William J. Graves

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William Jordan Graves (1805 - September 27, 1848) was a U.S. Representative from Kentucky.

Born in New Castle, Kentucky, Graves pursued an academic course. He studied law. He was admitted to the bar and practiced. He served as member of the State house of representatives in 1834.

Graves was elected as an Anti-Jacksonian to the Twenty-fourth Congress and reelected as a Whig to the Twenty-fifth, and Twenty-sixth Congresses (March 4, 1835-March 3, 1841). He engaged in a duel on the Marlboro Road in Maryland with Congressman Jonathan Cilley in 1838, in which the latter was killed. This duel prompted passage of a congressional act of February 20, 1839, prohibiting the giving or accepting, within the District of Columbia, of challenges to a duel. He was not a candidate for renomination in 1840. He was again a member of the State house of representatives in 1843. He died in Louisville, Kentucky, September 27, 1848. He was interred in the private burial grounds at his former residence in Henry County, Kentucky.

[edit] References

• William J. Graves at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress