principles until recently, when he became a Prohibitionist. He has held the office of county superintendent of schools for Story County, and, in fact, has always filled some important post in the township since he located as a resident in Cambridge. He is an earnest and enterprising citizen, a gentleman commanding the respect of all parties in his place of residence, has a beautiful and comfortable home in the town of Cambridge and a sufficient amount of this world's goods to place him be yond the reach of want. He is, or has been, an Odd Fellow and a member of the Masonic fraternity. He and wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, having joined the church in 1871, and he now holds the position of trustee and steward. They are active supporters of all benevolent and religious enterprises, and cheerfully contribute what they can of their means in the support of the same.
A. J. Graves, farmer and stock-raiser, Ames, Iowa. The agricultural interests of Washington Township are ably represented by the subject of this sketch, a man whose life has been passed in the calling which now receives his attention. He was born in Vermont on October 13, 1830, and is the son of Rufus and Deborah (Whitcombe) Graves, natives of Massachusetts and Vermont, respectively. The father was born in 1799, and died in 1867, in Vermont, while the mother, who was born in 1799, died in 1869, also in Vermont. The paternal grandfather, Gad Graves, was a native of Massachusetts, and died in that State. A. J. Graves, the third of six children, four of whom are now living, was reared in Vermont, and his education was acquired at the district school, with the addition of a few terms in the high schools of those days. In 1853 he went to California, and after remaining there for over three years returned to Vermont, and moved from there to Iowa in 1858. He first settled in Cedar Falls, Black Hawk County, and in 1864 came to Story County, locating in Washington Township, where for four years he had charge of the College Farm. In April, 1868, he removed to his present farm, two miles southwest of Ames, which consists of 327 acres, and is now a representative farmer. He has been a member of the board of county supervisors. He was married in 1858 to Miss Mary M. Meredith, a native of Ohio, whose birth occurred in 1837, and to them were born three children: Edwin H. (born in 1861), Frank J. (born in 1870) and Zebina K. (born in 1871). Mr. Graves is one of the charter members of Arcadia Lodge No. 249, A. F. & A. M., at Ames, and was made a Mason in Nevada Lodge No. 99. He is one of the leading men of Washington Township, and while he is an agriculturist of advanced ideas, he does not lose sight of stock-raising, being engaged in breeding Short-horn cattle and Chester-white hogs, which he commenced in 1868. For the same length of time he has been engaged in nursery and horticultural pursuits, as his home will attest, being surrounded by fine orchards, vineyards, and valuable groves of both native and ornamental timber. In these surroundings he has reared lasting monuments of his industry and skill.
Joshua B. Grove. Among the many eminent and enterprising agriculturists of Story County, Iowa, worthy of mention in these pages, is Mr. Grove, who has been identified with the farming interests of the community since 1856. His birth occurred in Frederick County, Va., on April 2, 1830, he being a son of John and Nancy (Waln) Grove, both of whom were Virginians by birth. The father was a son of Jacob and Catherine (Zonis) Grove, the former of German descent, and the latter a native of Germany. Nancy (Wain) Grove was the daughter of Joseph Waln and wife, nee Bonard, and her maternal grand-