William A. Graham (agriculture commissioner)
William Alexander Graham was a North Carolina legislator and state Commissioner of Agriculture.Biography
Graham was born on December 26, 1839 in Hillsborough, North Carolina to William Alexander Graham and Susannah Sarah Washington. Graham was educated at private schools, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Princeton College. He served as an officer in the Confederate Army during the Civil War. Graham became a farmer and led the North Carolina Farmers' Alliance. A Democrat, he was elected to represent Lincoln County in the North Carolina Senate in 1874 and 1879 and in the North Carolina House of Representatives in 1905. In 1879 to 1880, Graham served as President pro tempore of the North Carolina Senate. From 1899 to 1908, Graham was a member of the state Board of Agriculture.
In 1908, Graham was elected Commissioner of Agriculture. He was re-elected several times and served until his death in December 1923. His son, William Graham Jr., succeeded him as Commissioner.
Graham died in Raleigh, North Carolina on December 23, 1923 and is buried in Machpelah Presbyterian Church Cemetery, Lincolnton, North Carolina.
The William A. Graham Jr. Farm was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977.
