George Zabriskie Gray

George Zabriskie Gray
Portrait of George Zabriskie Gray by Frederick Porter Vinton, 1891
Born(1837-06-14)June 14, 1837
New York City, New York, U.S.
DiedAugust 4, 1889 (1889-08-05) (aged 52)
Sharon Springs, New York, U.S.
Alma materUniversity of the City of New-York
Virginia Theological Seminary
Occupation(s)Theologian, educator, author
Spouse
Kate Forrest
​
(m. 1862)​
RelativesJohn Clinton Gray (brother)

George Zabriskie Gray (July 14, 1837 – August 4, 1889) was a notable clergyman, educator and theologian of the Episcopal Church in the United States.

Early life

Gray was born in New York City on July 14, 1837. He was a son of Susan Maria (née Zabriskie) Gray (1814–1904) and John Alexander Clinton Gray (1815–1898), a dry goods merchant in New York City.[1] His older brother was Albert Zabriskie Gray, warden of Racine College, and his younger brother was jurist John Clinton Gray and his sisters were Katharine Gray (wife of Hackley Bartholomew Bacon) and Frances Susan Gray. He was of French-Huguenot and Polish descent.[2]

In 1858, when he was twenty years old, he graduated from the University of the City of New-York (which gave him an honorary D.D. in 1876),[3] followed by preparations for the ministry at Alexandria Theological Seminary in Virginia from 1859 until 1861, but due to the U.S. Civil War, the school was relocated to Philadelphia, where he completed his degree.[1]

Career

On April 22, 1862, Gray was ordained deacon by Bishop Horatio Potter,[1] the sixth bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of New York,[4] followed by ordination as priest a year later on January 22, 1863, also by Bishop Potter.[1]

Gray served as rector of St. Paul's Church in Kinderhook, New York and Trinity Church in Bergen Point, New Jersey. In 1876, he was appointed dean of Episcopal Theological School in Cambridge, Massachusetts (now Episcopal Divinity School) from 1876-1889.[5]

Gray was the author of several books, including Recognition in the World to Come (1875), Husband and Wife; or, the Theory of Marriage (1885), and The Children's Crusade: An Episode of the Thirteenth Century (1870).[3]

Personal life

On June 19, 1862, he was married Kate Forrest (1841–1905), with whom he had two sons and a daughter, including:[1]

After suffering from Bright's disease for several months, Gray died at the Pavilion Hotel in Sharon Springs, New York where he had been spending the summer on August 4, 1889. His funeral was held at Saint Thomas Church in Manhattan.[1][2]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f "DR. GEORGE ZABRISKIE GRAY" (PDF). The New York Times. August 5, 1889. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
  2. ^ a b Lawrence, William (1890). George Zabriskie Gray, D.D.: A Memorial Sermon Prepared at St. John's Memorial Chapel, Cambridge, Massachusetts, on the Feast of All Saints, November 1, 1889. Printed for the Family. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
  3. ^ a b "LEADER AMONG THE THEOLOGIANS -- Death of Rev. Dr. George Zabriskie Gray of Cambridge". The Boston Globe. August 5, 1889. p. 2. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
  4. ^ The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography: Being the History of the United States as Illustrated in the Lives of the Founders, Builders, and Defenders of the Republic, and of the Men and Women who are Doing the Work and Moulding the Thought of the Present Time. J. T. White Company. 1898. p. 515. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
  5. ^ Yale University Class of 1896 (1907). Decennial Record of the Class of 1896, Yale College. De Vinne Press. p. 673. Retrieved 3 April 2019.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  6. ^ "SUDDEN DEATH OF YALE SENIOR -- George Zabriskie Gray Falls a Victim of Appendicitis While in London". The Boston Globe. September 13, 1895. p. 7. Retrieved 3 April 2019.