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Barzillai Shuford Graves(1854-1942)

Barzillai Shuford Graves (1854-1942)

Back row listed first (left-to-right), then to front row (beginning on left);

The players (and coach):

1. Jim Slade
2. John Graves
3. John H. Kerr
4. B. S. Graves (coach)
5. Steve Richmond
6. Pomp Richmond (with bat)
7. Nat Graves (has ball in his hand; could be the pitcher)
8. Bob Roan (apparently the catcher)
9. A. Yancey Kerr

1. The Jim Slade could have been James W. Slade (1877-1906), son of Ezekiek B. Slade and Cora Ann Harrison. It also may have been James Henry Slade (1865-1929), son of John Rufus Slade and Elizabeth McCain.

2. John Graves may have been John Thornton Graves (1875-1900), son of Jeremiah Graves and Donna Rebecca Thornton. He was a brother of Sallie Willie Graves. He died at age 24. This may be a reason Sallie Willie Graves was able to identify the players.

3. John H. Kerr surely is John Hosea Kerr (1873-1958):

Kerr, John Hosea (grandnephew of John Kerr), a Representative from North Carolina; born in Yanceyville, Caswell County, N.C., December 31, 1873; attended the local school and Bingham's Military School of North Carolina; was graduated [p.1407] from Wake Forest (N.C.) College in 1895; studied law; was admitted to the bar in 1895 and commenced practice in Warrenton, N.C.; mayor of Warrenton, N.C., in 1897 and 1898; solicitor for the third district of North Carolina 1906-1916; judge of the superior court 1916-1923; trustee of the University of North Carolina; elected as a Democrat to the Sixty-eighth Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Claude Kitchin; reelected to the Sixty-ninth and to the eleven succeeding Congresses and served from November 6, 1923, to January 3, 1949; delegate to the Democratic National Conventions in 1932 and 1940. Reelected to the Eighty-first Congress.

4. B. S. Graves is Barzillai Shuford Graves. Barzillai Shuford (Baz) Graves was sheriff of Caswell County. Around 1890 he built a substantial Victorian house on West Main Street in Yanceyville, North Carolina. Between 1922 and 1926 he was Clerk of the Caswell County Superior Court.

5 and 6. Steve Richmond and Pomp Richmond were brothers, being sons of Dr. Stephen Tribue Richmond, M.D. (1824-1878) and Eliza Ann Gunn Richmond (1841-1888). Ann, Eliza Ann Gunn is your first cousin twice removed. This makes Steve and Pomp Richmond your second cousins once removed. Dr. Richmond once owned the Sallie Martin House, which is a few doors west of Ann's house. Note that Dr. Richmond was implicated in the murder of Senator John Walter Stephens in 1870.

7. While I cannot be sure, I believe Nat Graves was Nathaniel Kerr Graves (1879-1899), a son of William Blair Graves and Sarah H. Lea Graves. His father, William Blair Graves, was called Billy Hickory Graves to distinguish him from his cousin Billy Griffin Graves. Now this is where it becomes a bit complicated: The coach, Barzillai Shuford (Baz) Graves, was the half brother this Nathaniel Kerr Graves. They had the same father, but different mothers.

8. Bob Roan I cannot place. Dr. Nathaniel M. Roan had a son named Robert, but he was born around 1849.

9. A. Yancey Kerr is easy. This is Albert Yancey Kerr (1878-1942), son of John Hosea McNeill Kerr (1844-1924) and Eliza Catherine Yancey (1844-1927). He was the father of Eliza Katherine Kerr (1921-1997) and Mary Frances Kerr Donaldson. Note that it was Mary Frances Kerr Donaldson who donated the photograph (see the note by WWW, who must be Will Willard) and the reference on the reverse of the photograph that refers to "Katharine K. Kindall [sic]." At the bottom of the reverse of the photograph is found:

"Property of George Yancey Kerr -- given to him 1960." George Yancey Kerr was the brother of Eliza Katharine Kerr Kendall and Mary Frances Kerr Donaldson.

Graves family home on West Main Street in Yanceyville, N.C.
(photo from Joe Stewart)