Gray, Peter W., 1819-1874

Peter W. Gray was born in Fredericksburg, Virginia in 1819 and moved to Texas in 1838. Gray worked in his father’s law office in Houston, Texas before he became a captain in the Army of the Republic of Texas. In 1841, Gray was appointed District Attorney of the Houston district by Sam Houston. He ran for city secretary in 1840 but was elected alderman in 1841 and became a member of the board of health. In 1846, Gray was elected to the first Texas States Legislature where he authored the Practice Act which is the first piece of legislation regulating the court system of the State of Texas. In 1848, Gray founded the Houston Lyceum which eventually became the Houston Public Library. Henderson Yoakum’s History of Texas was published with the financial support of Gray. After being elected to the State Legislature in 1854, Gray served as judge of the Houston district. Gray was a states rights Democrat and fully supported succession. He also served as a delegate to the states Succession Convention. During the Confederacy, Gray served as a representative of the Houston District in the Congress of the Confederacy. After serving in many important positions in the Confederacy, peace brought Gray back to Houston where he practiced law privately and built his firm into one of the largest in the nation. In 1874, Gray was appointed associate justice of the Texas Supreme Court and served there until he became fatally ill with tuberculosis. Gray died later that year.

From the guide to the Judge Peter W. Gray papers MS 417., 1841-1870, (Woodson Research Center, Fondren Library, Rice University, Houston, TX)