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Key local figure

William A. Graham

William Alexander Graham practiced law in Hillsborough from 1828 and represented Orange County in the North Carolina House of Commons in 1836, 1838 and 1840, serving as speaker in the last two sessions. He was governor from January 1845 to January 1849 and is buried at Hillsborough.

Source: NCpedia: Graham, William Alexander

Also found in catalogs as William A (William Alexander) Graham.

1804–1875 · Dates from the Library of Congress · Library of Congress authority record ↗

18 works about William A. Graham are indexed here.

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William A. Graham, 1870
William A. Graham, 1870

Life and Orange County connections

Storylines this person is part of, in date order. Each has its own page.

StorylineJacksonians and Whigs in Orange County, 1824–18391824–1839 · 12 events · Orange County voted for Andrew Jackson in 1824 and by a wide margin in 1828, but by the late 1830s Whigs and Van Buren men were contesting its seats. Willie P. Mangum, chosen senator in 1830 as a Jacksonian, broke with Jackson over the removal of the bank deposits, and an Orange meeting approved his course in 1834. In 1836, after many county leaders broke with Jackson, supporters of Hugh L. White and of Martin Van Buren held rival meetings at the Hillsborough court house, and Orange went for Van Buren. Van Buren men took three Orange seats from the Whigs in 1838, and in 1839 Orange favored Dr. William Montgomery for Congress over the Whig George W. Haywood. StorylineThe Log Cabin campaign in Orange County, 1840–18411840–1841 · 11 events · In 1840 Orange County's Whigs and Democratic Republicans contested both the presidential race and the county's seats in the legislature. In August Orange elected Willie P. Mangum, William A. Graham and two other Whigs, with the Democratic Republican Cadwallader Jones Jr. taking the fourth seat, and the Recorder declared Orange a Whig county. In September Mangum and Democratic Senator Bedford Brown debated for two days at Hillsborough's Masonic Hall, and Chapel Hill held a Whig log cabin festival, though the University faculty asked the candidates not to speak there. In November the county gave Harrison a majority of 191 over Van Buren, and William A. Graham went on to the U.S. Senate. StorylineThe end of the Civil War in Orange County, 1865April 1865 · 31 events · In April 1865 David L. Swain and William A. Graham pressed for peace from Hillsborough as Johnston's army fell back through the county. Wheeler's cavalry fought Union pursuers at New Hope Creek on April 14, Union troops occupied Chapel Hill on April 17 under orders to protect the university, and Sherman and Johnston met at the Bennitt farm on the Hillsborough road, then in Orange County, where Johnston surrendered on April 26. StorylineKirk-Holden War connections, 1870October 1869–March 1871 · 49 events · Governor Holden named Orange County in his October 1869 warning about Klan violence, Hillsborough men were named in a Klan plot against Senator T. M. Shoffner, and Kirk's militia arrested Josiah Turner Jr. at Hillsborough in August 1870. Orange men Frederick N. Strudwick, William A. Graham and John W. Graham then helped bring, prosecute and decide Holden's impeachment. StorylineGovernor Holden’s impeachment and trial, 1870–1871December 1870–March 1871 · 20 events · Frederick N. Strudwick of Orange moved to impeach Governor William W. Holden on December 9, 1870. Article III charged the August 1870 arrest of Josiah Turner Jr. at Hillsborough; William A. Graham joined the prosecution, Turner and other Orange witnesses testified, and on March 22, 1871 the state Senate convicted Holden, 37 to 12 on that article, and removed him from office on the motion of Senator John W. Graham of Orange.

Dated events connected with this person, in date order. See these 132 dated events in the chronology →

During their lifetime

  1. William Hooper makes the Nash house in Hillsborough his home The house Francis Nash built in 1772 became the home of William Hooper, signer of the Declaration of Independence, in 1782. William A. Graham lived there in the 1860s. People: William Hooper, Francis Nash, William A. Graham Place: Nash-Hooper House, HillsboroughSearch the index · Lefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952 (1953), image 110 · Also: Nash, Hillsboro, Colonial and Revolutionary
  2. Thomas Ruffin qualifies to practice law and settles at Hillsborough Ruffin finished his legal studies under Archibald D. Murphey in Rockingham County and qualified to practice law in 1808. He moved to Hillsborough on June 9, 1809, and built his practice there; William A. Graham later read law with him. People: Thomas Ruffin, Archibald D. Murphey, William A. Graham Place: HillsboroughSearch the index · NC Department of Natural and Cultural Resources: Thomas Ruffin 1787-1870 (G-11) · Also: J. G. de Roulhac Hamilton, ed., The Papers of Thomas Ruffin, vol. 1
  3. William A. Graham enters Hillsborough Academy to prepare for the university Joseph Graham of Lincoln County sent his youngest son, William A. Graham, then nearly fifteen, to Hillsborough Academy in 1819 as his last step before the university. The academy was under the Rev. John Witherspoon, assisted by John Rodgers, and Graham studied there about eighteen months. People: William A. Graham, Joseph Graham (1759-1836), John Knox Witherspoon Place: Hillsborough Academy, Hillsborough · Also named: John Witherspoon, John RodgersInternet Archive: Max R. Williams, "The Education of William A. Graham", North Carolina Historical Review 40 (1963), p. 5
  4. William A. Graham is examined at Hillsborough and admitted to the university After the Hillsborough Academy examinations for the fall term, William A. Graham recited before Professor William Hooper of the university on January 13, 1821, and was admitted to the freshman class. He went on to Chapel Hill a few months past his sixteenth birthday and joined the Dialectic Society in February. People: William Hooper Place: Hillsborough · Also mentions: Hillsborough AcademySearch the index · Internet Archive: Max R. Williams, "The Education of William A. Graham", North Carolina Historical Review 40 (1963), p. 7
  5. William A. Graham gives his inaugural address as president of the Dialectic Society Graham, a member of the Dialectic Society since February 1821, gave his inaugural address as its president on August 27, 1823. He praised the Constitution, called equality of right and rank the keystone of the American political arch, and urged his fellow students to ready themselves for public life. Place: Dialectic Society hall, South Building, University of North Carolina, Chapel HillSearch the index · Internet Archive: Max R. Williams, "The Education of William A. Graham", North Carolina Historical Review 40 (1963), p. 13
  6. William A. Graham graduates among the four honor students of his class Graham, named among the best scholars at every examination from December 1821 on, graduated in 1824 as one of four honor students in a class of thirty-four and gave the classical oration at commencement. He then read law with Thomas Ruffin in Hillsborough. People: Thomas Ruffin Place: University of North Carolina, Chapel HillSearch the index · Internet Archive: Max R. Williams, "The Education of William A. Graham", North Carolina Historical Review 40 (1963), p. 11
  7. William A. Graham settles in Hillsborough to study law with Thomas Ruffin Fresh from the university, Graham settled in Hillsborough in 1824 to study law with Ruffin, a path many later graduates followed into the county seat's law offices. People: Thomas Ruffin Place: HillsboroughSearch the index · NC Historic Preservation Office: Richard L. Mattson, History and Architecture of Orange County (1996), p. 13
  8. Thomas Ruffin's law students at Hillsborough hold a weekly moot court In 1825 William A. Graham, then reading law under Thomas Ruffin, wrote to his teacher, who was away, that the law class had set up a moot court that met every week. Graham thought it would be of value if properly attended to. People: Thomas Ruffin, William A. Graham Place: HillsboroughSearch the index · Internet Archive: Fannie Memory Farmer, "Legal Education in North Carolina, 1820-1860", North Carolina Historical Review 28 (1951), p. 276
  9. The Rev. William Mercer Green builds the first house on the land later called Montrose Around 1827 the Rev. William Mercer Green, rector of St. Matthew's, built the first house on land he had bought that May from William Kirkland, who had acquired it in 1821; the tract had first belonged to James Hogg. William A. Graham bought it in 1842. People: William Mercer Green, William Kirkland, James Hogg, William A. Graham Place: Montrose, 320 St. Mary's Road, Hillsborough · Also mentions: St. Matthew'sSearch the index · NC State Historic Preservation Office: Montrose, National Register nomination (OR0050), section 8 · Also: NC State Historic Preservation Office: Hillsborough Historic District Additional Documentation, National Register
  10. William A. Graham establishes a law practice in Hillsborough Graham read law with Thomas Ruffin of Orange County and, having taken his county and superior court licences, had established a practice among the Hillsborough bar by March 1828. He kept a law practice until his death and in time owned three plantations worked by enslaved people. People: Thomas Ruffin Place: HillsboroughSearch the index · NCpedia: Graham, William Alexander
  11. William A. Graham represents Hillsborough and then Orange County in the House of Commons Graham was borough representative from Hillsborough in the legislatures of 1833, 1834 and 1835. After the constitutional reforms of 1835 he represented Orange County in the House of Commons in the 1836, 1838 and 1840 sessions, and he was speaker in the last two. Place: Orange CountySearch the index · NCpedia: Graham, William Alexander
  12. Commissioners open a subscription book for the Bank of North Carolina in Hillsborough Commissioners named by the governor under the act establishing the Bank of North Carolina opened a book for stock subscriptions at William F. Strudwick & Co.'s store in Hillsborough, to stay open sixty days. The commissioners were James S. Smith, Frederick Nash, Alfred Moore, James Webb and William A. Graham. People: James Strudwick Smith, Frederick Nash, James Webb, William A. Graham Place: William F. Strudwick & Co.'s store, Hillsborough · Also named: Alfred Moore, William F. StrudwickSearch the index · Hillsborough Recorder, February 8, 1833, p. 3
Show all 124 dated events
  1. The legislature lets Hillsborough's commissioners appoint a town constable A private act of the 1833-34 General Assembly empowered the commissioners of the town of Hillsborough to appoint a town constable. Mr. Graham, Hillsborough's member, had brought in the bill in the House of Commons on January 2, 1834. People: William A. Graham Place: HillsboroughSearch the index · The Harbinger (Chapel Hill), January 16, 1834, p. 1
  2. An Orange County meeting takes up the internal improvement convention's plan Citizens met at the court house in Hillsborough to hear the county's delegates to the November 1833 Internal Improvement Convention. Duncan Cameron urged a vigorous state system of improvements, Frederick Nash read the convention's memorial to the legislature, and the meeting named Nash, William A. Graham, Priestly H. Mangum and Walker Anderson to draft an address to the people of Orange, adjourning to Thursday of May court. People: Duncan Cameron, Frederick Nash, William A. Graham, Walker Anderson, Edmund Strudwick Place: Court house, Hillsborough · Also named: Priestly H. MangumSearch the index · The Harbinger (Chapel Hill), March 13, 1834, p. 3
  3. Orange County's candidates for the Assembly and sheriff take the field By July 12, 1834, the candidates for Orange County's August 14 election were William Montgomery and Hugh Waddell for the state Senate; Joseph Allison, John Stockard, William McCauley and William R. Hall for the House of Commons; William A. Graham for the Hillsborough borough seat; and James C. Turrentine and William Nelson for sheriff. Earlier lists that summer had named Thomas D. Crane and, briefly, Burrhus Cheek for the Senate. People: William Montgomery, Hugh Waddell, William McCauley, William A. Graham, James C. Turrentine, William Nelson, Joseph Allison, John Stockard Place: Orange County · Also named: William R. Hall, Thomas D. CraneSearch the index · The Harbinger (Chapel Hill), July 12, 1834, p. 3
  4. Orange County sends William Montgomery to the state Senate and Joseph Allison and John Stockard to the Commons Orange County voters returned Dr. William Montgomery to the state Senate, Col. Joseph Allison and Col. John Stockard to the House of Commons, and James C. Turrentine as sheriff. Hillsborough's borough seat went to William A. Graham without opposition. People: William Montgomery, James C. Turrentine, William A. Graham, Joseph Allison, John Stockard Place: Orange CountySearch the index · Hillsborough Recorder, August 20, 1834, p. 3
  5. Orange County voters elect James C. Turrentine sheriff In the August 1834 election Orange County chose James C. Turrentine as sheriff with 1,344 votes, while the borough of Hillsborough returned William A. Graham to the House of Commons. People: James C. Turrentine, William A. Graham Place: Orange CountySearch the index · The Harbinger (Chapel Hill), August 16, 1834, p. 3
  6. Trustees create an executive committee to run the university At Duncan Cameron's instance the board placed management in a seven-member executive committee including the governor, with the powers of the land, appointments and building committees and the right to change studies and dismiss faculty. The first members were Cameron, George E. Badger, William McPheeters, Charles Manly, Frederick Nash, William A. Graham and Governor Swain. People: Duncan Cameron, David L. Swain, Frederick Nash, William A. Graham, George E. Badger, Charles Manly, William McPheeters Place: Chapel HillSearch the index · Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I (1907), p. 399
  7. Orange returns Joseph Allison to the Senate and John Stockard and James Forrest to the Commons In the August election Orange County voters chose Gen. Joseph Allison for the state Senate and Col. John Stockard and James Forrest for the House of Commons, defeating James Mebane for the Senate seat; William A. Graham was returned for the town of Hillsborough without opposition. People: William A. Graham, James Mebane, John Stockard, Joseph Allison Place: Orange County · Also named: James ForrestSearch the index · Hillsborough Recorder, August 14, 1835, p. 3
  8. The Recorder prints a county meeting's warning to abolitionists An Orange County meeting adopted a report warning "northern fanatics" not to stir up the enslaved and predicting lasting hostility between the sections if abolitionists pressed on. Its fourteen-man committee included Frederick Nash, William A. Graham, Hugh Waddell, John U. Kirkland, Dr. Edmund Strudwick and the paper's own editor, Dennis Heartt, as a secretary. People: Frederick Nash, William A. Graham, Hugh Waddell, John U. Kirkland, Edmund Strudwick, Dennis Heartt Place: HillsboroughBurwell School Historic Site Task Force: Antebellum Hillsborough, Slavery, and Enslaved and Free People of Color who Worked at the Burwell School, 1837-1857 (2019), p. 49
  9. Orange's White ticket names Hugh Waddell for the state Senate and William A. Graham, N. J. King and Harrison Parker for the Commons Supporters of Hugh Lawson White for president settled on their Orange County candidates for the 1836 legislature: Hugh Waddell for the Senate, and William A. Graham, N. J. King, Harrison Parker and a fourth man for the House of Commons. People: William A. Graham, Harrison Parker, Hugh Waddell Place: Orange County · Also named: N. J. KingSearch the index · Columbian Repository (Chapel Hill), June 18, 1836, p. 3
  10. William A. Graham issues a circular to Orange voters as a candidate for the Commons Kept from the summer campaign gatherings by an injury that left him unable to walk, Graham set out his record and views in a printed circular. He said he would not object to dividing the county so far as the constitution allowed, backed giving the old states their share of the public lands, opposed any action by Congress on slavery, and preferred Hugh L. White for president. Place: HillsboroughSearch the index · Columbian Repository (Chapel Hill), July 28, 1836, p. 3
  11. House of Commons rejects a bill to divide Orange and form Jefferson County The House of Commons voted 65 to 48 against a bill to divide Orange County and form a new county named Jefferson, after a member named Graham argued that the constitution did not bar the division and Mills of Halifax opposed it as inexpedient. The House then refused to reconsider. People: William A. Graham Place: State House, Raleigh (for Orange County)Hillsborough Recorder, December 9, 1836, p. 3
  12. Orange Whigs meeting at the Cane Creek Cotton Factory back William A. Graham for Congress Citizens of Orange met at the Cane Creek Cotton Factory with Richard Freeman in the chair and resolved to support William A. Graham of Hillsborough for Congress, after Willie P. Mangum, whom some of them had named in June, declined. They named a committee to work with Graham's supporters elsewhere in the Orange, Wake and Person district. People: William A. Graham, Willie P. Mangum Place: Cane Creek Cotton Factory, southern Orange County · Also named: Richard FreemanSearch the index · Hillsborough Recorder, July 14, 1837, p. 3
  13. William Montgomery beats William A. Graham for Congress as Orange gives him a smaller majority Dr. William Montgomery of Orange won another term in Congress over the Whig William A. Graham, who had campaigned little while away for surgery. Orange gave Montgomery only a small majority, far below the 601 votes he had won the county by in an earlier race. People: William Montgomery, William A. Graham Place: Orange CountySearch the index · Hillsborough Recorder, August 18, 1837, p. 3
  14. William A. Graham buys a small house in Hillsborough After renting quarters in Hillsborough since their marriage in 1836, William A. Graham bought a small house in January 1838, telling his wife he did not expect to keep it but that it would serve for now. In November 1842 he traded it, with three town lots and cash, to John U. Kirkland for the place he named Montrose. People: John U. Kirkland Place: Hillsborough · Also named: Susan Washington Graham · Also mentions: MontroseSearch the index · Internet Archive: John V. Allcott, "Architectural Developments at 'Montrose' in the 1850's", North Carolina Historical Review 42 (1965), p. 86
  15. The Van Buren party takes three Orange seats from the Whigs In the August election Orange voters sent Joseph Allison to the state Senate over Hugh Waddell and elected Van Buren men to the Commons, a loss of three seats for the Whigs, while Willie P. Mangum missed a Commons seat after some of his votes at Chapel Hill were thrown out because the voters had not lived twelve months in the county. People: Hugh Waddell, Willie P. Mangum, William A. Graham, Joseph Allison, John Stockard Place: Orange CountySearch the index · Hillsborough Recorder, August 23, 1838, p. 3
  16. William A. Graham of Orange is elected Speaker of the House of Commons When the General Assembly met, the House of Commons chose William A. Graham of Orange as Speaker over M. Hoke of Lincoln with 61 votes, on a strict party vote in which Orange's three Van Buren members voted against him. People: John Stockard Place: House of Commons, Raleigh (Graham of Hillsborough, member for Orange)Search the index · Hillsborough Recorder, November 22, 1838, p. 3
  17. Whig district convention at Hillsborough nominates William A. Graham, who declines, and then George W. Haywood Delegates from Wake, Person and Orange met at the Masonic Hall in Hillsborough on May 31, 1839, with Weston R. Gales in the chair, and unanimously nominated William A. Graham for Congress against Dr. William Montgomery. Graham declined for private and domestic reasons, and the convention then chose George W. Haywood of Wake, who accepted by letter from Raleigh. People: W. R (Weston R.) Gales, William A. Graham, Hugh Waddell, Giles Mebane, William Montgomery Place: Masonic Hall, Hillsborough · Also named: George W. HaywoodSearch the index · Hillsborough Recorder, June 6, 1839, p. 3
  18. William A. Graham of Hillsborough is elected to the United States Senate After seven years in the House of Commons, twice as Speaker, Graham was sent to the U.S. Senate in 1840. He left when Democrats controlled the Assembly of 1842-1843. Place: HillsboroughSearch the index · Lefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952 (1953), p. 93
  19. Orange Whig convention nominates Willie P. Mangum and William A. Graham for the legislature Delegates from every captain's district met at the Masonic Hall in Hillsborough and nominated Willie P. Mangum for the state Senate and William A. Graham, Nathaniel I. King, Col. James Graham and Dr. Michael W. Holt for the House of Commons. The nominating committee also named Sheriff James C. Turrentine, but withdrew him after Hugh Waddell argued that ministerial officers should not depend on party politics. People: Willie P. Mangum, William A. Graham, Hugh Waddell, James Strudwick Smith, James C. Turrentine Place: Masonic Hall, Hillsborough · Also named: Nathaniel I. King, James Graham, Michael W. HoltSearch the index · Hillsborough Recorder, May 28, 1840, p. 3
  20. Orange voters elect Willie P. Mangum to the state Senate and a mostly Whig delegation to the Commons Orange County elected Whig Willie P. Mangum to the state Senate and Whigs William A. Graham, Nathaniel I. King and Dr. Michael W. Holt to the House of Commons; Democrat Cadwallader Jones Jr. took the fourth seat with votes from Whig friends. The county gave John M. Morehead a majority of about 500 over Romulus M. Saunders for governor, and the Recorder declared Orange a Whig county. People: Willie P. Mangum, William A. Graham, Cadwallader Jones Place: Election precincts, Orange County · Also named: Nathaniel I. King, Michael W. Holt, John M. Morehead, Romulus M. SaundersSearch the index · Hillsborough Recorder, August 13, 1840, p. 3
  21. Orange voters elect Hugh Waddell to the state Senate and Col. James Graham to the Commons At a special election to fill the seats left by Willie P. Mangum and William A. Graham, Orange County elected Whig Hugh Waddell to the state Senate and Col. James Graham to the House of Commons by what the Recorder called handsome majorities. People: Hugh Waddell, William A. Graham, Willie P. Mangum Place: Election precincts, Orange County · Also named: James GrahamSearch the index · Hillsborough Recorder, December 10, 1840, p. 3
  22. Hillsborough holds funeral honors for President Harrison A procession of the town magistrates and commissioners, the Hillsborough Library Society, students of the Academy and the University, citizens and clergy marched from the court house to the Masonic Hall, where William A. Graham gave the funeral oration in place of an ailing Willie P. Mangum and the Rev. John Witherspoon led the prayers. A county meeting at the court house on April 10 had called the ceremony and agreed to wear mourning for ninety days. People: William A. Graham, John Witherspoon Place: Court house to the Masonic Hall, Hillsborough · Also named: Willie P. MangumSearch the index · Hillsborough Recorder, April 29, 1841, p. 3
  23. Orange County Whigs meet at the Masonic Hall and nominate Henry Clay for president A Whig meeting at the Masonic Hall in Hillsborough, chaired by Dr. James S. Smith and addressed by Senators Willie P. Mangum and William A. Graham, nominated Henry Clay for president and Governor John M. Morehead for re-election. It refused to recognize President Tyler as a Whig and called for delegates from every captain's district to meet at Hillsborough at the May court to name the party's ticket for the General Assembly. People: James Strudwick Smith, Edmund Strudwick, Giles Mebane, Willie P. Mangum, William A. Graham, Henry Kollock Nash, Harrison Parker Place: Masonic Hall, Hillsborough · Also named: John M. MoreheadSearch the index · Hillsborough Recorder, November 25, 1841, p. 3
  24. William A. Graham builds a law office on his new Eno River property, Montrose On buying the property in 1842, William A. Graham built a one-and-a-half-story frame law office there. It survives on the Montrose grounds; his son John W. Graham added a two-room rear ell around 1893. People: John W. Graham Place: William Alexander Graham Law Office, Montrose, 320 St. Mary's Road, Hillsborough · Also mentions: MontroseSearch the index · NC State Historic Preservation Office: Hillsborough Historic District Additional Documentation, National Register (OR0077ad, 2014), 320 St. Mary's Road, Montrose and William Alexander Graham Law Office
  25. William A. Graham buys the Eno River house that became Montrose Senator William A. Graham bought 59 acres on the Eno River east of Hillsborough from John U. Kirkland, with the house the Rev. William Mercer Green had built there, paying $3,200 plus his town residence and three lots. Graham named the place Montrose, and his son and grandson lived there after him until 1977. People: John U. Kirkland, William Mercer Green Place: Montrose, 320 Saint Mary's Road, Hillsborough · Also named: Susan Washington Graham · Also mentions: Eno RiverSearch the index · National Register nomination: Montrose, Orange County (2001), pdf p. 11
  26. Alumni gather at Chapel Hill and organize the university's Alumni Association Graduates meeting at commencement organized the Alumni Association with former governor Morehead in the chair. At the 1844 meeting they adopted a constitution and chose Morehead as the association's first president. People: John Motley Morehead, William A. Graham, Charles Phillips, William Horn Battle, Charles Manly Place: Chapel HillSearch the index · Internet Archive: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. 1 (1907), full text · Also: The Daily Tar Heel, October 13, 1983, p. 3
  27. Andrew M. Steel is convicted of manslaughter in the shooting of his mother At the fall superior court, Judge Manly presiding, Andrew M. Steel was tried for murder in the death of his mother, Nancy Steel, whom he had shot on April 19. The jury found him guilty of manslaughter, and he was sentenced to be branded and imprisoned for twelve months. People: Hugh Waddell, William A. Graham, John Wall Norwood, Cadwallader Jones Place: Court house, Hillsborough · Also named: Andrew M. SteelSearch the index · Hillsborough Recorder, September 21, 1843, p. 3
  28. Orange County's William A. Graham is elected governor Graham, the Whig nominee chosen unanimously in 1843, won the governorship at the election of August 1, 1844 and was re-elected in 1846. He served from 1845 to 1849. Place: HillsboroughSearch the index · Lefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952 (1953), p. 87 · Also: Hillsborough Recorder, August 8, 1844, p. 3
  29. Orange elects its whole Whig ticket Orange voters returned the entire Whig ticket, sending Hugh Waddell to the state Senate and Giles Mebane, Chesley F. Faucett, Loftin K. Pratt and John B. Leathers to the House of Commons by an average majority of 157, and re-elected Sheriff James C. Turrentine over William Nelson. The county also gave its own William A. Graham a majority of nearly 200 over Michael Hoke for governor. People: Hugh Waddell, Giles Mebane, James C. Turrentine, William A. Graham Place: Orange County · Also named: Chesley F. Faucett, Loftin K. Pratt, John B. Leathers, Michael Hoke, William NelsonSearch the index · Hillsborough Recorder, August 8, 1844, p. 3
  30. Whigs hold a two-day mass meeting on the Alamance battleground Whigs from Orange, Wake and neighboring counties camped for two days on the ground of the 1771 Battle of Alamance, hearing George E. Badger, Henry K. Nash, Henry W. Miller, Charles Manly, Ralph Gorrell and others tie the Regulators' cause to their own. Michael Shoffner, who owned the land, declared that the ground should henceforth belong to the nation in memory of the battle, and on October 11 Hillsborough's Whigs met the returning Wake delegation with a procession and a supper at the Masonic Hall. People: George E. Badger, Charles Manly, William A. Graham, Henry Kollock Nash Place: Regulator battleground on Great Alamance Creek, Orange County (now Alamance County) · Also named: Henry W. Miller, Ralph Gorrell, Michael ShoffnerSearch the index · Hillsborough Recorder, October 17, 1844, p. 3
  31. Hillsborough Academy appoints the Rev. John Witherspoon principal The academy trustees appointed the Rev. John Witherspoon, D.D., principal in place of John A. Bingham and James H. Norwood, who had resigned, with the next session to open January 6, 1845, and Witherspoon to live in town and take boarders. Norwood announced a private classical school of his own half a mile south of Hillsborough for January. People: John Witherspoon, William A. Graham Place: Hillsborough Academy, Hillsborough · Also named: John A. Bingham, James H. NorwoodHillsborough Recorder, December 5, 1844, p. 3
  32. Dialectic and Philanthropic societies draw lots for the east and west buildings The trustees had the society presidents, William M. Howerton and Matt W. Ransom, cast lots before Governor Graham, President Swain and Charles Manly; the Philanthropic won the east side and the Dialectic the west, and South Building rooms facing north went to the Phis and those facing south to the Dis. The arrangement lasted until 1868. People: Matt W. Ransom, William A. Graham, David L. Swain, Charles Manly Place: Old East · Also named: William M. HowertonSearch the index · Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I (1907), p. 513
  33. Morehead gives the Alumni Association address in Gerrard Hall With no orator found from the class of thirty years before, the association's president, former governor Morehead, delivered the address at the meeting of 36 alumni in Gerrard Hall. People: John Motley Morehead, William A. Graham Place: Chapel Hill, Gerrard HallSearch the index · Internet Archive: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. 1 (1907), full text
  34. False alarm sets off a panic in the chapel at commencement During the 1846 commencement someone shouted that the gallery was falling, and the packed crowd rushed for the doors while some jumped from windows, until President Swain, Governor Graham and other trustees calmed it. No one was hurt, and more pillars were placed under the galleries before the next commencement. People: David L. Swain, William A. Graham Place: Gerrard HallSearch the index · Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I (1907), p. 503
  35. Orange County railroad meeting backs a central route through Orange and Guilford A county meeting at the Hillsborough court house, chaired by Dr. Edmund Strudwick, adopted William A. Graham's resolutions that the central railroad should run through Orange and Guilford, pledged enough subscriptions to grade the road through the county, and named ten delegates to the Salisbury railroad convention in June. Graham and Giles Mebane spoke. People: William A. Graham, Edmund Strudwick, Giles Mebane, Dennis Heartt, David L. Swain, Cadwallader Jones, John Wall Norwood, John U. Kirkland, James Patterson Place: Court house, HillsboroughSearch the index · Hillsborough Recorder, March 21, 1849, p. 3
  36. A railroad meeting at Chapel Hill hears William A. Graham and President Swain College exercises closed at noon on July 26, 1849 for a public meeting in the village on the railroad the legislature had chartered at its last session, with two million dollars from the state if the people subscribed one million. Former governor William A. Graham urged the crowd to take up the work, and President Swain spoke briefly. Thomas M. Garrett complained that the audience had to stand. People: William A. Graham, David L. Swain Place: Chapel Hill · Also named: Thomas Miles GarrettInternet Archive: Thomas Miles Garrett, Diary (1849), ed. John Bowen Hamilton, North Carolina Historical Review 38 (1961), p. 258
  37. North Carolina Railroad stock books open at Hillsborough The commissioners opened the North Carolina Railroad subscription books at the Hillsborough court house, where John M. Morehead, David L. Swain and William A. Graham addressed the people; the editor called the first day's subscriptions respectable, and the books stayed open thirty days. People: Cadwallader Jones, Edmund Strudwick, John Motley Morehead, David L. Swain, William A. Graham Place: Court house, Hillsborough · Also mentions: North Carolina RailroadSearch the index · Hillsborough Recorder, August 1, 1849, p. 3
  38. Trustees ban spirituous liquor from commencement balls After students broke into the ball managers' stores of liquor and held a carousal, the trustees, on William A. Graham's motion, ordered that no spirituous liquor be brought to university balls and entertainments, on pain of dismissal for any manager who broke the rule. The faculty were asked to drop their dismissal of the offending managers. People: William A. Graham Place: Chapel HillSearch the index · Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I (1907), p. 619
  39. Railroad commissioners at Chapel Hill declare the North Carolina Railroad Company formed Meeting at Chapel Hill, the general commissioners of the North Carolina Railroad found that the $1,000,000 in private stock required by the charter had been subscribed and the first five per cent, $50,000, paid in. They declared the company formed as of June 6, 1850, and called the stockholders to meet at Salisbury on July 11 to organize. People: John Motley Morehead, William A. Graham Place: Chapel Hill · Also mentions: North Carolina RailroadSearch the index · Hillsborough Recorder, June 26, 1850, p. 3
  40. President Fillmore makes William A. Graham Secretary of the Navy Graham, who had declined missions to Spain and Russia in 1849, led the Navy Department from 1850. His department reorganized the coast survey and the officer corps and sent the Perry expedition to Japan and an exploring party to the Amazon. Place: Hillsborough · Also named: Millard FillmoreSearch the index · Lefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952 (1953), p. 93 · Also: Hillsborough Recorder, July 31, 1850, p. 3
  41. Railroad engineers survey the North Carolina Railroad routes near Hillsborough Corps of engineers for the North Carolina Railroad were surveying alternative routes in the Hillsborough neighborhood in late October, after chief engineer Walter Gwynn passed through town in September with word that $3 million would build the road. At about the same time the directors, meeting at Greensborough, chose William A. Norwood of Hillsborough to replace William A. Graham on the board. People: William A. Graham Place: Hillsborough and vicinity · Also named: Walter Gwynn, William A. Norwood · Also mentions: North Carolina RailroadSearch the index · Hillsborough Recorder, October 30, 1850, p. 3
  42. Architect Alexander Jackson Davis visits Montrose to plan its enlargement Davis, in North Carolina on state work, made a night trip from Raleigh, reached Hillsborough at 2 a.m. on November 10, 1850, and stayed at Montrose from breakfast until 4 p.m. William A. Graham was in Washington as Secretary of the Navy, so Davis sketched the old two-story house and took Susan Graham's suggestions for an addition. People: Alexander Jackson Davis, William A. Graham Place: Montrose, Hillsborough · Also named: Susan Washington Graham, Susan GrahamSearch the index · Internet Archive: John V. Allcott, "Architectural Developments at 'Montrose' in the 1850's", North Carolina Historical Review 42 (1965), p. 88
  43. Benjamin S. Hedrick graduates from the university with first honors Hedrick, who had entered the sophomore class in 1848, graduated in 1851 at the head of his class and was strongest in mathematics. On President Swain's recommendation he was then given a clerkship in the Nautical Almanac office at Cambridge, Massachusetts. People: Benjamin Sherwood Hedrick, David L. Swain, William A. Graham Place: University of North Carolina, Chapel HillSearch the index · J. G. de Roulhac Hamilton, Benjamin Sherwood Hedrick (1910), scan p. 8
  44. A. J. Davis sends his plans for enlarging Montrose On February 4, 1851, Davis sent the Grahams plans of both floors and a small perspective view for enlarging Montrose, in Old English and Italian versions built around a great tower and an octagonal library. The drawings went to Mrs. Graham in Washington; the Grahams liked them but later dropped them for a plainer addition. People: Alexander Jackson Davis, William A. Graham Place: Montrose, Hillsborough · Also named: Susan Washington GrahamSearch the index · Internet Archive: John V. Allcott, "Architectural Developments at 'Montrose' in the 1850's", North Carolina Historical Review 42 (1965), p. 88
  45. The Whigs nominate William A. Graham for vice president Graham ran on the Whig ticket with General Winfield Scott in 1852. The ticket lost. Place: Hillsborough · Also named: Winfield ScottSearch the index · Lefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952 (1953), p. 93
  46. William A. Graham comes home to Hillsborough after resigning from the cabinet Nominated for vice president on the Whig ticket with Winfield Scott, Graham resigned as Secretary of the Navy and arrived back in North Carolina in early August 1852. Following custom he did not campaign in public, but he corresponded with Whig leaders, and the author judged that his presence at Hillsborough lent prestige to the party's state campaign. Place: Hillsborough · Also named: Winfield ScottSearch the index · Internet Archive: North Carolina Historical Review 44 (1967), p. 356
  47. Whigs hold a Scott and Graham mass meeting and barbecue at Hillsborough During Superior Court week some 2,000 to 2,500 people marched to a grove on the Chapel Hill road south of Hillsborough for a free Whig barbecue and speeches. William A. Graham, home after resigning from the cabinet to run for vice president, thanked the people of Orange and Alamance, and Willie P. Mangum said he would retire from public life at the end of the next Congress. People: Willie P. Mangum, Hugh Waddell Place: Grove on the Chapel Hill road, a quarter mile south of HillsboroughSearch the index · Hillsborough Recorder, September 22, 1852, p. 2
  48. Orange votes for the Scott and Graham electors In the presidential election the Whig electors pledged to Winfield Scott and Orange's William A. Graham carried the county by 1,441 votes to 1,307 for the Pierce and King ticket. Pierce carried North Carolina by 686 votes and won the presidency. People: William A. Graham Place: Orange County · Also named: Winfield ScottSearch the index · Hillsborough Recorder, November 3, 1852, p. 2
  49. English landscape designer Thomas Paxton lays out the Montrose grounds for Mrs. William A. Graham The terraced landscape at Montrose, running down to the Eno, was shaped by the English gardener Thomas Paxton under the direction of Susan Washington Graham. William A. Graham asked David L. Swain on November 4, 1852 to send the university's gardener, and Paxton worked at Montrose that winter at $1.60 a day; in March 1853 (or 1855) Mrs. Graham asked to keep him another week. People: David L. Swain, William A. Graham Place: Montrose, 320 St. Mary's Road, Hillsborough · Also named: Thomas Paxton, Susan Washington GrahamSearch the index · NC State Historic Preservation Office: Hillsborough Historic District Additional Documentation, National Register (OR0077ad, 2014), 320 St. Mary's Road, Montrose · Also: Internet Archive: John V. Allcott
  50. The Grahams enlarge Montrose to their own plan instead of Davis's In 1853 William A. Graham set aside the Davis design, which two Raleigh builders found costly and hard to join to the old roof, and contracted with the Raleigh builder Conrad to add rooms across the hall on the west side, verandas front and back, and a nursery at the rear, without the tower. Graham had paid Conrad $500 by October 6, 1853; the work was nearly done in July 1854, and on April 1, 1855 he gave Conrad and Williams a note for $1,256.04, provided they stopped the roof leaking. Payments ran into the fall of 1855. Place: Montrose, Hillsborough · Also named: Susan Washington GrahamSearch the index · Internet Archive: John V. Allcott, "Architectural Developments at 'Montrose' in the 1850's", North Carolina Historical Review 42 (1965), p. 92
  51. Orange elects William A. Graham to the state Senate and Phillips and Turner to the Commons Orange County voters elected the Whig ticket: William A. Graham to the state Senate over Cadwallader Jones Jr., and Samuel F. Phillips and Josiah Turner Jr. to the House of Commons over John F. Lyon and William Nelson. The county gave Alfred Dockery, the Whig candidate for governor, 1,080 votes to Thomas Bragg's 963, and voted against the liquor 'Reform' question. People: William A. Graham, Samuel (Samuel Field) Phillips, Josiah Turner Jr., William Nelson, Thomas Bragg, Cadwallader Jones Place: Orange County · Also named: John F. Lyon, Alfred DockerySearch the index · Hillsborough Recorder, August 9, 1854, p. 2
  52. Orange County citizens meet at Hillsborough to raise aid for Norfolk and Portsmouth yellow fever sufferers A meeting of Orange citizens chaired by William A. Graham, with Paul C. Cameron as secretary, adopted Josiah Turner Jr.'s resolutions for a collection and named a committee of sixteen to solicit money and provisions for yellow fever sufferers in Norfolk and Portsmouth. The Episcopal and Presbyterian churches in Hillsborough had already taken up collections of $159 and $46 on Sunday, September 9, and sent them on. People: William A. Graham, Paul C. Cameron, Josiah Turner Jr., Thomas Webb, John Wall Norwood Place: HillsboroughSearch the index · Hillsborough Recorder, September 19, 1855, p. 2
  53. Orange County Agricultural Society holds its third fair near Hillsborough At the society's third annual fair, on its grounds near Hillsborough, members elected Paul C. Cameron president and Thomas Webb secretary. Cameron, away in Alabama, had given the society a flag that flew from a pole more than eighty feet high. People: Thomas Webb, Paul C. Cameron, William A. Graham, John Wall Norwood, Josiah Turner Sr., Thomas Blount Hill Place: Orange County Agricultural Society grounds, near HillsboroughSearch the index · Hillsborough Recorder, November 5, 1856
  54. The university confers degrees on sixty-nine graduates After the annual report was read on commencement day, the university conferred degrees on sixty-nine members of the graduating class, the faculty giving each a bound Bible, and awarded master's degrees in course to about twenty earlier graduates. Governor Bragg and nine other trustees attended. People: Thomas Bragg, David L. Swain, William A. Graham, William Horn Battle, Charles Manly, Giles Mebane Place: Gerard Hall, University, Chapel HillSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Gazette, June 6, 1857, p. 2
  55. North Carolina Railroad stockholders hold their ninth annual meeting in the Masonic Hall at Hillsborough The stockholders of the North Carolina Railroad Company met in the Masonic Hall at Hillsborough on July 8, 1858, with Thomas Webb of Hillsborough among the secretaries and Thomas Ruffin voting the state's stock as proxy. Before adjourning the next day they re-elected Charles F. Fisher president, chose the private directors and passed resolutions on the company's finances. People: Thomas Webb, Thomas Ruffin, William A. Graham Place: Masonic Hall, Hillsborough · Also named: Charles F. FisherSearch the index · Hillsborough Recorder, July 14, 1858, p. 2
  56. Hillsborough holds a town meeting over an outrage at the Female Academy and three men are bound over After young men committed what the editor called a scandalous outrage in the Hillsborough Female Academy building on the night of September 28, 1858, citizens met the next morning with Cadwallader Jones in the chair, heard Judge Frederick Nash, and resolved that town and county officers should bring the offenders to trial. The culprits were arrested that afternoon and on September 30 three were bound over by Calvin E. Parish to the March Superior Court. People: Cadwallader Jones, Dennis Heartt, Frederick Nash, William A. Graham, Josiah Turner Jr., Calvin E. Parish Place: Hillsborough Female Academy, HillsboroughSearch the index · Hillsborough Recorder, October 6, 1858, p. 2
  57. Orange Superior Court tries Obadiah Christmas for the murder of an enslaved man The Orange Superior Court tried Obadiah Christmas for killing an enslaved man held by Thomas J. Taylor in Granville County in February 1858, a case removed to Person and then to Orange. The jury returned its verdict on Saturday morning, and an appeal to the Supreme Court followed. People: William A. Graham Place: Court house, Hillsborough · Also named: Obadiah ChristmasSearch the index · Hillsborough Recorder, March 23, 1859, p. 2
  58. Corporators organize the Hillsborough Savings Institution The corporators of the Hillsborough Savings Institution, among them Thomas Webb, William A. Graham, James F. Cain and Pride Jones, met in the county court clerk's office on April 1, 1859, adopted the charter and appointed Webb and others to open subscription books. By December 1860 Webb was its cashier. People: Thomas Webb, William A. Graham, Pride Jones, Thomas Blount Hill Place: Hillsborough · Also named: James F. CainSearch the index · Hillsborough Recorder, April 20, 1859
  59. Orange Whigs condemn John Brown's raid and name delegates to the state convention A Whig and Opposition meeting at the Hillsborough court house, with Harrison Parker in the chair, heard William A. Graham and Maurice Q. Waddell and adopted resolutions from a committee led by Josiah Turner Jr. They denounced the raid on Virginia as the work of abolition incendiaries, approved its swift punishment, pledged Orange's help to Virginia and the South, blamed the Democrats for stirring the slavery question for party ends, and named Orange delegates to the party's state convention at Raleigh in February 1860. People: William A. Graham, Josiah Turner Jr., Samuel Wellwood Hughes, Henry Kollock Nash, Harrison Parker Place: Court house, Hillsborough · Also named: Maurice Q. WaddellSearch the index · Hillsborough Recorder, December 21, 1859, p. 2
  60. First Baptist Church of Hillsborough builds its church Seven years after organizing in the old courthouse, the First Baptist Church of Hillsborough began its brick church about 1860, to a design by William Percival. The congregation met in the courthouse until 1862 and the war stalled the work; John Berry took over from the first builder, D. Kistler, and finished it. The Baptist State Convention met in the newly completed church in the fall of 1868, when Rev. Thomas H. Pritchard of Raleigh preached the dedication sermon. People: William A. Graham, John Berry, William Percival Place: Hillsborough · Also named: Thomas H. PritchardSearch the index · Lefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952 (1953), p. 301 · Also: Hillsborough Recorder, October 13, 1869, p. 1; Hillsborough Historic District NR additional documentation; Hillsborough Recorder, November 4, 1868, p. 2
  61. The Orange Opposition convention nominates Josiah Turner Jr., Jones Watson and Henry K. Nash A Constitutional Union (Whig and Opposition) county meeting on Tuesday of May court, with William A. Graham in the chair, nominated Josiah Turner Jr. for the state senate and Jones Watson and Henry K. Nash for the House of Commons on a platform of ad valorem taxation. The nominees accepted before the meeting. People: William A. Graham, Josiah Turner Jr., Jones Watson, Edmund Strudwick, James C. Turrentine, Henry Kollock Nash Place: HillsboroughSearch the index · Hillsborough Recorder, May 30, 1860, p. 3
  62. An Orange County mass meeting at the courthouse takes up the crisis of the Union Called by William A. Graham, Paul C. Cameron, Cadwallader Jones, John W. Norwood and other men of both parties, a meeting of Orange County people at the Hillsborough courthouse on Saturday, December 15, directed that a committee be appointed to draft resolutions on the state of the Union and adjourned to December 22. People: William A. Graham, Paul C. Cameron, Cadwallader Jones, John Wall Norwood, Pride Jones, Dennis Heartt, William H. Brown, Henry Kollock Nash Place: Court house, HillsboroughSearch the index · Hillsborough Recorder, December 19, 1860, p. 3
  63. Sidney Smith speaks for a state convention at an Orange County mass meeting in Hillsborough At an adjourned mass meeting of Orange County citizens in the Hillsborough courthouse after Lincoln's election, with William H. Brown in the chair, William A. Graham's committee reported resolutions on the crisis. John W. Norwood moved to ask the legislature to call a state convention; Capt. Berry opposed it, Sidney Smith spoke for it, and the amendment was rejected before the committee's resolutions passed. People: James Sidney Smith, William A. Graham, John Wall Norwood, Dennis Heartt, William H. Brown Place: Hillsborough · Also named: Sidney Smith · Also mentions: Hillsborough courthouseSearch the index · Hillsborough Recorder, January 2, 1861, p. 2 (Mass Meeting in Hillsborough) · Also: Hillsborough Recorder, December 19, 1860, p. 3
  64. A Union meeting at the court house nominates Graham and John Berry for the convention Union men of all parties met in the court house at Hillsborough, nominated William A. Graham for the proposed state convention and, on the report of a committee of nineteen, added Capt. John Berry. Berry accepted after Col. Guthrie withdrew David L. Swain's name, and on February 22 Swain confirmed that he had left the race. People: John Berry, William A. Graham, A. C. Murdock, David L. Swain Place: Court house, HillsboroughSearch the index · Hillsborough Recorder, February 27, 1861, p. 3
  65. Orange County voters reject a secession convention In the February 28, 1861 vote on calling a state convention, Orange County voted 1,436 against and 458 for, and chose Unionists William A. Graham and John Berry as delegates over secession candidates Henry K. Nash and Pride Jones. The governor's count showed the convention defeated statewide, 46,603 to 46,409, before Davie County reported. People: John Berry, Pride Jones, William A. Graham, Henry Kollock Nash Place: CountywideHillsborough Recorder, March 6, 1861, p. 3 ("Official Vote Orange")
  66. Orange County elects William A. Graham to the secession convention Graham had led Union men in defeating a February 1861 referendum to call a convention on disunion. After Fort Sumter he was elected by a large margin to represent Orange County in the Constitutional Convention of May 1861, where he stood unsuccessfully for the presidency of the convention before voting for secession. Place: Orange CountySearch the index · NCpedia: Graham, William Alexander · Also: Hillsborough Recorder, May 22, 1861, p. 2
  67. Orange County sends delegates to the secession convention On May 13, 1861, after Fort Sumter and Lincoln's call for troops, Orange County voters again chose William A. Graham and John Berry as delegates to the state convention, over Paul C. Cameron and Henry K. Nash. The Recorder printed the precinct returns and noted the convention would meet in Raleigh on May 20. People: John Berry, William A. Graham, Paul C. Cameron, Henry Kollock Nash Place: CountywideHillsborough Recorder, May 15, 1861, p. 3 ("Official Vote of Orange")
  68. North Carolina secedes from the Union Meeting in Raleigh on May 20, 1861, the state convention, with Orange County's delegates William A. Graham and John Berry among its members, unanimously adopted an ordinance dissolving North Carolina's union with the United States and the same day ratified the provisional Confederate constitution. People: John Berry, William A. Graham Place: CountywideHillsborough Recorder, May 29, 1861, p. 3 (convention proceedings)
  69. The legislature elects William A. Graham to the Confederate Senate Early in the session that began after the 1862 election, the Assembly chose Graham, then Orange's state senator, for the Confederate Senate term starting in May 1864. He kept his state seat until December 1863. People: William A. Graham, John Berry Place: Orange CountyLefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952 (1953), p. 108
  70. William A. Graham's house at Montrose burns The house the Grahams had enlarged at Montrose burned in 1862, and the family moved to a house on West Tryon Street. Only the law office and outbuildings were left on the land. Place: Montrose, 320 St. Mary's Road, Hillsborough · Also mentions: West Tryon StreetSearch the index · NC State Historic Preservation Office: Hillsborough Historic District Additional Documentation, National Register (OR0077ad, 2014), 320 St. Mary's Road, Montrose
  71. Orange elects William A. Graham to the state senate and H. B. Guthrie sheriff Orange County voters sent William A. Graham to the state senate, chose John Berry and William N. Patterson for the House of Commons over J. L. Stewart and William F. Strayhorn, and elected H. B. Guthrie sheriff over the incumbent R. M. Jones. At home the county gave Zebulon B. Vance 1,051 votes for governor to 308 for William Johnston. People: William A. Graham, John Berry, William N. Patterson, Hugh B. Guthrie, Zebulon B. Vance Place: Orange County · Also named: R. M. Jones, William F. StrayhornSearch the index · Hillsborough Recorder, August 27, 1862, p. 3
  72. Justice Manly binds the Rev. R. J. Graves over for trial on a treason charge Returned to Orange on January 1 after the legislature demanded him back from Confederate authorities, the Rev. R. J. Graves had his examination at Hillsborough before Justice Matthias E. Manly of the state Supreme Court, with George V. Strong prosecuting and William A. Graham defending, and was bound over for trial in the Confederate court at Richmond on a charge of treason that rested on a single witness, a captured soldier named Parker. In June a Richmond grand jury refused to indict him. People: William A. Graham Place: Hillsborough · Also named: R. J. Graves, Matthias E. Manly, George V. StrongHillsborough Recorder, February 11, 1863, p. 2
  73. A county meeting at Hillsborough condemns bread riots and buys corn and bacon for the needy Days after some women of the Cane Creek neighborhood west of town asked about seizing food from farmers who were asking fifty dollars a barrel for flour, a public meeting of Orange citizens at Hillsborough, chaired by magistrate of police A. C. Murdock with former governor William A. Graham explaining its object, heard reports of want from across the county, condemned violence and disorder by women or anyone else, and resolved that the legislature's appropriation and the county court's fund were enough to relieve soldiers' families and the needy if put to better use. It named a committee including William J. Bingham, Freeman Walker and J. W. Norwood, which within days had bought corn and bacon for distribution. People: A. C. Murdock, William A. Graham, Ellison Goodloe Mangum, William Bingham (1835-1873), John Wall Norwood Place: Hillsborough · Also named: Freeman WalkerHillsborough Recorder, April 22, 1863, p. 2
  74. Josiah Turner Jr. of Hillsborough is elected to the Confederate Congress Turner won as an anti-administration candidate in the Confederate congressional election of November 4, 1863, carrying Orange by a majority of 739. In Congress his resolutions supported Graham's push for the Hampton Roads peace conference. People: Josiah Turner Jr., Zebulon B. Vance, William W. Holden, William A. Graham Place: Orange CountyLefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952 (1953), p. 108 · Also: Hillsborough Recorder, November 11, 1863, p. 2
  75. William A. Graham resigns as Orange County's state senator on his election to the Confederate Senate William A. Graham gave up his seat as Orange County's senator in the General Assembly after the legislature elected him to the Confederate Senate. Governor Vance named Edwin G. Reade to the Confederate seat until February 18, 1864, when Graham's term began, and ordered a special election for Graham's Orange seat. Place: Orange County · Also named: Edwin G. ReadeSearch the index · Hillsborough Recorder, January 6, 1864, p. 2
  76. Orange voters elect John Berry to the state Senate and Addison Mangum to the Commons In the special election to replace William A. Graham, Orange voters sent Capt. John Berry to the state Senate over James N. Patterson and elected Capt. Addison Mangum to Berry's old seat in the House of Commons over Col. J. S. Leathers and Capt. J. W. Latta. People: John Berry, William A. Graham Place: Orange County · Also named: Addison Mangum, James N. Patterson, J. S. Leathers, J. W. LattaSearch the index · Hillsborough Recorder, March 23, 1864, p. 3
  77. David L. Swain writes William A. Graham urging a move to end the war Before daylight at Chapel Hill, university president Swain wrote to Graham at Hillsborough proposing that the two of them meet Governor Vance in Raleigh and press for steps to spare the state, its capital and the university. Graham answered that evening that Southern independence was hopeless and asked Swain to stop at his house on the way. People: David L. Swain, William A. Graham Place: Chapel Hill and HillsboroughCornelia Phillips Spencer, The Last Ninety Days of the War in North-Carolina (1866), scan p. 143
  78. Swain and Graham agree on a peace plan at Graham's Hillsborough house Swain spent the day at Graham's house in Hillsborough, where Graham wrote out a four-point plan calling for the legislature to meet and seek peace talks with the United States, and for the governor to ask Sherman for a halt to fighting. Swain carried it to Raleigh by the morning train, and Vance agreed to try it if General Johnston consented. People: William A. Graham, David L. Swain, Zebulon B. Vance Place: Graham house, HillsboroughCornelia Phillips Spencer, The Last Ninety Days of the War in North-Carolina (1866), scan p. 149
  79. Graham and Swain bring Governor Vance word of Lee's surrender at Hillsborough Returning from Raleigh with Sherman's invitation and safe conduct for the governor, Graham and Swain reached Hillsborough on the evening of April 14 and found Vance waiting in Graham's parlor. Neither Vance nor General Hampton had yet heard that Lee had surrendered. Vance chose to answer a summons from Jefferson Davis and left for Greensboro the next morning instead of going back to Raleigh. People: Zebulon B. Vance, William A. Graham, David L. Swain Place: Graham house, Hillsborough · Also named: Jefferson DavisCornelia Phillips Spencer, The Last Ninety Days of the War in North-Carolina (1866), scan p. 172
  80. William A. Graham accepts emancipation and withdraws from the convention race Answering Orange neighbors who wanted him as a delegate to the state convention, William A. Graham wrote from Hillsborough that emancipation was an accomplished fact the South must accept, and that he had already acted on it in his own affairs and advised others to do the same. Learning that unpardoned men in his position were barred, he then withdrew his name. Place: HillsboroughSearch the index · Hillsborough Recorder, September 20, 1865, p. 2
  81. Orange County sends John Berry and Samuel F. Phillips to the 1865 convention Orange would have elected Graham to the postwar convention, but his pardon was held up, so he withdrew and voters chose Berry and Phillips. People: John Berry, Samuel (Samuel Field) Phillips, William A. Graham, William W. Holden, Samuel Field Phillips Place: Orange CountySearch the index · Lefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952 (1953), p. 109 · Also: Hillsborough Recorder, September 27, 1865, p. 2
  82. Josiah Turner Jr. of Hillsborough is elected to Congress Josiah Turner Jr. of Hillsborough won the Fourth District seat in the U.S. House of Representatives over J. P. H. Russ, L. C. Edwards and A. H. Arrington, although he was still unpardoned and William A. Graham had publicly defended his eligibility. People: Josiah Turner Jr., William A. Graham Place: Fourth Congressional District (Orange and seven other counties) · Also named: A. H. ArringtonSearch the index · Hillsborough Recorder, November 22, 1865, p. 2
  83. Orange elects Graham to the state Senate and Phillips to the Commons Orange voters returned William A. Graham to the state Senate, Samuel F. Phillips to the House of Commons and George Laws as clerk of the county court, while also voting for governor and Congress and on the convention's ordinances against secession and slavery. People: William A. Graham, Samuel (Samuel Field) Phillips, George Laws Place: Orange CountySearch the index · Hillsborough Recorder, November 15, 1865, p. 2
  84. The legislature elects William A. Graham to the U.S. Senate, but Congress refuses to seat him Elected to the state Senate in 1865, Graham could not take that seat without a pardon. The legislature then chose him for the U.S. Senate, and he was turned away with the rest of the state's delegation. His pardon arrived in 1867. People: John Berry Place: Orange CountySearch the index · Lefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952 (1953), p. 109 · Also: Hillsborough Recorder, December 6, 1865, p. 2
  85. William A. Graham backs Black testimony in the state's courts Writing from Hillsborough to two members of the House of Commons, former governor William A. Graham endorsed the code commission's proposal to let Black witnesses testify in all cases touching the rights of Black people, as a matter of right as well as safety. He held that the vote should stay with white men. Place: HillsboroughSearch the index · Hillsborough Recorder, February 14, 1866, p. 2
  86. A Hillsborough meeting backs the National Union Convention and names district delegates A public meeting at Hillsborough, with James P. Clark in the chair and Dr. Charles J. Freeland as secretary, endorsed the call for a National Union Convention at Philadelphia on August 14, 1866, in support of President Johnson's restoration policy. On resolutions offered by Josiah Turner Jr. it named thirteen men, among them Henry K. Nash, Thomas Webb, John W. Graham, Samuel F. Phillips and Paul C. Cameron, to a district convention at Raleigh, and recommended William A. Graham as a delegate for the state at large. People: Josiah Turner Jr., William A. Graham, Paul C. Cameron, Thomas Webb, John W. Graham, Henry Kollock Nash Place: Hillsborough · Also named: James P. Clark, Charles J. Freeland, Samuel F. PhillipsSearch the index · Hillsborough Recorder, July 25, 1866, p. 2
  87. William A. Graham receives his presidential pardon William A. Graham of Hillsborough, a former Confederate senator, received his pardon from President Andrew Johnson, lifting the cloud on his loyalty that had followed him since the war. People: Andrew Johnson (Journey of Reconciliation) Place: HillsboroughSearch the index · Hillsborough Recorder, May 22, 1867, p. 2
  88. Trustees sell the land-grant scrip at fifty cents an acre The trustees accepted an offer from G. F. Lewis and Fisher, Booth and Company of Detroit to buy the scrip for 270,000 acres at fifty cents an acre, with most of the money due only after Congress let Southern scrip be located. On William A. Graham's motion $13,500 of the first payments went to general expenses, relieving unpaid officers. People: William A. Graham Place: Chapel Hill · Also named: G. F. LewisSearch the index · Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I (1907), p. 757
  89. William A. Graham writes from Hillsborough against the convention call In a public letter dated at Hillsborough on October 23, 1867, to J. A. Engelhard, former governor William A. Graham argued that the one specific object of the convention Congress required was to extend the vote to Black men without distinction. He urged North Carolinians to keep control of their own suffrage and to oppose the call. Place: Hillsborough · Also named: J. A. EngelhardSearch the index · Hillsborough Recorder, November 6, 1867, p. 2
  90. Trustees adopt an elective system of ten schools Over William A. Graham's dissent, the trustees voted 18 to 3 for Kemp P. Battle's committee plan to replace the fixed four-year course with ten independent schools, from political science to modern languages, beginning in fall 1868. After the new state constitution put the university under a new board, the old trustees on June 4, 1868 reappointed Swain and the faculty and rescinded the plan. People: William A. Graham, Kemp Plummer Battle Place: Chapel HillDocumenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I (1907), p. 766
  91. William A. Graham asks President Johnson to keep armed men from the polls Writing from Hillsborough on January 30, 1868, former governor William A. Graham sent President Andrew Johnson a copy of the state act forbidding militia musters or armed men at the time and place of any election. He renewed the request he had made in Washington for a proclamation or general order barring armed men and military forces from the coming vote on the constitution drafted by the Reconstruction convention. People: Andrew Johnson (Journey of Reconciliation) Place: HillsboroughSearch the index · Internet Archive: North Carolina Historical Review 29 (1952), p. 570
  92. Orange Conservatives hold a county meeting at the courthouse and name an executive committee A large Conservative meeting at the courthouse in Hillsborough, chaired by Capt. John Berry, heard William A. Graham speak for more than an hour and Josiah Turner Jr. after him. It adopted resolutions backing the state Conservative convention, calling for government by white men and opposing Black suffrage, and the chair named a county executive committee under the party's plan of organization. People: John Berry, William A. Graham, Josiah Turner Jr., Calvin E. Parish Place: Court house, HillsboroughSearch the index · Hillsborough Recorder, March 4, 1868, p. 2
  93. Josiah Turner Jr. dismisses a freedman at a Conservative rally for belonging to the Union League At an adjourned Conservative meeting at the Hillsborough courthouse, chaired by John W. Norwood and moved into the open air by the crowd, Josiah Turner Jr. announced that he had dismissed Solomon, a freedman in his service, because Solomon belonged to the Union League, defying the new state law against discharging workers to sway their votes. William A. Graham and others spoke, and the meeting named twenty-five delegates to a district convention. Testifying under oath before a Senate committee in February 1871, Turner said he had declared in a speech at Hillsborough that he would keep no freedman who did not vote with him, but swore he had never acted on it. People: Josiah Turner Jr., John Wall Norwood, William A. Graham Place: Court house square, Hillsborough · Also named: SolomonSearch the index · Hillsborough Recorder, August 19, 1868, p. 3 · Also: Turner testimony: Report on the Alleged Outrages in the Southern States
  94. Former governor William A. Graham lives in the Nash-Hooper House William A. Graham, former governor of North Carolina, made the Nash-Hooper House on West Tryon Street his home from 1869 until 1875. Place: Nash-Hooper House, 118 West Tryon Street, Hillsborough · Also mentions: West Tryon StreetSearch the index · NC State Historic Preservation Office: Nash-Hooper House, National Register nomination (OR0011), p. 4
  95. Orange Conservative convention nominates its 1870 county ticket The Conservative county convention, reconvened at the courthouse with W. W. Guess in the chair, nominated William A. Graham for the state Senate, Frederick N. Strudwick and Mathew Atwater for the House, Andrew Mickle for sheriff and a full slate of county officers. Graham declined the Senate nomination two days later, and several other men came forward for the seat. People: William A. Graham, Frederick N. Strudwick, Andrew Mickle Place: Court house, Hillsborough · Also named: W. W. Guess, Mathew AtwaterSearch the index · Hillsborough Recorder, June 1, 1870, p. 2
  96. Railroad stockholders at Hillsborough ask for lawyers to look into the sale of sinking-fund bonds to George W. Swepson On Paul C. Cameron's motion the meeting unanimously asked the president and directors to hire Ralph Gorrell and William A. Graham, working with B. F. Moore, to look into how state bonds held by the commissioners of the company's sinking fund had been sold and passed to G. W. Swepson and others, and to sue if needed to protect the company. People: Paul C. Cameron, William A. Graham, Bartholomew F. Moore Place: Orange County Courthouse, Hillsborough · Also named: Ralph Gorrell, George W. SwepsonSearch the index · North Carolina Rail Road Company, Proceedings and By-Laws of the Stockholders of the North Carolina Rail Road Company at Their Twenty-First Annual Meeting, Held at Hillsboro', July 14th, 1870 (1870), scan p. 8
  97. William A. Graham of Hillsborough joins the prosecution of Governor Holden The House managers announced to the impeachment court that former governor William A. Graham of Hillsborough, with Thomas Bragg and Augustus S. Merrimon, would act as their counsel. Graham argued points of evidence for the prosecution through the trial. People: William A. Graham, Thomas Bragg, Thomas Sparrow Place: North Carolina Senate chamber, Raleigh · Also named: Augustus S. MerrimonInternet Archive: Trial of William W. Holden, Governor of North Carolina, vol. 1 (1871)
  98. Lucinda Morrow of Hillsborough testifies at Governor Holden's impeachment trial Called by Holden's defense, Lucinda Morrow, then living in Hillsborough, described disguised men breaking into her Cane Creek home in Orange County in the fall of 1869 and hanging her husband, Thomas Jefferson Morrow, together with her brother, at the time of fall oat sowing. She said she had not named the men at the inquest because she feared they would come back and kill her. Prosecution counsel William A. Graham objected to her evidence, and Augustus S. Merrimon argued it was irrelevant unless tied to Alamance County. People: William A. Graham, Jefferson Morrow, Thomas Jefferson Morrow Place: North Carolina Senate chamber, Raleigh · Also named: Lucinda Morrow, Augustus S. MerrimonInternet Archive: Trial of William W. Holden, Governor of North Carolina, vol. 2 (1871) · Also: Trial of William W. Holden
  99. A federal commissioner tells Congress the Klan is still at work in southern Orange A. Webster Shaffer, the U.S. commissioner at Raleigh who heard Ku Klux cases, testified before the Joint Select Committee in mid-1871 that disguised night riding continued in the lower part of Orange County, one of eight or ten counties from which complaints still reached him. He said the order had been campaigning in Orange since 1868 and that William A. Graham of Hillsborough could stop it there but tolerated it by saying nothing, though he did not think Graham a member. His account differs from Pride Jones's statement that the Orange Klan disbanded in the spring of 1870. People: William A. Graham, Pride Jones Place: southern Orange County · Also named: A. Webster ShafferU.S. Congress, Joint Select Committee on the Condition of Affairs in the Late Insurrectionary States, Testimony: North Carolina (1872), p. 41
  100. Alumni meet in Raleigh to plan the university's revival At the invitation of trustees led by Superintendent Alexander McIver, fifty-five alumni met in the state Senate chamber with B. F. Moore in the chair. Their committee proposed that the alumni association nominate a new board for the Board of Education to appoint, but most of the 1868 trustees did not resign and the plan lapsed. People: Alexander McIver, William A. Graham, William Horn Battle, Richmond Mumford Pearson, Bartholomew F. Moore Place: Chapel HillDocumenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. II (1912), p. 46
  101. Maj. John W. Graham builds a twelve-room house at Montrose on his father's old foundation In 1874 William A. Graham gave the vacant Montrose land to his son Maj. John W. Graham, who built a twelve-room house on the foundation of the first house. It burned in 1893. People: John W. Graham Place: Montrose, 320 St. Mary's Road, HillsboroughSearch the index · NC State Historic Preservation Office: Hillsborough Historic District Additional Documentation, National Register (OR0077ad, 2014), 320 St. Mary's Road, Montrose
  102. The General Assembly elects sixty-four trustees, who organize under William A. Graham with Kemp Battle as secretary and treasurer By an act of January 28, 1874, the legislature elected sixty-four university trustees by joint ballot, only two of them from the Reconstruction board, and fourteen of them men removed in 1868. The new board first met on February 18, 1874, in the Citizens National Bank in Raleigh, elected William A. Graham of Hillsborough its president and Kemp P. Battle its secretary and treasurer, named an executive committee, and the next day sent a committee to inspect Chapel Hill, after Governor Tod R. Caldwell declined to preside because he held the legislature had no power to elect trustees. People: William A. Graham, Kemp Plummer Battle, Paul C. Cameron, John Manning, Tod Robinson Caldwell, William L. Saunders Place: Citizens National Bank, RaleighInternet Archive: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. 2 (1912), full text
  103. University trustees declare the presidency vacant and order legal action against Solomon Pool Meeting in Raleigh, the new university trustees heard W. L. Steele's report that Solomon Pool refused to give up the presidency and named William A. Graham, J. J. Davis and K. P. Battle to take legal action to settle the board's control. They declared the presidency and professorships vacant and told the treasurer to demand the seal, keys and records. People: Solomon Pool, William A. Graham, Kemp Plummer Battle Place: Raleigh (for the university at Chapel Hill) · Also named: W. L. Steele, J. J. DavisHillsborough Recorder, April 15, 1874, p. 3
  104. North Carolina Railroad stockholders meet at Hillsborough and accept the charter amendment At their annual meeting at Hillsborough the North Carolina Railroad stockholders tabled W. R. Myers's motion to make Raleigh the permanent meeting place, then on the State's vote accepted the 1874 act amending the company charter so that it could issue bonds secured by a mortgage. Private stockholders including P. C. Cameron, Thomas Webb and William A. Graham opposed and entered a protest, and the new board elected W. A. Smith president. People: Paul C. Cameron, Thomas Webb, William A. Graham Place: Hillsborough · Also named: W. R. Myers, W. A. Smith · Also mentions: North Carolina RailroadSearch the index · Hillsborough Recorder, July 15, 1874, p. 3
  105. Orange citizens meet at the courthouse to urge a constitutional convention A meeting of Orange County citizens at the courthouse in Hillsborough, chaired by John W. Norwood with John D. Cameron as secretary, adopted resolutions calling for a convention to revise the 1868 state constitution. Norwood cited the cost of the township system, and William A. Graham spoke at length for a convention. People: John Wall Norwood, William A. Graham Place: Court house, Hillsborough · Also named: John D. CameronSearch the index · Hillsborough Recorder, November 11, 1874, p. 3
  106. Orange Superior Court refuses to send the suit against the North Carolina Railroad lease to federal court At the fall term of Orange Superior Court, Judge Kerr heard arguments in Caldwell's suit against the Richmond and Danville and North Carolina railroad companies over the lease of the North Carolina Railroad and the change of gauge. He refused the Richmond and Danville's motion to move the case to federal court and continued it to the next term. People: William A. Graham, William N. H. (William Nathan Harrell) Smith, Samuel A. Ashe Place: Court house, Hillsborough · Also named: John Kerr · Also mentions: North Carolina RailroadSearch the index · Hillsborough Recorder, November 11, 1874, p. 3
  107. Women's groups give scientific apparatus to the reopened university At the board's request Cornelia Phillips Spencer gathered gifts of instruments from women around the state, including Plateau's apparatus from the pupils of the Nash and Kollock school in Hillsborough. The women of Hillsborough gave a Holtz electrical machine in memory of William A. Graham, which Paul C. Cameron presented at the 1877 commencement. People: Cornelia Phillips Spencer, Paul C. Cameron, William A. Graham Place: Chapel Hill · Also mentions: Nash and Kollock schoolSearch the index · Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. II (1912), p. 76
  108. Historical Society of North Carolina is incorporated The legislature chartered the Historical Society of North Carolina, chiefly so it could receive the books and papers of the old university society held by President Swain's widow, with William A. Graham as its first president and Cornelia Phillips Spencer among the incorporators. Eleanor Swain refused to give up the papers until she later found proof that the bound books belonged to the society. People: William A. Graham, Cornelia Phillips Spencer Place: Chapel Hill · Also named: Eleanor H. Swain, Eleanor SwainSearch the index · Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. II (1912), p. 105
  109. An Orange County meeting nominates William A. Graham and Josiah Turner Jr. for the constitutional convention A county meeting at the courthouse in Hillsborough, called by the Conservative executive committee, named William A. Graham by acclamation as a delegate to the constitutional convention. After a dispute over voting by townships, a ballot gave Josiah Turner Jr. 141 votes to 93 for W. N. Patterson, and his nomination was made unanimous. People: William A. Graham, Josiah Turner Jr., William N. Patterson Place: Court house, HillsboroughSearch the index · Hillsborough Recorder, May 5, 1875, p. 3
  110. Chapel Hill women circulate a plan for a home for poor and infirm women A group of North Carolina women issued a circular from Chapel Hill proposing to raise a fund to buy a house and land as a home for poor and infirm women of the state, with a sum left over to invest. Replies went to Mrs. C. P. Spencer at Chapel Hill, with William H. Battle, William A. Graham, B. F. Moore and W. N. H. Smith as references. People: Cornelia Phillips Spencer, William A. Graham Place: Chapel Hill · Also named: William H. Battle, B. F. Moore, W. N. H. SmithSearch the index · Hillsborough Recorder, April 7, 1875, p. 3
  111. William A. Graham defeats Washington Duke for a seat in the 1875 convention On August 5, 1875, Orange elected Graham over Duke, 1,908 to 1,528, and Josiah Turner Jr. over John T. Hogan. Graham died before the convention met, and William N. Patterson beat Duke again in a special election on September 16, 2,000 to 1,297. People: Josiah Turner Jr., Washington Duke, John T. Hogan, William N. Patterson Place: Orange CountySearch the index · Lefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952 (1953), p. 120-121 · Also: Hillsborough Recorder, August 11, 1875, p. 3; Hillsborough Recorder, September 22, 1875, p. 3
  112. William A. Graham dies and is buried at Hillsborough Graham died unexpectedly at Saratoga Springs, New York, on 11 August 1875, where he had gone for a meeting of the Virginia and Maryland arbitration commission. He was buried in the cemetery adjacent to the Hillsborough Presbyterian Church. He had been elected a delegate to the Constitutional Convention of 1875 but died before it assembled. Place: Hillsborough · Also mentions: Hillsborough Presbyterian ChurchSearch the index · NCpedia: Graham, William Alexander

After their death in 1875

Later events: estates and burials, and the buildings, honors and histories that remember them.

  1. Students revive the University Magazine University students resumed publication of the University Magazine; its first number carried a portrait of William A. Graham and his sketch of Gen. Nathanael Greene, printed for the first time. People: William A. Graham Place: University of North Carolina, Chapel HillSearch the index · Hillsborough Recorder, April 24, 1878, p. 3
  2. A granite monument to William A. Graham is raised in the Presbyterian cemetery A granite monument about twenty-one feet high was set up over William A. Graham's grave in the Presbyterian cemetery at Hillsborough, under the direction of John King of Raleigh assisted by Capt. Henry Richards of Hillsborough, carrying an inscription that lists Graham's offices. Place: Presbyterian Church cemetery, Hillsborough · Also named: John King, Henry RichardsSearch the index · Hillsborough Recorder, December 18, 1878, p. 3
  3. Susan Washington Graham, widow of Governor William A. Graham, dies and is buried at Hillsboro She died at Judge Walter Clark's home in Raleigh on the night of May 3. Her body was brought to Hillsboro, and after a service at the Baptist church on May 5 she was buried beside her husband in the Presbyterian churchyard. People: Walter Clark, William A. Graham Place: Baptist church and Presbyterian churchyard, Hillsborough · Also named: Susan Washington Graham · Also mentions: Presbyterian churchyardSearch the index · Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), May 10, 1890, p. 3
  4. David Blount, sexton of St. Matthew's, dies in Hillsborough David Blount, a Black Hillsborough man of about 70 who served as sexton of St. Matthew's Church, died on July 16. He had been Gov. William A. Graham's butler in Raleigh and Washington, went to the front in 1865 to attend two wounded Graham sons, and was with the Confederates who surrendered at Appomattox. People: William A. Graham Place: Hillsborough · Also named: David Blount · Also mentions: St. Matthew's ChurchSearch the index · Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), July 19, 1900, p. 2
  5. Hillsborough buries Capt. Robert D. Graham beside his mother Capt. Robert Davidson Graham, a Hillsborough-born son of William A. Graham who had commanded a company of the 56th North Carolina and later served as secretary of the Civil Service Commission, died after a fall from a building in Washington on June 27. His body was brought to Maj. John W. Graham's house, and after a service at the Baptist church led by Charles E. Maddry he was buried in the Presbyterian churchyard beside his mother. People: John W. Graham, Charles Edward Maddry, William A. Graham Place: Presbyterian churchyard, Hillsborough · Also named: Robert Davidson GrahamSearch the index · Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), July 6, 1905, p. 3
  6. The Graham family gives up the Nash-Hooper House The family of former governor William A. Graham, who bought the West Tryon Street house about 1870, owned it until 1906. After that it passed through a number of families. People: William A. Graham Place: Nash-Hooper House, 118 West Tryon Street, Hillsborough · Also mentions: West Tryon StreetSearch the index · NC State Historic Preservation Office: Hillsborough Historic District Additional Documentation, National Register (OR0077ad, 2014), 118 W. Tryon, Nash-Hooper House
  7. A state historical marker is approved for the Revolutionary paper mill near Hillsborough The committee of historians from North Carolina colleges and universities that approves the state's highway historical markers took up the site of a Revolutionary paper mill near Hillsborough in 1948, along with five former locations of the Bingham School and a marker for William A. Graham. People: William A. Graham Place: near Hillsborough · Also mentions: Bingham SchoolSearch the index · Internet Archive: "Historical News", North Carolina Historical Review 25 (1948), p. 424
  8. Montrose joins the Study List The National Register Advisory Committee placed Montrose, William A. Graham's home in Hillsborough from 1842 to 1874, on North Carolina's Study List, its list of properties likely to qualify for the National Register. People: William A. Graham Place: Montrose, HillsboroughSearch the index · NC State Historic Preservation Office: National Register Advisory Committee agendas, minutes and approved lists, p. 843

People named in the same events

People named in the same dated entries as William A. Graham, those sharing the most entries first. Each line links one of the shared entries in the chronology, where its source is cited. A shared entry shows these people in the same event, not how well they knew each other.

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Indexed works

Works about or by William A. Graham. Each links to the institution that holds or provides it. Background reading appears below.

Letter from the Hon. William A. Graham

1861

William A. Graham's letter to A. M. Waddell, dated at Hillsborough on February 5, 1861, and printed there. Graham, the former governor and senator who lived in Hillsborough, argues against secession on the ground that Abraham Lincoln's election alone does not justify leaving the Union. A single printed letter from the winter before North Carolina seceded.

Included because: Its title names this person.

UNC

Architectural developments at "Montrose" in the 1850's

Allcott, John V., 1905-1989 · 1965

John V. Allcott's 1965 article on the building campaign at Montrose, the Hillsborough home of William A. Graham, during the 1850s. Allcott connects the work to the architect Alexander Jackson Davis, and the piece runs as pages 85 to 95 of a larger publication, with illustrations.

Included because: Catalog heading in the UNC record: Graham, William A. (William Alexander), 1804-1875.

UNC

Map of Orange County, N.C.

Tate, George W. · 1891 · George W. Tate

Facsimile, dated 1940, of George W. Tate's 1891 map of Orange County. It shows towns, roads, railroads such as the North Carolina Rail Road and the Chapel Hill line, residences, schools, churches, mills and mines, with portraits and pictures of buildings in the margins.

Included because: Catalog heading in the DPLA record: Graham, William A., 1795-1856.

UNC DPLA Library of Congress Library of Congress Digital Collections

Willie Person Mangum papers,

Mangum, Willie Person,; Mangum, Arthur,; Mangum, Charity Alston Cain

Personal and political papers of Willie Person Mangum, the Whig senator from Orange County, together with papers of Arthur Mangum and Charity Alston Cain Mangum. Correspondents include Daniel Webster, William A. Graham, David L. Swain, John Chavis and Abraham Lincoln, and other topics include plantations at Hillsborough, the estate called Walnut Hill, state politics, agriculture and education.

Included because: Catalog heading in the Library of Congress record: Graham, William A (William Alexander), 1804-1875 -- Correspondence.

Library of Congress

The education of William A. Graham

Williams, Max R. (Max Ray) · 1963

Max R. Williams on the schooling of William Alexander Graham, the North Carolina governor who lived from 1804 to 1875, with attention to his years at the University of North Carolina. Fourteen pages printed in 1963, a biographical study set in the nineteenth century history of the Chapel Hill campus.

Included because: Catalog heading in the UNC record: Graham, William A. (William Alexander), 1804-1875.

UNC

Frank P. Graham and Hubert Robinson; William Aycock and Frank P. Graham

1962

Two filmed interviews recorded on 9 June 1962 with Frank Porter Graham, former president of the University of North Carolina. In the first he talks with Hubert Robinson, a Black man who spent years as his driver, butler and assistant; in the second chancellor William Aycock joins him. Topics include university history, Graham's United Nations work and South Asian affairs.

Included because: Its title names this person.

DigitalNC DPLA
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Mary Claire Engstrom photographic collection, 1930s-1979 (bulk 1950s-1976).

Engstrom, Mary Claire, 1906-1997 · 1934

Photographs gathered by Mary Claire Engstrom (1906-1997), dated from the 1930s to 1979 with most falling between the 1950s and 1976, about 2,140 items in 4.4 linear feet in UNC's North Carolina Collection. Subjects include historic buildings in Hillsborough and Orange County, the Alexander Dixon House, the Nash Hooper Graham House, Bingham School, Nash and Kollock School, the Hillsboro' Military Academy, Carrboro views, and the Old Chapel Hill Cemetery.

Included because: Catalog heading in the UNC record: Graham, William A. (William Alexander), 1804-1875.

UNC

Map of Orange County, NC (Tate-reduced positive photostat)

Tate, George W. · 1891

George W. Tate's map of Orange County, drawn from actual surveys and published by Tate at Bingham School in 1891, here as a reduced positive photostat. It marks townships, churches including Black churches, schools, mills, post offices, mines and quarries, stores, landowners and historic sites, with names such as Cedar Grove Academy and Memorial Hall at Chapel Hill.

Included because: Their name appears in the record.

State Archives of NC

Civil War Collection

Military Collection, State Archives of North Carolina · 1860

Statewide Civil War collection of the State Archives of North Carolina, dated 1860 to 1965. It gathers pardon petitions, bounty payrolls, quartermaster vouchers and supply papers, disabled veterans' claims and letters about artificial limbs, regimental and unit papers, muster rolls, diaries, reminiscences, clippings and sheet music. Orange County is one of the many North Carolina counties represented.

Included because: Their name appears in the record.

State Archives of NC

Cornelia Phillips Spencer (1825-1908) Papers

Spencer, Cornelia Phillips, 1825-1908 · 1857

Letters and papers of Cornelia Phillips Spencer, the Chapel Hill writer and historian and daughter of professor James Phillips, 1857 to 1905. Most of the correspondence, from 1859 to 1895, concerns the university and life in the village, with letters exchanged with Swain, Kemp P. Battle and George T. Winston, successive heads of the university, and with Mrs. Swain and W. C. Kerr. State Archives of North Carolina, PC.7.

Included because: Their name appears in the record.

State Archives of NC

John H. Wheeler (1806-1882) Diaries and Papers

Wheeler, John H. · 1854

Diaries and papers of John Hill Wheeler of Hertford County, historian, legislator, state treasurer from 1843 to 1845 and minister to Nicaragua from 1854 to 1857. The diaries, a broken run from 1854 to 1882, follow his social and political life in Washington, D.C. University commencements at Chapel Hill and his work on North Carolina history also come up. State Archives of North Carolina, MfP.51.

Included because: Their name appears in the record.

State Archives of NC

Holeman Collection

Unknown · 1779

Papers of the family of Kindle Van Hook (died 1854) of Person County and his wife Anne, widow of Hugh Dobbin, 1779 to 1922, with Holeman family material. Van Hook's business letters with John G. Williams, his stepson John M. Dobbin of Fayetteville and others concern land, debts, enslaved people and crops. Orange County and Durham appear. State Archives of North Carolina, MfP.110.

Included because: Their name appears in the record.

State Archives of NC

Search all 18 indexed works →

Start at OCPL

Books in OCPL’s Rebecca B. Wall Local History Collection whose titles, catalog subjects, or descriptions match this person. The Friends’ recommended starting points are labelled.

Places in this person’s story

Buildings, schools, churches and other sites named in the dated events on this page, the most often named first. The map shows the 12 with a known location.

Map tiles © OpenStreetMap contributors. Site locations from the N.C. State Historic Preservation Office survey, Open Orange, Orange County GIS, OpenStreetMap and a few other published sources named on each site’s page; town and community pins show approximate locations.

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All places and the county map →

Records of enslaved people

4 records, 1831 to 1850, name William A. Graham as a party to the sale, gift, trust or other transfer of enslaved people. Each record lists the people named in it, with their ages and family ties.

Search all records of enslaved people in Orange County →

Deeds

20 deeds, 1831 to 1872, in the county’s deed books name William A. Graham as a party, from Mark Chilton’s published abstracts. Each links to the deed-book page at the Register of Deeds.

Show all 20 deeds

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Wills

One will or paper in the county’s will books names William A. Graham, from Ruth Herndon Shields’s abstracts. Each shows the role and the year.

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Research sources

Sources and research tools for this person. For ready-made searches of other catalogs, see Search further. Research guide: Trace a family through historical records.

Records of the time

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Photographs, papers, and newspapers

Historical records and collections

Catalog searches use the Library of Congress name heading: Graham, William A. (William Alexander), 1804-1875. Historical-record searches use the person’s name and may include namesakes. Links open in a new tab.

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Picture: William A. Graham, 1870. Public domain. Photograph by Mathew Benjamin Brady / Levin Corbin Handy; Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division. Brady-Handy Photograph Collection. hdl.loc.gov CALL NUMBER: LC-BH826- 3350 <P&P>P&P; via Wikimedia Commons

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