Henry Graham (abt. 1635 - 1684)

Born about 1635 in Scotland [uncertain]

Husband of Mary Ann (Clarke) Graham — married 1661 in Connecticut

Descendants

Died 1684 at about age 49 in Hartford, Hartford, Connecticut Colony

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Biography

Henry Graham was a Prisoner of War during Wars of the Three Kingdoms.

Henry Graham was born in Scotland.

According to Lucius Barnes Barbour’s Families of Early Hartford, Connecticut, ^[1] Henry Graham (alternative last name of Grihme or Grimes) died in 1684 and had married Mary who died later in 1685.

They had at least 8 issue as follows:

1. Benjamin, b. ABT 1662, married firstly Abigail Humphrey, secondly Sarah (Mygatt) Webster.
2. John, b. ABT 1665.
3. Joseph, b. ABT 1667.
4. Mary, b. ABT 1668.
5. Sarah, b. ABT 1671, married first John Marvin on 7 MAY 1695, married next Richard Sears (son of Reinhold Jr & Marv Clark).
6. Elizabeth, b. ABT 1674, married to Thomas Lee.
7. Susanna, b. ABT 1677, married to Samuel Marvin on 5 MAY 1699.
8. Rebecca, b. ABT 1680, married to (unknown) Rowland.

According to Edward Elbridge Salisbury & Evelyn McCurdy Salisbury, Henry Graham; "Henry Grihme (or Grihmes) is first mentioned in Hartford in 1661. In the next generation the name is spelled Graham. In Burke’s ‘General Armory,’ there is given the name of Grimes with the arms of that family. But from the fact that the children of Henry Grihme (or Grihmes) spelled their name Graham, we may suppose that to have been their real name, pronounced, with a broad sound, so nearly like Grihme that it was so spelled in the phonetic mode of the period. If the name was Graham they may have come from Scotland, where that family is an ancient and honorable one.

In the same year (1661) Henry Grihme was appointed to the responsible position of ‘chimney viewer,’ for which, in those days, were selected only the most trustworthy men, of sufficient power of character to enforce the rules made for the protection of the feeble colony. It was an office honored by the settlers, and often held by men who occupied high positions. He died in 1684, leaving $745, an unusually ‘good estate’ for the period. His widow Mary died in 1685. They left eight children lived in Hartford, and was a Lieutenant. His first wife was Abigail daughter of Michael Humphrey and his wife Priscilla daughter of Matthew Grant, of leading families of Windsor. His second wife Sarah, daughter of Jacob Mygatt (son of Deacon Joseph Mygatt, an original proprietor and prominent citizen of Hartford) and his wife Sarah daughter of Major William Whiting, an original proprietor of Hartford, a merchant of wealth and education, Treasurer of the Colony, magistrate, etc., of an ancient English family of royal descent. She was the widow of John Webster of Hartford, grandson of Hon. John Webster Governor of the Colony of Connecticut and son of Robert Webster and Susannah daughter of Richard Treat of Wethersfield, Conn., a prominent officer in the colonial government.

We give these facts to show the social affiliations of the Grihme or Graham family in the early generations. The other children of Henry Grihme or Graham and Mary his wife were John, Joseph, Mary, Sarah who married John Marvin, Elizabeth, Susannah who married Deacon Samuel Marvin (see below), and Rebecca."

Research Notes

Henry was probably born in Scotland. He was probably a Scottish soldier captured at the Battle of Dunbar and exiled to the Colonies, probably on the ship Unity, arriving in Dec 1650, and he died in that portion of Hartford that would become East Hartford, Connecticut .^[2] He might a close relative or brother of Alexander Grimes, also captured at Dunbar, who ended up in Massachusetts.^[3] If so, he was a relative of Archibald Anderson, another Dunbar prisoner, thorough his mother, who was a relative of Archibald's mother.^[4]

Sources

1. ↑ Lucius Barnes Barbour
2. ↑ https://spows.org/battle-of-dunbar/battle-of-dunbar-prisoners-of-war/battle-of-dunbar-prisoner-profiles/henry-grimes/
3. ↑ https://spows.org/battle-of-dunbar/battle-of-dunbar-prisoners-of-war/battle-of-dunbar-prisoner-profiles/alexander-grimes/
4. ↑ https://spows.org/battle-of-dunbar/battle-of-dunbar-prisoners-of-war/battle-of-dunbar-prisoner-profiles/alexander-grimes/

• Barbour, Lucius Barnes. Families Of Early Hartford, Conn. (Genealogical Publishing Co., 1977) Page 279.
• Salisbury, Edward. Family Histories and Genealogies, A Series of Genealogical and Biographical Monographs (privately printed, 1892) Vol. 3 (1892) Page 117-119.
• Torrey, Clarence Almon. Torrey’s New England Marriages Prior to 1700 (Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc. Baltimore, 1985)
• U.S., New England, Marriages Prior to 1700.