GURLEY, Ralph Randolph, clergyman, born in Lebanon, Connecticut, 26 May, 1797; died in Washington, D. C., 30 July, 1872. He was graduated at Yale in 1818, removed to Washington, D. C. and was licensed to preach as a Presbyterian, but was never ordained. From 1822 till 1872 he acted as the agent and secretary of the American colonization society, visited Africa three times in its interests, and was one of the founders of Liberia. He also went to England to solicit aid in the work of colonization. During the first ten years of his agency the annual income of the society increased from $778 to $40,000. He delivered addresses in its behalf in all parts of the country, edited "' The African Repository," and, besides many reports, wrote the "Life of Jehudi Ashmun" (New York, 1839); "Mission to England for the American Colonization Society" (1841); and "Life and Eloquence of Reverend Sylvester Larned" (New York, 1844).