Samuel C. Graham (1862-1938)

GRAHAM

Posted By: Karon Velau (email)
Date: 4/6/2022 at 15:25:16

Samuel C. Graham
(December 19, 1862 – September 7, 1938)

S. C. Graham is master mechanic for the Chicago & Northwestern Railway Company at Lake City. He has advanced steadily in railroad circles and his superior mechanical ability and knowledge of the great principles which underlie mechanical construction have won for him a creditable position in the service of the great corporation which he represents. He was born at Crestline, Ohio, December 19, 1862, and is a son of Samuel and Isabella (Morrison) Graham, the former a native of Scotland and the latter of Pennsylvania. Both parents are now deceased. The mother passed away when our subject was only seven weeks old, being burned to death, together with two of her children, by the explosion of a lamp. The husband and father survived until 1888, when he passed away at the age of sixty-seven. S. C. Graham is now the only living member of the family. He was reared and educated in Ohio, attending the schools of Crestline in which he was graduated on the completion of the regular course. For a time he was also a student in Allegheny City, Pennsylvania, and on putting aside his textbooks to take up the practical duties of business life, he learned the machinist's trade, securing a position in the Pennsylvania Railroad shops in Crestline under George W. Lowe. He spent three years there and then entered the employ of the Toledo & Ohio Central Railroad, at Bucyrus, Ohio. He was next connected with the Dayton & Michigan Railway at Lima, Ohio, and on the 6th of June, 1882, he entered the employ of the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad Company in their shops at Clinton, Iowa, in the capacity of a machinist and gang foreman. He was thus employed until 1887 when he was transferred to Eagle Grove as foreman of the night roundhouse. On the 10th of July, 1888, he was made general foreman of the shops at that place and on the 1st of May, 1898, he was promoted to the position of division foreman of the Western Iowa division at Lake City, thus serving until July 1, 1900, when promotion again came to him and he was made master mechanic at Mason City. Subsequently he was transferred to Lake City as master mechanic of the Sioux City division, and since November 15, 1901, has been stationed there. Thus it will be seen his advancement has been continuous, and it is a well known fact that large corporations like railroad companies do not bestow promotions except in recognition of ability, faithfulness and worth.
Mr. Graham has been twice married. In September, 1888, he wedded Helen Baldwin, of Clinton, Iowa, and to them were born four
children: Donald, born July 6, 1899; Helen, born October 26, 1891; Robert, born June 19, 1895; and Russell, born April 17, 1897, all being natives of Eagle Grove. The mother died at Chicago, March 6, 1898, and on the 28th of November, 1901, Mr. Graham was again married, the second union being with Lulu Godden, of Mason City. He is a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, at that place, and also of the Masonic fraternity. In his political sentiments he is a staunch Republican and for two terms he served as alderman of the fourth ward in Eagle Grove. He was also a member of the county central committee during his residence there, and has never faltered in his allegiance to the principles of the great political organization which has ever stood as the defender of American institutions. He enjoys in a high degree the confidence of those whom he represents in business and of those who serve under him, and in all life's relations, he has been true to every manly principle. [Source – Biographical Record of Calhoun County, Iowa, by S. J. Clarke, 1902, p.312]