A Knight of the Holy See

​In May of 1952, the Most Reverend Mark K. Carroll, Bishop of the of the Diocese of Wichita, made a trip to St. Paul on behalf of the Pope.  He was here to convey one of the Catholic Church’s highest honors to a St. Paul resident and St. Francis parishioner.

W. W. Graves

William Whites Graves was born near Manton, Kentucky, on October 26, 1871.  His birthplace was in an area similar to St. Paul, a settling spot for eastern Catholics during the 19th century [1].  In 1881, his parents moved young Will and his siblings to a new Kansas community known for its strong Catholic roots and excellent educational opportunities—Osage Mission.
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During the next ten years Graves mingled with the original Jesuit and Loretto missionaries, watched the completion of a large stone church and was educated in the Osage Mission schools.  The Graves family was not affluent, and when the superior of the local Jesuit finishing college noticed the boy's intellect and spirit he offered free tuition. Graves seized the opportunity.  He graduated from St. Francis Institute for Boys, with honors, in 1891.  The experiences of his first ten years at Osage Mission likely played a defining role in the remainder of his life.

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More Opportunities.
Graves described his success in life as a series of opportunities, and how he reacted to them.  After completing his education, he had opportunities to work in his father’s store and to teach.  He tried both, and then moved on.  He wanted to be a printer or journalist.  He entered journalism with a short stay at the Fort Scott Lantern; and then a two year assignment with the Pittsburg/Girard World newspapers.   While working for the World he became a valued employee of it's editor Abe Steinberger.  More importantly, he met Abe’s office manager, Emma Hopkins, and he married her on April 30, 1895.

After the World folded in late 1895, opportunity knocked again.  With assistance from a local friend W. W. Graves bought the Osage Mission newspaper, then known as the Neosho County Journal.    In 1902, another ‘knock’--and this was a large opportunity!  He was asked to bid on starting and publishing a weekly newspaper for a well-respected national vigilance organization.  In spite of woefully inadequate printing capacity, he put together a compelling proposal and won.

Revenue from the Anti-Horse Thief Association (A.H.T.A.) Weekly contract helped Graves build one of the most modern publishing operations in southeast Kansas.  In addition to the A.H.T.A. Weekly, he printed the Kansas Knights of Columbus newspaper and periodicals for other state and local customers. New contracts brought additional revenue and better capabilities.
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Improved capacity fed his other passions.  Graves loved history and he was a writer.   He wrote countless publications and brochures for the A.H.T.A., our church and other organizations.  But the work that propelled him to prominence was a series of books he published, or co-published, about the history of southern Kansas, prominent area Catholics, and the role the Osage, Jesuits and Loretto’s played in the settlement of Kansas.  Many were centered on the Catholic Osage Mission and its staff. In addition to his books, he submitted numerous papers to the Kansas State Historical Society; and he was a founding officer for both the Kansas Catholic Historical Society and an early Neosho County Historical Society.
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1952 Awards Banquet. From left: wife Suzie Graves [3], Osage dignitary Fred Lookout Jr, W. W. Graves, Osage Chief Paul Pitts, Bishop Mark K. Carroll.

Our Most Esteemed Citizen.
It was Graves’ life-long dedication to the Church and our history that brought Bishop Carroll to St. Paul on May 31, 1952.  At an honors banquet in the school gymnasium, the Bishop was joined by the president of the Kansas State Historical Society, college presidents, local and state press executives, the Chief of the Osage Nation and a group of local friends, farmers and businessmen.   Graves was showered with awards and accolades that evening, but one honor stands out:

The Bishop, on behalf of Pope Pius XII, presented W. W Graves with a scroll notifying him he had received the Vatican Knighthood of the Order of St. Gregory the Great [2].  This special honor is bestowed upon Roman Catholic men and women in recognition of their personal service to the Holy See and the Roman Catholic Church.  It is the highest honor possible for a Catholic layperson.  In Graves’ case the knighthood recognized his literary contributions to the Church.  During the evening, he also received high honors from the Osage Nation.

On July 22, 1952, William Whites Graves collapsed and died of a heart attack at his home.   The obituary on the front page of the St. Paul Journal started: “Death took this community’s most esteemed and honored citizen Tuesday evening.”   There is no doubt that he was!

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Some Reference Information:
[1] The Graves ancestors were among many Catholics who fled Maryland to Kentucky during the late 18th and early 19th centuries in search of religious freedom.   By today’s travel standards, Manton is minutes from Nerinx, Kentucky, home of the Loretto Motherhouse.  It is hard to imagine that Graves did not compare his birthplace with his new home of Osage Mission.

[2] The scroll and other Vatican documents are on file in the Osage Mission – Neosho County Museum (Graves – Hopkins Collection).  The archive also contains the photo of Graves and the newspaper clipping used above.

[3]  W. W. Graves' first wife Emma passed away on July 30, 1936.  In October of 1941 he married Suzie Gibbons Graves. 

[4] More information about W. W. Graves is available at:  http://www.acatholicmission.org/w-w-graves.html

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A Partial List of Graves' Books:

• Life and Letters of Fathers Ponziglione, Schoenmakers, and other Jesuits at Osage Mission; Sketch of St. Francis Church; Life of Mother Bridget (Copyright 1916)
• Making Money With a Country Newspaper (Copyright 1926 - a personal look at his own life and business thinking.)
• Life and Letters of Rev. Father John Schoenmakers S. J., Apostle to the Osages (Copyright 1928)
• Annals of Osage Mission (Copyright 1934)
• The Broken Treaty: A Story of Osage Country (Copyright 1936 - Graves' only know novel, but based on events related to the Osage and Osage Mission.)
• The Legend of Greenbush:  The Story of a Pioneer Country Church (Copyright 1937)
• The Life and Times of Mother Bridget Hayden (Copyright 1938)
• History of Neosho County Newspapers (Copyright 1938 - a brief account of the earliest county newspapers compiled to celebrate the 50th anniversary of his paper:  The St. Paul Journal.)
• The Poet Priest of Kansas (Copyright unknown but prior to 1938 - a biography and collection of poems of Rev. T. A. McKernan.)
• History of the Kickapoo Mission and Parish: The first Catholic Church in Kansas (Jointly published by W. W. Graves, Gilbert J. Garraghan S. J and Rev. George Towle - Copyright 1938)
• Annals of St. Paul: A Third of a Century — From Name Change in 1895 to January 1929 (Copyright 1942)
• Autobiography of Rev. Eugene Bonancini, D. D. Early Kansas Missionary (Copyright 1942)
• The First Protestant Osage Missions 1820-1837 (Copyright 1949)
• History of Neosho County, Volumes I and II (Copyright 1949 and 1951)
• Annals of St. Paul:  Supplement, January 1929 to June 1936 (This 120 page document was never completed but was bound in some copies with his Original Annals of St. Paul.   St. Paul resident David O'Bryan later compiled a separate annals book that covered 1936 through close of the St. Paul Journal in 1961.
• Antecedents of Osage Mission by Rev. Paul M. Ponziglione.  This small booklet was published by Graves sometime after 1912.  He probably published it to retain the writing of the famous Jesuit missionary.