Corp. George King Graham
6th PA Heavy Artillery, Co. B

Born: September 9, 1841 in Butler County, Pa
Died: December 23, 1926 in Penn Township, Pa

George King Graham was a son of Joseph Graham and Margaret Balph Graham, the eighth child of the family and the fourth child of his mother. He was born September 9, 1841, at the Joseph Graham homestead in Jefferson Township, Butler County, Pennsylvania, which farm adjoined the original Patrick Graham homestead.

George King Graham first attended school at a schoolhouse located on the eastern edge of their farm. Later when townships were changed he attended the Crawford School, which was a considerable distance from his home, for a term of six months. After this he went to the Jefferson School that was about three miles from his home.

In August of 1862, at the age of 21 years, George enlisted in the 137th Pennsylvania Infantry Volunteers, a group recruited from the counties of Blair, Clinton, Schuylkill, Butler, Crawford, and Wayne. The group was inducted into the service at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. George's papers give his group as the Allen Wilson Company G, with first Lt. Judge of Butler as their commanding officer. He mentions Henry B. Bassert as Colonel, J. B. Kidder as Lt. Colonel and Charles W. Wingard as Major of the regiment. George lists the following engagements in which his regiment had a part in during the nine-month period:

Maryland Campaign lasting from September 6 to September 20, 1862
Battle of Crampton Gap, South Mountain, September 11, 1862
Battle of Antietam, September 17, 1862
Pursuit of Stewart's Cavalry during their raid in Pennsylvania and Maryland, October 9-12, 1862
Mud March, January 20 to 23, 1863
Duty at Belie Plain Landing until April 28, 1863
Chancellorsville Campaign, April 28 to May 6, 1863
Under heavy fire from the Confederate Batteries, May 1 and 2, 1863
Marched to the U. S. Ford and crossed the Rappahannock,at 3 A.M. May 3, 1863
Mustered out of service June 1, 1863.

From George's papers
"At the age of 21 years I enlisted in the 137th Pennsylvania infantry, a large fine regiment, organized in Harrisburg on August 25, 1862. The regiment served during the Maryland Campaign. The regiment was reviewed by President Lincoln and as they were strong, able-bodied men coming mostly from farms and lumber camps they were sent to fall the forests near Arlington for the protection of the Capital. My regiment served and participated in the encounters of South Mountain, Crampton's Pass, Fitzhugh's Crossing, Virginia and Chancellorsville, Virginia, during the fall of 1862. During the winter of 1862-1863 General Reynolds marched from near Hagerstown, Maryland, to Frederick City and then to Washington and to Arlington Heights. On the second day he marched back through the city to a place three miles east to build a fort. Here I was placed on camp guard duty and this was my last duty for almost four months. I took sick while on guard duty and was placed in the hospital tent for a few days and was then taken by ambulance to St. Elizabeth hospital. Two comrades held me in the ambulance during the trip. Here I was kept in bed for several weeks with what the doctor said was typhoid fever.

"The hospital was three wards in the Government Insane Asylum where there were over 1,000 insane patients. The Marine Hospital and Sailor's home was near by. My father was with me for several weeks and helped to nurse me. While there he saw William Freeman from Company D. During the battle of Fredericksburg many wounded were brought to the hospital by boat.

"On the last of February I was sent to a distribution camp and arrived there in the evening. I was given a tent and after setting it up went to the woods to gather some leaves for a bed and to thicken the mud. I had three old blankets but no fire. I got the night put in and in a few days there was a fall of about 13 inches of snow. Still no fire. One morning I reported to the doctor and got a dose of medicine. Two other fellows were with me and the three of us would lie on the leaves under the old blankets with an old rubber army blanket on top and try to keep warm.

"After the snow left we got orders to leave for the regiment in winter quarters. We went down the Potomac River where we found our regiment in their winter quarters.

"In the spring we had Brigade, Division and Corps drills and the regiment was placed under General Reynolds in the First Army Corps. As soon as the weather permitted, the army moved out of camp using pack mules to carry ammunition and supplies. The roads were too bad to use wagons. I was detailed as clerk at Brigade Headquarters and remained here until the end of my service. Here I made out ordinance reports, tri-monthly morning reports, recorded many general and special orders and issued passes for every day; also received countersigns and sent out same to forts and picket lines by mounted orderlies. I was mustered out of the service on June 1-2, 1863, at Fort Ethan Allen."

The Butler County History of 1883 gives a full account of the activities of the 137th Regiment. George's second enlistment was in the 212th Pennsylvania Volunteers, 6th Pennsylvania Heavy Artillery, on September 5, 1864. He was in Captain Gust L. Braun's Company B. This company was recruited from the counties of Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Fayette, Indiana, Lawrence, Westmoreland, Mercer and Washington. The company was assembled at Camp Reynolds, a camp located somewhere along the Allegheny River between Tarentum and Pittsburgh.

The Regiment went to Washington and was assigned to the 22nd Army Corps, 2nd Brigade, Derussy's Division, under General Auguse. In late September the regiment was ordered to duty on the Orange and Alexander Railroad to guard the trains and the tracks through the enemy's country so that supplies could be carried to General Sherman's Army, in the Shenandoah Valley at Manassas Junction.

After General Sherman had cleared the valley, the regiment was ordered back to Washington, D.C., for guard duty at Forts Ethan Allen, Marcy, Craig, Ward, Reno, Albany, Lyons, Long Bridge and Chain Bridge. During this time George served as clerk at the Brigade Headquarters at Fort Ethan Allen. His work consisted in copying all kinds of reports and orders, making out payrolls, muster out rolls, discharges, etc. He was mustered out at Camp Reynolds on June 17, 1865.

After returning from his second enlistment in the summer of 1865, George K. Graham took up work on the farm. On October 25, 1865, he married Julia Rebecca Welsh, a daughter of Alexander and Catherine Campbell Welsh. He had evidently been courting Julia for several years as she is mentioned in his diary a number of times. Julia's father, Alexander Welsh, owned a tract of land covering about 500 acres on the other side of Thorn Creek from the Graham homestead. The young couple went to housekeeping in a little log house located on a part of the Welsh tract (150 acres). The couple lived on and farmed the land for over forty years, Julia dying in the same place.

George K. Graham never aspired to political greatness, but was always willing to take his share of the responsibilities for the affairs of his community. His education was perhaps a little above the average for his day and he loved to write in his plain clear hand. He served a number of terms as school director and also as road supervisor, two very important offices in that day when these two boards had practically full responsibility for the schools and the roads. He also served a number of terms as justice of the peace and often joked that he had made one young couple happy by marrying them.

Julia Graham died January 15, 1909, rather suddenly from a kidney infection and, after a very happy life of forty-four years together, left George Graham very lonely indeed. A few years previously the farm house had been enlarged and a son Clifford moved into half of the home and took over the responsibility of the farm. George continued to make this his home until 1918 when he moved to Butler and lived with his son Charley and his family. He finally spent the last few years of his life with his daughter, Zella Dodds, on their farm in Penn Township. He was quite deaf and totally blind for the last few years of his life but otherwise enjoyed excellent health. He wrote in one of his last papers: "And now in my old age I am blessed with good health. I never miss a meal, or feel a pain, or spend any of my days in bed. I must say with the Psalmist, My cup runneth over with blessings."

In 1918 grandfather attended the G.A.R. Encampment at Portland, Oregon. He visited nephews and nieces in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Salt Lake City, Denver, and Topeka, Kansas. In 1922 he again attended the Encampment at Des Moines, Iowa, at which time he was 81 years old.

George King Graham died on December 23, 1926, at the home of his daughter, Zella Graham Dodds. He was happy to die because for several years he had felt that he was a great burden to those who were caring for him.

Information for this profile was provided from www.helicon.net/dgraham/geokhist.htm with the permission of David P. Graham.