Letter Correspondents

Three different people were addressed in the seventeen surviving letters of William Graham. The great majority were sent to his sister Elizabeth (Libbie) Graham. One was addressed to John Boyes. The rest were addressed to his cousin, Dr. Robert Bell.

Dr. Robert Bell

It is estimated that 35,000 immigrants, almost all of whom were Irish, reach New Brunswick in the years 1818 to 1826. Between 1827 and 1835, 65,000 Irish immigrants are said to have reached this province. During the Famine Years the numbers increased even more. In 1846 alone, 9,765 arrived and then record numbers in 1847 when 15,279 reached N.B. ports. Because of the new Passenger Act introduced in 1816, vessels bound for New Brunswick ports could carry ten passengers for every three carried in ships to U.S. ports. As a result, ships sailing to Canada and N.B. carried the bulk of the immigrants bound for Boston, New York, and Philadelphia and often some of these immigrants remained where they landed. Another reason why passages to N.B. were attractive to Irish immigrants was because of the Head Tax. New Brunswick did not have a Head Tax in the early years and later, in 1832 when N.B. finally introduced a Head Tax, it was only half that charged in American ports.

Dr. Robert Bell	Harriet Haring Bell

According to a published biography, he was born August 24, 1815, in County Down, Ireland (now Northern Ireland, or Ulster), about 12 miles from the City of Belfast. He was the son of William Bell and Elizabeth Graham (aunt of William Graham and his sister Elizabeth or 'Libbie'). He was 12 years old when his family left Ireland and landed in St. Johns, New Brunswick, Canada in 1827. They then made their way to Boston, Mass., and resided in Bridgeport, Connecticut.

Later Robert Bell was a student in Newburg, NY where he had typhoid fever and was not expected to survive. After that he moved to Fishkill Landing where his brother and sister died. Later his family moved to Newtown, NY (now Elmira, NY). From there, by 1840 they moved about 3 miles south of Monterey Village in the Town of Orange, Schuyler Co., NY.

In 1839 & 1840 Robert was a student in a select school in Montour Falls, taught by Artemus Fay and later by Mr. Gillett. Then Robert became ill again, and Dr. Nelson Winton attended him, and offered him a course of medical study for three years in return for one year of service to Dr. Winton. Eventually the now Dr. Bell was persuaded by the people of Monterey to set up a permanent office there.

In 1846 his mother Elizabeth Graham died and is buried in the Monterey Cemetery. Robert Bell's father William continued living on the family farm outside Monterey, New York with his unmarried son James. In 1864 William remarried a woman named Margaret, whose surname is unknown.

Former Dr. & Mrs. Bell Residence in Monterey - still the most beautiful

In 1849 Dr. Bell married Harriet M. Haring. Mrs. Bell was an active and influential member of the Presbyterian Church, being especially active in its missionary organizations. In the spring of 1878 they went on an extensive trip through the west and south, with the hope of benefiting Mrs. Bell's health. She died on September 3, 1902 and is buried in Glenwood Cemetery in Watkins, with a large monument in the center of the cemetery.

Dr. Bell was important in the building and development of Monterey village He built a large block in Monterey for the post office and 3 stores, and a community hall upstairs. Dr. and Mrs. Bell were said to live in the most beautiful residence in Monterey.

Dr. Bell had no children, but was much attached to his wife, and took much interest in all his relatives. As a preceptor (teacher) he gave many young men a good start in the medical profession. He was known for his kindness of heart and charitable deeds, and ever contributed liberally to any worthy cause. Dr. Bell died in 1907 and is buried next to his wife.

Prime source: A Biographical Record of Schuyler County, NY, 1903

John Boyes

John Boyes was likely the nephew of the family William lived with in 1860. William was then living with farmer Thomas Boyes, his wife and seven children in the Town of Orange, Schuyler Co., NY. No John is living there, but there is a John Boyes 20 working as a farm laborer in nearby Seneca, Ontario County, NY. In 1870, a John Boyes age 30 is employed as a physician living in Tyrone, Schuyler County with his wife Cynthia age 26.

Elizabeth 'Libbie' Graham

Elizabeth Graham was born around 1841 in Ireland. According to her entry in the 1900 census, she immigrated from Ireland in 1852, when she would have been the age of eleven. So far as we know, she immigrated with her father James and brother William. In one of his letters, William states that Libbie is his only sister. Nothing is known of her mother.

By 1855, Elizabeth Graham was living in the Town of Dix, Schuyler County, New York with Andrew and Harriet Scobey (both age 28) and is adopted by them. She is living not far from the Brewster Platt’s, whose daughter Mary would eventually marry Elizabeth's brother William after the Civil War.

In 1860, Elizabeth Graham is a 19 year old domestic servant living with the farmer couple, Andrew (33) and Harriet (34) Scobey. Brother William Graham sends his respects to the Scobey’s in a number of his letters sent to Libbey (Elizabeth) during the Civil War.

In 1870 and 1880, Elizabeth is a housekeeper still living with the Scobey’s and just down the road from the Platt’s. Mary Graham lives on the Platt farm with just her husband William in 1870. In 1880 she is there with her two children as a widow, William having died in 1877.

In 1884, Elizabeth Graham married the widower, Eugene Pangborn of the Village of Townsend in Schuyler County. Eugene had five children by his previous wife, Jane Huey. Elizabeth helped raise the 3 youngest children.

She probably had the greatest influence on the youngest child Ruth, who was age five when Elizabeth married Eugene. Ruth eventually married Edwin Van Deventer in October 1900 in Monterey, New York. Ruth survived to the age of 102, dying in 1982.

The 1900 Census for the Town of Dix shows a farmer Eugene Pangborn and wife Elizabeth born in May 1843 (she probably lied about her age so to be shown less older than husband). Elizabeth died on February 1, 1910 at age 69. Her husband Eugene, who survived her, married a third time to Iva Warden. He died on January 12, 1929 at age 84.

We have documentary evidence of Elizabeth's relationship with William Graham from an affidavit she signed in 1900 in support of Mary Platt Graham's application for a pension as a widow of Civil War veteran, William Graham. This affidavit shown here (with emphasis added), attests to her lifetime acquaintance with William Graham (which would reach back to life in Ireland) and her presence at the marriage between William Graham and Mary Platt. Strangely, she never states that she is William's sister.