DESCENDANTS OF NATHANIEL GRAVES AND LUCY CHESHIRE
OF ROBESON CO. & BLADEN CO., NC

Shared by Zelia Cline and posted January 14, 2004 by Myrtle Bridges.

The info below is part of what I have on the Greaves/Graves of Cumberland/Robeson/Bladen/Columbus counties.  
Nathaniel Greaves was born in Cumberland Co, NC 3 December 1803...never have found his parents. His sister 
Mary who married Stephen Edwards of Bladen Co had this birth date for Nathaniel in her Family Bible. 
Nathaniel married Lucy Cheshire...probably Bladen.  This is my grandmother's line, one I've not been able 
to do much with. Zelia

 Nathaniel Greaves was born 29 Dec 1803 in Cumberland Co., NC, and died after 1870. He married 
Lucy Cheshire, possibly a daughter of Richard Cheshire. She was born about 1806 in Bladen Co., NC. 
They lived in Bladen and Robeson counties. Documentation is from tombstones, CSA Army records, old 
Bible records, death certificates and census records. 
    In the 1800 NC census, there was Benjamin Greaves in Brunswick Co., Hardy Greaves in Robeson Co., 
and Sampson Greaves in Bladen Co. In the 1810 NC census, there was Hardy Greaves in Robeson Co. and 
Sampson Greaves in Bladen Co. In the 1820 NC census, there was Sampson Greaves in Bladen Co., and 
Benjamin and Joseph Greaves in Brunswick Co. In the 1830 NC census, Nathaniel Greaves was listed in 
Bladen Co. It seems likely that Sampson Greaves was Nathaniel's father, based on Nathaniel's naming 
his third son Sampson. 
   The 1860 census for Bladen Co., NC lists the family with their ages and occupations as follows: 
S. B. (Sampson) Greaves, 27, turpentine; J. F. (John F.) Greaves, 30, turpentine; Nathaniel Greaves, 
57, cooper; Lucy Greaves, 53, domestic; Nathan Greaves, 24, turpentine; Lydia Greaves, 21, domestic; 
M. A. Greaves, 17, domestic; S. L. Greaves, 13, Anthony F. Graves,11, Catherine Greaves, 24, domestic. 
Mordecai Greaves, the oldest, was already married to Mary (?) and had his first child, Virginia B Greaves 
and lived in Bladen Co. 
     In 1860, Bladen Co. had 500 turpentine stills, and turpentine was the number one product in the 
county.The last two children were born in Robeson County and the others in Bladen Co, NC. 
    Mordecai, John F, Nathan R Graves and Sampson Graves  served in the Confederate Army in the Civil 
War, in the 18th Regiment, Co. B. John F. Graves may have transferred to the Confederate Navy.

CHILDREN- NATHANIEL and LUCY (CHESHIRE) GRAVES 

1. Mordecai Graves, b. 1828 and died of disease in Winchester, Va 18 Oct 1863.  He married Mary ?  
Their children were Virginia B Greaves b 1859 and Lucy E Greaves b 1861. 

2. John F. Graves, b. 1830, m. Catherine  Kinlaw, 21 Dec. 1859 in Bladen Co, NC and died 31 August 1901 
in Cumberland Co, NC. He served in the Confederate Army in the 18th Infantry.  John  married 2nd 
Elizabeth Blackburn 18 April 1894.  Children of John and Catherine were:  Carrie G Greaves, b 1867, 
Elsy O Greaves b 1868, Zebulon Greaves, b 1869, Ida C Greaves b 1872 and Atlas E Greaves b 5 May 1878 
and died 25 Feb 1944 in Columbus Co, NC. 

3. Sampson B. Graves, b 1833, d. 3 Sept. 1862. He served in the Confederate Army, 18th Infantry and 
was killed at Ox Hill, VA. 

4. Nathan Randall Graves+ 

5. Lydia Graves, b. 1839. She married Richard J Cheshire, son of Nicholas Cheshire. 
Their children were Richard S, John, Mary, Henry , Catherine J, James. 

6. Mary A. Graves, b. 1843. 

7. Simon L. Graves, b. 1847. 

+8. Anthony Fleming Graves, b. 1 Aug. 1849, m. Amanda Caroline Cook, c. 1870, d. 6 Jan. 1928 in 
Robeson Co, NC.  Their children were:  Charles W, Lucy E, Fleetwood and Nathan Giles.  They lived 
in Marion County, SC in 1880. 
                                           
    +Nathan Randall Graves (5) was born in Oct. 1836 and died in 1905, in Bladen Co., NC. He married 
Mary Margaret Evers, daughter of William James Evers and Nancy Ann Allen, on 19 Aug. 1865 in Bladen 
Co., NC. She was born about 1843 and died in 1914,   Bladen Co., NC. They were both buried in Old Pait 
Cem., Bladen Co. 
     There are records in the National Archives and NC Archives verifying that Nathan served in Co. B, 
18th North Carolina Infantry, in the Confederate Army in 1861-62, when he was discharged for disability, 
having lost sight in one eye in the battle of Hanover Courthouse, VA. Their are records for pensions 
for both he and his wife.

CHILDREN OF NATHAN R AND MARY MARGARET (EVERS) GRAVES 

1. Della Ann Graves+ 
2. Angus D. Graves, b. 21 Sept 1867 and died 2 January 1940 in Columbus Co,NC. 
3. William B. Graves, b. 9 April 1870 and died 10 May 1926 in Bladen Co, NC. 
4. Mary B.Graves, b. 9 November 1875 and died 29 Febuary 1952 in Bladen Co,NC. 
5. Lucy V. Graves, b. Nov. 1885. (is she a child or a grandchild?) 

+Della Ann Graves  was born 9 July 1866 in Bethel Twp., Bladen Co., NC, and died 19 Sept. 1947 
in Kannapolis, Cabarrus Co., NC. She married Hector Barker ("H.B.") Humphrey, son of Duncan 
Carlyle Humphrey and Mary Ann Johnson, on 8 June 1889 in Bladen Co, NC. He was born 2 Sept. 1864 in St. 
Pauls, Robeson Co., NC, and died 13 Dec. 1954 in Concord, Cabarrus Co., NC. They were both buried in 
Carolina Memorial Park, Cabarrus Co. 
    H. B. was a jewelry and watch repairman, minister, and optometrist. He was tall and thin, with 
blond hair and a handlebar mustache. He was never in the military and never owned or drove an automobile. 
Della was short and plump, with heavy, dark hair, and was a jolly person. She stayed home and reared 
the eight children almost single-handedly while H.B. was on the road all the time with various undertakings. 
They lived in Bladen, Robeson, Richmond, and Cabarrus Counties.  They spent approximately 10 years in 
Georgia between 1894 and 1904.

CHILDREN OF H. B. AND DELLA ANN (GRAVES) HUMPHREY 

1. Charley Hudson Humphrey, b. 27 Sept. 1891 in Bladen Co, NC, m. Ressie Parker, 5 May 1915 in Rockingham, 
NC, d. 12 January 1971 in Hartsville, SC. 

2. Nathan Carlyle Humphrey, b. 1 May 1895 in Georgia, m. Rose Dawkins, 31 Aug. 1915, d. 8 Dec. 1985 
in Rockingham, NC). 

3. Eulah Della Humphrey, b. 29 Sept. 1897 in Georgia m. Marvin Brackett, d. 5 July 1978 in Kannapolis, NC. 

4. William Walter Humphrey, b. 4 Nov. 1899 in Miller Co, Georgia, m. Mary Lillian Cabiness of Shelby, NC 
and died 19 November 1975 in Shelby. 

5. Annie Belle Humphrey, b. 13 Nov. 1901 in Arlington, GA, d. 27 July 1951 in Kannapolis, NC. 

6.  Alma Ruth Humphrey, b. 9 July 1904 in Bladen Co, NC married Willis Monroe Beal in Kannapolis, NC and 
died 2 March 1986. 

7.  Daniel Johnson Humphrey, b 30 June 1906 in Bladen Co, NC and died in Cumberland County, NC 7 March 
1981.  He married Nina Williams of Richmond Co. 

8.  Ernest Hector Humphrey, b 9 July 1909 in Robeson Co, NC and died 6 July 2003. He married Amanda Mae 
Humphrey in Kannapolis, NC 2 July 1933. 

 Back to Descendants of Cumberland County
 Back to Cumberland County Homepage
 Back to What's New in Cumberland 
©Copyright January 14, 2004
Last up-dated August 31, 2022