B. F.,

I followed you here from the Missouri CW site to watch your progress since you live so far away and probably have limited resources to assist you in your quest.

Matt Matthews was right to mention W. S. Burke's summary of the Kansas regiments. I looked at my copy and about the only other information for you about COL R. H. Graham in the history of the 8th Kansas Infantry states he was appointed by the governor as commander of the regiment on 28 Feb 1862 from a battalion of men in Kansas that had originally been raised for service in New Mexico. I suppose the governor had second thoughts about sending valuable Kansas assets off to service in New Mexico Territory. You will recall that the Santa Fe Trail terminated near Westport, MO on the border, and if I were to guess I would say that men raised in Kansas for New Mexico service may have come from close to that location. This last part is pure guesswork.

This next part has less guesswork. I searched the 1860 Missouri Census Index and noted these heads of households that seem to match the name R. H. Graham. I found "Robert Grahams" in Montgomery, Sullivan, Madison, Daviess, and Jackson Counties. I found "Robert H. Grahams" in Clay, Boone, and two in Jackson County. If your R. H. Graham had a separete Missouri company in 1861 and took command of a Kansas regiment early the next year, I would suspect he lived close to the Kansas/Missouri border, such as those listed above in Clay and Jackson Counties. All three Grahams listed above in Jackson County lived near each other in Sni-A-Bar Township in the northeast corner of Jackson County. This township and all others in Jackson County were noted for strong southern sympathy adding weight to my argument that your R. H. Graham sought Union service in Kansas perhaps for his own safety. Therefore, I suggest you examine the full 1860 census entries for those Grahams in Clay and Jackson Counties to see if one of them matches your lost R. H. Graham.

Bruce Nichols