Joseph S. Graves

Joseph S Graves, son of John H. and Amy (Wilkinson) Graves, was born in Vinton county, O., in 1833. Until twenty-three years of age he assisted on his father's farm and attended school. At this age he was appointed teacher in charge of the district school, and for three winters was engaged in teaching. In 1856 he accompanied his father to Stark county, located, and purchased the one hundred and sixty acres on which he now resides, and in the course of a few weeks returned to Ohio. In 1861 he revisited this township, but did not come to reside here until 1863. In 1865 he began to improve this farm, and has since made his home here, transforming the wild land into one of the most fertile tracts in the county. On December 12, 1867, he married Miss Mary J., daughter of Theodore and Elizabeth Whitten, a native of Licking county, O. This Lady came to Stark county with her parents in 1855, and was one of the early teachers in our schools. A few months after this marriage they assumed the work of housekeeping on their farm in the same house which has been recently rebuilt. Their children are: Carrie E., John W., Amy E., Theodore, Alva L. (deceased), Marion E. and Alice M. The mother, when a young woman, united with the M. E. church of West Jersey, while Mr. Graves united with the Christian church in Ohio. He is decidedly Republican, was a member of the Union League in the time of the Rebellion, and always foremost in supporting what seems just as well as what promises the greatest good to the greatest number.