James Duncan Graham

James Duncan Graham
Born (1799-04-01)April 1, 1799
Prince William County, Virginia
Died December 28, 1865(1865-12-28) (aged 66)
Boston, Massachusetts
Nationality American
Occupation Topographic engineer
Spouse(s)
  • Charlotte Meade
    (m. 1828; d. 1843)
  • Frances Wickham
    (m. 1857)

James Duncan Graham (April 1, 1799 – December 28, 1865) was a member of the Corps of Topographical Engineers, who engaged in many topographical exercises. He served in the United States Army as a topographical engineer. He directed the re-survey of the Mason-Dixon line and served on the boundary commission for the United States and Canada and the United States and Mexico. He supervised harbor improvements on the Great Lakes, discovering the lunar tide there. He married twice, to Charlotte Meade and after her death, to Frances Wickham. He died December 28, 1865 in Boston, Massachusetts.[1][2][3] He was one of the founders of the Army's Topographical Corps.[4]

Early life

James Duncan Graham was born on April 1, 1799 in Prince William County, Virginia,[1] to parents William and Mary Campbell Graham.[5] He attended the United States Military Academy from June 19, 1813, to July 17, 1817, when he graduated, and was promoted to third lieutenant in the artillery corps. He worked as an adjunct at the academy from October 12, 1817, to February 10, 1819, during which he was promoted to second lieutenant.[6] In 1828, he married Charlotte Meade, the sister of George Meade.[5]

Early career (1819 –1850)

Graham was on Stephen Harriman Long's Western Exploration, from 1819–21. He was on topographical duty, from January 14, 1822, to January 15, 1829; and then on Surveys in Vermont during 1829. Graham then worked on railroad surveys in Virginia (the Winchester and Potomac Railroad), and then Alabama, Florida, and Georgia from 1831–32 and 1836–37 respectively. During the Second Seminole War, Graham served under Thomas Jesup.[5][7]

He then was involved in reconnoissance and surveys for military defenses in Missouri during 1838. Graham served on Court of Inquiry at St. Louis, from 1838–39. He was on tour of inspection of harbor improvements on Lakes Ontario and Champlain, 1839. Graham was astronomer for the United States, working for the joint demarcation of the boundary between the United States and the Republic of Texas, from 1839–40. He served as Commissioner for the Survey and Exploration of the Northeast Boundary of the United States, from 1840 to 1843. Graham next was "Head of the Scientific Corps and Principal Astronomer," on the part of the United States, for the joint demarcation of the boundary between the United States and the Canada, under the Treaty of Washington, from 1843–47. That year, he was made a brevet Lieutenant-Colonel, for "for Valuable and Highly Distinguished Services, particularly on the Boundary Line between the United States and the Provinces of Canada and New Brunswick" He was involved in renewing maps of the Boundary Survey, destroyed by fire, from 1848 to 1850, and 1852 to 1853.[7]

Later career (1850–1865)

Graham was on the Survey of Boundary between Pennsylvania and Maryland ("Mason–Dixon Line"), from 1849 to 1850. During 1850 and 1851, he was the Principal Astronomer and "Head of the Scientific Corps," on the part of the United States, for the joint demarcation of the boundary between the United States and Mexico, under the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, 1850–51. He was in general supervision of the Harbor Improvements on Lake Michigan, April 20, 1854, to December 11, 1856, and of the Channel Improvement over St. Clair Flats, April 25, 1854 to September 1856. Graham was next Superintending Engineer of the Harbor Improvements on the North and Northwestern Lakes, December 11, 1856, to April 20, 1864, in which he discovered the existence of a lunar tide in about 1859.[7]

Graham served during the American Civil War, as Superintendent of the United States Lake Survey, from August 30, 1861, to April 20, 1864; then as Lighthouse Engineer of the 10th and 11th Districts (comprising the Northern Lakes, except Champlain), from August 30, 1861, to April 20, 1864. He was also Lighthouse Engineer and Inspector of 11th Lighthouse District, August 30, 1861, to March 1863.[7] His loyalty to the Union was questioned in 1864, and Graham was briefly under investigation.[5] Graham served as Superintending Engineer of Sea-walls in Boston harbor, and in charge of the Preservation and Repairs of Harbor Works on the Atlantic Coast, from Maine to the Chesapeake from August 1, 1864, to December 28, 1865. He died on December 28, 1865, and is buried in Congressional Cemetery.[7]

Legacy

James Duncan Graham is commemorated in the scientific names of three species of reptiles: Anolis grahami, Regina grahamii, and Salvadora grahamiae.[8] He is the namesake of Mount Graham, and Graham County, Arizona is named after the mountain.[9]

Dates of Rank

Insignia Rank Component Date Ref(s)
No Insignia in 1817 Third Lieutenant Corps of Artillery July 17, 1817 [6]
Second Lieutenant Corps of Artillery October 14, 1817 [6]
First Lieutenant Corps of Artillery September 8, 1819 [7]
First Lieutenant 4th Artillery June 1, 1821 [7]
Brevet Captain Staff — Assistant Topographical Engineer January 15, 1829 [7]
Brevet Major Staff — Topographical Engineer September 14, 1834 [7]
Major Corps of Topographical Engineers July 7, 1838 [7]
Brevet Lieutenant‑Colonel Corps of Topographical Engineers January 1, 1847 [7]
Lieutenant-Colonel Corps of Topographical Engineers August 6, 1861 [7]
Lieutenant-Colonel Corps of Engineers March 3, 1863 [7]
Colonel Corps of Engineers June 1, 1863 [7]

References

  1. 1 2 "Graham, James Duncan (1799-1865)". scdb.swem.wm.edu. Archived from the original on April 9, 2018. Retrieved 2018-04-08.
  2. ↑ Missouri Historical Society (1900). Missouri Historical Society collections. Harold B. Lee Library. St. Louis, Mo. : [The Society].
  3. ↑ Society, New England Historic Genealogical (1905). Memorial Biographies of the New England Historic Genealogical Society. The Society.
  4. ↑ "James Duncan Graham". Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved 2018-04-08.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Bock, Susie R. (1992). "Guide to the J.D. Graham Papers". Yale Finding Aids. Retrieved 2018-08-13.
  6. 1 2 3 Cullum 1891, p. 157.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Cullum 1891, p. 158.
  8. ↑ Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. ("Graham, J.D.", p. 105).
  9. ↑ "History of Mount Graham | Mount Graham International Observatory". mgio.arizona.edu. Retrieved 2018-08-13.

Sources

  • Cullum, George (1891). Biographical Register of the Officers and Graduates of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y. From Its Establishment In 1802 to 1890 with the Early History of the United States Military Academy. New York: Houghton, Mifflin and Company.

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