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| John Alexander Graham, Bessie's husband. (photo courtesy of findagrave.com) |
In our last post we discussed the symbolism of Elizabeth Budd Graham’s grave and how it proved that she was not a witch. Now we are going to explore what little written information there is about Elizabeth in the historical record. As was common for the time, there is much more information out there about her husband, John Alexander Graham, and other male relatives than there is about her. But thankfully, there is some information out there, such as her obituary and genealogical information. We can use that information to learn more about her and learn who the real person was behind all the lore.
We have already talked a little bit about her obituary in the last post, but let us dive further, as it is a good place to start when researching any deceased person. An obituary can provide information like important dates, places and relatives. One important date that has contributed to the witch myth is her birth date. Yes, she was born in October, but by that logic everyone born in October would have to be a witch, right? I have provided her obituary in its entirety below.
Obituary: A Sad Death
Early this morning at the dawning of a new day the insatiate reaper, death, claimed Bessie, the lovely young wife of Mr. John A. Graham, at their family residence, 64 East Duval street. Mrs. Graham had been slightly unwell for a day or two, but no one anticipated so sudden and sad a termination. Last night she was much troubled with her heart and between 4 and 5 o'clock she quietly and peacefully passed away, we hope, to a better and brighter home in the unknown beyond. Possessed of rare personal beauty and excellent traits of character that her young life should so suddenly and abruptly terminated when all before her appeared so happy and pleasant. The blow fell hard with crushing effect upon the young husband, who loved and adored his wife with all the affection possessed by human nature. Mrs. Graham was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. David Wilson of Tallahassee, and niece of Mr. C.W. Smith, of this city. She leaves besides her husband and one babe a number of other relatives residing at Monticello and Tallahassee.-Metropolis, 16th. The remains were brought to Tallahassee for internment, arriving Sunday afternoon, and were followed to the grave by a large concourse of sympathizing friends, the funeral being from the residence of the parents of the deceased, Mr. and Mrs. David C. Wilson, at 3:30 p.m.
We had assumed that since she was buried in Tallahassee, that she and her husband lived here. However, an initial search found there to be no East Duval Street in Tallahassee (note the address in her obituary), although there is a Duval Street that runs north and south. This caused a little confusion at first during our research. There is an East Duval Street in Jacksonville, however. Unfortunately, the address 64 East Duval Street is now a paved parking lot. We were hoping to possibly find a historic home in that location dating to the time Bessie and John would have resided there, but no such luck. The obituary mentions that her remains were brought to Tallahassee, but not from what location. Was she visiting her family in the area when she became ill or was she brought here from Jacksonville after she passed? Either way, she was most likely buried in Old City Cemetery because of her familial ties to the area, as evidenced by her surviving relatives mentioned in the obituary. The 1880 U.S. Census data shows that her residence was in Jacksonville and not Tallahassee.
Her tombstone inscription states that she was a mother, but we cannot find any concrete evidence of who her child was. Her obituary mentions one baby, but no name. Her husband did remarry to Nina Hayward Graham. There are two children tied to John Andrew Graham. One is John Graham, Jr. (mentioned as a surviving family member in the 1921 obituary) and the other is Harriet (who passed in 1913, of unknown age). Harriet is also mentioned as Nina’s child, so we are left to assume that John Graham, Jr. was perhaps Elizabeth’s surviving child.
In researching Elizabeth’s parents, David C. Wilson, Jr. and Florence J Smith Wilson, we learn that they were married in 1866 (the same year Bessie was born). David was born in Jefferson County and served in the Confederate Army during the Civil War. David passed in 1906 and is buried at Tallahassee’s Old City Cemetery, which further confirms why Elizabeth may have been buried there as well. It is also interesting to note that David’s monument is also an obelisk, although not as large or ornate as Elizabeth’s, but still can be viewed as a sign of the family’s wealth and prestige. Florence passed years later in 1929 at the age of 81. At the time she had been living in Jacksonville and her obituary states she was living “at the home”. We are unsure what that means, but perhaps she was living at a retirement home. There was a Confederate Old Soldiers Home in Jacksonville, but it was for soldiers only, so it is not likely that Florence, even as the widow of a CSA veteran, was living at that home. She was buried at Evergreen Cemetery in Jacksonville after a funeral service at St. Marks Episcopal Church. This may explain Elizabeth’s ties to Jacksonville and may be why she was listed as living there in the 1880 census.
We went as far back as Elizabeth’s grandparents and found something interesting that is further
evidence that she was not a witch, but in fact had long ties to the Christian church. Her grandmother on her father’s side, Elizabeth Shirley Wilson, along with her descendants were members of the Presbyterian Church in Tallahassee. Her grandfather, David C. Wilson, Sr. was an elder and one of the founders of the First Presbyterian Church and gifted the tower bell. The First Presbyterian Church is an interesting landmark itself, and is the oldest continually operating public building in Tallahassee. It is fascinating to find a connection between it and Elizabeth Budd Graham. 
Elizabeth's Grandfather,
David Wilson, Sr. (photo
courtesy of findagrave.com)
In researching Elizabeth Budd Graham, we became curious where the name Budd came from. Her maiden name was Wilson, so we dug a little deeper and found that her great-grandmother was named Elizabeth Kershaw Budd Smith and is buried in a different Old City Cemetery in Monticello (you have to be careful with cemetery names because there are a lot of duplicates out there!). Budd was her great grandmother’s maiden name and her family had long ties to the area.
All this being said, we hope that this has humanized Elizabeth Budd Graham for you and convinced you that she was indeed not a witch. She was descended from a prominent family with a long history in both Tallahassee and Monticello. She and her family were all upstanding citizens, heavily involved in the church. In fact they were founding members of one of the most historic 
Historic photo of First Presbyterian
Church (photo courtesy of First
Presbyterian Church)
churches in Tallahassee! While it is fun to imagine witches and haunts in historic graveyards, it is important to remember that behind each and everyone of those monuments is a human being and that those monuments were placed there by those that loved and mourned them. Besides, the real stories of those buried in historic cemeteries is usually much more fascinating than the myth. Historic cemeteries are essentially outdoor museums and a great way to get to know a community’s history by connecting the people buried there with the historic landscape. In fact, in this case, the Tallahassee Old City Cemetery is only a few blocks away from the historic First Presbyterian Church.
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