Page 166 - WPA Book
P. 166
Works Project Administration – Articles from Rockingham County
HOUSES
1. SUBJECT:
John Graham Residence.
2. LOCATION:
North Main Street, Harrisonburg, Virginia, on the location now occupied by the Joseph Ney & Sons Company
Department Store.
3. DATE:
When built is not definitely known but supposed to have been built in the late 1780s or early 1790s.
4. OWNERS:
Part of the Thomas Harrison inclusive survey of March 1773.
John Graham from A.S. Gray from John Graham’s heirs, July 17, 1842, $1,200,. B.R.D.B. 15, page 304.
E.J. Sullivan from A.S. Gray, February 20, 1863, B.R.D.B. 35, page 99.
Warren S. Lurty from E.J. Sullivan, August 9, 1876, $6,500, D.B 18, pages 441-2.
Joseph Ney from Warren S. Lurty, August 13, 1878, $6,500, for fifty-two feet and three inches on Main
Street, D.B. 15, page 358.
Joseph Ney & Sons Company, present owners.
5. DESCRIPTION:
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.
6. HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE:
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 .a.nd 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.
Page 165 of 482
HOUSES
1. SUBJECT:
John Graham Residence.
2. LOCATION:
North Main Street, Harrisonburg, Virginia, on the location now occupied by the Joseph Ney & Sons Company
Department Store.
3. DATE:
When built is not definitely known but supposed to have been built in the late 1780s or early 1790s.
4. OWNERS:
Part of the Thomas Harrison inclusive survey of March 1773.
John Graham from A.S. Gray from John Graham’s heirs, July 17, 1842, $1,200,. B.R.D.B. 15, page 304.
E.J. Sullivan from A.S. Gray, February 20, 1863, B.R.D.B. 35, page 99.
Warren S. Lurty from E.J. Sullivan, August 9, 1876, $6,500, D.B 18, pages 441-2.
Joseph Ney from Warren S. Lurty, August 13, 1878, $6,500, for fifty-two feet and three inches on Main
Street, D.B. 15, page 358.
Joseph Ney & Sons Company, present owners.
5. DESCRIPTION:
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.
6. HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE:
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 .a.nd 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.
Page 165 of 482
