BIO: John GRAFFIUS, Huntingdon County, PA

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Commemorative Biographical Encyclopedia of the Juniata Valley: 
Comprising the Counties of Huntingdon, Mifflin, Juniata and Perry, 
Pennsylvania, Containing Sketches of Prominent and Representative 
Citizens and Many of the Early Settlers.  Chambersburg, Pa.: J. M. 
Runk & Co., 1897, pages 229-230.
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  JOHN GRAFFIUS, Petersburg, Huntingdon county, Pa., was born in the 
valley of Shavers Creek, August 18, 1815. He is a son of Martin and 
Margaret (McGuire) Graffius. Nicholas Martin Graffius, founder of the 
family in America, and great-grandfather of John Graffius, emigrated 
with his family from his native province in continental Europe, in 
1750, and settled in York, Pa. The family was of the Huguenot faith. 
After a residence of twenty years in York, they removed to the spot 
then called Standing Stone, Bedford county, but now within the borough 
of Huntingdon. Here Nicholas Martin Graffius died. His eldest son, 
Nicholas, was not more than a boy when he came to this country. When 
Nicholas reached manhood, he married Elizabeth Correll, of York, who 
was of German descent, and fixed his residence on the Juniata river, 
within the present limits of Porter township. He had bought 300 acres 
of land, to which he came in the spring; with split rails he made a 
sort of pen in which to live during the summer. By the time winter came 
he had built a small log cabin with clapboards for a door, holes in the 
walls for windows, and one in the roof for a chimney. Mr. Graffius 
cleared his land, and farmed it for eight or ten years. Then, the 
Indians becoming troublesome, the family was obliged to remove to 
Maryland. A year later they returned to their primitive homestead in 
one of the first wagons ever brought into this region. Soon after, Mr. 
Graffius sold his land in Porter township and bought 240 acres on 
Shavers Creek, now in West township. On this property he built a small 
log house which, in the course of a few years, had to give place to a 
larger one - the last house in which its builder lived. He cleared a 
great portion of his land, raised stock, besides cultivating it, and 
was something of a hunter besides. He added a distillery to his other 
industries. Mr. Graffius was a Whig. His children were: Catherine; 
Mary; Jacob; Margaret; Martin; Abraham; Susanna; Elizabeth; Esther; 
Charlotte; Lydia; and five that died in early childhood. Nicholas 
Graffius died in West township, August 22, 1822; his wife died January 
23, 1843.
  Martin, son of Nicholas Graffius, attended subscription schools which 
were as homely as the rough but healthy life of this pioneer family. 
But primitive as his surroundings doubtless were, he learned to read 
and write well. He was a farmer and distiller; owned and cultivated 
over 200 acres in what is now Henderson township, and was also a stock 
raiser. He built himself a house and a barn. Mr. Graffius was a Whig; 
he cast his first presidential vote for Thomas Jefferson. He was in the 
army during the war of 1812. Martin Graffius was a hardy and 
industrious man, just the right one for a pioneer; he was successful in 
his undertakings, and was liked and respected in his neighborhood. His 
wife Margaret, daughter of Hugh and Patience (Lyon) McGuire, was born 
in Doe Run, Chester county, Pa. Mr. McGuire was a farmer of French and 
Irish descent, and her mother was of a family of English Friends. The 
children of Mr. and Mrs. Martin Graffius were: Nicholas, deceased; 
Elizabeth, deceased, wife of D. Harris; Jacob, died in Indiana in 1845; 
Abraham, died in 1878; Matilda, deceased, wife of David Kessler; John; 
Margaret, deceased, wife of Andrew Neff; Margaret, died young; George, 
died young; and one that died in infancy. Mr. Graffius attended the 
Presbyterian church. Martin Graffius was born in Frederick, Md., in 
1781, and died in Henderson township, Huntingdon county, in 1853.
  John Graffius attended subscription schools in the log school house, 
as his father had also done. He farmed on the homestead until he was 
twenty-seven, besides working as a "Hand" for neighboring farmers. At 
that age, he came to Petersburg, and worked for some time as a 
carpenter. Selling out his interest, he removed to North Henderson, 
Warren county, Ill., where he bought a farm and cultivated it for four 
years. On account of his wife's ill health, Mr. Graffius sold his farm, 
returned to Huntingdon county, and came to reside in Petersburg, where 
in 1875 he bought a handsome brick dwelling; this house he altered and 
beautified; he has since worked at carpentry. Mr. Graffius was justice 
of the peace for fifteen years, besides serving the township as tax 
collector, and for several years in the school board. His politics are 
Democratic. His life presents a record of honorable industry and fair 
dealing, and he is a highly respected member of the community.
  John Graffius was first married in 1843, in West township, to 
Margaret, daughter of Alexander Steel, a farmer of Scotch-Irish 
descent; she was born in Derry, Ireland. All of their three children 
died in their infancy. Mrs. Graffius died in Petersburg in March, 1878. 
Mr. Graffius, in December, 1879, married Sarah, daughter of Lewis and 
Elizabeth (Thompson) Hutchinson; she was born at Shavers Creek; her 
father was a farmer, and of Scotch-Irish extraction. The marriage took 
place at Petersburg. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Graffius are: Jane 
S.; Margaret; John L.; and one that died very young. Mr. Graffius is a 
member of the Presbyterian church, and a teacher in the Sunday-school.