Other Events and Attributes:

• Census: 1880, Jackson, Ohio
• Census: 1910, Joplin, Jasper, Missouri
• Census: 1920, Poland, Mahoning, Ohio
• Census: 1930, Youngstown, Mahoning, Ohio
• Census: 1940, Youngstown, Mahoning, Ohio
• Census: 1950, Youngstown, Mahoning, Ohio

Notes:

Source : Youngstown and the Mahoning Valley, 1921.

RICHARD N. GRAHAM.
 While it is certainly true that every man succeeds better for having acquired a knowledge of anything, the training given the person who aspires to become a lawyer is so rigid and thorough that he is generally prepared to enter almost any line and master it. There are a number of cases where men do so prepare themselves without really intending to enter the profession, but simply to gain the habit of handling their problems in an orderly and methodical manner, and to receive the benefits accruing from the expansion of their intellect which must come from such a course. Richard N. Graham is manager of the railways connected with the Pennsylvania-Ohio Electric Company, and it is a recognized fact that his skillful handling of the affairs of his office comes through his knowledge of the law, and its application to business.
 Richard N. Graham was born at Jackson, Ohio, on November 7, 1876, a son of Christopher and Nancy Jane (Dodge) Graham, both of whom are now deceased. Christopher Graham was a hardware merchant both at Jackson, and later at Joplin, Missouri, to which city the family moved when Richard N. Graham was still a lad.
 Growing up at Joplin, he attended its high school, and then entered the University of Arkansas in 1895 and took both the classical and legal courses, and was graduated therefrom in 1900 with the degrees of Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Laws. In 1901 Mr. Graham was admitted to the Arkansas and Missouri bars, and that same year established himself in a general law practice with a Mr. Hurst, under the firm name of Hurst & Graham, which was later changed to Grayston & Graham. In 1908 Mr. Graham joined the legal department of the Stone & Webster electrical interests, first being at Dallas, Texas, for a short time, and then, in 1910, taking charge of the claim department of the Houston Electric Company, a property managed by Stone & Webster. He immediately was Transferred to an operating position and continued with the Houston Company in various capacities until 1916. In September of the latter year Mr. Graham came to Youngstown as assistant manager of railways connected with the Mahoning & Shenango Railways & Light Company, and in 1917 was made manager of that department, retaining the position with the Pennsylvania-Ohio Electric Company which succeeded the former corporation. Mr. Graham has had a varied experience and when he began practicing law at Joplin, Missouri, he was a member of the Missouri State Legislature, and recognized as one of the forceful young orators of his district.
 In 1901 Mr. Graham was united in marriage with Miss Robey B. Skinner of Jacksonville, Illinois, and they have five children, namely : Harold, Mildred, Helen, Ruth and Robey.

September 20, 1955: Richard N. Graham, chairman of the board of the Youngstown Railway Co., announces his retirement, the announcement coming exactly 39 years after he came to Youngstown as assistant manager of railways in charge of transportation from the Mahoning and Shenango Power and Light Co.

Richard married Robie Bernice SKINNER on 21 Mar 1901 in Joplin, Jasper, Missouri. Robie (daughter of Dr. Bradford Hewlett SKINNER and Eliza Ann STEWART) was born on 9 Feb 1884 in Exeter, Scott, Illinois; died on 30 May 1942 in Youngstown, Mahoning, Ohio; was buried in Belmont Cemetery, Youngstown, Mahoning, Ohio. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. Harold Christopher GRAHAM was born on 1 Jun 1902 in Joplin, Jasper, Missouri; died on 29 Dec 1980; was buried in Roselawn Memorial Park, Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
2. Mildred Ann GRAHAM was born on 14 Nov 1903 in Joplin, Jasper, Missouri; died on 27 Nov 1942 in Perry, Stark, Ohio; was buried on 1 Dec 1942 in Massillon, Stark, Ohio.
3. Helen Caroline GRAHAM was born in 1907 in Joplin, Jasper, Missouri; died on 7 Nov 1971 in Youngstown, Mahoning, Ohio.
4. Ruth Mabel GRAHAM was born on 11 Aug 1909 in Joplin, Jasper, Missouri; died on 14 Nov 1973 in Rittman, Medina, Ohio.
5. Robie Bernice GRAHAM was born on 25 Jun 1919 in Poland, Mahoning, Ohio; died on 13 Oct 1993 in Phoenix, Maricopa, Arizona; was buried in National Memorial Cemetery, Phoenix, Maricopa, Arizona.

Richard married Alice W. before 1950. Alice was born about 1904 in Pennsylvania; died after 1966. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Census: 1860, Boonville, Warrick, Indiana
• Census: 1870, Jackson, Jackson, Ohio
• Census: 1880, Jackson, Ohio

Christopher married Nancy Jane DOBBS on 1 Jan 1857 in Wayne, Ohio. Nancy was born in Jan 1837 in Fredericksburg, Wayne, Ohio; died on 12 Dec 1889 in Lamar, Barton, Missouri. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Census: 1870, Jackson, Jackson, Ohio
• Census: 1880, Jackson, Ohio

Notes:

Nancy Graham of Jackson, Ohio, is also interesting because she received two stove patents (one omitted from LWP) in addition to her plaiting machine, and because she seems to have been an entrepreneur and manufacturer as well as an inventor. Born Nancy Jane Dobbs in Ohio, she married Christopher Graham before 1859. Her first two children were born in Indiana in 1859 and 1862. By 1865 she was back in Ohio, where her other six children were born, the last three between 1870 and 1880. As of 1870 Christopher Graham was a tinner. The family seems to have belonged to the Methodist church, as the Jackson-born children were baptized here.
 Nancy Graham died of cancer in her early 50s, just a few months after her second patent was granted. She was in Lamar, Missouri, in the last days of her illness; she died and was buried there, late in 1889. At the time of her death, she owned real property in Jackson and made a will to dispose of it and her other assets. Among her bequests is $250 to her eldest child and executor, Pelow Graham, intented, she says “as compensation for his service connected with my business at Jackson, Ohio.” She leaves $50 each to her three middle sons, and “all my real estate, ... particularly my real estate in Jackons, Ohio” equally to her three daughters, her youngest son, and her husband, Christopher’s share to go to these four children at his death, “share and share alike.”
 It is interesting to note that Graham makes her eldest son her executor, and leaves her husband only a life interest in a fifth of her real property. This, combined with her patenteed inventions and her entry into the business world, suggests that her husband may have been a poor provider or, at the very least, less ambitious and successful than his wife. An estrangement between Nancy and Christopher could also explain her move to Missouri just before her death. The other obvious explanation would be that her eldest daughter Martha had moved there, and Nancy went to her because she needed care. Interestingly enough, Martha does not seem to have been married by 1889, although she would have been 27 years old.
 The nature of Nancy Graham’s business is not yet certain, but it may have been a stove-manufacturing and / or sales entreprise.
 Nancy J. Graham was recently honored in her home town of Jackson, Ohio. The Herizon Women’s Collective included her in an exhibit, “Women to Be Proud Of — Historical Portraits of Notable Jackson County Women,” mounted at the City Library (D. Stanley, L-3/21,23,24, 6/11 & 27, 11/29/82; Jackson, Ohio, Birth & Death Records, 1867-1908; Will of Nancy J. Graham, Nov. 21, 1889; 1870 & 1880 censuses, Jackson, Ohio; Herizon, “WOmeb to Be Proud Of...,” November 1982; T. Tucker, L-8/20, 8/25, 9/1, and 9/4/84).
 Other laundry aids: Not machines per se, but definitely mechanical and thus pertinent here, are the folding ironing boards, the adjustable pant(aloon) stretchers or shapers, the curtain stretchers, and the reels and pulleys allowing clothing to be hung on a line inside and then conveyed out through an upper-floor window to dry, among other laundry aids that women invented during the 19th century. Following are single examples (all patented, all from LWP) in each group mentioned. — (Source : Mothers and Daughters of Invention: Notes for a Revised History of Technology, by Autumn Stanley). 1993.