Frank R. Gray

1856- ?

Born in 1856 in Barry, Pike Co., Ill., Frank. Gray received a common school education from the age of five to seven, by which time he could read. He became deaf at about seven and a half years of age. He was afflicted with an unidentified fever and treated with heavy doses of quinine which was probably responsible for his deafness rather than the illness itself. At the age of nine he attended the public school for one term, during which he learned the rudiments of arithmetic. From nine to twelve he had no schooling, but developed a fondness for reading, taking whatever books he could find or borrow in the way of history, travel, adventure, poetry, and even theology. Among other books he read before was twelve were the English translation of homer’s “Iliad” and Milton’s “Paradise Los.” both of which he read more than once. At 12 he was sent to the Institution for the Deaf and Dumb. In five years, he completed all that the school could offer. During that time the small but growing library gave him ample opportunities to gratify his taste for reading, which amounted to a passion. Gray graduated valedictorian of his class in 1873. That fall he entered the National Deaf-Mute College (now Gallaudet College) from which he graduated with second honors in 1878.

In the spring of 1879 he traveled to the southwestern part of Texas “looking over the ground,” with a small capital, and ventured north to Kansas, where he bought a quarter section of land. He entered into partnership with Mr. J. W. Tipton, a former classmate at the Illinois Institution, for the purpose of farming and wood-growing. The low and steadily declining price of wood caused them to abandon the partnership in 1890 when he received an offer to enter the optical establishment of Mr. J.A. Brasher, of Allegheny, Pa. He at once accepted, moving to Pennsylvania in June, where he remained. Mr. Brasher’s shop is engaged in optical work of the very highest order. His name and instruments are known the world over, and in some lines not even the famous Alvan Clark could equal the work done in his establishment. Mr. Gray was accustomed to using his speech while at work and had very little difficulty in making himself understood in spite of the noise of the machinery.

Contributing: Reginald L. Boyd

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