[2][citation needed] Gregory moved from Kentucky, with his wife Elizabeth, to Jackson County, Missouri, in August 1844.
[citation needed] When Kansas City was incorporated on March 18, 1853, it had an area 0.98 square miles (2.5 km2) and a population of 2,500.
[citation needed] Gregory only served 10 months as mayor, when it was discovered that he lived on a farm that was outside the city limits eastern boundary at Locust Street.
[1] At the outbreak of the Civil War, Gregory commanded a company under Colonel John Reid in Kansas and Western Missouri.
He then moved to St. Louis with his family and joined with E. R. Threlkald and L. C. Alexander to form the W. S. Gregory grocery business.
In 1857, Gregory moved back to Kansas City and opened a store at 420 Delaware Street.