Shrouded Past Revealed

Following the death of Libbie Graham in 1910, family knowledge of the ancestral life in Ireland seemed to have faded from memory. Until the 21st Century, descendants of William Graham thought they knew that he immigrated from County Tyrone, Ireland and had served in the American Civil War. There was a vague idea that he been captured and imprisoned in Libby Prison sometime during that service. 

Previously Unknown Letters 

Notre Dame University

In August 2008, while searching the Internet, a cousin made a discovery which began filling this memory vacuum. During a web search using the name 'William Graham' he came upon a website maintained by Notre Dame University. 

This website indicated that Notre Dame held in its library 16 letters written by William Graham during the Civil War. A quick perusal of the accompanying description supported the conclusion that these letters were written by my great grandfather. 

An additional letter was discovered at the Schuyler County Historical Society. Attempts to follow up on the original source for these letters were unsuccessful.

Letter addressed to William's cousin John Boyes

The letters provided three key pieces of new information;

• William's sister, cousin and father lived in Schuyler County, New York,
• the name of his sister was Libbie Graham, and
• the name of his cousin was Dr. Robert Bell.

A search of the Schuyler County genealogy site using the Bell name brought up a 1903 "Biographical Record of Schuyler County, NY" with a lengthy entry for Dr. Robert Bell, including his family and life prior to settling in the county. His father was William Bell and mother was Elizabeth Graham, who had died in 1846.

Using the 1855 New York Census, I was able to discover that a man named James Graham (age 67), who I assumed was William's father, was living with William Bell. William Bell was James' brother-in-law. At the time of the 1860 Census, James Graham (age 70) was living next door to William Bell.

Given the relative commonality of family names, the fact that Schuyler was one of the least populated New York counties helped tremendously in this search endeavor. Interestingly, Schuyler County's population today is less than what it was in 1860 at the start of the Civil War.

With the digital letter images (kindly sent to me by Notre Dame University) and the additional information I was able to discover on the web, the first version of this website was created.

Luck and a Bureaucrat's List

In early 2011 a new source of information on Civil War soldiers compiled just after the end of the war, came online. This was the New York, Town Clerks' Registers of Men Who Served in the Civil War, ca 1861-1865. The New York Laws of 1865 required each town clerk, upon receiving "suitable blanks" from the chief of the State's Bureau of Military Record, "to make out a full and complete record of the names of all the soldiers and officers who composed his town's quotas of the troops furnished to the United States." 

Entry for William Graham in Chemung County - Click to enlarge

In a search for 'William Graham' I came upon an entry for Chemung County. Chemung County is adjacent and southeast of Schuyler. The entry was for the only William Graham who served with Company B of the 107th NY Regiment. William was then a farmer resident of Horseheads, with a postal address in Weston, Schuyler County. Other than confirming that his father's name was James, no other information regarding his heritage was provided. Although the form asked for his time and place of birth, only 'Ireland' had been entered. The place for his mother's name was blank. It was another frustration in my search for information on my great grandfather's origins.

Steuben County farm scene

In November of 2011 (and late at night) I was searching again, as I had periodically, for information on William Graham. This time the Town Clerk's Register showed another entry that looked promising. The residence here was in Wayne, Steuben County, adjacent on the west to both Chemung and Schuyler Counties. A quick check confirmed that this entry also was for the correct William Graham.

It appeared he had worked on two farms in two adjacent counties during the period when the register was compiled. He thus turned up in two places. My luck was that the compiler in Steuben County was more thorough than the one from Chemung.

Entry for William Graham in Steuben County - Click to enlarge

The entry for Steuben County indicated William was born in County Down, Ireland, thus narrowing it down a bit. A birth date was given - August 18, 1836. It shaved off a few years of age as was William's custom and as often happens even today. His mother's maiden name was not a blank, but entered as Jane Shaw. I was ecstatic, I finally had enough information to delve into William's Irish heritage. 

 

Searching the Irish Records

I had previously tried searching Irish records for information on William and his family. Birth records for various William Grahams around the right year were found, but not knowing the mother's maiden name nor the county of birth, a definite determination was impossible. As things turned out, none of the prior potential records were correct.

With the information from the New York State Civil War soldier register discussed above, I was able to identify the church in County Down where he was baptized. Thanks to a cooperative minister, the church records in Ireland indicated 1833 was his true year of birth.

The next post, Emerald Isle Roots, presents detailed findings regarding William's Irish origin and ship passage to America.

Seven New letters

Duke University's Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library

In November 2011, I searched another possible location for documents relating to William Graham in the Civil War. This was the World Catalog or Worldcat, the world's largest catalog. There I found this entry for Duke University - "Papers, 1862-1863. by Libbia Graham; William Graham".

I decided to contact Duke's Rubenstein Library on the chance that the name 'Libbia' was a typographic error, and that these were more of the letters from William Graham to his sister Libbie. My hunch was quickly confirmed.

The library possessed seven letters from my great grandfather written between November 20, 1862 and March 26, 1863. The letters were purchased in the 1960s from an antique shop in Charleston, South Carolina which no longer exists. Those letters (the digital images provided to me by Duke University) are now incorporated into this website.

Contact from Private Collectors

 

Late in 2017 and in the summer of 2018, two private letter collectors contacted me. They had come across the website I had created for William Graham.  In their individual collections they each possessed a letter written by my great grandfather. These letters were written at the time of two key events during the Civil War: the Battle of Antietam and the Siege of Atlanta. The first was written from Harper's Ferry on September 26, 1862, a week after that battle ended. The second was written during the siege (on July 29, 1864) from a camp behind the breastworks surrounding Atlanta. I am most grateful to both these men for sharing the letters they possess written by my great grandfather. The additional letters help me communicate a fuller and more accurate picture of William's life during the American Civil War.

William's Letter Correspondents

Four different people were addressed in the 26 surviving letters of William Graham. The great majority were sent to his sister Elizabeth (Libbie) Graham. One was addressed to John Boyes and one to Andrew Scobey. The rest were addressed to his cousin, Dr. Robert Bell. All the known correspondents were either relatives of William or, in the case of Andrew Scobey, living with a relative.

Elizabeth 'Libbie' Graham

Elizabeth 'Libbie' Graham, c1870

Elizabeth 'Libbie' Graham was born in 1838 in County Down, Ireland. She immigrated with the rest of the family from Ireland in 1850 at the age of 12. In one of his letters, William states that Libbie is his only sister. 

By 1855, Elizabeth Graham was age 17 and living in the Town of Dix, Schuyler County, New York with Andrew and Harriet Scobey (both age 28). She had also been adopted by them. She is living not far from the Brewster Platt’s, whose daughter Mary would eventually marry Elizabeth's brother William after the Civil War.

In 1860, Elizabeth Graham is a domestic servant still living with the farmer couple, Andrew and Harriet Scobey. Brother William Graham sends his respects to the Scobey’s in a number of his letters sent to Libbie (Elizabeth) during the Civil War.

In 1870 and 1880, Elizabeth is a housekeeper still living with the Scobey’s and just down the road from the Platt/Graham household. In 1884, Elizabeth Graham married the widower, Eugene Pangborn of the Village of Townsend in Schuyler County. Eugene had five children by his previous wife, Jane Huey. Elizabeth helped raise the 3 youngest children. 

Affidavet by Elizabeth regarding Mary Platt Graham's
Pension Application

She probably had the greatest influence on the youngest child Ruth, who was age five when Elizabeth married Eugene. Ruth eventually married Edwin Van Deventer in October 1900 in Monterey, New York. Ruth survived to the age of 102, dying in 1982.

The 1900 Census for the Town of Dix shows a farmer Eugene Pangborn and wife Elizabeth born in May 1843 (she probably lied about her age so as to appear no older than husband). Elizabeth died on February 1, 1910 at age 71. Her husband Eugene, who survived her, married a third time to Iva Warden. He died on January 12, 1929 at age 84.

Documentary evidence (other than the letters) of Elizabeth's relationship with William Graham comes from an affidavit. She signed this in 1900 in support of Mary Platt Graham's application for a pension as a widow of a Civil War veteran, William Graham. This affidavit on the left (with emphasis added), attests to her lifetime acquaintance with William Graham (which would reach back to life in Ireland) and her presence at the marriage between William Graham and Mary Platt. Strangely, she never states that she is William's sister.

John Boyes

John Boyes was likely the nephew of the family William lived with in 1860. William was then living with farmer Thomas Boyes, his wife Mary and seven children in the Town of Orange, Schuyler Co., NY. Mary and her sister Eliza were William's cousins, daughters of William Bell and Elizabeth Graham (sister of William's father James). They were also sisters of Dr. Robert Bell, another of William's correspondents

Eliza Boyes' farm was in the same neighborhood as her sister's in the Town of Orange. Eliza had married James Boyes who died in 1846. She remarried a James Criddle. One of Eliza's sons was named John Boyes and would have been age 22 in 1862. In 1860, 20 year old John Boyes was working as a farm laborer in nearby Seneca, Ontario County, NY. By 1870, John Boyes, age 30 and employed as a physician, is living in Tyrone, Schuyler County with his wife Cynthia, age 26. John lived until age 90, dying in 1930. He and his wife had two daughters.

Dr. Robert Bell

Dr. Robert Bell

Robert Bell was William Graham's cousin. According to a A biographical record of Schuyler County, New York, Robert was born August 24, 1815, in County Down, Ireland (now Northern Ireland, or Ulster), about 12 miles from the City of Belfast. He was the son of William Bell and Elizabeth Graham (aunt of both William Graham and his sister 'Libbie'). He was 12 years old when his family left Ireland and landed in St. Johns, New Brunswick, Canada in 1827.  They then made their way to Boston, Mass., and resided in Bridgeport, Connecticut.

Later Robert Bell was a student in Newburg, NY where he contracted and survived typhoid fever.  The family then moved to Fishkill Landing where his brother and sister died.  Subsequently, they moved to Newtown, NY (now Elmira, NY). By 1840 they moved about 3 miles south of Monterey Village in the Town of Orange, Schuyler Co., NY.

Harriet Haring Bell

In 1839 & 1840 Robert was a student in a select school in Montour Falls, taught by Artemus Fay and later by Mr. Gillett.  Then Robert became ill again, and Dr. Nelson Winton attended him, and offered him a course of medical study for three years in return for one year of service to Dr. Winton.  Eventually the now Dr. Bell was persuaded by the people of Monterey to set up a permanent office there.

In 1846 his mother Elizabeth Graham died and is buried in the Monterey Cemetery. Robert Bell's father William continued living on the family farm outside Monterey, New York with his unmarried son James. In 1864 William remarried a woman named Margaret, whose surname is unknown.

In 1849 Dr. Bell married Harriet M. Haring.  Mrs. Bell was an active and influential member of the Presbyterian Church, being especially active in its missionary organizations. In the spring of 1878 they went on an extensive trip through the west and south, with the hope of benefiting Mrs. Bell's health. She died on September 3, 1902 and is buried in Glenwood Cemetery in Watkins, with a large monument in the center of the cemetery. 

Dr. Bell was important in the building and development of Monterey village  He built a large block in Monterey for the post office and 3 stores, and a community hall upstairs. Dr. and Mrs. Bell were said to live in the most beautiful residence in Monterey.

Former Dr. & Mrs. Bell Residence in Monterey
'Still the most beautiful'

Dr. Bell had no children, but was much attached to his wife, and took much interest in all his relatives. As a preceptor (teacher) he gave many young men a good start in the medical profession. He was known for his kindness of heart and charitable deeds, and ever contributed liberally to any worthy cause. Dr. Bell died in 1907 and is buried next to his wife.

Andrew Scobey

Andrew Scobey and his wife Harriet were childless. According to the 1855 New York State Census, the Scobey's adopted Elizabeth 'Libbie' Graham (although only 11 years younger than them) sometime after her 1850 arrival in America at the age of 12. Libbie lived as a servant on their farm during the Civil War.

Andrew was active in his community. Appointed postmaster in the town of Townsend in 1854. Still listed as postmaster in the 1860s. Listed as the Townsend justice of peace and a farmer in the 1868 city directory.

The 1875 NY Census illustrates the Scobey interest in adoption. An Archey* C. Scobey age 16 is listed as an adopted son along with adopted daughter Elizabeth Graham. According to the 1880 Census, Elizabeth 'Libbie' Graham was still living as a domestic with the Scobeys. Also living next door were Andrew Scobey's 'nephew' and 'niece', Archule* 21 and Mary Scobey 22.

In 1880 the Scobeys lived just down the road from the Platt’s where Libbie's sister-in-law, the widow Mary Platt Graham was living in her parent's home with her two children. This was four years before Libbie's marriage to widower, Eugene Pangborn in 1884. 

In the early 1890s Andrew was  listed as a retired merchant farmer living in the Village of Watkins. Libbie's then husband, Eugene Pangborn, was working 'on shares' on 100 acres owned by Andrew Scobey. Scobey was providing the land and Pangborn the labor, in return for which Pangborn would receive a share of the crop. Wonder if this was some of the land that Scobey bought while William was fighting in the war.

According to the 1900 Census, the Scobeys finally produced a daughter. A Mary Scobey age 22 is listed in the household as such. Curiously, no such Mary is listed as a two year old living with them in 1880. Probably they adopted her as was their wont. Very strange!

Andrew died in 1902 at the age of 76. Interestingly, adopted son Archey together with wife Harriet are listed as executors for Andrew's 1902 estate. Andrew's wife outlasted him by more than a decade, dying in 1911 at age 86.

*Archule age 21 and nephew in 1880 must be the same person as Archey age 16 and adopted son listed in 1875. Sounds like adoption by the Scobeys was a little bit loosey goosey.

 

William's Civil War Letters

Union Army mail wagon

When I began the exploration into my family history in 2003, to my knowledge no one then alive in the family was aware of William Graham's letters. In fact few knew anything about him.

Therefore it was quite a surprise in 2008 when sixteen letters written by William Graham during the American Civil War were discovered by a cousin in the possession of the Notre Dame University libraries. Three years later in 2011, seven letters were found by me in the library at Duke University. An additional letter (dated October 12, 1862) was discovered at the Schuyler County Historical Society. In 2017 and 2018 two private collectors contacted me upon learning of my effort through the William Graham website which will be replaced by this blog. They each possessed and shared with me a William Graham letter.

Newly arrived mail for Union soldiers

By the end of 2018, I had discovered and had in my possession 26 letters, all scanned or photographed copies of originals located elsewhere in the country. Each has been deciphered and edited by me for clarity, given the difficulty in reading and understanding the originals usually written by William at night under campfire or lantern light.

Most of the letters were addressed to William's sister Libbie, employed as a domestic (servant) in Schuyler County, New York. 

Letter Organization

The letters are divided into a total of 10 groups. This grouping is guided by the two Union armies in which William and his regiment served: the Army of the Potomac and the Army of the Cumberland. 

The period with the Army of the Potomac is split into 6 groups. The first 4 cover the time when he was healthy and in active service. The other 2 groups titled Struck Down by Fever and Fort Schuyler include letters written during William's nine month convalescence from illness, probably typhoid fever.

The period served with the Army of the Cumberland is split into 4 letter groups, based on very different service assignments. The first are written about the travel to the new regimental assignment and the various marches and maneuvers involved. The second covers the period when his regiment was guarding the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad in Tennessee. The third and fourth letter groups were written during his participation in the Atlanta Campaign and Siege of Atlanta under the command of General William Tecumseh Sherman.

Editing of Letters

Letter text on this website is not necessarily verbatim. Letter contents (a) describing William's Civil War experience, (b) giving his impressions of the War and the times and (c) illustrating the society and culture of those days are always included. Discussion of strictly personal or family matters, not involving the foregoing, especially where repetitive, may not always be included. 

The website is not inclusive of all of William's letters. Letters missing are either short personal notes or repetitive. He sometimes repeated himself, fearing that all his mail was not getting through to the addressee. To be specific, this blog/website discusses 22 out of the 26 letters of which I am currently aware.

William tended to run his sentences together. He also used paragraphs sparingly. His spelling was often unusual and he frequently would drop key words. The letters have therefore been edited for readability. No changes have been consciously made that would alter the content's meaning. Where words were indecipherable, either a '?' was placed in parenthesis or a word that seemed to make the most sense in the context is placed in brackets.

With those caveats, the transcribed letter text is an accurate rendition of William's words.

For those interested in viewing the original letters, a link from the letter transcript heading is provided to a scan of some of the original letters written in 1862.

Accompanying Commentary, Graphics and Links

 

In viewing other Civil War websites, I have concluded that a mere regurgitating of old letters can become monotonous and confusing without context. Each letter is thus accompanied by commentary to help understand its contents and any events discussed within. I have also included photos and illustrations to add knowledge and interest. To the best of my knowledge, all photos are either from the public domain, are in family ownership or were taken with my camera. Please contact me if in a particular case the foregoing is not true. Links to other websites provide background on terms or words mentioned by William. Links are also given to sites that best describe battles he participated in as a member of the 107th New York Regiment.

Discovering William Graham

William Graham at the time of his marriage to Mary Platt

For most of my life, William Graham, my great grandfather, was a hazy image from the past. I did know he was of Scots-Irish ancestry and came to this country from Ireland during the middle of the potato famine.  His at times eventful life was short, leaving this world in 1877 at age 44. When he died, his son Hiram was a few days short of his seventh birthday. Today, of one thing I am certain, this poor Irish farmer gave his proverbial heart and soul to his adopted country.

As a youngster, I occasionally heard stories of the man. These stories usually related to his service with the Union forces in the American Civil War. Other than my grandfather Hiram Graham, no one alive in the 1950s had known William, and Hiram's memory was that of a child. 

In 2003 I retired from my career as an urban planner in California. I then began one of the many projects I had set forth for myself in retirement. This particular project was the tracing of my ancestral family tree as far back and as comprehensively as I could with the new internet. 

The way had been smoothed by others. An aunt (my dad's oldest sister) and a third cousin had begun researching the family tree in the 1950s. The family tree they created consisted mainly of the New Englander ancestors of Mary Platt Graham, wife of William and mother of Hiram. Persons from that branch of the family tree rode west from New England to New York State toward the end of the 18th century. (settling in Unadilla, Niagara and the Finger Lakes Region) My hope was to expand on their research with the new capabilities provided by the internet. I also desired, but not with a lot of confidence, that new information regarding my Irish heritage would be brought to light.

Learning the Truth

In 2003, when I began this genealogy adventure, I knew the following stories related to my great grandfather, William Graham: 1. Born in 1837 in County Tyrone, Ireland, 2. Fought at the Battle of Gettysburg, 3. Captured by Confederate forces, 4. Imprisoned at Libby prison in Virginia, 5. Died from the after effects of the poor treatment he received at that prison. None of these stories were true.

Confirming or putting the story right required access to new sources of knowledge. Luckily for me, the evolving internet made finding and accessing such sources in the 21st century much easier than during the 1950s. One obvious source was William Graham's official Civil War military records. These quickly disabused me of the fake news in the remembered family history related to Gettysburg and William's supposed experience as a prisoner of war. During family story telling over time, a confusion probably arose between the names 'Libbie' (William's sister) and 'Libby' (the prison) and William's hospitalization for a period during the war.

Envelope of letter William mailed to his sister Libbie

The year 2008 seemed magical for me. That summer I became aware of letters written during William's service in the American Civil War. A web page of the Department of Special Collections, University Libraries of Notre Dame described 16 letters in its collection written by William Graham, primarily to his sister 'Libbie'.

 

The sixteen were not the last. A decade later new letters were still turning up thanks to Duke University and private collectors who had seen my William Graham website. The next post focuses on the letters and their use in this blog. 

In 2011 a new record came online which clarified William's actual origin in Ireland. This was the New York, Town Clerks' Registers of Men Who Served in the Civil War, ca 1861-1865. From this source I learned the maiden name of his mother and the county in which he was born and raised in Ireland. It was County Down, not County Tyrone.

My Hope

Climbed to the top of Maryland Heights in 2010. It was a very hot day.
This overlook is one place where I was pretty certain
that William had stood in 1862. Harper's Ferry is below.

I have grown quite attached to William Graham during the years spent researching his life.  I even see some resemblance in our physical appearance. Unlike my dad, grandfather and siblings, I do appear to have inherited his nose. Plus, we both grew a mustache.

If another life exists after this one, I hope William Graham appreciates my endeavors in telling his story. For myself, I would very much like to share time with him. Based on the words expressed in his letters, I think we would find much in common. 

Lastly, I would like to thank unknown family members: (1) who collected and saved the letters written to different persons and (2) who sold the letters. 

The second thank-you may surprise people. Most of the letters sold will probably never come to light. Nevertheless, I think purchased letters are more likely to be preserved for posterity. Given the family record, - my dad never retrieved the Hiram Platt Civil War diary he 'loaned' to one of his Syracuse University professors - if the letters had remained in the family's possession, they may not have survived into the 21st Century.

Reasons for Blog

The William Graham and the War Between the States website is being recreated as a blog for the following reasons: 

1. Whatever happens to me, my descendants will not need to remember to pay an annual website hosting fee in order to continue finding this blog on the worldwide web. 
2. The information contained in this blog will continue to be available to future generations - unless Google changes its policy on hosting of blogs at no cost to their creators. 
3. No one will have to (a) pay an ongoing web design software subscription fee or (b) learn web design in order to incorporate future discoveries and Civil War letters in an updated website.