Colonel William Graham was the son of Archibald Graham, of Scotland. He was born in Augusta county, Va., in 1742. He emigrated to North Carolina several years previous to the Revolutionary War, became the owner of much valuable land, and finally settled on First Broad river, then Tryon county, but now in Cleaveland. His patriotic principles soon became known, and were called into active service at the commencement of the Revolution. As the commanding officer, he had the general superintendence of several Forts, erected on and near the frontier settlements, as protections against the hostile Cherokee Indians. Whilst in command of Fort McFadden, near the present town of Rutherfordton, he formed the acquaintance of Mrs. Susan Twitty, widow of William Twitty, and, as the "darts of Cupid" are often irresistible, he married her, and the union proved to be a happy one.
In the Provincial Congress which met at Halifax on the 12th of Nov., 1776, when the first State Constitution was formed, Colonel Graham was one of the delegates from Lincoln county, his colleagues being Joseph Hardin, Robert Abernathy, William Alston and John Barber.
In the expedition which marched in 1776, under General Rutherford, against the Cherokee Indians, Colonel Graham commanded the regiment which went from Lincoln and Rutherford counties. This expedition, as is well known, was completely successful, and caused the Indians to sue for peace.
In the expedition which marched for the relief of Charleston, in the spring of 1780, from Charlotte, the place of rendezvous for several counties, Colonel Graham led the regiment from Lincoln county. On the arrival of the several forces at Charleston, they found the city so completely invested by the British army that they could not render assistance to the American garrison.
Soon after his return home, Colonel Graham again marched with his regiment, General Rutherford commanding, against a large body of Tories assembled at Ramsour's Mill under Lieut. Colonel John Moore, (son of Moses Moore) near the present town of Lincolnton. General Rutherford, with some Mecklenburg troops, crossed the Catawba river at Tuckaseege Ford, on the evening of the 19th of June, 1780, and camped at Colonel Joseph Dickson's plantation, three miles northwest of the ford. On the morning of the 20th, Gen. Rutherford marched, at an early hour, with the expectation of co-operating with Colonel Locke, of Rowan county, in making a combined attack against the Tories, but failed to reach the battleground until about two hours after the close of that sanguinary engagement, in which the Tories were signally defeated.
When a call was made upon the commanding officers of the militia of Lincoln county (under its old limits) in September, 1780, for troops to oppose the boasting Ferguson, Colonel Graham marched with his regiment, and joined Colonels Campbell, Sevier, Shelby and others at the "Cowpens," where, a little more than three months afterward, General Morgan gained a brilliant victory; but, it is known, in consequence of severe sickness in his family, Colonel Graham did not participate in the battle which took place on King's Mountain on the afternoon of the 7th of October, 1780, and which resulted so gloriously for the American arms.
During the year 1775, the Province of North Carolina, ever in the van of early patriotic movements, formed "Associations" throughout her territory, mainly as tests of patriotism. The county of Cumberland formed an Association on the 20th of June, 1775. The county of Tryon (embracing Lincoln and Rutherford) formed a similar "Association" on the 14th of August following, which was signed by the "Committee of Safety," and ordered to be "signed by every freeholder in the county." Among the forty-eight signatures may be conspicuously noticed those of William Graham, Charles McLean, (who at one time commanded the Lincoln regiment), Frederick Hambright, (see sketch of his services in this volume) John Walker, Jacob Forney, (father of Gen. Peter Forney), Thomas Espey, (brother of Capt. Samuel Espey, severely wounded at the battle of King's Mountain), Andrew Neal, Joseph Neal, John Dellinger, George Dellinger, Joseph Hardin, Jacob Costner, Valentine Mauney, Peter Sides, Joseph Kuykendall, James Coburn, James Miller and others. One of the signers, Peter Sides, (properly Seitz) belonged to a family from Switzerland—all true Whigs, and worthy representatives of the land of William Tell.
Colonel William Graham died in April, 1835, in the eighty-seventh year of his age, and is buried at the old homestead, on First Broad river, in Cleaveland county, N.C.
LIEUTENANT-COLONEL FREDERICK HAMBRIGHT.
Lieutenant-Colonel Hambright was born in Germany in 1727, emigrated to Pennsylvania about 1740, and after remaining there a short time removed to Virginia about 1755, where he married Sarah Hardin, with whom he lived happily until her death during the Revolution. A few years after his marriage he moved to Tryon county in North Carolina, being accompanied by his brothers-in-law, Colonel Joseph Hardin, John Hardin and Benjamin Hardin; also, by James Kuykendall, Nathaniel Henderson, Robert Leeper, and others. He first settled at the Fort, erected near the mouth of the South Fork of the Catawba river, as a protection against the attacks of the Indians. From that place he soon afterward moved to Long Creek, in the same county, and was living there when the battle of King's Mountain took place, in which he so gallantly participated. A short time previous to that battle he had purchased a tract of land on King's Creek, and had built a cabin upon it, preparatory to a future removal of his family.