John Chipman Gray (July 14, 1839February 25, 1915) was an American scholar of
property law and professor at
Harvard Law School. He also founded the law firm
Ropes & Gray
Ropes & Gray LLP is a global law firm with 13 offices located in the United States, Asia and Europe. The firm has more than 1,500 lawyers and professionals worldwide, and its clients include corporations and financial institutions, government agen ...
, with law partner
John Codman Ropes
John Codman Ropes (April 28, 1836October 28, 1899) was an American military historian and lawyer, and the co-founder of the law firm Ropes & Gray.
Early life
Ropes was born on April 28, 1836, in Saint Petersburg, the son of a leading merchan ...
. He was half-brother to
U.S. Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
associate justice
Horace Gray, and a grandson of
merchant and
politician
A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking ...
William Gray.
Early life
Gray was born in
Brighton,
Massachusetts
Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...
to Horace and Sarah Russell (Gardner) Gray, and graduated from
Boston Latin School. From there, he went on to
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...
, where he earned his
Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...
degree in 1859, and
Harvard Law School, where he earned his
law degree in 1861. Gray's politics, prior to the Civil War tended toward the Whig Party. However, he transited into the Know-Nothing Party when the Whigs collapsed. Although he became a Republican, he opined, while serving as a judge advocate, that President Abraham Lincoln did not possess the constitutional authority to issue the Emancipation Proclamation. However, when the Civil War began, he argued that the defeat of slavery was imperative for the survival of the nation.
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 1862, and thereafter served in the
Union Army
During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union of the collective states. It proved essential to th ...
in the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...
. He enlisted from Boston as a 2nd lieutenant in Company B, 4th Battalion, Massachusetts Infantry on May 27, 1862, was mustered out a few days later, and commissioned into Company H,
3rd Massachusetts Cavalry on October 7, 1862. He left that unit to accept a commission as a
major in the U.S. Volunteers Adjutant General Department on July 25, 1864. Gray was wounded at the
Third Battle of Winchester
The Third Battle of Winchester, also known as the Battle of Opequon or Battle of Opequon Creek, was an American Civil War battle fought near Winchester, Virginia, on September 19, 1864. Union Army Major General Philip Sheridan defeated Confederate ...
on September 19, 1864, and resigned from the Army on July 14, 1865.
Gray had narrow views on the service of African-American soldiers in the Army. Although he thought highly of his classmate,
Robert Gould Shaw, when Shaw's Fifty-Fourth Massachusetts Regiment was decimated at the Battle of Fort Wagner, Gray wrote his mother "with long and careful discipline I suppose a regiment of negroes might do as well as a white regiment, but negroes disciplined no better than many of our white units would be worthless."
Legal career
In 1865, after the end of the Civil War, Gray established his law practice in
Boston, Massachusetts, which would eventually evolve into the modern firm of
Ropes and Gray. In 1869, he began teaching at Harvard Law School, first as a lecturer, and became a full professor in 1875. In 1883, he was named Royall Professor of Law (a chair named for
Isaac Royall, Jr.
Isaac Royall Jr. (1719–1781) was the largest slaveholder in 18th-century Massachusetts. His wealth, primarily accrued through enslaved labor in Antigua, made possible the creation of Harvard Law School. Royall and his father enslaved 64 people o ...
), a position he would hold for 20 years. He received
honorary Doctor of Laws
A Doctor of Law is a degree in law. The application of the term varies from country to country and includes degrees such as the Doctor of Juridical Science (J.S.D. or S.J.D), Juris Doctor (J.D.), Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), and Legum Doctor ...
degrees from
Yale University
Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...
in 1894, and from Harvard in 1895.
Two years after retiring from teaching, he died at Boston on February 25, 1915.
Works written by Gray
Gray wrote two books on
future interests, ''Restraints on the Alienation of Property'' (1883), and ''The Rule against Perpetuities'' (1886). His best known work is his survey of the
common law
In law, common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law created by judges and similar quasi-judicial tribunals by virtue of being stated in written opinions."The common law is not a brooding omnipres ...
, ''The Nature and Sources of the Law'' (1909). Gray's writings were so influential that they are still used in
American law schools and cited in
law journals to this day.
See also
*
Restraint on alienation
*
Rule against perpetuities
References
*
External links
Index of Gray's correspondence, from Harvard University LibraryBiography of John Chipman Gray
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gray, John Chipman
1839 births
1915 deaths
American legal scholars
American legal writers
Boston Latin School alumni
Harvard Law School alumni
Harvard Law School faculty
People of Massachusetts in the American Civil War
Scholars of property law
People associated with Ropes & Gray
Union Army officers