Sacramento County Biographies

HON. FINDLEY R. DRAY

Submitted by: Nancy Pratt Melton

This file is part of the California Genealogy & History Archives 
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cagha/index.htm
 
	State Senator, was born in Bedford County, Pennsylvania, 
Oct. 23, 1833.  His father, Moses Dray, was a carpenter and a millwright, and 
having lost his health, came overland to California in 1850, accompanied by his 
son, Findley R., the subject of this sketch, then a youth of seventeen years, 
who has from that time made this "Golden State" his home, although his father 
returned in 1853, and has since died.  Hangtown (now Placerville) was the first 
point struck, July 17, where for a little time mining was carried on.  From 
there he went to Drytown, in Amador County, and in September of the same year 
came to Sacramento.  He next went to La Porte, Sierra County in the Rabbit Creek 
mines, being of the first to go to that camp, and finding snow fully three feet 
deep to welcome him.  In 1852 he returned to this city, and after remaining a 
short time went in the fall of 1852 to the mines at Shasta.  The next spring he 
returned again to Sacramento, and found it underwater.  For about twelve months 
he was employed in a store carried on by Joseph Pratt, at McCourtney's Crossing, 
on Bear River, and afterwards by McCourtney.  He continued this until 1855, when 
he came down and went to farming about five miles below this city.  In 1858 he 
returned again and engaged in clerking for William Hendrie.  In 1863 he went to 
the Reese River mines, Nevada, but in the fall of that year again came back, and 
accepted a position in the sheriff's office under the late James McClatchy, who 
had just been elected to that position.  After the close of Mr. McClatchy�s term 
he was public administrator one term, then County assessor, a position which he 
held to the complete satisfaction of all for a period of no less than eight 
years.  Next he was appointed by Judge Clark as a supervisor to complete the 
unexpired term of H. O. Seymour, deceased.  After he went into the real estate 
and insurance business, continuing this successfully until, in 1875, he became 
connected with the Sacramento Bank.  From that time until the present he has 
been a director, and as surveyor has had charge of all the outside business of 
the bank in connection with its loans, etc. It is not saying too much to state 
that his indefatigable zeal and watchfulness has aided materially in advancing 
the warfare and prosperity of that leading financial institution of this city. 
Two years ago he was elected by the votes of the people to represent this city 
and county in the State Senate, and again this year (1888) was re-elected for 
another term, so highly were his efforts in behalf of this section appreciated.  
Mr. Dray was married January 1, 1861, to Miss Mary F. Orrick.  Eight children 
have been born to them, of whom seven are still living.  Their names are as 
follows: Laura E., now the wife of George H. Perry, Esq., of San Francisco; 
Carrie E., now the wife of W. O. Terrill, Esq., also of  San Francisco; Mary F., 
since deceased; Annie B.,; Alice M.; Arthur E.; Frank R., and Bruce L., the 
latter five being all at home.
 
Source: An Illustrated History of Sacramento County, California.  By Hon. Win. J 
Davis. Lewis Publishing Company 1890. Page 254.

HON. FINDLEY R. DRAY

   There are no abstract rules sufficient for building character: none for 
achieving success.  The man who can rise from the ranks to a position of 
eminence is he who can see and utilize the opportunities that surround his path. 
 The essential conditions of human life are ever the same, the surroundings of 
individuals differ but slightly; and, when one passes another on the highway to 
reach the goal of prosperity before others who perhaps started out before him, 
it is because he has the power to use advantages which probably encompass the 
whole human race.

   To-day among the most prominent business men and political leaders of 
Sacramento stands Findley R. Dray.  At a very early age he started out upon an 
independent business career, and his diligence and enterprise have enabled him 
to overcome all the obstacles in his path and secure a leading position in the 
ranks of the prosperous business men of the capital city.  He is also a potent 
factor in political circles and his labors have today largely advanced the 
growth and success of the Republican party.

   A native of Pennsylvania, Mr. Dray was born in Bedford, October 23, 1833, and 
the genesis of his family line, so far as accurately known, is as follows:  
Edward Dray and Nancy Dray, his wife, about the year 1740 in Pennsylvania.  
Thomas Dray and James Dray, sons of Edward & Nancy Dray (James Dray being born 
in year 1767 and died in the year 1867 at Niles,  Ohio), both of whom became 
early settlers of the Western Reserve, Ohio.  Thomas Dray married Miss Elizabeth 
Thompson and was finally drowned in the Mahoning river, in March 1812.  The 
children of Thomas Dray and Elizabeth nee Thompson were Moses, Joseph, Thompson 
and Margaret, the last named becoming the wife of Amos A. Stoddard of Cleveland, 
Ohio.  Moses Dray was born in Youngstown Ohio, and married Eliza, a daughter of 
Abel Findley, of Mercer County, Pennsylvannia, and the children of Moses Dray 
and Eliza Findley were: Findley R. Dray of Sacramento, California, Caroline E. 
who married P. J. Miller of Athens, Illinois; Walter S. of Chicago, Illinois; 
Sherman B. of Browning, same state; W. H. H. and Thompson.  Walter S., W.H. H., 
and Thompson are deceased.

   Findley R. Dray married Miss Mary F. Orrick, of Missouri, in the year 1861 in 
Sacramento, California, and the names of their children are as follows:  Laura 
E., who married George H. Perry of San Francisco; Caroline E. who married 
Charles A. Culver, of Mount Vernon, New York; Mary F. deceased; Anna B who 
became the wife of James H. Warrack of Sacramento, California; Bruce L, married 
to Mabel A Johnson of Sacramento; and Dr. Frank R. Dray of San Francisco, 
single.

   Findley R. Dray, whose name introduces this review, first attended school in 
New London, Iowa, and later pursued his studies to a limited extent in Missouri; 
but his mother, who was a very intelligent and cultured lady, taught her 
children their first lessons, instilling into their minds principles of noble 
manhood and womanhood.  They were taught to be truthful, industrious, and 
self-reliant, and the lessons of usefulness which Findley R. Dray thus learned 
in his youth have influenced his entire career and made him a man of firm 
purpose, of strong character and inflexible integrity. Although he never served 
a regular apprenticeship, he worked at the carpenter's trade with his father.  
When he came to California across the plains, arriving in Hangtown July 17, 
1850, and in Sacramento Sept 10, 1850, he was in his seventeenth year, and from 
that time he was practically dependent upon his own exertions.

   After many varied experiences mining at Drytown, Amador County, in the fall 
of 1850; at Rabbit Creek, Sierra County in 1851; Shasta in 1852; and Bear River, 
Nevada county in 1853, he returned to Sacramento and engaged in farming in 
connection with George L. Clarke, and about eighteen months later bought out his 
partner and carried on agricultural pursuits alone until 1857, when he sold out 
and returned to Sacramento.

   After his marriage, Mr. Dray again engaged in mining, near Austin, Nevada, 
until the summer of 1864, when he returned to Sacramento and entered the office 
of James McClatchy as deputy sheriff.  This was his first official position and 
his initiation into active connection with political affairs.  He afterwards 
served for two years as the public administrator and was then elected county 
assessor, in which office he served most acceptably and efficiently for eight 
years.  Later he was appointed a supervisor to fill out an unexpired term and on 
his retirement from that office he entered the real estate and insurance 
business, with which he was connected one year.   Since that time he has been a 
prominent representative of the Sacramento Bank, acting as a surveyor of the 
lands belonging to that institution for about ten years, and since the second 
year of his connection with the bank, he has been a member of its directorate.  
He is a man of sound judgment, keen sagacity and unquestioned probity, and his 
opinions are highly valued in financial circles.

  His prominence and special fitness for office also led to his selection for 
higher political honors than had theretofore been accorded him, and in 1886 he 
was elected a member of the state senate, in which he served two terms.  He was 
a member of various important committees, including those on finance and the 
judiciary.  He has always been a stalwart Republican since casting his first 
presidential vote for the pathfinder, General John C. Fremont in 1856.  His 
labors in the campaign of 1896 were most effective.  He was instrumental in 
organizing the Sacramento McKinley League, composed of fifty of the most 
prominent Republicans in this section of the country, and largely through the 
efforts of this organization many Republicans, who were in doubt as between 
Allison of Iowa, Reed of Maine and McKinley of Ohio, came over and the vote of 
California delegates was given to President McKinley.  Mr. Dray is the president 
of the League, and the executive committee is composed of the following named: 
William Beckman, W. B. Thorpe, T. R. Dray, E. S. Hadley, C. T. Jones, W. A. 
Anderson, Judson Brusie, J. H. Batcher, George C. McMullen, C. F. Gardner, and 
J. B. Devine.  Under the administration of Mr. Dray and the able work of the 
secretary, W. B. Thorpe, the work of the league was most splendidly planned and 
carefully executed and was productive of most desirable results.

  Mr. Dray has been a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows for 
forty-two years, and has passed through all the degrees of the subordinate 
lodge.  His family attend the Congregational Church and occupy a very prominent 
position in social circles in the Capital City.  He is a well informed man 
possessed of broad general information and in his nature there is nothing narrow 
or contracted.  He has a spirit that while devoted to his community, is liberal 
enough to recognize and appreciate advancement and progress in any other part of 
the world.  He has the esteem and confidence of all with whom public or private 
life have brought him in contact, and his name is now inseparably interwoven 
with the history of the state's advance, and with the financial annals of the 
Capital City.

Source: �A Volume Of Memoirs And Genealogy of Representative Citizens Of 
Northern California� Standard Genealogical Publishing Co. Chicago. 1901. Page 
60.
Submitted by: Betty Tartas.