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1907 Past and Present Biographies

Clark Graven

Clark Graven owns and cultivates a good farm of five hundred and sixty acres situated on sections 11 and 12, Greenbrier township. He dates his residence in the county from 1880 and with its agricultural development he has since been closely associated. He was born in Holmes county, Ohio, in 1845, a son of Thomas and Eliza (McKelvey) Graven, both of whom were natives of Pennsylvania, whence they went to Ohio in childhood. The father was born in Philadelphia and was only five years of age when he accompanied his parents on their removal to the Buckeye state. There he was reared and married, and as the years passed nine children were added to his family, but only one brother and one sister of our subject are now living,

Clark Graven acquired his education in the public schools of his native state and was engaged in farming there. On leaving Ohio he went to Illinois, but later returned to the former state and subsequently came to Iowa, removing from Holmes county, Ohio, to the Hawkeye state in 1880. Choosing Greene county as a favorable location, he settled on section 12, Greenbrier township, where he purchased one hundred and sixty acres of land from Harmon Anderson. The sod had been broken and the place was partially improved. However, the work of advancement had been carried forward to only a slight degree and all of the substantial improvements now seen on the farm are the work of Mr. Graven, who has developed a splendid property. That he has prospered as the years have gone by is indicated by the fact that he has added to his possessions until he now owns five hundred and sixty acres of rich and productive land on sections 11 and 12, Greenbrier township. He has built a good barn, thirty by forty-two feet, for his horses; also a hog house, and has tiled the fields, inaugurating a system of drainage which is of the utmost value in promoting the fertility of the farm. In addition to cultivating the soil, he raises and feeds stock quite extensively, making a specialty of polled Angus cattle and Duroc Jersey hogs.

Mr. Graven has been married twice. In Ohio, in 1866, he wedded Miss Isabelle Hill, who died in 1868, leaving one son, Herbert. In 1876 Mr. Graven was united in marriage, in Richland county, Ohio, to Miss Margaret Cole, and unto them have been born four sons and two daughters: Elmer, Charles, Mina, Ida May, Raymond and Carl Melvin, all at home.

The parents are members of the Presbyterian church and in the community where they have now resided for more than a quarter of a century they have gained many warm friends. Mr. Graven has always been loyal in citizenship and true to the best interests of his country, his state and nation. At the time of the Civil war he responded to the country’s call for aid, enlisting in 1864 as a member of Company A, One Hundred and Sixty-sixth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, with which he served for one hundred days, the regiment at first acting as a home guard and afterward going to the front. He was but nineteeen years of age at the time of his enlistment, but his years were no gauge to his patriotism and loyalty. In his political views Mr. Graven is a stalwart republican and has served as trustee of his township, but the honors and emoluments of office have little attraction for him, as he prefers to concentrate his energies upon his business affairs.

Transcribed from "Past and Present of Greene County, Iowa Together With Biographical Sketches of Many of Its Prominent and Leading Citizens and Illustrious Dead,"
by E. B. Stillman assisted by an Advisory Board consisting of Paul E. Stillman, Gillum S. Toliver,
Benjamin F. Osborn, Mahlon Head, P. A. Smith and Lee B. Kinsey, Chicago: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1907.

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