Dr. Gravatt served on the vestry of the local Episcopal church for 31 years, and was ultimately buried in the St. Peter's churchyard.

One elder brother became a doctor like their father, a sister married a Confederate general, and John Gravatt also became an Episcopal priest in Virginia.

Gravatt then accepted the call from prestigious Zion Episcopal Church in Charles Town, West Virginia and became its rector.

When West Virginia's Bishop George William Peterkin asked for appointment of a coadjutor in 1899, the diocesan council elected Rev.

The retired bishop and his wife of 54 years, Sidney Peyton Gravatt, died within 2 hours of each other at their home in Charleston in 1942.