BIOGRAPHY: George R. Graham; Goshen, Orange co., New York

transcribed by W. David Samuelsen for USGenWeb Archives

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Portrait and Biographical Record of Rockland and Orange Counties New York
Containing Portraits and Biographical Sketches of Prominent and Representative
Citizens of the Counties.
Together with Biographies and Portraits of all the Presidents of the United
States.
New York and Chicago; Chapman Publishing Co., 1895

GEORGE R. GRAHAM comes of an old and well known family of Orange County. He
was born in the town of Greenville on the 3oth of July, 1832, and is the son
of Hon. Richard Graham, well known in this locality as "Uncle Dick."
Grandfather William Graham was a native of County Longford, Ireland, while his
wife, Mary Moffatt, was a native of County Tyrone. They met after coming to
America, and after their marriage in Orange County at once began farming on a
tract of land in what is now the town of Greenville, where the father died.
Our subject is now the owner of this property.

In his grandparents' family were three children, of whom Margaret married
Samuel S. Stanton, and is now deceased; William was for many years Justice of
the Peace of his locality, and also en-gaged in farming; he is now deceased.
Richard, the father of our subject, served in the War of 1812, first as
Captain of Artillery and later as Colonel of Militia at Staten Island. He was
a very large, strong man, and after the war engaged in cultivating the soil,
owning a valuable tract of three hundred acres. At the time of his de-cease,
September 1, 186o, he was sixty-seven years of age. Ile obtained his title of
Honorable as a member of the State Assembly, to which body he was elected in
1831, serving with credit to himself and satisfaction to his constituents. By
his marriage with Mrs. Nancy (Pauley) Wood, the widow of Amza Wood, were born
two sons, the brother of our subject being Daniel, who for some time was
Postmaster of Madison, Neb., but is now deceased.

The subject of this sketch was married in Goshen, September 24, 1857, to Miss
Hannah Holbert, a native of that city, and a daughter of Adrian Holbert, also
a native of this county. His father, Hon. Peter Holbert, was also a native of
Orange County, where he was a well-to-do farmer. He was elected many years ago
to the New York Assembly, and for a long time was also Justice of the Peace in
the town of Minisink.

Adrian Holbert was successfully engaged as a former near Goshen, making a
specialty of dairying. Later he purchased the Orange County Milk Association,
in the city of New York, which was established by C. J. Westbrook and which he
re-organized into a stock company, of which he was elected general manager. He
built the large creamery at Middletown, the one at Ft. Plain and also the one
near Goshen. These he operated until 1887, when he sold out and retired, dying
in 1891, when past eighty-two years of age. He was a Republican in politics
and a member of the Presbyterian Church.

The mother of Mrs. Graham, in her maiden-hood known as Hannah Sayer, was born
in Minisink, and was the daughter of Joshua Sayer, also a native of that
place, where he was for many years a farmer. Mrs. Holbert died in 1843, when
thirty-six years of age. She became the mother of five children, viz.:
Charles, who died at Atchison, Kan.; Hannah, Mrs. Graham; Marietta, Mrs.
Slater, who resides in Centralia, Kan.; Sarah, deceased; and Jesse, living on
the homestead.

The subject of this sketch was reared on the home farm, one hundred and fifty
acres of which are still in his possession. The land is a valuable piece of
property and is devoted principally to the breeding of Dutch cattle and
Hambletonian horses. In 1883 Mr. Graham and his wife removed to Goshen, where
they are now residing in a comfortable home on Golden Hill Avenue. Mr. Graham
holds a life membership in Hoffman Lodge No. 412, F. & A. M., at Middletown,
with which he has been connected for twenty-seven years. For one term he
rendered efficient service as Justice of the Peace, but aside from this has
refused to accept office. In 1875 and also in 1880 he took the census in the
town of Greenville, and was also Assessor of that town for nine years. Mrs.
Graham is a member of the Presbyterian Church at Goshen. In politics Mr.
Graham is a stanch sup-porter of the Democracy.