James Hutchinson Graham (1807-1882)

James H. Graham was born in West Pennsborough Township in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania on September 10, 1807. His father was Isaiah Graham, who served two terms in the state senate and became an associate judge, serving from 1817 to 1835, when he died. The younger Graham attended Gettysburg Academy under David McConaughy and then entered the junior class at Dickinson College. He graduated with honors in the class of 1827 and took on the study of law with Andrew Carothers in Carlisle. He was admitted to the bar in November 1829 and began his practice in the town.

Graham soon built a solid reputation and Governor Porter appointed him as state district attorney in 1839. He served for six years before declining a reappointment. In 1851 he widened his interests when he began a twenty year tenure as the president of the Carlisle Deposit Bank. The same year he was elected at the president judge of the tri-county Ninth District of Pennsylvania and was elected once again in 1862. The following year his alma mater awarded him both an honorary doctorate and appointment as professor of law. He headed the Dickinson College law department from 1862 to 1882. He served also for many years president of the board of trustees of the Second Presbyterian Church of Carlisle.

Graham married Nancy Elizabeth Davidson in September 1834 and, following her death, again married, this time to Mary Ann Robinson Criswell. The couple had five sons who graduated from Dickinson College, John Criswell in 1863, Samuel in 1866, James in 1867, Duncan in 1873, and Frank with the class of 1883. Their daughter Agnes also graduated with a master's degree from Columbian University (now George Washington University) in Washington DC. James Hutchinson Graham died in Carlisle on September 26, 1882, two weeks after his seventy-fifth birthday.