ames Brown Ray, Governor of Indiana, was born in Jefferson County, Kentucky, February 19, 1794. Early in life, he went to Cincinnati, Ohio, and after studying law in that city; he was admitted to the bar. He began the practice at Brookville, Indiana, where he soon ranked among the ablest and most influential of an able and ambitious bar.

In 1822, he was elected to the legislature. On 30 January 1824, Lieutenant Governor Ratliff Boon resigned his office, and Mr. Ray was elected president pro tempore of the senate, and presided during the remainder of the session. He was governor of the state from 1825 to 1831, and during this time was appointed United States Commissioner with Lewis Cass and John Tipton, to negotiate a treaty with the Miami and Pottawatomie Indians. The constitution of the state prevented the governor from holding an office under the United States government, in consequence of which he became involved in a controversy. He remembered the difficulty Jonathan Jennings had encountered under like circumstances, and sought to avoid trouble by acting without a regular commission, but his precaution did not save him from trouble. Through his exertions, the Indians gave land to aid in building a road from Lake Michigan to the Ohio River. Governor Ray was active in promoting railroad concentration in Indianapolis, and took an active part in the internal improvements of the state. At the expiration of his term of office, he resumed the practice of law, and in 1837 was candidate of congress in the Indianapolis district, but was defeated by a large majority. This want of appreciation by the public soured him, and in later years, he became very eccentric. In 1848, while at Cincinnati, he was taken with the cholera, which terminated in his death, August 4, of that year. In person, Governor Ray, in his younger days, was very prepossessing. He was tall and straight, with a body well proportioned. He wore his hair long and tied in a queue. His forehead was broad and high, and his features denoted intelligence of high order. For many years, he was a leading man of Indiana, and no full history of the state can be written without a mention of his name.