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| J. P. Graft–M. W. Gray | ||||||||
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John Pottinger Graft
Born 1800 | ||||||||
John Pottinger Graft, the son of Abraham Ferree Graft and Eunice Pottinger, was born in Kentucky in 1800. With his father, he removed to Butler county, Ohio near Seven Mile, as a very young child. John grew to manhood there and on 15 August 1822, he married Mary Gray, the daughter of John and Nancy Gray. Soon after 1840 or about that time John and his family migrated to Jones county, Iowa where he remained until his death on 21 September 1881. John and Mary had eight children.
Written and submitted Allen Tallman
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John R. Graft
Born July 11, 1851 | ||||||||
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JOHN R. GRAFT, proprietor Wyoming Creamery; he was born July 11, 1851, in Rome Township; in 1874, he removed to Wyoming; he has been engaged in farming and poultry business for several years past; commenced his creamery In 1879. Married Victoria Woodyard in 1875; she was born in Ohio; have two children—Ora Belle and Jay Lee. Republican; member of the M.E. Church.
From History of Jones County, Iowa, Western Historical Company, Chicago, 1879, page 602. | |||||||||
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David Graham
Born April 17, 1814 | ||||||||
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DAVID GRAHAM, farmer, Fairview Twp., Sec. 1; P.O. Anamosa; is a native of Virginia, and was born in Nicholas Co. April 17, 1814; he grew up there and learned the cooper's trade; in 1833, he came to Morgan Co., Ohio; he came to Iowa in April, 1844, and located in Jones Co., on Bowen's Prairie; there were only two houses in Monticello at that time; he entered land and made a farm and engaged in farming and carried on the cooper's trade; he has seen dressed pork sell for $1 per hundred; he was one of the earliest settlers in this country; in 1856, he came to Anamosa and helped to build the mills at the river; in the spring of 1861, he moved where he now lives, just outside of the city limits, one of the most pleasant locations, and owns a farm of forty acres. Mr. Graham is a natural mechanic, and has made several useful and practical inventions; he has held the offices of County Supervisor and City Councilman. In 1835, he married Frances Kinzel, from Ohio; she died in January, 1853, leaving seven children, five of whom are living—Ellen, Caroline, Johnson, John and Samantha. On the 21st of December, 1854, he married Rachel Bates, from Montgomery Co., N.Y.; she came to Iowa in 1853. Mr. Graham had two sons in the army; William J. was in Co. B, 9th I.V.I.; he was wounded in the battle of Lookout Mountain. John was in Co. E, 31st I.V.T.; he was also wounded in the army.
From History of Jones County, Iowa, Western Historical Company, Chicago, 1879, page 558. | |||||||||
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Fred Grassmeyer
Born March 21, 1826 | ||||||||
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FRED GRASSMEYER, dealer in hardware and house-furnishing goods, Monticello; is a native of Mecklenburg, Germany, and was born March 21, 1826; he grew up to manhood there, and came to America in 1850; he came to Davenport, Iowa; in 1854, he came to Canton, Jones Co.; in 1859, he located in Monticello and started a tin-shop, there was only one house completed in the new part of the town at that time; the building he now occupies in carrying on his business was the first building that was finished on First street. Mr. Grassmeyer has been engaged in business as long as any merchant in Monticello, and, from the small beginnings he made when he first began, he has by industry and fair dealing built up a large and successful trade. He holds the office of City Councilman, and has held the office of School Director. He is a member of the Masonic Order, and is connected with Burns Lodge. He married Miss Paulina Lorentzen, a native of Germany, April 6, 1851; they have two daughters—Matilda and Ida; they have lost two sons.
From History of Jones County, Iowa, Western Historical Company, Chicago, 1879, page 668. | |||||||||
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Simon Grauel
Born February 17, 1827 | ||||||||
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SIMON GRAUEL, farmer, Greenfield Twp., Sec. 26; P.O. Mechanicsville; born February 17, 1827, in Fairfield Co., Ohio. I n 1848, came to Jones Co., Iowa; he owns 165 acres of land. Married Rhoda Miller in 1849; he was born in Fairfield Co., Ohio.; have five children—Levi M., Eliza Jane, Romancy, Mary Julia and Chauncy D. Has been President of the School Board, Township Treasurer, etc.; Democrat; Lutheran Church.
From History of Jones County, Iowa, Western Historical Company, Chicago, 1879, page 586. | |||||||||
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G. B. Graves
Born September 11, 1843 | ||||||||
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G. B. GRAVES, billiard saloon, Anamosa; was born in Allegany Co., N.Y., September 11, 1843; when he was 13 years of age, his parents came to Iowa, in 1856; he grew up to manhood in this county, and has lived most of the time in Anamosa; in 1864, he married Miss Rebecca Groves, a native of Linn Co., Iowa; they have one son—William 0.
From History of Jones County, Iowa, Western Historical Company, Chicago, 1879, page 558.
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S. M. Graves
Born January 3, 1840 | ||||||||
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S. M. GRAVES, farmer, Madison Twp., Sec. 17; P.O. Center Junction; born January 3, 1840, in Wyoming Co., N.Y.; in 1860, he came to Ohio; in 1864, he came to Jones Co.; he owns 200 acres of land. Married Mary E. Thomas in 1864; she was born in Ohio; have two children—Isadore and James. He has held most of the township offices; Republican. Mrs. G. is a member of the M.E. Church.
From History of Jones County, Iowa, Western Historical Company, Chicago, 1879, page 616. | |||||||||
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Myron W. Gray
Born June 25, 1835 | ||||||||
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Myron W. Gray, one of the older generation of farmers of Cass township, was born in Saratoga county, New York, June 25, 1835, and is a son of John B. and Lucy (Heath) Gray, both natives of the same county as their son. In 1853 they brought their family of fourteen children to the middle west, settling first in Elgin, Illinois, and then in October, 1856, coming to Iowa. They located in Fayette county, where they made their home until they were called to their final rest. During his active life Mr. Gray had been a farmer and with the help of his wife reared to maturity sixteen children. A seventeenth did not survive the period of infancy and nine have since passed away, so that only five boys and two girls are now living to bear witness to the excellent instruction received at the family hearthstone. Two of the sons, Horatio and William Harrison, were soldiers in the Civil war. The former enlisted from Elgin, Illinois, and served for three years; the latter joined the army from Fayette county, Iowa, for one hundred days' service. He was ill during part of this period but recovered his health and is still living.
Myron W. Gray was eighteen when his parents came to the west, and many of the experiences of the trip are still vivid in this memory, for it was a much more difficult journey then than it would be today when the railroads have attained to such efficiency of service. He can also remember crossing the prairies from Illinois to Iowa, and as be looks over the fields he owns now he finds them much different from those on which he and his brothers and sisters settled after they came here. Until 1865 Mr. Gray farmed in Fayette county, and then came to Jones county. Here he rented for five years, or until 1870, when he bought his present farm of eighty acres in Cass township. Here he has carefully tilled his fields and has engaged also in stock raising, making a specialty of Poland China hogs. He has the distinction of having sold the largest hog that was ever raised in this county, weighing seven hundred and thirty-three pounds when it was sent to market. He is especially interested in the raising of potatoes, in which branch of his business as in his stock breeding and feeding he is commonly regarded as an authority. On the 30th of May, 1858, Mr. Gray married Miss Emma Graves, who was born in Wyoming county, New York, in 1840, and was a daughter of Thomas and Sarah Ann (Noble) Graves. She came west with her another and her brothers and sisters about the same time that Mr. Gray came here with his parents, and the two families met in Dubuque. The Graves later moved to Fayette county, where Mrs. Graves died, but her husband had passed away while they lived ii-i New York state. Eight children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Gray: William Wallace, of Wayne township; Carrie M., who is the wife of Sam Lawrence, of Cass township; Myrtle, who is the widow of Frank Gibson, a resident of Cedar Rapids; Susan, who married Harry Smith, the warden of the State Reformatory at Anamosa; Nellie, who is the wife of William Reep, of Marion, Iowa; John, who lives at home; Harry, of Cass township: and Margaret, who is the wife of Benjamin McClout, of Cedar Rapids. Mr. Gray is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church of Anamosa, and is in accord politically with the platform of the republican party. He has not taken any part in public affairs, however, save as a member of the school board and as justice of the peace. He is nevertheless highly regarded as a man who knows how to win large crops from the ground he tills and how to raise stock of a good grade, and this capacity united with the fact that he is ever guided by sound principles has made his judgment valuable to those with whom lie is associated. From History of Jones County, Iowa, Past and Present, R. M. Corbitt, S. J. Clarke Publishing Co., Chicago, 1910, p. 563. | |||||||||
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