Monday, March 24, 2014

William Graham's signatures



Cousin Dwight has been communicating with one of our McCarrell relatives who had a document with William Graham's signature as well as our ancestor James McCarrell (William's father-in-law).  "The document settles a lawsuit. On "our side" was James McCarrell, William Graham and B(arclay) McGee. On the other side was William McClellan. Our side won, and McClellan paid 250$ in settlement to end the dispute. If I remember correctly from Margaret McCarrell talking with me that this was a dispute over land.... Barclay McGee from what I had seen always signed his name B. McGee..."

Although it is very hard to read what this is about, it was Jan. 7, 1805 in Blount Co TN which pre-dates William Graham and Margaret McCarrell marriage but establishes a relationship of the Graham and McCarrell families. Those witnessing this document are James McCarrell, William Graham, B. McGhee and Enoch Parsons.

We know this is the same William Graham because we have his signature on a Jefferson County Missouri document (along with other relatives).  His is on the upper right side with Mothershead, Bakers and Browns.  Notice how similar the signature below is to the one above.  Samuel Graham (not sure how he is related) is shown as a comparison.


http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~mojchs/Courts/PetitionList_1826.htm

William McClellan also sold property in Pennsylvania to a John Graham (whom we believe to be a relative).  It is also possible that a McClellan in St. Charles Co. married a Graham.  Not sure if all of these are of the same McClellan family.

Another name was B. McGhee which we believe to be Barclay McGhee who was an Indian agent.  Which is interesting since we believe the John Graham family was associated with Ft. Bellefontaine near the confluence of Missouri and Mississippi Rivers
http://wardepartmentpapers.org/searchresults.php?searchClass=fulltextSearch&fulltextQuery=Barclay+McGhee

Finally Enoch Parsons was one of the first lawyers in Tennessee and ran for governor in 1819.  So, although I can't read all of the details of the document, there is a lot of history in just the names.

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