Alameda County
Biographies
GEORGE GRAY
George
Gray, public administrator of Alameda county and formerly manager of the
agricultural department of the Meeks ranch, is a man of large business and
executive ability, and one whose far-seeing judgment brought to his employers
considerable financial returns. He is a native of Ontario, Canada, born April
12, 1851, a son of Thomas Gray, who came from Scotland to Canada when a young
man. The father was a carpenter by trade and in later years owned a farm in the
Dominion, which he operated until 1884, in which year he sold out and came to
California, where his son was then located, and in Haywards
(sic) lived in retirement until his death in 1897, at the age of seventy-four
years. Both Mr. and Mrs. Gray were members of the Presbyterian Church.
The boyhood of George Gray was passed
upon the paternal farm, his education being received through the medium of the
common schools in the vicinity of his home. On attaining his majority he
engaged in farming for himself, a year later, in 1873, coming to California by
way of the Isthmus of Panama. He landed in San Diego, for though his ticket
admitted of passage to San Francisco he was so worn out with travel on the
water (being on the Henry Johnson, which had been reported lost, though it
afterward transpired that she had been driven to sea by rough winds on the
Atlantic ocean) that he preferred stopping at his first port. Until 1876 he remained
in that location, engaged in driving teams in freighting and also in harvesting
when he located in San Francisco and found employment with an implement house.
He also drove a team for a part of the time until the summer of 1880, when he
came to Alameda county and took charge of the
agricultural department of the Meeks ranch, a tract of three thousand acres. He
had charge of the implements, cattle, horses, etc., and the raising and
development of trotting horses. He was employed by William Meeks, and after his
death was still retained in the employ of the estate. An independent venture
was made by Mr. Gray in 1891, in conjunction with his brother, James H. Gray,
the two engaging in the livery business in Haywards.
(sic) In 1904 George Gray resigned his position
with the Meeks estate to accept the management of the agricultural department
of the Alameda Sugar Beet Company, an extensive concern which owns large tract
of land in Alameda county.
The marriage of Mr. Gray occurred
October 28, 1879, and united him with Emma Stone, a native of Contra Costa
county, Cal., and they have four children, namely: Annie, bookkeeper and
assistant cashier in the Bank of Haywards; (sic)
Margaret, attending the normal school in San Francisco; Jerome B., and
Jeanette, the two last named being at home. In his political convictions Mr.
Gray is a Republican and has been very active in his efforts to promote the
principles he endorses. A popular and prominent man in the counsels of his
party, he was twice elected to the office of trustee of Haywards
(sic) and once to the office of street superintendent. In 1902 he was elected
public administrator of Alameda county, with his
office in Oakland, while his residence is in Haywards.
(sic) Fraternally he is a member of Eucalyptus Lodge
No. 234, K. of P., and the Woodmen of the World. Mr. Gray and his family are
all members of the Presbyterian Church.
Transcribed By: Cecelia M. Setty.
ญญญญSource: History
of the State of California & Biographical Record of Coast Counties,
California by Prof. J. M. Guinn, A. M., Page 274. The Chapman Publishing
Co., Chicago, 1904.
ฉ 2014 Cecelia M. Setty.
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