Hosea Wilson Gray
Colonel Hosea Wilson Gray, his son John M. Gray, his son-in-law George W. Bemis, and W. Cunning and his wife arrived at the Luther French dugout on May 4, 1871.
The Gray party's arrival marked the beginning of the 1871 growth spurt that took Sutton from one farmer on the banks of School Creek to a bustling community on the Burlington Railroad by the end of the year.
Hosea Gray was born in Tioga County, Pennsylvania, spent some time in Indiana and came to Marion, Iowa in 1837. He practiced law in Marion for several years, was the first sheriff of Linn County and served for four terms.
He left Iowa for Nebraska in 1871 arriving in Clay County along the expected route of the Burlington Railroad. His wife Nancy, daughter-in-law Emma, and daughter Ada shortly joined their husbands in their new home.
W. Cunning's wife Kate has been credited with being the first married woman onto the land that became Sutton. I'm unsure why there is the distinction that she was married. Does that imply there may have been a single woman here? Where? Unaccompanied? The only inhabitant was Luther French. Surely not.
Hosea Gray was active in politics helping to form the Republican Party in Iowa. He served in Iowa's Constitutional Convention in 1856 and his portrait hangs in the state capitol.
When the Civil War broke out, Hosea Gray organized Company A of the 6th Iowa Volunteer Infantry and was commissioned a Captain serving nearly three years before sickness forced him to leave the army as a Lieutenant Colonel. He was promoted to brevet Colonel at the end of the war.
Hosea Gray practiced law in Sutton with his partner A.A. McCoy engaging in land deals in the new community. He was the senior partner with son John in the Gray lumber company located to the northwest of the intersection of Maple Street and Way Avenue on the Hunzeker property and on the grounds of the Sutton Museum. Two houses built by John Gray house the museum.
Hosea Wilson Gray died on April 28, 1885 and is buried in the Sutton cemetery.
