DR. SAMUEL H. GRAY,

BY K. P. MOORE, M. D., MACON, GA.

When I set me down to write a memorial tribute to the memory of a true and tried personal friend-one in whom I could always confide with that sort of implicit confidence which in itself is sublime-one in whom I always found that congeniality of soul and spirit which almost unites two destinies one whose purity of character and inner life was so far above the average of mankind, I am forced to the conviction that there is truth in the old adage that death loves a shining mark.

When the unwelcomed visitor entered our ranks and cut off from our roll of membership Dr. S. H. Gray, a truly good and noble man went home to glory. I could not better express his true character than to say that he was the highest type of a Christian gentleman. He possessed in a high degree all the noble qualities of a brave and fearless manhood, and yet he was as modest and retiring as a delicate woman. Never did genuine Southern civility and unbounded courtesy shine out more richly in any man's life than in that of Dr. Gray. Whether among his professional brethren or in the social circle, he was the very embodiment of urbanity and genuine courtesy. His purpose in life seems to have been to live in an atmosphere of purity rather above that which unfortunately seems the heritage of the average mankind. Possessing a natural talent and fondness for his profession, and being a hard student, as well as a close observer, he soon became a splendid physician. His success in building up and

maintaining a large practice among the best people of Middle Georgia was a sufficient guarantee of his real merit. His people and patrons were attached to him with unbounded and unlimited confidence and devotion, and in turn no man was ever more devotedly married to his profession and his patrons. Indeed, he was literally a martyr to his profession, and, like a true soldier, he died at his post.

Worn out with long nursing of a sick family, he undertook to keep up his work, and to relieve the sufferings of others, he fell, on the 31st of August, 1885, a real sacrifice upon the altars of suffering humanity. He was born January 10th, 1846, near Bolingbroke, in Monroe county, Georgia. His parents belonged to the old stock of high-toned, courteous Southern citizenship, and the life and character of Dr. Gray illustrated the Christian training and wise counsels of his devoted parents.

At the tender age of eleven years he was converted to the Christian faith, and united with the Methodist Church, and from that time to the end of life's journey he was a useful member and a shining light in the church and died in the full triumphs of a living faith.

He attended his first course of medical lectures in the Atlanta Medical College, and graduated from the Medical Department of the University of Georgia, in the city of Augusta, in 1867. He taught school for two years after graduation, and began the practice in his native county in 1869. Two years previous to his death he removed to Barnesville, andat once entered upon a very large and extensive practice.

In 1872, he was married to one of his former pupils, Miss Lula Hollis, a true and noble woman, who was a devoted and happy wife, and did well her part to smooth the rugged path of life's fitful meanderings, and upheld and supported her husband under all difficulties. Though feeble herself,

and with a babe only a few weeks old, yet she was faithful and untiring in her ministrations to the end.

In the death of Dr. Gray, the writer has lost a true and tried friend, for as a friend he was as true as steel. Together we felt our first pulses and looked at our first tongues when we were students of medicine in 1865-6. Together we frequently met in consultation after we had both borne the weight and cares of many years of professional life, and some of my greenest spots along life's experience have been with him. I knew him well, and can say of a truth that the profession has lost one of its most useful and brightest members. He became a member of this Association in 1871, and though he did not attend its meetings regularly, yet he was always an active member, and watched its progress and proceedings with unabated interest, and was always one of its warmest friends and supporters. Let us emulate his many virtues. Peace to his ashes.

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