My Genealogy Hound

T. T. GRAY. Among the enterprising and successful firms of Sedalia is that of Gray, Rippey & Suter, who have their office on Second Street and conduct an extensive business in this city and the surrounding country. Though the firm has been in existence here a short time only, he has already gained an enviable reputation for skillful work and accurate judgment in matters pertaining to this occupation. He has had charge of the plumbing in many of the private residences and public buildings of the city, and has introduced apparatus for steam heating in the Hoffman and Cassiday Blocks, the Sedalia National Bank, the residences of R. C. McBeth and Dr. Britt, in Clinton Wing’s hotel in Marshall, and Stephens College in Columbia.

Born in Columbus, Ohio, in 1849, our subject is the son of Thomas and Julia (Taylor) Gray, natives, respectively, of Baltimore, Md., and Nova Scotia. The former, who was a farmer by occupation, died near Columbus, Ohio, at the age of sixty-three. The paternal grandfather, Theo Gray, died in Maryland. The maternal grandfather, James Taylor, a native of West Virginia, was a cousin of President Taylor, and served as Captain in the War of 1812. A sailor by occupation, he was for some years captain of a ship, but finally retired and settled in Ohio, where soon afterward he was killed by the falling of a timber at the time he was building a house. The mother of our subject died in Ohio.

The subject of this notice is the next to the youngest of eight children, there being three sons and five daughters, of whom two sons and two daughters survive. He was reared on the home farm and attended the district schools, subsequently entering the University of Delaware. On completing his studies he took charge of the home farm, and for some years devoted the summers to farm work and the winters to teaching school. In 1870 he came to Missouri and settled in Jackson County, near Independence, where he engaged in agricultural pursuits until 1879, and he still owns his farm there.

In the year last named, Mr. Gray embarked in the mercantile business in Independence, and at the same time he served as assistant superintendent, of the Water and Gas Company of that city. In 1888 he entered the plumbing business, and in it he has since continued, having been a resident of Sedalia since 1892. In addition to this, he also takes contracts for sewer work, and in busy seasons employs fifteen or twenty men. He is a member of the State Association of Master Plumbers, and is at present serving on the executive committee.

Socially Mr. Gray belongs to the Woodmen of the World, and in political belief he advocates Republican principles. He is a member of the Broadway Presbyterian Church, and a generous contributor to its charitable enterprises. His marriage, which took place in Jackson County, Mo., in 1870, united him with Miss Mary Powell, a native of Columbus, Ohio, and the daughter of Jacob Powell, at present a farmer of Jackson County.