762. After taking
of the fact that our William Gray was William Gray,
up his residence in Salem, Abraham Gray continued for
Tertius. He is also called "Tertius" in his marriage
many years to be Deacon of the First Church-until
notice in the Salem "Gazette," which I have printed in
his death in 1791. He was buried in the Charter Street
full a few pages later on. His grandson, William Gray, of
Burying-Ground, his tomb standing among those near
Boston, writes of him as follows: "He was rather below
the entrance.
the medium height, and his manners were singularly
Of William Gray's youth little is known, except that
simple and genial, his only peculiarity of dress being the
he was apprenticed at an early age to Samuel Gardner,
plaited queue much worn in his day." His portrait,
Esq., of Salem, and later entered the counting-house of
painted by Gilbert Stuart in 1807, when Mr. Gray was
Richard Derby, Esq., of the same port. He seems to have
fifty-seven years old, shows a pleasant-looking man, not
stepped from the counting-house to mercantile life, as I
at all handsome, with sandy hair parted in the middle
can find no record whatever of his going to sea, and he be-
and worn in a queue, a broad forehead and high cheek-
gan business for himself when he was about twenty-eight
bones, deep-blue eyes, and a ruddy complexion. The gen-
years old.
eral effect of the face is determination of purpose and a
At this period, there were three William Grays in
certain kindly sense of humor.
Salem: Captain William Gray, who made a brilliant
In the troublous times prior to the Revolution, William
record as master of letters of marque during the - Revo-
Gray joined the militia in Salem. When hostilities broke
lution; William Gray, Jr. (of another family); and Wil-
out, his company, under Colonel Timothy Pickering, made
liam Gray, Tertius, our William. who, though he was the
a forced march to Lexington, arriving, however, only in
son of Abraham Gray, and only a distant relative, if any,
time to exchange a few shots with the retreating British.
of the other two, seems to have been called "Tertius"
After the battle, the Continental Congress deemed it wise
because he was the third in point of seniority. Any one
Papers of the Continental Congress, Library of Congress, no. 196, vol.
Essex Institute Historical Collections, vol. VIII, p. 212. In the
3, pp. 71, 74; vol. 7, pp. 40, 53; vol. 8, p. 3I vol. 15, pp. 39, 81, 98.
Essex County Deeds, 107 273, Abraham Gray is called " of Lynn" on
Massachusetts Archives, vol. 172, pp. 63, 220, 229, 263, 270.
February 21, 1761, and of Salem," February 26, 1762.
3 Lynn Weekly Reporter, July 2, 1864; also a letter written by Colonel
Samuel Swett, June II, 1864.
who
to
6
William Gray
of Salem, Merchant
7
to send word of the engagement as well as of the general
chusetts Soldiers and Sailors of the Revolutionary War,"
state of affairs in this country to England, so that another
vol. VI, p. 783:-
side of the question might be presented to the British pub-
William Gray 3rd, 2nd Lieut. Captain Richard
lic than that shown in the official report sent from Boston.
Ward's (3rd) Company, IST Essex Co. regt. of Mass. mili-
As it was of utmost importance that their report should
tia ; return dated Salem May I 5th, 1776, signed by Col.
reach England before the official report, the Quéro, a
Timothy Pickering Jr. and Joseph Sprague, of officers
fast-sailing ship, belonging to Richard Derby, Esq., of
chosen by the several companies of militia in Salem and
Salem, was selected to carry the news. In the bill rendered
returned to be commissioned, said officers accepting the
to the Province of Massachusetts Bay, and paid August I,
appointments, however, only upon condition that the
1775, I find that William Gray contributed £ IO sterling
General Court would compel a more equal distribution as
toward the outfit of the vessel. ¹ This £10 from William
to the persons required to undergo military training and
Gray and the pay of John Derby, as captain of the ex-
to be subject to service calls, and also in order that the
pedition, who, in the bill rendered, modestly estimated the
existing companies might be kept fully trained and
value of his time and services at "o," were the only con-
equipped; ordered in Council June 6, 1776, that said
tributions made by individual citizens toward the expenses
officers be commissioned; reported commissioned June
of the voyage.
6, 1776."
The following April (1776) the 3d Company of the
Whether or not Mr. Gray saw any active service in the
First Regiment of Essex Militia elected as officers Rich-
above capacity, I do not know.
ard Ward, captain; Miles Greenwood, IST lieutenant;
Owing to our almost entire lack of a navy during the
William Gray, 3d, 2d lieutenant,2 and I find in " Massa-
Revolution, the Continental Congress issued privateer
I have compared very carefully the signatures of William Gray, Ter-
licenses and "letters of marque" to individuals, in order
tius, with the handwriting of the bill rendered for the Quero in 1775
(Massachusetts Archives, vol. 206, p. 94), and have come to the con-
to supply the deficiency in fighting ships. A letter-of-
clusion that William Gray, Tertius (our William) wrote the bill and was
marque vessel carried a cargo to a destined port or ports,
probably a clerk in Richard Derby's counting-house at this time. That
taking prizes if they came in her way, and defending her-
being the case, it seems very probable that the William Gray mentioned
self against the enemy as a regularly commissioned private
was he, as he was in a position to know the cost and needs of the voyage.
ship of war under heavy bonds to her government to obey
Robert S. Rantoul, Esq., attributes the £10 to our William Gray. (Essex
Institute Historical Collections, vol. XXXVI, p. 21.) The incident seems
the rules of warfare, thus combining commerce and war.
to me of enough interest to insert on the chance that the William Gray
Our William Gray was owner or part owner of several
mentioned was our William Gray.
of these privately armed vessels during the latter part of
2
Pickering Manuscripts, Massachusetts Historical Society, vol. 56,p 78.
the war, and from time to time his ships captured some
chusetts
British
8
William Gray
British property. His activities, however, seem to have
been confined to equipping his vessels, as I do not find
any record of his going to sea himself.2
During this period, with daily life full of the business
of war and of sending forth letters of marque, Mr. Gray
was deep as well in the art of love. He evidently found
time to court the pretty and vivacious Miss Elizabeth
Chipman, daughter of Hon. John Chipman and Eliza-
beth Brown Chipman, of Marblehead. His attentions
proved successful if not altogether acceptable to the friends
of the young lady, for the rumor goes that the Chipmans
did not look with too much favor on the suit of young
William Gray, feeling that his prospects were not good
enough at the time to support Miss Chipman in the same
comfort to which she was accustomed. However this
may be, the marriage took place, and his "darling Betsey,"
as he then and afterwards called his wife, became Mrs.
William Gray on March 29, 1782. The notice of the
marriage appears in the Salem "Gazette" as follows:
Pickering Manuscripts, vol. 28, p. 389. Letter from G. Cabot,
December 13, 1808. Mr. Cabot was evidently not a particular friend of
Mr. Gray when this letter was written (the Embargo period), and inti-
mated that he returned the property to the British; but it seems hardly
likely that a man would go to the expense of arming a vessel, and to the
risk of total loss during an engagement, merely to return the captured
property to the enemy. For a list of letters of marque of which our
William Gray was owner or part owner, see Appendix A.
2 The Captain William Gray, with a brilliant record as captain of
privateers and letters of marque, is not the same as William Gray, Ter-
tius. The signatures of both men are among the Massachusetts Archives,
and William Gray, Tertius, is our William Gray.
3 Alonzo Lewis and James R. Newhall, History of Lynn, p. 499.
'Married
of Salem, Merchant
9
"Married, on Friday last, Mr. William Gray, Tertius, of
this town, merchant, to Miss Betsey Chipman, daughter
of the late John Chipman, Esq., of Marblehead." It is
interesting to note in this connection that her brother,
Ward Chipman, at the outbreak of the Revolution, re-
mained loyal to Great Britain, and fled to Boston. When
the British evacuated that town, he left with the troops
and went to New York, finally joining the Loyalist
colony in New Brunswick, where he became judge of
the Supreme Judicial Court. The portrait of his sister,
Mrs. Gray, painted by Gilbert Stuart in 1807, shows
her at the age of fifty-one, a handsome woman - brown
eyes combined with auburn hair and a vivacious and
pleasing expression about the mouth, high coloring, and
an erect and well-rounded figure. She is gowned in
satin and lace, and has, as she sits looking out at
us from her background of crimson drapery, a certain
distinction of face and character that charms one at
once.
Their first child, William, who later had his name
changed by an act of the Legislature to William Rufus
Gray2 because of the number of William Grays in Salem,
was born June 23, 1783. Mr. Gray's business ventures
having proved by this time SO successful, he bought, a few
months after his boy was born, the house of Mr. William
I Salem Gazette, Thursday, April 4, 1782. Mr. Gray himself wrote
the date as March 29. Records of the First Church, Salem, give date as
March 28.
2
Laws and Resolves of Massachusetts, chap. 14, June 23, 1802.
" And that William Gray, a minor, son of William Gray, Junr. of Salem,
be allowed to take the name of William Rufus Gray."
Browne
IO
William Gray
of Salem, Merchant
II
Browne, on Essex Street. Here most of the other chil-
William Gray, Jr., Edward Pulling, Esq., Edward Norris,
dren were born, and the family lived until 1800, after
Esq., and Mr. John Hathorne being chosen.
which time they built for themselves a new house on the
In December, 1787, "at a meeting of the town of
opposite side of the street.
Salem to choose members of the Convention to consider
By 1783, William Gray began to take an active part
the Federal Constitution, two hundred and eight voters
in the town affairs of Salem, the selectmen for that year
were present, and the following gentlemen were chosen:
being Messrs. William West, John Appleton, Joshua
Richard Manning, Esq., Edward Pullen, Esq., Mr.
Ward, Jerathmeel Peirce, William Gray, Tertius, all of
Francis Cabot, and Mr. William Gray, Jr." The present
whom were reèlected the two following years.2 In May,
Constitution of the United States was first drawn up by a
1785, George Williams, Esq., the Honorable Benjamin
convention which assembled for the purpose at Philadel-
Goodhue, Esq., Mr. Samuel Page, and Mr. William Gray,
phia, and was then submitted to the several States for ratifi-
Tertius, were chosen to represent Salem at the General
cation. The Massachusetts State Convention assembled in
Court for the year ensuing.3 The following November,
January, 1788. At the outset, public feeling and a ma-
1785, Captain William Gray died 4 and William Gray,
jority of the convention were against the Constitution,
Tertius, became known as William Gray, Jr., the select-
but it was finally adopted by a majority of only nineteen
men for 1786 being: Messrs. William West, John Apple-
votes, William Gray, Jr., being among the "yeas."
3
ton, Jerathmeel Peirce, William Gray, Jr., Joshua Ward,5
After the ratification the members of the convention dined
as in the three preceding years, except that William Gray,
together, toasts were drunk, and the asperities of debate
Tertius, is called William Gray, Jr.6 The next year there
were forgotten for the moment in a general sense of satis-
was a change in selectmen, Joseph Sprague, Esq., Mr.
faction and relief that the Constitution had been adopted.4
Essex Antiquarian, vol. VIII, p. 114. The house was bought Septem-
the third, of Salem, Merchant, "on which an execution issued returnable
ber 17, 1783, for £1003. Mr. Gray sold it in 1805 for $13,500.
into the Court of Common Pleas to be holden at Salem aforesaid on the
2
Salem Gazette, March 27, 1783; March 25, 1784; April 5, 1785.
first Tuesday of December last past &c." Mr. Gray's earliest signature
3 Ibid., May IO, 1785.
as William Gray, Jr., that I have found, is April 29, 1788, in the Essex
4 Ibid., November 22, 1785. Died on Friday last, Captain William
Institute Museum. From now on until 1806, our William Gray was
Gray of this town, in the 41st year of his age."
known as William Gray, Jr.
5 Salem Chronicle and Essex Advertiser, April 7, 1786.
Salem Mercury, April 7, 1787.
6 Captain William Gray having died, William Gray, Jr., became plain
2
Diary of William Bentley, D.D. (referred to hereafter as Bentley),
William Gray, and William Gray, Tertius, became William Gray, Jr.
vol. I, p. 84, December 5, 1787.
Essex County Deeds, 145: 219: a deed signed May 3, 1786, by Wil-
3 Salem Mercury, February 12, 1788. The Boston Gazette and the
liam Gray, Jr., in which William Gray, Jr., of Salem, Merchant, is re-
Country Journal, February II, 1788.
corded as having recovered a judgment by the name of William Gray,
Memorial History of Boston, vol. III, p. 196.
William
In
I2
William Gray
of Salem, Merchant
I3
In 1789, General Washington, President of the United
large proportions. He was one of the first of the Salem
States, made an official visit to New England, and arrived
merchants to embark in the trade with India and China,
in Salem on Thursday, October 29. Orders were issued
the brig William and Henry, belonging to Messrs. Gray and
in the town for the inhabitants to assemble at one o'clock
Orne, arriving from Canton in 1790. In 1792, Captain
to greet the President; at two he arrived from Marble-
William Ward sailed for the East in the brig Enterprise,
head and there were numerous festivities. In the evening
and I give Mr. Gray's letter of instructions to him:-
he received the principal gentlemen of the town, and after
seven o'clock attended the assembly and stayed until after
SALEM Aug. 9, 1792.
nine. According to Mr. Bentley, who was present at the
CAPT. WILLIAM WARD,-
assembly, the ladies were numerous and brilliant, and
The Brig Enterprise under your command being ready
the gentlemen were also numerous." The dress worn by
for sea, you will embrace the first opportunity and pro-
Mrs. Gray on this occasion is preserved in the Essex Insti-
ceed for the Cape of Good Hope- - your arrival
tute Museum at Salem; it is of rich flowered brocade, a
sell such part of the cargo as you can to advantage which
delicate shade of pink, and was treasured in the family
I suppose will be the Russia duck, coles and such other
for many years before being presented to the Museum.
part of your cargo as you think proper. I then advise you,
Mr. William Gray, Jr., was mentioned as a State Sen-
if you can, to purchase about twenty hogsheads of brandy
ator from the County of Essex in 1792,2 and received the
and from 60 to 80 hogsheads wine, such as is best calculated
second highest number of votes in Salem for that office,3
for the Isle of France market, some raisins and almonds,
but he was not elected. About this time the merchants
and then proceed for the Isle of France, then sell your
of Salem were beginning to feel the need of a bank, and
cargo or such part as you think for my interest to sell,
in 1792 the Essex Bank was organized with banking-
which I expect will be the whole, when you have sold
rooms in a part of the Custom House, William Gray,
if you can find any sugar, coffee, tea, Indigo, or cotton
Jr., being chosen its first president.4
that will pay one hundred per cent profitt reckoning
As soon as the Revolution was over and peace had been
them to sell at the price you have at foot then I advise
declared, William Gray launched into foreign trade, and
you to come back with such of those articles as you find
his commerce grew SO rapidly that by 1792 it had reached
will do best if you cannot find goods to answer to come
home from the Isle of France, then I advise you to pro-
Bentley, vol. I, p. I3I, October 29, 1789.
Salem Gazette, March 27, 1792.
ceed for Calcutta in the Bay of Bengal, and there take
3
Ibid., April 3, 1792; June 5, 1792.
Charles S. Osgood and Henry M. Batchelder, Historical Sketch of
4
Ibid., June 19, 1792.
Salem, p. 138.
large
sugar
14
William Gray
of Salem, Merchant
I 5
sugar, saltpeters, Bandanno silk Handkerchiefs, or such
advantage, do it. She cost five thousand dollars and
other goods as you suppose will answer best in this market.
will be worth that surely when she returns, you will take
If you have advise that nothing can be done to advantage
into your calculations what freight she will make home
at Calcutta then you may go to Canton if you can get a
what you must pay freight and what you can make profitt
cargo of Black wood, cheep, provided you can make out
upon the proceeds of the Brig.
a stock of $20,000. exclusive of the Black wood. When
I expect your cargo will sell at the Isle of France at
you arrive at Canton after selling your wood take on
one hundred per cent profitt provided you get there be-
board as much Bohea tea, as the Brig will carry with
fore Cathart who will sail from Boston in ten or twenty
some China ware, nankeens, some black sattins, and such
days after you. You can buy the Brandy and wine by
other silks as you suppose will best answer. When you
the legar and then return them their casks by starting
have compleated your business in the East Indies proceed
them into your own casks, which will save near one half
directly to this port by such rout as you think safest, if
the expense upon the whole. I leave this voyage to your
you should come home in the winter it may be well to
prudent management resting assured that every exertion
touch at St. Eustatia and then lay till the spring ap-
will be made by you (to promote my interest) that can
proaches, so that you may come on safer. I think it may
be done. In case any accident should happen to Capt.
be well to send your boat on shore of Triniti in Martinico
Ward during the voyage then I appoint Mr. Benjamin
where perhaps you will find letters from me. It will be best
Davison his present mate to persue the plan of the voyage
to sett your cooper at work as soon as you possibly can,
and do and conduct as Capt. Ward would or should have
and to agree for your wines and Brandies as soon as you
done had no such accident have happened and in case any
can after you arrive, your cargo will sell for IO to 20 per
accident should happen to both Capt. Ward and Mr.
cent more to take wines and brandies than cash.
Davison, then I appoint Mr. Jere Putnam the second
Notwithstanding what I have wrote I would have you
mate to do and conduct the business as either of them
sell your whole cargo at Good Hope if you can obtain
would or could have done and follow those orders.
20 per cent advance and purchase sugars or any other
Write me by all opportunities either to America or
goods that will pay fifty per cent profitt home, then pro-
Europe. If to England, direct to the care of Messrs. Har-
ceed directly for this port. If you have opportunity to
rison Ansly & Co in London, if to Spain to Gardoqui
sell the Brig Enterprise and appurtanance at a price that
& Co in Bilboa. If to France then to the care of Messrs.
you think will answer and can lay out the money to
Lanchon & Co at L'Orient. If to Denmark to the care
The brig Enterprise was 164 tons. For a list of Mr. Gray's ships
Messrs. Ryberg & Co. at Copenhagen. If to Sweden then
and their tonnage, see Appendix B.
to the care of Mr. Thomas Erstein at Gottenburg. The
advantage
port
16
William Gray
of Salem, Merchant
17
port charges at Canton I suppose about three thousand
dollars, at Calcutta the port charges are small. If there
This letter shows not only what a thorough under-
is any obstruction to your trading at Calcutta you can do
standing Mr. Gray had of the trade possibilities in the
business at some other port a little above to as much ad-
different ports mentioned, but also the profits which could
vantage. I think the favourable monsoons to go to Cal-
be made if one were willing to take the risks, which
cutta begin in May, I would not have you run any great
were great in those days. The letter shows also how much
risk as I shall have little or no insurance. Capt. Ward
the success of the voyage depended on the judgment of
having paid five per cent upon the amount of the cargo
the captain, as, in most cases, the final decision as to what
was best to do was left in his hands.
here, including the cash, at the return of the Effects, he
is to receive ten per cent of the whole neat stock but
Mr. Gray's shipping was not all done from Salem.
not to charge any commission during the voyage except-
Some of his vessels were loaded in New York, in fact,
ing such as he pays to some other person. But to charge
according to Mr. Bentley, Mr. Gray thought very seri-
the voyage all necessary charges. The five per cent ad-
ously of moving to that city in 1794, and made a journey
dition to the five he puts in is to pay him in lieu of com-
there with that purpose in view in the fall of the same
mission.
year. The following letter written by Mrs. Gray to her
I further agree Captain Ward shall receive of the
sister, Mrs. Nancy Ward, at Salem, describes some such
profitts that shall be made upon one hundred pound aver-
journey. It is undated, but I have every reason to believe
aging my whole stock in this voyage at his return. - as
this is the journey she speaks of:-
a further consideration for his services. In case you can
obtain a credit to advantage and lay out the amount so
THURSDAY MORNING IO o'clock.
as to pay me profitt you may take to the amount of six
I have neither had time or spirits to write since we
thousand dollars and draw upon me-payable either here
mounted our car in Salem at seven on Tuesday morn,
or in London-an your bills shall meet due honour.
we reached Bradeshes at Cambridge at half-past ten where
Wishing you Almighty protection and a prosperous
we found a carriage so so, good horses but not handsome,
voyage
and Silvanus ² waiting for us with elegant shoe and knee
I am your Friend
buckles, plated with gold, which Mr. Gray reluctantly
WILLIAM GRAY JR.
consented to take. Sil had an elegant ladies watch which
SALEM 10th August 1792
he lent me (let Aunt Ropes know this). The transition
Letter in possession of George B. Dorr, Esq., of Boston. Captain
William Ward was a brother-in-law of Mr. Gray, having married Miss
Bentley, vol. II, p. 109, October 9, 1794.
Joanna Chipman, a sister of Mrs. Gray.
Sylvanus Gray, son of Winthrop Gray and Mary Gray, our William
Gray's sister.
This
from
18
William Gray
of Salem, Merchant
19
from Barrill's Jarke waggon to our light carriage made
dred miles from Salem in Palmer at a dirty house but my
our journey onward more pleasing, we dined at Weston
cold is much better. I think of home. Do tell Lydia to
and slept at Marlborough. Facing the sun gave me a bad
send soon two clean suits a week. I long to hear from
headache which added to my cold prevented my sleeping.
home, my daughter, my son and my cherub. Do greet
I arose at midnight and opened the fire where I sat rumi-
them for me-my letter is now waited for so I bid you
nating near an hour - when the pain in my head abated
an affectionate adieu.
E. G.
I went to bed and slept till five. We before six and
THURSDAY NOON
breakfasted and pursued our journey. We stopped in
Worcester an hour. Mr. G. and the boys walked out,
I fear the [sic] will impede our farther progress to-day.
while I traversed some dirty rooms and read Watts' psalms
MRS. NANCY WARD
SALEM
which I found in one of them. My head was so stuffed
with a cold that not one new idea gained entrance, if it
Letter in possession of George B. Dorr, Esq. This letter was prob-
had the long steep hills in Northborough would have
ably written between 1794 and 1797, as Mrs. Gray had five chil-
jolted it out. The fading prospects around were not in-
dren living at that period, and five are mentioned. Rev. William Bentley
spiring. The high hills in Leicester we gained the sum-
speaks of Mr. Gray going to New York October 9, 1794 (vol. II, p. 109).
mit of by one. Where while dinner was preparing a
John Chipman Gray was born in December, 1793, and William R. Gray
and Henry Gray would have been eleven and ten years old respectively
smutty boy gave Mr. G. an account of the progress of
in 1794. The other two children mentioned were Lucia and Francis
literature and rules of the academy and declared he would
Calley Gray. Mr. and Mrs. Gray's children were:-
do as he advised us if he had children send them to it. We
William Rufus, born, Salem, June 23, 1783.
NOT
passed Mr. Moore's house but could not stop. We slept
Henry, baptized, Salem, August 22, 1784.
at Hitchcock's at Brookfield in the house that Mrs.
Lydia Maria, baptized, Salem, February 5, 1786;
died, Salem, May 22, 1786.
Gardmother
Spooner dispatched her husband. Rode before breakfast
Eliza, baptized, Salem, April 18, 1787;
this morning eight miles in the rain over hills a thou-
baptized, Salem, April 8, 1787 (Town Records);
sand feet from the surface of the earth, some of them
died, Salem, January 25, 1791.
very steep and rough. We breakfasted at Brimfield where
(Her mourning ring is in the Essex Institute Museum at Salem.)
Lucia, born, Salem, December 30, 1788;
the ample hostess was taking up beehives and drying
baptized, Salem, January 4, 1789.
pumkins for pies which she extolled above any other pye.
Francis Calley, born, Salem, September 19, 1790;
I thought of neighbour C's apples. William's gibes keep
baptized, Salem, September 26, 1790.
us awake and Harry's history of beasts which he bot afford
Charles (mentioned in Mr. Gray's list of his children between Francis
C. and John C. but without dates, and I have been unable to find
subjects of wonder and inquiry. We're now near a hun-
any record of his birth or death).
dred
After
20
William Gray
of Salem, Merchant
21
After their return Mr. and Mrs. Gray decided to re-
assortment as you brought the last voyage was good ex-
main in Salem, where they lived until 1809, when they
cept the bandanno handkerchiefs. I would not have you
removed to Boston in consequence of the bitter animosity
purchase any of them at more than one hundred and
of the Federalists against Mr. Gray because he supported
ten rupees per cwge. Instead of the pepper brought last
the Embargo.
voyage, I recommend your bringing ginger, this article
In January, 1797, Captain William Ward sailed for
will always answer. You will get what information you
Calcutta from New York, and I insert Mr. Gray's letter
can at New York. Upon your arrival at Calcutta, if you
of instructions as another example of the kind of articles
find it will be for our interest you have liberty to draw
which were imported from the East, and also to show
bills on Bainbridge, Ansley & Co of London for my acct
the amount paid the captain in commissions on such a
or take up money in Bengal. You have liberty to take
voyage:
what sum you think proper, not to exceed one hundred
thousand rupees. the whole stock on board for the owners
SALEM Jan. 1797.
CAPTAIN WILLIAM WARD
acct. When you have compleated your business in the
You will embrace the first opportunity and proceed for
East Indies proceed directly to this port, unless it should
New York, on your arrival, take command of my ship
winter when you come on this coast, in that case, and
John, on board which you will ship such goods as you
peace between France and England should have taken place,
suppose will answer at Calcutta, when you have got your
you may stop at the Wind W. India islands and sell such
ship in good order, proceed for Calcutta in the Bay of
part of your cargo as you can to advantage, and wait for
Bengal there purchase about one hundred and twenty tons
good weather to come on. But if you come on this coast
of good sugar, and then fill the ship with such other goods
in the winter and peace has not taken place, then proceed
as you suppose will answer best in this market, such an
directly to New York, on your arrival write me a letter.
Break no acts of Trade or laws of any nation during this
John Chipman, born, Salem, December 26, 1793;
voyage. In case any accident should happen to Capt.
baptized, Salem, January 19, 1794.
Ward, baptized, Salem, January 15, 1797;
Ward to prevent his doing the business of this voyage,
died, Salem, August - , 1798.
then I appoint Mr. the present mate of the John,
Horace, born, Medford, August 25, 1800;
to do the business of this voyage and follow the foregoing
baptized, Medford, August 31, 1800.
orders as Capt. Ward would or could have done had no
The baptisms and deaths are taken from the records of the First Church,
such accident have happened, with this exception that I
in the Essex Institute Historical Collections. William R., Henry, Lucia,
would not have any moneys drawn or borrowed by any
Francis C., John C., and Horace survived their parents.
other person than Capt. Ward.
assortment
Wishing
22
William Gray
of Salem, Merchant
23
Wishing you a successful voyage and Almighty pro-
for the protection of their property. The year 1798 saw
tection I am your friend and employer
William Gray, Jr., Esq., elected one of the Fire Wards,
WM. GRAY JR.
to which office he was reelected until 1805. The Fire
Wards, as was then the custom, carried a staff, bucket,
It is agreed that Capt. Ward shall be allowed five per
wrench, and bag, and were vested with all the necessary
cent commission for selling what merchandize he carrys
authority for putting out fires.
out, in the John, or sells during the voyage for the owners,
and two and a half per cent for what he purchases, as
At the end of President Washington's administration,
well the amt of what he takes up abroad for the owners,
the French Directory broke off all relations with our
as on the proceeds of the cargo. He is to have five per
Government, and French privateersmen and frigates began
cent privilidge of what the ship will or doth carry for his
to attack American commerce. Intercourse with France
adventure, and twenty-five dollars per month for his wages.
was suspended by Congress in 1798 the treaties with that
WM.
GRAY
JR.
country were declared at an end, American frigates were
authorized to capture French vessels guilty of depreda-
By this time Mr. Gray's shipping had reached such
tions on American commerce, and an American army
large proportions, that Mr. George Cabot speaks of him
was formed. Under these conditions, American shipping
as the greatest merchant in Massachusetts.
was in danger of being captured, and the American ves-
In 1790, William Gray had joined the Old Fire Club,"
sels which were at Havana came home from Cuba under
an institution which was organized in March, 1744, and
convoy of one of Mr. Gray's ships, armed on the spot,
at the time of his joining was limited to twenty-five mem-
arriving at Salem September II, 1798.2
bers.3 Each member had two leather buckets and a bag
Congress had at this time authorized the construction
two yards in length and three quarters of a yard in breadth,
of only three frigates, the country being far too poor to
all with the owner's name marked thereon. The buckets
create a navy adequate for its defense. Under these circum-
were used in carrying water to the fire, whereas the bag
stances Congress passed an act in June, 1798, to accept
was for the purpose of removing valuables from the burn-
vessels built on subscription by private citizens, as a loan
ing house. There were no regular fire companies at that
to the Government at six per cent interest. The subscrip-
date, and the citizens had to form voluntary organizations
tion list was opened at Salem and Elias Hasket Derby
Letter in possession of George B. Dorr, Esq.
Salem Gazette April 10, 1798; April 9, 1799; April 18, 1800;
Henry Cabot Lodge, Life and Letters of George Cabot, p. 123.
March 24, 1801; Salem Register, March 25, 1802; May 16, 1803;
3
Essex Institute Historical Collections, vol. xxxix, p. 4.
March 29, 1804.
for
Bentley, vol. II, p. 282, September II, 1798.
and
WILLIAM GRAY
OF
LYNN, MASSACHUSETTS
AND
SOME OF HIS DESCENDANTS
By EDWARD GRAY
[One hundred copies reprinted from the HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS
OF THE ESSEX INSTITUTE, Volume LII.]
ESSEX INSTITUTE
SALEM, MASSACHUSETTS
1916
MAY 20 1926
Indian
122996
WILLIAM GRAY OF LYNN, MASSACHUSETTS,
AND SOME OF HIS DESCENDANTS.
BY EDWARD GRAY.
1. WILLIAM GRAY was probably the first of his fam-
ily in America, and the earliest record I find of him is
his marriage intention recorded at Lynn, Nov. 16, 1706.
The first land he bought in Lynn was from John Kirtland
on Oct. 5, 1709; later, in 1712, he bought from Samuel
Burrill, for £85, four lots of land in Lynn. He is called
cordwainer in the Essex County deeds, and also husband-
man, and is said to have initiated the manufacture of
shoes by operatives in Lynn. At the town meeting,
March 7, 1714/15, he was chosen one of the fence viewers
for ye town fields for ye year ensuing." At the same
meeting, and also on March 7, 1719/20, he was chosen
one of those " to take care and prosecute ye town order
that prohibits keeping geese in ye Commons." He was
chosen one of the tithingmen, March 3, 1717/18, and
March 3, 1728/29, and on March 6, 1720/21, one of the
tithingmen and " to seat boyes in the Meeting House and
to prevent disorders on the Lord's Day." On Nov: 3,
NOTE. - As far as any one knows, this Lynn family has no connec-
tion with the Gray families of Yarmouth, Plymouth, Boston, Salem,
Beverly, etc., and on account of these numerous families, I have
been unable, in some cases, to trace some branches of our Grays
when they moved or left no record. A Gray Genealogy," by M.
D. Raymond, under Salem Grays, says William Gray of Lynn was
the son of Joseph Gray of Salem and Deborah Williams, but I can
find absolutely no proof of it. There is also a tradition that Wil-
liam Gray's father was named William Gray and came from England
to Salem, but I cannot find any proof of that. From the names he
gave his children, it seems possible our William Gray belonged to
the Grays of Harrow-on-the-Hill and London, England, where the
names William, Jeremiah, and Abraham Gray occur. There is
nothing which shows whether or not, William Gray had any connec-
tion with Robert Gray of Lynn, whose marriage intention is re-
corded at Lynn, Oct. 19, 1700, to Dorothy Collins.
(1)
2
WILLIAM GRAY OF LYNN, MASSACHUSETTS,
1718, he was chosen "to serve on ye jury of legalls at
the next superior court to be holden at Salem."
His marriage intention is recorded at Lynn, Nov. 16,
1706, to Hannah Scarlet (name also spelt Scadled, Send-
let, Scadlock), daughter of
Scarlet and Hannah
(Paul) (Suffolk Deeds, 36: 232). She was buried at
Lynn, Oct. 28, 1756.
His will, dated April 13, 1743, leaves to his wife all
his property, except the following : to son Abraham, one
wood lot nigh Burrill's Hill, containing about three acres ;
to son Joseph, one small lot salt marsh lying in Lynn, in
Rumney Marsh, nigh Bear Creek, containing about two
acres ; to my daughter Hannah, 5 shillings, which (with
what I have heretofore given her) is her full portion in
my estate. After death of wife, all estate, not herein
particularly given, to my four sons, Jeremiah, Abraham,
Benjamin and Joseph. He died at Lynn, June 7, 1743.
Children
I.
JOSEPH2, b. at Lynn, Jan. 8, 1707-8; d. young.
11.
WILLIAM, b. at Lynn, Aug. 30, 1710; probably d. young.
2. III.
JEREMIAH, b. at Lynn, Dec. 16, 1712.
3. IV.
ABRAHAM, b. at Lynn, Jan. 13, 1714-15.
V.
HANNAH, b. probably at Lynn; m. int. Lynn, Oct. 9, 1736,
to Jonathan Blany; d. at Lynn, Sept. 8, 1767, act. 54
yrs. (grave stone). She d. at Lynn, June 1, 1744.
Jonathan Blany's will, dated Aug. 15, 1757, mentions
son Joseph Blany, 3 daughters, Mary Blany, Abigail
Blany, Hannah Blany. Abraham Gray, executor.
Children: (1) Joseph. (2) Mary, m. at Lynn, Oct. 8,
1765, Nathaniel Fuller. shipwright. (3) Abigail, in. at
Lynn, Sept. 22, 1757, Nathaniel Lewis, son of Edmund
and Hepsabah (Breed), b. at Lynn, Oct. 30, 1731; d. at
Lynn, May 23, 1767; a cordwainer; three children, all
d. young. She m. 2d, at Lynn, Jan. 13, 1774, Capt.
Joseph Felt of Salem; one child. She m. 3d, at Lynn,
Nov. 25, 1790, John Watts of Lynn, and d. at Lynn,
June 2, 1801, aet. 61 years. (4) Hannah, m. at Lynn,
March 5, 1761, Mark Graves, mariner; six children.
4. VI. BENJAMIN.
5. VII. JOSEPH.
2. JEREMIAH2 GRAY (William1), born at Lynn, Dec.
16, 1712, was a housewright, and lived in Lynn. He was
AND SOME OF HIS DESCENDANTS.
3
chosen constable on March 4, 1754, but did not serve.
His marriage intention is recorded at Lynn, April 8,
1739, to Theodate Hood, daughter of Richard and Theo-
date (Collins), born at Lynn, Oct. 27, 1719: died sud-
denly at Lynn, Feb. 28, 1751. His will, dated April 1,
1781, and probated May 7, 1781, leaves to son, Winthrop
Gray, one-third of my estate; to daughter, Hannah Cut-
ter, one-third of my estate; to son William Gray, one-
sixth of my estate to grandson Albert Gray, son of
William Gray, one-sixth of my estate.
Children:
6. I. WINTHROP3.
11.
HANNAH, m. at Lynn, July 26, 1773, Joseph Cutter.
(Cutler-Lynn vital records.)
7. III. WILLIAM.
IV.
Child, bur. Lynn, May 24, 1748.
V.
Child, bur. Lynn, Sept. 8, 1750.
3.
ABRAHAM2 GRAY (William1), born at Lynn, Jan.
13, 1714/5, was a cordwainer, and one of the first shoe
manufacturers in Lynn who employed journeymen and
apprentices. He moved to Salem in 1761, where he be-
came Deacon of the First Church. In later years he be-
came a merchant. He married at Lynn, April 1, 1742,
Lydia Calley, daughter of Francis, of Marblehead and
Lydia (Burrill), born at Marblehead, Jan. 11, 1723/4 ;
died at Salem Nov. 27, 1788. He died at Salem, Feb.
11/12, 1791. His will, dated 1790, leaves to grandsons,
Sylvanus Gray and Winthrop Gray, each 300 pounds to
granddaughters, Lydia Clough and Jane Williams, each
350 pounds; to daughter Hannah Gray, all household
furniture, plate, etc. ; to three children, William Gray,
Samuel Gray, and Hannah Gray, to each an equal part of
the residue of my estate. Red hair is quite common
among their descendants.
Children, all except Francis Calley, born at Lynn :
1.
MARY3, b. Jan. 5, 1742-3; m. at Salem, Oct. 11, 1764, her
first cousin, Winthrop Gray, son of Jeremiah and
Theodate (Hood); 2 children.
11.
LYDIA, b. Nov. 3, 1744; m. at Salem, March 28, 1766,
Joseph Clough; d. before 1771, when he married Ruth
4
WILLIAM GRAY OF LYNN, MASSACHUSETTS,
(Putnam), widow of William Ward. Child: (1) Lydia,
m. as his 2d wife, at Salem, May 28, 1799, Samuel Very,
son of Isaac and Elizabeth (Giles), b. 1735; d. 1824;
shipmaster and merchant; 4 children.
III.
HANNAH, b. Nov. 13, 1746; d. at Lynn, July 1, 1751.
IV.
JANE, b. July 31, 1748; m. at Salem, March 30, 1769, Ben-
jamin Williams, son of Mascoll and Ruth (Phippen).
Child: (1) Jane, bapt. at Salem, March 11, 1770; m. at
Salem, Dec. 13, 1794, Cotton Brown Brooks, son of
Rev. Edward of Medford and Abigail (Brown), sister of
Elizabeth Brown who m. John Chipman (No. 8.). Cotton
Brown Brooks was a brother of Mary Brooks, who
married Samuel Gray (No. 9). He was born July 20,
1765. 8 children. He m. 2d, Jan. -, 1831, Anne Noyes
of Portland, Me.
8.
V.
WILLIAM, b. June 27, 1750.
VI. HANNAH, b. May 23, 1752; d. at Salem, Sept. 14, 1791;
Toppit
unm.
VII. ABRAHAM, b. Aug. 21, 1753; d. at Salem, Aug. 6, 1788;
unm.
VIII. ABIGAIL, b. Sept. 1, 1755; d. at Salem, Nov. 6, 1790; unm.
To pq.9
IX. FRANCIS, bapt. Jan. 22, 1758; bur. at Lynn, Oct. 31, 1759.
9
X
SAMUEL, bapt. Aug. 10, 1760.
XI.
FRANCIS CALLEY, bapt. at Salem, Dec. 29, 1762; d. at
Salem, April 27, 1790; unm. A merchant, cf. Diary of
Rev. William Bentley, I, p. 163.
4. BENJAMIN2 GRAY (William1), born probably at
Lynn, was a cordwainer, and lived in Lynn. He was
chosen leather sealer in 1757, 1758, 1759, 1760, and
1761. He was parish clerk and parish treasurer of the
First Church at Lynn from March 26, 1760, to March 22,
1762. On July 11, 1765, Joseph Gray of Lynn, and
Abraham Gray of Salem, stated that their brother Benja-
min Gray of Lynn was non compos mentis, and Deacon
Joseph Gray was made his guardian. He was declared
sane again on Oct. 7, 1766. On August 29, 1777, he called
himself of Boston, and no wife was mentioned (Essex
Deeds, 135 : 144). He married at Lynn, Oct. 30, 1744,
Sarah Hawkes, daughter of Thomas and Sarah (Haven).
Children, all born at Lynn :
I.
BENJAMIN3, b. Aug. 2, 1745: m. at Lynn, Aug. 14, 1766,
Mary Burchsted, daughter of Henry and Anna, b. at
Lynn, Oct. 18, 1747. Child, bur. at Lynn, June, 1769.
AND SOME OF HIS DESCENDANTS.
5
She m. 2d, at Lynn, Oct. 19, 1781 [1782, int. and C.R. 3],
Capt. Thomas Cocks (Cox), and d. at Lynn, Jan. 21,
1795, aet. 48 yrs.
II.
THOMAS, b. July 3, 1749.
III.
SARAH, b. July 12, 1752.
IV.
JOSEPH, b. March 19, 1754.
V.
DEBORAH, bapt. July 31, 1757.
5. JOSEPH2 GRAY (William1), born probably at Lynn.
I think it safe to say he was the youngest son of William
Gray, because his father named him last in his will, and
also on account of the date of his marriage, 1756. He
was a cordwainer and husbandman, and lived in Lynn and
Danvers. On March 3, 1760, he was chosen one of
the tithingmen, and in 1762 and 1763 leather
sealer. On Nov. 23, 1763, he was chosen deacon of the
First Church at Lynn. He married, at Lynn, May 4,
1756, Rebecca Farington. Black hair is most common
among their descendants. He died at Danvers, intestate,
and his eldest son, William Gray of Danvers, husband-
man, was appointed administrator of his estate, Dec. 8,
1784, Rebecca Gray, widow, having relinquished right of
administration ; Abraham Gray, merchant, and William
Gray, 3d, merchant, both of Salem, signing the bond.
Children, all born at Lynn :
1.
HANNAH8, b. June 9, 1757.
II.
REBECCA, b. March 9, 1759.
10. III.
WILLIAM, b. March 26, 1761.
IV.
JOSEPH, b. July 18, 1763.
V.
SUSANNA, b. July 5, 1765; m. int. at Danvers, April 3,
1790, Nathan Page.
VI. MARY, bapt. March 6, 1768.*
VII. ABRAHAM, bapt. Oct. 28, 1770.
He was a cooper in
Salem, Nov. 9, 1791, when he signed the bond given by
William Gray, Jr. and Samuel Gray, executors of the
will of their sister, Hannah Gray.
6. WINTHROP® GRAY (Jeremiah2, William1), born
probably at Lynn. Moved to Boston, where he was a
cordwainer and later an innholder. He was commissioned
*In the Lynn Vital Records these two are called the children of
Dr. Gray, but in the original church records the name is written
Dn (deacon) Gray.
6
WILLIAM GRAY OF LYNN, MASSACHUSETTS,
Captain on May 10, 1776, and Captain in the 5th Com-
pany, Col. Crafts (Artillery) Regiment, Oct. 9, 1776.
Continental Army pay accounts for service from Jan. 1,
1777, to Feb. 26, 1779, when his resignation was accepted.
He was innholder of the American Exchange Tavern on
State street, Boston, in 1781. He married, first, at Salem,
Oct. 11, 1764, his first cousin, Mary3 Gray, daughter
of Abraham2 and Lydia (Calley), born at Lynn, Jan. 5,
1742/3; and secondly, Rebecca Stone, daughter of Robert
of Boston (Suffolk Deeds, 201 : 12). He died at Boston,
June 3, 1782, aet. 42 years. of. Boston Gazette and Coun-
try Journal. His widow married, secondly, Andrew R.
Carr of Boston, mariner (Essex Deeds, 143: 135), and
thirdly, at Charlestown, Aug. 17, 1792, James Murray of
Charlestown.
Children, by first wife, born at Boston :
11. I.
SYLVANUS4, b. Oct. 25, 1765.
11.
WINTHROP, b. Oct. 7, 1768; m. at Salem, Oct. 27, 1791,
Elizabeth Putnam, daughter of Bartholomew and
Sarah (Hodges). News of his death was brought to
Salem Sept. 15, 1800, by Captain Phillips from Calcutta
(Diary of Bev. William Bentley, II, p. 349). His will,
dated at Salem, Aug. 17, 1799, mentions his brother,
Sylvanus Gray, as sole legatee, showing his wife had
died before that date, leaving no issue. He was a
merchant.
Children by second wife, all baptized at Christ Church,
Boston, on Jan. 19, 1783 :
III.
WINTHROP PARKER, b. 1777; m. at Boston, May 30, 1802,
Rebecca Tucker of Norton, He was the only one of
her three sons to whom Rebecca Murray transferred
land in 1800. Marriage intention recorded at Norton,
Aug. 7, 1814, to Lucindia Carpenter. He was a harness
maker in Boston in 1803, and of Newburyport in 1814.*
Child by first wife: (1) Harriot', b. Newburyport, July
1, 1808.
IV. WILLIAM RAMSAY, b. 1779.
V. JEREMIAH, b. 1782.
A Winthrop Gray died at Boston, Oct. 25, 1820, aet. 39 years.
This may be Winthrop Parker Gray, though he would have been
42 or 43 years old at that date.
AND SOME OF HIS DESCENDANTS.
7
7. WILLIAM8 GRAY (Jeremiah2, William1), born prob-
ably at Lynn, was a cordwainer, and lived in Boston,
Salem, and Lynn. He married at Lynn, Jan. 23, 1771,
Alice Breed, daughter of Nathan and Mary (Bassett),
born at Lynn, Sept. 22, 1744. He transferred land to
his brother, Winthrop Gray of Boston, on April 10, 1781
(Essex Deeds, 138 : 198), and must have died shortly
afterwards, as his widow married, secondly, at Lynn, May
8, 1781*, Col. Ezra Newhall of Salem. She died at
Lowell, Feb. 9, 1833.
Child :
I.
ALBERT4, b. 1772, was a hatter, and lived in Lynn and
Salem. He was senior warden of the Essex Lodge of
Free Masons in 1807. He moved to Boston just before
lie died. He married at Salem, May 5, 1796, Polly Pay-
more of Sterling, N. H., and died at Boston, Nov. 27,
1810, aet. 38 yrs. In his later deeds no wife is men-
tioned; there was no settlement of his estate, and I do
not find any record of any children.
8
WILLIAM8 GRAY (Abraham2, William 1, born at
Lynn, June 27, 1750. Salem merchant, and one of the
largest ship-owners in New England (was also known as
William Gray, tertius, and William Gray, Jr.), and famil-
iarly as " Billy Gray. He was commissioned 2d Lieut in
Captain Richard Ward's (3d) Company, 1st Essex Coun-
ty Regt. of Mass. militia, June 6, 1776. He was a repre-
sentative to the General Court in 1785, and State senator
in 1807, 1808, and 1821. Was a member of the Con-
vention, 1788, and of the Constitutional Convention,
1820. He moved from Salem to Boston in 1809, and
was elected Lieutenant-Governor of Massachusetts in
1810 and 1811. Was Presidential Elector, 1820 and
1824. (See William Gray of Salem, Merchant," by
Edward Gray.) His portrait, painted by Stuart in 1807,
is in the possession of Miss Isa E. Gray ; another portrait,
also by Stuart, is owned by Thomas Wren Ward, Esq.
Thomas WeenWard
He married, at Salem, March 28/29, 1782, Elizabeth Chip-
man, daughter of Hon. John of Marblehead and Eliza-
Both the Lynn Vital Records and the Newhall Genealogy give
this date; the latter calls her "widow Alice Gray 1', daughter of
Nathan and Mary (Bassett) Breed.
8
WILLIAM GRAY OF LYNN, MASSACHUSETTS,
beth (Brown), sister of Abigail Brown who married Rev.
Edward Brooks (No. 9; No. 3. IV.). She was born at
Marblehead, June 9, 1756, and died at Boston, Sept. 29,
1823. Her portrait, by Stuart, painted in 1807, is in the
possession of Mrs. John Chipman Gray. He died at Boston,
Nov 3. 1825.
Children all except Horace, born at Salem, and bap-
tized at the First Church:
12. I.
WILLIAM RUFUS4, b. June 23, 1783.
13. II. HENRY, b. Jan. 17, 1784.
III. LYDIA MARIA, bapt. Feb. 5, 1786; d. at Salem, May 22, 1756.
IV. ELIZA, bapt. April 18, 1787 (Town records give bapt. April
8); d. at Salem, Jan. 25, 1791.
V. LUCIA, b. Dec. 30, 1788; m. at Salem, Aug. 24, 1807, Sam-
uel Swett, son of Dr. John Barnard and Charlotte
(Bourne), b. at Newburyport, June 10, 1782; d. at Bos-
ton, Oct. 28, 1866. He graduated at Harvard College,
1800, A. M., and was Fellow of the American Academy.
?
His)portrait, painted by Stuart, is in the Newburyport
Public Library, She d. May 15, 1844. Her portrait,
painted by Stuart. is in the possession of Mrs. Francis
Alexander. Children : (1) William Gray, b. at Salem,
July 15, 1808; H. C., 1828, A. M., Div. S. 1831; d. at
Charlestown, Feb. 5, 1843; Unitarian minister; m. 1842
Charlotte B. Phinney of Lexington; one child. (2)
Samuel Bourne, b. 1810; d. 1890; was a physician, and
lived in Exeter, N. H.; m. 1845, Mary S. Lord of New
Hampshire; five children. (3) Lucia Gray, bapt. First
Presbyterian Church, Boston, June 19, 1814; m. Francis
Alexander, the artist; one child. (4) Eliza Charlotte,
b. 1815; died 1832. (5) John Barnard, b. 1821; d. March
25, 1807, at Bristol, R. I.; m. Jan. 10, 1849, Annie Ce-
celia de Wolf, daughter of Henry and Annie Elizabeth
(Marsten); one child.
VI. FRANCIS CALLEY, b. Sept. 19, 1790; graduated at Har-
vard, 1809, A. M., and in 1841 received the degree of
LL.D. from Harvard. He was representative to the
General Court in 1820, 1821, 1822, 1823, and 1836; Stats
senator, 1824, 1825, 1827, 1828, 1830, and 1843; member
of the council, 1839. He was a Fellow of Harvard CQI-
lege, member of the Massachusetts Historical Society,
and Fellow of the American Academy. He died at
Boston, Dec. 29, 1856; unm. His portrait, painted by
Alexander, is in Memorial Hall, Cambridge.
AND SOME OF HIS DESCENDANTS.
9
VII. CHARLES (mentioned in William Gray's list of his chil-
dren between Francis C. and John C., without dates.
I can find no record of his birth or death).
VIII. JOHN CHIPMAN, b. Dec. 26, 1793; graduated at Harvard,
1811, A. M., and received the degree of LL.D. from
Harvard in 1856. He was representative to the General
Court in 1828, 1829, 1880, 1834, 1837, 1838, 1839, 1840,
1843, 1844, 1848, 1849, 1850, and 1852; State senator,
1835, 1836, 1845, 1846, and 1847; member of the Council,
1832; and member of the Constitutional Convention,
1853. He was an Overseer of Harvard, Vice-president
of the Massachusetts Historical Society and Fellow of
the American Academy. He married at Boston, May 30,
1820, Elizabeth Pickering Gardner, daughter of Samuel
Pickering and Rebecca Russell (Lowell), b. March 11,
1799; d. Aug. 8, 1879. She was a sister of Sarah Russell
Gardner, who married Horace Gray (No. 14). He died
at Boston, March 3, 1881; 8. p. His portrait, painted by
Stuart, is in the possession of Mrs. John Chipman Gray.
IX. WARD, bapt. Jan. 15, 1797; d. at Salem, August, 1798.
14. X. HORACE, b. at Medford, Aug. 25, 1800.
9 SAMUEL8 GRAY (Abraham2, William1), baptized at
Lynn, Aug. 10, 1760. was a merchant, and lived in Salem;
he moved to Medford in 1811 (of. Diary of Rev. William
Bentley, IV, p. 27). He married, first, at Salem, Oct. 30,
1787, Anna Orne, who died at Salem, June 2/3, 1797,
aged about thirty years. He married, secondly, at Med-
ford, April 25, 1799, Mary Brooks, daughter of Rev.
Edward and Abigail (Brown), sister of Elizabeth Brown
who married John Chipman (No. 8), born Jan. 27, 1769,
and died at Medford, Jan. 30, 1842. Mary Brooks was
a
sister of Cotton Brown Brooks who married Jane Wil-
liams (3. IV). He died at Medford, Jan. 21, 1816. Min-
iatures of Samuel and Mary (Brooks) Gray are in the
possession of Mrs. George A. Audenried.
Children by first wife, all baptized at the First Church,
Salem:
I.
LYDIA*, bapt. Aug. 4, 1788; m. at Medford, Nov. 15,
1810, Thomas Wren Ward,* son of William and Martha
Anne (Proctor), d. March 4, 1858; he received an hon-
orary degree of A. M. from Harvard in 1843. He was
*Data obtained from the Ward and Pickering genealogies.
Unternal Side alone: and
10
WILLIAM GRAY OF LYNN, MASSACHUSETTS,
On
treasurer of Harvard College, 1830 to 1842. She d.
Oct. 9, 1874. Children:
1
Martha Ann, bapt. at the
First Presbyterian Church, Boston, Sept. 15, 1811; d.
many 5th Gray of died 4 as in 2
at Boston, Nov. 2, 1853; unm. 2 Mary Gray, b. June
3, 1816; d. Feb. 6, 1819. 3 Samuel Gray, bapt. at
Two
Boston, Nov. 23, 1817; m. Oct. 3, 1840, Anna Hazard
had:
Barker, daughter of Jacob and Elizabeth (Hazard), b.
680
at New York, N. Y., Oct. 24, 1813. He graduated at
uncles
Harvard in 1836, A. M., and d. 1907. Four children.
4
William, bapt. at Boston, Oct. 3, 1819; d. June 24,
3 2 aunts
1830. 5 Mary Gray, bapt. at Boston, June 24, 1821;
m. June 4, 1850, Charles Hazen Dorr, son of Samuel
6 cousing.
and Susan (Brown), b. at Boston, Aug. 27, 1821. Two
children. 6 John Gallison, bapt. at Boston, Oct. 6,
1822; d. Jan. 5, 1856; unm. George Cabot, bapt. at
Boston, Dec. 5, 1824; m. 1st, Jan. 22, 1852, Mary Ann
Great CBD'S Aunts
Southwick, daughter of John Alley and Elizabeth
(Kinsman), b. at Salem, March 24, 1828; d. at New
and undes
York, N. Y., Nov. 20, 1880. He m. 2d, Feb. 11, 1882,
Frances Morris, daughter of William Lewis and Mary
Elizabeth (Babcock). He graduated at Harvard in
1843, and d. May 4, 1887. Two children by first wife.
II-XIII
& Thomas William, bapt. at Boston, Oct. 7, 1883; d.
Dec. 3, 1859; unm.
II.
ANNA, bapt. Aug. 2, 1789; III. at Medford, April 9, 1815,
Andrew Hall. She d. at Medford, Dec. 20, 1815.
III.
15.
SARAH, bapt. June 5, 1791; d. at Salem, Sept., 1805.
IV.
SAMUEL CALLEY, b. Sept. 7, 1792.
V.
MARY, William bapt. Ray 1788; Nov. July 3, 1816,
Sept. 7, 1794; m. at Medford,
of Boston, b. June 9, d. 25,
1825. She d. May 18, 1838, Children: (1) William, b.
Nov. 9, 1817; d. Aug. 29, 1819. (2) Winthrop Gray, b. at
Boston, Sept. 27, 1819; m. Nov. 10, 1845, Georgianna
Wingate Clapp, daughter of Charles Q., of Portland,
Me., and I. o. (Wingate), b. Nov. 30, 1822; d. Feb. 15,
1895. He was a merchant, and died at New York, N.
Y., Feb. 18, 1894. One child. 3 Frederick, b. Sept.
11, 1821; m. March 31, 1851, Mary Homes, daughter of
Henry and Isabella (Porter), b. Nov. 2, 1828; d. Dec.'8,
1887. He graduated at Harvard in 1842, and d. at
Middletown, R. I., Oct. 8, 1900.. Two children. (4)
1st
William Thorndike, b. at Brighton, Jan. 4, 1824; d. at
St. Louis, Mo., 1859; unm.
VI.
CATHERINE, b. April 2, 1797; m. at Medford, July 22,
1823, Jonathan Porter, son of Jonathan and Phebe
12
WILLIAM GRAY OF LYNN, MASSACHUSETTS,
XI. SARAH CHARLOTTE, bapt. at Salem, Nov. 5, 1808: m.
Dec. 23, 1828, Ignatius Sargent of Boston, son of Igna-
tins and Sarah Sargent (Stevens), b. at Gloucester, Jan.
20, 1800; d. at Brookline, Aug. 18, 1884. She d. at Bos-
ton, Jan. 17, 1831. Child: (1) Sarah Ellery, b. at Bos-
ton, Oct. 9, 1829; m. at Boston, April 22, 1851, Win-
5
throp Sargent of Philadelphia, son of George Washing-
ton and Margaret J. (Percy). She d. at Philadelphia,
Pa., May 4, 1852. One child.
X11. HENRIETTA, bapt. at Medford, Oct. 27, 1811; m. at Med-
ford, May 7, 1835, Ignatius Sargent of Boston, son of
Ignatius and Sarah Sargent (Stevens), b. at Gloucester,
Jan. 20, 1800; d. at Brookline, Aug. 18, 1884, her sis-
ter's widower. She d. at Brookline, April 3, 1891.
Children: (1) Ignatius, b. at Boston, April 13, 1836;
d. at Boston, April 16, 1844. (2) Henrietta Gray, b. at
Boston, June 14, 1838; m. at Brookline, Oct. 19, 1858,
James McMasters Codman, son of Charles Russell and
Ann (McMasters), b. at Paris, France, April 17, 1831.
1
He graduated at Harvard in 1851. Five children. (3)
Charles Sprague, b. at Boston, April 24, 1841 in. Nov.
26, 1878, Mary Allen Robeson, daughter of Andrew, of
Tiverton, R. I., and Mary (Allen), b. June 14, 1853. He
graduated at Harvard in 1862, and received an LL. D.
from Harvard in 1901; Prof. Horticulture; Arnold Prof.
Arboriculture; Director Botanic Garden; Director Ar-
nold Arboretum; Fellow Am. Acad.; Memb. Am.
Philos. Soc., Nat. Acad. Sci.; For. Memb. Linnean
Soc. (London), Soc. Nat. d'Agric. de France; For. Hon.
Memb. Deutsche Dendrol. Gesellsch. (Bonn), Scottish
Arboricult. Soc., Arboricult. Soc. (Loudon), Oesterreich-
ische Dendrol. Gesellsch, Five children.
16. XIII. FRANCIS ABRAHAM, b. Oct. 5, 1813; bapt. at Medford,
June 12, 1814.
10. WILLIAM³ GRAY (Joseph², William1), born at
Lynn, March 26, 1761. He enlisted as a private in Capt.
Winship's Co., Col. Putnam's Regt., at Salem, Feb. 17,
1778, term during the war; also as private in Colonel's
Co., Col. Rufus Putnam's Regt. ; Continental Army pay
accounts, March 2, 1777, to Dec. 31, 1779; also Jan. 1,
1780, to Dec. 31, 1780. According to S. P. Hildreth's
" Biographical and Historical Memoirs of the Early
Pioneer Settlers of Ohio," he was promoted to lieutenant
AND SOME OF HIS DESCENDANTS.
11
(Abbot), b. at Medford, Nov. 13, 1791; d. at Medford,
June 11, 1859; he graduated at Harvard in 1814, A. M.
She d. at Medford, Dec. 18, 1874. Children: (1) Mary
Gray, b. at Boston, May 1, 1824; d. at Medford, Aug. 6,
1909; unm. (2) Anna Gray, bapt. at Medford, Nov. 5,
1826; d. at Medford, May 20, 1851; unm. (3) George
Doane, b. at Medford, June 20, 1830; m. at Boston,
Aug., 1860, Lucretia E. Holland. He graduated at
Harvard in 1851; LL. B., Harvard, 1853; and d. at Med-
ford, Nov. 25, 1861. One child.
Children by second wife :
VII. ELIZABETH GORHAM, b. March 4, 1800; in. at Medford,
Dec. 2, 1822, Franklin Howard Story, son of Dr. Elisha
and Mehitable (Pedrick), brother of Eliza (Story)
White (No. 15), b. at Marblehead, March 6, 1795;
d. at Boston, Feb. 13, 1871 a merchant. His miniature
is in possession of Mrs. Edward Gray, and a portrait is
owned by Mrs. John Butler Swann. She died at Bos-
ton, Feb. 10, 1885. Children: (1) Horace Cullen, b. at
Salem, Sept. 1, 1823; d. at Boston, March 25, 1847. He
entered Harvard with the class of 1843, but remained
only three years; unm. (2) Krapklin Howard, b. at
Salem, Feb. 12, 1825; m. at New York, N. Y., Dec. 7,
1854, Adeline Wainwright, daughter of Eli and Mary
Mayo (Pratt), b. at New York, N. Y., Nov. 18, 1832; d.
at Stockbridge, Sept. 27, 1899; sister of Helen Wyckoff
Wainwright, who m. Francis Abraham Gray (No. 16).
He graduated at Harvard in 1845, and d. at Boston,
June 27, 1900. Miniatures of Franklin H, and Adeline
W. Story, by Nellie F. Bean, painted from photographs
taken circa 1880, are in the possession of Mrs. Edward
Gray; a miniature of Adeline W. Story, circa 1850, is
owned by Mrs. John Butler Swann; a portrait of
Frauklin H. Story, painted in 1890, by Julian Story,
and a portrait of Adeline W. Story, painted in 1855, by
G. A. Baker, are in the possession of Edward Gray.
Two children. (See Edward Gray [No. 31]).
VIII. CHARLOTTE GALLISON, bapt. at Salem, Feb. 7, 1802; d.
Feb. - 1804.
IX.
WINTHROP, bapt. at Salem, May 20, 1804; d. at Boston,
March 11, 1830; unm.
x.
FRANCIS ABRAHAM, bapt. at Medford, Aug. 31, 1806; d.
June 17, 1809.
AND SOME OF HIS DESCENDANTS.
13
for bravery at the attack on Stony Point. He was an
husbandman, and went to Ohio with the first party of
pioneers, reaching what is now Marietta, April 7, 1788 ;
his family followed him in 1790. In 1791, he was
chosen commander of the garrison of Fort Tyler. He
was a captain of volunteers.
He married at Danvers, July 26, 1785, Polly Diman,
and died near Beverly, Ohio, in 1812.
Children:
I.
BETSEY4, bapt. at Danvers, Sept. 6, 1789; m. either a
Dodge or a Devol.
II.
POLLY, bapt. at Danvers, Sept. 6, 1789; m. in Washing-
ton Co., Ohio, July 13, 1806, Andrew Fisher of Mari-
etta, Ohio.
III. REBECCA, b. at Fort Frye, 1791; m. at Waterford, Ohio,
March 28, 1822, Rotheus Hayward. Children: (1) Co-
lumbus Franklin, b. 1831; and four others.
17. IV. WILLIAM, b. 1795.
V.
CHARLOTTE, m. - Hayward.
VI.
CLARISSA, m. in Washington Co.. Ohio, Oct. 10, 1831,
Josiah M. Hart.
18. VII. HANFORD, b. May 14, 1810.
11. SYLVANUS GRAY (Winthrops, Jeremiah2, William1,
born at Boston, Oct. 25, 1765, was a merchant of Marble-
head in 1790, and of Boston in 1794. He married, first,
at Marblehead, Aug. 31, 1794, Charlotte Gallison, daugh-
ter of John and Eunice (Bourne), bapt. at Marblehead,
July 25, 1773 d. at Boston, Jan. 14, 1801. He married,
secondly, at King's Chapel, Boston, April 24, 1806, Abi-
gail Hinckley Lee, daughter of Joseph of Marblehead and
Hannah (Hinckley) of Barnstable, who died at Boston,
Feb. 20, 1818, aged forty years. He died at Boston,
March 15, 1818.
Children, by first wife:
HENRY GALLISON4, b. at Boston, June 18, 1795; m. at
Marblehead, July 22, 1835, Susan Hooper, daughter of
Hon. Robert; d. 1880. He graduated from Harvard in
1816, A. M., and was a master mariner and ship builder.
He was a member of the Massachusetts Senate in 1854,
and d. at Marblehead, Nov. 11, 1867; 8. p.
II,
MARY CHARLOTTE, b. May 25, 1796; m. at King's Chapel,
Boston, April 25, 1821, John Smith Allanson, son of
14
WILLIAM GRAY OF LYNN, MASSACHUSETTS,
Richard and Christina (Smith), b. at New York, N.Y.,
July 11, 1796; d. during passage from Ilavana to Mar-
seilles, June 20, 1830. He was graduated at the U. S.
Military Academy at West Point in 1814. She d. at
Cambridge, May 6, 1870. Children: (1) Sylvanus Gray,
b. at Salem, Nov. 19, 1822; d. July 12, 1826. (2) Harriet
White, b. at New York, N. Y., Aug. 21, 1824; d. Aug.
15, 1826. (3) Mary Christine, b. at New York, N. Y.,
March 15, 1826; m. at Cambridge, May 26, 1859, Frank-
lin P. Webber. She d. Jan., 1885; 8. p. (4) Horace
Story, b. at Charleston, S. C., April 22, 1828. He
went to California in 1849, and was unin. in 1875. He
d. at Los Angeles, Cal. (5) John Sylvanus, b. at Fra-
mingham, July 31, 1830; m. at St. Paul, Minn., Dec. 28,
1869, Ellen Brown, daughter of Major Joseph R., of
Brown's Valley, Minn. He was 2nd Lieut. in the Navy
on the battleship Narragansett in 1861, resigned his
commission, and enlisted in Co. D, 2d Mass. Heavy
Artillery Vols., Aug. 22, 1861; Co. E, 1st Regt. N, Y.
Veteran Engineers, April, 1864, as 2d Lieut., 1st Lieut.
Aug., 1804. In 1807 he was appointed 2d Liout. 20th
Infantry, U. S. Army, and resigned his commission lu
1870. IIe died at Henderson, Minn., Sept. 6, 1900.
Three children.
III. CHARLOTTE, b. Dec. 22, 1797; d. Sept. 4, 1798.
19.
IV.
GEORGE WINTHROP, b. at Boston, April 10, 1799.
V.
SYLVANUS, b. April 21, 1800; d. at Boston, Feb. 9, 1847;
unm. His miniature is in the possession of William
Travers Gray, Esq.
Children by second wife, all baptized at King's Chapel,
Boston, Jan. 1, 1813 :
VI. JEREMIAH LEE, b. Dec. 14, 1806; d. June, 1849; unm.
VII. WILLIAM, b. April 18, 1808; d. July 6, 1808.
VIII. WILLIAM, b. Dec. 15, 1809; was living in Cambridge in 1875.
IX. ELIZABETH CHIPMAN, b. Feb. 28, 1811; d. before 1870; unm.
X. ANNE HINCKLEY, b. Sept. 18, 1812; was living in Cam-
bridge in 1875, unm. (The information regarding these
last three is taken from a letter from Mrs. Webber to
Mrs. Francis Henry Gray, written in 1875.)
12. WILLIAM Rufus4 GRAY (William3, Abraham ², Wil-
liam1), born at Salem, June 23, 1783, and graduated from
Harvard in 1800, A. M. In 1802, he had his name
changed by an act of Legislature from William to William
AND SOME OF HIS DESCENDANTS.
15
Rufus Gray. He was a merchant, and lived at Boston,
where he died, July 27, 1831. His portrait, painted by
Stuart, is in the possession of Miss Isa E. Gray. He mar-
ried, Oct. 19, 1807, Mary Clay, daughter of Hon. and Rev.
Joseph, of Savannah, Ga., and Mary (Savage), born at
Princeton, N. J., 1790 ; d. at Boston, Nov. 15, 1867, aged
I
77 years and two months. Her portrait is in the posses-
sion of Miss Mary Clay Gray.
Children:
20. I.
WILLIAMS, b. at Boston, Dec. 20, 1810.
II.
JOSEPH CLAY, b. at Boston, Feb. 24, 1812; was drowned
in the Charles River at Cambridge, July 26, 1823.
21.
III. FRANCIS HENRY, b. at Boston, March 2, 1818.
IV. FREDERIC, bapt. at Boston, May 14, 1815; d. at Boston,
Aug. 1, 1877; unm. He was a merchant.
V. MARY, bapt. at Boston, July 20, 1816; d. at Charlestown,
May 9, 1843; unm.
VI. ANNE ELIZA, bapt. at Medford, Oct. 10, 1819; d. at Bos-
ton, Oct., 1884; unm.
VII. HORACE, bapt. at Medford, Aug. 5, 1821; b. June 19, 1821;
d. at New York, N. Y., July 18, 1901; unm. He was a
merchant, and lived at New York.
VIII. GEORGE, b. Jan. 10, 1825; bapt. at the old South Church,
Boston, Oct. 23, 1825; d. at New York, N. Y., March,
1850; unm. He graduated at Harvard in 1845; LL. B.,
Harvard, 1847.
IX. ELLEN, b. March 28, 1830; bapt. at the old South Church,
Boston, May 23, 1830. Lives at New York; unm.
13. HENRY* GRAY (William", Abraham2, William1,
baptized at Salem, Aug. 22, 1784. He was a merchant,
and lived at Boston and New York. He married, first, at
Boston, Oct. 28, 1810, Frances Temple Peirce, daughter
of Jos ph Hardy and Frances Temple (Cordis), born
Jan. 17, 1794; died at Roxbury, March 22, 1830. He
married, secondly, at New York, N.Y., March, 1833, Mrs.
Nancy Safford (cf. Independent Chronicle and Boston
Patriot, March 27, 1833). He died in 1854. His minia-
ture is in possession of Miss Frances Gray.
Children by first wife* ; the first four were bapt. at
Dorchester, Nov. 30, 1817 :
A great deal of these data are taken from the Pickering gene-
alogy.
16
WILLIAM GRAY OF LYNN, MASSACHUSETTS,
I.
FRANCES ELIZABETH*, b. July 2, 1811; d. March 3, 1894;
unm.
II.
WILLIAM HENRY, b. Oct. 22, 1812; d. Oct. 10, 1871; unm.
III. JOHN, b. Nov. 18, 1813; d. March 21, 1837 ; unm.
IV. HENRY, b. April 23, 1815; d. Sept. 3, 1851; unm.
V.
FRANCIS, b. Nov. 22, 1816; d. Sept. 4, 1817.
VI. CAROLINE, b. Jan. 18, 1818; m. Oct. 20, 1863, John Has-
kins, and d, s.p.
VII. CHARLES RUSSELL, b. Feb. 11, 1819; d. 1898; unm.
VIII. LYDIA FRANCES, b. Jan. 10, 1820; m. April 4, 1845, Elias
Cornellus, and d. at Cambridge, Dec. 17, 1913, s. p.
IX. MARY CODMAN, b. April 16, 1821; m. Dec. 13, 1854, Charles
A. Winthrop, and d. 8. p.
x.
A son, d. at Dorchester, July, 1822, aet. 2 days.
XI. FREDERICK WILLIAM, b. Oct. 7, 1823; d. 1902; unm.
XII. ARTHUR, b. Dec. 14, 1824; d. 1905; unm.
XIII. FRANCES, b. Feb. 5, 1826. Lives at Cambridge; unm.
XIV. FRANCIS, b. Jan. 23, 1828; d. at Dorchester, Nov. 19, 1828.
XV. HORATIO, b. at Roxbury, Dec. 13, 1828; d. at Boston, Feb.
11, 1903; unm. He graduated from Brown University
in 1849, A. M., and from the Theological Seminary, Va.,
in 1852. He was a clergyman.
XVI. ANNA ELLEN CORDIS, b. March 19, 1830; m. Aug. 9, 1852,
Rev. William Henry Brooks, D. D. Children: (1) Wil-
liam Gray,* b. Aug. 2, 1853; m. Etta Maddelina O'Don-
aghue, and lives at Philadelphia, Pa. (2) Grace Eliza-
beth, b. July 27, 1860; d. Sept. 3, 1860.
14. HORACE4 GRAY (William3, Abraham2, William1),
born August 25, 1800, and baptized at Medford, Aug. 31,
1800. He graduated from Harvard in 1819, A. M., and
was a Fellow of the American Academy. He was a
merchant, and lived at Boston, where he died, July 30,
1873. His portrait, painted by Hunt, is in the possession
of Mrs. John Chipman Gray. He married, first, at Bos-
ton, May 29, 1827, Harriet Upham, daughter of Jabez.
She died at sea on board the ship " Sovereign," from Lon-
don to New York, Sept. 22, 1834, aged 33 years. He
married, second, at Boston, July 3, 1837, Sarah Russell
Gardner, daughter of Samuel Pickering and Rebecca
Russell (Lowell), born Sept. 20, 1807; died at Nahant,
He should not be confounded with William Gray Brooks, son of
Cotton Brown Brooks and Jane Williams (3, IV. 1), and father of
Phillips Brooks, or with William Gray Brooks, brother of the latter.
AND SOME OF HIS DESCENDANTS.
17
Sept. 23, 1893. She was a sister of Elizabeth Pickering
Gardner, who married John Chipman Gray (8. VIII). Her
portrait, drawn by Cheney, is in the possession of Mrs.
John C. Gray.
Children, by first wife :
I.
HORACES, b. at Boston, March 24, 1828. He graduated
from Harvard in 1845, A. M.; LL. B., Harvard, 1849.
He received an LL. D. from Harvard in 1871, and from
Brown in 1882. IIe was a member of the Massachu-
setts Historical Society and Fellow of the American
Academy. He was Justice and Chief Justice of the Su-
preme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, and Justice of
the Supreme Court of the United States. He married,
at Washington, D. C., June, 1889, Jane Matthews, daugh-
ter of Stanley, and died, at Nahant, Sept. 15, 1902, 8. p.
His portrait, painted by Constant, is in the possession of
Mrs. Horace Gray, and a drawing, by Cheney, is owned
by Miss Harriet Gray.
II,
ELIZABETH CHIPMAN, b. at Florence, Italy, Feb. 22, 1830;
d. at Campobello, N. B., Aug. 26/27, 1897; unm. Her
portrait, by Mrs. Whitman, is in the possession of Mrs.
Horace Gray, and a drawing by Cheney is owned by
Miss Harriet Gray.
III. HARRIET, b. at Rome, Italy, Nov. 20, 1832; lives at Bos-
ton; unm. Her portrait, by Mrs. Whitman, is in the
possession of Mrs. Horace Gray.
Children, by second wife :
22. IV. JOHN CHIPMAN, b. at Brighton, July 14, 1839.
28.
V. RUSSELL, b. at Boston, June 17, 1850.
15. SAMUEL CALLEY GRAY (Samuel', Abraham ², Wil-
liam ¹ ) born Sept. 7, 1792; graduated from Harvard in
1811, A. M. He was a merchant and lived at Boston,
where he died Dec. 10, 1849. He married at Salem, July
1, 1829, Elizabeth Stone White, daughter of Capt. Joseph
and Eliza (Story), sister of Franklin H. Story (No. 9,
VII), born at Salem, Aug. 27, 1809; died at Boston, Aug.
15, 1842.
Children :
24. 1.
SAMUEL CALLEY', b. April 17, 1830.
11.
CHARLOTTE SARGENT, b. Oct. 27, 1832; m. at St. Paul's
Church, Boston, April 9, 1857, Henry Van Schaick of
18
WILLIAM GRAY OF LYNN, MASSACHUSETTS,
New York, son of Myndert and Elizabeth (Hove), b. at
New York, N. Y., Nov. 10, 1825. He graduated from
New York University in 1843; A. M., 1846. Children:
(1) Mary, b. March 28, 1858; d. April 29, 1858. (2)
Henry Sybaldt, b. Aug. 22, 1859; m. 1st, - Ferguson;
m. 2d, Grace Borden. He d. Feb. 24, 1901. (3) George
Gray, b. July 25, 1861; m. April 20, 1897, Nonine Har-
rim Beil. He graduated from Columbia in 1884, M.
D. (4) Elizabeth, b. March 11, 1863; m. June 9, 1886,
Alexander Boutourline. Three children. (5) Eugene,
b. Sept. 10, 1864; m. 1st, Nov. 25, 1886, Sarah Howland
Pyne; in. 2d, June 2, 1904, M. Harlenbeck. He grad-
uated from Columbia in 1887, LL. B.
III. ELIZABETH STONE WHITE, b. Jan. 3, 1835; m. at St.
Paul's Church, Boston, Jan. 26, 1858, John Ellis Blake
of New York, b. Oct. 20, 1831; d. Sept. 27, 1880. He
graduated from Harvard in 1852, A. M.; 1855, M. D.
She d. March 20, 1905. Children: (1) Henry Sargent,
b. March 10, 1860; m. Nov. 19, 1887, Cecilia Gertrude
Flanagan. (2) Louisa Dumaresq, b. April 8, 1862; m.
1st, April 4, 1883, William W. Russell, b. July 27, 1860;
d. July 22, 1887; one child, d. young. She m. 2d, Nov.
10, 1888, Charles F. Coxwell, b. Dec. 27, 1856. Four
children. (3) John Rice, b. Feb. 22, 1869.
16. FRANCIS ABRAHAM4 GRAY (Samuel , Abraham ²,
William1), born Oct. 5, 1813; was baptized at Medford,
June 12, 1814. He was a merchant, and lived at Med-
ford. He died Dec., 1888. He married at New York,
N.Y., June 2, 1857, Helen Wyckoff Wainwright, daugh-
ter of Eli and Mary Mayo (Pratt), born at New York,
1829; died Sept. 12, 1895. She was a sister of Adeline
Wainwright who married Franklin Howard Story (9. VII.
2). Her miniature, painted about 1850, is in the posses-
sion of Mrs. Edward Gray.
Children :
I.
MARY', b. at New York, N. Y., March 17, 1858; m. at
Medford, Dec. 10, 1885, George Albert Audenried, son
of William and Jane M., b. Cumberland Co., Pa., Feb.
7, 1847; d. July 21, 1907, 8. p. She lives at Paris,
France.
25. II.
FRANCIS ABRAHAM, b. at Medford, May 28, 1867.
17. WILLIAM4 GRAY (William3, Joseph2, William1),
AND SOME OF HIS DESCENDANTS
19
born in 1795; died in 1873. He married in Washington
Co., Ohio, June 10/11, 1833, Sarah Pugh, and lived at
Waterford, Ohio.
Children:
1.
AUSTIN', unm.
11.
FRANCES, m. Boyd Cowell. He d. 8. p., and she lives at
Waterford, Ohio.
26.
111. WILLIAM SIERERT, b. April 11, 1841,
18. HANFORD GRAY (William8, Joseph2, William1),
born May 14, 1810; died Feb. 3, 1870. He married, in
Washington Co., Ohio, Sept. 17, 1844, Mary E. McCad-
don, daughter of James and Mary, who died April 2,
1904, aged 81 years.
Children
I.
ELLAS, b. June 23, 1847; d. Jan. 4, 1913; m. Dec. 14, 1865,
Benonia Hurlbut. Children: (1) Etta, b. Nov. 18, 1866;
lives at Beverly, Ohio, unm. (2) Mary, b. April 20, 1871;
m. 1st, June 23, 1893, Robert J. O'Neill; one child; she
m. 2d, Nov. 19, 1907, Charles M. Stull; one child. She
lives at McConnelsville, Ohio, (3) Benoni, b. June 17,
1876; m. July 15, 1908, Linnie Earnest. One child.
Lives at Beverly, Ohio.
27. II.
JOHN, b. Sept. 6, 1849.
28. III. JAMES FARINGTON, b. March 16, 1854.
19. GEORGE WINTHROP6 GRAY (Sylvanus, Winthrops,
Jeremiah2, William1), born at Boston, April 19, 1799. He
was a merchant, and lived at New York, N. Y. He died,
at the Parker House, Boston, Nov. 20, 1863. He married
at New York, Nov. 12, 1829, Maria Griswold, daughter
of George and Elizabeth (Woodhull).
Children :
I.
GEORGE GRISWOLD®, graduated from New York Univer-
sity in 1850; A. M., 1855; and went to China as a
young man, where he lost a leg. He m. Susan Irvin,
and d. at Newport, R. I., Aug. 13, 1875; s.p.
II.
ELIZABETH WOODBULL, m. James Morris. Child: (1)
a son, Marion Gray, d. aet. 12 years.
29.
III. HENRY WINTHROP, b. June 12, 1839.
20. WILLIAM GRAY (William Rufus', William3, Abra-
ham2 William1), born at Boston, Dec. 20, 1810. Hegrad-
uated from Harvard in 1829, A. M., Overseer, President
20
WILLIAM GRAY OF LYNN, MASSACHUSETTS,
Alumni Asso., Fellow Am. Acad., Memb. Mass. Hist.
Society. He was a merchant, and lived at Boston, where
he died Feb. 11, 1892. He married, at Boston, Oct. 16,
1834, Sarah Frances Loring, daughter of Caleb and Ann
(Greely), born at Boston, Aug. 24, 1811; died at Gerrish
Island, N. H., Aug. 29, 1892. His portrait, painted by
Staigg, is in the possession of Miss Isa E. Gray ; a por-
trait by Healey, and a miniature, are in the possession of
Mrs. W. A. W. Stewart.
Children:
I.
MARY CLAY6, b. at Boston, Sept. 1, 1885; d. at Boston,
Nov. 9, 1837.
30. 11. WILLIAM, b. at Boston, July 2, 1837.
III. FRANCIS, b. at Boston, Nov. 3, 1839; d. at Milton, Aug.
1, 1857.
IV. ISA ELIZABETH, b. at Boston, Aug. 6, 1841. Lives at
Boston; unm.
V.
FRANCES LORING, b. at Boston, June 14, 1843; m. at Bos-
ton, Jan. 6, 1874, William Adams Walker Stewart, son
of John A. and Sarah T. (Johnson), b. at New York,
N. Y., April 25, 1850; lost at sea during the blizzard of
March, 1888. He graduated from Princeton University
in 1871, and from the New York Law School. She
lives at New York. Children, all born at New York:
(1) Francis Gray, b. Dec. 28, 1874; graduated from
Princeton in 1896. He is an architect, with business at
Buffalo, N. Y.; unm. (2) William Adams Walker, b.
Sept. 10, 1876; m. April 1, 1900, Frances Emily deFor-
est, daughter of Robert W. and Emily J., b. Dec. 24,
1878. He graduated from Princeton in 1897; LL. B.,
Columbia, 1900. He is a lawyer and lives at New York.
Six children. (3) Mary, b. Sept. 30, 1878. Lives at
New York; unm. (4) Frances Violet, b. April 6, 1881;
m. Sept. 1, 1910, Norman Mattoon Thomas, b. Nov. 20,
1884. He graduated from Princeton in 1905; Divinity
School, 1911. He is a clergyman, and lives at New
York. Three children.
VI. ANNA GREELY, b. at Boston, Feb. 20, 1845. She lives in
Europe; unm.
VII. FLORENCE, b. at Nahant, June 24, 1847; d. at West Rox-
bury, Aug. 17, 1859.
31. VIII. EDWARD, b. at Milton, June 7, 1851.
IX. ELLEN, b. at Boston, Dec. 14, 1854; d. at Lenox, Aug. 1,
1883; unm.
AND SOME OF HIS DESCENDANTS.
21
21. FRANCIS HENRY5 GRAY (William Rufus4, Wil-
liam3, Abraham2, William1), born at Boston, March 2, 1813.
He graduated from Harvard in 1831; M. D., Harvard,
1834. He was a physician, and lived at Boston, where
he died Feb. 6, 1880. He married, July 10, 1844, Hed-
wiga Regina Shober, daughter of Samuel Lieberkuhn of
Philadelphia, Pa., and Mary Anne (Bedford), born at
Philadelphia, Dec. 24, 1818; died at Boston, Jan. 17/18,
1885.
Children:
I.
FRANCIS CALLEY6, b. at Boston, Sept. 5, 1848; d. at Bos-
ton, Feb. 18, 1904. He graduated from Harvard in
1866, A. M.; unm,
II.
MARY CLAY, b. at Boston, Aug. 18, 1848. Lives at Bos-
ton; unm.
32. III.
SAMUEL SHOBER, b. at Boston, Dec. 30, 1849.
33. IV.
REGINALD, b. at Boston, March 19, 1853.
34. V.
MORRIS, b. at Boston, March 7, 1856.
22. JOHN CHIPMAN5 GRAY (Horace*, William 3, Abra-
ham ², William1), born at Brighton, July 14, 1889 ; grad-
uated from Harvard in 1859, A. M. ; LL. B., Harvard,
1861; LL.D., Harvard, 1895 ; Yale. 1894, Story Prof.
and Royall Prof. Law; President Alumni Asso. ; Vice-
Pres. Am. Acad. ; Memb. Mass. Hist. Soc. He entered
the army in 1861, and served until the end of the Civil
War, as 2d Lieut. in the 41st Mass. Infantry, and the
3d Mass. Cavalry ; as Aid to Gen. Gordon, and as Major
and Judge Advocate of U. S. Volunteers on the staffs of
Gen. Foster and Gen. Gilmore. He was a lawyer and
lived at Boston, where he died Feb. 25, 1915. He mar-
ried at Boston, June 4, 1873, Anna Sophia Lyman Mason,
daughter of Charles and Anna H., born Oct. 4, 1854. She
lives at Boston. Two portraits of him, by Zorn and Miss
Emmet, are in the possession of Mrs. John C. Gray ; a
portrait by Vinton is at the Harvard Law School. Her
portrait, painted by Wagner, is in her possession.
Children
35. I.
ROLAND®, b. at Boston, April 1, 1874.
11,
ELEANOR LYMAN, b. at Boston, May 25, 1876; m. at Bos-
ton, June 10, 1905, Henry Dubois Tudor, son of Wil-
liam and Elizabeth (Whitwell), b. at Paris, France, Oct.
22
WILLIAM GRAY OF LYNN, MASSACHUSETTS,
30, 1874; brother of Mary Tudor who m. Roland Gray
(No. 35). He graduated from Harvard in 1895. They
live at Boston. Children: (1) Anne Elizabeth, b. at
Boston, July 8, 1906. (2) John, b. at Nahant, Aug. 19,
1907. (3) Henry Owen, b. at Boston, May 16, 1911.
23. RUSSELL6 GRAY (Horace4, William 8, Abraham2,
William1), born at Boston, June 17, 1850; graduated
from Harvard in 1869, A. M. He is in the insurance
business and lives at Boston. He married, at Washing-
ton, D. C., Nov. 3, 1886, Amy Heard)daughter of Augus-
any bland.
tine and Jane Leaps (de Coninck), b. at Boston, Oct. 7,
1860. A crayon portrait, by Lilla Cabot Perry, is in the
possession of Russell Gray.
Children, born at Boston :
I.
HORACE4, b. Oct. 11, 1887; m. at Chicago, III., Oct. 16,
1915, Katharine Meeker, daughter of Arthur and Grace
(Murray), b. at Chicago, III., Feb. 1, 1894. He gradu-
ated from Harvard in 1909; M. D., Harvard, 1914. He
is a physician, and lives at Boston.
II.
AUGUSTINE HEARD b. Nov. 10, 1888; graduated from the
U. S. Naval Academy at Annapolis in 1910. He is
a
lieutenant in the Navy. Unm.
24. SAMUEL CALLEY5 GRAY (Samuel Calley4, Samuel3,
Abraham2, William1), born April 17, 1830. He was at one
time a sea captain, and died July 2, 1890. He married,
in England, 1879, Clara Selina Baker, born Dec. 3, 1851.
Child :
I.
ADELAIDE AUGUSTA', b. Dec. 17, 1879. She lives with
her mother at Brighton, England; unm.
25. FRANCIS ABRAHAM6 GRAY (Francis Abraham4,
Samuel8, Abraham ², William1), born at Medford, May 28,
1867. Lives at Evanston, Wyoming. He married at
Winchester, July 20, 1898, Marion Tracy Eustis, daugh-
ter of George H. and Clara (Ellis), born at Winchester,
Nov. 4, 1872.
Children :
I.
CONSTANCE, b. at Medford, Aug. 3, 1899.
II. HELEN WAINWRIGHT, b. at Wellesley, July 24, 1902.
26. WILLIAM SIEBERT5 GRAY ( William4, William3,
Joseph2, William1), born April 11, 1841. He served as
26
WILLIAM GRAY OF LYNN, MASSACHUSETTS,
iature, painted in 1900 by Nellie F. Bean, and a minia-
ture painted in 1904, are in the possession of Mrs.
Edward Gray; another miniature, painted in 1904, is in
the possession of Mrs. A. Murray Youug.
32. SAMUEL SHOBER6 GRAY (Francis Henry5, William
Rufus4, William 3, Abraham2, William1), born at Boston,
Dec. 30, 1849 lives at Boston. He married, at Boston,
Jan. 15, 1879, Caroline Balch Weld, daughter of Stephen
Minot and Sarah, born at Jamaica Plain, Jan. 15, 1846;
died at Boston, June 16, 1912.
Children
I.
RALPH WELD', b. at Boston, Jan. 19, 1880. He graduated
from Harvard in 1901; is an architect, and lives at Bos-
ton; unm.
II.
HOPE, b. at Brookline, March 29, 1882; unm.
III.
STEPHEN MINOT WELD, b. at Boston, Feb. 9, 1893.
33. REGINALD6 GRAY (Francis Henry5, William Rufus',
William3, Abraham2, William1), born at Boston, March 19,
1853 ; graduated from Harvard in 1875; LL. B., Harvard,
1877 A. M., Harvard, 1878. He was a lawyer, and
lived at Boston. He died at Newton, June 7. 1904. He
married, at Boston, April 2, 1892, Rose Lee, daughter of
George Cabot and Caroline (Haskell), born at Chestnut
Hill, Jan. 20, 1860.
Child
I.
REGINALD', b. at Boston, March 18, 1894. He graduated
at Harvard in 1915; unm.
34. MORRIS6 GRAY (Francis Henrys, William Rufus4,
William3, Abraham2, William1), born at Boston, March 7,
1856 ; graduated from Harvard in 1877; LL. B., Har-
vard, 1880, He is a lawyer, and lives at Boston. He is
president of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. He mar-
ried, at Nahant, Sept. 15, 1883, Flora Grant, daughter of
Patrick and Charlotte Bordman (Rice), born at Boston,
Nov. 4, 1858.
Children:
I.
MORRIS', b. at Nahant, July 30, 1884; graduated from Har-
vard in 1906; unm.
II.
ELIZABETH, b. at Chestnut Hill, Oct. 30, 1886; unm.
11/25/17
Wettinam Gey of Lynn, Massachesetts
ad Joine of he descendent
Internetarchave
Essychment Fete Salem MA. 1916.
Probably th fut of be fanf in
by hi harrap in 1706.
as for as is have this Lyen from
has no connection o gray familie of
Yarmonth, Plymouth Boston, Salem or Severly
The nephew of Fronce Calley gray, was Wm. Gry
grags Hall at Heroes College, a fore-story
brick buildy c mousand roof Erected by
the Corporation. Ats name come memorate the
muni ficence of three liberal benefations Hth ed. of
UHART
the calley." Moses King. Harvard its urrounding A 1883
1/ F. C. gray (class 1809) Engraving
2/ J ohn C. Gray (clans 1811) Prize in Math Dept.
3) Wim. Grap (don 1829) Gain 55K pel year
for years to build 11 bay collections.
y of Salem
Page 1 of 2
A History of Salem Massachusetts
By Sidney Perley
Volume III
1671-1716
Salem, Mass.
Shaye
Sidney Perley
1928
p3-9
NEW SETTLERS
Richard Way, born about 1624, lived in Salem from 1651 to
and removed to Dorchester before 1656, when he was living
and also two years later. Samuel Belknap, a joiner, lived h
early as 1653 and as late as 1666. John Stone," a husban
lived here from 1652 to 1662. Robert Gray, a seaman, was
5. Sarah, 3 born Jan. 7, 1700-1; married Robert Meacham of Beverl
16, 1727; 6. Susannah, baptized Dec. 13, 1702; 7. David (twin), bo
24, 1702; died Oct. 31, 1702; 8. Jonathan (twin), born Oct. 24, 170
Oct. 31, 1702; 9. Benjamin, born Oct. 19, 1704; married Abigail
Nov. 16, 1727; living in 1739; IO, Jerusha,3 born July 30, 1705;
1
Peter Pride of Beverly Dec. 9, 1736; 11. Elizabeth, born Jan. 15,
married Joseph Wakefield Dec. 10, 1719.
'Richard Way married Esther
- and they had two children I
in Salem as follows: Henry, Dec. 28, 1651 ; Elizabeth, Sept. 8, 1653
Samuel Belknap married Sarah ; they lived in Salem in 166
dren, born in Salem : Mary, born Aug. 17, 1653; Mary, born Oct. 14
Abram, born June 4, 1660; Samuel, born May I, 1662.
"John Stone married Abigail Dixy; they lived in Beverly in 168
dren: I. John. born Nov. 25. 1654: lived in Beverly : married Esther
http://etext.virginia.edu/salem/witchcraft/Perley/vol3/images/p3-9.html
7/21/2004
of Ipswich April 12, 1683; had children: 2. Samuel, born Nov. 15
lived in Beverly; married Elizabeth Herrick March II, 1683-4 ; died
erly Nov. 23, 1717; had children; 3. Abigail; 4. Jonathan, baptized
erly May 10, 1668; 5. Nehemiah, baptized May 29, 1670; 6. Israel, 1
June 27, 1675; 7. Anna (Hannah), baptized Dec. 21, 1679.
'ROBERT GRAY1 married Elizabeth ; died Jan. 23, 1661-2; sh
ried, secondly, Nicholas Manning June 23, 1663; children : I. Eli
baptized March 9, 1651; married John Priest; 2. Joseph, baptized
1652; 3. Bethiah, baptized June II, 1654; 4. Thomas, born May T 2
5. Edward,2 born May 1657; died May 1657; 6. Hannah,
1:
June 26, 1659: married Allen Chard Dec. 28, 1671; 7. Robert," born I
1659; 8. Mary, born April 3, 1661; married Daniel Lambert.
JOSEPH GRAY; gunsmith; married Deborah Williams Aug. IO
died in 1690 ; she married, secondly, Dr. James Holgrave June 14
children: I. Joseph, 3 born June 9, 1676; living in 1701; 2. Benjami
Margery; living in 1690. ROBERT GRAY? gunsmith ; married Sarah
Aug. 7. 1685; died in 1725: she was his widow in 1728; children :
I
born May 2, 1686; 2. Robert,3 born May 18, 1689; died May 3, It
Samuel, born April 15, 1691; 4. Hannah, born Sept. 16, 1693: died J
1695; 5. Sarah, born Aug. 22, 1695; married Michael Driver ; 6. Joi
born May 12, 1697; 7. Josiah, born Feb. 22, 1699-1700; 8. Ber
born Feb. 16, 1702-3; gunsmith; had wife Mary in 1744; 9. Jame:
July 29, 1704.
BENJAMIN GRAY; turner alias chairmaker; married Mary
March 31. 1699; died in the winter of 1716-7; she was his widow i
children: I. Benjamin, born Oct. 3, 1700; 2. Mary, baptized A
1722; living in 1763; 3. Sarah,4 baptized April 15. 1722; 4. John,4 bot
21, 1703: living in 1719; 5. Robert,4 born Dec. 15, 1704: 6. Jonathan
fourteen in 1724. JOHN GRAY; cordwainer; lived in Provincetown i
married, first, Abigail Mazury Dec. 23, 1710; she died Nov. 4. 1715
ried, second, Susanna Jones Dec. 16, 1717: children : I. Robert. bot
27, 1711; 2. William,4 born Sept. 21, 1713; living in 1718; 3- Abigai
Nov. 3, 1715; married Zachariah Curtis; 4. John. born Sept. II, I
Susanna. born Sept. 13, 1723. SAMUEL GRAY: gunsmith; married
beth Ward March 23, 1721-2; died in 1730; she died, his widow, in the
p3-9
http://etext.virginia.edu/salem/witchcraft/Perley/vol3/images/p3-9.html
7/21/2004
History of Salem
Page 1 of 2
A History of Salem Massachusetts
By Sidney Perley
Volume III
1671-1716
Salem, Mass.
Sidney Perley
1928
have
ming long in
general society."
Later Year sts.c.
Convert gray
p. 224.
C
Thooffield Storey's descript in of hia applies egusely well to GBD.
"a well-read scholar in various feel do c cultivated interest in
letters ared art, and a man of the world by as meass *
John chip Grandsare nan Gray Gov. (1839-1915) Uve quest MHS number
the Salem meichaet who was Harval,
the greatest shepaeses at the to refuse leaget
when MA had a lead sale in world converse
Harace Gray Father of gc gray
Jaha of
Count of MA & U.J. Suprese Court Joshie
(1828-1902) Son of Horace Gray Sr. (1800-73)
phila, thereport
father If boston Puh live Garden. Horticultural
Frances Cally grag. 1790 1856) netts meber
interacy are GAD.
On 1834 novel to Seacant's a
neighbor of the Words Ticknors on Pash St.
A hackeloy he died on 6BD's third birthda. 0
Wm Gray - (1750-1825). Ricked non in
New Syland
GBD wideede ancedated throughout
into d grayfacef in T.W. used Papers.
7 C.Graz -
J.Q. Adoves secretary Mass. H Rep. maker,
Bodton Athensen Presdest, leary Howed
he collect f 3,000 enjoying + an adorant
put towal a meant comparative 200logs
Grays Hall at Hernard nound few
the the 9rg brother, capleted in 1863.
ESSEX INSTITUTE
Historical Collections
1836-18
VOL. XCIV - 1958
ISSUED QUARTERLY BY THE ESSEX INSTITUTE
Salem, Massachusetts
William T. Whitney, Jr.
"THE CROWNINSHIELDS OF SALEM
13
The Register characterized the Hamiltonians as "innovators," the
term usually reserved by Federalist newspapers for Hamilton's
enemies. Although elsewhere the Alien and Sedition Acts consti-
tuted the most important party issue, the Salem newspapers dur-
ing the year scarcely mentioned them. Only by virtue of the fact
that the Crowninshields deplored the French war did the family
find themselves on Jefferson's side.
The Crowninshield role in local Salem society is another con-
sideration crucial to an understanding of the development of
Crowninshield Republicanism. The Crowninshields were a rising
family economically, and their position during the years from
1800 to 1805 underwent great change. In 1800 George Crown-
inshield & Sons possessed only three ships and one-third of an
interest in a schooner, a total tonnage of 1249 40 Three other mer-
chants then controlled more tonnage, and six others owned more
vessels than the Crowninshields. But by January, 1805, the
Crowninshields owned ten ships, one bark, and one brig-a ton-
Gray
nage of at least 2900 Only William Gray, described by Timothy
Pickering as America's greatest merchant, owned more vessels in
Salem than the Crowninshields. After a few years there will
be no great necessity to be SO over zealous," Jacob wrote in 1804,
"but now we ought to exert ourselves & push as heavy a stock
round the Cape of Good Hope as it is possible to send there."43
The Crowninshields started to expand only after 1800. For a
decade the brothers had captained vessels belonging either to
Elias Hasket Derby, or to themselves. The Crowninshields never
sailed for Derby again after 1796, and they stopped sailing as mas-
40 The firm's tonnage was abnormally large for its few vessels, for the
ship America equalled two other conventional ships. J. D. Phillips,
"Salem Merchants of 1800 and Their Vessels," Essex Institute Historical
Collections, LXXX (July 1944), 261.
41. lbid., pp. 261-263.
43 Names and number of vessels owned are taken from Crowninshield
correspondence; tonnage is calculated from data in J. D. Phillips, "Who
Owned the Salem Vessels in 1810," EIHC, LXXXIII (January 1947), 5.
Gray
On Gray, see Pickering to E. Stevens, Nov. 29, 1799, in E. Gray, William
Gray of Salem Merchant (Boston, 1914), p. 26. Gray owned seventeen
ships, seven barks, thirteen brigs, and one schooner m 1807-one-fourth
of
17ships
the port's tonnage. R. D. Paine, Ships and Sailors of Old Salem (Boston,
1916), p. 170.
43. Jacob to Ben W., January 28, 1804, Crowninshield Mss., Peabody
Museum.
THE CROWNINSHIELDS OF SALEM
19
But at the end of that year and throughout the next excited politi-
cal agitation was a powerful force in Salem life. As 1802 dawned,
there existed a situation in which political hysteria was thriving
along with an insensibility toward national issues. Salem politicos
came to regard the stakes of national politics as trivial in compari-
son with those of the Salem struggle.
The Register's sudden and virtually unexplained shift to Jeffer-
son testified to the superficiality of Salem's concern with national
affairs early in 1801. When it became certain that Jefferson would
be elected, the Republicans jumped to his support. First appeared
the announcement couched in dispassionate terms, that "we trust
his administration will well accord with his fame" and then a re-
print from a New York paper conceding that although Jefferson
was not "all powerful, all good, all wise," his administration ought
to be given a "fair experiment." John Adams had been defeated,
and, more discouraging to his Salem friends of 800, all the
Federalists were now "his friends and panegyricists [sic]." The
Register on this account begged all former Adams men to come
to Jefferson's standard. A natural process, the Republican shift
to Jefferson had been swift and easy.
Salem's political lethargy of early 1801 reached a low ebb at
the May election for town representatives to the General Court.
Ebenezer Beckford, Benjamin Pickman, and William Prescott, all
prominent militia officers, were elected without Republican oppo-
sition; only one hundred citizens voted.66 It was thought that "to
accept one service militia officer] & oppose another representa-
tive] was inconsistent." The incident was significant as a re-
version to the traditional pattern of political behavior. For in the
past, whenever there was no engrossing national concern, then
political ennui invariably descended upon local politics.
Political leadership in established towns like Salem had long
been the province of the rich, educated, and articulate. The prom-
inent families provided, nominated, and elected candidates for
64. Salem Impartial Register, February 2, 5, 1801.
I
65. Ibid., October 26, 1801. The Crowninshields followed suit, for Jacob
warned that the name of their new schooner "may be any thing but 'John
Jay.' Jefferson is as good a one as you can give her." (Jacob to Richard,
November 28, 1801, Crowninshield Mss, Peabody Museum). The Jay,
alias Jefferson, became George, Jr.'s private yacht.
66. Salem Impartial Register, May 18, 1801; William Prescott was
Salem's leading lawyer and the father of the famous historian.
67. Bentley, op. cit., II, 372.
20
ESSEX INSTITUTE HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS
political office. A candidate's name mysteriously appeared in the
local newspaper, and shortly afterwards he was elected by a few
citizens assembled in a town meeting. In the spring elections of
1801, as in other periods free from excitement over a special issue,
politics were in the hands of a few individuals, all apathetic to-
ward national affairs)
This mode of political behavior determined the nature of poli-
tical
parties. The poor and middle classes ignored politics, and, if
they did participate, it was under the direction of their betters.
Political differentiation among local chiefs, if it existed, was of
a factional rather than a doctrinal sort
But the structure and purposes of parties underwent strik-
ing changes beginning late in 1801. An increasing use of the
spoils system, caucus meetings, and political festivals bespoke the
fact that the fervid spirit of 1800 had come to life again. Relapse
early in the year to the traditional nature of political behavior had
been only momentary. These three signs of the changing character
of parties, which we shall study in detail, all denoted political ex-
citement not stimulated, for once, by national politics.
Federalists held the Customs House collectorships for Salem,
Gloucester, and Marblehead and the Salem posts of naval officer
and postmaster > All the incumbents were ripe for the Republican
kill. Moaning over Republican setbacks in the April, 1802, elec-
tions, Jacob Crowninshield knew that "one thing
ought to
be done-Mr. Jefferson ought to displace every federal officer in
Massach to "68
The first victim of the spoils system was Major Joseph Hiller,
the Salem collector originally appointed by the Continental Con-
gress. Captain John Gibaut, debt-ridden, unhealthy, and an old
friend of the Crowninshields, was the family's candidate for the
office. Richard sought the influence of Aaron Burr in New York,
and Jacob wrote Jefferson But in August, 1802, Jefferson ap
Gray
pointed Colonel W. R. Lee, William Gray's man, as collector.69
Though bitter and doubtful of Lee's Republicanism, the Crownin-
shields could not match the wrath of the Federalist deputy collect-
68. Jacob to John, April 6. 1802, Crowninshield Mss., Peabody Mu-
seum.
69. Jacob to N. Silsbee, November 17, 1801; Jacob to Richard, January
5, 1802; Jacob to Richard, November 28, 1801, all Crowninshield Mss.,
Peabody Museum.
THE CROWNINSHIELDS OF SALEM
31
(Not only did the Federalists seem to oppose the family's eco-
nonic growth, but they also appeared to be denying the Crownin-
shields any participation in positions of social leadership. The
Derbys used means afforded them by their lofty position to keep
the Crowninshields from gaining a share of the power. The
large merchant families could dominate many activities within a
small town by capitalizing on their position as employers A