Butler County AlArchives Biographies.....Graham, William P. May 13 1833 - living in 1893
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Ann Anderson alabammygrammy@aol.com May 14, 2004, 2:53 pm

Author: Brant & Fuller (1893)
    WILLIAM P. GRAHAM, one of the old and substantial citizens of Butler county,
is descended from Scotch-Irish ancestry, and traces the history of his family to
an early period of South Carolina, long antedating the Revolutionary struggle.
His grandfather, John Graham, was born in Ireland, but came to America in the
time of the colonies, settling in South Carolina, where, at the breaking out of
the war of independence, his mechanical skill was employed in the manufacture of
drums for the patriot army. Samuel N. Graham, father of William P., was born in
Orangeburg district, S. C., in 1798. In early life, he was a manufacturer of
guns, and is said to have made the first machine of the kind ever made in
Alabama. Later, he became a minister of the Methodist Protestant church, and
preached quite extensively for a number of years in various parts of Alabama, to
which state he removed when a young man. He married in the county of Lowndes, in
the year 1824, Mary Browning, a native of Georgia, and about 1840 moved to
Montgomery county, thence four years later to Butler county, where he lived
until his removal to Home Valley, west Florida, in 1850. Subsequently he
returned to Alabama, locating in Henry county, and after a residence there of
four years moved back to Butler, where he departed this life on the 18th day of
February, 1880, sincerely mourned by his friends. Mrs. Graham, who shared the
joys and sorrows of her husband for over half a century, followed him to the
grave on the 6th day of February, 1882. Eleven children constituted the family
of Samuel N. and Mary H. Graham, four of whom are living, namely: Elizabeth,
wife of James Mayward; Margaret S., wife of O. C. Pushton; William P. and
Diademia, widow of William McGlaun. William P. Graham was born in Lowndes
county, Ala., May 13, 1833, and, with the exception of his period of service in
the Confederate army, has always been a farmer and mill man. He has resided
nearly all his life in Butler county, where he owns a fine farm of 380 acres,
and he also operates a grist mill and cotton gin, both of which are extensively
patronized by the people of his and neighboring communities. His military
experience embraced the period between March, 1862, and the final surrender at
Appomattox in 1865, during which time he participated in some of the bloodiest
battles of the war, including Perryville, where he received a painful wound in
the right shoulder, Chickamauga, and all the engagements of the Atlanta
campaign. He was wounded a second time on the 21st of July, 1863, being struck
on the jaw by a rifle ball, the effect of which was to take him from the ranks
for a considerable length of time. His regiment, the Thirty-third Alabama,
formed a part of Hood's army in that general's raid throughout Tennessee, and
took part in the battles of Franklin and Nashville, in both of which engagements
Mr. Graham did valiant service, and at Pulaski, while in retreat, he and many
others of his command were made prisoners, and sent to Camp Chase, Columbus,
Ohio. There he remained in confinement until the cessation of hostilities, at
which time he was released and sent home. Mr. Graham was elected by his party,
democratic, in 1844, commissioner of Butler county, in which capacity he served
one term of four years. He is a member of the farmers' alliance, which he looks
upon as the best thing for the agricultural classes, and has great confidence in
the final outcome of that movement. The marriage of Mr. Graham and Louisa M.
Thomas was solemnized in 1859, and has been blessed with the birth of ten
children, the following of whom are living at this time, namely: Ida. wife of F.
M. Rhodes; Ella, wife of A. H. Fagin; Minnie L., John G.., Raif, Fletcher and
Clarence.



Additional Comments:
from "Memorial Record of Alabama", Vol. I, p. 583-584

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