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Nathanial Graham, picture likely taken in NYC

Nathaniel Ferguson Graham, Taken at Halls Studio, Broadway and 34st Street, NYC

Confirmed to be Elena Baptista Graham.

Thought to be Elena Baptista's sister, Caroline.

Picture taken May 31, 2008 at the Orange County Historical Society in Goshen.  It shows (L-R) Chris Graham (great-granddaughter of James Alexander) Marian (Heath) Mundy-Hooper (granddaughter of Nathaniel), Dottie Batho (great-granddaughter of Lillian) and Jim Graham (grandson of James Alexander).  Marian is wearing her grandmother's locket (Elena Baptista) while Chris Graham is holding a picture of Elena, who is wearing the same locket.

Picture taken May 31, 2008, showing the picture of Elena Baptista along with her locket she is wearing in the photo.  The locket is currently in the possession of Marian Heath, her grand daughter.  The recognition that Elena was wearing the same locket in the photo that Marian was always told was her grandmothers was confirmation that the photo was actually of Elena Baptista.

1855, June 15 - NY Census record, born 1848 in Scotland

1860, May 3 - Federal census record, born 1848 in NY

1862, May 16 - Civil War records, born 1846

1883, May 17 - passenger record, Havana Mex Ports to NY, born 1847, country where citizen - USA, occupation - engineer

1887, Nov.18 - passenger record, La Guaira Pts Cabell Curava to NY,  born 1847, native country - Scotland, country where citizen - USA, occupation - architect

1888, Nov. 13 - passenger record, Curacao & LaGuayra & Puerto Cabello, Venezuela to NY,  born 1846, native country- US, occupation - engineer

1914, Oct. 17 - passenger record, Trinidad to NY, born 1845 in NY

1920, Sept. 19 - passenger record, - Cristobel, Canal Zone to New Orleans, born August 13, 1845 in NY

1936, Aug. 21 - NY Times obituary, born 1845 in Scotland - NATHANIEL F GRAHAM - PORT OF SPAIN - Trinidad, Aug 22 - Nathaniel Ferguson Graham, Civil War Veteran, died here today.  He was 91 years old.  Mr. Graham, a native of Glasgow, Scotland, went to New York as a boy.  He came here to live fifty-four years ago.  A daughter, Mrs. E. J. Heath of Bethlehem, survives.

Flyer - N. F. Graham - No. 10 Brunswick Square - Port of Spain, Trinidad - Having opened AN ESTABLISHMENT at No. 10 Brunswick Square, opposite the Trinidad-Club, he begs to solicit the patronage of the inhabitants of this island.  Being a Practical Mechanic of 15 year's experience in the City of New York, it gives him much pleasure to assure the public that all works entrusted to him will be executed with neatness and punctuality.  FURNITURE of all kinds made to order, or Designs and Estimates furnished.  STORE FITTINGS, SHELVES, COUNTERS, SHOW CASES, etc. GLAZING and PAINTING.  Special attention will be given to the fitting of Office Furniture, desks and chairs, and repairing.   References : A. Hatch, Architect -- New York, John Snooks -- Brooklyn, Thomas Thomas - New York.

On August 13, 1936 he was interviewed by the local newspaper, The Trinidad Guardian, in honor of his 91^st birthday.  He died just 8 days later.

The following story came from a 1938 letter written by the daughter of Nathaniel's older brother, John D. Graham, her name was Grace Graham Peebles.

(Story) - I used to enjoy Uncle Nat and his eldest daughter, Agnes.   She looked like her mother, Ellen Baptista, Large dark eyes, brown hair & Olive Skin.   I corresponded with Agnes until she was married and went to England to live.   Her husband's given name was Herbert an he was an Englishman.  He was a Baptist minister.  One of the other daughters married a Moravian minister and lived on a small island north of Trinidad.  I remember Nat perfectly.  He was a little taller than my father and brown mustache.  He would have taken a prize in a tall-story contest.  He was always happy telling yarns to make our eyes open their widest and our hair to rise.  Then at the finish he'd laugh until he was tired out.  Nat's address was 11 Abercrombe St., Port of Spain, Trinidad, B. W. J.  Do you know whether his full name was Nathaniel or Nathan?

Nathaniel Ferguson Graham, a son of Michael and Agnes Graham, was born in Scotland on August 13, but the year is uncertain.  His obituary claims it was 1845, but that places his birth too close to the April 1845 birth of his brother John.  In a 1936 newspaper interview, Nathaniel said that his family had been living in America, but returned to Scotland shortly before his birth.  When Nathaniel was nine months old, the family came back to the United States.

Around 1859 Nathaniel was orphaned, and he went to live with John and Mary Gray and their family.  On May 15, 1862 Nathaniel joined the Company L, (17^th Newburgh Sharpshooters) in the 56^th regiment of the New York Volunteer Infantry.  Because he was too young to fight, he mustered in as a musician (a.k.a. drummer) at the New Kent Court House in Virginia. He re-enlisted as a veteran, on March 31, 1864, returned to his company as a private, and mustered out in Charleston, South Carolina on October 17, 1865.  According to his daughter, Mabel Mary, Nathaniel was badly wounded in the abdomen during the war, left for dead, but rescued and nursed back to health by a local housewife who felt sorry for him. 

Following the war, Nathaniel worked for more than ten years in New York City as a “practical mechanic,” an old term for workman, probably in construction.  According to Mabel, he traveled extensively, including to Russia.  He spent four years as superintendent of the El Callao Mining Company in Venezuela.  During that time he built 95 miles of railway for the government. 

In 1882 Nathaniel took up residence in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad where he was an architect (meaning builder), engineer, and a business owner.  An old flier states that his “establishment” at 10 Brunswick Square in Port of Spain dealt in furniture, store fittings, shelves, counters, showcases, glazing, painting, and more.  In 1886 Nathaniel was made a member of Walton Lodge, #559, in New York.  While working in Trinidad, he erected over 100 private dwellings and business houses, including the Ice House block, Hotel de Paris, the Davidson and Todd building, Miller’s store, the transfer station in Park Street, Soublette’s Pharmacy, and the police station in Princes Town.  At one time Nathaniel was engaged in agricultural and horticultural pursuits.  It is said that he was responsible for developing the Graham mango.

He did considerable traveling, and his name appears on passenger lists to and from New York, Havana, Curacao, Venezuela, the Canal Zone, and New Orleans.  These passenger lists show his birth years ranging from 1845 to 1847.

Nathaniel married Elena “Ellen” Augusta Baptista.  They lived at 17 Abercrombie Street in Port of Spain and had four daughters:

1. Agnes “Aggie” Ellen was born about 1884. She married John Herbert Poole, known as Herbert, a Baptist minister from England.  They had a son Graham who died in infancy and an adopted daughter Ann who married Roy MacEachern.  Herbert served as minister at St. Andrew’s, the Presbyterian church in Nassau.  Eventually, Agnes and Herbert retired to England. 

2. Mabel Mary was born November 7, 1886. She married Edwin Joseph Heath, an English citizen with an English father and an American mother of Swedish descent.  Edwin, one of six surviving siblings out of 12 original children, was born in St. John, US Virgin Islands, when they were still Danish.  Edwin became a Moravian missionary and teacher, dean of Salem College in Winston-Salem, NC, and later was a college president in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.  Mabel had three children: Barbara Mary, Edwin Clifford, and Marian Graham.  She died at age 93 on April 20, 1980.

3. Louisa “Weezie” Maud was born on February 26, 1889. She married Edward “Ted” Gammon and had four children: Helen Joyce, Richard Graham, Joan Isobel, and John.  For years Louise suffered with a tropical disease, filariasis, which caused her legs to swell enormously and confined her to a wheelchair.  She died May 9, 1985. 

4. Lillian “Lily” Margaret was born August 11, 1895.  She never married, but she legally adopted a young East Indian boy named Joseph.  He later married an East Indian girl. It is not known if Joseph took the name Graham.  Lillian died on November 1, 1983.

For a time, Nathaniel and Ellen’s family also included another little girl who was known as Nathaniel’s “ward”, and may have been his illegitimate child by a Venezuelan woman who had died.  This was hinted at but never openly discussed  by Nathaniel’s legitimate daughters.

Although mercurial, unpredictable in temperament, and said to have had a drinking problem, Nathaniel was very generous to his sister Lillian Graham Darrow and her family who lived in Connecticut and Massachusetts.  At Christmas time the Darrow family was excited to receive a wooden barrel or box full of gifts for everyone. 

His niece, Grace Graham Peebles, wrote the following:“I used to enjoy Uncle Nat and his eldest daughter, Agnes. She looked like her mother, Ellen Baptista, Large dark eyes, brown hair & Olive Skin. I corresponded with Agnes until she was married and went to England to live. Her husband's given name was Herbert an he was an Englishman. He was a Baptist minister. One of the other daughters married a Moravian minister and lived on a small island north of Trinidad.  (note: it was Antigua.) I remember Nat perfectly. He was a little taller than my father and brown mustache. He would have taken a prize in a tall-story contest. He was always happy telling yarns to make our eyes open their widest and our hair to rise. Then at the finish he'd laugh until he was tired out. Nat's address was 17 Abercrombie St., Port of Spain, Trinidad, B. W. I.”

Nathaniel had asthma and had to sleep propped up on pillows.  On August 13, 1936 he was interviewed by the local newspaper, The Trinidad Guardian, in honor of his 91^st birthday.  Only 8 days later, on August 21, he passed away.