Person:Jonathan Graves (6)

Jonathan Webb Graves enlisted in the Third Missouri Cavalry in 1860 and soon became a lieutenant. He achieved the rank of major by the end of the war. According to his obituary he "was an officer in the Calvary under the service of Marmaduke and Price in Trans-Mississippi department." In A History of Young County, author Carrie Crouch records: "In one engagement a number of troops from Illinois were captured and Lt. Graves with sixteen men, was sent to exchange the prisoners at Federal headquarters. A Federal detachment under Captain Charles Foster joined the escort when it reached northern lines. Near Lexington, Missouri, the combined forces were met by Charles Quantrell and his band of guerrillas, who demanded the northern prisoners and Captain Foster. Lt. Graves stepped forward, called Quantrell by name and told him that never would the prisoners be turned over to him, never except over dead bodies. After the war the Federal government began a search for the brave lieutenant to present him with a medal, but it was 25 years later when he was located in the printing office of the Graham Leader." At the battle of Pea Ridge, J.W. Graves fought against his brother, Major Alvin C. Graves. Apparently, at some point in the war, J.W. was reported dead. Another brother, George, who had stayed in Missouri to look after his mother and brothers' families, married J.W.'s wife Sarah Inman. They had one son. When he returned alive after the war George and Sarah's marriage was annulled. J.W. and Sarah soon moved to Texas with their children. George remained in Missouri and married again. The J.W. Webb family eventually settled in Graham, Young County Texas, where J.W. started the Graham Leader, which is still in operation and one of the longest running newspapers in Texas.

Additional sources: Family records, letters, photos and oral history.

1.   Graves, John Card. Genealogy of the Graves family in America. (Buffalo [New York]: Baker, Jones, 1896-[1944?]).
2. ↑ ^2.0 2.1 Find A Grave.

   http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=46999663
   Birth: Sep. 29, 1830
   Indiana, USA
   Death: Apr. 3, 1911
   Graham
   Young County
   Texas, USA
   
   Jonathan W. Graves moved to Missouri as a child and began work as a printer at 16 years. Graves married in 1855 to Sarah Caroline Inman, a 16 year old girl of Springfield, Missouri. This union had 11 children. J.W. Graves was born in Indiana and fought in the Civil War. He was an officer in the Cavalry under the service of Marmaduke & Price in the Trans-Mississippi Department. In 1868, J.W. Graves established the Cleburne Chronicle at Cleburne, Johnson County, Texas and moved to Graham, Texas in 1876. Graves founder and was the first editor of The Graham Leader issuing its first paper on 16 August 1876. The Graham Leader continues to be the oldest newspaper in Northwest Texas. The newspaper has missed only one issue in its history. Graves was a Methodist and a member of the Masonic Order reaching the level of Royal Arch Mason. He was worshipful master of the Graham Lodge as well as a charter member.
   
   3rd Missouri, Cavalry, Company A.
   Confederate Soldier of America
   
   J.W. Graves with 50 men of his regiment under a flag of truce during the Civil War saved the lives of 16 men of the 1st Iowa Cavalry from certain death at the hands of guerrillas. J.W. Graves received a fascinating award for his meritorious service to the Union Army for mercy beyond the call of duty even though he was serving as a Confederate Soldier.
   
   Family links:
   Spouse:
   Sarah Caroline Inman Graves (1839 - 1924)
   
   Children:
   Jesse Rena Graves McCloud (1887 - 1954)*
   
   *Point here for explanation
   
   Burial:
   Oak Grove Cemetery
   Graham
   Young County
   Texas, USA

3.   Crouch, Carrie Johnson. A history of Young County, Texas. (Austin, Texas: Texas State Historical Association, 1956).