Notes for: Joseph Graves CHINN

When the war of 1812 broke out, he enlisted in the army, although he was only 15 of age. His father obtained a special permit from Governor Shelby. At the battle of Lake Erie he was captured by the Indians, but was afterwards released.
After serving honorably through the war, he returned to his home in Kentucky, and took up the study of medicine. His first course of lectures were taken at the University of Pennsylvania, during the season of 1816-17, receiving the degree of M.D. After practicing a short time, he attended Transylvania University, of Lexington KY, from which he graduated in 1843.
He later moved his family to Lexington, Missouri. There he severed as Mayor and City Judge. After nine years, he returned to Lexington, Kentucky, where he later served as as City Mayor.
He was a member of the Baptist Church, having joined in 1825. In 1830, he was mainly instrumental in organizing the Christian Church in Lexington, KY, it being one of the first of that denomination established in Kentucky.
In politics he was an old-line Whig, and opposed to the Civil War. He attributed his long life and his remarkable health to his regular habits, never using tobacco and being a total abstainer from spirituous liquors.