Honestly, I know very little about this couple. Records after their marriage which occurred 11 March 1813 in Monroe County, West Virginia are very scant. Yes, it was the State (or Commonwealth) of Virginia in those days but I double-dog dare you to go hunting for a copy of the marriage record in Virginia.
William was a son of Martin McGraw Sr and Margaret (surname unknown. No, her surname was not Gallagher or Shores.) I believe this because, throughout the last 30-plus years of research, I’ve yet to find another McGraw family in either Greenbrier or Monroe to which to tie William. Martin and Margaret lived out their lives in Greenbrier County, possibly straddling the Monroe County line as far as I can ascertain. And no, we’re no relation to the McGary/McGaraugh family of Greenbrier that presumably moved on to Kentucky territory before Martin McGraw Sr and family arrived in 1796.
William’s younger brother Thomas McGraw, my direct ancestor, married Catherine Withrow who may have been a younger sister of Lucretia: I’ve yet to determine from which Withrow family Lucretia descended.
William’s older brother Martin McGraw Jr (ALSO my ancestor) married his first wife Nancy Wood in Monroe County (1806); younger brother Samuel McGraw also married in Monroe County to Elizabeth Wood (1812), sister of Nancy Wood, aforementioned. Note that Samuel’s marriage to Elizabeth Wood (first wife) is listed on the same page (top) as William’s marriage to Lucretia (bottom) in the Minister’s Returns of John Alderson, found here: http://www.wvculture.org/vrr/va_view.aspx?Id=11369509&Type=Marriage and shown below:
The McGraw family spent a good deal of time in both Monroe County and Greenbrier County. I am of the opinion that Martin Sr’s farm lay across the border between the two counties since Martin Sr paid taxes in Greenbrier one year; the following year he paid taxes in Monroe. It is likely that the sons at least were probably attending services at the Old Greenbrier Baptist Church at which John Alderson was pastor (and who officiated these said marriages) and at which the Wood and Skaggs families were founding members.
Since the advent of DNA testing and DNA Matches through Ancestry, MyHeritage, et. al., I, my siblings, or my cousins have only ONE match to an alleged descendant of William McGraw & Lucretia Withrow. I am confused by the research associated with the various trees in which William “Hiram” and Lucretia are listed: The birthplaces for both are listed as South Carolina, the marriage in Monroe County, WV, residence back in SC again ending with Lucretia McGraw dying in Jasper, Mississippi. Let’s be real: No one can be in two places at the same time.
I say that because William McGraw appears in the Monroe County, WV Tax Lists in 1812 and 1813. However, in 1814, there is no listing for William McGraw. Lucretia is listed along with her mother-in-law Margaret and her sister-in-law Elizabeth (Betsy Brian) McGraw, both widowed by or before 11 April 1815:
The “researchers” of William McGraw have him confused with his brother Henry McGraw who came of age and appears in Greenbrier County in both 1820 and 1830 with his aged mother in the household. Henry, now married, moved with his wife Mary/Polly (no last name) to Nicholas County before 1840 which became Fayette County, WV. He could not possibly be his brother William – there’s an eleven-year age difference between the two men.
Further, there are two William McGraws: 1 – William McGraw, son of Martin and Margaret, and 2 – William McGraw, son of George Anthony McGraw. The older William married in 1813; males had to be at least 21 years of age to marry in the state of Virginia (placing his birth year between 1788 and 1792). Combine that with the fact that he first appears in the tax lists in 1809 making him at least 16 years old. The latter William, son of George Anthony McGraw, would only have been about 16 years old in 1813 (marriage to Lucretia W). Further, the latter William married Elizabeth Gill and moved to Lawrence County, Ohio before 1830 – you’ll find him migrating from Greenbrier to Lawrence in 1830 > Adams in 1840 > Scioto in 1850. I have DNA matches to descendants of every child of Martin and Margaret McGraw except son William as well as descendants of the those descendant.
William McGraw appears in the Monroe County Personal Property Tax Lists in 1809, 1812, and 1813 with him disappearing in 1814 forward. What I now know, thanks to Cathy Meder-Dempsey, is William McGraw was deposed as a witness in the case of David Nelson v James Graham from his sick bed at the home of another individual – in other words, too sick to even go home. Documents substantiating this follow but the truth remains: William was deposed from his sick bed because he was unable to go to court.
- 16 Feb 1814: “Familysearch: Sign In”. 2022. Familysearch.Org. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CS51-5SDD-M?view=fullText&keywords=McGraw&groupId=TH-909-76494-64637-50
- “Familysearch: Sign In”. 2024. Familysearch.Org. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CS51-5SDD-M?lang=en&i=337 transcribed below:
- 16 Feb 1814 Monroe County, West Virginia Monroe County Court Clerks office to wit: This Day James Graham personally came before me as Clerk and made oath that William McGraw of said County in his opinion is a material witness for him in an action of Trespass brought & now pending in the said County Court of Monroe David Nelson against him the said Graham and that he is informed and does verily believe that he (owing to the state of health in which the said William McGraw is placed) cannot possably attain at the said Court the personal attendance of said witness and without his written testimony would consequently be deprived of his evidence. Sworn to and subscribed this 16th day of February 1814. James Graham
Isaac Hutchinson ___ - The testimony (deposition) of William McGraw was recorded here, https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CS51-5SDD-1, and was read in court at a future date in Graham’s defense. Thus it was evident that William McGraw was not going to live or be alive at the time of the hearing. William McGraw’s “two younger brothers” mentioned herein are obviously Thomas McGraw, my ancestor, and Samuel McGraw, later called as witnesses in the same action. It is further evident that William McGraw had moved to the “island plantation” (in the Greenbrier River) with the intention of farming there; he may likely have died at the home of James Graham.
Widow, Lucretia McGraw, nee Withrow, appeared once in the tax list (pictured above) in 1815 living either with or adjacent to her widowed mother-in-law Margaret McGraw and widowed sister-in-law Elisabeth (Betsy Bryant/Brien) McGraw, meaning William died sometime in the preceding months, my bet is sometime after his deposition in February 1814 since there were no taxes charged to either him or Lucretia that year. To date, there is no evidence of children born to the couple.
Shown below are the only known children of Martin McGraw Sr and Margaret (surname unknown):
**UPDATED: 5 August 2025***
