Graham Family - Part 4

James Madison Graham

Per family records, James Madison Graham was the son of Porter Graham and Susannah Bashford, born in 1826 near Muncie, IN. I believe his birth place is in error and that he was born in Ohio, based on census records and leads I have on Porter Graham.

The first record I have found for him is in the marriage index for Delaware County, Indiana located at Delaware County, Indiana GenWeb. I still need to order the record but this information tracks with the family record.

Graham James M Elizabeth Doughty Aug 22 1844 C2 124

I next find him with his family on the 1850 Census in German, St Joseph, IN. His age of 26 would indicate a birth date in 1824 or 1825.

1850 - Indiana, St Joseph, German
page 51A, dwelling 683, family 683
James M Graham, 26, m, OH, Farmer, ____
Elizabeth A Graham, 25, f, VA, __, 800
Luther Wm Graham, 3, m, IN
Henara Graham, 2, f, IN
Zachary T Graham, 1, m IN

In Part 2 I shared a letter written by James' youngest daughter, Rose, in which she stated that her father had left for California before she was born. In Part 3, James' granddaughter, Mabel Camfield Marsh, said, "(Aunt Rachel was married twice) she had 5 kids, she said she raised the youngest by the loom. her first man went to California in 52 and never came back." I found James living with his brother-in-law, Thomas Buckles, in Vacaville, Solano, CA on the 1860 census.

Thomas L. Buckles, age 33, born OH
James M. Graham, age 35, born OH
Martha Graham, age 40, born IN

Who was Martha Graham? James had a sister Martha who was born about 1834 in Ohio and had married Charlie Opfel in 1858 so it is very unlikely that this is her. Was this James' second wife? If so, had he obtained a divorce from Elizabeth? Was she some other relative? I have a lot of unanswered questions here.

The Solano County Genealogical Society has several deed transaction listed in their index that appear to be for James between 1860 and 1866. I did a double take when I saw that he had sold to a James Madison. The 1860 census for Solano County does show a James Madison, age 35 born Norway. There is also one transaction between Martha and James. The index only covers 1840-1870 so I will requesting these deeds and looking for when the properties were finally sold or transferred.

Graham, James M. et al to Johnson, Andrew; Deed 1860/06/04; Book O, page 674
Graham, James M. et al to Madison, James; Deed 1860/06/04; Book O, page 674
Graham, James M. to Madison, James; Deed 1860/06/09; Book O, page 676
Graham, James M. to Johnson, Andrew; Deed 1860/06/09; Book O, page 676
Egbert, Oliver B. to Graham, James M. et al; Deed 1860/07/14; Book O, page 678
Egbert, Oliver B. to Graham, James M.; Deed 1860/10/31; Book P, page 208
Egbert, R. G. to Madison, James; Deed 1864/06/24; Book T, page 155
Graham, Martha M. to Graham, James M.; Deed 1866/01/17; Book U, page 498

In 1870 Martha Graham is still in the same household as Thomas Buckles, however James is not! They are with a family named Mack and as of right now I don't know if they were somehow related or just boarders. Silveyville Township, Solano, CA; page 7.

Davis Mack, 40, IN, Farmer
Jane Mack, 20, IL, at home
James Mack, 10, CA, at home
Josephine Mack, 4, CA, at home
Sophronia Mack, 2, CA, at home
Martha Graham, 53, IN, Domestic
Hosea Mack, 36, IN, Farm Laborer
Thomas Buckles, 45, IN, Farm Laborer

So where was James? I did not find any likely candidates in Solano County, CA. In 1870 there was a James Graham, age 40 b OH living in a hotel in Chillicothe, Livingston Co, MO, bridge builder. This would be the wrong age, our James would have been about 44, however this is the only record that seems likely in the index for James Graham.

There was a J M Graham age 44 b OH living in Northern Reese River Valley, Lander Co, NV. He is the first person listed in dwelling #14 where seven men of various ages and nativities were living together. Occupation: Stock Raiser. This seems like the mostly record for our James as it is not too far from Solano, CA however I'm not confident this is the correct record. (Interestingly, the 1st person on the page is Dougherty, S., an 11 year old female b Iowa. The last entries on page 1 for dwelling 11 are for Higgins, W F age 30 b ME, E. J (female) age 20 b IA, E (f) age 3 b UT, and R (m) age 1 b NV.)

In 1880 Thomas Buckles is still in Silveyville, listed as Neut Buckler, age 53, born OH with wife, Mary Buckler, age 48, born PA. No sign of Martha and again, nothing for James. In 1880 the only James Graham listed without a wife, b 1826 OH, in the ancestry.com index is found in Nebraska City, Otoe Co, NE, age 53 b OH, parents b OH, married, laborer, boarding in the home of Elijah Rutherford.

James' whereabouts at the time of the 1870 and 1880 censuses are clearly in doubt.

In Part 2 Rose's letter also contained this:

I recd a letter from a lawyer in Californie last Saturday informing of the Death of my Father, he died oct 28 at Hoyle, Wood Co, Oklahoma, he was buried one mile from Hoyle P O he left a Claim of one hundred and sixty acres 40 acres in wheat that is looking fine he left no wife nor children there so of course his children here are the Heirs to his property as he left no Will, we will have to get the property the best we can.

Why did Rose receive a letter from a lawyer in California if James died in Oklahoma? At the time of his death Hoyle was in Wood County however the county was divided and Hoyle became part of Major County. Hoyle no longer exists. I have found James' final resting place in Ames Cemetery, Ames, Major County, OK. In the transcription he is listed as James M. Graham, age 71, died October 28, 1897.

I found an index to the 1890 Oklahoma Territorial Census on the Oklahoma Historical Society site. and believe I have found James : Graham, James; IN; Cleveland; 612. Part of the census has been transcribed here. I have requested the information from page 612.

The Oklahoma GenWeb page has an index to the Indian Pioneer Papers, "Interviews that deal with people of all nationalities with first-hand experience of Indian Territory and Oklahoma Territory, not just the Indian population." There is a listing for James M. Graham so that is another item to order.

The Bureau of Land Management allows you to search the Land Patents and download copies of the Patent. On the results page for James M. Graham in the Comments section is the word "HEIRS". The Patent is dated 6 July 1908, well after James' death. I now need to order a copy of the Land Entry Case File from the National Archives and Records Administration. The Southwest Oklahoma Genealogical Society has a listing of what treasure might be in the file here.



This is what I have found for James to date. I have listed many records that I need to order however I cannot afford to order them all at once. I think that the Land Entry Case Files may hold the most information and that they will also be the most costly.

I have no idea where I'll go in Part 5 as I am dealing with a little bit of information overload!