EBENEZER A. GRAY

View Portrait of Mr. & Mrs. Ebenezer A. Gray

In the history of the pioneer development of Cedar county Ebenezer A. Gray deserves mention, for he came to this part of the state in pioneer times and was closely associated with its early development and progress. Iowa was still under territorial rule at the time of his arrival and all of the experiences and privations of pioneer life were to be met, but, as in all unsettled districts, there were also opportunities to be enjoyed.

Ebenezer A. Gray was a native of Harrison county, Ohio, and in that state was reared and educated. Having arrived at adult age, he was united in marriage to Miss Eliza Bolon, a native of Loudoun county, Virginia, who in her girlhood days accompanied her parents on their removal to Ohio. There she became acquainted with Mr. Gray and the friendship, ripening to love, was consummated in marriage. The young couple began their domestic life in the Buckeye state and frontier experiences became familiar to them in that district, for the work of progress and civilization had not been carried forward to any great extent in Ohio. They continued their residence there until 1839, when they sought a home in Iowa, taking up their abode in Cedar county. As one travels over this section of the state and sees its finely developed farms it is almost impossible to realize what were the conditions which met Mr. and Mrs. Gray when they took up their abode here. All around was the wild and unbroken prairie, starred with a million wild flowers in June and in December covered with one dazzling and unbroken sheet of snow. Only here and there had a settlement been made indicating that the work of reclamation had been begun here. Much of the land was still is possession of the government and Mr. Gray entered one hundred and sixty acres in Iowa township, which he secured for a nominal price. He at once began the arduous task of breaking the sod and cultivating the fields and in time brought his farm under a high state of improvement. Being a gunsmith by trade, he was in the employ of the government for some time, repairing guns used in the Indian wars, specimens of which are now on exhibition in Des Moines, but his attention was mainly given to agricultural pursuits.

In the family of Mr. and Mrs. Gray were eight children: Amanda, who married Daniel Ellyson and is now deceased; Thomas, a resident of West Liberty, Iowa; Alfred, a resident of Atlantic, this state; Mary and Caroline, who died in infancy; Ann, the wife of Joseph Westfall, who died during his service in the Civil war, while her death occurred in Iowa township; F. M.; and William, of West Branch, Iowa. Ebenezer A. Gray is still represented in this county by his descendants, his grandson, Charles O. Gray, being mentioned on another page of this volume. Mr. Gray was ever a worthy citizen of the community, whose labors were of value in the pioneer development of this portion of the state.