Key Facts

Parents:	unknown
Born:	sometime in the 1790's location unknown
Died:	sometime in the 1830's probably Meriwether County, Georgia
Buried:	unknown

The earliest record I've found of 246Ephraim McGraw is the 1830 census, which shows his family in Newton County, Georgia. From this census we can deduce that 246Ephraim was born sometime in the 1790's, and that he was probably married at the time.1 Although I can't be certain who his wife was in 1830, he was married to Nancy ___ at the time of his death.2,3

1830: 246Ephraim's family in Newton County, Georgia. Full page.1

Problem: Unresolved Who is 246Ephraim's father? Some have claimed that 246Ephraim's father is Cornelius McGraw (1777-1859), who died in LaFayette County, Mississippi. (As of this writing, 246Ephraim's profile on FamilySearch makes this claim, for example.) However, Cornelius' will doesn't mention 246Ephraim or his wife Nancy,4 even though Nancy was still living at the time.5 The claim is therefore doubtful. I have found no other evidence to support it. The DAR published an article about Cornelius McGraw in 2000,6 but it doesn't mention much that might help prove that Cornelius is 246Ephraim's father.

Problem: Unresolved Who is 246Ephraim's wife, exactly? The following passage, copied from Dean Smith Cress' 1992 book Dunkin-Reid and Garner-McGraw-Mobley families of South Carolina, Georgia and Alabama: Some Forebears and Descendants on page 253, summarizes typical claims about 246Ephraim and his wife Nancy: Ephraim McGraw b 1791-1800 SC, d winter of 1839-1840 Meriwether Co GA, m ca. 1817-1819 Nancy Mobley b 1797-1800 SC, d after 1870, Carroll Co GA, daughter of Elizabeth Mobley b 1774-1780, d 1840-1850. Nancy’s father was deceased by 1840; he was William Mobley b 1765-1774, d probably 1831-1840. Like all such works I've found that make these claims, the book provides no evidence to support them. Although we do know from later records that 246Ephraim had a wife Nancy,2,3 I know of no evidence to prove that she was Nancy Mobley, etc. Therefore, for now I will not accept these claims as true or repeat them elsewhere on this website.

246Ephraim must have moved to Meriwether County, Georgia sometime in the 1830's. A deed made after his death describes lot 29 of Meriwether County's 10th district as "the place whereon Ephraim McGraw lately lived on." I've marked this lot on the master map. This deed thus also shows us that 246Ephraim had died by June 1840. The deed mentions a Cornelious McGraw;7 his relationship to 246Ephraim isn't stated, but I suspect that he's 246Ephraim's brother since the two men are of similar age.1,8 Pertinent excerpts from the deed are copied below.7

This deed identifies 246Ephraim's land, mentions an unknown relative Cornelious (possibly brother), and proves that 246Ephraim had died by June 1840. Full page.7

Because 246Ephraim had died, accordingly in the 1840 census we find his widow Nancy as the head of household.2 As you can see, Nancy still had a lot of minor children to care for. The 20-something female is presumably 123Sarah.2

1840: Nancy's household in Meriwether County, Georgia. Full page.2

Although Nancy is somewhat beyond the scope of this article, I'll briefly mention that by 1850 she had relocated to Coweta County, Georgia,9 as had 246Ephraim's daughter 123Sarah.10 Cress' book (mentioned above) includes a few interesting notes about Nancy's later life (See a copy of the pertinent pages.), apparently evidence-based, although Cress included only a partial source citation; I didn't attempt to verify the claims further.

I didn't find 246Ephraim in any of the following sources (or their indices):

Meriwether County
	general index to estates, 1828-1963
	Inferior Court minutes book A-1 (1829-1845)
	deeds and mortages, grantees index M-V (1827-1963)
	Tad Evans, Georgia Newspaper Clippings: Meriwether County Extracts, 1828-1889 (self-published, Savannah, 2009)
Newton County
	general index to deeds and mortages, book A (1821-_), section for Mc- grantors

Sources Cited:

1: 1830 U.S. Federal Census. Newton County, Georgia. Page 27, Ephraigm McGraw household. NARA microfilm publication M19, roll 20. FamilySearch, <https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GYBS-97C8?i=52&personaUrl=%2Fark%3A%2F61903%2F1%3A1%3AXHGL-B6B>, etc., accessed 21 August 2023.

2: 1840 U.S. Federal Census. Meriwether County, Georgia. Page 126, Nancy McGraw household. NARA microfilm publication M704, roll 46. FamilySearch, <https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GYBQ-ZCZ?i=64&cc=1786457&personaUrl=%2Fark%3A%2F61903%2F1%3A1%3AXHBN-VWF>. This is the only source I've found that actually provides Nancy's name.

3: Meriwether County, Georgia. Deeds book G, page 382. FamilySearch, <https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSR1-9SMF-K?i=211&cat=234242>. Notice the phrase "the widow of Ephraim McGraw."

4: Lafayette County, Mississippi. Wills volume 1 (1843-1898), page 130, the will of C. McGraw, dated 27 April 1859. FamilySearch, <https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-G9Q8-XLVC?i=148&cc=2036959&cat=249710>. Notably, there is another will for the testator "Cornelius McGraw" dated 16[?] March 1857 a few pages back on page 115; this will doesn't mention 246Ephraim or his wife Nancy, either, though.

5: 1860 U.S. Federal Census (Population Schedule). Bowdon, Carroll County, Georgia. Page 556, dwelling 114, family 115, Nancy McGraw household. NARA microfilm publication M653, roll 113. FamilySearch, <https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GYBG-71W>.

6: Evelyn Gurley Crockett, "The Quest for Cornelius McGraw," Daughters of the American Revolution Magazine, October 2000 (volume 134), pages 555-559, 569. See a copy here. This magazine has since been renamed American Spirit.

7: Meriwether County, Georgia. Deeds book G, page 159. FamilySearch, <https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSR1-9SM2-2?i=97&cat=234242>. Notice the phrase "the place Ephraim McGraw lately lived on."

8: 1830 U.S. Federal Census. Newton County, Georgia. Page 44, Cornelious McGraw household. NARA microfilm publication M19, roll 20. FamilySearch, <https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GYBS-9742?i=86&cc=1803958>, etc., accessed 30 August 2023.

9: 1850 U.S. Federal Census (Population Schedule). Division 19, Coweta County, Georgia. Page 328a, dwelling 628, family 628, Nancy McGraw household. NARA microfilm publication M432, roll 66. FamilySearch, <https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HT-65XZ-VL?i=90&cc=1401638>.

10: 1850 U.S. Federal Census (Population Schedule). Division 19, Coweta County, Georgia. Page 304a, dwelling 296, family 296, William Garner household. NARA microfilm publication M432, roll 66. FamilySearch, <https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HT-65XX-LW?i=42&cc=1401638&personaUrl=%2Fark%3A%2F61903%2F1%3A1%3AMZYK-B7Q>.