Grave of John Gray in Hiramsburg, Ohio

John Gray was born the oldest of eight children on January 6, 1764 on property belonging to George Washington near his Mt. Vernon estate. Clearly a loyal follower of Washington, his father enlisted on the side of the Patriots but was killed at the Battle of White Plains, leaving young John in charge of the family. He was just 13 years old. When he was 17, he joined the army and participated in the tail end of the Revolutionary War, participating in the Siege of Yorktown which secured the country its independence, realizing his father's dream. With the conflict over, he returned to Mt. Vernon to continue serving General Washington in a different capacity. In 1784, John Gray headed west to Morgantown, then still a part of Virginia, where he met his first wife and raised a family. Around 10 years after that, he headed west into Ohio. Biographer James Dalzell attributed the move to the fact that Virginian laws at the time disenfranchised poor, landless whites from voting. Around 1829, he made a cabin near Hiramsburg, Ohio his permanent and final home. Monetarily speaking, Gray lived a meager life, subsisting on a garden and whatever livestock he could raise. He outlived his wives and …

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