John Graham Residence.
North Main Street, Harrisonburg, Virginia, on the location now occupied by the Joseph Ney & Sons Company Department Store.
When built is not definitely known, but supposed to have been built in the late 1780’s or early 1790’s.
Street, Deed Book #15, page 358.
This house was rectangular, built of stone, to which an addition was later built on the north end of two rooms below and one large room above with gabled roof, eight rooms. In recent years the house has been remodeled inside and outside, the stone walls being cased with brick.
John Graham was one of the early and prominent citizens of Harrisonburg, and according to his grand-daughter, Mrs. Maria Graham Carr, built the first house in the town, meaning no doubt, after the organization of the town in 1779. The lot on which this building stands extends back about one hundred and sixty-four feet to Federal Alley, and besides out-buildings at the rear there was also the family burial ground in which John Graham and many of his family were buried. John Graham died in 1815 and his wife in 1827. These bodies were all removed and re-intered in Woodbine Cemetery when that burial ground was established. Peter Effinger and his wife, Harriet, Samuel Cootes and his wife, Emily and two daughters, Maria Louisa and Maria Frances and others were buried here. These were removed with the others.
Mrs. Graham rented her house to Ben Van Pelt for a tavern and moved across the street to a white frame house owned by Graham. She married again but unhappily. She bought a farm called "Long Meadows"
And lived there until her death in 1827. The white frame house into which she moved and lived for some years was torn down and the present brick building now standing on the same location was built by Samuel Shacklett and is now occupied in part by the Fletcher Pharmacy.
As said above John Graham was an early and prominent citizen of Harrisonburg, and took an active part in the town’s affairs, owning many pieces of property in the town and in the country; he was active in the establishing and building of the Presbyterian church in Harrisonburg, furnishing the ground on which the old stone church on West Market Street was built, and is still standing though only the rear stone wall may be seen. He was also perhaps the largest subscriber towards the cost of the building. A very minute description of the interior arrangement of the church is given by his granddaughter, Mrs. Maria Graham Carr, but more as to this later in another write-up, in connection with the Presbyterian Church in Harrisonburg.
John Graham Residence
Page 2
John Graham, Jr., engaged in the store business in partnership with Henry Shacklett, their store being the brick building spoken of above, built by Samuel Shacklett and located on the northeast corner of the Court Square and North Main Street, and as said now occupied in part by the Fletcher Pharmacy.
Informant: Mrs. Maria Graham Carr, Harrisonburg, Virginia.
Rockingham County Court Records, Harrisonburg, Virginia.
November 1, 2024 Geo. W. Fetzer
Harrisonburg, VA