DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Now, every town has its founders, and most of them get their names on a sign and that's about the end of it. But Graham, Texas — Young County — has a story that runs a good bit deeper than a sign.
And at the heart of it is a woman named Addie. She was born Agnes Mary Kinter, in Indiana, in 1843. By 1865 she was married to Edwin Smith Graham.
And Edwin was the kind of man who heard the word "opportunity" and couldn't sit still. Word got around about land development in Texas, and through the 1870s he kept making the trip down, looking, planning, figuring. In 1872, Edwin and his brother G.
A. Graham founded this town. They didn't just stake a claim and walk away, either.
They gave land for a county courthouse. They set aside lots for churches, schools, and cemeteries — the whole architecture of a community, laid out from the start. For years, though, Addie and the children stayed back.
It wasn't until 1879 that E. S. and Addie Graham brought their family to live in the town that bore their name. And they put down roots.
Then, twelve years later, they pulled them up again — moving to Spokane, Washington, where Colonel Graham had other business ventures waiting on him. He died there in 1899. Now here's where the story turns, and turns hard.
Addie Graham came back. Back to Graham. And she didn't come back to rest on what her husband had built — she came back to keep building.
She contributed to the construction of a city auditorium. She endowed a Bible teaching position in the Graham schools. She donated land on which was built a home for the aged poor of the county.
One by one, she found the gaps in a growing town and filled them. But perhaps the most lasting thing she ever did involved something most folks don't think twice about turning on a tap for. Since the town's founding, people had been getting by on individual wells and cisterns.
In 1907, the city built its first water pumping station to replace all of that. Progress, sure — but the water coming through those pipes was still untreated. And it stayed that way until 1910, when Addie Graham gave the money for a filtering plant.
Built right here at this site. That facility ran for seventy-five years. Seventy-five years of clean water, flowing through a town that a woman from Indiana decided was worth caring for.
Addie Graham died in 1929. The marker says her contributions have had a lasting impact on the town's growth and development, and standing here, knowing what she gave — the land, the money, the years — that's about as understated as Texas gets.
What the marker says
Born in Indiana in 1843, Agnes Mary ("Addie") Kinter married Edwin Smith Graham in 1865. Upon hearing of the opportunities for land development in Texas, Graham traveled to Texas many times during the 1870s. In 1872, he and his brother, G. A., founded this town. They gave land for a county courthouse and set aside lots for churches, schools, and cemeteries. In 1879, E. S. and Addie Graham brought their children to live in the new town. Twelve years later, they moved to Spokane, Washington, where Col. Graham had other business ventures. He died there in 1899. Addie Graham returned to Graham and continued her husband's philanthropic efforts. She contributed to the building of a city auditorium, endowed a Bible teaching position in the Graham schools, and donated land on which was built a home for the aged poor of the county. In 1907, the city's first water pumping station was built to replace the individual wells and cisterns that had been used since the town's founding. The water remained untreated, however, until 1910, when Addie Graham gave the money for a filtering plant. The facility, built at this site, was in use for 75 years. Addie Graham died in 1929. Her contributions have had a lasting impact on the town's growth and development. Texas Sesquicentennial 1836-1986