Celebrating his 90th birthday, friends and relatives threw a well-deserved party for Brevard native, (James) Earl Gravely (whom every one calls Earl) this past weekend. The Gravely name is well known among Brevardians, as he owned the Gravely Plumbing Company in this city for over 50 years. Earl was born April 16, 1918 and raised at his grandmother's house on Caldwell street. The house was on the property that now houses the Arts Center Building, where his grandmother, Delia Ann, had a garden, put up as much food each year as she could for her family, and kept two cows. Caldwell street was an unpaved dirt road at the time, as were many other streets in Brevard. His grandmother had originally owned some land which she sold to Silversteen where he built his tannery. "I used to farm a lot as a youngster. I was eight years old when I went to work farming for Wallace Galloway who had a cornfield and a garden toward the end of Caldwell street at that time. My grandmother, she kept me working all the time," Gravely reminisced Most every one in Brevard had a little garden near their home then, where they grew food for their own family and the animals they kept on their property. One time when Gravely was at Moore's Furniture Store, Donald Lee Moore nicknamed him "Bean Beetle" and told him he was such a skinny little boy and was so little that he was no bigger than a bean beetle. Some people call him that to this da., So the nickname stuck. Gravely recalls knowing the Cooper Brothers, Tom and Joe, who used to live near where Brevard College is now. Earl met and married his wife, Thelma Morris, in Buncombe County. They were married 56 years and had 4 children. Earl Gravely, Jr.,(who died when he was five months old), Fran,Terry and Eddie. Earl also worked for The Bromfield Laundry for a while, delivering laundry. Gravely was drafted into the navy IN 1944 during World War II, but never saw any fighting. "Truman ended that fighting when he dropped the atom bombs before I could get into any action. I was at Cape Cod in Massachusetts at the time at a Carrier Aircraft Service transferring material to air force ships. I was glad that I could come home when I was honorably discharged November 18, 1945. ." Gravely commented with a laugh in his voice. The people of Brevard will probably remember Gravely best due to his plumbing company."I did not know much about plumbing, but learned by doing. I first worked for a local plumber, Mark Osborne. In 1949 I went into business for myself, partnering with my uncle, Dock Gravely, for several years. Then I bought him out and was owner-operator for many years.I just put me up a shop on the Rosman Highway near Brevard. When business got real good, I had plenty of work. My two sons, Eddie and Terry worked for me. I worked five or six men and they worked for me for years while things kind of boomed up, Ecusta started up, and every body started working. I owned and ran the Gravely Plumbing Company for over 50 years and had three other shops in Brevard: two on Caldwell Street and one on King Street before I built my last one on the Rosman Highway in Brevard.. This last one stood in front of our house which was built on the hill behind the shop" Gravely talked about his long-standing plumbing business. "When I retired I sold the business to my eldest son, Terry, who still owns it," explained Gravely. "After I left the plumbing business, I went to buying old houses and remodeling them. It was a good deal and good experience after I retired. I really did enjoy that type of work, even though I had to learn on the job. I quit the day I found out that my wife was diagnosed with cancer," Gravely related. Gravely broke his hip in 2004, and had pneumonia and a stroke, all within a period of three years and is now confined to a wheel chair. He has several caring sitters who drive him around which he enjoys and also take him to lunch at the Fish Camp. His daughter, Fran Johnson, lives in a house next to his, spends a lot of time looking after her father, and coordinates the work of the sitters who are his caregivers. The Gravely name is well-known in the Southeastern United States and has a long genealogical history behind it. Records can be traced back to Robert Gravely, who married in 1589 in Hertfordshire, England and was knighted, probably by King Edward III. Joseph Gravely, the ancestor of the (Patrick) Henry Virginia County family, was born in England in 1744. He settled in Henry County before the Revolutionary War and lived to the ripe old age of 100 years. In the 1760's three Gravely brothers appeared In Pittsylvania County, Virginia. Their names were Joseph, John, and James. In the latter part pf the 1700's, John moved his family from Virginia to Greensville and Pickens, South Carolina. They came over the Virginia and North Carolina mountains in wagons and on foot, driving gaggles of geese ahead of them while bringing all of their belongings. In the early 1800's, they moved to across the North Carolina line. They were well known as growers of some of the finest tobacco in the area as well as owners of the Crow Telephone Company above Pickens. The family was also involved in furniture companies and were famous as builders of Grandfather clocks. So, (James) Earl Gravely inherited his carpentry skills from long-standing genes in his family tree. Earl will be featured in the Heritage of Transylvania, N.C., 2nd edition, which will be coming out soon When asked if he was looking forward to the 90th birthday party, Earl replied: I haven't thought much about it. I tried to talk them out of it, but I guess it will be all right." When asked if they were going to put 90 candles on the cake, Earl replied: "I don't know, it would probably melt the cake. But, I'll try to blow them out since they probably will light up all of Brevard. His daughter, Fran, said they solved the multi-candle problem by having two candles - a nine and an 0 - to decorate both of the two cakes. There were 3 Children, 20 Grandchildren, 9 Great Grandchildren and 3 Great-Great Grandsons around him along with his other family members and friends to help him celebrate having reached 90 years of age. Lorraine Miller
