Blair County PA Archives Biographies.....Gray, Miles D. May 8, 1828 - January 23, 1884
************************************************
Copyright.  All rights reserved.
http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm
http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/pafiles.htm
************************************************

File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Judy Banja http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00004.html#0000757 December 16, 2024, 1:47 pm

Source: Biographical and Portrait Cyclopedia of Blair Co, PA: Philadelphia, 1892.
Author: Samuel T. Wiley

MILES D. GRAY,
who was a highly respected citizen and prosperous farmer of Tyrone township,
was a son of John and Mary (Mattern) Gray, and was born in Half Moon valley,
Centre county, Pennsylvania, May 8, 1828. His paternal grandfather, John
Gray, sr., was a native of Union county, and settled in Half Moon valley,
Centre county, where he died. He was a farmer by occupation, a whig in
politics, and a Methodist in religious belief and church membership. He
married a Miss Hartsock and reared a family of ten children, five sons and
five daughters. One of these sons was John Gray, the father of the subject of
this sketch. He was born in Half Moon valley, where he grew to manhood and
lived until his death, in 1855. He was an extensive farmer for his day, and
owned two good farms which were well stocked and in a high state of
cultivation. In 1852 he erected a foundry, which he operated until his death.
He was an active member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and a whig and
republican in politics, and married Mary Mattern. Their children were:
George, now deceased; Samuel, a farmer of Half Moon valley; John, a merchant
of Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania; Miles D. (dead); Isaac (dead); Mrs. Catherine
Love (dead); Mrs. Mary Thompson (dead); Mrs. Elizabeth Ebbs; Mrs. Margaret
Hutchinson, of Warrior's Mark; and Harriet Dale, of Harrisburg.
   Miles D. Gray was reared in Half Moon valley on a farm, and received his
education in the subscription and the early free schools of his native
township. He followed farming for a few years, and in 1855 he and his brother
Samuel succeeded their father, at his death, in possession of his foundry,
which they operated for three years under the firm name of Gray Brothers. At
the end of that time, in 1858, they traded the foundry for a farm in Centre
county, which land is still in possession of the Gray family. In the spring
of 1879 Mr. Gray removed to Sinking valley where he followed farming until
his death, in 1884. He was a republican in politics, had served Patton
township, Centre county, as a school director, and had been a consistent
member of the Methodist Episcopal church for many years.
   On April 24, 1855, he married Annie E. Wilson, and to their union were born
six children, four sons and two daughters: Charles W., married Emma Ray, and
is a member of the mercantile firm of Reed & Gray, of Tyrone, this State;
Harvey M., married Addie McFerren, and is a merchant and dealer in
agricultural implements; Samuel, who died in infancy; Anna M., at home;
Bertha M., wife of Melville Lever, a clerk in the railroad freight department
at Tyrone; and Budd, a student of the State Agricultural college in Centre
county. Mrs. Gray, after her husband's death, came to Tyrone, where she has
resided ever since. She was born August 3, 1834, and is a daughter of James
Wilson (see sketch of James H. Wilson for full ancestral history), who was
born May 9, 1784, in Adams county, came to Sinking valley in 1807, and died
January 1, 1851. He married Martha Cresswell, a daughter of Matthew and Sarah
(Leonard) Cresswell, who came from Stone valley, Huntingdon county, to Sinking
valley, where they reared a family of eight children. James and Martha
(Cresswell) Wilson were the parents of four sons and four daughters: Mrs.
Harriet Ward; Charles S.(deceased); Matthew C., now dead; Mrs. Minerva
Covode; James H. (see his sketch); Smith, of Hutchinson, Kansas; Mrs. Anna E.
Gray; and Mrs. Sarah M. Hommer.
   Miles D. Gray died at his home in Sinking valley, January 23, 1884, and his
remains are interred in Tyrone cemetery. He was much missed in a community
where he was highly respected as a citizen and often sought by his friends
for advice and counsel. He was faithful and true as a friend, and kind and
affectionate as a husband and a father.

Additional Comments:
Originally submitted 2001. Transcribed by Ruth Curfman rcurfman@home.com   

This file has been created by a form at http://www.usgwarchives.net/pafiles/

File size: 4.5 Kb