Finly Hutchinson Gray (July 21, 1863 – May 8, 1947) was an American lawyer and politician who served two separate three-term stints as a

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

from

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th ...

in the early 20th century.

Biography

Born near

Orange, Indiana Orange is an unincorporated community in Orange Township, Fayette County, Indiana, United States. History Orange was plat In the United States, a plat ( or ) (plan) is a cadastral map, drawn to scale, showing the divisions of a piece of l ...

, Gray attended the common schools. He studied law. He was

admitted to the bar An admission to practice law is acquired when a lawyer receives a license to practice law. In jurisdictions with two types of lawyer, as with barristers and solicitors, barristers must gain admission to the bar whereas for solicitors there are dist ...

in 1892 and commenced practice in

Connersville, Indiana Connersville is a city in Fayette County, east central Indiana, United States, east by southeast of Indianapolis. The population was 13,481 at the 2010 census. The city is the county seat of and the largest and only incorporated town in F ...

. He served as mayor of Connersville 1904 – 1910.

Congress

Gray was elected as a Democrat to the Sixty-second, Sixty-third, and Sixty-fourth Congresses (March 4, 1911 – March 3, 1917). He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1916 to the Sixty-fifth Congress and for election in 1917 to fill the vacancy in the same Congress caused by the death of

Daniel W. Comstock Daniel Webster Comstock (December 16, 1840 – May 19, 1917) was an American lawyer, jurist, and Civil War veteran who briefly served as a U.S. representative from Indiana in 1917. Biography Born in Germantown, Ohio, Comstock attended the c ...

. He resumed the practice of law and also engaged in lecturing. Gray was again elected to the Seventy-third, Seventy-fourth, and Seventy-fifth Congresses (March 4, 1933 – January 3, 1939). He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1938 to the Seventy-sixth Congress.

Later career and death

Reengaged in the practice of law in

. He and his wife restored the

Canal House A canal house ( nl, grachtenpand) is a (usually old) house overlooking a canal. These houses are often slim, high and deep. Canal houses usually had a basement and a loft and attic where trade goods could be stored. A special beam or pulley i ...

and resided there from 1936 to 1947. It later housed the local chapter of the

Veterans of Foreign Wars The Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), formally the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States, is an organization of US war veterans, who, as military service members fought in wars, campaigns, and expeditions on foreign land, waters, or ...

and is now a local history museum. ''Note:'' This includes and Accompanying photographs. He resided at Connersville until his death there on May 8, 1947. He was interred in Dale Cemetery. The Canal House was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artist ...

in 1973. Finley Hutchinson Gray married Mary Alice Green and they had a daughter Mary Gray. Mary Gray preceded her mother in death. She was born in 1903 and in the 1930 census is a patient at the Madison Hospital for the Insane in Madison, Jefferson County, IN.
Mary Gray Bird Sanctuary
in Fayette County IN: website states: The Mary Gray Bird Sanctuary is owned and operated by the Indiana Audubon Society and is located south of Connersville in Fayette County. Alice Green Gray gave the initial property to the Indiana Audubon Society in 1943 as a living memorial to her daughter’ Mary, who preceded her in death. Congressman Finley H. Gray willed additional property to the society in 1947, bringing the total to more than . Gifts from members have allowed the acquisition of more property so that the Sanctuary now occupies more than .

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gray, Finly Hutchinson 1863 births 1947 deaths Mayors of places in Indiana Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Indiana People from Fayette County, Indiana People from Connersville, Indiana