Primary Ancestors:

Elizabeth (Grever) Graves (1848 - 1930) | click for personal facts and charts
Henry Graves (1844 - 1900) | click for personal facts and charts

Short Family History:

Henry Graves ca. 1895

Elizabeth Graves date uknown

Elizabeth Grever was born in northwestern Germany, just north of the town of Oldenburg. Her parents died when she was young. She immigrated to the U.S. with her sister at a young age and made her way to Cincinnati, OH.

In 1872, she married Henry Graves, also a German immigrant. His place of origin is a little less certain, but some records indicate he was born in Hagen, Hanover, although this is unconfirmed.

Henry and Elizabeth had two children in Ohio, then travelled by wagon train to St. Marys, Kansas. They stayed there a few years, had two more children and then rented a farm northwest of Topeka near a small village of Menoken (in Shawnee County). Again, they had two more children and then settled, this time for good, on 160 acres just west of McFarland, Kansas in Wabaunsee County in 1881.

They lived out the rest of their days on that farm... the house built on the edge of Mill Creek (just after Henry's death) still stands to this day.

Elizabeth also had a sister, Agnes (Grever) Arkenberg (click for family tree), who lived for a while in Cincinnati. Agnes and her husband Barney eventually settled in St. Marys, Kansas, about 15 miles north of Elizabeth's home near McFarland. Apparently the families were quite close through the first several generations.

There are other headshots of the family in the family tree pages (links above).

Research Notes:

My research on the Graves is essentially done. In the fall of 2003, I compiled a book about the descendants of Henry and Elizabeth (which contains information on over 500 people). If you are interested in obtaining a copy of the book, please contact me. A short history of the family can be downloaded below.

"Essentially done", but never complete. A few items on my to-do-list are: I would like to verify Henry and Elizabeth's date of marriage in Cincinnati and locate the church. Also, I would like to find an immigration date on Henry and also verify his hometown in Germany. There's been some suggestion that Henry had a brother in Cincinatti, but I have found no proof yet.- MD 13Nov2003

Surname variations:

Grever, Graver, Grafar - Grever is the correct spelling, although I've seen the other spellings in print.
Graves - no other spellings

Relevant Links:

pdf: History of Henry and Elizabeth Graves*

image: Elizabeth (Grever) Graves
image: Henry Graves

*you need the free Adobe Acrobat Reader in order to view the PDF