• Home
  • About Us
    • JoinCalifornia
    • Use as a Reference
  • California 175
    • 1849-1850 Events
    • Events Calendar
  • Political History
    • 2021 Senate to Assembly District Table
    • Covering the Capitol
    • Scott Lay’s Sofa Degree
    • Legislative Committee Reports
    • Legislative Staff
    • Term Limits in California
    • Notable No Votes
    • Redistricting
  • Nelson S. Dilworth Collection
    • California’s Military History
  • Leroy F. Greene Collection

One Voter Project

The Online Home of California's Political History

March 2, 2012 By Alex Vassar Leave a Comment

Legislative Biography: John C. Gray

As we continue our work to research the biographies of California’s elected officials (there have been over 4,300 at this point), we like to occasionally introduce you to legislators who you’re probably not familiar with.

Today, we look at John Carleton Gray, a Republican Assemblyman who represented Butte County in 1874. Gray was born in 1837 and grew up in China. Not the China that Leland Yee hails from, but the small town of China, Maine (whose website declares it “The friendliest town in Maine”).

Gray moved to California in 1863, and settled in Butte County in 1865. He served the county as District Attorney, Assemblyman, and Superior Court judge. In 1886, he started growing olives at his “Mt. Ida Olive Grove”, which today lends it’s name to a handful of locations in eastern Oroville (Hint: near the intersection of Mt. Ida Road and Old Olive Highway).

Filed Under: Current Research, JoinCalifornia, State Assembly, Top Stories

Leave a Reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Recent News

New 2025 “California Lawmaker” Released

December 14, 2024

The new edition of "California Lawmaker" by JoinCalifornia.com editor Alex … [Read More...]

Legislative Retirement

December 8, 2024

In December 2024, Assemblyman Corey Jackson introduced legislation (ACA 2 of … [Read More...]

Adding Candidates

March 7, 2024

When to add candidates to the election data is always an interesting question. … [Read More...]

First Women to Chair Legislative Committees

January 25, 2024

I was recently asked who the first woman to chair a committee was. As it turns … [Read More...]

What Happened in the 2022 Election

November 13, 2022

[Updated 12/12] That was interesting. An election season that roared by in … [Read More...]

Latest Tweets

  • Just now
  • More Tweets by Alex Vassar

Fun Fact

Q: When was the last time a write-in candidate won a partisan political office? A: The last write-in candidate to win election was Ron Packard running for Congress in 1982. Write-ins have only been elected six times in the last century.

California Lawmaker 2021

Now Available on Amazon

Recent Posts

  • Legislator Hometowns December 19, 2024
  • New 2025 “California Lawmaker” Released December 14, 2024
  • Legislative Retirement December 8, 2024
  • Adding Candidates March 7, 2024

Copyright © 2025 · Education Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in