Horace Gray was an American jurist

Jurist

A jurist or jurisconsult is a professional who studies, develops, applies, or otherwise deals with the law. The term is widely used in American English, but in the United Kingdom and many Commonwealth countries it has only historical and specialist usage...

 who ultimately served on the United States Supreme Court. He was active in public service and a great philanthropist to the City of Boston.
Gray was born in Boston, Massachusetts, to the prominent Boston Brahmin

Boston Brahmin

Boston Brahmins are wealthy Yankee families characterized by a highly discreet and inconspicuous life style. Based in and around Boston, they form an integral part of the historic core of the East Coast establishment...

 merchant family of William Gray

William Gray (Massachusetts)

William Gray was a Massachusetts merchant and politician. Born into a lower class family in Lynn, Massachusetts, he managed to build his own business and rise through the state's political ranks, becoming the richest man in New England, and in the eyes of many the richest man in all of America...

. He enrolled at Harvard College

Harvard University

Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...

 at the age of 13, graduated four years later and traveled in Europe for a time before returning home following a series of business problems for his family.