John William Graham was the eldest child of Jesse Graham and Elizabeth Hunnicutt. He was apparently counted twice in the Thirteenth Census of the United States, conducted in the year 1910. The first time was on 18 April at the home of his son Reuben Graham in the town of Brooksville, Noxubee County, Mississippi. He was enumerated again eleven days later at the home of another son, James Graham, in the city of Meridian, Lauderdale County, Mississippi.

James Randolph Graham was the head of household. He was a white male, aged 36, born in Mississippi, and married for 16 years. He was employed as a conductor with the railroad. Meridian, the seat of Lauderdale County and then the largest city in Mississippi, was the hub of several railroads: Alabama & Vicksburg; New Orleans & Northeastern; Alabama Great Southern; Mobile & Ohio; and others. It’s not known at this time which railroad employed James.

James’ wife was the former Emma Lillian Puckett, here recorded by her middle name. She was a white female, aged 34, and born in Mississippi. She was the mother of seven children, with six then living.

Next was daughter Nina, white female, aged 14, born in Alabama.

Daughter Marguerite, white female, aged 13, born in Alabama.

Son Randolph, white male, aged 9, born in Mississippi.

Daughter Christine, white female, aged 6, born in Alabama.

Son Frederick, white male, aged 4, born in Mississippi.

Son Gideon, white male, aged 1, born in Mississippi.

The child that died prior to this census was daughter Irene Graham, who passed in June 1896 four months shy of her second birthday. Or did she? (Yes, this is a tease for a future article.)

Next was James’ father John William Graham, enumerated for the second time in this census. He was a white male, aged 69, married for 52 years, which matched what was recorded about him in Noxubee County. However, this entry incorrectly reported John was born in North Carolina, whereas Noxubee correctly reported Alabama. No indication was made here of John’s military service to the Confederacy.

Finally, John’s wife Rebecca was also recorded again: white female, aged 68, and married for 52 years. Her place of birth was reported here as North Carolina whereas the Noxubee census reported Alabama. No indication was made here of the number of her children.

When John died in 1913, his obituary stated that he’d moved to Meridian two years prior and died at the home of his son, James Randolph Graham. It could very well be that John’s dual entries in the 1910 census captured the before and after of his move.

Bibliography

Ancestry.com, 1910 United States Federal Census (Online publication – Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2006. For details on the contents of the film numbers, visit the following NARA web page: NARA.Original data – United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Thirteenth Census of the United), Ancestry.com, http://www.Ancestry.com, Year: 1910; Census Place: Meridian Ward 1, Lauderdale, Mississippi; Roll: T624_746; Page: 10B; Enumeration District: 0039; FHL microfilm: 1374759.

Howe, Tony. “Meridian, Mississippi.” Mississippi Rails, http://www.msrailroads.com/Towns/Meridian.htm.

Wikipedia contributors, ‘Meridian, Mississippi’, Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 20 January 2021, 19:25 UTC, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Meridian,_Mississippi&oldid=1001672490 [accessed 21 January 2021]

Ancestry.com, Newspapers.com Obituary Index, 1800s-current (Lehi, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2019), Ancestry.com, http://www.Ancestry.com, Macon Beacon; Publication Date: 28/ Nov/ 1913; Publication Place: Macon, Mississippi, United States of America; URL: https://www.newspapers.com/image/328833485/?article=d4b52515-dee8-4906-8c19-e2c72b8d4a4e&focus=0.52272505,0.73389274,0.6751262,0.85262054&xid=2378. Record for John W. Graham. https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=61843&h=562890322&indiv=try.

Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 20 January 2021), memorial page for Irene Graham (27 Sep 1894–13 Jun 1896), Find a Grave Memorial no. 68202437, citing Union United Methodist Church Cemetery, Oak Grove, Kemper County, Mississippi, USA ; Maintained by Ralph (contributor 47335878) .