Revised 1 Feb. 2010, Gen. 277
DESCENDANTS OF JOHN GRAVES
AND ELIZABETH SHARPE OF ENGLAND & U.S.
GENERATION 1
John Graves (1) was born about
1827-1828 (or April 1829[1])
in England. His middle name may
have been Albert. He supposedly
had a sister Maude, who played the guitar and never married. John first married Elizabeth (or
Martha?) Sharpe. (There is some
question about her surname.) She
was born about 1828 in England, and died in 1862. He married second Ellen ‑‑‑‑‑‑
about 1865[2]. She was born in April 1843 in Canada,
and immigrated to the U.S. in 1852[3].
John and Elizabeth migrated from
England to the U.S. in 1850[4]. They may have come from the London
area. They supposedly lost a child
on the voyage to America, so they must have been married in England.
It is possible that John was the
one in the 1841 census for St. Giles in the Fields, Middlesex, England, with
parents Samuel Graves, carpenter, 45 (b.c. 1796), and Hannah , 35. They were the only family in the London
area that seemed to fit. They have
not been found in later censuses in either England or the U.S. Also, although the name of JohnÕs wife
was given as Elizabeth Sharpe by R‑1, no such marriage could be found on
the FreeBMD website. Possible
marriages between a John Graves and an Elizabeth in that time period were John
Graves marrying Elizabeth Pointer in Greenwich in the June 1849 quarter,
marrying Elizabeth Charlotte Sadler in the June 1849 quarter, and marrying
Elizabeth Wade in the Dec. 1845 quarter.
Assuming Sarah is really their daughter, and they were really from the
London area, the marriage to Elizabeth Wade seems most likely.
A family story is that Elizabeth's
brother was a persistent promoter of cock fights (which was illegal) and was
sent to Australia for 20 years. He
came back rich and arranged to have a means of transportation as close to that
of the king as he could get away with -- a carriage with 5 white horses and one
white mule.
John was in the 1860 census for
Smelser, Grant Co., WI, with his first wife. He was in the 1870 census for Monroe, Green Co., WI., with
his second wife. They were in the
1880 census for Independence, Osborne Co., KS. They were in the 1900 census for Justice Precinct 3, Archer
Co., TX, with 6 of her 10 children still living. He was a farmer.
The first child was born in England, and all the others in the U.S. (R‑1)
Children - Graves, by Elizabeth
Sharpe
2. Sarah Graves.b.c. 1848.
+3. John Thomas Graves, b. 16 Feb. 1852, m. Martha Emeline
King, 13 Dec. 1874, d. 23 March 1925.
4. Charles H. Graves, b.c. 1854 (WI).
5. James Graves, perhaps b.c. 1856
(WI). Not in census records.
6. Jasper N. Graves, b.c. 1859 (WI). He went west and was never heard from
again.
+7. Mary Graves, perhaps b.c. 1861 (WI), never married. Not in census records. Perhaps confused with the Mary by the
second marriage.
Children - Graves, by Ellen
------
8. Abigail Graves, b.c. 1863 (WI).
9. Joseph William (ÒWillÓ) Graves, b.c. 1867
(WI).
+10. Wesley J. Graves, b. Nov. 1871, m. Esther ‑‑‑‑‑‑.
11. Mary Graves, b.c. 1875 (MO).
12. George H. Graves, b. Feb. 1877
(MO).
13. Etta Graves, b. June 1880 (KS).
14. Thomas (ÒTomÓ) Graves, b. Oct. 1883
(KS).
GENERATION 2
CHILDREN OF JOHN GRAVES (1)
John Thomas Graves (3) was born 16
Feb. 1852 in Janesville, Rock Co., WI, and died 23 March 1925 in Bentonsport,
Van Buren Co., IA. He married Martha Emeline King, daughter of Albert Hill King
and Rachel Melissa Hosteter, on 13 Dec. 1874, probably in Janesville, WI. She was born 17 Aug. 1860 (?) in Green
Co., IN, and died 3 Feb. 1947 in Auburn, WA (in King and Pierce counties, but
mainly in King Co.).
John moved at age 16 to northwest
MO, 3 miles north of Clearmont, Nodaway Co., MO, near Braddyville. He bought property in Van Buren Co.,
IA, 19 March 1914. He lived there
8 years, then traded for a house and lots in Collegeview, NE.
According to his obituary,
"When about 37 years of age, Mr. Graves was converted to God, and about
two years later through the study of his Bible, he espoused the views of
Seventh Day Adventists and united with that church, being a faithful member
until his decease." (R‑1)
Children - Graves
+15. Thomas Albert Graves, b. 11 March 1877, m. Susie
Birchard, d. Oct. 1940.
+16. Ada Graves, b. 14 Nov. 1878, m. Truesdale A. Rogers.
+17. Edward Willis Graves, b. 24 Feb. 1882, m. Lilly Moyer
Blyth.
+18. Lee John Graves, b. 17 March 1887, m. Bessie McClay,
1921, d. 4 April 1983.
19. Jennie Graves, b. 26 Oct. 1889, d.
age 6.
+20. Nellie Blanch Graves, b. 16 Feb. 1892, m(1) Samuel
Mathiesen, c. 1901, m(2) Walter Gundrum, 24 Nov. 1973 (?).
+21. Floy Agnes Graves, b. 15 Aug. 1897, m. Carl Milton
Aldrich, Jr., d. 29 Oct. 1971.
Mary Graves (7) was born about 1875
in MO. She may never have
married. She worked for a rich
man, Frank Jess Shirbon, Sr., with an invalid wife in Clermont, MO. (R‑1)
Children - Shirbon
22. Frank Jess Shirbon, Jr., m. Haley
Hostetter. He was killed by a
horse kick. She died from TB. The notes on this part of the family
are very confusing. They seem to
say that he had 2 children by his 1st marriage: Wash (boy), and Verna, m. Mr.
Lamb. Verna m(2) a blind man who
taught Martha Emiline Graves music.
By his 2nd marriage to Mary Sharpe he had: Jesse, Luda (girl), Alvie
(boy), Dennis (died at 18).
Wesley (ÒWesÓ) J. Graves (10) was
born in Nov. 1871 in WI. He
married Esther ‑‑‑‑‑‑. She was born in July 1877 in WI. They were in the 1900 census for Dan,
Wise Co., TX, living next to his cousin Albert T. Graves (#15). They were in the 1910 census for Grant,
Dickinson Co., KS. They were in
the 1930 census for Abilene, Dickinson Co., KS.
Children - Graves
23. Lee Graves, b. Jan. 1898 (TX).
GENERATION 3
CHILDREN OF JOHN T. GRAVES (3)
AND MARTHA E. KING
Thomas Albert Graves (15), called
Albert in the 1900 census, was born 11 March 1877 in MO, and died in Oct. 1940
in Lawrenceburg, TN. He married
Susan (ÒSusieÓ) Burchard. She was
born in May 1878 in WI. They were
in the 1900 census for Dan, Wise Co., TX, living next to his cousin Wesley J.
Graves (#10). (R‑1)
Children - Graves
+24. Roy Burchard Graves, b. June 1899, m. Kathleen Prior.
+25. Cecil Frank Graves, b. 27 Dec. 1901, m. Lucille
Whiteneck, 12 July 1921.
+26. Mabel Graves, b. 27 May 1906, m. Daniel Leroy Jensen.
Ada Graves (16) was born 14 Nov.
1878. She married Truesdale A.
Rogers. (R‑1)
Children - Rogers
+27. Murl A. Rogers, b. 14 Sept. 1901, m. Aleta M. -----, 19
Aug. 1921, d. 20 March 1989.
Edward Willis Graves (17) was born
24 Feb. 1882. He married Lilly
Moyer Blyth. (R‑1)
Children - Graves
+28. Harold Lealand Graves, b. 19 Oct. 1907, m. Ida Rosale
Gunderson, 12 March 1936.
Lee John Graves (18) was born 17
March 1887, and died 4 April 1983 in Kent, King Co., WA. He married Bessie McClay in 1921. She was born 26 Sept. 1902 in Scotland,
died 11 Feb. 1983 in Kent, WA, and was buried in Kent. (R‑1)
Children - Graves
29. Gerald Graves, b. 11 June 1923 (Los
Angeles, CA), never married.
Served in Army, 1943-46.
1989 address: 16204 S.E. 272, Kent, WA 98042.
+30. Harvey Graves, b. 1 June 1927, m. Illeen ‑‑‑‑‑‑.
+31. Illa Lee Graves, b. 4 June 1933, m. Less Viesley.
32. Reatha Graves, b. 26 June 1937
(Kent, WA), never married.
+33. John Graves, b. 26 Aug. 1940, married.
+34. Kenneth Graves, b. Feb. 1943, m. Angela (?) ‑‑‑‑‑‑.
Nellie Blanch Graves (20) was born
16 Feb. 1892 in Clearmont, MO. She
first married Samuel ("Sam") Mathiesen about 1901. She was married to Sam for 60 years. She was 19 and he was 29 when they were
married, so he was born about 1882.
He died when he was 90 (about 1972). She secondly married Walter Gundrum on 24 Nov. 1973. (R‑1)
Children - Mathiesen
+35. Kenneth Marlin Mathiesen, b. 14 May 1912, m. Lucile
Helen Putnam, 7 Jan. 1937.
Floy Agnes Graves (21) was born 15
Aug. 1897 (or 1898) in Clearmont, MO, died of a heart attack 29 Oct. 1971, and
was buried in National Cem., Point Loma (San Diego), CA, near her husband. At about 6 years of age she moved with
her family to Collegeview, NE. She
married Carl Milton Aldrich, Jr., son of Carl Milton Aldrich (1860-1936) and
Corrine May Tackett, when she was about 16 or 17. He was born 30 April 1889 in Shelbyville, IL, died in 1962,
and was buried in the National Cem., Point Loma, San diego, CA. He was a widower with two
daughters. They lived in Nebraska
City, where Floy helped raise Mary Jane, the younger of the two daughters. The other daughter, Betty, was raised
by her grandparents.
During the years of her marriage,
until 1940, the family lived in Lincoln, NE, Minneapolis, MN, Beatrice,
Lincoln, Nebraska City, and Columbus, NE.
In 1940 the family moved to San Diego, where, during the war years, Floy
worked as a secretary at Camp Callan.
She later worked at tailoring until her retirement.
In about 1961 she rejoined the
Seventh Day Adventist church, which she had left several years after the family
moved to San Diego. She was active
in the Dorcus until her arthritis made this difficult. For the last year or two it became
increasingly difficult for her to get out. (R‑1, R‑2)
Children - Aldrich
+36. William Thomas Aldrich, b. 22 July 1922, m. Betty
Blossom McWhinny, 15 June 1944.
37. Pat Aldrich, b.c. 1927.
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