David Gray (August 8, 1870 – April 11, 1968)
was an American diplomat,
journalist
A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism.
Roles
Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...
,
playwright
A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes play (theatre), plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between Character (arts), characters and is intended for Theatre, theatrical performance rather than just
Readin ...
,
novelist
A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living wage, living writing novels and other fiction, while other ...
, short story writer, and
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 ...
. A
World War I
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
veteran, he served in France in the
Aviation Section, U.S. Signal Corps
The Aviation Section, Signal Corps, was the aerial warfare service of the United States from 1914 to 1918, and a direct statutory ancestor of the United States Air Force. It absorbed and replaced the Aeronautical Division, U.S. Signal Corps, Aer ...
, the
American Expeditionary Forces
The American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) was a formation of the United States Armed Forces on the Western Front (World War I), Western Front during World War I, composed mostly of units from the United States Army, U.S. Army. The AEF was establis ...
, and as a liaison officer attached to several French armies. He was awarded both the
Croix de guerre and the
Legion of Honour
The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...
. During
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, he served as the
United States minister to Ireland from 1940 to 1947.
Through his marriage to Maude Livingston Hall, the sister of
Anna Hall Roosevelt, he was the uncle of
Eleanor Roosevelt
Anna Eleanor Roosevelt ( ; October 11, 1884November 7, 1962) was an American political figure, diplomat, and activist. She was the longest-serving First Lady of the United States, first lady of the United States, during her husband Franklin D ...
.
Gray's first notable work as a writer was as the
librettist
A libretto (From the Italian word , ) is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major ...
for Lewis Sabin Thompson's
operetta
Operetta is a form of theatre and a genre of light opera. It includes spoken dialogue, songs and including dances. It is lighter than opera in terms of its music, orchestral size, and length of the work. Apart from its shorter length, the oper ...
''The Sphinx'' (1892), which the pair created while students at
Harvard University
Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...
. After graduating from Harvard, Gray worked as a journalist and editorial writer for multiple publications in New York State from 1893 through 1899. He then worked as a criminal defense attorney in
Erie County, New York from 1899 through 1902. After this three year period, he abandoned the law to pursue a career as a writer full time.
Gray was an author attached to the publisher
The Century Company from 1898 through 1918; publishing three books of short story collections and three novels during that period of time. Many of his short stories involved tales of horses and fox hunts; including the collections ''Gallops I'' (1898) and ''Gallops II'' (1903). He also authored two plays which had successful productions on
Broadway: ''
Gallops'' (1906, adapted from his short stories) and ''The Best People'' (1924); the latter of which was co-authored with playwright
Avery Hopwood.
Early life, education, and careers in journalism and the law
David Gray, Jr. was born in
Buffalo, New York
Buffalo is a Administrative divisions of New York (state), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and county seat of Erie County, New York, Erie County. It lies in Western New York at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of ...
, the son of Martha (née Guthrie) and David Gray, Sr.
Both his parents were immigrants to the United States from
Scotland
Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
.
[Raymond, p. 58] His father was born in Edinburgh in 1836, and came to the United States with his family in 1849. They initially stayed with David Gray Sr.'s Uncle William who was already settled in Buffalo, New York. The family proceeded on to establish a farm two miles outside
Waupun, Wisconsin in the autumn of 1849. David Gray, Sr. was not happy with a farmers life, and at the invitation of his uncle William he moved into his uncle's home in Buffalo; taking a job as the secretary of the
YMCA
YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organisation based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It has nearly 90,000 staff, some 920,000 volunteers and 12,000 branches w ...
in that city in 1856.
In 1859 David Gray, Sr. joined the ''Buffalo Courier'' as a reporter, and he eventually became editor-in-chief of that publication in 1876.
When
Mark Twain
Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by the pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, and essayist. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has produced," with William Fau ...
lived in Buffalo and worked for a rival paper from 1869-1871, David Gray, Sr. and his wife Martha became close friends with Twain and his wife
Livy
Titus Livius (; 59 BC – AD 17), known in English as Livy ( ), was a Roman historian. He wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people, titled , covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome before the traditional founding i ...
.
David Gray, Sr. also was a respected poet, and a collection of his poems and letters was published in 1888;
the year of his death in a railway accident.
David Gray, Jr. began his education at the
University of Rochester
The University of Rochester is a private university, private research university in Rochester, New York, United States. It was founded in 1850 and moved into its current campus, next to the Genesee River in 1930. With approximately 30,000 full ...
.
In 1888, the year of his father's death, he entered
Harvard University
Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...
; graduating from there in 1892 with a
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...
.
He wrote the
libretto
A libretto (From the Italian word , ) is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to th ...
for Lewis Sabin Thompson's operetta ''The Sphinx'' which was staged by the
Hasty Pudding Club at Harvard in 1892.
From 1893 through 1899 he worked as both a reporter and editorial writer for several publications in the cities of
Rochester and
Buffalo, New York
Buffalo is a Administrative divisions of New York (state), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and county seat of Erie County, New York, Erie County. It lies in Western New York at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of ...
;
[ initially working for his father's newspaper the ''Buffalo Courier''.] Other papers he worked for included '' The Union and Advertiser'', ''The Buffalo Times'', and ''The Buffalo Enquirer''.[ In 1897 he became managing editor of the ''Buffalo Courier'',][ a role that he ultimately was not successful in.] After this, he worked as a reporter and editorial writer for the '' New York World'' in New York City.[
Gray studied the law at the University at Buffalo Law School from 1897-1899; graduating with a L.L.D.] He was admitted to the New York State Bar Association
The New York State Bar Association (NYSBA) is a voluntary bar association for the state of New York. The mission of the association is to cultivate the science of jurisprudence; promote reform in the law; facilitate the administration of justice ...
in June 1899. He worked as a criminal defense attorney in Erie County, New York from 1899 through 1902; after which he abandoned his law career to pursue a career as a writer of short stories, plays, and novels. From 1909-1911 he resided in New York City, after which he purchased and operated a farm in Geneseo, New York
Geneseo is a Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in Livingston County, New York, Livingston County in the Finger Lakes region of New York (state), New York, United States. It is at the south end of the five-county Rochester metropo ...
to supplement his income as a writer.
Career as an author
As a writer, David Gray wrote multiple books for the publisher The Century Company from 1898 through 1918. The first of these were two books of short stories about horses, ''Gallops'' (1898, later retitled ''Gallops I'' ) and ''Gallops II'' (1903). These books were later republished in a three volume set entitled ''The Hitchcock Edition of David Gray: Gallops, Gallops 2'' by The Derrydale Press in 1929 with illustrations by the well known horse artist Paul Desmond Brown (1893-1958). He published a third book of short stories, ''Mr. Carteret and Others'', in 1910.
Gray also wrote three novels published by The Century Company. The first of these was ''Smith'' (1911); a work Gray adapted from the 1909 play of the same name by W. Somerset Maugham. Like the play, the novel tells the story of man returning to London from Colonial Africa in search of a wife; only to discover he despises the vapid women of his class and much prefers his sister's housemaid, Smith.
Gray's second novel, ''Ensign Russell'' (1912), followed the adventures of a junior officer in the United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...
serving during the time of the Philippine–American War
The Philippine–American War, known alternatively as the Philippine Insurrection, Filipino–American War, or Tagalog Insurgency, emerged following the conclusion of the Spanish–American War in December 1898 when the United States annexed th ...
. This work was partially informed by Gray's own life experience. After leaving the law in March 1902, Gray embarked on a voyage around the world via the Panama Canal
The Panama Canal () is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Caribbean Sea with the Pacific Ocean. It cuts across the narrowest point of the Isthmus of Panama, and is a Channel (geography), conduit for maritime trade between th ...
to the Philippines where he lived for five months. He was part of a civilian group sent by the United States Congress
The United States Congress is the legislature, legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, including a Lower house, lower body, the United States House of Representatives, ...
to evaluate the situation in the Philippines and report back on the conditions in the country. Part of this evaluation involved reviewing the work of the United States Navy in order for Congress to determine the need for continued American military presence. He wrote about his personal experiences in this civilian evaluative team in the magazine article "The Recantation of an Anti-Imperialist" for '' The Outlook'', published August 20, 1904. He also wrote a story, "A Filipine Christmas", published in '' The Century Magazine'' in December 1904.
Gray's third and final novel was ''The Boomerang'' (1918). He was also the author of numerous short stories published in American magazines like ''Cosmopolitan
Cosmopolitan may refer to:
Internationalism
* World citizen, one who eschews traditional geopolitical divisions derived from national citizenship
* Cosmopolitanism, the idea that all of humanity belongs to a single moral community
* Cosmopolitan ...
'', '' The Century Magazine'', '' Metropolitan Magazine'' and '' Appleton's Magazine''.
For the stage, Gray penned two plays which were produced on Broadway. The first of these plays was also entitled '' Gallops'',[Mantle, Sherwood & Chapman, p. 509] and was written as a starring vehicle for the actor Charles Richman. It premiered at the Garrick Theatre on February 12, 1906 and had a respectable run of 81 performances; closing in April 1906. Like many of Gray's horse stories in his ''Gallops'' books, the plot of the play centered around a fox hunt
Fox hunting is an activity involving the tracking, chase and, if caught, the killing of a fox, normally a red fox, by trained foxhounds or other scent hounds. A group of unarmed followers, led by a "master of foxhounds" (or "master of hounds" ...
and the story of the play was loosely adapted from some of these earlier published stories.
Gray's second stage work was a three act farce originally titled ''Goodness Knows'' that had a well received premiere in Cleveland in 1923. However, when the playwright Avery Hopwood attended performances of the work, he felt that act III of the play was not working well and contacted Gray with the offer of assisting him to revise the last act. Together, Hopwood and Gray reworked the final portions of the comedy, and it was this revised version, now entitled ''The Best People'', that premiered at Broadway's Lyceum Theatre on August 19, 1924 with both men credited as the playwrights. A popular and critical success, it ran for a total of 144 performances in its original Broadway run, and was later revived on Broadway at the Waldorf Theatre in 1933. ''The Best People'' was adapted into a silent film of the same name in 1925, and later into a sound film, '' Fast and Loose'', in 1930.
Marriage and military service in World War I
Gray was the second husband of Maude Livingston Hall, the sister of Anna Hall Roosevelt and aunt of Eleanor Roosevelt
Anna Eleanor Roosevelt ( ; October 11, 1884November 7, 1962) was an American political figure, diplomat, and activist. She was the longest-serving First Lady of the United States, first lady of the United States, during her husband Franklin D ...
; the latter the wife of the 32nd President of the United States
The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...
, Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...
. Maude was only six years older than Eleanor and they grew up in the same house, making their relationship more like that of sisters than aunt and niece.[Raymond, page 55] Her first marriage to the champion polo player Lawrence Waterbury ended in divorce in 1912. When Maude and David married on October 13, 1914 at Poughkeepsie City Hall, Eleanor was one of the two witnesses at their quiet wedding. The couple maintained a close friendship with Eleanor and F.D.R., and resided in Portland, Maine
Portland is the List of municipalities in Maine, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine and the county seat, seat of Cumberland County, Maine, Cumberland County. Portland's population was 68,408 at the 2020 census. The Portland metropolit ...
.
Gray was a World War I
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
veteran. In 1917 he was commissioned as a captain in the Aviation Section, U.S. Signal Corps
The Aviation Section, Signal Corps, was the aerial warfare service of the United States from 1914 to 1918, and a direct statutory ancestor of the United States Air Force. It absorbed and replaced the Aeronautical Division, U.S. Signal Corps, Aer ...
(ASUSC), and left the United States for France on November 2 of that year. Initially a supply officer of the ASUSC's Photographic Division, an organization responsible for gathering aerial photographic intel, he was reassigned to the American Expeditionary Forces
The American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) was a formation of the United States Armed Forces on the Western Front (World War I), Western Front during World War I, composed mostly of units from the United States Army, U.S. Army. The AEF was establis ...
(AEF) in December 1917 when land and air photographic reconnaissance was reassigned under that organization. For the AEF he served at their base in Paris as the commanding officer over land photography.
In June 1918 Gray was transferred to the Liaison Service and was assigned to the Fourth French Army under General Gouraud under whom he fought in the Fourth Battle of Champagne. After this he served in the I Corps as a liaison officer to the 7th and 2nd French Armies with whom he fought in the Battle of Château-Thierry. He ended the war as a liaison officer assigned to General Mangin and the 10th French Army. When the 10th Army took the city of Mainz
Mainz (; #Names and etymology, see below) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, and with around 223,000 inhabitants, it is List of cities in Germany by population, Germany's 35th-largest city. It lies in ...
, Gray's horse fell and he broke his leg. He was sent to a hospital in Paris where he remained until he was shipped home to the United States on February 15, 1919.
For his war service, Gray received the Croix de guerre and the Legion of Honour
The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...
. In 1925, he received a Doctor of Letters
Doctor of Letters (D.Litt., Litt.D., Latin: ' or '), also termed Doctor of Literature in some countries, is a terminal degree in the arts, humanities, and social sciences. In the United States, at universities such as Drew University, the degree ...
from Bowdoin College
Bowdoin College ( ) is a Private college, private liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Brunswick, Maine. It was chartered in 1794.
The main Bowdoin campus is located near Casco Bay and the Androscoggin River. In a ...
.
Minister to Ireland
At the age of seventy, Gray was appointed minister to Ireland in February 1940, and presented his credentials in April 1940. His official title was Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary
An envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary, usually known as a minister, was a diplomatic head of mission who was ranked below ambassador. A diplomatic mission headed by an envoy was known as a legation rather than an embassy. Under the ...
. In Gray's own words, his appointment was nepotic, as he was the First Lady's uncle.
Gray's interest in Irish politics developed in the two decades prior to his appointment as minister to Ireland. Personal letters and other writing by Gray beginning in 1920 and extending throughout the 1920s and 1930s, indicate that he was a supporter of Irish nationalism and an admirer of Éamon de Valera
Éamon de Valera (; ; first registered as George de Valero; changed some time before 1901 to Edward de Valera; 14 October 1882 – 29 August 1975) was an American-born Irish statesman and political leader. He served as the 3rd President of Ire ...
, later Ireland's Taoiseach
The Taoiseach (, ) is the head of government or prime minister of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The office is appointed by the President of Ireland upon nomination by Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Oireachtas, Ireland's national legisl ...
(prime minister) during his tenure as minister to Ireland. From June 1933 through June 1934, Gray and his wife lived in a cottage in the village of Castletownshend
Castletownshend () is a village about south-east of Skibbereen, in County Cork, Ireland. The village developed around a small 17th-century castle built by Richard Townsend.
History
Evidence of ancient settlement in the area includes a number ...
in County Cork, Ireland; during which time Gray began writing a history of the Irish Free State; ultimately abandoning the project when he realized he knew too much for a "tourist report" but not enough to publish a serious academic work. The couple traveled for extended visits to Ireland three more times between the years 1934 and 1939.[Raymond, p. 59]
Gray was in his post through most of World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
and the start of the Cold War
The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...
. He led American efforts to convince Ireland
Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
to enter the war on the side of the Allies. Initially a supporter of de Valera, Gray became impatient with his stance of Irish neutrality and under pressure from the Roosevelt administration his behavior became increasingly undiplomatic beginning in November 1940 and continuing. Relationships between Gray and de Valera soured, and de Valera sought repeatedly to have Gray replaced, especially after the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...
.[ Gray believed Ireland was only staying neutral because de Valera actually believed the Nazis would eventually defeat the Allies. He also believed that top Irish officials were colluding with ]Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...
secretly. When Roosevelt died in April 1945, de Valera ordered flags lowered to half mast as a sign respect and made arrangements for a commemoration service in St Mary's (Catholic) Pro-Cathedral. Gray however sent word that he would not attend unless it was held in St. Patrick's (Church of Ireland) Cathedral, Dublin and refused to correspond on the matter further. Though de Valera initially intended to give his condolences to the U.S. Embassy in person, upon receiving word that Ambassador Gray was "unavailable to receive" them, sent his secretary instead.
Views on Ireland
As a Roosevelt family
The Roosevelt family is an American political family from New York whose members have included two United States presidents, a First Lady, and various merchants, bankers, politicians, inventors, clergymen, artists, and socialites. The progeny ...
member, Gray wrote privately to Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt with a number of dry verses and remarks, sometimes humorous and sometimes scathing, on his opinions of de Valera and Irish policy towards the War.
Senior lecturer in U.S. Foreign Policy, Timothy J. Lynch, has observed that "his animus towards his host nation made Gray atypical of American ambassadors in Dublin."
Gray, among other things, relied for guidance on seances conducted at the embassy residence, according to T. Ryle Dwyer, author of a number of publications on Irish neutrality. Throughout the war Gray remained completely at odds with the OSS in Ireland. Gray believed the Irish government was secretly pro-Nazi. Gray consistently tried to get Ireland to join the war against the Nazis, though Ireland refused. De Valera went so far as to ask the United States government and Franklin Roosevelt to remove Gray from his post because of opposition to Irish neutrality, though the U.S. government never did.
In popular culture
The character of David Gray was played in the 1983 RTÉ
(; ; RTÉThe É in RTÉ is pronounced as an English E () and not an Irish É ()) is an Irish public service broadcaster. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, ...
television series '' Caught in a Free State'' by the actor O. Z. Whitehead.
Later years
After returning to the United States from Ireland, Gray lived with his wife Maude in Portland, Maine up until her death in that city on October 16, 1952 at the age of 75. He later lived in retirement in Sarasota, Florida
Sarasota () is a city in and the county seat of Sarasota County, Florida, United States. It is located in Southwest Florida, the southern end of the Tampa Bay area, and north of Fort Myers, Florida, Fort Myers and Punta Gorda, Florida, Punta Gord ...
where he died on April 11, 1968, aged 97. He donated many of his personal papers to the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library before his death, including an extensive correspondence.
List of works
Novels
*''Smith'' (1911); adapted from a play by W. Somerset Maugham.
*''Ensign Russell'' (1912)
*''The Boomerang'' (1918)
Short stories
*''Gallops'' (1898, later retitled ''Gallops I'' ), book of multiple short stories
*''Gallops II'' (1903), book of multiple short stories
*''Mr. Carteret and Others'' (1910), book of multiple short stories
Stage works
*''The Sphinx; or, Love at Random'' (1892, operetta; David Gray, librettist; Lewis Sabin Thompson, composer)
*'' Gallops'' (1906, play)
*''Goodness Knows'' (1923, play)
*''The Best People'' (1924, play; revised version of ''Goodness Knows'' with playwright Avery Hopwood)
References
Bibliography
*
*
*
Further reading
*
*
*
*
*
External links
David Gray papers
at the American Heritage Center
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gray, David
1870 births
1968 deaths
19th-century American newspaper editors
20th-century American novelists
Ambassadors of the United States to Ireland
American dramatists and playwrights
American male novelists
Bowdoin College alumni
Harvard University alumni
Novelists from New York (state)
University at Buffalo Law School alumni
Writers from Buffalo, New York