Anonymous American Photographer

James Duncan Graham, Jr. (1841-1900), was the youngest son of James Duncan Graham and Charlotte Hustler Meade.  Following family tradition, Graham spent his career in the military--in his case, as a naval officer.  He was appointed to the U. S. Naval Academy at Annapolis in 1857 as acting midshipman, and the daguerreotype in this and Lot 68 were almost certainly made in this year.  In June of 1861, at the onset of the Civil War, he joined the flagship Roanoke in the North Atlantic blockading squadron. During the war, after promotion to acting master, he served in a variety of capacities--as Inspector of Ordnance in the Washington Navy Yard; on the gunboat Delaware, as commander of the mortar schooner S. C. Jones, during battles in New Orleans and attacks on Fort Jackson and St. Philip, Louisiana; and aboard Admiral Porter’s flagship, Octorara, which was involved in attacks on Vicksburg and engagements on the James River in Virginia.  From 1862, when he was promoted to lieutenant, until 1865, Graham served aboard the Jamestown in the East India Squadron.  He continued his naval service in the South Atlantic and European squadrons and on the Pacific coast until his retirement in 1897.