Vera Ralls (1908 - 1986)

Born 17 Apr 1908 in Fort Worth, Tarrant, Texas, United States

Ancestors

Died 25 Feb 1986 at age 77 in Electra, Wichita, Texas, United States

Biography

This biography was auto-generated by a GEDCOM import. It's a rough draft and needs to be edited.

Burial

Burial:

Date: 28 FEB 1986

Place: Electra Memorial Park, Electra, Wichita Co,TX

Note

Note: #NI0505

Sources

Notes

Note NI0505All information on Vera Ralls, her husband and their descendants from Ricky Davis, July 1998

From file of Lowell Graves on rootsweb.com, Aut 2003

Vera Ralls Graves was born in Fort Worth Texas April 17, 1908, the daughter of John Thomas Ralls and Ollie Johnson Ralls. She is a direct descendent of Daniel Ralls and Col John W Ralls. (Col Ralls was her great-grandfather. Her mother died in March 1922 when she was 13 years old. Her father married his housekeeper Rose Mulkey to avoid the gossip of an unmarried man and woman in the same household. Besides Vera, there were 5 boys all younger than she, with the yougest at only 2 years old at the time of their mothers death. Vera Ralls was married to Cornelius Wirt Graves in 1923 and subsequently had 14 children, including two sets of fraternal twins, Aundrea and Deldon Graves in 1944 and Micheal and Coleen Graves in 1947. She and Wirt Graves were divorced in 1948. Vera raised her younger children from that time without assistance from her former spouse. In addittion she was the primary care-giver for grandchildren, Danna and Larry Thompson, Gary Boyd Long, Yolanda Graves.Her second son, Carlos Hays Graves drowned in a stock pond on Easter Sunday, April 17 1938 which was also her birthday. Her third son, Tommy Lewis Graves was severly injured in bicylce/car hit and run accident in 1945 that caused him lifelong mental and psycological problems. Vera was proud of her Ralls ancestry and its rich history, including the fact that Daniel Ralls with his one vote in 1822 in St Louis Missouri enabled Thomas Hart Benton to become the first United States senator from the then new state of Missouri. Ralls County Missouri is named for Daniel Ralls. In addition, she was also proud of her great grandfathers history in the Black Hawk wars and the Mexican War. Col John Ralls, her great-grandfather founded the first Masonic Lodge in the New Mexico territory and in the western part of Texas at San Angelo.

Vera endured a life of much tragedy and hard work and very poor economic times. Having been able to complete her education thru only the 5th grade she was astute and intelligent. She worked and endured some very difficult times within her marriage and the problems of having 14 children. Because she came from pioneer stock and not unwealthy forebears, she persevered and raised her children.The Ralls' were Southern sympathizers during the Civil War, (which is noted in Mark Twains short story History of a Campaign That Failed)and had been slave owners since their beginnings in Virginia and Kentucky. Vera died in Electra Wichita Co Texas on Feb 25, 1986 from cancer/surgery complications and is buried there.

Acknowledgments

Thank you to Gordon Ralls for creating WikiTree profile Ralls-498 through the import of Ralls043013.GED on Jun 20, 2013. Click to the Changes page for the details of edits by Gordon and others.