Edgar M. Gregory

Edgar Mantlebert Gregory (January 1, 1804 – November 7, 1871) was a Union Army officer during the American Civil War, Freedmen's Bureau official, and abolitionist. Prior to the war, he worked in lumber, banking, and railroad businesses in Cincinnati, where he also helped people escape slavery. During the war he rose to the rank of Brevet major general for his "gallant and distinguished service".

At the close of the war, he was made assistant commissioner of the Freedmen's Bureau responsible in the state of Texas. Planters and others, concerned about the cotton crops, continued to treat blacks as slaves with harsh, cruel treatment and forcing them to remain in Texas. Gregory, a firm abolitionist, recommended the use of labor contracts to set the terms of employment and payment for rendered services. He was promoted to inspector general and left his position due to whites, like David Burnet, who found him too concerned about the rights of African Americans. He was appointed to the position of United States Marshal for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania in May 1869 by Ulysses S. Grant and was in service when he died.

Early life Edgar Mantlebert Gregory was born on January 1, 1804, at the town of Sand Lake, New York in Rensselaer County, New York and grew up in Pennsylvania. His father was Rev. Justus The Gregorys descended from pioneers of Norwalk, Connecticut and before that ancestors from Nottingham, England.

He had brothers Henry M. and David as well as older sisters. He then moved to Cincinnati, Ohio and was in the railroad, lumber, and banking businesses. He helped former slaves in their flight to Canada. He was the president of the Cincinnati Young Men's Auxiliary of the American Bible Society in 1846. He moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, He established the Home Guards, local militia, in Philadelphia.

Civil War Gregory was a solemn, serious man, but he always spoke to us in kind, gentle tones, and we all liked him. He was a fighter in battle, but in camp he used to have prayer meetings and all that sort of thing, and I am afraid that the wicked boys about division headquarters used to make ribald and sometimes blasphemous comments on "Parson Gregory", whom, despite his kindness to us, we used to call with great irreverence the "Bible-banging Brigadier!" —Story of a Cannoneer Two sons also enlisted in the army and both served until the end of the war. He led during the Richmond campaign (Second Battle of Deep Bottom and/or Operations against the Weldon Railroad) in August 1864.

His regiment mustered out in July 1865. He was brevetted major general on August 9, 1865

Freedmen's Bureau Background General Gordon Granger issued a proclamation in Texas that slavery had come to an end, but that the "freed are advised to remain at their present homes, and work for wages." In Washington County, an Army official advised African Americans not to take a day or two to celebrate their freedom.

Texas Gregory's greatest sin was trying to make the ex-slave free in fact, not just on paper. —William L. Richter, author of The Army and the Negro During Texas Reconstruction, 1865-1870

Gregory spoke to white and black people about post-war emancipation, which white Texans thought arbitrary and unlawful, and reconstruction in the evenings, after the end of the work day. The Bureau provided funding for construction and repair of buildings for schools, as well as educational materials, for black children. Teachers were provided by religious and civic organizations.

Personal life Gregory married Ellen Young, daughter of Henry Young of Deposit, New York. Ellen was born on March 4, likely in 1807. She died on November 25, 1868. A private funeral was held November 13, 1871 at his home in Philadelphia and with a military escort, that also included men who served under Gregory, of his hearse to the Oxford Presbyterian Church. Elements from President Abraham Lincoln's view at Independence Hall were used for Gregory's public service in the church. His funeral was attended by a number of clergy, judges, and military and former military.

Legacy The former Edgar M. Gregory School, now the African American Library at the Gregory School Named for him, Edgar M. Gregory School, is the first school for African American children in Houston. It is now the African American Library at the Gregory School, one of the few black libraries. It is located in the Freedmen's Town National Historic District in the Fourth Ward, Houston.