WRITINGS OF 5AM HOUSTON, 1856
298
of Congress, 1855, meeting in secret "to promote officers of the Navy," recom- mended that certain officers be dropped from the navy, others be furloughed, and still others be given an indefinite leave of absence from the service. Maury was listed with this third class, ostensibly because of a leg injury that had left him a little lame, but still hearty and very active; actually, as was clearly proved, because many of the naval officers in service on the high seas had not won the world-wide recognition that Maury's work ashore had gained for him; they were consequently jealous, and used all their influence against him. When Maury realized that the action of the Retiring Board meant that he would be permanently retired from active service in the navy, he appealed to his friends to help him to secure justice. Newspapers took up his cause, the Legislatures of seven States, and his friends in both houses of the United States Congress made strong appeals in his behalf. In 1858, the President restored him to active service and gave him the rank of Commander, a rank that was to be retroactive to the date on which he had been placed on leave of absence. For a detailed biographical sketch, with citations to many sources, see Dictionary of Anuwican Biography, XII, 428--431. To PETER w. GRAY 1 Washington, 22 March, 1856. My dear Judge, I am happy to see that our your [siCJ] friend was under misapprehension. He was promoted by the Board. I am afoul of them for other sins. It has been the greatest outrage on record. Your brother~ stands 283 in the Lieutenants. Salute Lady with my respects. Thine Truly Sam Houston Judge Gray 1 0riginal in the Houston Public Library. Peter W. Gray (April 10, 1819- 0ctober 3, 1874) was born in Fredericksburg, Virginia, but removed with his father's family to Houston, Texas, in 1837. For the most part, he received his education at Houston. There, in 1837, while still a mere boy, he served as clerk of the House of Representatives of the Republic. Upon the death of his father in 1841, he was elected District Attorney to fill out his father's unexpired term in that office. In 1846 he served with distinction as a mem- ber of the first Legislature of the State, and later served for many years as District Judge of the South Texas District. During the Civil War, Judge Gray represented the Houston district in the Confederate Congress, and was a staunch supporter of the measure for strengthening the Confederacy. After the close of the war he returned to Houston and resumed his law prac- tice, building up in a few years one of the largest law practices in the whole South. In 1874 he was appointed to the supreme bench of the State, but resigned in a short time on account of ill health. He died at his home in Houston and is buried in the City Cemetery. See Z. T. Fulmore, History and Geography of Texas as Told in County Names, 198; James Lynch, Bench and Bar of Texas, 114-115; J. H. Davenport, A History of the Su,preme Court
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