Graham, John G.

Born: 1817-11-17 Saratoga County, New York

Died: 1869-01-XX Fulton County, Illinois

Flourished: Fulton County, Illinois

Graham taught school in his native New York before being employed as a surveyor for railroads in Illinois. After completing the surveys, he settled in Fulton County, where he married Lydia Wills in 1843. Graham entered the mercantile business and later engaged in land speculation and agriculture. In 1850, Graham and his family were living in Canton, Illinois, where he was a merchant and owned $10,000 in real property. In 1859, Graham won election to the Illinois House of Representatives, serving three terms until 1864. By 1860, Graham had amassed $50,000 in real property, with a personal estate of $20,000.

Portrait and Biographical Album of Fulton County, Illinois (Chicago: Biographical, 1890), 232; Illinois Statewide Marriage Index, Fulton County, 20 November 1843, Illinois State Archives, Springfield, IL; John Clayton, comp., The Illinois Fact Book and Historical Almanac, 1673-1968 (Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1970), 222, 223, 225; U.S. Census Office, Seventh Census of the United States (1850), Canton, Fulton County, IL, 153; U.S. Census Office, Eighth Census of the United States (1860), Canton, Fulton County, IL, 12.