Jesse Graves (230) was born 7 March 1730 in Sunderland, Massachusetts (Sunderland town records), and died before Oct. 1777 as a British prisoner of war at Ft. Ticonderoga, Essex Co., N.Y. (pension record of son Nathaniel). He married Catherine Scott, daughter of Samuel Scott and Elizabeth , on 3 May 1754 in Sunderland. She was born 19 May 1737 in Sunderland (town records), and died before 1777 (?) in Rupert, Vt. (?) (pension record of son Nathaniel).
They lived in Sunderland until about 1768, and then moved to Bennington, Vt. Jesse Graves appeared on a list of the estates and inhabitants of Sunderland, Mass., 11 July 1763; mentioned in description of highway laid out, 12 March 1767, in Sunderland. He appeared on a Bennington, Vt. petition to the Governor of New Hampshire, dated Oct. 1769. Catherine Scott's brothers, Samuel, Oliver, Phineas and Moses, had moved to Bennington, Vt., in 1762. Oliver Scott was one of the first settlers of Rupert, Vt. in 1767. Rupert town records of the town meeting of 4 April 1780: "this meeting has confirmed to Phineas Sheldon that of land which Oliver Scott gave to Jesse Graves as a freeman of that town in 1778." There is no trace of this transaction in Rupert land records, however. A "Resolution in Re Petition of Nicholas Turner," dated 16 Oct. 1778: "On petition of Nicholas Turner late of Reuport in Bennington County ... Resolved ... give a Deed to said Turner ... a certain lot of land ... West on land holden by the heirs of Jesse Graves deceased...."
The Revolutionary War pension application of his son Nathaniel Graves stated: "That in the summer of 1777, he resided in the town of Ruport in the state of Vermont with his brother and three sisters (his mother being dead some years before) and his father went into the service in the forepart of the season on the approach of Burgoyne's Army and was in the battle of Hubbardton, Vermont where the Americans were defeated by a detachment of Burgoyne's Army and Col. Warner's Regiment north cut off and his father was taken a prisoner by the British and carried to Ticonderoga where he was taken sick and died, and that this declarent with his brother two years older than himself and his three sisters retreated from Ruport aforesaid on the general alarms and retreat of the inhabitants of Vermont immediately after 'Hubbardton battle' and were scattered among their relatives and friends in the town of Bennington, Vt. where he lived during the war except out in service." No records seem to exist showing the militia who fought at the battle of Hubbardton. The Graves children apparently did not seek any compensation from the towns of Rupert or Bennington, nor the state of Vermont. No probate of estate seems to exist.
Jesse Graves also appeared as a freeman in the town records of Manchester, Vt., probably in 1777 (records are virtually unreadable). No record of the birth of Nathaniel appeared in Sunderland town records nor of a younger (?) sister, but both were probably born there. Rupert, Vt. town records are nonexistant before 1780 (the Tory town clerk took them when he left town). No further record of Jesse Graves appeared in the Rupert, Bennington, or Manchester town records after 1780.
It appears that John Card Graves (R 200) confused two different Jesse Graveses and made one family out of two. According to John Card Graves, Jesse secondly married Martha , who died 6 May 1801 in Charlemont, Mass., and thirdly married widow Elizabeth ("Betsey") Lathrop of Montague, Mass., 27 May 1802 in Montague. Elizabeth died 6 Feb. 1828 in Charlemont at age 59, and Jesse died 14 Jan. 1819 in Charlemont, Mass. A Jesse Graves tombstone in the Charlemont cemetery shows this death date but gives his age as 61, indicating a birth date of about 1758 rather than 1730. It is not known at this time who this other Jesse Graves was who married Martha and then later married Elizabeth Lathrop.
The Revolutionary War pension papers of William Graves say, "He was born in Sunderland, Massachusetts the 2 Decem 1760." His papers also say, "In 1778 he lived in Rupert, Vermont.... Since the Revolutionary War he has lived entirely in Castleton and West Haven." Although there is no absolute proof, the most likely person listed in the Sunderland records as being William Graves is Billy Graves, son of Jesse and Catherine Scott Graves, born 2 Sept. 1760. The published records say, "Billy died young," but no official record of his death has been found.
Two interesting deeds are the following: (1) Record of Nathaniel and William Graves deed from Simeon Sears, ".... by Nathaniel Graves of said town and state (Bennington, Vt.) and William Graves otherwise Bill Graves of Ruport ...." Joseph Holmes was the original grantee. (2) Record of Simon Graves deed from William and Nathaniel Graves, Aug. 2, 1783. ".... William Graves of Castleton ... and Nathaniel Graves of Bennington ....," dated 27 Sept. 1789. The description of the land is identical to the description for the land in the first deed. These two deeds indicate the good possibility of Nathaniel and William (Bill) being brothers.
Another piece of evidence is that William named his first son Jesse (possibly after his own father); his second son was Israel (after his wife's father); his third son was Nathaniel (after his brother?); and his fourth son was Oliver (after his mother's father or brother?).
The birth records in Sunderland, Mass. for Jemima, Zilpah and Billy show them listed in consecutive order, which indicates they were all recorded at one time. No other children are listed for Jesse and Catherine Graves, which indicates: (1) they didn't have more, (2) they didn't bother to record them, or (3) they had already left for Vermont when more children were born. The third possibility seems most likely, especially considering that the early records for Rupert were lost. (R 24, R 46)
