The legal records of Robert Craig Graham

The first of "my" Graham's to come to America was Robert Graham. He came from County Down, Ireland around 1774. His son was also named Robert Graham. Robert Jr. is my 4th great grandfather. He was born during the Revoluntionary War while his family lived in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. They soon moved to Southwest Virginia, to what would become Wythe County. (Incidentally, there still are many Graham's in the area.)

Robert Jr. married into the Crockett family. His wife was Catherine Crockett. There is some family lore that Catherine is related to the famous "Davy Crockett." This may be true, but there were a lot of Crocketts around at the time. I haven't done exhaustive research on this connection, but haven't found any direct relationship there. Still, it would be fun to nail it down sometime in the future.

Robert and Catherine had several tracts of land and there are still many documents in the basement of the courthouse in Wythe, Virginia. What got me started on this angle was a piece of family lore that said Robert was well off financially until he co-signed a note for a friend. He ended up having to make good on the debt, which ruined him financially. He felt that Virginia was no place for a poor man so he took his wife and six children and set out for Missouri around 1834. I thought it would be neat to verify this by looking at some of the recorded documents in Wythe County.

Through a wonderful service called "Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness" a kindhearted volunteer spent several hours and a couple trips to the basement of the Wythe County Courthouse to make copies of the documents that had Robert and Catherine's name on them.

It is good I have a legal background! Reading these old documents was a real exercise, even after being accustomed to legal jargon. Property never was my favorite class in law school. But perhaps if I had to read legal descriptions like this, I would have liked it better. Robert and Catherine are selling 53 acres of land in 1829 to a man named Jezreel Harmon for $62. But check out this legal description (I've highlighted the legal description part) :

This Indenture made this seventh day of February one thousand eight hundred and twenty nine between Robert Graham & Catharine his Wife of the County of Washington & Jazreel Harmon of the County of Wythe both of the state of Virginia witnefseth that the said Graham for and in consideration of the sum of Sixty two Dollars to him in hand paid the receipt whereof is hereby acknowledged hath this day bargained and sold and by there presents do bargain and sell unto the said Jazreel Harmon a certain tract or parcel of land lying and situated on the waters of the north fork of Holstein River and Bounded as followeth to wit Beginning at a poplar corner of said Harmon land conveyed to him from Solomon McDaniel and from thence S. 72 ½ ° E 100 poles to a Lynn & Beach S. 75° E. 140 poles to a Cucumber N. 14° E 58 poles to a sugar tree S 17° E 62 poles to a beach South 30 poles to a Sugar tree N 72° W. 70 poles to a beach West 47 poles to a beach on the top of a ridge & thence N 72° W. 126 to a stake poles Thence N. 15° E 28 poles to the Beginning with all and singular the appurtenances thereto belonging to have and to hold the said Tract or parcel of land containing fifty three acres by survey be the same more or lefs with its appurtenances to the sole ure and behoof of him the said Jazreel Harman & his heirs and the said Robert Graham & Catharine his Wife for themselves & their heirs the said land free from the claim or claims of all and every person or persons whatsoever unto the said Jazreel Harmon and his heirs forever.

I know its hard to read--the whole thing is a continous run on sentence! Plus, there are spelling conventions that have changed since then. (Like using an "f" in place of "s" in some spots). But isn't it interesting how they reference the area not by metes and bounds or by lot numbers like our modern deeds do. No, they walk you around the property starting at a poplar tree by a river, to a sugar tree, etc.

I've got several documents that this angel/volunteer copied for me. One of the latest in time (1833) is between Robert and Catherine and their son John G. Graham for $1. In it, they give John (also in my direct line), all of Catherine's interest in the estate of her uncle, Robert Sayers.

Someday I would like to travel to Wythe County for myself and be able to peruse the originals!

My Grahams of the Borders - Ne Oublie!

My family traces its Graham line back to Robert Graham, who was born in County Down, Ireland, in 1749/50. Although born in Northern Ireland, Robert was of Scottish descent. There were many of these Scots-Irish families in Northern Ireland. Like mine, many of them migrated towards the colonies and heartily participated in the American Revolution. It's a very interesting history, and one of the triggers to my personal family history obsession.

Still, I wonder: just what brought Robert's ancestors to Ireland from Scotland? I've done only a small bit of research on Scottish/English history. I've also been in touch with the genealogist from the Clan Graham Society, Nellie Lowry.

There was a group of Graham's who inhabited what was termed the "Debatable Lands" between the Scottish and English border. They who lived there were known as "border reivers." It's Nellie's opinion that my Graham's probably come from this border area.

The following are excerpts from Nellie's article about the Graham's of the Borders in the Clan Graham News, Vol. 14, Number 2 Summer 1998:

"By 1552 the Debateable Land had already been partitioned between England and Scotland. Scots Dyke is the modern name of the dividing line. This border was closely watched every night by many men. The Grahams of Netherby and Mote made their "fair livings" by the service of having their horses ready and keeping the night watches of the border.

In 1583 there appear to be three Graham clans in this tiny area:

Grahams of the Leven lived on the banks of the Lyne from Solport to its junction with the Esk. These were "great riders and ill-doers to both the realms".

Another great clan of Grahams—the Grahams of the Esk—occupied the banks of that river from the Mote Scar, where the Liddel joins it, down to the sea. There they feuded with the Story family and took their land.

Out west, on the edge of the Debateable Land, dwelt the Grahams of the Sark, English on this side of the stream, Scottish on the other.

According to family tradition, the Grahams had been banished from Scotland and settled along the banks of the Esk and Lyne Rivers (just north of Carlisle) and from there into Northumberland. By the middle of the sixteenth century they were 500 armed men strong under William "Lang Will" Graham of Stubhill, to whose son, Fergus of the Mote, arms were granted some three years later. By the end of the century it was estimated that Rob Graham alone commanded 2,000-3,000 men useful to England.

Not only did intermarriage and self-interest enable the Grahams, from their base in the Debatable Lands, to be useful to England or to Scotland at will, but their loyalties seem to have been curiously divided even among themselves!

The Borderers were happy to fight each other for their own ends; their natural cussedness would become evident. They might be led, but on no account would they be driven, least of all by officialdom to whom they were naturally allergic. It was often difficult to know on whose side a particular surname might be operating. Thomas Musgrave wrote "They are a people that will be Scottish when they will and English at their pleasure." The Grahams were known as a clan with a soul above nationality and an eye directed almost exclusively to the main chance. They obeyed no master unless it happened to suit them.

Since 1548 when the young Queen of Scots set sail for France, the Border had been the scene of constant bloodshed and pillage by rival factions. Robbery, murder, blackmail and kidnapping; the Grahams indulged in them all....

...The Grahams had lots of friends: in 1597 two notorious thieves, Jock Graham of the Peartree and Will of the Lake of Esk, were sent to the Queen's gaol here, yet the gaoler kept them in his house, and the next day, his friends came and took away the prisoners, having horses ready, while others with guns and dags lay in wait outside the city gate, to shoot any who should pursue, and followed to protect their retreat...

...Finally the Grahams saw the handwriting on the wall and tried to appease the government but when James I came to the throne, he showed the utmost zeal and determination in uprooting the landed families of Liddel, against whom he naturally bore a grudge. He arranged for their passage to Ireland from the port at Workington, County Cumberland, England to Roscommon, Ireland at the expense of the county.

The whole sept of the Grahams, under their chief Walter, the gude man of Netherby, was exported to Ireland. The reason stated was because they had been troublesome on the Scottish border. The sept at this time consisted of 124 persons, nearly all bearing the surname of Graeme or Graham. Their land was forfeited, and was sold in 1629 to Richard Graham, second son of Richard Graham, of Plomp, son of Matthew Graham of Springhill, beyond which it is impossible to trace the present family of Graham of Esk and Netherby.

Not all of the troublesome Grahams were deported to Ireland. Many had taken refuge among their friends and relations and many had defenders in the family. Even the Earl of Montrose came forward to protest the arrest of his cousin in the borders.

Since they were exported to Ireland in 1606, they were not long in the Cumberland area, yet many of the Grahams didn't stay in Ireland a year. Some came back to the borders, others went into Scotland, some to Yorkshire and Northumberland and others to the New World within a few years. All tried to hide their identity and some even changed their names! The Border Reivers were not "nice guys". They seemed to get into lots of trouble in the few short years that they lived in the area."

It's a fascinating history, and one I plan to learn more about in the future. Not only do I want to learn about the history of this place and its people, but one of my long term research goals is to trace Robert Graham's ancestry further back. My dad has taken a Y-DNA 67 marker test and has had his results submitted to the Graham DNA Project. As more Graham men have their results submitted, the more likely we will be able to make some of these ancient connections.

For further reading:

Graham, John. The Condition of the Border at the Union: destruction of the Graham Clan. 2nd Ed. 1907

Fraser, George MacDonald. The Steel Bonnets: The Story of the Anglo-Scottish Border Reivers. 1971

Growing up without a Mama

Mother. Mama. It's one of the first words a baby learns to say. On the battlefield, it is often one of the last words uttered by the mortally wounded soldier. A mother is central to a family and especially to a young child. She is their world. She feeds, loves, protects, teaches, binds wounds, inspires, and passes on the values and traditions that she grew up with.

I go to a Tuesday morning bible study at my church, Calvary Chapel of Escondido. We are currently doing a bible study on the book of Esther. Beth Moore, the author of the study, made a point about how young Esther grew up without a mama. She pointed out how devastating that would be for any child and how formative that would be for them. It would shape their character and follow them for the rest of their lives.

Sitting in the study, I couldn't help but thinking about a few of my ancestors that I knew off the top of my head that grew up without a mama. I wonder how the loss of such a key person in their lives shaped who they grew up to be?

Jesse Clark Osgood (1837-1918)

His mama, Abigail Clark, died when he was 19 months old. His father, Thaddeus Osgood, remarried three more times. (I don't know...if I was wife #4, I'd think twice!) Jesse was raised by his mother's family, the Clark's. The 1860 census shows him living with his Uncle Jesse Clark and Aunt Lydia rather than his father. We also have several letters he wrote to his Clark relatives during the Civil War. I don't know if there was any bad blood between Jesse and his father, or step-mothers. There isn't any kind of family lore to say that there was. I can't help but wonder though, why he wouldn't be living with his father.

Jesse and his mama shared the same birthday, March 4th. I wonder if this made his birthdays bittersweet?

Sarah Warriner Hamilton (1843-1937)

Sarah's mother, Mary Stebbins, died when Sarah was 3 years old. Her mother died shortly after giving birth to twin siblings on Christmas Day, 1846. She died a few weeks later. This was 8 days after one of the newborn twins, Alfred, died. In Sarah's case, her father also remarried. His second wife, Katherine Dewey Collins, died in 1850. His third wife, Julia Blake Beach, was a widow and came to the family with four children of her own. She was a schoolteacher in the town where Sarah went to school. The Hamilton children loved Julia before she became their stepmother. The ten children of the blended family grew up in the love and affection of both Mr. Hamilton and Julia and were very close as brothers and sisters all their lives. In fact, after Mr. Hamilton died, Julia came to live in Florence, Kansas, near Sarah and her family. Julia died there in 1899. It's nice to see a blended family that grew up in affection rather than distrust and bad feelings.

I find it interesting that these first two ancestors that came to mind, Jesse Osgood and Sarah Hamilton, married each other. Losing their mother at a young age was something they had in common.

Robert Craig Graham (1780-1856)

Robert was named for his father, Robert Graham, who emigrated from County Down, Ireland. When Robert Jr. was six, his mama, Mary Craig, died. Robert had three brothers and three sisters at the time. When he was nine, his father remarried another woman by the name of Mary....Mary Cowan. This second Mary and Robert had seven children of their own. From all accounts, the children from the first Mary (Cowan) did not get along with their stepmother as adults. I have yet to document this, but apparently there were legal issues with the estate of his father. Robert married Catherine Crockett and the family moved to Johnson County, Missouri, in about 1834.

The descendants of Robert Graham Sr. with his second wife, Mary, stayed in Wythe County, Virginia. During the Civil War, this line of Graham's fought for the Confederacy, while Robert Craig Graham's grandson, Robert Barnett Graham, fought for the Union. If anyone is interested, there is a great website on the Robert Graham/Mary Cowan descendants in Virginia called Major Graham's Mansion and is worth a look at to learn about the impact Graham's had in that part of Virginia.

Nancy Jane King (1846-1929)

Hannah Magee was 27 when she gave birth to her daughter, Nancy, in March 1946. Baby Nancy was 5 months old when her mama, Hannah, died. This is one family line that I know very little about. I don't know if her 31 year old husband, Ambrose King, remarried. This is one family line that I certainly need to explore further.

Josiah Osgood (1739-1788)

Josiah's mama was named Abigail Day. She married Josiah Osgood Sr., at the age of 18. She gave birth four times before she died. Her last baby was Josiah in 1739. When Josiah was three, his mama died. His father married Hannah Kitteredge when Josiah was 10. But between the age of three and ten, Josiah was without any mother figure.

How did this impact their lives? It's impossible to know for sure. It probably made them have to fend for themselves more and grow up a bit faster. One thing is for sure....it makes me realize how fortunate I am to have grown up with a mama, who still is one of the most important people in my life.

If your mama is still alive, go give her a call and let her know how important she is to you.