The North Carolina Booklet 
 
 Vol. XVI JULY, 1916 No. 1 
 
 William Alexander Graham 
 
 By Chief Justice Walter Clark. 
 
 William Alexander Graham, Speaker of the House of 
 Commons, Governor of ISForth Carolina, Secretary of the 
 United States IS^avy, Senator of the United States and also 
 of the Confederate States, nominee of the Whig Party for 
 the Vice Presidency, was born at Vesuvius Furnace, the 
 residence of his father. General Joseph Graham, in Lincoln 
 County, North Carolina, 5 September, 1804. He sprung 
 from that sturdy Scotch-Irish race which has furnished so 
 many prominent men to the Republic. His mother was 
 Isabella, daughter, of Major John Davidson, who was one of 
 the signers of the famous "Mecklenburg Declaration of In- 
 dependence'-' at Charlotte on 20 May, 1775, of which John 
 Adams wrote: "The genuine sense of America at that 
 moment was never so well expressed before nor since." 
 
 The father of Governor Graham, General Joseph Graham, 
 merits more than a passing notice. At 18 years of age he 
 entered the Continental Army in 1778, soon became Adjutant 
 and was promoted to Major of l ISTorth Carolina (Conti- 
 nental) Regiment. He was in many engagements and was 
 often wounded. At the capture of Charlotte by Cornwallis 
 26 September, 1780, he received nine wounds (six of them 
 with sabre) and was left on the ground for dead. He was a 
 member of the State Convention of 1788 and also of 1789, 
 served in several legislatures and in the war of 1814 com- 
 manded a brigade from this State and South Carolina sent 
 by President Madison to the aid of General Jackson in the 
 Creek War. William A. Graham was the youngest son in a 
 family of seven sons and three daughters who gTcw to iria- 
 
4 THE NORTH CAROLINA BOOKLET 
 
 turity. One of his brothers, James Graham, was a member 
 of Congress from this State, continnonsly from 1833 to 1847, 
 except one term. One of his sisters married Rev. Dr. R. H. 
 Morrison, President of Davidson College, and was the mother 
 of the wife of Stonewall Jackson. 
 
 The subject of this sketch began his academic education 
 under Rev. Dr. Muchat, at Statesville, a scholar of repute. 
 Thence he was sent to Hillsboro, where he was prepared for 
 college. He entered the University of North Carolina in 
 1820. At school and college he envinced the characteristics 
 which distinguished him in later life — studious, thoughtful, 
 courteous, considerate of others, with great natural dignity 
 of manner, and marked ability. His schoolmate, Judge Bre- 
 vard, said of him at this early age: "He was the only boy 
 I ever knew who would spend his Saturdays in reviewing the 
 studies of the week." He graduated in 1824 with the highest 
 honors of his class, which he shared with Matthias E. Manly, 
 afterwards a Judge of the Supreme Court. 
 
 After a tour of the Western States, made on horseback, 
 as was then the most convenient and usual mode, he began 
 the study of law in the office of Judge Ruffin, at Hillsboro, 
 and was admitted to the bar in 1826. Though his family 
 connections were numerous and influential in Mecklenburg, 
 Cabarrus and Lincoln, he decided to locate at Hillsboro, 
 among whose resident lawyers then were Thomas Ruffin, 
 Archibald D. Murphey, Willie P. Mangum, Francis L. 
 Hawks, and Frederick Nash; and among the lawyers regu- 
 larly attending from other courts were George E. Badger, 
 William H. Haywood and Bartlett Yancey. At this bar of 
 exceptionally strong men, he quickly took first rank. 
 
 In 1833 he was elected a member of the General Assembly 
 from the Town of Hillsboro, one of the boroughs which up 
 to the Convention of 1835 retained the English custom of 
 choosing a member of the legislature. It is related that he 
 was chosen by one majority, the last vote polled being cast 
 by a free man of color, this class being entitled to the fran- 
 
WILLIAM ALEXANDER GRAHAM 
 
 chise till the Constitution of 1835. Being asked why he voted 
 for Mr. Graham, the colored voter, a man of reputation and 
 some property, replied : ''I always vote for a gentleman." 
 
 His first appearance on the floor of the House of Repre- 
 sentatives was on a motion to send to the Senate a notice that 
 the House was ready to proceed to the election of a Governor 
 for the State, and to place in nomination for that office, 
 David L. Swain, who had been his college mate at the 
 University of Korth Carolina. Two days later he had the 
 satisfaction to report his election, and was appointed first on 
 the committee to notify him of his election. The relations 
 of these two distinguished^ men remained singularly close 
 and cordial through life. In 1834 and again in 1835 he 
 was re-elected for the borough of Hillsboro, and at both ses- 
 sions he was Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, then as 
 now, deemed the highest position, next to the Speaker. In 
 1838, as Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, he submitted 
 the report of the Commissioners who had prepared the 
 "Revised Statutes." • 
 
 It was to him that in 1834 Judge Gaston, who was a 
 Roman Catholic, addressed his open letter in defence of his 
 acceptance of a seat upon the Supreme Court, notwithstanding 
 the provision in the old Constitution (repealed by the Con- 
 vention of 1835) which declared incapable of holding office 
 all those who "deny the truths of the Protestant religion." 
 With all deference to the writer thereof whose name will 
 always command the highest respect, that letter will remain 
 a plausible instance of special pleading whose defective logic 
 has been pardoned by reason of the inherent opj^osition of 
 all generous minds to the constitutional provision which gave 
 rise to it, and the eminent public services, ability and popu- 
 larity of its author. 
 
 In 1838 and again in 1840, Mr. Graham was elected to 
 the General Assembly from Orange County, and was Speaker 
 of the House of Representatives in both. The journals, dur- 
 ing his legislative career, attest his great industry and his 
 
6 THE NORTH CAROLINA BOOKLET 
 
 leadership. He introduced the first bill that was passed to 
 establish a system of common schools, and the bills introduced 
 or supported, or reported by him on the subjects of banking, 
 finance, education, and internal improvements, demonstrate 
 the broadness of his views, and that he was one of the most 
 progressive men of his time. 
 
 In 1840, Judge Strange and Hon. Bedford Brown, the 
 United States Senators from this State, resigned their seats 
 rather than obey instructions which had been passed by the 
 General Assembly. Willie P. Mangum, of Orange, was 
 chosen to succeed Brown, and though Mr. Graham was from 
 the same county and only 36 years of age, he was elected to 
 fill Mr. Strauge's unexpired term. This was a most emphatic 
 testimonial to his commanding position in the Whig Party, 
 which held so many eminent leaders, and in the State at large. 
 He was among the youngest, if not the youngest member, of 
 the United States Senate, when he took his seat. He com- 
 manded the respect and attention of that body upon all occa- 
 sions, and we are told by a member of that Congress that 
 "Mr. Clay regarded him as a most superior man, socially 
 and intellectually." 
 
 The time of Mr. Graham's service in the Senate was a 
 stormy period. President Harrison, who had gone into office 
 upon a tidal wave, died just one month after his inauguration, 
 and was succeeded by the Vice-President, Mr. Tyler, who soon 
 placed the administration in complete opposition to the poli- 
 cies of the party by which he had been elected. Upon all the 
 most important measures which came before the Senate, Mr. 
 Graham impressed himself by arguments which received 
 general approbation and which drew forth specially com- 
 mendatory letters from Clay, Webster, Chancellor Kent, aial 
 others. 
 
 At the expiration of his term in March, 1843, Mr. Gra- 
 ham resumed the practice of his profession, the Democratic 
 Party having secured a majority in the General Assembly 
 and chosen a member of that party, William H. Haywood, 
 
WILLIAM ALEXANDER GRAHAM i 
 
 Jr., to succeed him in the Senate. In 1844 he was nomi- 
 nated by the Whig Party for Governor. He had not sought 
 nor desired the nomination. The salary of the office was 
 small and its expenses great. In 1836 he had married Susan 
 Washington, daughter of John Washington of New Bern, a 
 lady of great beauty of character and person, and a young 
 and growing family made demands upon his income, which 
 was impaired by the inroads which public life had made 
 upon his law practice. But true as always to the calls of 
 duty, he yielded to the representations of gentlemen of high 
 standing in all parts of the State. His Democratic competi- 
 tor was Hon. Michael Hoke, like himself, a native of the 
 county of Lincoln. Mr. Hoke was about the same age, of 
 fine presence, decided ability and great popularity. After 
 a canvass whose brilliancy has had no parallel in the history 
 of the State, save perhaps that between Vance and Settle in 
 1876, Mr. Graham was elected by a large majority. His 
 competitor died a few weeks after the election, his death 
 having been caused, it was thought, by the great physical 
 and mental strain of the campaign. On 1 January, 1845, 
 Governor Graham was sworn in, with imposing ceremonies, 
 which, for brilliancy and the size of the audience;, were till 
 then without precedent. 
 
 His inaugural address was especially noteworthy, not alone 
 for its purity of style and elevation of thought, but in its 
 recommendations. The Asylum for the Insane, and for the 
 Deaf, Dumb and Blind, and the Emmons Geological Survey 
 all had their genesis in this Inaugural, the first two being 
 established by laws enacted during his administration and 
 the latter just afterwards. He also laid special emphasis 
 upon the Common School System, then lately inaugurated, 
 and the first act in favor of which had been introduced by 
 himself when a member of the legislature. Mr. Webster in 
 a letter specially commended the address for its wisdom and 
 progressiveness, as did Prof. Olmsted for its recommenda- 
 tion in favor of the establishment of a Geological Survey. 
 
8 THE NORTH CAROLINA BOOKLET 
 
 His aid to our new and struggling railroads built bj State 
 aid was invaluable. 
 
 In 1849 he delivered the address before the Literary Socie- 
 ties at the University. This address remains to this day one 
 of the very best of the long series delivered since the incipi- 
 ency of the custom. Upon the success of his party in the 
 election of President Taylor, Senator Mangimi, one of the 
 confidential advisers of the new administration, wrote Gov- 
 ernor Graham that he could make his choice between the Mis- 
 sion to Russia and the Mission to Spain. Subsequently the 
 Mission to Spain was tendered him and declined. 
 
 Upon the accession of President Fillmore, Mr. Graham was 
 tendered the appointment of Secretary of the Xavy in a very 
 complimentary letter from the President, who urged his 
 acceptance. In July, 1850, he entered upon the duties of 
 the office. Such was his diligence that his first report, 30 
 K|ovember, 1850, embraced a review of the whole naval estab- 
 lishment with recommendations for its entire reorganization. 
 Even an opposition Senator, Thomas H. Benton, joined in 
 the commendation of his report, and wrote with special 
 reference to the Coast Survey service: "I consider it one 
 of the most perfect reports I ever read — a model of a business 
 report and one which should carry conviction to every candid 
 inquiring mind. I deem it one of the largest reforms, both 
 in an economical and administrative point of view, which the 
 state of our affairs admits of." 
 
 His administration of the Navy Department was marked 
 by one of the most remarkable enterprises, whose success has 
 been of world wide importance — the organization of the Perry 
 Expedition to Japan, which opened up that ancient empire 
 to modern civilization. The success of that expedition con- 
 stitutes one of the principal claims of Mr. Fillmore's adminis- 
 tration to the admiration of posterity and was, indeed, an 
 era in the history of the world, of which the events of the 
 last few years are striking results. The exi^edition was con- 
 ceived and inaugurated by Mr. Graham and was execivted 
 
WILLIAM ALEXA^STDER GRAHAM V 
 
 upon the lines laid down by him, and the commander, Com- 
 modore Perry, was selected by him, though the expedition 
 did not actually set sail till after he had resigned. In 1S51 
 Mr. Graham also sent out under the auspices of the TSavy 
 Department, an expedition under Lieutenant Herndon to 
 explore the valley and sources of the Amazon. The report 
 of this expedition was published by order of Congress in 
 February, 1854, and was noticed by the London ''Westmin- 
 ster Review" of that year, which bestowed high praise upon 
 the author for his conception, and the thoroughness and wis- 
 dom of his instructions to the commander. 
 
 The great compromise measures of 1850, which would have 
 saved the country from the terrible civil war, if it could 
 have been saved, received strong aid and support from the 
 then Secretary of the Navy, who was on terms of intimacy 
 and personal friendship with Clay, Y\"ebster and other leaders 
 in- that great movement to stay destructive tendencies, which 
 proved, ''alas, too strong for human power." When the Whig 
 ^N^ational Convention assembled in June, 1852, it placed in 
 nomination for the presidency, Winfield Scott, and William 
 A. Graham for Vice-President. With a delicacy which has 
 been rarely followed since, he resigned ''to relieve the admin- 
 istration of any possible criticism or embarrassment on his 
 account in the approaching canvass," and the President 
 appreciating the high sense of delicacy and propriety "which 
 prompted the act, accepted his resignation with unfeigned 
 regret." 
 
 It may well be doubted if any of his predecessors, or suc- 
 cessors, either in the office of Secretary of the E'avy or Gov- 
 ernor of iSTorth Carolina, has shown as much progressiveness, 
 and as large a conception of the possibilities of his office, in 
 widening the opportunities for development of the country. 
 Certainly none have surpassed him in the wisdom and breadth 
 of his views, and the energy displayed in giving them suc- 
 cessful result. It is his highest claim to fame that he was 
 thoroughly imbued with a true conception of the possibilities 
 
10 THE NORTH CAROLINA BOOKLET 
 
 and needs of the time and his whole career marks him as 
 second to none of the sons whom North Carolina has given 
 to fame. 
 
 In 1852, after his retirement from the Cabinet, he de- 
 livered before the Historical Society of New York his admir- 
 able and instructive addre^ss upon ''The British Invasion of 
 the South in 1780-81." This address i3reserved and brought 
 into notice many historical facts, which with our usual 
 magnificent disregard of the praiseworthy deeds of our State 
 had been allowed to pass out of the memory of men and the 
 record proofs of which were mouldering and in danger of 
 being totally lost. 
 
 Mr. Graham was State Senator from Orange in 1854-55, 
 took, as always, a leading part, and gave earnest sup- 
 port to Internal Improvements, especially advocating railroad 
 construction. He and Governor Morehead headed the delega- 
 tion to the Whig Convention in 1856 at Baltimore, which 
 endorsed the nomination of Mr. Fillmore. He was one of 
 that number of distinguished men from all sections, who met 
 in Washington in February, 1860, and who in the vain hope 
 of staying the drift of events towards a disruption of the 
 Union and Civil War, placed before the country the platform 
 and the candidates of the "Constitutional Union" party. 
 
 In February, 1861, he canvassed parts of the State with 
 Governor Morehead, Judge Badger, Z. B. Vance, and others, 
 in opposition to the call of a State Convention to take the 
 State out of the Union, which was defeated by a narrow 
 margin and doubtless by their efforts. But the tide of events 
 was too strong. The fall of Fort Sumter 13 April, 1861, 
 and the call by Mr. Lincoln upon North Carolina for her 
 quota of 75,000 men — a call made without authority — 
 changed the face of affairs. The State Convention met 20 
 May, 1861, and on the same day unanimously pronounced 
 the repeal by this State of the Ordinance of 1789 by which 
 North Carolina had acceded to the Federal Union under the 
 Constitution of the United States. Mr. Graham, Judge 
 
WILLIAM ALEXANDER GRAHAM 11 
 
 Badffer, and others concurred in the result, after first offer- 
 ing a resolution (which was voted down) basing the with- 
 drawal of the State, not upon the alleged inherent right of 
 the State to withdraw from the Union at its will, but upon 
 the right of revolution justified by the action of the Federal 
 authorities. 
 
 One of Mr. Graham's most eloquent and convincing 
 speeches was that made before the Convention in December, 
 1861, in opposition to an ordinance requiring a universal 
 test oath, which was defeated. While giving to the Confeder- 
 ate Government his full support, he earnestly opposed arbi- 
 trary measures which indicated any forgetfulness of the 
 rights of the citizen, and in March, 1861, he procured action 
 by the Convention which caused the return to his home of a 
 minister of the Gospel in Orange County, who had been ille- 
 gally arrested by military order and confined in prison at 
 Richmond. His speech against the test oath was used by 
 Reverdy Johnson in arguing ex -parte Garland, in the United 
 States Supreme Court. 
 
 In December, 1863, Mr. Graham was elected to the Senate 
 of the Confederate States by a vote of more than two- thirds 
 in the General Assembly, and took his seat in May, 1864. 
 It was at a troublous time and his counsel was, as usual, 
 earnestly sought. In January, 1865, after consultation with 
 General Lee, and with his full approval. Senator Graham 
 introduced the resolution to create the Peace Commission, 
 whose adoption caused the Hampton Roads Conference, 
 8 February, 1865, and might have saved the brave lives so 
 uselessly sacrificed after that date, but that President Davis 
 declared himself without power to come to any terms that 
 would put an end to the Confederacy. Thereupon Senator 
 Graham gave notice that to save further useless effusion of 
 blood he would introduce a resolution for negotiations looking 
 to a return to the Union, but the notice was unfavorably re- 
 ceived, and he decided that the introduction of the resolution 
 would be unavailing. Had it passed, we might not only have 
 
12 THE XORTH CAROLINA BOOKLET 
 
 saved innch useless bloodshed, but have avoided the unspeak- 
 able horrors of Eeconstruction. But blindness ruled those 
 in power. His course has been thought like that of North 
 Carolina — reluctant to leave the Union, opposed to unsurpa- 
 tions by the new government, willing to negotiate for honor- 
 able peace when hope was^gone, but that being denied, hold- 
 ing out to the end. Five of his sons, all of them who were 
 old enough, were in the Confederate Army to the end, and 
 each of them was wounded in battle. 
 
 The Confederate Senate adjourned 16 March, and on the 
 20th he visited Kaleigh at request of Governor Vance, and 
 in the conference told hiui that he left Eichmond satisfied 
 that all hope for the success of the Confederacy had passed; 
 that Mr. Davis had declared that he was without power to 
 negotiate for a return to the Union; and that each State 
 could only do that for itself ; but he advised Governor Vance 
 that should he call a meeting of the Legislature to consider 
 such action, Mr. Davis should be apprised. To this Governor 
 Vance assented. But before further action could be taken 
 the approach of General Sherman made it useless. On 12 
 April, 1865, Governor Vance sent ex-Governors Graham and 
 Swain as Commissioners to General Sherman, then approach- 
 ing Kaleigh, with a letter asking a suspension of arms with 
 a view to a return to the Union. The letter is set out in 
 ''North Carolina Regimental Histories" Vol. I, page 58. 
 General Sherman courteously received the Commissioners 
 but declined the requested truce. Of course Governor Gra- 
 ham's course in this trying time expressed the views of all 
 those who saw the hopelessness of the situation, and who felt 
 that the lives of the gallant men who had served their coun- 
 try faithfully should now be preserved for its future service 
 in days of peace. He was not wanting in this supreme hour 
 in the highest fidelity to the people that had honored and 
 trusted him. 
 
 Of especial interest, showing his wisdom and foresight are 
 his letters to Governor Swain, of this period, published in 
 
WILLIAM ALEXANDER GRAHAM. 13 
 
 Mrs. Spencer's "Last Ninety Days of the War." He was 
 the trusted adviser of Governor Vance, who in his life of 
 Swain says: "In those troublous years of war, I consulted 
 him more frequently perhaps than any other man in the 
 State except Governor Graham," adding, that "in him there 
 was a rounded fullness of the qualities, intellectual and moral, 
 which constitute the excellence of manhood in a degree never 
 excelled by any citizen of ISTorth Carolina whom I have per- 
 sonally known, except by William A. Graham." Governor 
 Graham was also the sure reliance of Governor Worth, whose 
 most important State papers are from his pen. 
 
 In 1866 Mr. Graham was elected to the United States 
 Senate with his former classmate and competitor at college, 
 Hon. Matthias E. Manly as colleague, but the Republican 
 majority in Congress was contemplating Reconstruction and 
 they were refused their seats. When such legislation was 
 enacted, a universal gloom fell upon the entire South. In 
 its midst a Convention was called of all conservative citizens, 
 irrespective of former party affiliations to meet in Raleigh, 
 5 February, 1868, over which Mr. Graham was called by 
 common consent to preside, as our wisest citizen. His earn- 
 est, able and statesmanlike speech had a powerful effect, it 
 aroused the people from despondency and infused into them 
 that spirit of determination which continued to grow in 
 strength till the State returned to the control of its native 
 white population. In this speech, he was the first, in view 
 of the recent Act of Congress, conferring suffrage upon the 
 colored race, to lay down the necessity for the Whites to 
 stand together, and he enunciated the dectrine of "White 
 Supremacy" as indispensable for the preservation of civiliza- 
 tion in the South. While others favored efforts to obtain 
 control or guidance of the Negro, he, with a better knowl- 
 edge of that race, insisted upon the solidarity of the Whites 
 as our only hope. The event has proved the accuracy of his 
 foresight. This speech while the Convention was in session 
 was as brave as any act of the war. 
 
14 THE NORTH CAROLINA BOOKLET 
 
 He was prominent in asserting the right of the citizens to 
 the writ of habeas corpus in 1870, when Judge Pearson 
 declared the "judiciary exhausted" ; and when Governor 
 Holden was impeached in December of that year, his was 
 the first named selected among the eminent counsel, who were 
 retained to assist the managers appointed by the House of 
 Representatives in the prosecution. His speech was one of 
 great ability, but singularly free from personal denunciation 
 of those w^ho had trodden imder foot the Constitution and 
 the laws. 
 
 He was selected by the great philanthropist, George Pea- 
 body, as one of the board of eminent men whom he requested 
 to act as trustees in administering the fund donated by him 
 to the cause of education in the South, which had been so 
 sorely impoverished by the war, and attended its sessions 
 with great regularity. 
 
 He was also selected by Virginia to represent her upon 
 the Board of Arbitration appointed by that State and Mary- 
 land to settle the disputed boundary between the two States. 
 
 On 20 May, 1875, he delivered an address at Charlotte 
 upon the celebration of the Centennial Anniversary of the 
 Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence and arrayed in a 
 masterly manner the historic evidence of its authenticity. 
 
 Among his many valuable addresses is that delivered at 
 Greensboro in 1860 upon the services of General Nathanael 
 Greene, and memorial addresses upon the life and character 
 of Judges A. D. Murphey and George E, Badger and Chief 
 Justice Thomas Ruffin. His address at the State University 
 and that upon the British Invasion of ISTorth Carolina in 
 1780-81 have already been mentioned. ISTotwithstanding his 
 frequent public services, in the intervals he readily returned 
 to his professional duties and to the last was in full practice 
 at the bar. His argument before Judge Brooks in 1870 at 
 Salisbury on the habeas corpus for release of Josiah Turner 
 and others was a masterpiece. 
 
WILLIAM ALEXANDER GRAHAM 15 
 
 He was nominated by acclamation in Orange County to 
 the State Constitutional Convention of 1875. His declin- 
 ing health prevented his taking part in the canvass. He 
 issued a strong address to his constituents which was widely 
 circulated throughout the State, with great effect. His elec- 
 tion was a matter of course, but before he could take his 
 seat, he had passed beyond earthly honors. He was at Sara- 
 toga, ]Sr. Y., attending the session of the Virginia and Mary- 
 land Boundary Commission when renewed and alarming 
 symptoms of heart trouble appeared. The best efforts of 
 medical science proved unavailing, and he passed away early 
 in the morning of 11 August, 1875, being nearly 71 years 
 of age. 
 
 ISTumerous meetings of the Bar and public bodies, not 
 only in North Carolina, but elsewhere, expressed their sense 
 of the public loss, and the great journals of the country re- 
 sponded in articles expressive of the national bereavement. 
 The States of Maryland and Virginia took care that his 
 remains should be received with due honor and escorted 
 across their, borders. At the borders of ISTorth Carolina they 
 were received by a committee appointed by the Mayor and 
 Common Council of Raleigh, a committee apijointed 
 by the bar of Raleigh, and another by the authori- 
 ties of the town of Hillsboro, by officials and many promi- 
 nent citizens of the State and conveyed by special train to 
 Raleigh where they were escorted by a military and civic 
 procession to the Capitol, in whose rotunda, draped for the 
 occasion, they lay in state. Late in the afternoon of the 
 same day, attended by the Raleigh military companies and 
 by special guards of honor, appointed by cities and towns 
 of the State, and by the family of the deceased, his remains 
 were carried by special train to Hillsboro, where they were 
 received by the whole population of the to\\Ti and escorted 
 to the family residence, where they lay in state till noon on 
 Sunday, August 15th. At that hour they were conveyed to 
 the Presbyterian Church, and after appropriate funeral sen'- 
 
16 THE NORTH CAROLINA BOOKLET 
 
 ices were interred with solemn ceremony, amid an im- 
 mense concourse gathered from many counties, in its historic 
 graveyard, where rest the ashes of William Hooper, A. D. 
 Murphey, Chief Justice ISIash, Judge J^orwood, and many 
 others, worthily prominent in the annals of the State. 
 
 Governor Graham left surviving him his widow, who sub- 
 sequently died 1 May, 1890; seven sons, to wit: Dr. Joseph 
 Graham, of Charlotte (died August 12, 1007) ; Major John 
 W. Graham, of Hillsboro; Major W. A. Graham, of Lincoln; 
 Captain James A. Graham (died in March, 1909), and 
 Captain Kobert D. Graham (died July, 1904), both resident 
 in late years in Washington City; Dr. George W. Graham, 
 of Charlotte ; Judge Augustus W. Graham, of Oxford ; and 
 an only daughter, 3usan Washington, \vho married the 
 author of this very imperfect sketch of his life and services. 
 She died in Raleigh 10 December, 1909. 
 
 Fortunate in his lineage and the sturdy race from which 
 he sprung, strikingly handsome in person, of commanding 
 appearance and stature, courteous in his bearing toward all, 
 high or low, of high mental endowments, of a personal char- 
 acter without spot or blemish, true to all men, and therefore 
 true to himself, possessed of undaunted courage, moral and 
 physical, with remarkable soundness of judgment, conserva- 
 tive in his views, but ])rogressive in his public action, abun- 
 dant in services to his State and to his country, holding the 
 entire respect of all and the hatred of no one, J^orth Caro- 
 lina has laid to rest in her bosom no son greater or more 
 worthy than William A. Graham. His fame will grow 
 brighter as the records are examined and weighed in the cold, 
 clear, impartial light of the future. 
 
 To North Carolinians, the name of William A. Graham 
 is the synonym of high character and true service, and in 
 rendering to him and his memory high honor, the people of 
 the State have indicated those traits of character which most 
 strongly command their approbation. 
 
 Stat nominis umbra.