David William Graves (1837-1918), Autobiography, 1916 (C158)

3 folders

INTRODUCTION

The autobiography of a Montgomery County, Missouri, farmer, schoolteacher, and Baptist missionary and minister. A donor-compiled index is included.

DONOR INFORMATION

The Graves Autobiography was donated to the State Historical Society of Missouri by Frances M. Miller on 7 December 1976 (SHS Accession No. 2046). An addition was made on 24 June 1986 (SHS Accession No. 2606).

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

David William Graves was born in Pittsylvania County, Virginia, on 28 February 1837. He was the third of six children born to Washington and Mildred (Berger) Graves. In 1840 Graves' family moved to Missouri and settled in Montgomery County.

Graves attended schools run by neighbors and family members between ages six and sixteen. In 1853 he began working as a clerk in a general merchandise store in Danville. A year later he quit his job to return home and complete his basic education. Graves entered William Jewell College at Liberty in 1857. He transferred to the State University at Columbia four years later. Graves graduated with honors and received his B.A. degree in 1862. Later that same year he also received his M.A. degree.

Graves joined the Zion Baptist Church in 1856. He was licensed to preach the gospel six years later and ordained a minister in 1866. He served as pastor of churches in Zion, Troy, Mount Pleasant, Loutre, Liberty, Middletown, and Wellsville. Graves also served as a missionary to the Bear Creek and Cape Girardeau Associations and in the Indian Territory.

Graves married Julia A. Crockett on 18 March 1863. They had thirteen children--six sons and seven daughters. Eight children survived to adulthood.

In 1863 Graves and R.D. Shannon took charge of the Montgomery City College. Graves served as principal of the college until 1865. To augment his income Graves also farmed a section of his father's land. Due to his Southern sympathies, Graves was forced to leave Missouri in 1865. He eventually secured the position of principal at LaGrange College in LaGrange, Kentucky.

In 1868 Graves moved his family back to Missouri and his father's farm. For the next eight years Graves divided his time among teaching public school, preaching, and farming. In 1876 he lost the farm, however, and formed a co-principalship of Montgomery College with D.W.B. Kurtz. Kurtz was succeeded by J.C. McCleary and, later, C.G. Cunningham. When the college became Montgomery City High School in 1880, Graves resigned.

For the next two years Graves taught public school near New London in Ralls County and sold Bibles farm-to-farm to support his wife and children. In 1882 he moved his family to Marble Hill and opened a school in Sedgewickville. Two years later he resigned and started a school in Patton. The school had only been in operation a year when Graves was asked to take charge of the Mayfield Smith Academy in Marble Hill.

Graves was elected principal of the Levering Indian Mission School at Watumpka in Indian Territory in 1890. Three years later he was forced to leave because of recurring poor health. After a quick recovery he took over the principalship of a public school in Benton. Graves was back at Mayfield Smith Academy by 1894. He resigned two years later.

Graves remained in Marble Hill until 1900 when he returned to Montgomery City to retire. Despite increasingly poor health, he continued to maintain a small farm and preach. Graves died at his home on 26 December 1918.

SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE

In 1914 Graves began dictating his memoirs to his daughter Julia. He completed the project two years later. The resulting autobiography chronicles Graves' activities from approximately age three to age seventy-nine, or seventy-six of his eighty-one years. Highlights of the autobiography include detailed descriptions of his family, their emigration to Missouri from Virginia, his childhood in Montgomery County, his varied education, his teaching experiences, and his ministry.

INDEX TERMS

These index terms are the subjects, people, places, etc. under which this collection is listed in all available indexes at the Western Historical Manuscript Collection-Columbia. If you are interested in a specific index term, please contact the reference staff.

  • Agriculture
  • Autobiographies
  • Baptist Church--Missouri
  • Blacks--Attitudes toward
  • Choirs (Music)
  • Corn shucking
  • Education
  • Evangelistic work
  • Farm buildings
  • Farm life
  • Fishing
  • Frontier & pioneer life
  • Graves family
  • Graves, David William (1837-1918)
  • Graves, Julia A. Crockett
  • Graves, Washington (1805- )
  • House raisings
  • Hunting
  • Indians, Creek
  • Indians--Attitudes toward
  • Indians--Diseases
  • Indians--Education
  • LaGrange College, LaGrange, KY
  • Lee, Robert Edward (1807-1870)
  • Levering Indian Mission, Watumpka, Indian Territory
  • Mayfield Smith Academy, Marble Hill, MO
  • Missouri, Marble Hill
  • Missouri, Montgomery City
  • Missouri, Montgomery County
  • Missouri, Patton
  • Missouri, Sedgewickville
  • Montgomery City College, Montgomery City, MO
  • Montgomery City High School, Montgomery City, MO
  • Nowlin family
  • Play
  • Religious Education
  • Rural churches
  • School buildings
  • School discipline
  • Shelton family
  • Slavery
  • Sunday schools
  • Teaching
  • Virginia, Pittsylvania County
  • Vocal music
  • William Jewell College, Liberty, MO
  • Zion Baptist Church, Montgomery County, Missouri