Graham, William Alexander

Life Span
to
Full name
William Alexander Graham
Place of Birth
Burial Place
Birth Date Certainty
Exact
Death Date Certainty
Exact
Gender
Male
Race
White
Sectional choice
South
Origins
Slave State
No. of Spouses
1
No. of Children
10
Family
Joseph Graham (father), Isabella Davidson (mother), Susannah Sarah Washington (wife)
Education
University of North Carolina
Occupation
Politician
Attorney or Judge
Relation to Slavery
Slaveholder
Political Parties
Whig
Government
Fillmore Administration (1850-53)
Confederate government (1861-65)
US Senate
Governor
State legislature

William Alexander Graham (Congressional Biographical Directory)

Reference
GRAHAM, William Alexander,  (brother of James Graham), a Senator from North Carolina; born at Vesuvius Furnace, near Lincolnton, Lincoln County, N.C., September 5, 1804; pursued classical studies and graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1824; studied law; admitted to the bar in 1825 and commenced practice in Hillsboro, N.C.; member, State house of commons 1833-1840, serving twice as speaker; elected as a Whig to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Robert Strange and served from November 25, 1840, to March 3, 1843; chairman, Committee on Claims (Twenty-seventh Congress); Governor of North Carolina 1845-1849; declined the missions to Spain and Russia in 1849; Secretary of the Navy in the Cabinet of President Millard Fillmore 1850-1852; unsuccessful Whig candidate for vice president in 1852 on the ticket with Winfield Scott; member, State senate 1854-1866, including service in the state Confederate Congress; elected to the United States Senate in 1866, but his credentials were not presented; member of the board of trustees of the Peabody Fund 1867-1875; arbitrator in the boundary line dispute between Virginia and Maryland 1873-1875; died at Saratoga Springs, N.Y., August 11, 1875; interment in the Presbyterian Church Cemetery, Hillsboro, N.C.
“Graham, William Alexander,” Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1774 to Present,http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=G000362.
Chicago Style Entry Link
Williams, Max R. "Secretary William A. Graham, Naval Administrator, 1850-1852." North Carolina Historical Review 48, no. 1 (1971): 53-72. view record
How to Cite This Page: "Graham, William Alexander," House Divided: The Civil War Research Engine at Dickinson College, https://hd.housedivided.dickinson.edu/index.php/node/5767.