Major Horace Gray was the son of Thomas & Thankful (Winslow) Gray. Thankful, the daughter of Samuel & Martha (Goodspeed) Winslow, was a descendant of the Mayflower Winslows (Edward was brother to 4th Great Grandfather Kenelm). Horace's father, Thomas Gray, is a direct descendant of two Mayflower passenger lineages: John Howland (who married Elizabeth Tilley) & John Tilley. Thankful, the daughter of Samuel & Martha (Goodspeed) Winslow, was a descendant of the Mayflower Winslows (Edward was a brother of her 4th Great Grandfather Kenelm).
My 5th great uncle will always have a special place in my heart. When his brother, Elliot, died in 1839, Horace became the guardian of my 3rd Great Grandmother, Jane (Gray) Thorp. He also passed on his love of genealogy to Jane. Horace was the first documented family historian of our Gray family. He served as Vice President (Monguagon) of the Wayne County Pioneer Society in 1876 and donated many family treasures that now reside in the Burton Collection at the Detroit Public Library.
A few offices he held:
- Wayne County Sheriff ~ 1853-1854
- Appointed by President Buchanan as a Yancton Agency Agent to the Dakota Indians
- Union Civil War Major 4th Regiment, Michigan Cavalry from 1862 - 1864.
Horace lived in Grosse Isle, Wayne, Michigan (aka Monguagon) from 1846 until his death in 1895. His death certificate, found in his Civil War pension, is the first I've seen from 1895.