George Leonard, Jr., son of George Leonard, accompanied his father to New Brunswick in 1783. He was a grantee of the city of St. John. He was bred to the law, and devoted himself to his profession. He died at Sussex Vale in 1818.
HARRISON GRAY.
Receiver General of Massachusetts.
Harrison Gray, was the son of Edward Gray and his wife Susanna. He was born in Boston, 24 February, 1711.
Edward Gray was from Lancashire, England, was an apprentice in Boston in 1686, and married Susanna Harrison in 1699, by whom he had several children.
Harrison Gray was bred a merchant. His patrimonial inheritance, aided by industry, enabled him to acquire a handsome fortune. In June 1753, he was chosen Treasurer of the province by the General Court and continued in that office till October, 1774. He was an ardent loyalist, and adhered to government from the beginning of the controversy, but the modification of his conduct, his superior fitness for the office and the confidence in his integrity secured him public favor through the stormy period which commenced soon after his first election, and continued until his appointment to, and acceptance of, the office of mandamus counsellor in 1774. But this was an unpardonable offence in the eyes of the "sons of despotism." It was however unsolicited, unexpected, and accepted with great reluctance, being strongly pressed upon him by the leaders of the loyalist party; and as most of those who had been appointed his colleagues living in the country were compelled by the mobs to decline the office, he was led to believe that residing in Boston then garrisoned by the troops, he had no such apology for shrinking from the service, and accordingly sacrificed inclination to a conscientious sense of duty. This brought upon him the ill will and malice of his political opponents, among these was John Adams, who said, "I went in to take a pipe with brother Cranch and there I found Zab Adams. He told me he heard that I had made two very powerful enemies in this town, and lost two very valuable clients—Treasurer Gray, and Ezekiel Goldthwaite; and that he had heard that Gray had been to me for my account, and paid it off, and determined to have nothing more to do with me. O the wretched, impotent malice! they show their teeth—they are eager to bite—but they have not strength. I despise their anger, their resentment, and their threats; but I can tell Mr. Treasurer that I have it in my power to tell the world a tale which will infallibly unhorse him, whether I am in the house or out. If this province knew that the public money had never been counted these twenty years, and that no bonds were given last year, nor for several years before, there would be so much uneasiness about it that Mr. Treasurer would lose his election another year." This was one of the meanest and most contemptible statements John Adams ever made. It was a reckless accusation, and insinuation, and was ably answered by his grandson, Harrison Gray Otis, who prepared a clear refutation of the unjust accusation in Russell's Centinel, June, 1830. It was also refuted by subsequent events. In October, 1774, the royal government was superseded by the revolutionary congress who resolved "that no more taxes be paid to him," and made choice of Henry Gardner for his successor. This authority he could not be expected to recognize. He therefore retained the books and files at his office till the evacuation of Boston, and then left them in exemplary order. They are still in the public archives of Massachusetts and show the model of a faithful state treasurer. He might have been justified in retaining a lien upon these as a security against loss and damage to his very valuable real, and personal estate, which he left, and which was soon confiscated, but his high sense of official duty forbade his recourse to any such precaution, and he withdrew from a country which he loved, not less than those who stayed at home, taking nothing which belonged to the public, but surrendered all his property into the keeping of the public that treated him so basely. He was also a creditor to many of the "sons of despotism," at the head of whom was John Hancock, who owed him a large sum for borrowed money, no part of which would he pay in his lifetime, and of which a small part was received from his executors.[219]
In the House of Representatives, August 8, 1775, "Ordered, that Mr. Hopkins be directed to inquire how the Committee of Supplies have disposed of the horse and chaise formerly Harrison Gray's which was used by the late Dr. Warren, and came to the hands of the said Committee after Dr. Warren's death." The next day, "Ordered, that Dr. William Eustis be, and hereby is directed, immediately to deliver to the Committee of Supplies the horse and chaise which were in the possession of the late Doctor Warren, and which formerly belonged to Harrison Gray."
When Boston was evacuated, Mr. Gray, urged by a sense of duty, with the male members of his family, tore himself away from his adored and only daughter, Mrs. S. A. Otis, which so preyed upon her peace of mind that it finally caused her death.