Roswell Herbert Graves

     Roswell Herbert Graves was known as Bert. He was born on 29 September 1865 in Dixon, Solano County, California.¹ He was the son of Roswell Graves and Eugenia C Clapp.² He was a rancher near Pendleton, Umatilla County, Oregon, in 1904.³ He married Minnie Lois Downs, daughter of John M Downs and Margaret Louisa Van Dorn, on 21 July 1904 in Pendleton, Oregon.^4,3 He died on 15 July 1945 of sunstroke in Roseburg, Douglas County, Oregon, at age 79.¹

Bert's obituary in the The Roseburg News-Review on 17 July 1945 read:

Bert's obituary in the The North Pacific Union Gleaner on 14 August 1945 read:

He was buried on 22 July 1945 in Civil Bend Cemetery, Winston, Douglas County, Oregon^G.¹

"R. H. ("Bert") Graves was only 18 years old at the time of his father's death. Two of his sisters were married, but he was left as the sole support of his mother and younger sisters, with only a sixth-grade education. He was employed for a time as a cowboy in Modoc County; later he tried cattle ranching east of Pendleton, Umatilla County, Oregon, where "Graves Butte" bears his name on topographic maps. He went to the aid of his youngest sister, May, at the time she gave birth to stillborn twins. May later attended "normal school" where one of her classmates was Minnie Downs. May introduced them and was a witness at their wedding in 1904.

"Bert Graves, at other times in his life, raised sheep, turkeys, was a logger, and farmed. The family moved often, perhaps remaining longest in the area of Drain, Oregon. He converted to the Seventh-Day Adventist Church upon his marriage. His daughters recalled him as a stern father, but one who adored babies. He sometimes sang cowboy songs to his children, which scandalized his wife, who thought some of the lyrics were naughty; and he occasionally uttered a swear word, such as when a horse stepped on his foot. He made many toys for his children and grandchildren by whittling them out of pieces of wood. By middle age he was quite bald."⁶