George F. Ingraham Letter Book

Collection

Identifier: A-0065

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

Blotter copy of letters relating to Ingraham's duties as County Judge and to personal business.

Dates

Creation: 1912-1915

Creator

Ingraham, George F. (Person)

Language of Materials

The collection is in English.

Conditions Governing Access

Open for research.

Biographical / Historical

George Francis Ingraham was born on January 15th, 1842 in New York City to Francis Ingraham and Elcee Anne Gough Ingraham. He was the second of three children (preceded by Rosina and followed by Elcee Anne). Elcee Ingraham’s mother bought land at Alazan in Nacogdoches County in the early 1840s. Francis Ingraham and his family (as well as his wife’s mother and grandmother) slowly moved South, leaving New York City in 1845 and not reaching Alazan until 1854. It is believed that Francis Ingraham died in Mississippi in 1853 along the way. The family had moved to Nacogdoches by 1860.

Young George Francis Ingraham was a private in the Confederate Army, serving in Company G of the 8th Texas Infantry from 1862-1865 and fighting at the Battle of Mansfield. In October 1866 he married Martha Thompson Cooper and they started a family which eventually included nine children. Ingraham taught school for a time and was admitted to the Nacogdoches Bar in 1870. He held positions including Treasurer and County Judge of Nacogdoches County, and was a State Representative from 1885 to 1887 as part of the 19th Texas Legislature. Ingraham was a member of the Freemasons and became the Master of the Mason Lodge in 1878.

Ingraham bought a house at 1011 North St. in 1888 and lived there the rest of his life. He also bought a Nacogdoches city lot in 1896 at 210 East Pilar Street for his law office. He had a two-story building constructed there, leasing the bottom floor to local businesses while establishing his practice on the second floor. Ingraham died on April 27th, 1920 in Nacogdoches and was buried in Oak Grove Cemetery.

Paraphrased by History graduate student Wil Carter and Special Collections Librarian Kyle Ainsworth in 2019 from the SFA Heritage Center description of the 210 East Pilar St. building (http://www.sfasu.edu/heritagecenter/1158.asp); the East Texas Digital Archives biographical note for the photograph of his gravestone (https://digital.sfasu.edu/digital/collection/NacCoCemeter/id/3438); and Marc B. Smith Jr., “Judge George Frances Ingraham,” in Nacogdoches County Families, by the Nacogdoches County Genealogical Society (Dallas: Curtis Media Corporation, 1985), 371-72.