Regarding the father and
brother of Andrew Graham (1797-1867)
JAMES GRAHAM is said to have been the father of our Andrew Graham
(1797-1867). Based on a “rule of
thumb” I use, I would expect Andrew’s father to have lived during the period of
about 1767 to 1827.
“A History and Biographical Record of North and West Texas”
edited by Capt. B. B. Paddock in 1906, Vol. II, p. 120 stated that Andrew’s
father was “a Scotchman with large estates in Dublin, Ireland, where he was
stationed as commanding officer of a British garrison”,
“Texas Under Six Flags”, Vol. 3, Page 189 states “Andrew
Graham, native of Dublin Ireland and son of British Army General stationed in
Dublin although he was a Scotsman of Scottish family, Andrew and his brother
John while still youths were sent in 1812 to join relatives in Tennessee - but
left for Arkansas - (then) to Texas”.
Two hundred years ago British General officers were
usually men of noble birth or from wealthy families – men with options beyond
that of ordinary men. This being so, I ponder why such a man would have send a 15-year-old
son to where life, even among “relatives”, would have had so few British amenities
as would have been the case in 1812 Tennessee.
It does not ring right, and the written accounts may be just partial
truth – maybe to avoid something embarrassing.
Or maybe the author simply overstated the rank and position of Andrew’s
father.
In the 1980s, Doris Williams Wheaton (granddaughter
of AK Graham) and I worked hard to establish Andrew’s parentage. Some of this work was done in England, Scotland
and Ireland. We also had the help of M.
Ian Andrews of Dunfermline, Scotland, who after a conversation I had with him
on a train became curious and joined the quest. This venture was intensely pursued.
The only “General Graham” we found – at the right time and the right
places that era – was Samuel Graham (1756-1831). He was the son of an aristocrat named John Graham and his wife
Euphanel Stenson. His maternal
grandmother was Cecilia Millar of Earnock in Lanarkshire, whatever the
significance may be.
These are some of significant happenings to this Samuel Graham: Less than two years before Andrew was born,
October of 1795, Lt Colonel Graham was severely wounded by the Caribs on St
Vincents, the Caribbean island of that name.
He returned to Scotland to recuperate in January of 1796. In January 1797 he was sent to command 27th
Enniskillen Regiment in Ireland. On
June 15, 1797, our Andrew Graham, “of Scottish birth”, was born. August 13, 1799 Samuel was sent to Helder,
Holland – to Gibraltar in 1800– to Egypt in 1801 – and then in 1802 he made
full Colonel 1802 – in 1804, when Samuel was 52 years old, he married “for the
first time” - to Jane Ferrier, daughter of an influential aristocrat – they had
three children by Jane - one being Colonel James Graham – in 1809 Samuel was
promoted to Major General and in 1814 he made Lt. General. In 1831 he died in Stirling Castle,
Scotland.
I cannot help but think that
General Samuel Graham might have some connection to our Andrew – maybe a kinsman
of some sort. Whatever the case, Andrew
left us reasons to be proud. He appears
to have achieved a lot in life, and perhaps the best choice he made of all, is
his choice of Sibbie Kenner to have been his wife. Texas women, in particular, had it tough in the early days of our
fair state. There is a saying that life
in Texas was great for men and dogs, but hell on women and horses. When they got here in 1833, there were only
30,000 Anglos. It was an unlikely time
and place for the son of a British General, but we cannot totally discredit
these accounts.
ÛÛÛÛ
In regards to John Graham, the
brother of our Andrew Graham:
Some think that Andrew’s brother John might have come to Texas about the
same time as Andrew did, but we have found no evidence of this. Some think he was the John Graham who fought
in the epic Battle of San Jacinto, but it was not so, as stated in a public
document regarding the veterans of San Jacinto: “GRAHAM, JOHN
-- Born in Orange, Sampson County, Northh Carolina, in 1768. This is shown on a
copy of Captain W.W. Hill's muster roll filed in the Archives of the Texas
State Library, Austin, Texas. In
Headright Certificate No. 270 for one-third of a league of land issued to him
January 26, 1838 by the Board of Land Commissioners for Washington County, it
is stated that he came to Texas in 1833.”
Oddly, 1833 was also year that Andrew brought his own family to Texas.