Paul D. Graves

He was born on November 23, 1907[http://sortedbyname.com/pages/g108179.html "GRAVES, PAUL D."] at Social Security Info in Gouverneur, St. Lawrence County, New York, the son of Perle Atwell Graves (1869–1954) and State Senator Rhoda Fox Graves (1877–1950). He attended school in Gouverneur, Storm-King Preparatory School in Cornwall-on-Hudson, and Colgate University. He graduated from Harvard Law School in 1934, was admitted to the bar in 1935, and practiced law in Buffalo. On May 4, 1940, he married Jane Anderson,[https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9803E3DD1030E43ABC4D53DFB366838B659EDE Marriage Announcement 6] in The New York Times on May 5, 1940 (subscription required) and their only child was a son, Christopher Graves (1945–1975). During World War II, he served as a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy. After the war, he practiced law in Gouverneur.

In 1948, his mother retired from the State Senate, and Paul Graves was nominated to succeed her. He was a member of the New York State Senate (39th D.) from 1949 to 1953, sitting in the 167th, 168th and 169th New York State Legislatures.

On November 27, 1953, he was appointed to the New York Supreme Court (4th D.) to fill the vacancy caused by the death of O. Byron Brewster.[https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=990DE6DE123EE53BBC4051DFB7678388649EDE Dewey Names Senator Graves Supreme Court Justice] in The New York Times on November 28, 1953 (subscription required) In November 1954, he was elected to succeed himself, and remained on the bench until his death in 1972.

He underwent surgery in Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, and died on September 7, 1972, in Methodist Hospital there.[https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9A00E5D71330E73BBC4153DFBF668389669EDE PAUL D. GRAVES, 64, OF SUPREME COURT] in The New York Times on September 9, 1972 (subscription required) He was buried at the Riverside Cemetery in Gouverneur, New York.[http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~stlawgen/CEMETERY/GRiverside/GRiversideE.HTM Riverside Cemetery transcriptions] at RootsWeb

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• [http://www.gouverneurmuseum.org/articles/people/graves/graves.html "Paul D. Graves"] at the Gouverneur Museum

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{{succession box | before = Rhoda Fox Graves | title = New York State Senate
39th District | years = 1949–1953 | after = Robert C. McEwen}}

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Category:1907 births

Category:1972 deaths

Category:Republican Party New York (state) state senators

Category:People from Gouverneur, New York

Category:Harvard Law School alumni

Category:New York Supreme Court justices

Category:Colgate University alumni

Category:Politicians from Buffalo, New York

Category:20th-century New York state court judges

Category:Lawyers from Buffalo, New York

Category:20th-century American lawyers

Category:20th-century members of the New York State Legislature