Gravellea  
 

Transcribed from "An Illustrated History of The Big Bend Country, embracing Lincoln, Douglas, Adams and Franklin counties, State of Washington",  published by Western Historical Publishing Co., 1904.

     ALFRED GRAVELLE maintains a residence in Spokane, though his postoffice address is Reardan, Washington.  He was born July 4, 1854, in Montreal, Canada.  His father, Octave Gravelle, was born in Canada, of French extraction, and is now living in Big Hole, Montana, at the age of seventy-eight.  The subject's mother is Mrs. Sophia (Dow) Gravelle, and is still living at the age of seventy-six with her husband at Big Hole.  She is of Scotch descent and was born and reared in Canada.
     Mr. Gravelle came with his parents to Rutland, Vermont, in 1865, and was employed for a time in the marble quarries near that city.  In 1870 he went to Virginia City, Nevada, spending several years in the mines there.  Among the mines in which he was employed was the famous Belcher mine, one of the Comstock Company's properties, which reached a depth of three thousand, five hundred feet, --the deepest mine in America, if not in the world.  After eight years spent in Nevada he came to Washington and filed a homestead on a piece of land eight miles southwest of where Reardan now stands, he being one of the first settlers in that section, in fact, but few settlers had found their way to the entire Big Bend at that time.  He later sold his homestead and bought two hundred and forty acres of land where Gravelle Station, on the Seattle & Lake Shore railway now is, the station having been named for him.  His land is all of good quality and well improved.  He also has a large tract of land in the vicinity of Fruitland, Stevens county.  In addition to his farm property he, as has been stated, maintains a residence in the city of Spokane, where a portion of his time is spent.  He has quite extensive interests in several good mining properties situated in different parts of the state.  Although coming to the country with but little capital he is at this time comfortably situated and independent in so far as his living in concerned.
 

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