Charles A. Graef. One of the oldest landmarks in Miami county is the flour mill at Tippecanoe City located on the site of the old Herr mill. Of recent years this enterprise has been operated in a modern way by Messrs. Kessler and Graef, of which firm one of the members is Charles A. Graef, a progressive and energetic business man and esteemed citizen. Mr. Graef was born at Covington, Ohio, December 31, 1888, a son of Andrew and Nola (Shilling) Graef. His father, a teamster by vocation, was an honorable citizen, who was well thought of at Covington and Troy, where he pursued his occupation, and he and his wife were the parents of four children: Clifford, who is deceased; George, who is engaged in agricultural pursuits in Indiana; Catherine, who is the wife of Dan Young, of Troy; and Charles A. Charles A. Graef obtained his educational training in the public schools of Troy, to which city he had been taken as a small child, and on completing his studies secured employment in a grocery store, in which he worked for three years. Coming to Tippecanoe City in 1903, he embarked in the milling and elevator business in partnership with Mr. Kessler, and this association has continued to the present time. This mill, as before noted, is one of the oldest landmarks of Miami county, the present mill standing on the site of the old Herr mill. The property had been operated for twenty-two years by Mr. Ethell, from whom Messrs. Kessler and Graef leased it. They are doing a splendid business and have gained the confidence of the public and of the agriculturists of their locality. Mr. Graef is possessed of the qualities of energy, progressiveness and knowledge of his business so necessary to the success of a miller and elevator owner, and has impressed himself favorably upon those with whom he has been associated. He has taken an active part in local affairs, and during the recent war period, in addition to contributing liberally to the various war movements, Mr. Graef operated his mill on twenty-four-hour shifts, being on a 100 per cent. war basis in supplying flour to the Government. As a fraternalist, he holds membership in ,the local lodges of the Masons and the Junior Order of United American Mechanics. Mr. Graef married Miss Edith Layton, daughter of Mrs. Sarah McDonald, of Tippecanoe City, and to this union there have come two children: Victor, who was born in 1913; and Mary Margaret, born in 1916.