Editing Graves County, Kentucky (section)

==History==
Graves County was named for Capt. [[Benjamin Franklin Graves (soldier)|Benjamin Franklin Graves]], who was one of numerous Kentucky officers killed after being taken as a prisoner in the disastrous 1813 [[Battle of Frenchtown|Battle of Raisin River]] in [[Michigan Territory]] during the [[War of 1812]]. He disappeared while being forced by the [[Potawatomi]], allies of the British, to walk to the British [[Fort Malden]] in Amherstburg, Ontario. The Native Americans killed prisoners who could not keep up.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_luoxAQAAMAAJ | title=The Register of the Kentucky State Historical Society, Volume 1 | publisher=Kentucky State Historical Society | year=1903 | pages=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_luoxAQAAMAAJ/page/n35 35]}}</ref> Nearly 400 Kentuckians died in the January 22 battle, the highest fatality of any single battle during the war.

The fertile land attracted early settlers from [[Virginia]], [[North Carolina]], [[South Carolina]] and [[Tennessee]], who brought with them education, culture, and a fierce determination to succeed. They put down roots and created a unique political, economic, and social environment.
Tobacco was important. Graves County developed the dark-fired and dark-air-cured leaf tobacco used in smokeless tobacco farming. In the early 20th of the counties involved in the [[Black Patch Tobacco Wars]], as white farmers organized into the area to suppress violence, after tobacco warehouses and other properties, including tons of tobacco, were being destroyed.

A woolen mill began operating before the [[American Civil War|Civil War]] and continued to expand with the men's clothing market. Several clothing manufacturing companies were added in the area. The county seat's minor league baseball team was named the Mayfield Clothiers for this historical connection.

During the post-Reconstruction period, racial violence by whites against blacks continued in Graves County; they exercised terrorism to re-establish and maintain [[white supremacy]]. Whites [[Lynchings in the United States|lynched]] 6 African Americans here after 1877; most were killed around the turn of the 20th century.<ref>[https://eji.org/sites/default/files/lynching-in-america-third-edition-supplement-by-county.pdf ''Lynching in America''/ Supplement: Lynchings by County] {{Dead link|date=January 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}, 3rd Edition, 2015, p.5</ref> Four were killed during one week in 1896 in [[Mayfield, Kentucky|Mayfield]], the county seat. Three were killed on December 23 in the so-called Mayfield Race War. Whites had heard rumors that blacks were arming elsewhere in the county in retaliation for the lynching of Jim Stone earlier that week. The whites recruited reinforcements from Fulton County and, overly tense, killed Will Suett, a young black man, as he was getting off a train to visit his family for the holidays. Two other black men were fatally shot soon after.<ref name="kyDb">[https://nkaa.uky.edu/nkaa/items/show/1558 "Race War in Mayfield, KY"], NKAA: Notable Kentucky African Americans Database, 2003-2018, University of Kentucky Libraries; accessed March 25, 2018</ref> Acknowledging that Suett's death was unprovoked, white residents took up a collection for his widowed mother.<ref name="nyt2">[https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1896/12/25/108270983.pdf "Peace Reigns at Mayfield"], ''New York Times'', December 25, 1896; accessed March 25, 2018</ref>

Like many other counties in Kentucky, Graves retained prohibition of the sale or consumption of alcohol, voting to be a "dry" county after Congress repealed Prohibition in the 20th century. Graves County was a "limited" [[dry county]], meaning that sale of alcohol in the county is prohibited except for wine and beer in restaurants. In 2016, the county voted on whether to become a "wet" county but that attempt failed. Later in the year, a ballot measure was proposed and passed within the city limits of Mayfield (the county seat) to allow alcohol sales in stores and gas stations.

Graves County made national news in September 2011 for jailing several [[Amish]] men who refused to use orange safety triangles on their buggies for religious reasons. The Old Order [[Swartzentruber Amish]] used reflective tape instead. They said it was against their religion to use "loud colors" (as they characterized the orange triangles). They did not succeed in their appeal of their 2008 convictions. Menno Zook, Danny Byler, Mose Yoder, Levi Hostetler, David Zook, and Eli Zook refused to pay the small fines imposed with their convictions. All served sentences ranging from three to 10 days. Jail officials accommodated them by not forcing them to wear the typical orange county jail uniforms; they allowed the Amish to wear dark gray uniforms.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2011/09/14/amish-men-jailed-over-refusal-to-use-orange-safety-triangle-on-buggies/ | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110924051958/http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2011/09/14/amish-men-jailed-over-refusal-to-use-orange-safety-triangle-on-buggies/ | url-status=dead | archive-date=September 24, 2011 | work=CNN | title=Amish men jailed over refusal to use orange safety triangle on buggies | date=September 14, 2011}}</ref>

Among notable county natives have been a US vice president, four US Congressmen, heroes, singers and songwriters, and noted writers. The county has numerous historic sites.

On [[Tornado outbreak of December 10–11, 2021|December 10, 2021]], the [[2021 Western Kentucky tornado]] moved through the county, causing significant damage, and widespread devastation in [[Mayfield, Kentucky|Mayfield]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/world/us/fifty-people-likely-killed-tornadoes-kentucky-governor-2021-12-11/|title=Night of devastating tornadoes likely kills more than 100 in Kentucky|newspaper=Reuters|date=December 13, 2021|last1=Orr|first1=Cheney}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/dec/12/kentucky-tornadoes-up-to-100-feared-dead-in-historic-us-storms|title=Kentucky tornadoes: Up to 100 feared dead in historic US storms|website=[[TheGuardian.com]]|date=December 12, 2021}}</ref>