George Zabriskie Gray


George Zabriskie Gray 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 Gray and John Alexander Clinton Gray, a dry goods merchant in New York City. 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 and Frances Susan Gray. He was of French-Huguenot and Polish descent.
In 1858, when he was twenty years old, he graduated from the University of the City of New-York, 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.

Career

On April 22, 1862, Gray was ordained deacon by Bishop Horatio Potter, the sixth bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of New York, followed by ordination as priest a year later on January 22, 1863, also by Bishop Potter.
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 from 1876-1889.
Gray was the author of several books, including Recognition in the World to Come, Husband and Wife; or, the Theory of Marriage , and the Children's Crusade in the Thirteenth Century.

Personal life

On June 19, 1862, he was married Kate Forrest, with whom he had two sons and a daughter, including:
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.