Graham, James M.: He
was working as a gunsmith in Franklin County, Kentucky, from before 1829 until
after 1850. Graham was born in Kentucky in 1799 and was the son of gunsmith
William Graham (1768-1845) of Franklin County. He learned the trade in his
father’s shop and married in Franklin County on June 15, 1829. Little is known
about James Graham, but he was a well-respected gunsmith in his day. A gunsmith
by the same name, and thought to be him, was commissioned to make a fine rifle
for Tennessee Congressman David “Davy” Crocket who became famous for his death
at the Alamo in San Antonio, Texas, on March 6, 1836. The rifle is historically
important due to the Crockett association,, and it survives today in the small
museum at the Alamo along with a story of its checkered life.
The rifle was commissioned in 1822 by a group of Nashville,
Tennessee, citizens as a presentation piece for Congressman David Crockett in
recognition of his political service to the state. The gun was presented to
Crockett on May 5, 1822. It was described as full-stock in black walnut, brass
mounted with a patchbox and profusely inlaid with silver. The gun was signed
“J. M. Graham” on the barrel and was probably made by James M. Graham of
Kentucky since he is the only known Graham gunsmith of the day with the same
first two initials. The gun was christened “Old Betsy” by Crockett according to
one story, although he had other guns over the years with similar names.
Crockett family tradition indicated this gun was in fact the
Alamo rifle,, but family “recollections” are not always reliable. The
provenance accompanying the rifle into the twentieth century provides the
following details about its history. The gun was carried by Crockett on his
trip to San Antonio, Texas, in 1836. (See entry for Kentucky gunsmith John
Berry, who repaired Crockett’s “Old Betsy” rifle while Crockett was en route to
San Antonio). Upon arriving, Crockett joined the small band of American troops
who became martyrs by choosing the cause of liberty over their own lives when
they defended the Alamo against a much larger Mexican force. The fall of the
Alamo and the death of the Americans led to the famous battle cry, “Remember
the Alamo”.
Despite some records indicating most American weapons were
destroyed after the battle, the Crockett rifle reportedly was recovered from
the battlefield and, due to its inscription, identified and eventually returned
to Crockett’s immediate family. Years later Crockett’s son, John W. Crockett,
sold a number of his father’s remaining personal items, including the rifle, to
a friend of the family named Wade Hall. Following Hall’s death the Crockett gun
went to his son, who sold it to Texan W. H. Barnet in January of 1862. later
that year the gun was sold by Barnett’s wife to a Mr. Whitton, presumably while
Barnett was serving in the Civil War. Barnett was captured at Van Buren,
Arkansas, and served time as a prisoner. After the war Barnett returned home
and purchased the Crockett rifle back from Whitton. The gun then remained in
Barrett’s family for over twenty years.
The gun suffered from poor care during those years, and in
1886 Barrett described the gun’s condition and his renovation efforts by
stating, “She was so badly rust eten (sic) at each end of the barrel that I cut
her off at each end and put a patten (sic) steel breech and a steel rib and
made her a half stock percushion (sic) lock gun using all the mountin (sic) and
American black walnut stock”. Based on Barnett’s description, the Crockett gun
kept its original mountings and most of the walnut stock, thereby retaining a
good portion of its original appearance including its patchbox and extensive
silver inlay work. The historical rifle eventually made its way back to the
Alamo and is on display along with its history at the Alamo’s Long Barracks
Museum in San Antonio. James M. Graham, while not one of the better known
Kentucky gunsmiths, might be responsible for one of the more significant
surviving Kentucky rifles in American history.
Marriage Records of Franklin County, Kentucky, p. 70;
Franklin County, Kentucky Will Book 2, 1824-1854, p. 163: Federal Census of
1840 and 1850, Kentucky Division; M.
Newland, “Old Betsy Crockett,” The Trafalger Times, Issue #7, July 2000 (official journal of the
Staffordshire Branch of the MLAGB).
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