Part of the Indiana Biographies Project
Howell Graves
The Graves family were among the earliest settlers of Wayne County, coining here in 1816. Jacob Graves, the grandfather of our subject, died soon after coming to Richmond. His wife died in Delaware. They were the parents of five sons — Enos, Jonathan, Jacob, Nathan and John. The four former came to Wayne County, but the latter remained in Delaware. Enos settled about four miles northeast of Richmond, and cleared a farm. He brought a family of wife and six children with him, none of whom are living. Jacob brought a wife and eight children to Wayne County, only one of whom, Joseph C., now lives in Wayne County.
He was by trade a tailor, but only worked at it a little after coming to the county. He was a strong anti-slavery man and a staunch Whig and Republican. He died soon after Lincoln's proclamation. Nathan settled three and a half miles from Richmond, and followed farming through life. He was twice married. By his first wife he had four children and by his second, five. Jonathan L. married Lydia Howell in Delaware, and in 1816 came to Wayne County and bought 240 acres of land at $8 an acre. He erected a saw-mill on Middle Fork of Whitewater River. He was politically a Whig, and was a prominent member of the Society of Friends. He died in 1825, leaving a wife and seven children. The wife died in 1846. Of the family there are living two — Howell and Warner, in Wayne County, the latter on the old homestead.
Howell Graves was born in Wayne County in 1818. He followed farming till 1861, when he moved to Richmond, and for twenty years was one of the principal iron merchants of the city, but is now in the insurance and real estate business. He was married in 1845 to Hannah C., daughter of John and Esther Nicholson. They have four children — Esther A., wife of Joshua S. Rich, of Richmond; Emma, wife of Joseph M. Bayliss, of Wayne Township; Vernon D., an attorney of Richmond, and Josephine.
Source:
History of Wayne County, Indiana. Chicago: Inter-State Publishing Co. 1884. Volume 2