George W. Graves
George W. Graves-One of the oldest residents of Macon county and one
of the early arrivals in this section from the country farther east, George
W. Graves has witnessed the growth of the section from a primeval wilderness
to its present state of progress and high development, and has contributed
his full share of the labor required to bring about the gratifying change.
He also bore his full share of the burden of pioneer life and risked all
the hazards of the frontier, becoming familiar with them in boyhood when
they were numerous and at all times imminent, and seeing them gradually removed
through the onward march of civilization.
Mr. Graves was born in Pulaski county, Kentucky, on October 12,1829,
and came to this county with his mother in 1838, when he was but nine years
old. He is a grandson of Robert Graves, a prominent citizen of the county
of his nativity, and the son of Jessie and Celia (Graves) Graves, and the
only survivor of their eight children. His parents were born, reared, and
married in Kentucky, Pulaski county, and there the father passed the whole
of his life as an industrious and well-to-do farmer. After his death the
mother brought the two sons she had to Missouri and located in Macon county.
Here the sons grew to manhood and obtained their education in the district
schools, or rather in the subscription schools of the neighborhood, as they
were in those early days. While attending school and after leaving the shrine
of Cadmus George W. worked on farms and assisted his mother remaining with
her until 1850. In that year he took up eighty acres of government land,
on which he has been actively and extensively engaged in farming and raising
live stock ever since.
Mr. Graves has given his farm his closest attention from the start and
prospered in working it. He has increased it to 120 acres, all of which he
cultivates with industry and skill, getting large returns for his intelligent
labor and raising the value of his property by steady increased from year
to year. He is a student of his business and applies with judgment and profit
what he learns by reading and observation, keeping himself abreast of the
most advanced thought in agricultural pursuits, and disseminating his
acquisitions on the subject among his friends and neighbors by his example
and the results of his experiments.
On January 12, 1850, Mr. Graves was married to Miss Louisa Moss, a native
of Macon county and daughter of Carl and Mary Moss, prosperous and esteemed
farmers of that county. By this union they became parents of four children
all of whom are living and residents of Macon county. They are: Francis Marion,
Martha Ann, the wife of John Bohannon; John A.; and Mary P., the wife of
John Whiles. In politics the father has been a life-long Democrat, always
loyal to his party and zealous in its service, firmly attached to its principles
and feeling it to be his duty to do all he could to have them prevail in
the government of the country. He is now fourscore years of age and over,
and has passed nearly three-quarters of a century in Macon county. He is
a venerable link connecting the dawn of the county's history with its present
noonday splendor of development and power, and is revered by the people
accordingly, as he is, also for his sterling worth, his usefulness in the
past in promoting the welfare of the township and county, and his upright
and elevated citizenship. Macon county has no better man among her people
and none who is held in more general good will and esteem. His life is an
inspiration to endeavor and his character is well worthy of imitation by
all who strive after lofty ideals.
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