GRAY

gray, horace (1828-1902), american jurist, was born in boston, massachusetts, on the 24th of march 1828. he graduated at harvard in 1845; was admitted to the bar in 1851, and in 1854-1861 was reporter to the supreme court of massachusetts. he practised law, first in partnership with ebenezer rockwood hoar, and later with wilder dwight (1823-1862) and charles f. blake; was appointed associate justice of the state supreme court on the 23rd of august 1864, becoming chief-justice on the 5th of september 1873; and was associate justice of the supreme court of the united states from december 1881 to august 1902, resigning only a few weeks before his death at nahant, mass., on the 15th of september 1902. gray had a fine sense of the dignity of the bench, and a taste for historical study. his judgments were unmistakably clear and contained the essence of earlier opinions. a great case lawyer, he was a much greater judge, the variety of his knowledge and his contributions to admiralty and prize law and to testamentary law being particularly striking; in constitutional law he was a "loose" rather than a "strict" constructionist. see francis c. lowell, "horace gray," in _proceedings of the american academy_, vol. 39, pp. 627-637 (boston, 1904).