Horace Gray (March 24, 1828 – September 15, 1902) was an American jurist who served on the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, and then on the United States Supreme Court, where he frequently interpreted the Constitution in ways that increased the powers of Congress. He was a staunch supporter of the authority of precedent throughout his career, and would write landmark opinions in cases such as Elk v. Wilkins and United States v. Wong Kim Ark.
Horace Gray
Supreme Court of the United States
Born 1828 in Boston, MA
Died 1902 in Nahant, MA
FJC ID: 904
Career output and lasting influence
Opinions attributed per year · peak 3/year
Later decisions citing those opinions, per year · peak 122/year
Supreme Court of the United States · 1881–1902
Both charts share the same year axis. Opinion counts include only opinions in our corpus attributed to this judge so far — a year at zero can mean an attribution gap, not judicial silence. Influence typically outlasts the career: citations keep climbing after the last opinion.
- Gender
- Male
- Race
- White
Prior employment
- Supreme Judicial Court of MassachusettsJustice · 1864–1881
- ↳chief justice · 1873–1881
- Private practice, Boston, Massachusetts1851–1864
- Supreme Judicial Court of MassachusettsReporter · 1854–1861
Appointments
1881–1902 · Appointed by Chester A. Arthur (Republican)Term ended: Death
Education
- Read law1851
LL.B. · 1849- Harvard CollegeB.A. · 1845