Tom Gray's Dream
 Tom Gray's Dream is a poem written by western Illinois poet Retta M. Brown (born September 18 1893).Tom Gray was a farmer's son born in Indiana on November 27 1852 whose family moved to Mercer County Illinois. During a drunken stupor he experienced a frightening dream that moved him to cease alcohol abuse. His niece Retta M. Brown wrote the poem and immortalized the nightmare. Alcohol recovery groups and certain churches have widely circulated the poem usually without attribution.