I have written about William Thomas Graves entry into the Civil War and the fact that he didn’t survive the war. This article is about William Thomas and his family.
William Thomas Graves was born about 1836 in Chesterfield, Chesterfield, South Carolina.1 2 He appeared in two censuses (1850-1860) prior to his enlistment into the Civil War.3 He enlisted on 13 August 1862 and served with Co. C, 8th SC Infantry.4 William died on 15 Oct 1862 at the age of 26 at Charlestown Hospital, Virginia in Charlestown, Virginia.5 6 7
William Thomas Graves and Mary Gilley Lassiter were married on 26 Jul 1857 in Chesterfield, Chesterfield, South Carolina.8
Mary Gilley Lassiter, the daughter of Eli Lassiter and Mary Gainey, was born in 1839 in Chesterfield, Chesterfield, South Carolina. 9 After the loss of her husband, she was found living in a POOR HOUSE on 3 Aug 1866. She died sometime after Aug 1866.10
William Thomas Graves and Mary Gilley Lassiter had the following children:
i. Clarinda G. Graves, born 23 Oct 1859, Chesterfield, Chesterfield, South Carolina; married Christopher Wesley Teal, 25 Nov 1878, Chesterfield, Chesterfield, South Carolina; died 1 Aug 1933, Chesterfield, Chesterfield, South Carolina.
ii. Nancy Jane Graves was born in 1862. Nancy was baptized on 1 January 1874, age 12; after that date nothing more is known about Nancy Jane Graves.11
Only one of the two children born to the union between William Thomas Graves and Mary Gilly Lassiter survived.
Clarinda Graves married Christopher Wesley Teal in 1878 and they had eight children; six sons and two daughters. It is not known whether her Mother was still living on her marriage date. We do know it was struggle caring for two children with no spouse to help and provide support.
Teal descendants, of this couple, are still living in Chesterfield County today. A friend and great grand daughter of William Thomas and Mary Gilly recently passed away in Brementon, Washington.
William Thomas Graves is the brother of my 2nd Great Grandmother Sarah Jane Graves Purvis.
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1. 1850 U. S. Census, Chesterfield County, South Carolina, population schedule, Chesterfield County, South Carolina, Page 106A, Line 8, Dwelling 110, Family 110, Household of Mary GRAVES; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : viewed 20 November 2011); citing National Archives Microfilm M432 Roll 851.
2. Ibid.
3. 1860 U. S. Census, Chesterfield County, South Carolina, population schedule, Chesterfield County, South Carolina, Page: 171; Line 3, Dwelling 1082, Family 1080, Household of [William] Thomas GRAVES; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : viewed 20 November 2011); citing National Archives Microfilm M653_1217.
4. Ancestry, "Civil War Service Records" database, Military Service Records (http://www.fold3.com/ : accessed 13 October 2013), entry for Thomas GRAVES, Private; Co. C, 8th SC Infantry; Confederate.
5. Ibid.
6. Brent H. Holcomb C.A.L.S., St. David's Parish, South Carolina Minutes of the Vestry 1768-1832,: Parish Register 1819-1924 (Greenville, South Carolina: Southern Historical Press, 1991), pages 87-68.
7. The South Carolina Genealogical Society, "Freedmen's Bureau Ration Book: May - September 1866 Darlington, South Carolina," The Carolina Herald (Summer Issue 2003): Page 27.
8. Holcomb, St. David's Parish, South Carolina Minutes of the Vestry 1768-1832,, page 105.
9. 1860 U. S. Census, Chesterfield County, South Carolina, Population Schedule, Chesterfield County, South Carolina, Page: 171; Line 3, Dwelling 1082, Family 1080, Household of [William] Thomas GRAVES.
10. "South Carolina, Freedmen's Bureau Records, 1865-1872," images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1971-36671-7806-5?cc=2127881&wc=M9HH-D8P:1937351358 : accessed 22 Dec 2013), Cheraw (agent) > Roll 64, Registers of rations issued, vol 1-2, Apr-Sep, no year listed > image 121 of 199.
11. Holcomb, St. David's Parish, South Carolina Minutes of the Vestry 1768-1832,, page 68.
