Frederick Thomas Gray
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Frederick Thomas Gray (October 10, 1918 – May 14, 1992) was a Virginia attorney and Democratic Party politician. Governor J. Lindsay Almond appointed Gray to serve as
Attorney General of Virginia The attorney general of Virginia is an elected constitutional position that holds an Executive (government), executive office in the government of Virginia. Attorneys general are elected for a four-year term in the year following a United State ...
after the resignation of Attorney General
Albertis Harrison Albertis Sydney Harrison Jr. (January 11, 1907 – January 23, 1995) was an American politician and jurist. A member of the Democratic Party associated with Virginia's Byrd Organization, he served as the 59th governor of Virginia from 1962 to ...
(a member of the Democratic political organization led by Senator Harry F. Byrd) to run for Governor of Virginia during the Massive Resistance crisis in Virginia. Gray returned to private practice at
Williams Mullen Williams Mullen is a regionally based, full-service law firm with more than 240 attorneys in offices across North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia. The firm began in 1909. Williams Mullen is the third largest firm in Virginia based on attor ...
after Robert Young Button (elected Attorney General during the same 1961 election in which Harrison became Governor) took office. Gray later served in the
Virginia House of Delegates The Virginia House of Delegates is one of the two houses of the Virginia General Assembly, the other being the Senate of Virginia. It has 100 members elected for terms of two years; unlike most states, these elections take place during odd-numbe ...
and the
Virginia Senate The Senate of Virginia is the upper house of the Virginia General Assembly. The Senate is composed of 40 senators representing an equal number of single-member constituent districts. The Senate is presided over by the lieutenant governor of Virg ...
(both part-time positions) as he continued his law practice.


Early and family life

Frederick Gray was born in
Petersburg, Virginia Petersburg is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 33,458 with a majority bla ...
to Franklin Pierce and the former Mary Gervase (Pouder). The day Gray was commissioned as a first lieutenant and navigator in the Army Air Corps, October 16, 1943, he married Evelyn Helms Johnson of
Chesterfield County, Virginia Chesterfield County is a County (United States), county located just south of Richmond, Virginia, Richmond in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia. The county's borders are primarily defined by the James River to the north an ...
who had traveled cross-country to the wedding in
Sacramento, California Sacramento ( or ; ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of California and the county seat, seat of Sacramento County, California, Sacramento County. Located at the confluence of the Sacramento Rive ...
. After decades living at her family's ancestral home at
Bermuda Hundred, Virginia Bermuda Hundred was the first administrative division in the English colony of Virginia. It was founded by Sir Thomas Dale in 1613, six years after Jamestown. At the southwestern edge of the confluence of the Appomattox and James Rivers o ...
, she survived him, as would a son (with his father's name but nickname "Rick") and daughter. After World War II ended, Gray attended the
University of Richmond The University of Richmond (UR or U of R) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Richmond, Virginia, United States. It is a primarily undergraduate, residential institution with approxim ...
Law School and was admitted to the Virginia Bar.


Career

Gray served as an Assistant attorney general for the Commonwealth of Virginia from 1949–1957 and briefly as attorney general (1961–1962). Between those public service stints, he was a partner at various law firms, including
Williams Mullen Williams Mullen is a regionally based, full-service law firm with more than 240 attorneys in offices across North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia. The firm began in 1909. Williams Mullen is the third largest firm in Virginia based on attor ...
(1957–1961, 62–83), and later at Gray, Sinnott, Tucker & Duke in
Chesterfield, Virginia Chesterfield Court House is an unincorporated community and former census-designated place that is the county seat of Chesterfield County, Virginia, United States. It was a census-designated place (CDP) at the 2000 United States Census, 2000 cen ...
(1983–1985). In 1965, Gray's testimony that Virginia did not discriminate against black voters was subject to cross-examination by U.S. Senator
Edward Kennedy Edward Moore Kennedy (February 22, 1932 – August 25, 2009) was an American lawyer and politician from Massachusetts who served as a member of the United States Senate from 1962 to his death in 2009. A member of the Democratic Party and ...
, which civil rights attorney and later fellow Virginia State Senator Henry L. Marsh believes led to the passage of the
Voting Rights Act of 1965 The Voting Rights Act of 1965 is a landmark piece of federal legislation in the United States that prohibits racial discrimination in voting. It was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson during the height of the civil rights move ...
. In 1967 Gray argued and lost
Green v. County School Board of New Kent County ''Green v. County School Board of New Kent County'', 391 U.S. 430 (1968), was a landmark United States Supreme Court case involving school desegregation. Specifically, the Court dealt with the freedom of choice plans created to avoid compliance w ...
before the U.S.Supreme Court; the court striking down the nominal school choice plans based on their actual performance. Gray served in the Virginia House of Delegates from 1966 until 1972, when he began service in the Virginia Senate. In the redistricting after Davis v. Mann for the 1965 election the district consisting of Chesterfield County and the City of Colonial Heights, previously represented by Edward M. Hudgins, received an additional delegate slot. Gray and John S. Hansen won election to represent that district District 23. Gray was re-elected in 1967 and 1969, but Hansen resigned between those elections, and was replaced by Republican George Wilson Jones. Also, in the 1969 election, Jones polled more votes than Gray in the 2-member district, which was split and after the 1970 census such that Jones won re-election to the 36th district in subsequent years. Alexander B. McMurtrie Jr. succeeded Gray, who ran for the state Senate in 1971. Gray represented Chesterfield County with various adjacent areas in the 11th Senatorial District (1972–1984). He first won election to the newly configured 11th district in 1971. Lloyd C. Bird had previously represented Chesterfield County, along with Amelia, Charles City and New Kent Counties and the city of Colonial Heights as District 29 in the 1967 election and with James City County and the City of Williamsburg rather than Amelia County in the 1963 election as District 32, and before that with Charles City, Chesterfield and Henrico Counties and the city of Colonial Heights as District 33. Before the 1971 election, District 11 encompassed various counties south and west of Chesterfield County, not even adjacent to Chesterfield County. In any event, the district configuration changed after the election, so that in 1974 and 1975 Senator Gray represented Chesterfield and Henrico counties, with another part of Chesterfield county agglomerated with Amelia, Brunswick, Cumberland, Lunenburg, Mecklenburg, Nottoway and Powhatan Counties in District 17, represented by James T. Edmunds. Neither Gray nor Edmunds was opposed. Gray also won re-election unopposed in 1975 and 1979. Republican
Robert E. Russell Sr. Robert Elson Russell Sr. (December 18, 1941 – January 19, 2019) was an American politician. Elected to the Virginia House of Delegates in 1981, he faced Chip Dicks the following year after the court-mandated redrawing of districts. He was unsuc ...
ran unopposed in that district in 1983. A past president of the Chesterfield Bar Association, Gray also served on the board of directors of Pioneer Savings & Loan and Jefferson National Bank (eastern region).


Death and legacy

A bridge on Route 295 over the
Appomattox River The Appomattox River is a tributary of the James River, approximately long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 1, 2011 in central and eastern Virginia, named for the ...
was named in his honor in 1998. His children also established a charitable trust in honor of their parents.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gray, Frederick Thomas 1918 births 1992 deaths Virginia attorneys general Virginia lawyers Democratic Party Virginia state senators University of Richmond alumni 20th-century American lawyers Politicians from Petersburg, Virginia People from Chesterfield County, Virginia United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II United States Army Air Forces officers Democratic Party members of the Virginia House of Delegates 20th-century members of the Virginia General Assembly