Christopher T. Gray was born on November 5, 1848, in Pennsylvania to John and Maria Gray. His father was a farmer. The family lived in Hayfield, Pennsylvania, until the 1850s, when they moved to Waterford, Pennsylvania. He married Mary Boyd around 1880, and they had at least two children: Harry, born around 1881; and John, born around 1882. He earned a living as a carpenter. By 1930, he owned a house valued at $1,500. He died of myocarditis in Waterford on May 6, 1934.