GRAHAM, Henry S. (1836-1924)

GRAHAM

Posted By: Karon Velau (email)
Date: 10/23/2020 at 19:56:36

Henry S. Graham
(September 2, 1836 – November 12, 1924)

Death has claimed another of our oldest Warren County pioneers and a Civil War veteran, Henry S. Graham, who was born in Athens, Ohio, in 1836, and who lived to the ripe old age of 88 years, two months and ten days. Since Mr. Graham has been a resident of Indianola for nearly seventy years, having located here in 1856, his history is interwoven with that of the town and county.
Some of the pioneers of 1856 still living are E. W. Perry, Hi Metcalf, Mrs. Myers, Mrs. Whitney, Mrs. Enoch Graham and Mrs. Whitney, Mrs. Enoch Graham and Mrs. Ella Legg. In 1861 Mr. Graham joined the 10th Iowa Infantry, playing the alto horn in the band. After two years of service he had a severe attack of measles which, on account of exposure, left him so deaf that his whole life since has been saddened by this affliction. During Lincoln’s campaign Mr. Graham belonged to the famous Indianola glee club, and later he played in the band. In 1863 he was married to Miss Belvidere Ford. To this union five children were born, three of whom are still living – Mrs. Jennie A. Walker, of North Dakota, Mrs. Veda G. Davidson, of Denver, Colorado, and Edward M. Graham, of San Francisco, Calif. In his earlier years Henry Graham had the only blacksmith shop in town. It was located across from the Presbyterian Church. Later he built a residence on the same lot. This house is still in use located in the west part of town. Afterward the old Herald office was moved to where the laundry now stands, and there he manufactured the first steam peanut roaster, of which he was the inventor. He was of a mechanical turn of mind; constantly thinking of new inventions. Only a few years before his death he was working on an automobile of his own construction, but became too feeble to finish it. At one time he was engaged in the grocery business in the firm known as Moxley & Graham. The building stood where the cigar store now stands. Later on he indulged his love for farming by buying a small acreage of Mr. Bartholomew, where he established a little home, which was his greatest pride and joy and which he loved with a devotion that made him remain there even though his children urged him to live with them. Residents of East Second Avenue will miss the sturdy old figure who sat on the porch admiring nature and who was always eager to exchange a pleasant word with every passer-by. As Mr. Graham became more feeble he bore his trials uncomplainingly and was bright and jolly even the Sunday evening before the stroke of paralysis from which he never regained consciousness. He quietly stopped breathing Wednesday morning, November 12, 1924. The taps had sounded and the old veteran silently joined the ranks of his comrades gone before. Funeral services were conducted at his home by the Rev. Fred Harris last Saturday at 2:30 o’clock p.m., in the presence of a large company of his old friends and neighbors, after which he was buried in the Indianola Cemetery.
Card of Thanks – We wish to thank our kind neighbors and friends for their assistance and sympathy during our father’s illness and death, also for the many handsome floral offerings. Ved