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Nelson Z. Graves

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Nelson Z. Graves
Born(1849-08-25)August 25, 1849
Clinton, North Carolina, U.S.
DiedDecember 6, 1930(1930-12-06) (aged 81)
Resting placeWest Laurel Hill Cemetery, Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Alma materMiddlebury College
OccupationsPaint manufacturer, banker
SpouseIda C. Johnson
ChildrenFerdinand J. Graves
Nelson Graves
Lottie Graves

Nelson Zwinglius Graves (August 24, 1849–December, 6, 1930) was an American businessman and real estate developer. He was the founder of the N.Z. Graves, Inc. paint and varnish company, and president of Camden White Lead Works and Tecopa Consolidated Mining Company. He led the Cape May Real Estate Company, and played a major role in the development of Cape May, New Jersey, including investments in the Hotel Cape May and the Cape May, Delaware Bay, and Sewell's Point Railroad.

Early life and education

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Graves was born August 24, 1849, in Clinton, North Carolina, to Charlotte Katurah Handy and Luke C. Graves. He attended Davidson College in Davidson, North Carolina, for two years and graduated from Middlebury College in Middlebury, Vermont, in 1868.[1] He worked as a professor of languages at a school in Ellicott City, Maryland, and attended Columbia Law School, but left before graduation to enter business.[2]

Career

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Graves began to manufacture varnish and japan in 1882, and incorporated the N. Z. Graves Company in Philadelphia in 1888.[3] He served as president of Camden White Lead Works and Tecopa Consolidated Mining Company as well as director of Merchants' National Bank in Philadelphia.[2] By 1906, Graves was wealthy enough that when the Presbyterian church that he had attended in North Carolina as a young man burnt down, he donated a new church building to the congregation and had it named after his father.[4]

He was a member of the Fairmount Park Art Association, the Board of Trade, and the Philadelphia Bourse.[1]

Cape May development

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In 1897, Graves purchased a vacation home in Cape May, New Jersey.[5] He lived there in the summer and became committed to investing in the development of Cape May as a resort town.[6] In 1910, Graves purchased the Cape May Light and Power Company.[7] In 1911 Graves took over the Cape May Real Estate Company, a financially troubled effort to develop Cape May into a resort community.[8][6]

The Hotel Cape May opened in 1908 but had not been successful enough to pay back its enormous construction cost overruns, and lots nearby were largely unsold. Graves led the Cape May Real Estate Company that purchased the hotel and property.[9] Graves purchased a dredge ship to deepen the Cape May harbor to facilitate development.[10] He founded a large farming operation called the Cape May Farmstead to provide produce, eggs, and milk to the hotel.[11][12]

He was able to build some homes in the development.[9] In 1912, Graves built a home in East Cape May in the Spanish Mission architectural style, designed by architect Lloyd Titus. He had experienced the Spanish Mission architecture while out West for the purchase of a lead mine. It was built as an example of new homes that could be built in the East end of town to differentiate them from the Victorian architecture prevalent in West Cape May.[6] However he went bankrupt during construction and the home was sold[13] and later used as The Mission Inn, a bed and breakfast.[14]

He built the Cape May Casino which was later turned into the Cape May Playhouse.[6] He built an amusement park named the Fun Factory in 1913,[15] It was closed in 1917 and sold to the United States Coast Guard and is today the United States Coast Guard Training Center Cape May.[6] Graves also controlled the Cape May, Delaware Bay, and Sewell's Point Railroad,[16] and an electric street car railroad.[17]

Family and death

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Graves married Ida C. Johnson on April 22, 1874, and together they had three children: Nelson Z. Graves, Jr., Ferdinand J. Graves, and Lottie Graves.[18] Nelson Jr. was an international cricket player. Both Nelson Jr.[19] and Ferdinand were involved in the family paint and varnish business.[20]

Graves died December 6, 1930, at his home in the Germantown neighborhood of Philadelphia.[2] He was interred in West Laurel Hill Cemetery in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania.[21]

References

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Citations

  1. ^ a b Williamson, Leland M. (1898). Prominent and Progressive Pennsylvanians of the Nineteenth Century Volume 2. Philadelphia: Record Publishing Company. pp. 199–201. Retrieved 17 February 2026.
  2. ^ a b c "NELSON Z. GRAVES DEAD.; Paint Manufacturer and Financier of Philadelphia Was 81". www.nytimes.com. The New York Times. Retrieved 11 February 2026.
  3. ^ Herringshaw, Thomas William (1909). Herringshaw's National Library of American Biography. Chicago: American Publishers' Association. p. 618. Retrieved 11 February 2026.
  4. ^ "HISTORY OF GRAVES MEMORIAL PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH". gravesmemorial.org. Graves Memorial Presbyterian Church. Retrieved 11 February 2026.
  5. ^ Pocher & Pocher 1998, p. 75.
  6. ^ a b c d e Martenstein, Lynn. "East Cape May Spanish Style". www.capemay.com. Cape Publishing, Inc. Retrieved 15 February 2026.
  7. ^ Price, Charles W. (1910). Electrical Review and Western Electrician - Volume 56. Chicago: Electrical Review Publishing Company. p. 505. Retrieved 12 February 2026.
  8. ^ https://www.casemine.com/judgement/us/59147821add7b049343dfe42 Scully v. Colonial Trust Co., November 6, 1929
  9. ^ a b Gaines, Hope. "The Passing of the Christian Admiral". www.capemay.com. Cape Publishing, Inc. Retrieved 15 February 2026.
  10. ^ Pocher & Pocher 1998, p. 106.
  11. ^ Howard-Fusco, John (2017). A Culinary History of Cape May: Salt Oysters, Beach Plums & Cabernet Franc. Charleston, South Carolina: The History Press. p. 96. ISBN 9781439660102. Retrieved 12 February 2026.
  12. ^ Howard-Fusco, John. "Culinary Cape May: A Gastronomic History". www.capemaymag.com. Cape Publishing, Inc. Retrieved 15 February 2026.
  13. ^ Tanenbaum, Michael. "The Mission Inn to close after three decades as Cape May bed and breakfast". www.phillyvoice.com. WWB Holdings, Inc. Retrieved 13 February 2026.
  14. ^ Calafati, Michael. "The Mission Inn". www.capemaymag.com. Cape May Magazine. Retrieved 12 February 2026.
  15. ^ Salvatore, Joseph E.; Berkey, Joan (2015). Cape May. Charleston, South Carolina: Arcadia Publishing. p. 51. ISBN 9781467122795. Retrieved 13 February 2026.
  16. ^ Documents of the Legislature of the State of New Jersey - Issue 4. Trenton, New Jersey: NewJersey Legislature. 1917. p. 55. Retrieved 13 February 2026.
  17. ^ https://www.casemine.com/judgement/us/59146fdaadd7b0493435210f Sampson v. Graves, Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, First Department, Jan 27, 1922
  18. ^ Gilbert, Amanda Cook (2013). Descendants of William Cromartie and Ruhamah Doane and Related Families. Bloomington, Indiana: WestBow Press. p. 104. ISBN 978-1-4908-0770-6. Retrieved 12 February 2026.
  19. ^ Paint, Oil and Drug Review Volume 16. Chicago: Trade Review Company. 1918. p. 17. Retrieved 12 February 2026.
  20. ^ Easton, Roswell Francis (1923). The Class of Eighteen Ninety Eight, Princeton University, Twenty-fifth Year Record, 1898. Princeton University Press. p. 127. Retrieved 12 February 2026.
  21. ^ "Nelson Z. Graves". remembermyjourney.com. webCemeteries. Retrieved 11 February 2026.

Sources

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