Gaston, Joseph. "The Centennial History of Oregon, 1811-1912." Vol. 3. Chicago, Clarke Publishing Co., 1912. p. 45. FREDERICK L. GRAY is the owner of a well improved ranch of three hundred acres located seven miles northeast of Springfield, where he has resided for more than fifty years and engaged in agricultural pursuits. He was born in Washington county, Pennsylvania, on February 2, 1831, and is a son of Alexander and Lydia (Lutanner) Gray. The father was of Irish extraction and the mother of German descent, but they were born, reared and married in the Keystone state and there passed the early years of their domestic life. In 1831, they removed to Ohio, but five years later the family was called upon to mourn the loss of the mother, who was buried in the vicinity of Wooster, and the father and children subsequently returned to Pennsylvania. He located in Washington county, continuing to reside there for several years, and during that period he was married again, his second wife having been Miss Mary Andrews. The attraction of the west again proving irresistible, in 1844 he crossed the prairies to Indiana, settling in the vicinity of Greencastle, where both he and his wife passed the remainder of their lives. He died on the 26th of December, 1866, but she survived for several years thereafter. Mr. Gray was a miller, and while he followed his trade at various periods, his energies were devoted to agricultural pursuits during the greater part of his life. To him and his first wife there were born four sons, of whom our subject, the third in order of birth, is the only one now living. The others are as follows; John, who passed away in Texas at the age of eighty years; Alexander, whose death occurred in Los Angeles at the age of eighty-three; and Jacob S., who was seventy-live and a resident of Nebraska at the time of his death. Five children were born of the second marriage: Samuel R., now deceased, who engaged in the practice of medicine in Illinois; Robert, who is a resident of Nebraska; Sarah M., who is deceased; Nancy Jane, the deceased wife of Albert Hurt; and William J., who was accidentally killed in Idaho. Born in a family of moderate means, Frederick L. Gray received but a limited education in the district schools of his native state. Having been reared in the country, he was early trained to agricultural pursuits, so upon leaving home at the age of seventeen years he sought and obtained employment as a farm land. He continued to follow this occupation in Pennsylvania for three years. At the expiration of that time he decided to go west, so he joined an emigrant train and crossed the plains to Oregon in 1851. During the first three years of his residence in the west he worked in the gold fields of the Rogue River country and also in California, but in 1855 he gave up prospecting and came to Lane county. For a year he worked in the Deadwood mines, and in 1853 he participated in the Indian war, guarding Jacksonville, Oregon. After engaging in various activities he filed on a claim of one hundred and sixty acres and went into the stock business. He followed this with very good success until he received the deed to his land four years later. At the end of that time he disposed of his claim and went to the Willow Springs mines and prospected for two years. In 1861, he returned to Lane county and bought his present ranch, which at that time contained three hundred and twenty acres of land. This is located on section 35, Range south, 2 west, township 17, on the old stage road between Springfield and Walterville. Soon after acquiring this property he joined a party and started for the Salmon river mines. It was a perilous journey and fraught with many hardships and privations. The snow was deep and the cold extreme and several of their number perished from cold and exposure as they walked the entire distance. Upon reaching their destination they found the snow eight feet deep on a level at the mines, which made it practically impossible to work. The scarcity of food and the exorbitant prices --- they paid two hundred and twenty-five dollars for two hundred pounds of flour upon their arrival --- caused Mr. Gray to leave soon after his arrival for the Piatt Valley mines. There he found practically the same conditions the season too far advanced to work, and the food supply very low so he returned to his ranch and has ever since been a resident of Lane county. He applied himself energetically and intelligently to the development of his land and the direction of his undertakings, meeting with a corresponding degree of success. He now owns three hundred acres of well improved land, one hundred acres of this being under high cultivation. All of the improvements upon his place are in good condition, it is well stocked and thoroughly equipped with everything needful to the modern agriculturist. In addition to his home place, Mr. Gray owns one hundred and twelve acres of fertile land near Thurston, Oregon. In 1864, Mr. Gray was married to Mrs. Olive Looney, the widow of James C. Looney, who filed upon a donation claim in Lane county in 1852, that included the present Gray ranch. Eight children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Gray, as follows: Alexander, who was born on the 9th of November, 1864, now a resident of Springfield, Oregon; Charles, whose natal day was the 3d of September, 1866, a resident of Klamath Falls, this state; Mary Jane, whose birth occurred on October 23, 1868, the wife of Albert Mathews, of Lane county; Frederick, who was born on April 14, 1871, living on a portion of the old homestead in this county; Ira, whose birth occurred on June 24, 1873, also of Lane county; John, who was born in 1876 and died ill infancy; and Nellie, whose natal day was September 20, 1879, and had attained the age of eleven years when she died. Margaret Ann, who is the sixth in order of birth, was born on the 7th of June, 1875, and married Frank Campbell, who died October 27, 1900. Mrs. Campbell and her son Frank, who was born on November 19, 1900, are living with Mr. Gray on the old homestead. Mrs. Gray had four children by her first husband. The three eldest, Isaac D., William M. and Sarah A., are all deceased, but the youngest, Martha E., is the wife of William McKinney, of Independence, Oregon. All of the children were given the advantages of a good practical education. Mr. Gray is a socialist in his political views, but twice cast his ballot for Abraham Lincoln. He has never actively participated in public affairs, not being an aspirant to public honors. Mr. Gray who has lived far beyond the Psalmist's allotted span, having attained the venerable age of eighty-one years, is widely known in the county and enjoy a the confidence and esteem of a large circle of friends. ******************* Submitted to the Oregon Bios. Project in January 2010 by Diana Smith. Submitter has no additional information about the person(s) or family mentioned above.