Graham, J. D. (James Duncan), 1799-1865

James Duncan Graham (1799-1865), Major, Corps of Topographical, U.S.A.

From the description of J.D. Graham papers, 1804-1896 (bulk 1848-1865). (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 702132881

James Duncan Graham was born 4 April 1799 in Prince William County, Va. He graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1817 and served in the United States Army as a topographical engineer. He directed the re-survey of the Mason-Dixon line and served on the boundary commission for the United States and Canada and the United States and Mexico. He supervised harbor improvements on the Great Lakes, discovering the lunar tide there. He married twice, to Charlotte Meade and after her death, to Frances Wickham. He died 28 December 1865 in Boston, Mass.

His son, William Montrose Graham was born in Washington, D.C. on 28 September 1834. He served in the United States Army on the frontier and during the Civil War in the artillery. He also served in the Spanish-American War. He married Mary Brewerton Ricketts. He died in 1916 and is buried in the Congressional Cemetery.

From the description of Myers-Burrage-Graham Papers (I) Group C. (College of William & Mary). WorldCat record id: 52778122

James Duncan Graham, son of William and Mary Campbell Graham, was born into a Virginian family with a tradition of military service. Graham attended West Point from 1813-17 with his brother William Montrose Graham. In fact all of Graham's brothers attended West Point and some of his stepbrothers and half brothers chose military careers. Not surprisingly, Graham married into another southern military family when he wed Charlotte Hustler Meade, the sister of General George G. Meade in 1828. Their son, William Montrose Graham, followed family tradition and distinguished himself in the artillery.

On graduating from West Point, J. D. Graham entered the artillery corps and assisted Major Stephen Long on his 1819-21 expedition to explore the Great Plains. Graham dates this as the beginning of his career as a topographical engineer (see Box 6, folder 198, letterpress copybook, p. 163), although he was not promoted into the Topographical Bureau until 1829. When the army reorganized in 1838, Graham became a member of the Corps of Topographical Engineers and served the corps until his death in 1865 (eventually rising to the rank of major).

During the 1820s and 1830s Graham worked on a variety of military surveys including the Winchester and Potomac Rail Road in Virginia in 1831-32 and the Alabama, Florida, and Georgia Rail Road in 1836. He served under Major General Thomas S. Jesup in the 1836-37 Seminole Indian campaign. Graham became astronomer for the survey of the Texas-United States boundary of 1838 and later commissioner of the 1840-43 North Eastern Boundary Survey, which settled the border between Maine and British North American. He went on to surveying the Mason-Dixon line and worked for a short period on the Mexican-American border demarcation in 1851. In all of these projects Graham acted as astronomer or supervisor of scientific work. When he took charge of the Great Lakes harbor improvements in 1854 he used his position to gather astronomical data for establishing accurate latitude and longitude readings for the Midwest. While officially supervising the construction of piers and channel dredging, Graham studied Lake Michigan's tides and was able to prove scientifically the existence of a lunar tide. In 1861, he was put in charge of the survey of the north and northwestern lakes and their lighthouses.

During the Civil War Graham's loyalty to the Union was questioned and he was removed from his post. Exactly what happened is not clear from the collection, but in 1864, J. M. Howard wrote to the secretary of war after investigating Graham. He proclaimed Graham loyal, requested he be returned to active service, and suggested he be assigned to New York Harbor (see Box 6, folder 192). Graham was ordered to Boston to serve on the Atlantic Coast Survey. He died there on December 28, 1865.

From the guide to the J. D. Graham papers, 1804-1896, 1848-1865, (Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library)