Gray, W. B. D.

William Bradford Dodge Gray was superintendent of Congregational Missions in Wyoming from 1900 to 1918. He was born in Milbourne, Illinois, in 1846. His grandfather, William Bradford Dodge, was the first secretary of the Antislavery Institute at Salem, Massachusetts. Gray homesteaded in South Dakota and helped to found Yankton College before moving to Wyoming.

In 1902, W.B.D Gray married Annette Becher. She was ordained in Cheyenne, Wyoming, in December of 1900, and became pastor of the South Side Congregational Church in Cheyenne. The couple traveled extensively through Wyoming as missionaries. They raised money for their missionary work by slide lectures given to audiences in the East on conditions in Wyoming. For this purpose they took many photographs of small communities and rural areas of the state, which were exhibited during winter visits to Boston and other eastern cities.

Dr. Gray retired from active service in 1918, and, in 1919, the Grays moved to Denver, Colorado, where W.B.D. Gray died on June 21, 1926. Mildred Kenney (Rost), a friend from Wyoming, came to live with the Grays in 1922 and remained with Annette Becher Gray after Dr. Gray's death. Annette Becher Gray died in Denver in October of 1936.

From the description of W. B. D. and Annette B. Gray papers, 1835-1986. (University of Wyoming, American Heritage Center). WorldCat record id: 54850380