Maria L. (Yancey) Graves (1789 - 1868)

Born 29 Oct 1789 in Rockingham, Virginia, United States

Ancestors

Wife of William Simeon Graves — married 28 Aug 1813 (to about 1827) in Rockingham, Virginia, United States

Descendants

Died 24 Feb 1868 at age 78 in Brownsville, Union, Indiana

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Biography

Maria L. Yancey was born on October 29, 1789, in Rockingham County, Virginia. She was the daughter of William 'Layton' Yancey and Frances Lynn (Fanny) Lewis.

At the age of 23, Maria married William 'Simeon' Graves on August 28, 1813, in Rockingham County, Virginia, when he was about 23.^[1][2] They had six children - Frances L., John P., Maria E., Layton Y., Amanda Jane, and Clarissa E.^[3]

Maria and Simeon had a difficult relationship. In the index for the Fredericksburg Chancery Court, there is a record for the court case (recorded in 1829) where Maria accuses Simeon of adultery and abuse, and Simeon accuses her of the same (with nearly two dozen witnesses listed).^[4]. According to one account:

"She divorced him in 1827, and the account of the affair pictures Simeon alternately a devil and an angel as her friends and then his friends gave testimony."^[3]

It is not certain when these proceedings occurred (1827 or 1829), or what was the outcome. In February 1829, Simeon conveyed (by deed) to Layton Yancey (Maria's brother) "next friend of Maria L. Graves, and as guardian of the children of the said Simeon and Maria L. Graves, 375 acres for the use and benefit of said children, reserving to said Maria L. Graves 1/3 interest for her life."^[5] In his will, written four months later in June 1829, he left his wife and each child "the sum of one dollar apiece, it being my will and intention that neither my wife nor either of my children shall have or receive any other portion of my estate." He left his entire estate to his friend Michael L. Eheart, who was also named executor.^[6]

Simeon died after June 1829 in Orange County, Virginia. Sometime afterwards, Maria and children relocated to Indiana (one source speculates they accompanied or followed her eldest daughter Frances who married in 1835 and moved west).^[5] In 1840, Maria headed a farming household in Union County, Indiana, that included four adult children.^[7] In 1850, she lived with her son Layton and family in Brownsville, Union, Indiana.^[8] In 1860, she lived with her widowed daughter Clarissa Wood and daughters in Brownsville, Union, Indiana.^[9]

Maria died on February 24, 1868, in Brownsville, Union, Indiana, at the age of 78.

Sources

1. ↑ Ancestry.com. Virginia, U.S., Compiled Marriages, 1740-1850 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 1999. Ancestry Record 3723 #1133390
2. ↑ Ancestry.com. Virginia, U.S., Select Marriages, 1785-1940 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc, 2014. Ancestry Record 60214 #1062817
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1} Genealogies of Virginia Families from the William and Mary College Quarterly. Vol. II. Cobb-Hay [database on-line]. The Graves Family of Essex Co. Page 752. Link
4. ↑ Historic Court Records. Fredericksburg, Virginia. Search field: Graves. Link
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1} Yancey, Rebecca L. (1977). Ancestors and descendants of Captain William Layton Yancey and his wife, Frances Lynn Lewis, 1600-1900. Baltimore, MD: Gateway Press. 1977. Pages 52-53. Link
6. ↑ Ancestry.com. Virginia, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1652-1900 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2021. Link
7. ↑ Ancestry.com. 1840 United States Federal Census. Year: 1840; Census Place: Union, Indiana; Roll: 95; Page: 302; Family History Library Film: 0007730. Image
8. ↑ Ancestry.com. 1850 United States Federal Census. Year: 1850; Home in 1850: Brownsville, Union, Indiana; Roll: 176; Page: 310a. Image
9. ↑ Ancestry.com. 1860 United States Federal Census. Year: 1860; Home in 1860: Brownsville, Union, Indiana; Roll: M653_301; Page: 227; Family History Library Film: 803301. Image