My Genealogy Hound

ROBERT W. GRAY, Hickman County, was born in Mississippi County, Mo., April 29, 1857, and is the second of six children born to John C. and Mary R. (Jordan) Gray, natives of Hickman County, Ky., and of English and Irish descent, respectively. In early life, John C. Gray engaged in agricultural pursuits, and continued the same all his life, being one of the most extensive farmers of eastern Missouri. At one time he had over 1000 acres in cultivation in Mississippi County, Mo., besides other lands in Hickman County, Ky. His father, William Gray, served under Gen. Jackson at the battle of New Orleans, and his grandson, our subject, has in his possession a gun and hunter’s horn which once belonged to him. John C. Gray’s death occurred March 20, 1883, in his fifty-third year. He was an adherent of the Catholic faith and a member of the Masonic fraternity. Robert W. Gray received a good academic education at Columbus, Ky. At the age of nineteen, he took charge of his father’s farm, assisted by his brother, Shapley P. Gray, and continued the same for some four years. In the meantime he diligently pursued the study of law, was admitted to the bar in Hickman County in 1882, and practiced his profession at Columbus until March, 1884, when he has appointed local clerk of the Anchor Steamboat line at Columbus, which position he still holds. Mr. Gray is related on his mother’s side to John C. Calhoun of South Carolina, and Gov. Thomas T. Crittenden of Missouri. He is a member of the Baptist Church.