Andrew Gray

Who was Andrew Gray?

Andrew Gray was a Democratic-Republican politician, a member of the Delaware Senate from 1817 to 1821. He was from Mill Creek Hundred, in New Castle County.

He was a trustee of the Academy of Newark, and in 1817 sponsored a bill to allow it to raise $50,000 by lottery in order to raise funds to establish a college. The lottery did not go ahead, and in January 1821 Gray sponsored a second bill to establish a college, as "Delaware College", to be funded by a tax on steamboats and stagecoaches. The prospect of these new taxes was exceptionally unpopular, and Gray was defeated by an anti-college "Independent Democratic" ticket in the 1821 elections by a 2-1 margin.

When Newark College was finally established in 1833, his three sons were sent there. He was appointed president of the trustees in 1839, succeeding Thomas Clayton, and was replaced by Eliphalet Wheeler Gilbert in April 1841. After being ousted as president, he sought an investigation of the fledgling college, accusing the trustees of financial mismanagement.