J. M. GRAHAM.
J. M. Graham, a well-known attorney of Audubon, Iowa, a member of the firm of Graham & Graham, has been a resident of this county since 1871, having come here with his parents at the age of three years, when they removed from Washington, Iowa, to this county. Few attorneys in this part of the state received a more thorough and extensive training for the law than J. M. Graham, whose ability and talents were quickly recognized by the people of this county, and who, during a practice here of twenty years, has built up a large and lucrative law business. Like so many lawyers of the present generation, Mr. Graham came from the school room into the court room, having, after being graduated from one of the leading institutions of learning in this state, served two years as the principal of the Bayard high school.
J. M. Graham was born in Monroe county, Ohio, on October 25, 1868, the son of Samuel A. and Ellen (Hunter) Graham, both natives of that county, who, in 1870, removed to Washington county, Iowa, and one year later came to Audubon county. Samuel A. Graham was a well-known farmer in Ohio, and enjoyed a remarkable success in farming after coming to this state. He taught several terms of school in his native state, and at one time was school commissioner in Monroe county, Ohio. He also was a member of the board of supervisors of Audubon county for six years after removing to this state. In 1871 he and his wife and family located in the southwest quarter of section 16, Melville township, and there he engaged in general farming until 1899, when he retired and moved to Audubon. He owned at one time three hundred and twenty acres of land. To Samuel A. and Ellen (Hunter) Graham were born two sons, J. M. and John, who are now in partnership in the practice of law in Audubon.
J. M. Graham received his preliminary education in the common schools of Melville township, and in the high school at Audubon, having been a member of the first class that was graduated from the Audubon high school, in 1887. After finishing high school he attended Ames College and in 1890 was graduated from that institution, taking the degree of Bachelor of Science. Upon leaving Ames College, Mr. Graham taught school for two years, serving as principal of the high school at Bayard. In 1893 he entered the law school of Drake University at Des Moines, from which institution he received the degree of Bachelor of Law in 1894. Upon leaving Drake University, Mr. Graham returned to Audubon and began the practice of law. He formed a partnership with his brother, John, in 1910, since which time the brothers have been practicing under the firm name of Graham & Graham and have been very successful.
On July 19, 1894, J. M. Graham was married to Catherine Brown, daughter of Leonard and Nancy Brown, to which union six children have been born, Lorrain, Ellen, Margaret, Maxine, Catherine and Mabel, all of whom are living save the latter.
A Democrat in politics, Mr. Graham served two terms as county attorney of Audubon county, which is the legal limit for such service in this state. He has been a member of the school board for eleven years. Mrs. Graham is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. Mr. Graham is a Mason and a Knight Templar, a member of the commandery at Audubon and of the Shrine at Des Moines. He also is a member of the Knights of Pythias, the Modern Woodmen of America and the Maccabees at Audubon.
An earnest and sincere counselor in the law, a learned and capable practitioner in court, Mr. Graham is a well-known citizen of Audubon county and popular with all classes. His pleasing and agreeable personality has been no small factor in the building up of the extensive practice which he enjoys, and the firm with which he is connected has the full confidence of both bench and bar, as well as of the general public hereabout.
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Transcribed from History of Audubon County, Iowa Its People, Industries and Institutions With Biographical Sketches of Representative Citizens and Genealogical Records of Many of the Old Families, by H. F. Andrews, editor, Indianapolis: B. F. Bowen & Company, 1915, pp. 380-381.
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