JOSEPH BROWN GRAHAM, lawyer, teacher, member of the Constitutional Convention, 1901, was born March 18, 1864, at Spring Garden, Alabama, the son of William Harris and Myra (Penland) Graham. He attended schools in that community while young, and went later to Oxford College to study under Prof. John L. Dodson. He taught school in Union City, Tennessee, later accepting the position of superintendent of schools at Talladega. He was also county superintendent in Talladega County. He studied law, and was admitted to the bar and served as solicitor of Talladega County. He was a member of the Convention of 1901 as a representative from Talladega County, and was one of the “Big Four” of that body. He had a tragic death in 1903 in Talladega, leaving a widow and one son who is a surgeon in Birmingham.
Mrs. Jefferson Davis Stewart, of Gadsden, is a sister of Mr. Graham. Another sister, Emma, married J. B. Palmer, Confederate veteran, born in 1837, son of Seaborn and Mary (Blake) Palmer, who came to Benton County in 1831.
Source: Mrs. Frank Ross Stewart, Cherokee County [Alabama] History, 1836—1956, Volume 2 (Centre, Alabama, 1959), pp. 343-344. Reprinted with permission.