Georgia:  Coweta County:  Biography of CAPT. J. GRAHAM 

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CAPT. J. GRAHAM, one of the leading business men of Senoia, is the grandson 
of William Graham, of Irish nativity, who was brought to America when a child 
of two years of age, and reared in North Carolina. He served in the war of 
1812, and in 1825 settled in Harris county, Ga. His son David was born in 
North Carolina and married Miss Pheriba L. Collins, whose parents, James and 
Priscilla (Baker) Collins, came to Georgia early in the century and cleared 
up a farm among the forest wilds. J. Graham was the son of David and Pheriba 
L. Graham and was born in Harris county, Ga., in 1842. His early years were 
passed on the quiet farm with only the school privileges found in the 
backwoods; moreover, the outbreak of the war interrupted even these few 
opportunities for gaining an education. He enlisted in 1861, entering 
Company G, of the Thirty-first Georgia regiment, commanded by Capt. Gus 
Reading and under Gen. Evans. On June 27, 1862, he fought in the battle of 
Seven Pines, having had nothing to eat except a little hardtack for five 
days. He took part in the battles of Malvern Hill, Fredericksburg, Winchester
and Millroy, and all through the Wilderness, and at Winchester, on Sept. 19, 
he was wounded in the nose by a minie ball. On the twenty-second of the same 
month he was captured, but held only twelve days. He then went home for a 
short time, but soon organized a cavalry company, with which he went back to 
the seat of war as captain and remained until peace was declared. In 1864 he 
was color-bearer and was noted through all these years of conflict for his 
ardor and daring; always in the front, always inciting his men to follow 
where he so gallantly led. After the war he returned to Georgia and engaged 
in farming in Marion county, afterward removing to Coweta county. His sturdy 
devotion to principle has everywhere won him the respect of all who knew him. 
He has been a constant and stanch advocate of prohibition, and was elected 
mayor of Senoia on this ticket, winning the close contest by fourteen votes, 
and during the two years he held the office entirely excluding whisky from 
the town. The grand success of prohibition in Coweta county is due more, 
perhaps, to Capt. Graham than to any other. He is one of Senoia's best 
citizens, and liked by all who know him. He is a member of the masonic 
order. He is a faithful member of the Baptist church, as is also his wife, 
who was Miss Martha Simms, a native of Sumter county, and daughter of 
Hartwell Simms. Capt. and Mrs. Graham are the parents of seven children: 
Ada, Lee, Berta, Delia, Ruby, Windsor and Marion.

Transcribed from MEMOIRS OF GEORGIA published by the Southern Historical 
Association, 1895.