Samuel Cecil Graham (January 1, 1846 – January 11, 1923) was a Virginia lawyer and judge, who served as president of the

Virginia Bar Association The Virginia Bar Association (VBA) is a voluntary organization of lawyers, judges and law school faculty and students in Virginia, with offices in Richmond, Virginia. Key elements are advocacy, professionalism, service and collegiality. It pro ...

. Graham became a soldier in the Confederate Army at age 17. He was wounded in action three times during the War. He attended

Emory and Henry College Emory & Henry University (E&H or Emory) is a private university in Emory, Virginia, United States. The campus comprises of Washington County, which is part of the Appalachian highlands of Southwest Virginia. Founded in 1836, Emory & Henry U ...

for two years, beginning in 1867, then

read law Reading law was the primary method used in common law countries, particularly the United States, for people to prepare for and enter the legal profession before the advent of law schools. It consisted of an extended internship or apprenticeship un ...

at Jeffersonville, which was then the county seat of

Tazewell County, Virginia Tazewell County () is a county located in the southwestern portion of the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 40,429. Its county seat is Tazewell. Tazewell County is part of the Bluefield, WV-VA Micropoli ...

. He was admitted to the bar in 1870, and elected county judge in 1873, serving until 1880. He practiced for the rest of his career in Tazewell County. Graham was the charter president of the Clinch Valley bank at its founding in 1889. In 2005, the successors of the bank chartered in 1889 were owned by National Bankshares, Inc. Graham was president of the Virginia State Bar Association for 1902-1903. Graham spent a month each winter in Florida. His old home on the Intracoastal Waterway is now a bed and breakfast, called Indian River House.

Notes and references

{{DEFAULTSORT:Graham, Samuel 1846 births 1923 deaths Virginia lawyers Virginia state court judges American lawyers admitted to the practice of law by reading law 19th-century American lawyers