22 JULY 2009
Dear Ms. xxxxxx
The Pioneer Arts and Historical Society, on behalf of the owner, Past Owner, would appreciate the National Register staff determining the possible eligibility of the Judge Eschol Graham house, constructed in 1905, for listing on the National Register of Historic Places.
Eschol Wayne Graham was born September 18, 1873 in Telfair County, Georgia. His parents were Duncan Campbell Graham and Josephine McDuffie Graham. Duncan Graham served in the Confederate Army and after returning home became a Justice of the Peace, County Commissioner and County Treasurer. He died in 1903. Eschol Wayne Graham, one of five children, attended Telfair County schools, the North Georgia Agricultural College at Dahlonega, and then the University of Georgia Law School graduating is 1899.
He initially joined his cousin E. D. Graham in practice. He served as Mayor of McRae and was a member of the Georgia House of Representatives. Eschol was appointed Judge of the City Court of McRae in 1909. Judge Graham was elected Judge of the Superior Court of the Oconee Judicial Circuit in 1920 and served in that position until his retirement in 1955. He had been reelected eight consecutive four year terms and was the oldest Superior Court Judge in point of service in the State. Governor Marvin Griffm then appointed him Judge Emeritus of the Superior Courts.
Judge Graham also owned several farms in Telfair and Wheeler Counties. He was an active member of the McRae Methodist Church, serving as Chairman of the Board of Trustees and teacher of the Men's Bible Class. He was a Trustee of Andrew College in Cuthbert and the Eleventh District A&M School/Middle
Georgia College.
Judge Graham married Eva Mae Smith, daughter of Thomas Jefferson Smith, in June 1906. They had one son, Duncan, an attorney. Eva Mae died in 1914. The Judge then married Frankie Williams of Eatonton and a teacher in the McRae-Helena Schools and the South Georgia College located in McRae. Frankie Williams Graham survived the Judge, eventually moved to Orange, Texas to be with their only daughter, Elizabeth Graham Campbell, and died in 1976.
The Judge Eschol Graham house is located in McRae, Telfair County, Georgia at 301 Graham Street on a lot with 115 feet of footage on Graham Street and 200 feet on Third Avenue.
The house is a center hall two story classic revival. Its exterior is weatherboard with a masonry foundation and a hip roof. Its symmetrical form is distinguished by a line of rather unusual one story columns supporting a large veranda and featuring Mission style dormers on the front and rear roofs.
That style is continued in the brackets supporting wide overhanging eaves. The windows are sash type, one over one, and are uniformly placed. Diamond lights decorate the top half of the second story windows. A spacious single story veranda extends the width of the house and wraps the left comer. The right side has a covered breezeway leading to a double garage.
The front entrance features double doors with sidelights topped with a large single pane transom. Through the entrance is the foyer which was made a separate entity when the center hall was modified in 1937. The foyer has a pair of arched doors opposite the entry that lead to the center hall and a closet. To either side of the foyer are pocket doors into the library to the left and to the parlor to the right. The ceiling is 11 feet high here and in the remainder of the original house.
The walls are topped with crown molding and the lower third of the field is wainscoting. The ceilings and walls are plaster. The original woodwork remains throughout the house which includes wide baseboards with comer blocks, picture rails and other joinery. The floors are mostly heart pine and the fire places, one in each of the formal and bedrooms, are intact.
The 1937 modification (Davis & Davis, Macon) also modernized the kitchen and bathrooms, and replaced a porch at the left rear of the house with a beautiful breakfast room. Finally, a large architecturally compatible family room was added to the back of the house and adjacent to the kidney shaped pool.
The original structures included the house with a detached double garage and storage shed to the rear of the house. The garage was moved to right front of the home in 1937 - the shed remains in its original location. No longer in evidence is the flower pit which was an underground structure of good size accessed via a stairway and covered with glass.
The house was designed and continues to serve as a private residence as it passed through the Judge Graham family, the Preston Rawlins Esq. family , Vincent D. Parrette, and now (new Owners) Joseph Daniel & Susan Diane Selph Family.
We propose to nominate the Judge Eschol Graham house because of its architectural significance locally, and for its association with Judge Graham, an individual of significance in middle Georgia in the past. Thank you for your assistance.
Sincerely,
+Carl Maneely
Documentation Coordinator
Pioneer Arts and Historical Society
No comments:
Post a Comment