Background
Thomas Ruffin Gray was born in 1800 in Southampton County, Virginia.
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Thomas Gray
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He graduated from the College of William & Mary.
Career
Gray was a lawyer Although he is commonly thought of as National Turner"s lawyer, James Strange French is the person listed in official records as Turner"s lawyer Though educated in law early in life, he had only recently begun practicing law. There is some speculation that he had lost much of his property through gambling and that is what caused him to begin practicing law, which appears to be confirmed in a pamphlet Gray prepared discussing a dispute with a Southampton County physician.
There is also recent speculation on Gray"s relationship with a well-known gambler in Virginia.
Gray published The Confessions of National Turner, which purports to be Turner"s confession and account of his life leading up the rebellion, as well as an account of Turner"s motives and actions during the rebellion. In the 1960s, William Styron published a fictional and controversial account of the National Turner rebellion using the same title as Gray"s pamphlet, The Confessions of National Turner.
