ROBERT GRAY, OF ROCKINGHAM.
BY ANNE H. RUFFNER.
On the 16th of October, 1847, in the courthouse in Harrisonburg, Rockingham County, Va., an attentive audience stood listeaing to a tall, spare man with deep-set gray eyes, a beautiful brow, and silver-white hair.
The face, form and voice were familiar to all, for the speaker was Robert Gray, who for forty-two years had practiced law at that bar and who was then delivering a farewell address to the Court and resigning the position of Commonwealth's Attorney, which he had held since 1811. He was only sixty-six years of age, and in full practice and usual health, but he was carrying out a resolution made in early youth, to retire from his profession whilst all his faculties were unimpaired and to spend his last years in ease and congenial literary pursuits.
Robert Gray was a Scotch-Irishman. He was born in County Donegal, Ireland, November 1,1781, and brought to Virginia when four years of age. His mother was Miss Rebecca Watson, of Letterkenny. His father, Robert Gray, Sr., was the son of a " man of large landed and commercial interests in Donegal," but through somebody's mismanagement lost his patrimony. So he came to America to retrieve his fortune. He settled in Winchester, Va., and became a prosperous merchant, an elder in the Presbyterian Church, and a highly respected citizen.
In the schools of Winchester and at Princeton College, New Jersey, Robert Gray, the subject of our sketch, was educated. When ready to enter upon his life work, he selected Louisville, Ky., as his home, but falling ill there was obliged to return to the Valley of Virginia.
In 1805 an accidental circumstance led to his locating, temporarily as he supposed, in Harrisonburg, Rockingham County, Va., where he' at once secured clients and ere long had a large and increasing law practice, extending over the counties of Rockingham, Shenandoah, Pendleton, Hardy, and Page.
Robert Gray was appointed Commonwealth's Attorney for the> County Court in 1811, and for the Circuit Superior Court in 1815,' and he held this office not only for Rockingham but for Shenandoah, Pendleton, and Hardy Counties as well. For many years he was engaged on one side or the other in almost every important case tried in his courts, and he enjoyed a fine reputation both as prosecutor and as advocate.
In the celebrated case of the United States Bank against Steinbergen's indorsers Robert Gray was employed by the defendants and prepared to take a prominent part, but an attack of typhoid fever prevented his appearance. His notes, however, were sought by his distinguished colleagues and were of essential service in their successful conduct of the case.
His practioe gave him a fine income, the surplus of which he wisely invested in land and loaned on real estate security, so that he became one of the wealthiest lawyers in Virginia.
Mr. Gray sought no political distinction, but was frequently urged—even by those who differed with him in politics—to become a candidate for Congress, and was assured that he would carry his district without difficulty; but having no tasto for the political arena, he always refused. In politics he was originally a Federalist, and when his party ceased to exist became a Whig, although residing in the region which was afterwards known as the " Tenth Legion of Democracy."
To show the rank Robert Gray held among the lawyers of his day, I will make extracts from several articles now before me written by men who knew him well and were competent to judge.
One says:
As a lawyer Mr. Gray stood for many years at the head of the bar in his own county and ranked among the best lawyers in the district. . As an advocate Mr. Gray excelled. Of the extent of his legal acquisitions none but his professional brethren were aware, as the brilliancy of the advocate dazzled the eyes of the multitude so as not to see the learning of the lawyer. He never failed of success in a good cause. . . . There were in his speeches earnest impressiveness, combined with a manifestation of feeling and a play of imagination that made them interesting. He was always heard with attention, and the finest efforts of eloquence to which it has been my fortune to listen came from the lips of Mr. Gray.
Another writes:
Mr. Gray has filled a large space in the history of the county of Rockingham. . . . He ranked with the first members of the bar that lived and shone in the day when such lawyers as Sheffey, Peyton, Baldwin, and Samuels, and others of like stamp were making their mark in the world. ... He was for many years the Commonwealth's Attorney in and for the county of Rockingham, and most ably and faithfully did he discharge the duties of this position. We retain a very vivid remembrance of some of his powerful speeches made against men charged with crime. Woe to the man who was guilty of crime and who had to be prosecuted by Robert Gray! . . . His impartiality in the discharge of duty, we believe never was questioned. He was an impressive and eloquent speaker, and. had a wonderful power over the juries he addressed.
A recent historian of Rockingham County speaks in terms similar to the above of Robert Gray's ability as a lawyer and rank in the profession, and adds:
Being highly educated, a great reader, thoroughly versed in the law, a good special pleader, with a quick perception, a cool head, a discriminating mind and retentive memory, he wielded a force almost compulsory.
After fifty years' practice another lawyer writes:
An important case must have been pending, for all of the Staunton bar (whom I was seeing for the first time) were present except Mr. Peyton. . . . The list of lawyers as I recall it consisted of Robert Gray [ScotchIrish], Gen. Baldwin, Sandy Stuart [Scotch-Irish], Thomas J. Michie, John Kenney [Scotch-Irish], and Green B. Samuels. ... I remember that my father, who was no mean judge of men, gave me very carefully his estimate of the Judge [Daniel Smith, Scotch-Irish], and Commonwealth's Attorney [Robert Gray], of both of whom he had seen a great deal. He regarded each as peerless in his department. . . . And now after all these years of intercourse with lawyers from the Alle^hanies to the Rockies, if I were allowed to add Mr. Peyton's name to those above mentioned I should pronounce it the ablest bar I ever practiced with, and I should place Mr. Gray and Mr. Peyton very far ahead on the list, Mr. Michie coming closest behind them. . . . Mr. Peyton was the stronger before the court, Mr. Gray the happier before the jury, and both equally commanding and dignified in appearance. . . . One of Mr. Gray's strongest points was the examination of witnesses. In this he was remarkably wary and astute, and it was almost impossible for a falsehood to escape his "search light." . . . His manner toward the bench and bar, the witnesses and parties, was uniformly so gentle and considerate that I have no recollection of ever seeing any one angry with him. For while it is true that he pursued a fraud or a crime almost with the scent of a sleuthhound, and was never at' fault, his fiery denunciation was directed against the faull and not without evident pity for the unhappy offender. He felt no jealousy or enmity toward any one. . . . His manner in speaking was quiet, zealous, earnest, and impressive; his action dignified, graceful, and winning. ... As a trial lawyer before juries he was fortunate in every way, even in his voice, which was neither strong, nor yet musical, nor had it much ring or volume or even very much reach to it. He spoke with unbroken gravity, and kept it at a steady downpour into the only ears he seemed to care for. . . . He knew well where his strength lay. He never spoke outside the courthouse. His voice was too feeble for the multitude, nor was he apt to be in sympathy with it. . . . But after all 1 think the truest secret of hia great power rested in his genuine, natural, and unflagging enthusiasm. He entered upon his address as Napoleon want into his battles; his whole mind, soul, and strength went with him. . . . Being the acknowledged head of the bar, he had his own choice of sides, and he was careful to select the side that had the law, or at least the truest merit on it; and it was when some legal technicality threatened to obstruct the path of justice and right that he was most wont to use his eloquence, and rarely ever without sweeping away the obstacle and crowning his cause with victory.
A friend wrote:
In the more retired and private walks of life Mr. Gray was kind, social, and companionable. ... To his friends his hospitality was general and cordial. [Many were the guests entertained beneath his roof: kinsfolk and numerous ministers, lawyers, etc.]. . . . He had a passion for agriculture, gardening, and improving his grounds. He was fond of poetry and polite literature generally. He felt an interest in the success of young men, and it gave him pleasure to aid and advise them. . . . He died in the faith of his fathers, relying upon the religion of Christ, at peace with the world, and hoping and trusting that he was at peace with Heaven.
While kind to all, Robert Gray was a reserved man with few intimates. Most of his leisure hours were spent at his own fireside or in walking or driving about his farms. He read a great deal, and at times wrote poetry which possessed real merit. He was never a very strong man, and was accustomed to spend a part of .every summer in resting at the Greenbrier White Sulphur, the Hot Springs, and other Virginia watering places. He always felt a deep interest in Ireland, the land of his birth, and when one of the great famines occurred he roused the people about him to send money to the sufferers, and himself headed the list with a generous subscription. He also gave work to many of the Irish who settleJ in the neighborhood. His overseers and other white employees on his farms were nearly always of this nationality.
During the war of 1812, when troops were summoned to Norfolk, Va., Robert Gray joined a Valley company and went with it to tide water. He was appointed Paymaster. No British appeared; the troops saw no active service, and soon returned home. Mr. Gray's family often laughed at his war record.
In 1812 Robert Gray married Isabella Lockhart Waterman, daughter of the beloved physician of the town, Dr. Asher Waterman, a New England man, who had served in the Revolutionary army in his youth, married in Virginia in 1787, and settled in Harrisonburg in 1790.
On her mother's side Mrs. Isabella Waterman Gray was of ScotchIrish descent, and was a woman of exalted Christian character, a rare combination of tenderness and strength. Her husband could never have been so successful as he was had she not proved her. self a helpmeet indeed, and relieved him of all care in regard to social and domestic affairs. But we cannot dwell here on her busy, unselfish life, her broad charities, and her work for her beloved Church (Presbyterian).
After enduring with wonderful patience a long and painful illness, Robert Gray died December 17, 1859. His numerous descendants are scattered from the Atlantic to the Pacific, but not one is now a resident of Rockingham County, Va.
Lexington, Va.
Note.—The Grays have kept no written records, and the present generation can recall only a few traditions about the family previous to their coming to America.
The father of Robert Gray, Sr. (immigrant), was a man of large (?) landed and commercial interests in or near the city of Donegal. Robert Gray, Sr., had a sister, Mrs. Stephenson, whose son John accompanied his relatives to America, but returned to Ireland late in life to try to secure a title (Sir John) and an estate to which he had always laid claim. He died soon after arrival.
Rebecca Watson, wife of Robert Gray, Sr., was the daughter of Isabella Kennedy, "the belle of Letterkenny." Some of her descendants think they have heard that her father, Mr. Watson, was a Presbyterian Minister.
