William Henry Gray

Source: Commemorative Biographical Record of the Counties of Rock, Green,

Grant, Iowa and Lafayette Wisconsin, publ. 1901 - page 421-422

WILLIAM HENRY GRAY might well be selected as a typical farmer of southern Wisconsin. He is pushing and earnest, but broad-minded and generous in his spirit, has helped the world roll onward, and now finds a satisfaction in contemplating the vastness of the revolution it has accomplished in his lifetime. He has a comfortable and commodious home in Section 11, Harmony township, Rock county, and has at his command everything that makes life in the country today the most independent and inspiring of all possible phases of existence. Mr. GRAY was born in Walworth county, Wis., in the town of Lynn, near Lake Geneva, Jan. 4, 1845, and enjoys the distinction of being one of the early sons of the State. The names of those native to the soil of Wisconsin who were born before him would not make a very long list. He is a son of Nathaniel and Alvira (KENT) GRAY, natives of Oneida county, N.Y., who were the parents of four sons and five daughters, and five of their children are now living; William H.; Caroline, a teacher of Beloit; Lucy, wife of E.J. NORCROSS, of Castana, Iowa; Dexter, of Johnstown township; and Elizabeth, who lives with her mother in Milton, Wis. Nathaniel GRAY, a farmer, came West early in the forties, and settled for a short time near Kenosha, Wis. He moved after some years into Walworth county, where he bought a hundred-acre farm near Lake Geneva. This he sold in 1857, and moved into Rock county, buying a quarter section in Johnstown township, and from time to time added to it subsequent purchases of land until, when he died, he owned 329 acres. His demise occurred in 1895, when he was seventy-three years old. His wife still survives, and now lives at Milton. He was not identified with any church; she is a Free-Will Baptist. Joseph GRAY, the grandfather of William Henry, was a native of New York, and of Scottish descent. He was a soldier in the war of 1812, lived to be old, and reared a large family. Nathaniel KENT, the father of Mrs. Alvira (KENT) GRAY, was a native of New York, where he lived and died a farmer. He reached a good old age, and reared a large family of children. William H. GRAY was twelve years old when he came to Rock county with his parents and he has made his home here ever since. He lived in Johnstown township until 1883, and has always followed the life of a farmer. He received a good common-school education in the district schools, and attended Milton College when somewhat older, and is a gentleman of sound and matured views of life. He lived at home until he reached manhood, and began his own independent career by renting a farm in Johnstown township, and there he made his home until 1883, when he sold it, and bought a far of 199 acres in Section 11, Harmony township, where he has lived to the present time. It is a finely improved farm, and attests the agricultural skill of its owner, who has spared no pains to bring it up to the standard of any form in the country. Mr. GRAY and Miss Harriet OSBORNE, a daughter of Chauncey and Polly (SKINNER) OSBORNE, were married Nov. 24, 1867. Three children were born to that union, Ethel, Ina, and one who died an infant. Ethel died in April, 1900, at the age of nineteen, and is remembered as a sweet and beautiful girl. Ina married Walter S. HOLMES. Mrs. Harriet GRAY died Nov. 13, 1898. She was a member of the Free-Will Baptist Church, as is also Mr. GRAY. On April 3, 1901, our subject married Sarah Edith DICKINSON, a daughter of Reuben and Maria H. DICKINSON. He is a member of Du Lac Lodge, No. 322, I.O.O.F., Milton, and is a faithful adherent of that order. He is a Republican, and has been chairman of the town board seven years; was school director for a number of terms; and was district clerk five or six years. Mr. GRAY is a stock raiser, and is increasing his business in that line every year; at the present time his principal strain is Holstein. By careful attention to his business he has become prosperous and well-to-do, and takes a leading position in every enumeration of the better class of citizens of Rock county, from whatever standpoint made.

Submitted By Carol