BIO: Samuel T. GRAY, Centre County, PA Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by Judy Banja & Sabrina Marie Robb Copyright 2005. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/centre/ _______________________________________________ Commemorative Biographical Record of Central Pennsylvania: Including the Counties of Centre, Clearfield, Jefferson and Clarion: Containing Biographical Sketches of Prominent and Representative Citizens, Etc. Chicago: J. H. Beers, 1898. _______________________________________________ COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD, pages 104-105 SAMUEL T. GRAY, [photo] of Patton township, one of the substantial and prominent citizens of Centre county, descended from ancestors who came to what is now the county, upward of one hundred years ago. Peter Gray (I), from Frederick Co., Md., came to what was then known as the Half Moon country in 1788, and was assessed and regarded as belonging to Franklin township, Huntingdon county. Accompanying the Grays was the Hartsock family from the same place, and these families became the earliest settlers of Patton township of which there is any record. From this Peter Gray has descended the many families of Gray in this section of Pennsylvania, a number of whom have never moved very far away from the lands he first occupied, and representatives of these families are found occupying honorable and useful stations in the various callings of life. John Gray, one of the sons of Peter Gray (I), and the one from which Samuel T. descended, was born in 1767 and died in 1848; he married Catherine, a daughter of Conrad Hartsock, the head of the first family of the name to settle here; she died in 1847. Their children were: Elizabeth, married to Jonas Stine; Catherine, married to Samuel Stine; John (2), married to Mary Mattern; Samuel P., married to Sarah Gray; Barbara, married to George Mattern; Sarah, married to Franklin Johnson; Susanna, married to Robert Blakely; Hannah, married to David McKinney; Eve, married to John Chambers; Isaac, married to Catherine Mattern; and Mary, married (first) to Thomas Shivery, and (second) to John Mattern. It will be observed that four of these children married Matterns, and of the same family, so that their children were doubly related. The children of John Gray (2) and Mary Mattern were: Samuel T. is our subject; Catherine married James Love; John C. married Rebecca Lias; Miles D. married Anna Wilson, and died in 1884; Isaac married Sarah Liggett, and died in 1889; George died aged twenty-one years; Elizabeth married James Ebbs (deceased); Mary married George Thompson (deceased); Harriet married Capt. William C. Dale, of Harrisburg, and Margaret married A.C. Hutchinson. The parents of these children died, the father in 1856, in his fifty-seventh year, and the mother in November 1871, in her seventy-third year. Samuel T. Gray, the subject of this sketch, was born July 24, 1824, in Patton township, where his father and grandfather before him had lived, and within sight of his present home, where he has resided for forty-five years past. Like the sons of the general farmer, he received such educational privileges as the schools of the neighborhood afforded, John W. Bowen and Reuben H. Meek being among his early teachers. He remained at home until his marriage in 1852, when he came to his present farm and began life for himself. This farm comprises some three hundred acres of land, much of which he has cleared and improved himself; it is well watered and lies beautifully; on it are large and commodious buildings, both barn and dwelling, and in goodly shape, presenting an inviting appearance - indicative of the careful and tasteful farmer that Mr. Gray is. The barn was built in 1855, and the house in 1859. Through industry, economy and good management, Mr. Gray has accumulated a competency. He has given his life to the pursuits of an agriculturist, and is to-day one of the successful farmers and substantial and influential men of Centre county. While in no sense an office-seeker, he has for years served the people of his township as overseer of the poor; was for a number of years justice of the peace, and for six years served as auditor of Centre county, his term of office expiring some three years ago. Samuel T. Gray's wife, whose death occurred June 25, 1893, was Harriet Hutchison, a daughter of Benjamin Hutchinson, of Warrior's Mark, Huntingdon county, Penn., in his day one of the most prominent men of that section of the State. The children of Mr. And Mrs. Gray were Emma, born in 1853, died in 1870; George H.., born in 1855, died in 1856; Mary R., born in 1854, died in 1859; William E., born in 1860; Annie Herman, born in 1863, died in 1864; Minnie W., born in 1865; died in 1892; Nora; Samuel E., born in 1872, died in 1891. In an obituary notice of Mrs. Gray it was stated that: Within the last two years death has entered the home three times and broken the family circle. First within this limit, Samuel was called; then Miss Minnie, a bright and charming young lady who had hosts of warm friends; last, but not least, was the dear mother, who has always been a true and faithful friend and guardian to both husband and children, who will never forget her loving kindness and tender mercy. She leaves a husband and three children to mourn her death: W.E. Gray, Esq., one of the rising young lawyers in Bellefonte, and Misses Annie and Nora, who live at home. Samuel Gray, the venerable husband, is one of the most prosperous and highly respected farmers in Centre county. He is also one of the auditors of Centre county, and is an honest and upright man. Mrs. Gray was a Methodist, and was sincere and devoted to the cause of Christianity. She was one of those Christians who live by faith and not by sight, letting her "light so shine that men might see her good works and glorify her Father in Heaven." She had a kind heart and was always trying to do some kindness. Mr. Gray has for many years been identified with the M. E. Church, having served as trustee and steward. In politics he is a Republican as was his father before him.