Butte County
Biographies
HON. HIRAM D. GREGORY
HON. H. D. GREGORY.--Already eminent as one of the ablest representatives of the California bar, and more and more coming into enviable prominence through his decisions as a painstaking and conscientious judge, at the same time that he enjoys a deserved popularity, the Hon. H. D. Gregory is a native of Portsmouth, Ohio, where he was born on January 29, 1858. His father was John B. Gregory, a civil engineer and surveyor, who was at one time State Engineer of Public Works in Ohio. His mother was Catherine Smith before her marriage, and she was born in Wheeling, Va., now West Virginia. The fine old couple passed their last days in Kentucky, where the subject of our sketch was then living.
Educated in the schools of Portsmouth and at the Ohio State University at Columbus, H. D. Gregory graduated in 1880 with the degree of Bachelor of Arts, at the same time that he took up the study of law. To profit by one of the best courses in the country, he attended the Cornell University Law School, and about the beginning of 1889 he was admitted to the bar in the state of Kentucky. Soon after he began to practice law in that old commonwealth, and was thus busily engaged at Covington when he concluded to come to California.
Before doing so, however, Mr. Gregory married Louise Bailey, a charming lady and a belle of Kentucky. She was born in Lincoln County, and inherited through family ties and environment both the graces and accomplishments for which so many women of Kentucky are famous; and these personal qualities have added to those of her distinguished husband in rendering them both popular in the communities with which they have identified themselves.
On arriving in California, Mr. Gregory settled in Oroville, and at once engaged in the practice of law; and on June 12, 1913, upon the death of the late John C. Gray, who was superior judge, Mr. Gregory was appointed by Governor Johnson to succeed Judge Gray, and to complete the term made vacant by the latter’s demise. How well and acceptably he fulfilled the new responsibilities suddenly thrust upon him, is shown by the fact that at the general election, in 1914, Judge Gregory was elected superior judge for the full and following term. Aside from his profession, Judge Gregory is greatly interested in horticulture and is engaged in developing orchards of olives and prunes.
Three
children blessed the domestic life of Judge Gregory and his wife: Catherine was
educated in the College of Music in Cincinnati; Clara is a student at the
University of California; and John B. is attending the high school in Oroville.
The judge is a member of and has been prominent in several fraternal orders. In
politics he is a Republican of the Progressive degree, and his prominence as an
attorney lends additional weight to the claims of that party. Immediately after
the declaration of war with Germany, Judge Gregory was appointed by the
governor of California as chairman of the Butte County Council of Defense, the
duties of which have added considerable to his official work in general.
Transcribed by Vicky
Walker, 2/19/08.
Source: "History of
Butte County, Cal.," by George C. Mansfield, Pages 730-731, Historic Record Co, Los Angeles, CA, 1918.
© 2008 Vicky
Walker.
Golden Nugget Library's Butte County Biographies