Grafton Kenyon was born on March 18, 1882, in Wakefield, a village of South Kingstown in Washington County, Rhode Island.

Kenyon was commissioned with the rank of captain and returned home to take command of the Second Company of South Kingstown, a section of the Rhode Island State Guard.

[2] Kenyon served as the captain of the second company until 1919, when World War I ended and the Rhode Island State Guard was deactivated.

Under Kenyon's leadership, the Second Company was rated the best united in the entire Rhode Island State Guard.

In 1909, former Rhode Island Senator, member of the South Kingstown Town Council, and friend of Kenyon's, Rowland G. Hazard III, established Troop 1, Wakefield, the first Boy Scout Troop in Rhode Island, after finding his younger brother Thomas P. Hazard drinking and smoking underage.

[1][9][10] Kenyon was a member of the Freemasons, of which he was part of the Royal Arch Masons, the Knights Templar, and the Scottish Rite.

Kenyon served on the Washington County Draft Board and the Rhode Island State Council of Defense during World War II.