New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1915-06-29
DEATH OVERTAKES
John CLINTON GRAY
Retired Jurist of New York
Court of Appeals Was
~ Years Old.

Newport, r. l., June 2S.-John Clin-
ton Gray. Judge of the Court Of APP
peals Of New York for many years, died
at his summer home here to-day. He
was stricken with a paralytic shock last
Wednesday and pneumonia set in a day
later Judge Gray was seventy-two
years old. The body will be sent to
New York Wednesday and the funeral
will be held Thursday.
John Clinton Gray was appointed TO
the New York State Court OF Appeals
in January, 1888, as the successor OF
Judge Rapallo. He was then the young
est member of the court and the only
representative OF this city. He was
born in New York City on December
4, 1843, the son of John A. c. and Susan
Maria (Zabriskie) Gray. He was gradu-
ated in 1865 at New York University.
He studied at the University of Berlin
in lS60-'61 and at the Harvard Law
School in 1886.
In 1866 Mr.. Gray began the practice
of law in this city. He was appointed
referee in important cases by justices
of the Supreme Court, and acquired ex-
perience which fitted him for judicial
place. When it became necessary to
appoint successor to Judge Kapalo,
despite the fact that Mr. Gray had
never occupied place on the bench of
any court, he was named for seat IN
/ the highest court of the state. The pc
/ tition TO Governor Hill for his appoint
ment was signed by the Supreme Court
| justices and other judges and by lead
/ ing members of the bar, without regard
10 politics.
Mr.. Gray was elected 70 the Court OF
! Appeals in November, 1888, for a term
of fourteen years, beginning with the
/ following January. His plurality in
J New York City was 10000 greater than
that of President Cleveland and 1000
greater than that of Governor Hill, who
were candidates at the same election.
On the expiration of his term, in 1902,
ne was returned to the bench of the
same court for a second term. His
second term would have lasted until
1915, but in November, 1918, he retired
from the bench.
During his judicial career he wrote
many opinions IN important cases. one
of the most notable was that in the
case of Carlyle W. Harris, the convict
ed murderer. The statement of facts
contained in the opinion was an able
and convincing condensation of the tes-
timony, covering hundreds Of pages,
which rendered Harris's guilt clearer
than any other presentation of facts
except Mr.. Wellman's remarkable adj
dress at the trial. Among other i'm
portant cases in which Judge Gray de-
livered opinions were the Hcyt will
case, involving millions of dollars; the
case of Beverage against the Elevated
Railroad Company, in which the valid
ity of the Eases of the subordinate
roads to the Manhattan Company was
upheld, and the election cases of 1891,
in which he wrote one of the opinions
concurred in by the other Judges, and
one of the several opinions in another
case.
Judge Gray was Republican in poll
tics until 1884, and then q Democrat.
He was a member of the National
Academy of Design, the Metropolitan
Museum of Art, the American Museum
of Natural History, the New York His
torical Society and the New York State
Bar Association. He received the de-
gree of A. NJ. from New York Univer-
sity in 1868 and of LID. from Harvard
in 1913