Calvin C. Graves, dealer in
groceries, provisions, etc., Kingsland, Ark. Among the many enterprises necessary to
complete the commercial resources of a town or city, none is of more importance than
that of the grocer, as being one of the main factors in the furnishing of our food
supplies. Prominent in this trade is the establishment of Mr. Calvin C. Graves, which
was established in February, 1885, and now has a stock valued at $600, and the annual
sales of about $6,000. Mr. Graves was born in Lamar County, Tex., in 1844, and is the son
of Stephen and Margaret (Orm) Graves, natives of Virginia. The father was born in 1799,
and after his marriage resided in seventeen different States until 1818, when be came to
what is now Cleveland County, Ark. There he died in 1862, and his wife in 1870. He was of
Irish descent, and although he followed farming the latter part of his life, he was a
tanner by trade, and followed this for many years. Calvin C. Graves is the youngest of
seven children, two sons and one daughter now living: Benjamin F. (a farmer of Cleveland
County), Mrs. Susan Morgan (also of Cleveland County), and Calvin C. The latter attained
his growth on the farm, and received a limited education in the common schools, the entire
time of attendance not being over ten or twelve months. In October, 1863, he joined
Company D, Second Arkansas Cavalry, and served until the close of the war, operating in
Arkansas, Missouri, Louisiana and Texas. He was in Price's raid through Missouri, and
surrendered in Texas in May, 1865. Returning home he engaged in farming, and in December,
1867, was united in marriage to Miss Mary Merrill, a native of Georgia, and the daughter
of Patrick and Rebecca Merrill, natives also of Georgia. From there her parents moved to
Louisiana, thence to Texas, and about 1860 to what is now Cleveland County, where Mrs.
Merrill now lives. Mr. Merrill died in the Confederate army. Mr. Graves followed farming
until 1885, and has 146 acres seven miles from Kingsland, and also has four houses and
lots in that city. He is a Democrat in politics, and his first presidential vote was for
H. Seymour in 1868. Mrs. Graves is a member of the Missionary Baptist Church. |