Ireland Graves and his wife Mary Willis Steadman had this home built in the Hemphill neighborhood in Austin in 1938. The home builder is attributed to Hugo Khuene (Founding dean of the UT Architecture School). Khuene was close friends with Peter Mansbendel and probably had him carve the simple mantle. Judge Ireland Graves was a long-time Austin attorney and former University of Texas School of Law student and lecturer, was born in 1885 in Seguin, Texas. He was the grandson of former Texas governor (1883-1887) and associate justice for the Supreme Court of Texas, John Ireland.
In 1905, Graves enrolled at the University of Texas School of Law. After graduating from UT in 1908, Graves was admitted to the Texas bar and practiced law in Austin. In addition to his legal work, he became director of the Austin Savings and Loan Association and Austin National Bank. He served as district judge of Travis and Williamson counties and was a lecturer in the Law School in the late 1910s-20s.
Soon he founded his own law firm, Graves, Dougherty, Gee, Hearon, Moody & Garwood. Throughout his life Graves was involved with local, state, and national professional and civic organizations. He married into a legal family, as did his only child. He married the former Mary Willis Steadman, granddaughter of a former Texas Attorney General and daughter of Nathan A. Steadman, a prominent lawyer who served as Railroad Commissioner of Texas. Graves’ daughter, Mary Ireland, married J. Chrys Dougherty, another well-known Austin attorney. Graves died in 1969 in Austin. The home was owned by Attorney Terry Bray at the time of this research in 2009. Mr. Bray is related to the Mansbendel’s.