Los Angeles
County
Biographies
JACKSON
A. GRAVES
A
leader in financial circles of Los Angeles for almost half a century and
president of the Farmers & Merchants National Bank for twelve years,
Jackson A. Graves was a one of the best known citizens of the southland and one
who endeared himself to all who came within the influence of his personality.
Jackson
A. Graves was born in the village of Hauntown, about
ten miles west of Clinton, Iowa, on December 5, 1852, a son of John A. and Katherine
Jane (Haun) Graves.
Thee father was born in Lexington, Kentucky, and the mother on the
Georgetown Pike near that city. In an
early day settlement was made in Iowa, where Jackson A. was born. When he was a child of five years, the family
made the trip to California by way of Panama and settled on a ranch in Yuba
County, about five miles north of Marysville.
This was in the heart of the early mining district and during the
following ten years, the father carried on ranching and no doubt did some
mining. Mrs. Graves was a woman of
education and she taught her son because schools were few at that time. In 1867 the family made another move, this
time settling on a ranch in the northern part of San Mateo County where the
father engaged in raising potatoes.
After the family had settled on their ranch, Jackson A. rode horseback to and from San Francisco, a distance of ten
miles, to attend the Latin school conducted by Azro
L. Mann, which was later consolidated with the San Francisco high school system. After completing the high school course young
Graves attended St. Mary’s College near San Francisco, and was a member of the
first graduating class of the college. He
received his A. B. degree in 1872 and his A. M. degree in 1873. His alma mater conferred the honorary degree
of LL. D. on Mr. Graves forty years later in 1912, the school then being
located in Oakland, California.
After
completing his courses in college, Mr. Graves entered the law offices of
Eastman and Neumann in San Francisco as a student and clerk. His salary was forty dollars a month and he
often remarked that the two hundred dollars he received for the first five
months “looked bigger than any sum I ever have seen since.” It was on June 5, 1875, that Mr. Graves came
to Los Angeles, following the removal of Mr. Eastman to this city where he had
formed a partnership with Judge A. Brunson under the firm name of Brunson &
Eastman. Mr. Graves continued to study
law with that firm and was admitted to the California bar on January 12, 1876,
at once becoming the junior member of the firm of Brunson, Eastman &
Graves. In 1878 he withdrew from the
firm, practiced alone for two years and then formed a partnership with J. S.
Chapman under the name of Graves and Chapman in which connection they continued
successfully for the ensuing five years when the partnership was
dissolved. In January of 1885 the law
firm of Graves and O’Melveny was organized, H. W. O’Melveny becoming a member
of the firm. The latter is today still
practicing law. In 1888 J. H. Shankland was admitted to the firm which became Graves,
O’Melveny & Shankland, and which continued to
prosper until in June, 1903, when Mr. Graves withdrew from the firm to take
charge of the Farmers & Merchants National Bank. During the sixteen years that Mr. Graves was
senior member of the law firm it held the unique position of being attorneys
for all the banks in Los Angeles except one, the Los Angeles National Bank.
The
firm of Graves & Chapman had engaged in large corporation work and in
March, 1883, the Los Angeles Board of Trade was incorporated by them. The corporate business of Graves &
Chapman fell to the new firm of Graves & O’Melveny, who had also become the
leading authorities on land titles and they incorporated the Metropolitan
Building & Loan Association. In 1887
the firm of Graves & O’Melveny, assisted by Frank A. Gibson, M. L. Wicks
and several other leading men of Los Angeles, organized the Abstract &
Title Insurance Company, now the Title Insurance & Trust Company. The strict integrity and legal wisdom of Mr.
Graves, during these busy years, brought him considerable success in financial
affairs and he became interested in banking as a stockholder and vice president
of the Farmers & Merchants Bank prior to 1903. In this year, the bank became known as the Farmers
& Merchants National Bank with I. W. Hellman as president and J. A. Graves
as vice president and manager. Upon the
death of Mr. Hellman in April, 1920, Mr. Graves became president and from that
time until his death wisely guided the policies of that bank.
Mr.
Graves was a member of the executive committee of the Los Angeles Clearing
House Association for over twenty years and was its president in 1907. He was custodian of all securities of the
National Currency Association of Los Angeles during the World War. Through his legal service, Mr. Graves
rendered the banks and the Los Angeles district services that cannot be
measured in money, all of which was gratuitous.
He lived to a ripe age and contributed his share of time, services and
money to advance the interests of the southern California he loved. In 1927 Mr. Graves published an interesting
historical volume, “My Seventy Years in California.”
On
October 23, 1879, Jackson A. Graves was united in marriage with Alice H.
Griffith, daughter of J. M. and Sarah A. Griffith, pioneer residents of Los
Angeles. There were five children born
of this union. Selwyn met an accidental
death at the age of twenty-three years.
Jackson A. died at the age of seventeen.
Alice married H. F. Stewart, who was connected with the Farmers &
Merchants National Bank and they are the parents of two children: H. F. Stewart, Jr., and Alice Howart
Stewart. Katharine married E. S. Armstrong,
a mining engineer and they have four children living: Katharine, Mrs. John Neff; Elizabeth; Jackson
G. and Ruth. Francis P. is a member of
the firm of Graves & Banning, dealers in bonds and stocks. He married Katharine Banning and they have
three children: Francis P., Jr., Jane
Banning and Selwyn Jackson. The first
home occupied by Mr. and Mrs. Graves was at Third and Broadway. In 1888 they erected a home on a ranch at
Alhambra where they since resided. On
October 23, 1929, Mrs. Stewart gave a reception at her home in San Marino to commemorate
the golden wedding of her father and mother, which was a scene of rejoicing and
reunion.
Los
Angeles County had in Mr. Graves a citizen to be proud of, one whose name will
go down in its archives as a man who was equal to the task in hand and who rose
to every emergency. He was fond of
fishing and hunting in his earlier years, and up to the time of his death,
February 13, 1933, was actively engaged in many enterprises. The following lines by John Steven McGroarty,
a friend of many years standing, are a tribute to Mr. Graves:
“You
all will recall that the name of Jackson A. Graves was long familiar in our
synagogue. There was frequently much to
say about him. He was a forceful figure
in the world, a brave, strong-spoken man, loving his friends and not fearing
his enemies. He spoke his mind, and he
had a great mind.
Now,
he is no longer here in the flesh. His
fearless soul has taken flight to another world. The places that knew him so long will know him
no more.
When
we stood with others beside his last resting place in a quiet country
churchyard, we were glad to think that we had spoken his praises while he still
lived and could hear. It is the best
way. When a man is with death he cannot
hear what is said of him, whether good or ill.
He is beyond that.
Jackson
A. Graves was a true friend, and that’s the best thing that can be said of a
man.
Beyond
the stars he will now meet many he wondered about while he was here. And he will have much to say to old bankers
and lawyers who went before him in the ages of the past. He will hobnob also with writers of
books. For these three things—banker,
lawyer and writer—he, himself was while he was here, and skillful at them all.
Peace
be with him and may his rest be sweet.”
Transcribed
by V. Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: California of the South
Vol. IV, by John Steven McGroarty, Pages 681-685,
Clarke Publ., Chicago, Los Angeles, Indianapolis. 1933.
© 2012 V.
Gerald Iaquinta.
GOLDEN NUGGET'S LOS ANGELES
BIOGRAPHIES