USA > Indiana > Marion County > Indianapolis > Memorial record of distinguished men of Indianapolis and Indiana > Part 29
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Isaac P. Gray
DISTINGUISHED and honored figure of dominating force in the history of Indiana was the late Isaac Pusey Gray, who gave to A the service of the state and its people the best of an essentially strong, noble and loyal nature and whose administration during his incumbency of the office of governor of Indiana was such as to lend enduring honor to his name. He was a man of splendid attain- ments as a lawyer and long held precedence as one of the repre- sentative members of the Indiana bar, the while he stood at all times exponent of the most loyal and progressive civic spirit. He was one of the leaders in the ranks of the Democratic party in this state and he lent dignity and distinction to his chosen profession and to the commonwealth in which he long exerted a potent and benignant influence. Such are the men whose character and services justify the compilation of editions like the one here presented, and it is gratifying to be able to incorporate in this memorial volume an epitome of the life history of Governor Gray.
Isaac Pusey Gray was born at Downington, Chester county, Pennsylvania, on the 18th of October, 1828, and was a scion of one of the prominent pioneer families of the old Keystone state, in which he was a representative of the fourth generation. His great-grandfather, a zealous member of the Society of Friends, came from England with William Penn in the seventeenth century, and established his home in Pennsylvania, where, during the regime of Penn as governor of the province, he served eight years as a member of its general assembly. The parents of Governor Gray were likewise natives of Chester county, and when he was eight years of age they removed thence to Urbana, Champaign county, Ohio. In 1839 the family re- moved to Montgomery county, that state, and in 1842 the home was established in Darke county. The family record during these pioneer experiences constituted, in the words of Lincoln, "the short and simple annals of the poor," and thus the ad- vantages accorded to the future governor of Indiana were meager, save as he made opportunities for himself. From his work in a mercantile establishment he provided the means for supplementing in an effective way his more rudimentary education, and in November, 1855, he came to Indiana and established his home at Union City, Ran- dolph county, where he engaged in the mercantile business and where he also devoted close attention to the study of law, with the result that he gained admission to the bar of the state shortly before the inception of the Civil war. His loyalty to the cause of the Union was intense and was shown forth in earnest effort in its behalf. On the 4th of September, 1862, Governor Morton appointed him colonel of the Fourth In- liana Cavalry, and with this command he continued in service until February 11, 1863, when impaired health compelled his retirement. He later served for a short period as colonel of the One Hundred and Sixth Indiana Minute Men, and he was the organizer of the One Hundred and Forty-seventh Indiana Volunteer Infantry, which was mustered in March 13, 1865, and of which he was tendered the colonelcy, an office which ill health prevented him from accepting.
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Soon after the close of the great conflict by which the integrity of the Union was preserved, Colonel Gray became associated with Hon. N. Cadwallader in the or- ganization of the Citizens' Bank of Union City, of which he continued vice-presi- dent and one of the principal stockholders for many years. He engaged also in the practice of law, in which he gained distinctive success and high reputation, and it was but natural that he should be drawn into the field of political activity, as he was eminently qualified for leadership in public thought and civic economics. He was originally an old-line Whig but he espoused the cause of the Republican party at the time of its organization. In 1868 he was elected a member of the state senate, and in the general assembly of the following year, while serving as president pro tempore of the senate, he secured the passage of the fifteenth, or anti-slavery, amend- ment to the constitution of the United States. Indiana was the last state to vote upon the amendment, and its success or defeat hung upon the Indiana verdict. Concerning this incident in the political career an excellent record has been given in a previous publication, together with other pertinent data touching the further public activities of Colonel Gray, and from said record liberal quotation is here made, with but slight paraphrase and elimination :
The Democrats, although a minority in the Indiana senate, were strong in their antagonism to the amendment. Among its most violent opponents was "Blue Jeans" Williams, afterward governor of Indiana. The opposing faction was quitting the chamber one by one, and the needful quorum was in jeopardy. But Colonel Gray rose to the occasion, giving to the assembly a practical illustration of his courage and de- cision of character. Stepping into the lobby, he locked the door and pocketed the key. "Who dares lock in senators," was flung at the chair. "I do," was the calm reply. President Gray then ordered the secretary to call the roll, and although the hostile Democrats had crowded about the locked door and declined to vote, they were re- corded as present, but not voting. The quorum thus secured, the majority in favor of the amendment proceeded with their ballot. In 1870 President Grant appointed Colonel Gray consul to St. Thomas, West Indies, and this appointment was confirmed by the United States senate, but he declined the post on the plea of lack of harmony between himself and the existing government. Upon the expiration of his term in the state senate he espoused the cause of the Liberal Republican party and was ap- pointed delegate at large from Indiana to its national convention, held in Cincinnati. In this convention he was made a member of the national executive committee of the new party, and he zealously followed the fortunes of Horace Greeley to their unfor- tunate end. Then, feeling the isolation of the independent in politics, and having grown, in his maturity, into closer touch with the principles of the Democratic party, he allied himself therewith, thus showing the courage of his convictions and the sin- cerity that ever characterized him in all the relations of life. He continued a staunch and effective advocate of the basic principles and policies of the Democratic party until his death and became a most influential figure in its councils. In 1872 his name was mentioned before the Indiana Democratic state convention in connection with nomination for congressman at large, but he withdrew his name. . In the state con- vention of 1874 he refused to permit the use of his name in connection with nomina- tion for the office of attorney general of the state. In 1876 he was nominated by ac- clamation for lieutenant governor, and was elected to this office in October of that year. In 1880 he was a Democratic candidate for governor and was defeated by four votes in the state convention, but he was again nominated in like manner for the
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same office, with the result that he shared the defeat of his party in the ensuing fall election. In November of that year, however, upon the death of Governor Williams, Lieutenant Governor Gray became governor of Indiana. His popularity is shown by the fact that after the conclusion of his services as chief executive of the state he was elected by the Democratic members of the legislature as their candidate for United States senator. The Republicans were in the majority in the legislature, so that this nomination had slight significance save that it indicated the full confidence reposed by Colonel Gray's friends in his wisdom, fine ability and sterling character.
In 1884 Colonel Gray was again candidate of his party for the office of governor, to which he was duly elected by a majority nearly one thousand greater than that of any other candidate on the ticket. He made a brilliant campaign, to which and his resulting popularity has been accredited the saving of the state to the national Democratic ticket, headed by Cleveland and Hendricks. He gained high reputa- tion as an advocate of tariff reform, and as a public speaker and debater he had no superior in the state. He was thoroughly at home on the stump, and many times his rostrum was a plank supported by two barrels. During his tenure of the guber- natorial office he rendered excellent service to his state and inaugurated and carried to success many reforms. His executive ability was of the highest order and he gave special care to finance, which was his strong point. During two years in which the legislature failed to pass the appropriation bill necessary for the proper main- tenance of state institutions he kept them running without legislation.
In 1892 Governor Gray really appeared in the field of national politics, when he was suggested as a candidate for president of the United States. His state was enthusiastic for him as against Cleveland, but upon the arrival in Chicago of the Indiana delegates to the Democratic national convention they found the air charged with Cleveland sentiment. The friends of Governor Gray labored loyally for him until the eve of the convention, when they decided that it would not be advisable to present his name to the convention. It is certain that he stood very near to President Cleve- land, and the first diplomatic appointment made by the latter upon entering his second term as president was that conferring upon Colonel Gray the post of min- ister to Mexico, at an annual salary of seventeen thousand, five hundred dollars, the mission having at this time been raised to the first rank. Colonel Gray was ad- mirably fitted for the duties of a diplomatic post, into which he carried his character- istic zeal, and he performed his duties with credit to himself and fidelity to the inter- ests of his country. A short time before his death he was called to his home in In- diana, on account of the serious illness of his son Pierre S., and upon his return trip to the City of Mexico he contracted a severe cold, which developed into pneu- monia. He arrived at his destination in an unconscious state, on the 14th of Feb- ruary, 1895, and died at seven o'clock the same evening. His loss was deeply felt by his hosts of friends in Indiana and called forth many eulogistic testimonials. The Mexican government, headed by President Diaz, paid to his memory the high- est respects. His business and political associates honored and loved him for his abilities and virtues, revealed through the twenty-five years of his prominent ac- tivity in their midst; but his family alone knew the real gentleness and tenderness of his heart. Colonel Gray was not a rich man, but by constant thrift he had ac- cumulated a comfortable competency. He was a friend of young men and was al- ways ready to extend encouragement and substantial aid to such as needed and de- served such offices. The most severe charge that could be made against him was
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that of being ambitious. He abhorred dishonesty and equivocation in public as in private life and was never known to make a questionable compromise for the sake of personal expediency. He was a man of distinctive culture and of courtly manners, and his life record is one of marked symmetry.
In Bedford's Monthly of October, 1891, several years prior to the death of Colonel Gray, appeared an appreciative estimate of his character and services, and from the article the following brief extract is made: "He is all that he seems to be, -a statesman in the best American sense and a great party leader and defender, promoted from the ranks to the head column because of unfaltering service and con- spicuous success."
In the midst of the insistent demands placed upon his time and attention in con- nection with his manifold business and public activities, Colonel Gray ever looked upon his home as his sanctuary, and there his gentle and noble nature shone forth in its most gracious refulgence,-a home life that was ideal in its every relation.
On the 8th of September, 1850, was solemnized the marriage of Colonel Gray to Miss Eliza Jaqua, daughter of Judson Jaqua, a representative citizen and pioneer of Ohio, and of the four children of this union two survived the honored father,- Pierre S., and Bayard S., but both are now deceased. Bayard S. died in June, 1908, and is buried at Union City.
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Pierre S. Gray
I T HAS been said that the sons of great men seldom attain to dis- tinction, an implication that more or less of a handicap is en- tailed through standing in the filial shadow of such greatness. This may be in many instances true; in fact the annals of our own as well as other nations show such to be the fact, but in con- tradistinction are found so many exceptions, where sons have added laurels to honored names of fathers, that there can be naught but perversity of spirit and obliquity of view when it is maintained that the above premise is invariably well taken. An instance is afforded in the career of the subject of this memoir, who was numbered among the representative members in In- diana of a profession dignified and honored by the exalted character and services of his father, Hon. Isaac P. Gray, former governor of the state and later United States minister to Mexico, and he achieved precedence through his own powers and abil- ities, not depending upon hereditary prestige in winning success in his profession and as a man of affairs. He marked the passing years with large and definite ac- complishment and by reason of his sterling attributes of character, as well as his splendid talents, he was honored of men. Pierre Gray was one of the leading mem- bers of the Indianapolis bar at the time of his death, which occurred at his home, 1309 North Pennsylvania street, on Monday afternoon, November 25, 1907, and he had also been an influential factor in the promotion of various business enterprises of important order, especially those in the line of public-service utilities. As one of the honored, loyal and progressive citizens of Indiana and its capital city, he is emi- nently entitled to consideration through the memoir here presented.
Pierre Soule Gray was born at New Madison, Darke county, Ohio, on the 2d of May, 1853, and thus he was fifty-four years of age at the time of his death, which re- sulted from pneumonia, the same dread malady which had caused the death of his father about twelve years previously. In November, 1855, the family removed to Union City, Randolph county, Indiana, and this continued to be their home for thirty years. The subject of this memoir was about two and one-half years of age at the time when the home was established in Union City, and there he was reared to adult age, in the meanwhile duly availing himself of the advantages of the public schools, which afforded him adequate basis for the broad and liberal education which he was destined to gain through direct academic sources and self-discipline. In October, 1870, at the age of seventeen years, he was matriculated in the Univer- sity of Indiana, Bloomington, and in this noble state institution he was graduated as a member of the class of 1874, with high honors and with the well earned degree of Bachelor of Science. While an undergraduate he served as associate editor of the university paper, the Indiana Student, and during his senior year he was editor in chief of the same. He was also a valued member of the Athenian Literary So- ciety, one of the leading student organizations of the university.
After his graduation Mr. Gray returned to Union City, where he began the
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study of law under the able and punctilious preceptorship of his loved and honored father, who ever continued his devoted guide and counselor. He made rapid and substantial progress in his absorption and assimilation of the involved science of jurisprudence and was admitted to the bar in the Randolph circuit court on the 6th of November, 1875. On October 26th of the following year he was admitted to practice before the supreme court of the state, and in 1889 to the United States dis- trict and circuit courts. Further prestige was later given him through admission to practice before the supreme court of the United States. Soon after his admission to the bar Mr. Gray was appointed his father's assistant in the office of city attorney of Union City, and thus he gained specially valuable experience at the outset of his professional career, as he assumed much of the incidental work of the office, under the direction of his father. His effective service in this capacity led to his being elected to succeed his father as city attorney, and he retained the office two years. Prior to his admission to the bar he had given effective service as city engineer, though he retained the incumbency only a short time, as he wished to give his un- divided attention to his law studies.
When Hon. Isaac P. Gray was elected governor of Indiana, in 1884, his son Pierre became his private secretary, and the family then removed to the capital city. Mr. Gray continued as his father's private secretary during the latter's admirable administration as chief executive of the state, and then resumed the active practice of his profession in the broader field offered in Indianapolis, where he continued to maintain his home until he was summoned from the stage of life's mortal en- deavors, in the very prime of his strong and useful manhood. Though his splendid ability as a trial lawyer and his well fortied powers as a counselor, Mr. Gray gained a prominent place at the bar of the capital city,-a bar noted for the high standard maintained by its representatives. Concerning his career in Indianapolis a most gracious estimate was given in the Indianapolis Star at the time of his death, and the following quotations from this source eminently merit preservation in this more enduring vehicle:
Mr. Gray was one of the best known lawyers of this city. Aside from his law practice he was at different times engaged in business enterprises which were usually successful. He was one of the men who promoted the building of the Indianapolis & Northwestern traction line and he assisted in the establishing of the Indianapolis Telephone System formerly conducted under the title of the New Telephone Com- pany; of the plant of this company he was manager for five years. For some time he had been associated with his brother-in-law, George M. Snyder, in the banking business at Noblesville. At his death he was one of the directors of the First National Bank of Noblesville, of which Mr. Snyder is vice-president. By success in business and in the practice of law Mr. Gray had been able to accumulate large property interests.
Pierre S. Gray was in closest sympathy with his father. He absorbed many of the excellent qualities of that Democratic statesman. In politics he was always a Democrat, as he shared his father's views regarding the old Jeffersonian doctrines. The son never sought a political office, although he had on one or two occasions al- . lowed his name to be placed on the county ticket for Democratic judicial honors. He was a member of the Indiana Democratic Club and had always taken an active interest in the work of the local and state Democracy.
Mr. Gray was a valued and popular member of the Marion County Bar Asso-
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ciation, and this body met to take action of appropriate order at the time of his death. Hon. John W. Kern was chairman and Harvey Elam secretary, and brief addresses of respect and appreciation for the deceased were made by Mr. Kern, Lewis C. Walker, Charles E. Cox and Frank E. Gavin, all representative members of the bar of the capital city. A committee was appointed to draft a proper memo- rial, and from this testimonial, which was duly adopted by the association, the following excerpts are made: "His idea of the profession was honesty and integ- rity. Any one having dealings with him could rely on any statement he would make; any agreement made by him was always kept. He was a man of exemplary habits, and in addition to his legal training he was an exceptional business man. To the younger members of the bar we recommend the career of our departed brother as that of an honest, painstaking and upright lawyer,-an example to be followed by them in laying out their careers." It was ordered that the memorial be spread on the records of the superior court and that a copy be delivered to the widow of Mr. Gray.
A man of high ideals and one who could not be other than deeply appreciative of the environments and manifold attractions of such a home life as was vouch- safed him through his marriage, Mr. Gray ever turned from business and profes- sional cares to find solace and happiness in his home, so that he had no marked predilection for club or other civic organizations, though he was a most promi- nent and influential member of the Knights of Pythias. He was a charter member of Invincible Lodge, No. 84, of this order in Indianapolis, and served as its first chancellor commander. In 1879 he was representative of this lodge in the Grand Lodge of the state, and in the latter body he held various offices during his connec- tion with the same. Mr. Gray was a man whose very personality begot objective confidence and esteem, and his tolerance, his courtesy, his unfailing kindliness and sympathy won to him stanch friends in business, professional and social circles, as well as in those of representative public and political order.
In his old home town of Union City, on the 12th of October, 1881, was solemn- ized the marriage of Pierre Gray to Miss Katharine A. McDonald, no children being born of their union. Mrs. Gray was born at Urbana, Ohio, and is the younger of the two children of David L. and Sarah (Johnson) McDonald, the sister being the wife of George M. Snyder, one of the representative citizens and business men of Noblesville, Indiana. Both David L. McDonald and his wife were born and reared in Champaign county, Ohio, where the respective families were founded in the early pioneer days. In their native county was celebrated, on the 10th of January, 1858, the marriage of David L. McDonald and Sarah Johnson, and there they continued to reside until 1877, when they came to Indiana and es- tablished their home at Union City, Randolph county, where they have maintained their home during the long intervening years and where they hold the unqualified esteem of all who know them, their Golden Wedding anniversary having been celebrated by them in 1908, when many kinsfolk and other friends assembled to do them honor. Mr. McDonald devoted his entire active career to the great basic industries of agriculture and stock-growing and he is still the owner of a large and valuable landed estate in Randolph county. Now venerable in years he is living retired in his attractive home at Union City, secure in the affectionate companion- ship of his cherished and devoted wife and in the friendship of the entire commu- nity in which he has so long resided and to the furtherance of whose best interests
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he has contributed in large and generous measure. Mrs. McDonald was graduated in Antioch College, at Yellow Springs, Ohio, and is a woman of most gracious personality,-one who is held in affectionate regard by all who have come within the sphere of her gentle and kindly influence. Since the death of her husband Mrs. Gray has continued to reside in Indianapolis, where her attractive home, 1852 North Talbott avenue is known for its generous hospitality. She is active in the representative social life of the city and attends the Presbyterian church.
Talilliam T. Cobert
HE intrinsic elements of the character of William Thomas Cov- T ert constituted an effective augury for his usefulness in the world, and he became one of the successful business men of the capital city of his native state, where he gained and retained secure hold upon popular approbation and proved himself worthy in all the relations of life. He was a native of Johnson county, Indiana, and a scion of one of the honored and influential pion- eer families of that section of the state, where his father, Cornelius Covert, estab- lished a home more than eighty years ago. Cornelius Covert was born in Ken- tucky, with whose history the family name became identified at an early period, and upon coming to Indiana he located in Hopewell township, Johnson county, where he secured a tract of wild land and where he became prominently connected with the development of agricultural and other resources, as well as a power in public affairs of a local order. He there continued to reside until his death, as did also his devoted wife, who shared with him the vicissitudes of pioneer days and the prosperity of later years.
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