GRAHAM, JOHN. John Graham, pioneer and surveyor, was born January 1, 1765 in Augusta County, Virginia, to David and Jane (Armstrong) Graham. His surveying and writing abilities suggest that he was formally educated, and is likely that he attended Augusta Seminary (now Liberty Hall), located about sixty miles from his birthplace. he served with the 9th Virginia Regiment during the Revolutionary War and was later a member of the Kentucky militia. In 1787 he first surveyed the Big Sandy River area. He later became the largest landowner in western Kentucky. He was a central figure in the formation of Floyd County in 1799 and became the official surveyor in 1805, reappointed by the county court in 1810, 1815, 1820 and 1830. He served two terms as circuit judge of Floyd County (1808-1812 and 1814-1815). On June 26, 1815, for the price of one dollar, Graham sold to Floyd County the property for the establishment of the streets and courthouse square of Prestonburg. Graham also was a banker (1800) and a merchant (1815).
Graham married Rebecca Witten on January 29, 1775. 
They had seven children: Thomas Witten, Eleanor, Rebecca, Dorothy, Sophia, Tabitha, and Elizabeth Graham. Graham died at his home near Prestonsburg on April 20, 1835 and was buried on the old homestead at Dwale in Floyd County.
See Henry P. Scalf, Kentucky's Last Frontier (Pikeville, Ky, 1972).
- Note: John Graham would have only been 10 years old in 1775, so this date is in error. Other sources have their marriage date as 10 February 1803 in Tazewell County, Virginia, where Rebecca's family was from. The date listed in 1775 is more likely the birthdate of Rebecca [Witten] Graham, but that is just a guess at this point.
