Rev. 8 Dec. 2005, Gen. 350
DESCENDANTS OF PETER C.
GRAVES AND NANCY JANE NATIONS
OF NC & IN
GENERATION 1
Peter C. Graves (1) was born about
1800 in NC, and died in 1865. He
married Nancy Jane Nation, called Jane or Jennie, on 1 June 1822 in Stokes Co.,
NC (Marriage Bonds Vol. 1, p. 117). A
Peter Graves was the bondsman and Reuben Golding witnessed the marriage. She was born about 1801 in NC, and died
after 1860. She was deaf and dumb. Their children were born in Decker, Knox
Co., IN or vicinity. He was listed as a
farmer in the 1850 census for District 40, Greene Co., IN, and they were listed
on the 1860 Greene Co. IN census living in Highland Twp. with daughter
Jane. From the published Records of Vernal Baptist Church, Monroe
County, 1817-1850, Peter Graves and wife Jane were received [into
membership] by letter, June 2, 1824, and were granted letter of dismissal, Nov.
1825. This church was 9 miles northwest
of Bloomington, IN.
A Peter C. Graves from Greene Co.,
IN served in Capt. Rousseau’s Co., 2 Reg’t. Ind. Inf. during the Mexican War
for periods in 1846 and 1847; he was listed as 44 years old, so perhaps it is
this Peter C. Graves.
From pages 93, 94 and 295 of the History of Greene and Sullivan Counties, Ind., 1884, Goodspeed: “murder of Phoebe
Graves.” “Phebe” McCutcheon married James Graves on 2 March 1841 in Greene Co.,
IN. Phoebe was murdered on 20 June 1843
near the home of Mrs. Nation, where she had paid a morning visit. Peter C. Graves, brother-in-law of the
deceased, was a suspect, as was Christopher Nation, a deaf mute. They were both released, but James Graves,
husband of Phoebe, was tried and acquitted.
James married second Angeline Hunter on 20 June 1846 in Greene Co., IN
and took his daughter by Phoebe and moved west. On page 54 of this book, Peter and Jane Graves, “2 poor persons
of Highland Twnp. ‑ farmed out to Christopher Nation.”
Recorded in the 1850 census for
Highland Twp., Greene Co., IN are a number of families with the Nations surname
born in North Carolina, who may be related to Jane. They appear to be siblings, all living in the same
household: William, 55, Elisabeth, 50,
Christopher, 47, Elias, 45, Anne, 42, America [female], 3, and ‘not known’
[male], 6/12. All the adults with the
exception of Anne, who was born in Indiana, were born in North Carolina; they
were all listed as deaf and dumb. The
two children were born in Indiana.
Living in the adjacent household were John Nations, 64, born NC with
Mary A., age 60, also born NC.
Peter may have been related to
William B. Graves of NC & IN (gen. 69), and to Peter Graves of Surry Co.,
NC (gen. 11). The name of James
Randolph Graves, grandson of Peter C. Graves, also indicates a possible
relationship with John Graves of Randolph Co., NC (gen. 77), since that is the
only Graves family that is known to have used Randolph as a given name. (R‑1, R‑3, R‑4)
Children - Graves
+2. Mary Ann Graves, b. June 1836, m(1) James Buffalo, 10 March 1850,
m(2) Stephen Pickard, 14 Oct. 1875, d. after 1920.
+3. James Graves, b. 4 May 1838, m(1) Sarah Fox, 17 March 1861, m(2)
Martha M. (‑‑‑‑‑‑) Buzzard Taylor, 30 Oct.
1901, m(3) Mary E. (Morrow) Willis, 17 Nov. 1910, d. 30 Sept. 1921.
4. Margaret Graves, b.c. 1840-41 (near Decker,
Knox Co., IN).
5. Jane Graves, b.c. 1842-43 (near Decker, Knox
Co., IN), after 1860.
GENERATION 2
CHILDREN OF PETER C. GRAVES (1)
AND NANCY JANE NATIONS
Mary Ann (“Polly”) Graves (2) was
born in June 1836 in Indiana, and died after 1920. She first married James Buffalo on 10 March 1850 in Greene Co.,
IN. He was born about 1810 in NC, and
died after 1870. This family was
recorded on the 1850 and 1860 censuses in Greene Co., IN and the 1870 census in
Crawford Co., IL. Mary married second
Stephen Pickard, son of Henry Pickard and Mickey ‑‑‑‑‑‑,
on 14 Oct. 1875 in Greene Co., IN. He
was born about 1826 in NC, and died before 1880. He first married Martha Beesley on 23 Oct. 1845 in Greene Co.,
IN. She apparently died before 1850,
and he married second Elizabeth Nash on 6 March 1851 in Greene Co., IN. He married third Rebecca Jane ‑‑‑‑‑‑. They were recorded on the 1870 census in
Clay Co., IL. Mary was recorded on the
1880 census in Greene Co., IN as Mary A. Pickard, a 40 year old widow. In 1900, she was recorded in Jefferson Twp.,
Greene Co., IN; only three of her thirteen children were living. Her grandniece, Lillie Hughes, born in Oct.
1886 in Indiana, lived with her. She
was recorded on the 1910 and 1920 censuses in Jefferson Twp. In 1910, her divorced brother James Graves,
age 71, lived with her. In 1920, her
widowed son A. G. Buffalo lived with her.
All her children were born in Indiana except for Allen who was born in
IL. There are two marriages recorded
for Sarah E. Buffalo in Greene Co., IN, but it is uncertain if either of these
is for Polly’s daughter, Sarah.
Descendants of Jane Buffalo are included, but it is not certain is this
is definitely Polly’s daughter
Children - Buffalo
+6. Jane Buffalo, b.c. 1851, m. Jesse Graves, 10 Oct. 1867, d. bef. 5
March 1878.
7. Monroe Buffalo, b.c. 1853, m. Amanda J. Toler,
20 July 1876 (Greene Co., IN).
8. Lucinda Buffalo, b.c. 1855.
9. Sarah Buffalo, b.c. 1856.
10. Elmina Buffalo, b.c. 1858.
11. Joseph Buffalo, b.c. 1860.
12. James Buffalo, b.c. 1862.
+13. Allen G. Buffalo, b. Aug. 1868, m(1) Sarah J. Martindale, 13 Oct.
1889, m(2) Settia ‑‑‑‑‑‑, c. 1898, d. bef.
1918.
Children - Pickard
14. Charles Pickard, b.c. 1876.
James Graves (3) was born 4 May
1838 in Richland Twp. or Highland Twp., Greene Co., IN, and died 30 Sept. 1921
in Worthington (?), Greene Co. (?), IN.
He first married Sarah Fox, daughter of Charles Fox and Louisa ‑‑‑‑‑‑,
on 17 March 1861 in Shoals, Martin Co., IN.
She was born 16 Dec. 1844 in Shoals, Martin Co., IN, and died 7 Nov.
1900 in Decker, Knox Co., IN. They were
both buried in Bedell Cem., Decker, Knox Co., IN.
James Graves was a private in Co.
E, 66th Regiment, Indiana Infantry, in the Civil War, Aug. 6, 1862
to Jan. 29, 1863. He was issued a
certificate for Disability Discharge from the military from Cairo, IL, on 29
Jan. 1863 due to illnesses diagnosed as Typhoid Fever, chronic laryngitis, and
“aphony”. (Aphony is a condition in
which the vocal cords do not meet normally when the patient tries to
speak. It is usually caused by
emotional stress, and the voice usually returns as suddenly as it disappears). James’ health must have improved
considerably as on 6 Feb. 1864, he was enrolled for three years as a Private in
Co. I 91st Regiment of the Indiana Infantry Volunteers, at Memphis,
IN, in the War of the Rebellion. It
appears he spent one year in this unit.
He was honorably discharged at Indianapolis, IN, on 6 Feb. 1865. He lived in Shoals, Orangeville, Holbert's
Bluff, Decker and Worthington, all in Indiana.
His physical description states his height at 5 feet 9 inches, of light
complexion, had light hair and blue eyes.
He was a farmer by trade, a soldier, and a commercial fisherman.
James married second Martha M. (‑‑‑‑‑‑)
Buzzard Taylor on 30 Oct. 1901 in Bloomfield, Greene Co., IN. Justice of the Peace, Daniel Riggs,
officiated. She was born in 1854, and
had first married ‑‑‑‑‑‑ Buzzard and second
‑‑‑‑‑ Taylor.
They made their home in Worthington, Greene Co., IN, living in her
house. James and Martha divorced,
finalized 11 Dec. 1909 in Bloomfield.
He married third widow Mary E. (Morrow) Willis, daughter of Sylvester C.
Morrow and Anna Robertson, on 17 Nov. 1910 in Worthington, Greene Co., IN. She was born 1 March 1853 in Greene Co., KY
(or IN?) and had first married John Willis, who died 2 May 1904.
James’ children were born in
Shoals, IN. (R‑1)
Children - Graves, by Sarah Fox
15. Louisa J. Graves, b. 1861, d. 1861.
+16. James Randolph Graves, b. 11 Feb. 1864, m(1) Mary Ann Gieseke, 25
June 1890, m(2) Eliza Ava McNeel, 11 Feb. 1946, d. 7 May 1961.
+17. Mary E. Graves, b. 20 May 1866, m. Frank H. Dunn, 6 Jan. 1887, d.
1892.
GENERATION 3
CHILDREN OF MARY A. GRAVES (2)
Jane Buffalo (6) was born about
1851 in Indiana, and died before 5 March 1878.
She married Jesse Graves on 10 Oct. 1867 in Greene Co., IN. His parents are not known. Jane and Jesse were recorded on the 1870
census in Greene Co., IN. Jesse married
second Lourana Bunch on 5 March 1878 in Greene Co., IN. Jesse was born about 1849 in Indiana, although
the 1880 census in Clark Co., IL lists his place of birth as Illinois.
Children - Graves
+18. Robert Graves, b.c. 1869 (or Aug. 1867), m. Martha Anna ‑‑‑‑‑‑,
c. 1900, d. after 1920.
19. Polly A. Graves, b.c. 1871 (IL).
Allen G. Buffalo (13) was born in
Aug. 1868 in IL, and died before 1918.
He first married Sarah J. Martindale, daughter of John Jacob Martindale
and Mary Matilda Fuller, on 13 Oct. 1889 in Greene Co., IN. She was born in Oct. 1873 in Indiana, and
died before 1898. He married second Settia
‑‑‑‑‑ about 1898. She was born in Oct. 1878 in Indiana. She married second Joseph R. Mullens in May 1918 in Greene Co.,
IN.
Children - Buffalo, by Sarah
Martindale
+20. Julia F. Buffalo, b. April 1890, m. William Charles Smith, 20 Dec.
1910, d. after 1930.
21. Herman Buffalo, b. June 1893.
Children - Buffalo, by Settia
+22. Marcus H. Buffalo, b. April 1900, m. Goldie ‑‑‑‑‑‑,
c. 1920.
23. Charlie Buffalo, b.c. 1902.
CHILDREN OF JAMES GRAVES (3) AND
SARAH FOX
James Randolph (“J.R.”) Graves (16)
was born 11 Feb. 1864 in Shoals, Martin Co., IN, died 7 May 1961 in Guymon,
Texas Co., OK, and was buried 11 May 1961 in Hartville Cem., Hardesty, Texas
Co., OK. He first married Mary Ann
(“Mollie”) Gieseke, daughter of John H. Gieseke and Susan Caroline Sutton
(called Caroline), on 25 June 1890 in Decker, Knox Co., IN. She was born 7 Jan. 1872 in Decker, IN, died
9 Dec. 1940 in Hardesty, Texas Co., OK, and was buried 12 Dec. 1940 in
Hartville Cem., Hardesty, OK. Their
first 5 children were born in Decker, Knox Co., IN, the sixth in Patoka, Knox
Co., IN, and the last 2 in Ripley, Payne Co., OK
J.R. and Mollie lived in the
country one and one-half miles from Decker, IN, in the Rhodes’ house. J.R. worked eleven years for a man named
Paul Rose, who had come from MI. Mr.
Rose raised watermelon and cantaloupe.
He and J.R. would plant the seed in flats and then later transplant them
into the fields. They hauled in two
railcar loads of manure each year, spreading it as fertilizer for the crops.
One day, about 1897, when Mollie
was washing clothes, the house caught on fire.
They all escaped, but the house burned to the ground. Ennis, just a small boy about six years of
age, had earlier heard his parents talk about someday going to Arkansas to live
– so he said, “Now we can go live in Arkansas!” However, they moved to a house just a few miles down the road,
nearer to Patoka. Another much
remembered incident happened here. One
day, Ennis was visiting the neighbors.
There was a lead pipe leading off the house to their cistern. He remembers saying, “Watch me turn a hand
spring.” While gripping the pipe,
lightening struck, knocking Ennis to the ground and causing one of his big toes
to turn black! It later returned to
normal.
The family went by train to Payne
Co., OK in 1901. In 1907, J. R. Graves
went by covered wagon to the Panhandle in Texas Co., Oklahoma, and filed on
land 5 miles east of the present town of Hardesty. In 1908, Mrs. Graves and the children went by train to Higgins
Texas, where Mr. Graves picked them up in a horse and buggy and took them to
his homestead in Oklahoma. The family
first moved into a half-dugout close to the Sutton place until a three-room
half-dugout could be built on their own property. Water had to be hauled from the neighbors until a well could be
dug.
The early-day neighbors were Mr.
And Mrs. Gris Godley, Mr. And Mrs. O. L. Barnes, Mr. And Mrs. John Burkdoll,
and Mr. And Mrs. Burt Runcorn. The
family attended Hartville United Brethren Church. The community was called Hartville and was named after a family
named Hart. They also owned a store and
had the first Post Office. The
transportation was wagon, buggy, horseback and walking.
In 1912, the Graves family moved
one mile north to the Burt Runcorn place.
Mr. Graves and Ennis farmed this land in addition to their own. They lived there five years and, while they
were there, Delorous, Lillian, and Faye attended the Prairie Bell School, which
was three and one-half miles east and north.
In 1916-17, Mr. Graves had a
nine-room house built on his place.
Lillian and Faye then attended school at Star and Hartville. Mr. Graves purchased a house in Goodwell,
OK, in 1922 and Mrs. Graves moved there for 4 years so Lillian and Faye could
go to high school.
James married second Eliza Ava
McNeel, daughter of Matthew W. McNeel and Mary Ann Wagoner, on 11 Feb. 1946,
his 82nd birthday, in Liberal Seward Co., KS. She had first been married to Oratio Lee
Barnes. He died. She then married Eli Jarrett. He died.
She was born 17 Jan. 1871 in Warrensburg, Johnson Co., MO[1],
died 30 June 1962 in Hardesty, Texas Co., OK, and was buried 3 July 1962 in
Hartville Cem., Hardesty, OK.
After James passed away, the eighty
acres with the two-story house was willed to Ennis Graves. The property in Hardesty was willed to
Sarah’s (“Ina”) heirs, who sold it to Robert E. Graves. (In 1964, Ennis traded the house with the
ten acre tract to his son, Robert, for the property in Hardesty. Then in 1975, Robert sold the house to
Faye’s daughter and son-in-law, Marlene and Robert “Bob” Barnes. They moved the house across the highway onto
land inherited by Faye and completely remodeled it. Jesse Rozella (“Zella”) and Lillian each inherited an 80-acre
plot south of the house. Delorous
inherited the other 80-acre plot across the highway north of Faye’s. (R‑1)
Children - Graves, by Mary A. Gieseke
+24. Ennis Franklin Graves, b. 1 April 1891, m. Edna Girouard, 14 May
1922, d. 8 Dec. 1984.
25. Alma Louise Graves[2],
b. 12 July 1892, d. 25 March 1894 (Decker, IN).
+26. Jesse Rozella Graves, b. 24 Oct. 1893, m. Oscar Richard Bingley, 6
June 1915, d. 17 July 1974.
27. Della Esther Graves, b. 1 March 1895, d. 23
Sept. 1895 (Decker, IN).
+28. Sarrah Viena Graves, b. 18 Nov. 1896, m. James Howard Tharp, 3 Feb.
1915, d. 9 Oct. 1945.
+29. Lura Delorous Graves, b. 8 Aug. 1901, m. Chester Elmer Martin, 6 May
1917, d. 14 Aug. 1992.
+30. Lillian Carolyn Graves, b. 3 April 1906, m(1) Lester Price Turner,
Sr., 9 June 1925, m(2) Melvin Howard Wall, 6 Feb. 1950, d. 3 Jan. 1970.
+31. Ethel Faye Graves, b. 29 Dec. 1907, m. Lloyd Webster Booth, 9 Dec.
1928, d. 6 Oct. 2001.
Mary E. Graves (17) was born 20 May
1866 in Shoals, Martin Co., IN, died in 1892 in Indiana, and was buried in
Bedell Cem., Decker, Knox Co., IN. She
married Frank H. Dunn on 6 Jan. 1887 in Knox Co., IN. When Mary died at the age of 26, her parents raised the
children. Lillian later married, and
was expecting the birth of her first child, when a great tragedy occurred. Lillian, her husband, and brother, Henry,
were all killed in a terrible train wreck.
(R‑1)
Children - Dunn
32. Lillian Dunn
33. Henry Dunn
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