BOOTH, JOSEPH GRAVES (1840~1910) Joseph Graves Booth was born in Royton, England to William and Sarah Graves Booth. His family came to the United States in 1845, when he was a small boy. For some years he lived in Massachusettes.
Graves came to Texas at the age of 19. He later recalled of his trip to Texas that it was quite an adventure:
"Migrating to Texas today and when I first touched the soil of the Lone Star State are two different propositions. It was along in the Spring of 1859. Sam S. Hall and myself were wandering along the East river docks in New York City when we spied a three masted schooner bound for what was then Indianola. With sheep and the crew for companions, we took passage for $20 apiece. Arriving at our destination, we found that we were about as much at sea as we were before we landed. There were no railroads, of course, in those days and the stage coach driver wanted $40 apiece to take us to San Antonio. He might as well said $10,000. Just as hope had all but faded into despair, the driver of a prairie schooner hitched to a couple of Texas steers gave us permission to walk behind the van and camp and eat with him, providing we clubbed our resources and raised enough to buy our bacon and beans. We jumped at the opportunity and after three weeks of tramping we arrived in the town of San Antonio."
Shortly after coming to Texas, he joined a ranger company and served on the Texas frontier for some time under Burleson and Ford. When the Civil War began, he became a member of Terry's Texas Rangers. He served with that command until he was disabled at the Battle of Shiloh. As soon as he recovered, he was back in the ranks again and served until the end of the war. Afterwards, he became a mercantile traveler for about 30 years. He died on October 1, 1910 in Austin, Travis County, Texas. He was buried at the Texas State Cemetery on October 5, 1910.
Information taken from unknown newspaper articles.
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