Gregory spoke to white and black people about post-war emancipation, which white Texans thought arbitrary and unlawful, and reconstruction in the evenings, after the end of the work day. He and another assistant commissioner stated that African Americans "must show by their industry and perseverance that they were worthy of freedom." They dispelled rumors by stating that blacks would not receive land from slaveholders or the government to work their own farms. He handed out sample labor contracts to black and white people.