Parents William and Isabell Harris Gracey. Born Illinois

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M. D. L. Gracey, the father of our subject, was born in Bond County, Illinois, October 22, 1831. He was of Scotch-Irish descent, the family being originally from North Carolina. His father died in 1842, and the mother a year earlier, and in 1845 he came to Texas, living until 1891, five miles south of Dallas, then moving to Mineral Wells, his present home. He was married September 7, 1854, to Miss Amanda Harris, who was born in Warren County, Kentucky, August 9, 1836. Her father, Thomas H. Harris, came to Texas in 1852, settling in Dallas County. He died in 1875; his wife in 1861. Eight children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Gracey, five sons and three daughters, and they have lost but one child by death. Their names are: W. T., R. R., J. L. (deceased), A. S., G. H., Mary B., Lucy and Cora. The four living sons are all in the cattle business, as is also Mr. Yokley, the husband of the eldest daughter. Lucy and Cora are residing at home. M. D. L. Gracey settled in Dallas County before its organization, has seen four court houses built on the public square of Dallas, and assisted in burning down the first one, a log structure, which was converted into ashes on Christmas night of 1848. He has been an estimable and respected citizen wherever he has made his home, and has reared his children to be honest and honorable men and women. He has been a member of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church for thirty years, and a Royal Arch Mason since he was twenty-one. His wife died January 18, 1893, her death being deplored by a wide circle of relatives and friends. (Historical and Biographical Record of the Cattle Industry and the Cattlemen of Texas by James Cox, Published by Woodward & Tiernan Printing Co, St Louis, 1895