Malcolm D. Graham Explained

Malcolm Daniel Graham
Office1:Texas State Senate
Term Start1:1857
Term End1:1857
Office2:Texas State Attorney General
Term Start2:1858
Term End2:1860
Predecessor2:James Willie
Successor2:George M. Flournoy
Governor2:Sam Houston
Office3:Representative from Texas to the Confederate Congress
President3:Jefferson Davis
Birth Date:July 6, 1827
Party:Democrat

Malcolm Daniel Graham (July 6, 1827 – October 6, 1878) was a Confederate politician. Born in Alabama and a lawyer by profession, he moved to Texas in 1854 and was a state senator there at the start of the American Civil War. He represented Texas at the First Confederate Congress and served in the Confederate Army, being captured by the Union Army and imprisoned on Johnson's Island. After the war, he moved back to Alabama as he was not allowed to practice law in Texas, and died in Montgomery.

Life

Malcolm Daniel Graham, who can also be found listed as Malcolm Duncan, was born on July 6, 1827, in Autauga County, Alabama, the son of John G. Graham, a native of North Carolina. After graduating from Transylvania University with a degree in law, he practiced as a lawyer in Wetumpka. He was elected to be clerk of the Alabama House of Representatives in 1853 before moving to Henderson, Texas, in 1854. He served in the Texas State Senate for one term from between 1857 and 1859, as Attorney General from 1858 to 1860, and as a presidential elector for John C. Breckinridge in 1860.[1] [2]

At the start of the American Civil War, he was a delegate to the Texas Secession Convention and was signer of the Ordinance of Secession.[3] He represented the state in the First Confederate Congress from 1862 to 1864, was appointed judge advocate by Jefferson Davis and was a colonel in the Confederate Army.[4] He was captured in 1864 by the Union Army and imprisoned on Johnson's Island until the end of the conflict.[2] After the war, as he was not allowed to practice law in Texas without a pardon, he moved back to Alabama and settled in Montgomery. He resumed his law practice, also serving as the president of the executive committee of the Conservative Democrat Party.[1]

He was married to Amelia Cunningham Ready, with whom he had two sons. He died on October 6, 1878, and is buried in Oakwood Cemetery in Montgomery, Alabama.[1]

Notes and References

  1. Book: Guttery, Ben R.. Representing Texas: A Comprehensive History of U.S. and Confederate Senators and Representatives from Texas. Eakin Press. Austin, Texas. 2001. 978-1-57168-524-7. 70.
  2. Book: Brewer, Willis. Alabama, Her History, Resources, War Record, and Public Men. Barrett & Brown, steam printers and book binders. Montgomery, Alabama. 1872. 2667343. 478–479.
  3. Book: Gallaway, B. P.. Texas, the Dark Corner of the Confederacy: Contemporary Accounts of the Lone Star State in the Civil War. University of Nebraska Press. 1994. 6 August 2017. 0-8032-7036-4. 235–237.
  4. Web site: Graham, K to N. The Political Graveyard. 7 August 2017.