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Jay Charles Grahm / William James Walker

Grahm/Walker & Brown Generation 4 back

Meghan’s great-great-grandfather, born in western Pennsylvania and later of Puyallup, Washington.

Descent: Meghan Jane Leineweber ← Catherine Raye Lobb ← Patricia Jane Loomis ← Beulah Grahm ← Jay Charles Grahm/William James Walker

Born
Abt. 1856–1862 (records vary) · Apollo, Pennsylvania
Died
May 10, 1934 · home in Puyallup, Washington
Married
Abt. 1879

Photos

CJWGrahm Walker.
CJWGrahm Walker.
A studio portrait of a man holding an infant. The site records two possible identities for this ancestor, Jay Charles Grahm or William James Walker — it isn't known which one this photograph shows.
A studio portrait of a man holding an infant. The site records two possible identities for this ancestor, Jay Charles Grahm or William James Walker — it isn't known which one this photograph shows.
A formal studio portrait. The site records two possible identities for this ancestor, Jay Charles Grahm or William James Walker — it isn't known which one this photograph shows.
A formal studio portrait. The site records two possible identities for this ancestor, Jay Charles Grahm or William James Walker — it isn't known which one this photograph shows.

Family

Father
James Walker
Mother
Hannah Townsend
Child in this line
Beulah Grahm
Spouse
Anna “Annie” Frances Brown

Children

Siblings

In brief

Born Abt in Apollo, Pennsylvania. He married Abt and worked as farmer. He died May 10, 1934 in home in Puyallup, Washington.

  • A farmer in 1880.
  • Married Annie on March 4, 1890, in Yuma, Colorado.
  • Appears in the records under two names.

Life story

A Disputed Past

The man recorded here as Jay Charles Grahm was also known as William James Walker, and the documents surrounding his early life are murky and dramatic. Born around 1856–1862 in Apollo, Pennsylvania, to James Walker and Hannah Townsend, he left his family in Pennsylvania around 1885 and headed west; a Pittsburgh newspaper reported the following year that he had killed a rival suitor in Colorado in a jealous rage and was sentenced to hang, prompting him to travel back to Pennsylvania in February 1889 to clear his name. His daughter Beulah later described him simply as “a roving cowboy, from a substantial farming family in Pennsylvania.” He appears to have changed his surname from Graham to Grahm around this time.

Farming in Colorado and Washington

Jay married Anna Frances Brown in Yuma, Colorado, on March 4, 1890, and the couple farmed and raised sugar beets near Fort Morgan, Colorado, for two decades, with Jay also working seasonally as a sheep shearer, constable, and livery-stable operator. In 1910 the family moved to Washington State to escape Colorado's extreme summers and winters, settling on a strawberry farm on Fox Island in Puget Sound. After Anna's death in 1926 Jay sold the farm and lived his final years with his daughters in Puyallup, still tending a garden and enjoying regular family outings. He was diagnosed with cancer too advanced to operate on in his final year and died at home in Puyallup on May 10, 1934.

At a glance

Work
Farmer, Farming, Took seasonal jobs shearing sheep, Assistant Town Marshal, Ran a livery stable
Lived
Washington Township, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania · Arapahoe County, Colorado · Fox Island, Pierce County, Washington, USA
Sources (43)
  1. Isabella Brown (Tacoma, Washington) to Beulah Loomis, copied letter with 1966 intro from Beulah Grahm Loomis, March 1930; privately held by Catherine Leineweber, Portland, Oregon, 2021.
  2. State of Colorado Bureau of Vital Statistics, standard certificate of birth no. 208-163 (1942), Beulah Grahm; privately held by Jean Norrby, Oskarshamn, Sweden, 2022.
  3. Patricia Lobb to Nils (her grandson), letter regarding a family history interview from 2007; privately held by Nils-Erik Norrby, Lomma, Sweden, 2022.
  4. “Brief Local,” The Fort Morgan Times (Fort Morgan, CO), 18 August 1899, page 1, col 6; web archives (https://www.ppc-historicnewspapers.org/?a=d&d=FMT18990818-01 : accessed 1 October 2023).
  5. “Local News,” The Fort Morgan Times (Fort Morgan, CO), 17 May 1901, page 1, col 3; web archives (https://www.ppc-historicnewspapers.org/?a=d&d=FMT19010517-01 : accessed 1 October 2023).
  6. “Local News,” The Fort Morgan Times (Fort Morgan, CO), 26 May 1899, page 5, col 4; web archives (https://www.ppc-historicnewspapers.org/?a=d&d=FMT18990526-01 : accessed 1 October 2023).
  7. “Local News,” The Fort Morgan Times (Fort Morgan, CO), 23 June 1899, page 5, col 4; web archives (https://www.ppc-historicnewspapers.org/?a=d&d=FMT18990623-01 : accessed 1 October 2023).
  8. “Brief Local,” The Fort Morgan Times (Fort Morgan, CO), 14 July 1899, page 1, col 1; web archives (https://www.ppc-historicnewspapers.org/?a=d&d=FMT18990714-01 : accessed 1 October 2023).
  9. “Local News,” The Fort Morgan Times (Fort Morgan, CO), 21 July 1899, page 5, col 4; web archives (https://www.ppc-historicnewspapers.org/?a=d&d=FMT18990721-01 : accessed 1 October 2023).
  10. “Brief Local,” The Fort Morgan Times (Fort Morgan, CO), 25 August 1899, page 1, col 3; web archives (https://www.ppc-historicnewspapers.org/?a=d&d=FMT18990825-01 : accessed 1 October 2023).
  11. “Brief Local,” The Fort Morgan Times (Fort Morgan, CO), 16 March 1900, page 1, col 3; web archives (https://www.ppc-historicnewspapers.org/?a=d&d=FMT19000316-01 : accessed 1 October 2023).
  12. “Local News,” The Fort Morgan Times (Fort Morgan, CO), 19 April 1901, page 1, col 1; web archives (https://www.ppc-historicnewspapers.org/?a=d&d=FMT19010419-01 : accessed 1 October 2023).
  13. “Jury List,” The Fort Morgan Times (Fort Morgan, CO), 19 April 1901, page 2, col 6; web archives (https://www.ppc-historicnewspapers.org/?a=d&d=FMT19010419-01 : accessed 1 October 2023).
  14. “Gary,” The Fort Morgan Times (Fort Morgan, CO), 26 July 1901, page 8, col 2; web archives (https://www.ppc-historicnewspapers.org/?a=d&d=FMT19010726-01 : accessed 1 October 2023).
  15. “Petit Jurors,” The Brush Tribune (Brush, CO), 15 November 1901, page 1, col 3; web archives (https://www.ppc-historicnewspapers.org/?a=d&d=BRT19011115-01 : accessed 1 October 2023).
  16. “County Commissioners,” The Fort Morgan Times (Fort Morgan, CO), 12 September 1902, page 3, col 2; web archives (https://www.ppc-historicnewspapers.org/?a=d&d=FMT19020912-01 : accessed 1 October 2023).
  17. “Local and Personal,” The Fort Morgan Times (Fort Morgan, CO), 12 September 1902, page 5, col 3; web archives (https://www.ppc-historicnewspapers.org/?a=d&d=FMT19040212-01 : accessed 1 October 2023).
  18. “Petit Jurors,” The Brush Tribune (Brush, CO), 3 June 1904, page 3, col 4; web archives (https://www.ppc-historicnewspapers.org/?a=d&d=BRT19040603-01 : accessed 1 October 2023).
  19. “Commissioners’ Proceedings,” The Brush Tribune (Brush, CO), 22 February 1907, page 6, col 2-3; web archives (https://www.ppc-historicnewspapers.org/?a=d&d=BRT19070222-01 : accessed 1 October 2023).
  20. “Commissioners’ Proceedings,” The Brush Tribune (Brush, CO), 1 March 1907, page 3, col 3; web archives (https://www.ppc-historicnewspapers.org/?a=d&d=BRT19070301-01 : accessed 1 October 2023).
  21. “Commissioners’ Proceedings,” The Brush Tribune (Brush, CO), 22 March 1907, page 5, col 4; web archives (https://www.ppc-historicnewspapers.org/?a=d&d=BRT19070322-01 : accessed 1 October 2023).
  22. “Bits of Local Information,” The Brush Tribune (Brush, CO), 30 August 1907, page 2, col 2; web archives (https://www.ppc-historicnewspapers.org/?a=d&d=BRT19070830-01 : accessed 1 October 2023).
  23. 1920 U.S. census, Pierce County, Washington, population schedule, Fox Island precinct, enumeration district 205, sheet 1-A, dwelling 14, family 14, Jay Graham family; NARA microfilm publication T625, roll 1935, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/6061/images/4391490_00806 : accessed 2 October 2023)
  24. 1910 U.S. census, Pierce County, Washington, population schedule, Tacoma City Precinct 5, enumeration district 224, sheet 3-A, dwelling 43, family 51, Jay C. Graham family; NARA microfilm publication T624, roll 1663; Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/7884/images/4454884_01036 : accessed 2 October 2023).
  25. 1900 U.S. census, Fort Morgan, Precinct 2, Morgan County, Colorado, population schedule, enumeration district 185, sheet 1-B, Family of Charles J. Graham; NARA microfilm publication T623, roll 127; Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/7602/images/4119000_00370 : accessed 2 October 2023).
  26. Fern Grahm Lundquist, Tacoma, Washington, to her niece Patricia, letter, 9 January 1982, sharing a story about Christmas ~1926 on Fox Island; privately held by Jean Norrby, Oskarshamn, Sweden, 2022.
  27. Fern Grahm Lundquist, “Facts, Fun, and Frolics Featuring Fern’s Family and Friends,” January 1983; privately held by Jean Norrby, Oskarshamn, Sweden, 2022.
  28. Ester McCutcheon (Fort Morgan, Colorado) to Mrs. Margaret Haymaker Walker, retyping of destroyed letter, October 1937; privately held by Patricia Carlson, 2023.
  29. “The Way of the Transgressor,” The Pittsburg Dispatch (Pittsburgh, PA), 29 January 1889, page 1, col 7; web archives (https://www.newspapers.com/image/76225359 : accessed 6 November 2023).
  30. “Death, Not Divorce,” The Pittsburgh Post (Pittsburgh, PA), 29 January 1889, page 5, col 3; web archives (https://www.newspapers.com/image/86429116 : accessed 6 November 2023).
  31. “Tri-State News,” The Pittsburgh Dispatch (Pittsburgh, PA), 22 February 1889, page 2, col 6; web archives (https://www.newspapers.com/image/76225983 : accessed 8 November 2023).
  32. 1860 United States Census, Washington Township, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, population schedule, page 125-126, dwelling 928, family 870, Family of James Walker; NARA microfilm publication M653; Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/7667/images/4293564_00579 : accessed 8 November 2023).
  33. 1870 United States Census, Washington Township, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, population schedule, page 16, dwelling 119, family 116, Family of James Walker; NARA microfilm publication M593, roll 1466; Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/7163/images/4276467_00707 : accessed 8 November 2023).
  34. 1850 United States Census, Washington Township, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, population schedule, page 410b, dwelling 472, family 472, Family of James Walker; NARA microfilm publication M432, roll 836; Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/8054/images/4205399_00278 : accessed 9 November 2023).
  35. John W. Jordan, compiler, History of Westmoreland County Vol. III: Genealogical Memoirs (New York: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1906), 578; digital images, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/26787/images/dvm_LocHist011286-01184-0 : accessed 9 November 2023), image 2102.
  36. “Pennsylvania, U.S., Death Certificates, 1906-1970,” images, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/202962:5164 : accessed 11 November 2023), Death Certificate for John Walker, File Number 73599 (1908), Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania.
  37. “Pennsylvania, U.S., Death Certificates, 1906-1970,” images, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/4577382:5164 : accessed 11 November 2023), Death Certificate for Samuel Hill Walker, File Number 60910 (1935), Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania.
  38. “Pennsylvania, U.S., Death Certificates, 1906-1970,” images, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/5164/images/41381_2421406271_0837-03263 : accessed 11 November 2023), Death Certificate for Mrs. Elizabeth Long, File Number 21692 (1916), Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania.
  39. “Pennsylvania, U.S., Death Certificates, 1906-1970,” images, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/5164/images/41381_2321306652_0599-02564 : accessed 11 November 2023), Death Certificate for Nancy McGinley, File Number 94750 (1913), Allegheny County, Pennsylvania.
  40. 1900 U.S. census, Wilkinsburg Borough, 1st Ward, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, population schedule, enumeration district 527, sheet 103-A, Family of Robbert McGinley; NARA microfilm publication T623, roll 1372; Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/7602/images/4114986_00209 : accessed 11 November 2023).
  41. 1880 U.S. census, Washington Township, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, population schedule, enumeration district 108, page 24, dwelling 202, family 205, William Walker family; NARA microfilm publication T9, roll 1204; Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/6742/images/4244428-00232 : accessed 11 May 2024).
  42. Lillian (Shumaker) Lankerd, compiler, Genealogy of Three Loudon County Virginia Shoemaker Lines (Vandergrift, Pennsylvania: Lillian Lankerd, 1962), 112; digital images, Internet Archive (https://archive.org/details/genealogyofthree01lank/page/2/mode/2up : accessed 13 November 2023).
  43. Bureau of Land Management, “Land Patent Search,” images, General Land Office Records (https://glorecords.blm.gov/details/patent/default.aspx?accession=CO0430__.417 : accessed 17 May 2025), Charles J Grahm (Denver Land Office, Colorado), homestead certificate number 13791.
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