Coldengham, New York
Store of Cadwallader Colden, Jr.
The Grahams
On this day, 250 years ago, Robert Graham Jr. purchased shoes, buckles, and salt at the Colden Store.
This article is one in a series of a daily accountings of Colden Store transactions. Be sure you read the first installment for more of an introduction to the store. You should also read this article which appeared in the Journal of the Orange County Historical Society.
Just over a year prior to this date Robert Graham of the Precinct of Shawangunk signed his will [1766_09_29, Ulster wills, Vol. A, p137.] My guess is that the will was made on his deathbed like many of the day and that he was not alive on this date (even though it was not probated until 1789). His will lists many of his descendants. His family was prolific so it is not surprising that the Graham surname appears 92 times in the DayBook. In the five months prior to this date they purchased over 500 items.
The Colden store was in the Precinct of Wallkill which abutted the south border of the Precinct of Shawangunk. It is not known exactly where all of the Graham farms were, but by 1779 many were in the new Precinct of Hanover which comprised the eastern part of the former Precinct of Wallkill [Tax assessment of 1779]. Perhaps the families continued to move up the Wallkill River from Shawangunk into Hanover [the river flows approximately south to north].
One of the Graham farms was likely on the Wallkill River as shown on this 1798 map. The location is close to the Main Street bridge in Village of Walden, NY.
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| A Graham home is shown on this 1798 map of Montgomery, New York. See green circle near top of map. Colden Store was located close to red box on the right. The thick blue line is the Wallkill River flowing north. |
The identification of Graham family members in the DayBook is complicated by the repetition of given names over generations and across lines. It is further complicated by the likely existence of unrelated lines. For example, the well-known Dr. James G. Graham of Shawangunk is believed to be from a separate line.
In his will, Robert(1) [number designates the generation] names his sons: John(2), Andrew(2), and Robert(2). Indeed these names appear frequently in the DayBook. He also names some of his grandsons by John(2): Robert(3), Andrew, and John Jr. The DayBook names a ‘Robert Jr.’ and an ‘Andrew Jr.’ but no John Jr. Did all of Robert’s(1) sons have boys names Robert? You see the confusion. Is ‘Robert Jr.’ in the DayBook Robert(2) or Johns’s son, Robert(3) or even a son of Robert(2) not named in the will?
A genealogy tree created by Harold VanAken suggests that both Robert(2) and John(2), who were in their fifties, had sons named Robert, who were both in their twenties.
Is John(2)’s son, Andrew, the one referred to as ‘Andrew Jr.’ in the DayBook? Or did Andrew(2) also have a son of that name? Indeed an ‘Andrew Jr.’ is living on Andrew Sr’s land in the 1779 Tax Assessment for Hanover.
Robert also names his daughters and their spouses: Mary (Robert Cane [Kain]), Elizabeth (James Dayly [or Daily]), and Jane (deceased, Jacobus Bruyn). The Kain surname appears 34 times in the DayBook, Dayly appears 33 times, and Bruyn appears 8 times.
In one entry, a ‘Graham’ is identified with no given name, only as ‘Captain.’ This might be John Graham, who in 1776, was one of the Captains in the Hanover Company of levies in Levi Pawling’s regiment who were marched to defend New York City [Revolutionary War Rolls].
Not all Grahams were patriots. The 1779 Tax assessment states that Andrew Sr. was ‘with the enemy.’ As a result, his son, Andrew Jr., living on his property paid a double tax. Captain John Graham was also said to have deserted to the British around the time of the battle at Fort Montgomery [James Crawford’s pension file].
Even though many facts are unknown, it is known that 250 years ago on this date, Robert Graham Jr. was in the Colden Store buying a pair of shoes, a pair of buckles, and a half bushel of salt.
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