My Genealogy Hound

CAPT. WILLIAM C. GRAY, retired, Sewickley, was born October 4, 1829, in Belmont county, Ohio, son of Francis and Anna (Carroll) Gray, who were both Pennsylvanians and farmers. Francis Gray was born near Carlisle, Pa., and came to Allegheny county when a boy, eventually becoming a stone-contractor, and helped to build the old penitentiary; he died in 1847, aged forty-seven years. The paternal grandparents of Capt. W. C. Gray, Samuel and Elizabeth Gray, were natives of Ireland and Scotland, respectively. Mrs. Anna (Carroll) Gray was a granddaughter of Charles Carroll, of Carrollton, of English descent, and one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence; his son William (Mrs. Gray’s father) took part in the revolutionary war, and her brother John was in the war of 1812. Capt. William C. Gray, the subject of this memoir, was reared on the farm; at the age of sixteen he learned blacksmithing. In 1849 he went on the river, and ran on the Upper Mississippi as engineer ten years. Subsequently he superintended the building of a number of towboats, the Iron Mountain, Ironside and Rover. Subsequently he ran on the Lower Mississippi and Ohio rivers. Since 1884 he has been living a retired life. Capt. Gray was married to Miss Rosalie M. Browne, a sister of Col. Joseph Browne. The captain is identified with the republican party; he is a member of the A. F. & A. M., 32d degree.