James Graham (March 24, 1847 – December 11, 1917) was an American hatter and politician from New York.

Life

Graham was born on March 24, 1847, in

Chatham Square Chatham Square is a major intersection in Chinatown, Manhattan, New York City. The square lies at the confluence of eight streets: the Bowery, Doyers Street, East Broadway, St. James Place, Mott Street, Oliver Street, Worth Street and Park ...

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

, the son of James Graham and Margaret Fahey. He moved to

Williamsburg Williamsburg may refer to: Places *Colonial Williamsburg, a living-history museum and private foundation in Virginia *Williamsburg, Brooklyn, neighborhood in New York City *Williamsburg, former name of Kernville (former town), California *Williams ...

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

when he was young. He was of Irish parentage. As a young man, Graham worked as a hatter. He helped organize the Hatters Union of Brooklyn and served as president of the National Association of Hatters. He later retired from hatting to work in politics, but he remained dedicated to trade unionism in Brooklyn. When he was in the Assembly, he worked on legislation that improved conditions for labor union workers. After living in Brooklyn for 40 years, he moved to

Canarsie Canarsie ( ) is a mostly residential neighborhood in the southeastern portion of Brooklyn, New York City. Canarsie is bordered on the east by Fresh Creek Basin, East 108th Street, and Louisiana Avenue; on the north by Linden Boulevard; on th ...

, where he was involved with the Democratic Party under Patrick H. McCarren. In 1892, Graham was elected to the

New York State Assembly The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature, with the New York State Senate being the upper house. There are 150 seats in the Assembly. Assembly members serve two-year terms without term limits. The Ass ...

as a Democrat, representing the Kings County 18th District. He served in the Assembly in

1893 Events January * January 2 – Webb C. Ball introduces railroad chronometers, which become the general railroad timepiece standards in North America. * January 6 – The Washington National Cathedral is chartered by Congress; th ...

. He won re-election and briefly served in

1894 Events January * January 4 – A military alliance is established between the French Third Republic and the Russian Empire. * January 7 – William Kennedy Dickson receives a patent for motion picture film in the United States. * Ja ...

, but he was unseated on February 21 and replaced by his opponent in the election, William H. Friday. After he left the Assembly, he worked as a clerk for the Brooklyn Board of Elections, a position he served until his death. Graham was married to Margaret Redmund. Their daughters, Mary and Margaret, worked as public school teachers. He was involved in the

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

Church of the Holy Family, and was an active member of the Catholic Benevolent Legion. He was a member of the

Kings County Democratic County Committee The Brooklyn Democratic Party, officially the Kings County Democratic County Committee, is the county committee of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party in the New York City borough of Brooklyn (Kings County). It is the most loca ...

for over forty years. Graham died at home from

bronchitis Bronchitis is inflammation of the bronchi (large and medium-sized airways) in the lungs that causes coughing. Bronchitis usually begins as an infection in the nose, ears, throat, or sinuses. The infection then makes its way down to the bronchi. ...

and

heart disease Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is any disease involving the heart or blood vessels. CVDs constitute a class of diseases that includes: coronary artery diseases (e.g. angina pectoris, angina, myocardial infarction, heart attack), heart failure, ...

on December 11, 1917. He was buried in Holy Cross Cemetery.

References

External links

*
The Political Graveyard
' {{DEFAULTSORT:Graham, James (Brooklyn) 1847 births 1917 deaths People from Williamsburg, Brooklyn Politicians from Brooklyn People from Canarsie, Brooklyn American trade unionists of Irish descent Democratic Party members of the New York State Assembly Catholics from New York (state) Deaths from bronchitis Burials at Holy Cross Cemetery, Brooklyn 19th-century members of the New York State Legislature