As I stated before, if Gray would take the trouble to do his own research, even if it involves massive amounts of payments for documents and images, instead of misappropriating the work of other researchers, he would find out the truth about very many of the assumed veterans he has listed. He was requested, in 2005, by Mrs. Virginia Crocker, and a number of our researchers, not to use our work, but ignored all of us, and in the process, came up with so much falsehoods and inaccuracies, that it has sullied all our original work.
I may have made a couple or so errors, but not the massive amount that Gray has made, and refused to do anything about it. A forthcoming volume (yet to be published) titled LIES ACROSS AUSTRALASIA, will give an account, in detail of these errors. Some that are included are as follows:
JOHN MCBRIDE, buried in New Zealand and claimed (in a VA plaque on his grave, obtained by Gray) to have been in the 38th New York - the soldier in this unit was, as shown in hs CMSR file, tohave been killed at First Manassas.
JOHN GRAYDON - buried at the Yarragon Cemetery in Victoria - a gravestone obtained by Gray, and still at the Cemetery, claimed that this person had been in a Missouri unit, but the pension records of the person of the same name, in the Missouri unit, clearly notes that Graydon died and was buried in Missouri. The marker at Yarragon was installed without the knowledge of the descendants of the man buried there, and when they requested Gray to remove it, he refused, blaming the Cemetery officials instead.
ROBERT CURHAM - who died and is buried in New Zealand - a plaque was also obtained for this person, which claimed his service in the 6th and 13th New York Artillery, but if proper research had been conducted, it would have shown that the Robert Curham in the New York Artillery units had actually lived and died in Wisconsin (his pension card is online for all to see).
JAMES COFFEE - a person of a similar name, buried in Queensland, was claimed to have been a Confederate Navy veteran, and for whom Gray had obtained a grave plaque. Thankfully our research proved that the person in Queensland had arrived in that state while the actual Confederate Navy veteran of that name was still in a Union prison, and remained there for at least a couple more years. Gray still has possession of the grave marker, and has not returned it to the VA for meltdown, as required by VA regulations.
ROBERT FARMER - although buried in Georgia, Gray's involvement in all that went on in this case is noted, due to the fact of the forged document, the fact that Ms Hedrick constantly provided evidence that it was a different altogether, and how Gray refused to believe the massive amount of evidence provided. Thankfully, the marker was prevented from being installed, and finally sent back for meltdown.
These, and other such errors, indicating wrong service, are shown in full. Some of those with wrong service, or no service at all, are:
PETER CRAWLEY - buried in Queensland, and for whom Gray claims Confederate service, was actually in Union service. I spent some four months or so in Rockhampton, and my research work shows clearly, Union service. Thank goodness that, by the time Gray found out about this veteran, the VA had completely clamped down on the abuse of many persons in obtaining grave markers.
FREDERICK HEILMANN - buried in Albury, and for whom Gray shows service in a completely different unit altogether. I have the full and correct details of his service, in copies of documents I obtained through proper methods.
JOHN JOSEPH DAVIES - the person of this name, buried in West Australia, was never in military service at all, and he swore this before a judge in that state. However, it seems that the details of service in the Civil War were taken from the true veteran, a person of the very same name, who is actually buried in the Toowong, Cemetery in Queensland. Once again, I was able to obtain the pension papers of the veteran buried in Toowong.
EDWARD MOSBY - buried in Far North Queensland, and claimed by Gray to have been a Confederate veteran. A book published a few decades ago shows clearly that Edward Mosby was never in Civil War service, but was on a whaler, in the Pacific, at the time of the war.
JOHN DARLING HUNTRESS - the person of this name, buried at Dubbo, was not in the Maine Infantry, as claimed by Gray. In fact, the person just named John Huntress, who was in the Maine unit, isburied in America. Unfortunately, as recently as 2010 or 2011, Gray tried to blackmail the Dubbo Council in an effort to obtain andinstall a grave marker at the Huntress grave in Dubbo. Fortunately the Dubbo Council contacted me, after they saw my evidence online, about Huntress, and I was able to provide the proof that the Huntress buried at Dubbot was not the same veteran who was in the Maine unit. Furthermore the Huntress who served in that unit, is buried in America, and his gravestone clearly shows his service in that particular unit.
WARREN K. JONES, buried in Queensland, and claimed by Gray to have served in the 3rd Virginia Infantry; if Gray had bothered to go indepth into research on theJones who served in the 3rd VA, he would have seen that the first name of the soldier in that unit was William, and that his middle initial was R., and not K.
JOHN QUIGGIN, buried in Victoria,and claimed by Gray to have beenin a Confederate unit, the 25th Virginia. If Gray had bothered to read Quiggin's own statement, in the volume, VICTORIA AND ITS METROPOLIS, he would have seen that Quiggin stated that he was a fully fledged Union supporter, living in Missouri, and who fled the state to Canada, after Confederate sympathisers burned down his mills.
CHARLES GALLAGHER, buried in New Zealand - claimed by Gray to have been in the 1st Nevada Cavalry, but evidence shows that the Civil War soldier of this same name, in this unit, is buried in the U.S.
WILLIAM A. LIGHTBOURNE, buried in New Zealand - was indeed a surgeon in Civil War service, but was only in Confederate service for a very brief period, and as a "contract surgeon", not a "division surgeon" as he claimed in one newspaper ad. Lightbourne subsequently switched sides, and served, also as a "contract surgeon" in a Union Army hospital at Nashville. I have copies of his signed contracts, as well as an account of his final days in the Union Army hospital, where he was given a fond farewell for his "dedicated" and "loyal" service to the Union, before his return to England in mid 1864. He was never at APPOMATTOX.
JOSEPH JOHN, buried in England, was never, ever in Confederate service; in fact, U.K. census records show he was still in school at the start of the war. The person of this name, who was in the Virginia unit, was shown to have been born in Virginia (or what is now West Virginia) and lived there all his life. Sadly JOhn's decendants were never provided with the true facts, as shown in proper and thorough research.
JOSEPH HENRY COWEN- buried in Tasmania, and claimed to have been a Confederate Navy captain; CS Navy experts will definitely confirm that this is a load of cow manure, and that there was no officer of this name in Confederate service. As with many elderly men in the past, and even in recent times (such as a person who tried to claim he served in the 2nd World War, when he was, in fact, born in 1939), they constantly have the need for their own self glorification, and many times give false statements about war service.
JAMES CUNNINGHAM BLACKER who died in 1870, was never a general in the Union Army, but served as a junior officer on the CSS SHENANDOAH.
There is also a claim that a United States Marine Corps private is buried in South Australia, but the soldier in the USMC is actually shown, in his pension record (yes, he collected a pension in the U.S., where he lived and died), to have died in a Tennessee National Soldiers HOme.
These are just a very few of the many, many, many examples of claims, made by Gray, and without any proper research whatsoever into such claimed service. With the convenience of the Internet, such research has been made so much easier than it was some twenty years or so ago, when we had to write away, and wait for weeks for any response. Yet, seemingly, it seems that Gray is still unable to get things right, and has to rely on the hard work of other researchers, and make requests for the paperwork gathered by other researchers, without getting his own hands soiled. It can now be seen why we refuse to do his dirty work for him, and why he almost always gets it wrong, on nearly every count. If he wants any proof or evidence of different service, or a different person altogether, he will have to PAY for the copies of documents himself, not expect others to pay, and for him to enjoy the final benefits of the research of others.