Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 2).djvu/735

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GRAHAM
GRAHAM
701

colors up that river. He subsequently took part in the attack on Fort Fisher, and remained on duty at different points until the close of the war, when he returned to the practice of engineering in New York city. He was brevetted major-genei*al of volunteers 13 March, 18(j5. Among the enter- prises with which he has since been connected are the Broadway pavement commission and the Beach pneumatic transit company. Gen. Graham was chief engineer of the dock department from 1878 till 1875, and surveyor of the port of New York from 1878 till 1883, when he became naval officer, and held that post until 1885.


GRAHAM, David, lawyer, b. in London, Eng- land, 8 Feb., 1808 ; d. in Nice, France, 27 May, 1853. At the time of his birth, Mr. Graham's father, an Irishman, was leaving Great Britain for political reasons. The son was educated partly at Colum- bia and partly under the supervision of his father, who, according to Prof. Charles Anthon, was one of the best scholars in the country. Young Graham studied law, and was admitted to the bar. Dur- ing 1842 he served as corporation counsel. He was subsequently appointed, in conjunction with Arphaxad Loomis and David Dudley Field, " to revise, reform, simplify, and abridge the rules of practice, pleadings, forms, and proceedings of the courts of record " of the state of New York, under the constitution adopted 3 Nov., 1846. This was the forerunner of the present system of practice, and occupied Mr. Graham and his associates sev- eral years. Meantime he was successful as a lawyer, especially in criminal cases. In the trial of Bishop Benjamin T. Onderdonk before the house of bish- ops in 1844, Mr. Graham, as counsel for the defend- ant, added greatly to his reputation. On the open- ing of the New York university in the spring of 1838, he was appointed professor of the law of pleading and practice. Mr. Graham is the author of " Practice of the Supreme Court of the State of New York " (New York, 1832). It passed through a second edition (1830), and he had finished revis- ing the first volume of a third (1847) at tlie time of his death. He also published "New Trials " (1834 ; new ed., greatly enlarged, by D. Graham. Jr., and Thomas W. Watterman, 3 vols., 185G), and "Courts of Law and Equity in the State of New York " (New York, 1839). In addition to the above, he issued an annotated edition of Smitli's " Chancery Practice," which was published as the second American edition of that work in 1842.


GRAHAM, George, soldier, b. in Chester coun- ty. Pa., in 1758; d. near Charlotte, N.C..29 March, 1826. Plis mother was left a widow with six chil- dren, and but slender means. The son emigrated to North Carolina, and was educated at the Queen's museum, Charlotte. When only seventeen, with a few others, he rode all night to reach Salisbury, and there seized two Tory lawyers, Dunn and Boothe by name, and carried them to Camden, S. C., where they were imprisoned, but subsequently sent for safe-keeping to Charleston as "persons inimical to the country." He served throughout the Revolutionary war, and on 3 Oct., 1780, was one of twelve who attacked and drove back a superior British force seven miles to the south of Charlotte. He was also active, when the enemy was encamped near his residence, in attacking their foraging parties. After the declaration of peace he served several terms in the legislature, was for a long time clerk of the court of Mecklenburg county, became major-general of militia, and filled other responsible offices. — His brother, Joseph, soldier, b. in Chester county. Pa., 13 Oct., 1759 ; d. in Lincoln county, N. C, 12 Nov., 1836. At the age of seven he accompanied his widowed mother to North Carolina. He was educated at Queen's museum in Charlotte, and at the age of nineteen enlisted in the 4th regiment of North Carolina regular troops, under Col. Archibald Lytle. He was called into active service in the autumn of 1778, and accom- panied Gen. Rutherford to the banks of the Sa- vannah soon after the defeat of Gen. Ashe at Brier Creek. He was with Gen. Lincoln while the latter was manoeuvring against Prevost, and was in the severe battle at Stono in June, 1779. He was after- ward prostrated by a fever, and returned home, but rejoined the army after the fall of Charleston. He was appointed adjutant of the Mecklenburg regiment, and saw considerable service, meeting the enemy while covering the retreat of Major William R. Davie, near Charlotte, in the autumn of 1780. In the latter encounter lie was cut down by a British dragoon, and received six sabre thrusts and three bullet-wounds. After recovering from these, he raised a company of mounted riflemen, and with fifty men disputed the passage of the British army at Cowan's ford. Subsequently, with the assistance of some troops from Rowan, he sur- prised and captured a British guard at Hart's mill, onl}' a short distance from headquarters at Hills- borough, and the next day was with Gen. Henry Lee when Pyles was defeated. The following Sep- tember he was appointed major of a legion of cavalry he had been ordered to raise, and went toward Wilmington to rescue Gov. Burke, who had been abducted from Hillsborough by Fanning, a noted loyalist. South of Fayctteville he met a band of Tories, and after a severe skirmish, defeated them, although his force numbered only 136 against the enemy's 600. After he had engaged in two or three other bold enterprises, the surrender of Corn- wallis put an end to hostilities in the south. He married in 1787, and in 1792 erected iron-works and settled in Lincoln county. He had previous- ly resided in Mecklenbui'g county, which he fre- quently represented in the state senate. In 1814, 1,000 men were raised in North Carolina to aid the Tennessee and Georgia volunteers against the Creek Indians. Graham was given the command and commissioned major-general. He arrived with his corps just after the Creeks had submitted to Gen. Jackson, Gen. Coffee, and Gen. Carroll, after the battle at the Horse Shoe. For many years afterward he was the senior officer of the 5th division of the state militia. — His son, James, lawyer, b. in Lincoln county, N. C. in January, 1793 ; d. in Rutherford county, N. C, in September, 1851, was graduated at the University of North Carolina in 1814, studied law, was admitted to the bar, and practised successfully in his native coimty for many years. Removing to Rutherford county, he served several terms in the legislature in 1822-'9, and was elected to congress as a Whig, serving fi-om 2 Dec, 1833, till 3 March, 1843, excepting from 25 March, 1836, to 5 Dec, 1836, when a Democratic house declared his seat vacant, although it was not given to his competitor. Mr. Graham was again chosen at a new election. He was also elected to the 29th congress, serving from 1 Dec, 1845, till 3 March, 1847, when he retired and devoted the re- mainder of his life to farming. — Another son, William Alexander, senator, b. in Lincoln county, N. C, 5 Sept., 1804 ; d. in Saratoga Springs, N. Y., 11 Aug., 1875, was graduated at the University of North Carolina in 1824, admitted to the bar at Newbern, N. C. and began to practise law in Hills- borough. He was several times elected to the state legislature between 1833 and 1840, and was more than once chosen speaker. In 1840 he was elected