Tom Graves, Master Carpenter

 

Tom Graves could make just about anything.  In his home near Princeville, Illinois and later in eastern South Dakota he built numerous homes with his son Delbert.  In Esmond, South Dakota he and Delbert built a large, two-story brick building known as “The Big Store” with a double store front on the main floor and the Graves Dance Hall located on the second story.  He built many pieces of furniture for his family members, including the rocking chair I rocked his great-great-great-great granddaughters in.  But when he wasn’t busy building these items, he liked to whittle and carve. 

Where and when Tom picked up this hobby, I don’t know, yet I can picture him sitting on his back step all alone, as the sun went down at the end of his work day, whittling on a piece of wood.  But the fascinating thing about his carvings is that he worked with any material he could get, not just wood.  He created a number of small items from pipestone, which is also known as catlinite.  This material is a soft sedimentary rock best known for being used by Native American tribes for creating ceremonial pipes, and is an attractive brown/red in color.  The best known deposit of this is in the Pipestone Quarry district in Minnesota. 

Though born in Ohio, Tom grew up just outside of Princeville in Peoria county, Illinois near the Stark county line.  He married a local girl, Nettie Belle Lair, daughter of Lawson and Margaret Lair.  They lived on an 80 acre farm given to him by his father, William Graves.  He also lived in Stark county for a few years before moving to Esmond, South Dakota, and then to nearby Carthage, South Dakota where he lived out the remainder of his life. 

 

Two of his pipestone carvings are dated August 30, 1901, when he and his family went to Pipestone, Minnesota to thresh, hence his ample supply of material.  He made a number of carved pieces during his stay there.

The family may have returned to Pipestone in the early fall of 1912, when it was rumored that they ran a hotel and restaurant for a year before returning to South Dakota. 

Tom gave up building homes and large structures after his son Delbert died in World War I and focused on building furniture and other smaller pieces.  He was not only a master carpenter and woodworker, but a kind and loving man whose family meant everything to him.  I wonder how many of life's problems he solved while sitting out there steps, watching the sun go down.