Born in Charles-City County, Virginia, JOHN MUNFORD GREGORY graduated from the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg in 1830. He was elected to the Virginia House of Delegates, serving from December, 1832 until March, 1836 and from December, 1839 until March, 1841, after which he was elected to the Virginia Council of State. As senior member of the Council, he assumed the office of governor upon the resignation of John Rutherford, serving until the election of James McDowell in compliance with an act passed by the state legislature providing that a governor’s term would extend for three years. Gregory went on to be appointed U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, serving from 1853 to 1860. He was Judge of the Sixth Judicial Circuit of Virginia from 1860 until 1866, when he was displaced from office by federal military authorities. He returned to his private law practice but was soon elected Commonwealth’s Attorney of Charles City County, serving in that capacity until 1880, when he retired to Williamsburg.