Biographical Cyclopedia of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, Compiled and
Published by the John M. Gresham Company, Chicago--Philadelphia, 1896,
pp 8-10 [Henderson co]

CYRUS B. GRAHAM, M.D., an industrious and capable young physician of
Henderson, is a descendant of an old Scotch Covenanter family whose history
is traced back nearly two hundred years.
     In the early part of the Eighteenth Century, in what is now
Sterlingshire, Scotland, in Clan Grahame, 'neath the shadows of Ben Leith
and near the shores of beautiful Loch Katrine, was born Hugh Methven
Grahame.  He was closely related to the Grahames of Glasgow and was a man of
"plodding industry and sober worth."  He was one of the Scotch Covenanters,
with all of the sturdy independence of that class.  Regardless of the
persecution of the minions of Charles II, he would meet those of his
religious belief among the hills, "in some deep dell by rocks o'er
canopied," and worship God according to the dictates of their own
conscience, unawed by the fear of Church or State.  Hoping to enjoy greater
freedom of thought, Hugh Graham with his family emigrated to near Belfast,
Ireland, where his bones lie buried.  Here, in 1772, Richard Graham
(grandfather) was born.  The family then emigrated to America, settling in
South Carolina.  Richard Graham married Hannah Bishop of North Carolina, and
with several other families started on the long journey through the
wilderness to Kentucky.  Many interesting stories of that journey have been
told by an old slave woman, "Aunt Sylvia," who was a litle[sic] girl at that
time, and accompanied the party.  The men of the company walked along beside
their wagons, which were drawn by slow moving oxen, the wagons containing
women, children and household goods.  It was a land of sunshine and
shadow--the shadow of the many inroads of the savage tribes still hung over
it, while the sunshine of the future in the homes to be built was with them.
Richard Graham was in that day considered a man of some means, and old Aunt
Sylvia often recounted with pride the fact that "Marse Dick had three
slaves, his wagon and oxen, one cow and a fine mare."
     Richard Graham located in what is now Hopkins County, and acquired a
large body of land, and was principally engaged in agricultural pursuits and
also operated a tannery, the only one in that section.  He had a brother who
was a soldier in the war of 1812, and who was wounded in the battle of New
Orleans.
     Richard Graham had three sons and six daughters; his eldest son,
Harvey, served in the Mexican war and also in the Union army in the war of
the rebellion.  The other sons, LeRoy and Cyrus (twins), were born in 1814
on the Graham plantation in Hopkins County.  LeRoy was tall and straight as
an arrow, with deep blue eyes and black curly hair; quick to take offense,
yet ever ready to forgive; fond of his dog and gun, and more devoted still
to the deep, majestic forest, where he would spend days and nights with no
companion save his faithful dog and trusty weapon.  He was known as a dead
shot with the rifle and kept that community supplied with game.
Passionately fond of music, on returning from his hunting expeditions, it
would not be long until he would have his violin, fife or clarionet[sic] in
his hand and repair to the "quarters," where he would get the darkies
together for a dance.  At the corn-huskings and other frolics he was a
welcome guest and an active participant.  He was also very fond of horses,
and took pride in owning the fastest horses in the neighborhood.  In fact,
his staid Presbyterian kinsfolk were shocked and often shook their heads at
LeRoy's sporting proclivities.
     With all his love for fun, which he inherited from his Irish mother, he
had enough of the canny Scot blood of his father to make him a close trader,
and in the matter of business he was shrewd and successful.  He bought
produce with which he loaded a flat-boat in Tradewater River and floated it
into the Ohio, thence down the Father of Waters to New Orleans, where he
disposed of his boat and cargo at a profit, and, as was the custom then, he
returned through the country on foot.
     LeRoy Graham was married three times.  His first wife was Alice Parker;
his second a Miss Slaton and his third a Miss King.  He was married to Alice
Parker in 1852.  She was a daughter of Benjamin and Mary Howard Jennings
Parker of Hopkins County, who were married January 5, 1826.  Benjamin Parker
was a Virginian and a son of Sir Peter Parker, a British Admiral, who
bombarded Charleston, S.C., in the Revolutionary war, and a man of
considerable wealth.  Mary Howard Jennings Parker was a daughter of Colonel
William Jennings and Marian Smith Jennings.  Colonel Jennings was Deputy
Governor of Virginia and also Superintendent of Indian Affairs in Colonial
Virginia.  He was the youngest son of Thomas Jennings, who was the second
son of William Jennings, Bart., of England.
     After his marriage LeRoy Graham located in Nebo, Hopkins County, and
engaged in dealing in tobacco and in general merchandising and was for years
postmaster of the place.  He was in business there for probably thirty-five
years, and was widely known by his uprightness and honorable dealing.  He
became a staid and quiet citizen and an exemplary member of the Methodist
Church.  During the war he was a Union man.  He belonged to neither of the
great political parties, but was independent in his political views.
     The result of his union with Alice Parker was three daughters and two
sons:  Jennie Graham, Frances Graham, Olive Graham, Cyrus B. Graham (subject
of this sketch), and Edwin R. Graham, who died in 1888.
     Cyrus B. Graham, whose long lines of ancestry are thus briefly
sketched, was born in Nebo, Hopkins County, Kentucky, in 1862.  His mother,
Alice (Parker) Graham, died when he was a babe.  As soon as he learned to
read he became an omnivorous reader of history and stories of travel, these
being the principal literature at hand.  At the age of fourteen he had read
Rollins' Ancient History, Gibbon's Rome and several works on Anatomy and
Physiology and Gudlow on Medical Examination.  He spent a greater portion of
his time at his grandmother Parker's home, where he found an excellent
library, and while there read everything he could get his hands on.  His
aunts used to say, "Thank the Lord, Cyrus has something to read, because
when he is reading we are all safe; when he is not he is sure to be in
mischief."
     At the age of fourteen his father sent him to the farm to bring the
horses.  When he arrived at the farm, two miles from town the sun was just
peeping over the treetops.  He hung the bridles on the fence corner and kept
on down the road until he reached his grandmother's, eight miles away.  He
was received with open arms, but with some misgivings as to the future of
the runaway boy.  He returned to Nebo the next fall and worked in a tobacco
factory and store until spring, reading at night until late hours.  The next
two years were spent in the factory, store or on the farm.  He rented land,
helped to clear it, sold the timber and the rails which he made, and in this
way obtained money with which to buy books; drove a team, plowed or did any
kind of work for a little pay; he helped to dig a well one winter when he
could find nothing else to do, receiving twenty five cents a day.  The next
three years he spent in traveling in the west and south, and what money he
made he spent for books, which he would read and then give away.  His valise
generally contained more books than clothing.  He worked at the carpenter
trade for two years and would often work till near midnight to make extra
money with which to buy books, and having access to good libraries he lost
no time in getting all he could out of them.
     He borrowed money and attended the Green River Academy at Madisonville
for five months, and at the end of the term received a certificate, and
taught school for six months.  He then went to Cumberland University,
Lebanon, Tennessee; was "elected" with three others to wash dishes, and for
this was allowed a small reduction in his board bill.  He remained in
college three years, teaching school occasionally and selling books during
vacation to procure money to defray his expenses.  He traveled extensively
over the south, visiting the colleges as a general agent, and did some
newspaper work.
     He took a short course in the Mobile College of Medicine; studied and
practiced under Dr. James P. Bone of Arlington, Tennessee; entered the
medical department of Vanderbilt University at Nashville, Tennessee, and was
graduated in the class of 1891.  He traveled for a wholesale drug house
during vacations and thus made money to pay his way through school.
     After receiving his license as a physician he located first at St.
Charles, Kentucky, and practiced for two years; removed thence to near
Nashville, Tennessee; and a few months later, October 4, 1893, was married
to Frances Duncan, daughter of Marion and Juliet (Mullins) Duncan of
Henderson, Kentucky, and located in that city.
     Dr. Graham is a popular young physician; a member of the Henderson
County Medical Association and a member of the Board of Health.  He has
every promise of the bright future which a man of his energy and industry
deserves.

Bishop Bone Duncan Jennings King Mullins Parker Slaton Smith 
=
Hopkins-KY Sterlingshire-Scotland Belfast-Ireland SC NC England Lebanon-TN
Nashville-TN

http://www.rootsweb.com/~kygenweb/kybiog/henderson/graham.cb.txt