My Genealogy Hound

SAMUEL C. GRAHAM, one of the extentive land-owners of Johnson County, is a worthy representative of one of her old and honored families. He has owned and carried on his present farm for upwards of fifty-five years, but the original one hundred and sixty acres which he entered in 1840 is now only a part of his possessions, which now number over eight hundred acres. He may well be proud of his success, for he has been unassisted save by his faithful and thrifty wife, who was called to the home beyond July 3, 1889, and whose loss has been deeply mourned among her many old friends and neighbors.

Since 1834 the Grahams have been closely associated with the development and welfare of this section. Robert, the father of our subject, served on the first grand jury convened in this county, the court being held under some elm trees, on the old Nicholas Haux Farm, near Columbus. Later he represented the Democratic party as Associate Judge and Assessor of the county. He was a native of Virginia, and was born in 1780, but his parents were of Irish birth. They left the Emerald Isle a short time before the War of the Revolution and settled in the Old Dominion. When the Colonies proclaimed their independence, the father shouldered his gun and fought in the cause of freedom. Robert Graham, on reaching man’s estate, wedded Catherine Crockett, who was born at Crockett’s Cove. In 1833 the couple, with their family and a few household effects, started overland, bound for this state. At the end of a forty-two-day journey they stopped in Boone County, Mo., where they spent the following winter. Subsequently they became residents of this county, spending the remainder of their lives on a place three miles west of Hazle Hill. With the exception of a few months spent in merchandising in old Virginia, Mr. Graham’s life was devoted to farming. Both he and his wife were members of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. Fraternally he was long a member of the Masonic order.

Samuel C. Graham is one of six children, and the eldest of his father’s family. Mary E. is the wife of Nathan A. Fields, of Henry County; James J. is the third in the family now living; and Margaret A. is the widow of John Scott, and now makes her home in Henry County. Robert C. and John G. are deceased. The former, who was born in 1818, was a successful farmer of this county, and died at the age of fifty-two years. John G. is mentioned at greater length in the sketch of Robert B. Graham, which appears elsewhere in this work.

A native of Black Lick, Wythe County, Va., our subject was born December 14, 1814. He received a common-school education, and was eighteen years of age, when with his parents he emigrated westward. He was of great assistance to his father in clearing his land and making rails for fences. He continued to live under the parental roof until twenty-six years of age, learning lessons of industry, thrift and economy, which stood him in good stead in his subsequent life work. In 1837, when the Osage Indian War broke out, he and his brother Robert C. took their muskets and fought until the termination of hostilities, and in 1838, during the Mormon troubles, our subject’s services were once more called into requisition. Good teachers were scarce in Missouri when Mr. Graham arrived here, and he taught in the subscription schools of both Boone and Johnson Counties for a number of terms. In 1840 he invested the money which he had carefully saved from his salary in one hundred and sixty acres, a portion of his present homestead. His advancement from this time onward was sure, and prosperity usually crowned his labors.

March 26, 1840, a marriage ceremony was performed by which Margaret, daughter of James and Rachel (Barnett) Hobson, became the wife of our subject. To them were born nine children, of whom all but three are yet living. John H., the eldest, is a successful farmer of Chilhowee Township. His first wife was a Miss Alice Woolery, and to them were born two children. The lady who now bears his name was formerly Miss Sarah McFarland. Robert C., who is now managing his father’s farm with ability, married Josie White, by whom he has one child. Nancy E. is the wife of W. W. Marr, a successful farmer and dealer in livestock in Arkansas. J. Crockett, who is numbered among the progressive farmers of Bates County, Mo., married Miss Kate White, by whom he has three children. Samuel B., an enterprising young farmer of this county, married Laura Glass, and has one child. William A. married Lula Glass, and like his elder brothers is giving his attention to agricultural pursuits.

In his political affiliations, Samuel C. Graham is a supporter of the Democracy. His reminiscences of pioneer days are deeply interesting. He well remembers when he has seen a herd of fifty deer only a short distance from the home. For forty-five years he has been a devoted member of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, and his name is always found among the subscribers to worthy charities. Fraternally he is a member of the Masonic society. A man of jovial disposition and genial manner, he has won hosts of friends among all classes.