George Noah Gray was born in Pennsylvania on February 10, 1838. He arrived in Ohio at the age of 18. His first job was a farm laborer on a farm at Pine Creek. He saved the money made while working as a laborer and went to Waynesburgh College, Pennsylvania. After he received his degree, he returned to Pine Creek and became a teacher.
In 1861, Gray, like many Lawrence County residents, signed up to fight to preserve the Union in the Civil War. Gray was a member of the 53rd Ohio Volunteers and fought during the Battle of Shiloh. Gray, also, served in the navy during the war.
After the war he returned to Lawrence County and he began to show interest in the iron furnaces. He was a clerk at the Mt. Vernon and Hecla Furnaces. He later partnered with W. D. Kelley and others to run the Hecla Furnace. Vesuvius Furnace and Timmiment Furnace in West Virginia were also managed by Gray.
In his personal life, George married Elizabeth Ann Humphreys on December 25, 1865. They had three sons and one daughter. Their first son John Wilson was born on September 11, 1867, the second, Charles Sedgewick, on February 20, 1869, and the last, George H., was born on March 3, 1873. Their only daughter has been recorded under two names Emma and Anne. For this article, I will refer to her as Emma.
Like father like sons… Gray’s sons also went into the military. Charles S. Gray died during his service in the U.S. Navy. He died on September 3, 1898 at Garfield Hospital in Washington D.C. In his honor, his family donated a half square for the Charles S. Gray Deaconess Hospital.
George Noah Gray died on May 15, 1907. He was buried in Woodland Cemetery. His daughter, Emma, married John Stewart a prominent attorney in Ironton and was the last person in Gray’s family to live in the Gray home on Sixth Street.
