The John Graden Fiasco:

A Monument to Incompetent Research.

by Terry Foenander.

John Graden was born as Johann Graden, in Switzerland, on March 22, 1840, the son of Benedict and Maria Graden.  He arrived, as an immigrant to America, at New Orleans, Louisiana, on November 18, 1853, having left on a vessel that departed from Le Havre, France, with the rest of his family.   The 1860 United States Census for Cape Girardeau, Missouri, show the family then living at that town, his mother Maria having anglicised her name to Mary, and Johann having his name anglicised to John.   John enlisted at Cape Girardeau, on October 7, 1861, as private, in captain Richardson’s company D, 1^st Regiment of Missouri Light Artillery.   He was discharged October 7, 1864 at Huntsville, Alabama, due to his term of service having expired.    His first wife was Hanna (maiden name unknown), whom he married in Missouri about 1866 or 1867.   After her death about 1900, he married Lena D. Miller in Missouri.   Lena died in 1940, and after the death of her husband, she continued to receive a United States government pension, for his Civil War service.  He died at Cape Girardeau, Missouri, United States of America on August 12, 1923, and was buried two days later at the Salem Cemetery, Cape Girardeau County, Missouri.   His death certificate clearly shows that W.H. Howard, M.D. had certified that he had attended the deceased from July 7, 1923 to August 12, 1923, and that he had last seen John Graden, farmer, alive on August 11, 1923, and that the deceased had died from multiple causes, including chronic bronchitis.

The Missouri State Board of Health certificate listing the death of John Graden, at Cape Girardeau, Missouri, in 1923.

Photo of John Graden's gravestone, at Salem Cemetery, Cape Girardeau, Missouri. [Photo courtesy of Mr. John Russell, M.D., of Cape Girardeau, Missouri.]

In 2006, thanks to the efforts of one James Mason Gray, a member of the American Civil War Round Table of Queensland, and without any attempt to verify the facts, a Veterans Administration gravestone was obtained for a person of a similar name, John Henry Graydon, but totally unconnected with the Civil War, who died in 1906, and is buried at Yarragon, in the state of Victoria, Australia.   This headstone was obtained and installed without the permission of the family of John Henry Graydon, and after its installation, the family became aware of its installation, and that it actually referred to the John Graden who had served in company D of the 1^st Missouri Light Artillery, and not their ancestor.   The headstone was obtained despite the fact that a gravestone already exists at the Graydon grave in Yarragon cemetery, yet the regulations on the VA application forms clearly state that no VA marker should be applied  for, if a grave is already marked in any way.  

A photo of the Veteran's Administration headstone at Yarragon Cemetery, Victoria, Australia. Note also, the original grave marker, below it.

Several factors in any research conducted should have alerted any decent researcher to the inconsistencies, and the clues, indicating that the John Henry Graydon buried at Yarragon, Victoria, and the John Graden, who served in the 1^st Missouri Light Artillery, were most definitely two different persons.   These were:

1.        The dates of birth of Graydon, buried at Yarragon, and Graden, the Civil War soldier, were completely different, as were their places of birth.   John Graden of Missouri was born in Switzerland, and Graydon, buried at Yarragon, was born in Ireland.

2.       Proper research would have shown that John Henry Graydon arrived in Australia in 1862, while John Graden was still serving in the Missouri Artillery, and was not discharged until October, 1864.

3.       No attempt was made by the self proclaimed researcher, James Mason Gray, to find out if there was a United States Government pension record for John Graden of the 1^st Missouri Light Artillery.   Thus the cardinal rule of research was broken.   The pension records clearly show that John Graden had died in Missouri, and was buried there.   In the early years of our original research on the American Civil War veterans buried in Australia and New Zealand, we were always eager to obtain any pension or other official documentary evidence, before coming to any conclusions, and proclaiming that a person was a Civil War veteran.   Mr. Gray has, in the last three or four years, been very eager to accept any one as a Civil War veteran, so long as oral data is provided to him, and nothing more.   Thus, Veterans Administration gravestones or plaques have been applied for, and in some cases actually received for persons who are most definitely not Civil War veterans.

One of the documents from the John Graden pension file, clearly showing that he was buried at Cape Girardeau.

Another document from the pension file, indicating John Graden's service in the 1st Missouri Light Artillery.

4.       No attempt was made by Gray to contact the descendants of John Henry Graydon, buried at Yarragon, to ascertain all the facts, before he went ahead, on his own volition, to apply for the gravestone.   If he had done so, he would have realised that at least one descendant (who has been in contact with me), has stated categorically, that he believes that John Henry Graydon almost certainly never ever served in the Civil War, as the time frame does not fit the facts.   Additionally, a written record that John Henry Graydon had served in the Civil War (which has never been confirmed, due to the fact that the original source may not even exist), had actually indicated that his service was with the Confederate Army, and never with the Union Army, another fact that Gray chose to ignore, in his quest for infamy.

5.       The marriage record of John Henry Graydon, in Australia, also shows that he was married in the state of Victoria in 1863, while the Civil War in America was still raging, and in the midst of the service of John Graden of the 1^st Missouri Light Artillery.   It would have been absolutely ridiculous to try and insist that perhaps John Graden applied for a furlough to get married in far way Australia, before returning to his regiment in the United States, a round trip that would have taken about six months, not counting the time for the marriage and reception.   I have never heard of anyone being given a furlough of six months, during the Civil War.

Finally, if Mr. Gray had followed the rules and regulations set down on the forms of the Veterans Administration gravestone or marker applications, he would not have created this fiasco for himself.   The application forms clearly state that a gravestone or marker should not be applied for, if the grave  is already marked in any way, as was the grave of John Henry Graydon, at Yarragon.   [I refer, in particular to the section titled BENEFIT PROVIDED, sub paragraph a. HEADSTONE OR MARKER: For deaths occurring before September 11, 2001 – Furnished upon application for the UNMARKED GRAVE of any eligible deceased veteran.   The individual must certify the grave is unmarked and a Government headstone or marker is preferred to a privately purchased headstone or marker.   A grave is considered marked if a monument displays the decedents name and date of birth and/or death, even though the veteran’s military data is not shown.   Applicant may be anyone having knowledge of the deceased.]   [Question number 28 on the Veterans Administration application form asks if the grave is marked or unmarked. Mr. Gray had obviously indicated that it was unmarked, in an attempt to obtain the VA gravestone, and thus had committed a criminal act.] Mr. Gray has never complied with any of these rules set out by the VA.   Additionally, after the mess was discovered, he did the usual thing he always does, namely, blamed someone else for the error.   In this case, it was the fault of the VA for not checking thoroughly for the pension records of John Graden.   Yet everyone knows that it is the responsibility of a researcher to ensure all the facts are in place, before even stating that someone is a Civil War veteran.   And this was only one of many such incidents involving Mr. Gray, in relation to veterans (or non-veterans) of the American Civil War, buried in Australia and New Zealand. The American Civil War Round Table of Queensland, of which James Mason Gray is a member, were extremely fortunate, indeed, in that, on other occasions, Gray has had their initials inscribed on grave markers from the VA, but for some reason, had omitted it on the gravestone of John Henry Graydon. If this had occurred, the fiasco would almost certainly have been laid at the door of their branch, even if they were never involved in his charades.

SOURCES:

Service card of John Graden, 1^st Regiment, Missouri Artillery.

Pension card of Lena D. Graden, widow of John Graden of company D, 1^st Missouri Light Artillery.

Genealogical information thoroughly researched and compiled by John Russell, M.D. of Cape Girardeau, Missouri.

Additional data provided by Mr. John Graydon, of Canada, the descendant of the John Henry Graydon, an entirely different person altogether, buried at Yarragon, Victoria, Australia.

Missouri State Board of Health, Certificate of Death No. 23636, for John Graden.

Additional research also conducted by Mr. Ed Milligan, of Alexandria, Virginia, and Barry Crompton, of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

Page Created, March, 2008.