Charles Andrew Ray (September 3, 1829 – March 6, 1912) was an American

lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

, and

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who served as a justice of the

Indiana Supreme Court The Indiana Supreme Court, established by Article 7 of the Indiana Constitution, is the highest judicial authority in the state of Indiana. Located in Indianapolis, the Court's chambers are in the north wing of the Indiana Statehouse. In Dec ...

from January 3, 1865 to January 3, 1871.Minde C. Browning, Richard Humphrey, and Bruce Kleinschmidt,
Biographical Sketches of Indiana Supreme Court Justices
, ''

Indiana Law Review Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law (IU McKinney) is the law school of Indiana University Indianapolis, a public research university in Indianapolis, Indiana. The school has been based in Lawrence W. Inlow Hall in Indianapolis ...

'', Vol. 30, No. 1 (1997), section reproduced i
Indiana Courts Justice Biographies page

Early life and education

Ray was born in

Indianapolis Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

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in 1829 to James Mitchel and Maria Rebecca Ray (née Coe). James Mitchel Ray, born in Caldwell,

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, the son of a

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immigrant from Kippen, had a long career in Indiana law and governance, serving as Clerk of the Marion County

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and as Cashier of the Bank of Indiana. James M. Ray was also active within the

Presbyterian Church Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Christianity, Reformed Protestantism, Protestant tradition named for its form of ecclesiastical polity, church government by representative assemblies of Presbyterian polity#Elder, elders, known as ...

, serving as Superintendent of a Presbyterian school in Indianapolis before becoming an Elder of the Presbyterian Church in 1830 and then a member of the Joint Committee on the Reunion of the Presbyterian Church. James Ray faced financial ruin after a disastrous

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investment, but he was able to get a well-paying position with the Treasury Department in

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From 1848 to 1849, Charles Ray attended

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in Providence,

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, but was forced to leave Brown early after his father became ill. In 1849, he was awarded an

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of LL.D by

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. He returned to school from 1851 to 1852, obtaining an actual degree from a law school in

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. Returning to Indianapolis, Ray formed a law partnership with a former judge, James Morrison, remaining at his private practice until 1861.

Career

In 1861, Ray was appointed judge of Indiana's 12th

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District by

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Oliver P. Morton (a good friend of Ray's). In 1862, he was elected to the same position for a full, four-year term. In 1864, during a statewide Republican landslide, Ray and three other Republican judges ( Jehu Elliott, James S. Frazer, and Robert Gregory) were elected to the

, replacing all four of the court's Democratic justices. Ray succeeded Justice Samuel E. Perkins. Ray, Elliott, Frazer, and Gregory were collectively known as "the Lincoln four". The most famous case the court heard during Ray's time on the bench was ''Smith v. Moody'', which resulted in the Lincoln four unanimously ruling to strike down Article 13 of the Indiana Constitution, which barred

African Americans African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa ...

and

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individuals from settling in Indiana or entering into a contract. Ray was renominated to his seat on the court at the state Republican convention, but was defeated in the election. He was succeeded to the court in 1871 by Justice Samuel Hamilton Buskirk. In 1872, Ray traveled to

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on legal business. He spent the next several months travelling Europe with his daughter, Florence. In 1874, Ray moved to Washington, D.C., where he practiced law with Thomas W. Bartley, former

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and former justice of the

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. In 1881,

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appointed Ray law clerk of the

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. He resigned in 1883 and returned to practice law in Indianapolis. Ray moved to

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sometime in the 1870s and served as a judge there before returning to Indianapolis. Additionally, he became associate editor of the legal publication, ''Western Reporter'', published by the Lawyers Co-Operative Publishing Company in Rochester,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

. In 1906, Ray was named as the attorney of record in a case before the United States Supreme Court.Linda C. Gugin, James E. St. Clair, ''Justices of the Indiana Supreme Court'' (2010), p. 77-80.

Personal life

Ray married Avife Laura Amelia Mills in 1849. Ray died in Washington, D.C. in 1912, at the age of 82, and was interred in Easton,

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

."Funeral of Former Judge Ray", ''Washington Evening Star'' (March 7, 1912), p. 2.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ray, Charles 1829 births 1912 deaths Lawyers from Indianapolis Brown University alumni Justices of the Indiana Supreme Court American judges Indiana Republicans American people of Scottish descent