George Graham, County Treasurer of Peel, is a son of Thomas and Ann (Dixon) Graham, both from the north of Ireland, and was born in the City of Toronto, October 15, 1820. His father left Ireland in 1812, just in season to reach New York as war was declared between Great Britain and the United States, and he was obliged to remain there until the war was ended.
In 1820 the father of our subject came into Upper Canada via Niagara, in a procession of twenty seven teams, the property of parties who had drawn land through the British Consul at New York City. Thomas Graham left his family in the City of Toronto; came into what is now
the County of Peel; selected his land at what is now known as Grahamville, in the Township of Toronto; returned to New York with his family a few months after George was born, and in 1826 came back to Canada, opened his farm and cultivated it until his death, in 1844. His wife died four or five years earlier.
George was educated in the common schools of Toronto township, and in the public schools of the City of Toronto, where the family spent one year; and farmed on the old homestead until 1866, when he was appointed County Treasurer, and settled in Brampton. That office he still holds, and is attending to its duties with the utmost promptitude and vigilance. The funds of the county could not be placed in better hands.
Mr. Graham is a member of the Provincial Agricultural and Arts Association, and has been its treasurer for the last eleven or twelve years. His reputation for trustworthiness extends far outside this county. He represented the Township of Chinguacousy two years in the County Council.
He has been a member of the Methodist Church of Canada, formerly known as “Wesleyan” and has been for years an official member of the Church. He liberally supports the Gospel, and has a kind heart and an open hand for the poor.
Mr. Graham was first married in 1847 to Miss Jane Neelands, of Toronto township, she dying in 1868, leaving one son and one daughter; and, in 1869, to Miss Mary McFadden, daughter of Rev. William McFadden, more than forty years a circuit preacher, still preaching occasionally; and by her, he also has a daughter and a son.