Over a year ago, I was contacted by an individual via this blog’s contact form. “My 3rd great grandfather Charles McGraw was born in Russell County VA according to his CW pension papers.”
Since that time, I’ve traced a lot of records, chased a lot of rabbits, only to come to the following conundrum: Was Charles McGraw a son of John McGraw & Sarah Anderson (Greenbrier Co, WV > Russell Co, VA or was he their grandson via Thomas McGraw and Malisie Nancy Hurt?
For starters, there is a 5-year gap between John’s purported sons’ births, Martin McGraw (b. 1827) and Henry L. McGraw (b. 1832).
For another, Charles stated in his Certificate of Disability for Discharge dated October 1863 during the Civil War that he was 34 years old and was born in Russell County, VA. By the way, the paper also says he was 6′ 5″ tall – tall like my brothers.
However, Charles’ ages in the censuses place his birth between 1831 and 1832. He also appears in the 1849 Personal Property Tax List of Russell County, VA, age not given, but Virginia law in those days deemed that all males at 16 years of age and up were taxable/titheable. Subtracting 16 from 1849 places his birth at 1833.
Herein lies the problem: Henry L. McGraw’s birth year is 1832. Henry appears in the 1850 Census of Russell County, VA in the household of Thomas McGraw, recently widowed when his wife, Malisie Nancy Hurt, passed prior to 1850. If Thomas had a son named Henry (aged 18 in the census), there is a ten-year gap in children between Henry L and the next eldest child, 8-year-old Elizabeth. Therefore, Henry L. McGraw is either Thomas’ brother, a nephew or Thomas and Malisie Nancy Hurt were married long before the 1840 Census. There are 10 Henry McGraw’s in my family tree so far, none of which are Thomas’s nephews. (BTW, My grandfather’s name was Henry McGREW, so we can add to the list).
So, either Henry L. and Charles McGraw were twins, or Charles was just a little older than Henry. To me, this explains why Charles is in the Tax List of Russell County (1849), but Henry isn’t. Add to that Charles married in Kentucky in 1855. It was another 10 years before Henry L married his wife. Of course, there is always the question about whether John McGraw’s younger children were born to his first wife, Sarah Anderson, or to a second wife I know nothing about.
AND, I could be absolutely way off base.
I did attempt to make Charles the son of John and Sarah’s eldest son, William D. McGraw. However, William’s legal wife, Catherine, Last Name Unknown, was granted a divorce/annulment on 20 September 1849 in Russell County Court on the grounds of adultery. The record also states that William “wasn’t worth anything” (in other words, he owned nothing of value) and there was “no issue of the marriage,” meaning there were no children born to the couple for which she would need money for support. You can read the court record here:
FamilySearch catalog: Chancery order books, 1821 (1822)-1913 ; indexes to chancery order books, 1822-1944.
https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/514386?availability=Family%20History%20Library
While wife Catherine was free to remarry, William D. McGraw was not, according to the court. That might explain why we next find 40-year-old William in the 1850 Clay County Kentucky Census with a wife, 23-year-old Julia Ann Foster, and a one-year-old daughter, Emiline, born about 1849.
Could Charles be the son of James McGraw, son of John and Sarah? I backed up to the 1840 Census of Russell County, VA to the household of James McGraw, which shows only 3 children: I named them in the following list:
1840 Census Russell Co, VA
Males – 5 thru 9 (2) = James W, John B
Males – 30 thru 39 (1) = James McGraw (father)
Females – Under 5 (1) = Sarah Jane
Females – 20 thru 29 (1) = Nancy Owen (wife, mother)
Even if Charles had come along before James and Nancy’s marriage, he should be listed in the household by age: 10-15. But he isn’t.
Checking Thomas McGraw, son of John and Sarah, shows us another possibility for paternity. The 1840 Census shows us the following individuals in Thomas’ household:
Males – Under 5 (1) unknown male, possibly Henry L
Males – 10 thru 14 (1) unknown male, possibly Charles (wrong slot, should be 5-9)
Males – 20 thru 29 (1) Thomas McGraw
Females – 10 thru 14 (1) unknown female
Females – 20 thru 29 (1) Malisie Nancy Hurt
So there are at least 3 unknown and unnamed individuals who do not appear in Thomas’ household in the 1850 Census of Russell County, ten years later. Note that Malisie Nancy Hurt is deceased – assumed because she’s missing and never returns in future censuses:
Thomas McGraw 35
Elisabeth McGraw 8
Margaret McGraw 6
Lavina A McGraw 3
Robert McGraw 1
Henry McGraw 18
There are at least 3 siblings older than Elizabeth P McGraw Sprague, possibly only 2 if Henry L is a brother and has been living in the household since the death of his mother, Sarah Anderson McGraw. That is IF Henry L is a brother, not a son. If Thomas had married Malisie Nancy Hurt before 1839 (closer to 1831 when Thomas was likely to be at least 21 years of age), then the older children are still “missing” and unnamed. Meaning its quite possible that Charles McGraw was born to Thomas McGraw and Malisie Nancy Hurt.
By the way, I give the name Malisie Nancy Hurt because I’ve seen it both ways in the records of her children: Malisie Hurt and Nancy Hurt.
Charles McGraw, as well as Thomas McGraw, also appears in the Settlement of the Estate of Thurston C. Hurt in 1849/1851 Russell County. I’ll let you read through it but it lends credence to both Charles and his possible father, Thomas McGraw, being tied into the Hurt family. I do not know the relationship of Thurston C. Hurt to Malisie Nancy Hurt, if any, at this time.
“Russell, Virginia, United States records,” images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C9PF-HGXM?view=explore : Aug 1, 2026), image 234 of 305; . Image Group Number: 007646187
That ends the list of the sons of John and Sarah McGraw who could possibly be the father of Charles McGraw. The more I write, the more I begin to think Charles’ father was Thomas, son of John and Sarah. The reason I say that is because the younger the men are in age, the less likely they could be Charles’ father. For instance:
John A. McGraw: I established in a separate post how John A. left Russell County and traveled to Fayette County (West) Virginia after the 1832 Russell County Tax List, where he married his first cousin, Nancy M. McGraw – the daughter of his uncle, Samuel McGraw. John A. McGraw never returned to Russell County, living out his life in Fayette and Roane Counties, West Virginia.
Anderson McGraw, next in line, was born about 1820. The 1840 Census of Russell County shows two people in the household: himself and a wife. Besides: a child born between 1829 and 1834 is a slim to none probability (Anderson would have only been 9 to 13 years of age). Sons born after Anderson McGraw could in no wise be the father of Charles McGraw.
Finally, Sarah Anderson McGraw would have been in her mid-to-late 40s at the times Charles and Henry L McGraw were born. I’m not saying she could not have had children in her late 40s but I am saying that due to menopause, it becomes less probable. Therefore, I am revising my family tree to assign Charles and Henry L McGraw to Thomas McGraw and Malisie Nancy Hurt. If you have evidence (re: documentation) that will convince me otherwise, please be sharing it with me.
About Charles McGraw.
In 1849, he is indeed in the 1849 Personal Property Tax List of Russell County, VA. He’s listed directly above John McGraw, Sr.
In 1855, Charles married Julina Steward 28 February 1855 in Lawrence County, Kentucky.
In 1860, Charles and “Tallind” (Julina) are listed in the Wayne County, (West) Virginia Census, plus or minus 25 miles from Lawrence County, KY. In short, Wayne County, WV is just across the state line. Here we find several people in the household including Charles and Julina’s 3 children: Emaline, Elizabeth, and Charles. You’ll need to turn the page in the Census to find the children’s listed in the same household as their parents.
In 1861, Charles McGraw enlisted into the Union Army and was assigned to what became Co. B, 5th WV Infantry.
In 1880, Charles, Julina, and children are listed in the Census residing at/near Laurel Hill, Lincoln County, West Virginia.
In 1890, Charles is found on the Veteran’s Schedule, residing in Sheridan, Lincoln County, West Virginia.
On July 31, 1895, widow Julina filed in Kentucky (I’m guessing Catlettsburg, Boyd Co, KY) to receive Charles’ pension after his death.
Their son Charles McGraw died on 19 January 1925 at Huntington, Cabell County, West Virginia. You can view the death record here:
“West Virginia Vital Research Records – Record Image”. 2026. Wvculture.Org. https://dach-image-proxy.digital-relativity.workers.dev/?film=1953235&frame=00164
This concludes what I know (and surmise) about Charles McGraw.
