Robert Graham
Constitutional Delegate. Born: 1804, Ireland. Married: Eleanor D., 1830. Died: 1868, Atchison County.
A wealthy Atchison merchant and the oldest convention delegate, Robert Graham was born in Ireland about (ca.1804). He married Eleanor D. ________ in Pennsylvania (ca. 1830), and they moved their family to Kansas Territory from her native state in 1857. According to his July 7, 1859, remarks during the apportionment debate, Graham served in the 1859 territorial legislature that authorized the Wyandotte Convention. He rose in fact "for the purpose of vindicating the character" of that body in the face of "gross charges of corruption and fraud." Graham, who would be relatively active during the convention, continued: "Having been a member of that body, it seems to me proper that I should state how these alleged frauds were committed." In fact, according to Graham, this had been an exceptionally "fair, honest and upright in purpose and act." He went on to briefly explain the legislative action and categorically rejected charges of fraud as "utterly preposterous. It comes with a very bad grace from these gentlemen-raising a hue and cry about fraud, when they themselves are members of the party that has inaugurated all the political frauds in the Territory." Graham chaired the corporations and banking committee, and as a result introduced the article on banks and currency, which, explained historian G. Raymond Gaeddert, "was based on the Leavenworth and Topeka constitutions, except section 3 which followed the Iowa constitution." Graham died in Atchison County in 1868.
Entry: Graham, Robert
Author: Kansas Historical Society
Author information: The Kansas Historical Society is a state agency charged with actively safeguarding and sharing the state's history.
Date Created: June 2011
Date Modified: June 2011
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