Mathew Joseph Graham (1937)

ANDERSON, CALL, BECKER, GRAHAM, PERCIVAL, POPHAM

Posted By: Treva Patterson
Date: 5/21/2007 at 19:49:14

The Winterset Madisonian
Winterset, Iowa
Tuesday, January 12, 1937

OLDEST RESIDENT OF COUNTY PASSES

Civil War Veteran Had Been Farmer and Merchant in Madison County

M. J. Graham, oldest surviving resident of Madison county and one of the two remaining Civil war veterans in the county died Sunday evening at the home of his daughter here, Mrs. Leo Percival. He had celebrated his ninety-eighth birthday on November 12.

Mr. Graham's death leaves but one Civil war veteran remaining in Madison county. He is A. E. Cleveland of Earlham.

Mr. Graham was born on November 12, 1838 in Henderson county, Illinois and there spent his early years. At the age of 19 he enlisted in the 10th Illinois Infantry and campaigned for three years in the Civil war. He participated in many of the western campaigns and was with General W. T. Sherman in the historic "march to the sea".

Returning from the war he was married to Mary Ellen Anderson in 1869. They moved to Madison county. Mr. Graham making the trip by wagon, taking household equipment with him. In Iowa he encountered such bad roads that he was forced to ship the goods most of the way by railroad. His wife joined him here in March.

They settled on the farm now known as the Ray farm eight and one-half miles northwest of Winterset. There they made their home until 1892 when they moved to Winterset. Mr. Graham purchased the stock of the Terrill and Jones general store, located where the Graham Department store now is and operated it for three years. After disposing of his interests there he retired from active business.

Mr. and Mrs. Graham maintained their home until August 10, 1931 when Mrs. Graham died. Since that time he had made his home with his daughter, Mrs. Leo Percival.

Since the death of his wife, Mr. Graham had been in delicate health and for several years had been confined to his home. His death came suddenly however, as he had been in bed only about one day.

Mr. and Mrs. Graham were the parents of four sons and two daughters, all of whom survive. They are George Graham of San Bernadino, California, Charles Graham of Glendale, California, Frank and Lee Graham of Winterset, Mrs. Mabel Percival of Winterset and Mrs. Myrtle Becker of Fresno, California.

Funeral services were to be conducted today, 10:30 a.m. from the Ramsey-Richards funeral home in charge of the Rev. M. R. Talley of the Methodist church. Burial was to be made in the Winterset cemetery.
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The Winterset News
Winterset, Iowa
Thursday, January 14, 1937
Page 1, Column 5

CIVIL WAR VETERAN DIES AT AGE OF 98

Services Are Held For M. J. Graham, One Of Two Veterans In County.

M. J. Graham, 98, one of the two Civil war veterans in Madison county, died Sunday night at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Leo C. Percival. His death leaves but one Civil war veteran in the county, A. E. Cleveland of Earlham.

Mr. Graham observed his 98th birthday November 12. He was born in 1838 in Henderson county, Illinois. When 19 he enlisted in the 10th Illinois Infantry and engaged in many important campaigns on the western front. He made the far famed “march to the sea” with General Sherman.

He was married in 1865 to Mary Ellen Anderson. In 1869 Mr. Graham came to Iowa, shipping his household goods to De Soto, then the nearest railway point to the new home. From De Soto the shipment was hauled by wagon to the farm.

Mrs. Graham, and her infant son George, came to Iowa when Mr. Graham had completed the one story, three room frame house that he had built on the farm eight and a half miles northwest of Winterset. Much of her journey to her new home was made by stage coach, entering the state at Dubuque.

Built on the prairie, where the tall grass grew luxuriantly, the little home soon became the mecca for many of the Indians who roamed the prairie country demanding food. Like other Iowa pioneers, Mr. and Mrs. Graham and the family endured the severe blizzards, the many privations and discomforts of those early days in this sparsely settled section of Iowa.

Slowly the farm was brought under cultivation, the two groves and the orchard and building improvements changing the place year by year. In 1883 Mr. Graham built a new home for his family. All of the children with the exception of Mrs. Becker and Mrs. Call, both of Fresno, California, were born in the little three room house. In 1892 the family moved to Winterset.

Mr. Graham bought a general merchandise stock on the west side of the square where the Graham stores are now located, and after three years retired from the business. Since the death of Mrs. Graham in 1931 he had lived at the Percival home.

He leaves his sons and daughters Frank and Lee Graham and Mrs. Percival of Winterset; George Graham of San Bernardino, California; Charles Graham of Glendale, California; Mrs. David Becker and Mrs. Lamone Call of Fresno, California; six grandsons and five great grandsons.

The Rev. M. R. Talley, pastor of the Methodist church conducted the services Tuesday morning at 10:30 at the Ramsey–Richards funeral home. Burial was in the Winterset cemetery.
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Coordinator's note: Full name taken from his Iowa Death Certificate.

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