Eugene D. Graham, county clerk of San Joaquin County, California, is a native of this county, born near Stockton, January 22, 1866.
His parents, Robert L. and Caroline (Stokes) Graham were born in Kentucky and belonged to old Kentucky families; both had ancestors who fought for independence in the Revolutionary War. On the paternal side the ancestral line can be traced back to Scotland, while the maternal ancestry is of German origin. In 1852 Robert L. Graham, with his wife and one child, Surelda, left the Kentucky home and came to a new one in the far west. Their journey hither was made with ox teams, they brought with them about fifteen hundred head of cattle, and on their arrival in California they located in San Joaquin County. Here the father engaged in farming and stock-raising, among the pioneers of the county, and here he still resides. Another daughter and two sons were added to the family after they came to California. The daughter Surelda H. is now the wife of A. M. Hale, and Ella B. is the wife of C. E. Hull. The sons are Robert L., Jr., and Eugene D.
Eugene D. Graham was reared on his father’s farm and educated in the public schools near his home. The time between the fifteenth and nineteenth years he spent at Lodi, where he was assistant postmaster and drug clerk. Returning to the farm then, he was occupied in agricultural pursuits until 1895, when he was appointed deputy county clerk. He served as deputy in the clerk’s office for a term of five years, during which time his faithful service and his genial manner brought him into favor with the people of the county, and in 1902 he was elected to the office for a term of four years.
Mr. Graham married, in 1888, Miss Frances E. Mann, a native of Iowa, who came to California when two years of age, in 1869, with her parents, Daniel L. and Jane Mann, their settlement being in Solano County. The fruits of this union are three sons, Robert E., Lloyd L., and Myrl E. Mr. Graham is a member of the I.O.O.F. and the W.O.W. He harmonizes, politically, with the Republican party.
Source: Leigh H. Irvine; A History of the New California Its Resources and People, 2 Volumes; New York and Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1903.