Col. James George Graham, Sr. - Mixed Up Grahams

This misplaced profile, Col. James George Graham, Sr. needs to be disconnected immediately from the NC branch of Grahams, and replaced by the correct James Graham.

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/97182680/james-graham

James Graham is probably the *grandson (not son) of James, Sr. (b. 1714, civil servant during the war, etc.), who did have a son "James, Jr." who was the son-in-law of Gen. Rutherford and probably the same man who married Margaret Porter.

https://services.dar.org/public/dar_research/search_adb/?action=ful...

James Graham b. 1758 d. 1834 who married Margaret Porter. The dates and everything else would suggest he was Elizabeth Rutherford's younger brother.

The known children of James Graham and Jean Foster were 1. John (the eldest, with no known family of his own), 2. Elizabeth (Graham) Rutherford, incorrectly named "Mary" Elizabeth here, m. sometime around 1755 3. Rebecca Chambers (marriage in 1775 witnessed by James CATHEY, 4. James, Jr. (m. Margaret Porter? I think so), 5. Jane (m. James Gillespy in 1765).

James CATHEY witnessed the marriage of their sister, Rebecca (m. John Chambers).

My sources only cover this particular branch related to Gen. Rutherford, with no mention of any contemporary Graham cousins living in the immediate vicinity or elsewhere.

"a son "James, Jr." who was the son-in-law of Gen. Rutherford"

I meant to say BROTHER-in-law. Sorry.

Yay, finally found some concrete evidence for James Graham and Margaret Porter.

Margaret Porter, born 17 Jun 1764 North Carolina, USA; died 2 March 1819 (aged 54) North Carolina, USA

Buried at Third Creek Presbyterian Church Cemetery Cleveland, Rowan County, North Carolina, USA

(But they allegedly married in 1786, so might not be the parents of James who married Alice Cathy.)

James Graham, born 29 Jan 1757 North Carolina, USA; died 9 Feb 1834 (aged 77) North Carolina, USA

Buried at Third Creek Presbyterian Church Cemetery Cleveland, Rowan County, North Carolina, USA

It is claimed by some that this is the son of James Graham b.1714 and Jean Foster, yet we still lack solid proof. And 1757 seems a bit late (22 years after the eldest son John; with another younger sibling).

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Another James Graham (1746-1782), buried at Thyatira Presbyterian burial ground, is shown here as the son of Richard Graham and Hannah Agnes Cathey.

And in the same cemetery is the most ancient James yet (1670-1758):

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/22487908/james-graham

Another one (1680-1757), but without a photo of the stones for himself and his wife, Ann Cathey:

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/148447465/james-cathey

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Not a lot of progress, but now I know that this Col. James Grayham is a Tennessee branch and we have proof he isn't the son of the NC patriarch.

One last thing for now, I forgot to mention that although Scotch-Irish, the NC branch came into America from Ireland. Not directly from Scotland.

Dear Debra,

Thank you for all of your research and detailed information. I think my tree is messed up nine ways to Sunday. Are you saying that John Graham in my tree is actually James Graham and that I have incorrect parents and grandparents for him, according to the following data I got at Ancestry:

Capt James S Graham, b 1710, Scotland, d 1785, Millbridge, Rowan, North Carolina, & Jean Foster
Col James G Graham, b 1742 Scotland, d 1813, Greene County, Tennessee, & Sarah Ellenor Broyles
John Graham, b 1762, Washington County, North Carolina, d 1813 Roaring Springs, Greene, Tennessee, & Esther Borders
Prudence Graham, b 1789, Greene County, Tennessee, d 1823, Roaring Springs, Greene, Tennessee, & William Luster II
Mary Luster, b 1813, Greene County, Tennessee, d 1888, Esbon, Jewell, Kansas, & Jacob Justis
John Burton Justis, b 1850, Greene County, Tennessee, d 1916, Esbon, Jewell, Kansas, & Julia Ann Campbell (my second great-grandparents).

Was Washington County, North Carolina, later Tennessee like Greene County?

Sarah Broyles is problematic as well. Many people online have her listed as the daughter of Adam Broyles but I have read there is no proof that she is his daughter so I deleted her upline from my tree.

Hi Charla, so happy to hear from you!

My only dispute is with the Geni parents of Col. James George Graham, Sr. which imho have been disproven.

Because Captain James Graham, III immigrated from Ireland (not Scotland), and died in 1784 in NC.

So there's no way he could have come directly from Scotland and also been alive in 1803 Tennessee.

(The county names do make sense though, as far as I can tell; with all the redistricting of both county and state lines that went on during that era, it isn't unusual for the same locality to be known by different names. Greene Co. was formed from part of Washington Co.)

Haven't looked at the Broyles branch, so finding no conflicts, I trust your judgement there.

(Public genealogical charts may often provide helpful hints, but only as long as we are able to take the time and make the effort to fact-check every step of the way. And collaborative charts are subjected to constant changes without notice, besides conflicting interpretations and theories. I find the only way to keep my family history reasonably accurate and secure is to maintain my own separate private offline family tree by adding only what I am absolutely confident is true.)

...I think what is needed here is to disconnect this profile from the current parents and work on proving his real parents, along with proving the current parents' real son "James" (brother-in-law to Gen. Rutherford).

His sister and Gen. Rutherford ended up in Sumner County, Tennessee. And the Rutherfords' daughter Jane and husband Capt. James Cathey (DAR, Alice Cathey Graham's parents) ended up in Cannon and Maury counties, (all three counties lay many miles further westward).

According to DAR, the James Graham who is not at all represented on this site, who married Margaret Porter with at least two documented married children -- died in 1834 Rowan Co., NC. Which makes sense, because he inherited land there. He also served under both Gen. Rutherford and Capt. James Graham (Rutherford's father-in-law). So although without concrete proof, I grow more and more convinced they are Gen. Rutherford's in-laws as well.

There are issues with daughter Jane (Rutherford) Cathey's profile too, if I'm not mistaken. I think her death date is incorrect, and her much later second marriage isn't represented here either.

Margaret (Porter) Graham died March 2, 1819. She and James were married in May of 1785.

Hey, Debra,

I think I've got it straight now! I agree with you that the incorrect parents for Col. James George Graham Sr. need to be disconnected from his profile.

I also agree with you that precision, due diligence and facts are of the utmost importance when making trees. I am sifting through my Ancestry tree at present, doing further research and deleting incorrect ancestors whom I shouldn't have blindly added in the first place.

Thank you for all of the great information you have dug up about the Grahams!

Thank you for the feedback, Charla. I am convinced that we now have enough cause to disconnect and then add the missing James Graham and wife Margaret Porter.

Reading through the DAR, Rutherford/Graham/Cathey biography, and Thyatira Presbyterian Church history, it becomes very obvious which James Graham was the brother-in-law and neighbor of Gen. Rutherford. And fortunately, the DAR provides us with some details.

The Porters were one of the founding families of what variously known as the Locke or Irish settlement. Graham, Rutherford, Locke, Cathey, McCorkle, Porter, Luckie, Armstrong, King, Lowrance, Blythe, Forster/Foster, and Barr, were some of the earliest Scotch-Irish and/or Protestant families involved with the church and intermarrying to some extent among themselves.

https://archive.org/details/carolinacradlese0000rams/page/120/mode/...

https://archive.org/details/carolinacradlese0000rams/page/120/mode/...

https://services.dar.org/public/dar_research/search_adb/?action=ful...

https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=wu.89064865785&view=1up&...

https://archive.org/details/thyatirapresbyte01ling/page/18/mode/2up

William Porter left a will in 1761; James Porter in 1789, Rowan County.

James Graham (d.1834, matching the DAR record for Margaret Porter's husband) left a will dated 1834 in Rowan Co.

Other wills for "James Graham" in Rowan Co. are dated 1779, 1788, 1840, and 1856. A good look at these wills should prove fairly illuminating.

Among other relevant facts it is established that James Graham d. 1834 was married with at least two children. But was one of them the James Graham who married a specific Alice Cathey in Rowan Co. and died many years later in Alabama? Probably. Either way, I intend to investigate further.

https://archives.ncdcr.gov/media/284/open

https://www.jstor.org/stable/2938142?read-now=1&refreqid=excels...

If I find any useful sources for James Graham who married Sarah Ellener Broyles, I will post it here and/or on discussion(s) from their profiles.

Why, thank you!

I didn't get a notification so didn't know you'd posted these. Good thing I came to look! Thank you for sharing all of these links! I will check them out right now.

Many thanks for all of this great historical information!