Graves Family Association

This is an arbitrary and partial list of the houses, buildings and places associated with any of the various families of Graves, Greaves, etc. Let us know if you have any suggestions for additions or changes. If you have already submitted information that should be included on this page, remind me, and I will add it. In addition to Ballylickey Manor House listed below, genealogy 68 also contains a picture of Parknasilla in Kenmare, Co., Kerry, Ireland.

The buildings and places of interest are in alphabetical order below.

Houses

Ballylickey Manor House, Co. Cork, Ireland
Deacon George Grave House, Madison, CT, USA
Erastus Graves house, Williamsburg, MA, USA
Graves Tavern, Lexington, KY, USA
Merton House and Alcott House, London, England

Places

Gravesend, Kent, England
Gravesend, Brooklyn, NY, USA
Gravesend, New South Wales, Australia
Graves County, KY, USA
Graves Ledges and Graves Light, Boston Harbor, Boston, MA, USA
Graveston, TN, USA
Gravestown, IA, USA
Gravestown, MS, USA
Gravesville, AR, USA
Gravesville, NY, USA
Gravesville, WI, USA

Ballylickey Manor House in Ballylickey, Bantry Bay, Co. Cork, Ireland

Ballylickey Manor House Ballylickey has been the home of this branch of the Graves family (genealogy 68) for four generations. Originally built over 300 years ago as a shooting lodge by Lord Kenmare, this house was carefully restored by the present owner managers, the Graves family, in the late 1940's. It was visited many times over the years by poet Robert Graves, an uncle of the present owners. View more information about Ballylickey Manor House and the Graves family history.

(Information about this Manor House and website from family member Adrian Graves, Essex, England.)

Deacon George Grave House, Madison, CT

This house was built in 1659 by John Grave (or Graves), a son of Deacon George Grave(s) (immigrant to America and 1636 settler of Hartford, CT, genealogy 65). The Deacon John Grave Foundation was incorporated in 1983 to save the Deacon John Grave House from destruction. Since that time the foundation has worked tirelessly to restore and preserve this unique structure.

The Deacon John Grave House is special because its history is the story of seven generations of one Madison family, how they lived and died, their joys and sorrows and their continual struggle to make ends meet in a constantly changing society.

View more information about the Deacon George Grave House and Foundation on their website..

The Erastus Graves farmhouse on Adams Road in Williamsburg, MA

Graves Farm Bed & Breakfast sign Built by Erastus Graves in 1860. Erastus was born 7 July 1809 and died 8 April 1889. He married Elizabeth Rachel Strong on 18 Sept. 1844. They lived in Williamsburg. He was descended from immigrant Thomas Graves of Hartford, CT & Hatfield, MA, via Isaac², John³, Elnathan⁴, Seth⁵, John⁶ m. Eunice Porter, Erastus⁷.

The Erastus Graves farmhouse before Erastus was an apparently successful farmer whose production ranged from vegetables to dairy to lumber. He was a selectman, assessor and road contractor, and also served in the Massachusetts legislature. His picture is on the left side of this paragraph. He and Elizabeth originally lived in a house on Adams Road that was probably built by his father about 1800. In late 1859 or very early 1860, Erastus hired local builder Elbridge Kingsley and his son to help build a new house across the street. This house was occupied by Erastus and his children and grandchildren until the 1990's. Grandsons John and Dwight Graves left the contents of the house to the Williamsburg Historical Society and the the farm and its buildings to the Massachusetts Audubon Society. The Erastus Graves farmhouse after In 2002, Leslie and Benton Cook bought the house, which had fallen into disrepair. After much loving and costly restoration, they now operate it as a bed and breakfast. A picture of the house before restoration is above. The view on the left is the house after restoration, with the present owners standing in front.

(From an article in Hampshire Life, April 1, 2005, submitted by John F. Skibiski, Jr., Florence, MA.)

The Graves Tavern is at 5023 Old Versailles Road, Lexington, KY

It was built by Thomas Sims Graves in 1834 (genealogy 94). It is now listed on the National Historic Register. View more information about The Graves Tavern.

For anyone wanting to go there, it is directly across from South Elkhorn Baptist Church. It is about three miles east of Bluegrass Airport in Lexington on the Versailles road. The Graves Tavern Going west toward Versailles from Lexington, make a left turn in front of the church onto Old Versailles Road, and the tavern is about 1/4 mile off the main road on the left. In the early days they made the creek crossing at the narrowest point. This caused a curve in the road, which was taken out when the new road was built. This may be the main reason the tavern is still standing.

(Information and pictures submitted by Michael D. Graves, Montgomery, TX.)

Merton Place and Alcott House are two of the places where James Pierrepont Greaves lived.

They were both in Surrey, England. Neither exists today, but their locations are both in what is now greater London.

James Pierrepont Greaves was born in 1777 and died in 1842, son of Charles Greaves and Ann Pierrepont (genealogy 336). Charles and his family lived at Merton Place, Surrey, now part of London. After the death of Charles in 1800, his widow sold the house and land to its most famous resident, Admiral Horatio Nelson in 1802 for £9,000. Between trips to sea, Nelson lived at Merton Place with his mistress Emma Hamilton and her husband Sir William Hamilton, although Sir William died at his London house in 1803. Nelson had only a short time to enjoy his new home before his death at the Battle of Trafalgar in October 1805. Emma Hamilton didn't have enough money to maintain Merton Place, so the house was demolished in 1821 and the land was sold off in parcels over the following years.

When his father died in 1800, James Pierrepont Greaves was in his early twenties, the head of the family. James and his brothers carried on their father's drapery business, and went through very difficult economic times with the Napoleonic Wars and other troubles.

Charles and Ann Greaves were Anglicans, and their children were evangelicals with a focus on family, prayer, and good works. The great evangelical movement in England had begun in the 1730s with John Wesley, who was preaching to renew the faith of nominal Christians as well as get new converts. James Greaves became convinced in 1817 that he had a spiritual mission in life, he developed some unconventional philosophical views. He and his followers founded Alcott House on Ham Common, Surrey (now in Richmond, London) in 1838, and his final years were spent there. The building was replaced in 1856. More can be found about James Pierrepont Greaves and Alcott House in Wikipedia.

All pictures are from Search for A New Eden, James Pierrepont Greaves (1777-1842): The Sacred Socialist and His Followers, by J. E. M. Latham. Some of the discussion is from Wikipedia.

Gravesend, Kent, England

Gravesend from the River Thames, near London, 1773

Gravesend is a town in northwest Kent, England, on the south bank of the Thames, opposite Tilbury in Essex. It is the administrative town of the Borough of Gravesham and, because of its geographical position, has always had an important role to play in the history and communications of this part of England.

The town was recorded as Gravesham in the Domesday Book in 1086 as belonging to Odo, Bishop of Bayeux: the name probably derived from "graaf-ham": the home of the Reeve, or Bailiff, of the Lord of the Manor. Another theory suggests that the name Gravesham may be a corruption of the words grafs-ham – a place "at the end of the grove". (Source: Wikipedia)

It has been believed by some that the town may have been named for a person or family named Graves, but that does not appear to be correct.

Gravesend, Brooklyn, New York, USA.

The derivation of the name is unclear. Some speculate that it was named after the English seaport of Gravesend, Kent. An alternative explanation suggests that it was named by Willem Kieft for the Dutch settlement of "'s- Gravesande", which means "Count's Beach" or "Count's Sand". (Source: Wikipedia)

Gravesend, New South Wales, Australia.

Gravesend is a town in the New England region of New South Wales, Australia, located on the Gwydir River, 615 kilometres (382 miles) north of Sydney. At the 2006 census, Gravesend and the surrounding area had a population of 276. It was probably named for the place of the same name in Kent, England. (Source: Wikipedia)

Graves County, Kentucky

The county is named for Major Benjamin Franklin Graves, soldier in the War of 1812. He was descended from genealogy 270. As one of Kentucky's largest counties, Graves's history of legends and leaders includes a US Vice President, four US Congressmen, famous and infamous heroes, singers and songwriters, noted writers and a legacy of historic sites. (Source: Wikipedia)

Graves Ledges and Graves Light, Boston Harbor, Boston, Massachusetts

Graves Light

The Graves (or Graves Ledges) is an aggregation of rock outcroppings rising 15 feet above the high water level. The Graves Light was built in 1905 on this rocky ledge. It is the outermost island of the Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area, and some 11 miles offshore of downtown Boston, Massachusetts, USA. At 113 feet tall, it is the tallest lighthouse in the approaches to the Port of Boston, and is an important navigation aid for traffic to and from the port. The Graves are generally believed to have been named for Rear Admiral Thomas Graves, of London, England and Charlestown, MA (genealogy 28).

Graveston, Knox Co., Tennessee

Probably named for one of the Graves families descended from John Graves (Johann Sebastian Graff), genealogy 105. According to gen. 105, it was originally called Graves Town.

Gravestown, Iowa

This place was in historical records around 1900, but cannot locate it on current records.

Gravestown, Tippah Co., Mississippi

Haven't found any history for this.

Gravesville, Van Buren Co., Arkansas