 Gray was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1819, and a member of the American Antiquarian Society in 1820.When he died, he left many gifts to Harvard, including his collection of 3,000 engravings and $50,000 (equivalent to $ today) to be put towards a museum of comparative zoology.He died in 1856 and is buried at Mount Auburn Cemetery, his tomb guarded by a sleeping dog.