The Major David Graham Mansion is really misnamed……it should be called the Squire David Graham Mansion for the Major’s father! He is actually the original owner who amassed this 26,000 acre estate and built the 11,000 square foot mansion that stands today.

Squire David Graham was born in 1800. His father, Robert Graham, immigrated to this area from County Down Ireland in 1774. Robert Graham served one year in the Revolutionary War and then settled in what is now the Max Meadows community in Wythe County, Virginia. Squire David inherited the initial parcel of land from his father, built the original Mansion and the majority of the later additions, and placed his first iron furnace on the front lawn of the Mansion. Over the years Squire David would acquire or build up to 12 furnaces or forges in the Graham’s Forge area. Pig iron from the Graham forges was transported by horse-drawn wagon to larger cities and oversees to England.

The original, rear frame section of the Mansion was built in the 1830s and the huge, formal brick section was added in the 1850s. It is said that Major David Graham lived in the Mansion his entire life; he was born in 1838. The Major supervised the massive hip-on-hip replacement slate roof and its ornate tower and dormers in the 1870s as well as the intricate Victorian porch additions in the late 1800s.

The Georgian Side Porch facing Cedar Run Creek is the original entrance. This pillared portico reflects a definite Charleston influence. Notice the intricate woodwork and rope trim around the door. This rear frame portion of the Mansion is the original structure built by Squire David Graham. You can also view the old ringer washer and original dumb waiter in the adjacent windowed workroom. The outbuilding to the left of the porch is the wash house which houses the original fire pit, chimney, boiling caldron, drain, and rinse basin. The 5-room/3 story outbuilding directly behind the kitchen is the summer kitchen and servants’ quarters. The winter kitchen is located in the basement directly beneath the updated first floor indoor kitchen. The opposite rear enclosed side porch and storage room date this frame structure as “pre-1850” by virtue of the type of ceiling plaster and lathe work according to local historians. Mansion visitors will notice that this plaster is made from mud and horsehair applied to wooden lathes. Since the frame and brick sections were built separately and at different time periods, the basements are not connected and there are two staircases. The room used today as the kitchen was originally the “hearth room”, a combination living room and dining room. The hearth room is anchored by a huge fireplace which is framed by an ornate mahogany fireplace mantle and the functional nearby warming oven. This “oven” is built directly into the center of the radiator! As a matter of fact, the radiators located throughout the home are highly decorative. The Grahams were clearly ahead of their times! They also used carbide lights and steam heat long before most of their southern (and northern) neighbors!

The rear stairway woodwork is original. A glance upward reveals a beautiful view of the decorative scrollwork. The rear second floor bedroom is the site of Betty Graham’s Civil War era schoolroom. Elizabeth Ann Graham or “Betty” was Major Graham’s sister. Her diary, kept during the Civil War, has been published and the original manuscript is housed in the library of UVA in Charlottesville. The Third Floor Secret Confederate Meeting Room was most likely used as a children’s bedroom. Local legend has it that Confederate officers met secretly in this very room and wounded soldiers were tended to in the adjacent attic.

As visitors walk across the deep door thresholds between the original frame house and formal brick “addition”, a contrast in building style, workmanship, and scale is apparent. The brick mansion addition boasts massive rooms, plain wood trim details, and elaborate exterior workmanship.

The front porch entrance to the Mansion grandly displays its signature, one-of-a-kind, cast iron columns made at the Cedar Run furnace, previously housed on the front yard of the Mansion. Directly in front of the porch visitors can just imagine ladies in hoopskirts dismounting their horses by using the huge stepping stone, placed there for just that purpose. An upward glance reveals a massive slate roof complete with dormers, a tower, ornate lightning rods, and exquisite Celtic crosses. On the northernmost side dormer guests can read the original signature of the home’s Max Meadows builder. The southern exposure yields a magnificent view of the ante-bellum Victorian porches and woodwork.

The Victorian porches contain some rather unique windows and NO DOORS! These elongated windows have 3 stacked panes which open to create a doorway for porch access. In the 19th century, some southern homes were taxed based on the number of exterior doors, thus the creation of the “window door”! Do not miss the “Secret Window Bedroom” as it contains a very unique window pane etching. Legend has it that the etching was made by a bride’s diamond ring on her wedding night! The lovely cursive letters give us only a few clues….the date, February 24, 1884, 4 sets of initials, and the signature of one of the Graham family members. What message was this bride trying to preserve for us?

As visitors continue down the massive, elegant mahogany staircase and across the foyer’s heart of pine floors, it is difficult to imagine the daily maintenance of this home over 150 years ago! The downstairs parlor and study feature arched, highly ornate mahogony doorways leading to the side Victorian sun porches. Over the years much of the original glass, doors, decorative tile, light fixtures, and woodwork have been vandalized. It is Josiah’s hope that opening the Mansion to the public during GrahamFest will eliminate these unfortunate events.

The Living Room and Dining Rooms span the length of the brick addition. These rooms are separated by massive floor-to-ceiling oak doors! It is said that the Graham women were very active sewers; we can just imagine them in their vintage dresses tatting or cross stitching here.

Festival Guests are invited to walk the immediate grounds around the Mansion. Please notice our Carriage House Stage, built by Josiah the summer of 2006 on its original building foundation. Nearby you will find the fish “holding pond” where the Grahams kept freshly caught fish. The Chimney House Stage, located behind the Mansion, is built on the actual foundation of a circa 1800s split level log cabin.

Our intimate Childrens’ Stage is located at the Cedar Run Creek and Major Grahams Road junction. The 120 x 60 foot Major Graham Stage located on the northernmost part of the grounds, will showcase Josiah and his Mountain Rock Music Show along with Crooked Road friends Stevie Barr, Wayne Henderson, and Jeff Little. Don’t be surprised if Josiah brings back some of your favorite performers from the past as many are reported to still haunt the old Mansion! The Pennsylvania Dutch General Store is the oldest structure on the property, built in the 1700s. Legend has it that the nearby Wilderness Road saw many a family heading west stop at this authentic General Store! Immediately adjacent to the General Store is Josiah’s Courtyard. It is Josiah’s hope that his guests enjoy the 10 foot wide ribbon of walkway connecting the stages, the beautiful views of the Blue Ridge Mountains, the history of one of Virginia’s founding families, the Squire’s Beer and Wine Garden, and, of course, the spirited music of GrahamFest 2008.

But what about the ghost stories….is the Mansion really haunted? ….according to scientific investigations by the Virginia Paranormal Society, the answer is a definite yes, but you’ll have to make up your own mind!

What are the facts? Many local historians report that the frame section of the Mansion was built around a log cabin owned by John Baker in 1785. Story has it that Baker and two of his slaves, Bob and Sam, were making moonshine “out back”. Baker told the slaves that in his will he would give them their freedom upon his death. Well the slaves hastened Baker’s untimely demise and put him in the mash. At that time this area was part of Fincastle County. In the Fincastle Courthouse there is a record of the sheriff arresting Bob and Sam, their subsequent trial, and their hanging from a Hickory tree on the ridge behind the Mansion. There is also a record of the sheriff being paid 200 lbs. of tobacco for his efforts. The basement of the Mansion clearly has wooden and metal bars on the windows and there are unexplained bullet holes in a living room window, unexplained “faces” and “lights” in the windows. The Virginia Paranormal Society will be available during your Mansion Ghost Walk. You are invited to listen to and look at their actual ghost recordings! You decide!

Brief Mansion Timeline:
Graham family founder, Robert Graham, immigrates to Wythe County area in 1775; serves one year in Revolutionary War.
1800: Squire David Graham born.
1835: Squire David Graham marries Martha Bell Pierce; Squire David operates 13 furnaces, a forge, and a mill, part owner of area mines, owner of 26,000 acres; known as the “first ironsmith of southwest Virginia”. He begins to build frame section of house around 1830s.
1838: Major David Pierce Graham born.
1848: Bricks made locally and delivered for Mansion addition
1855: Brick addition of Mansion completed
1861: Major Graham joins Confederate army; later discharged and continues to develop father’s iron business and supply pig iron to the war effort.
1868: Major Graham marries Nancy Montgomery Tate; Major Graham and Miss Tate share a secret! …they have the same grandfather….Robert Graham!
1870: Mansion roof, towers, and dormers added
1890: Victorian porches and sun rooms added
1930s: Jim Graham, a Wytheville banker, and his family move from the Mansion grounds “to town” and use the property intermittently for holiday and picnic outings.
1943: Home and approximately 1200 acres purchased by law professor Reid Fulton. His grandfather, Creed Fulton, was a founder of Emory and Henry College. An eccentric book collector, Fulton lived in the Mansion until the 1980s. Local sources report that Fulton lived at the mansion without electricity or adequate running water. It is said that “he ate buzzard eggs and bathed in Cedar Run Creek”. Fulton sold the property to Dr. James Chitwood of Pulaski in the 1970s and his vast book collections were donated and sold to libraries all over the world. Dr. Chitwood listed the mansion property on the National Historic Register in 1984. The property was owned briefly by a corporation from West Virginia. J.C. (Josiah Cephus) Weaver purchased the property in early 1990 and incorporated it into his current 4000 acre W.W. Ranch where he raises Angus and Hertford beef cattle.
July 2006: J.C. “Josiah” Weaver hosts his annual July 4th party at the newly rebuilt Carriage House foundation stage. J.C. also rebuilds the Mansion front porch and preserves its original columns. Neighbors and passers by express a strong interest in the Mansion history as well as Josiah’s music interests and Josiah begins his dream of hosting a music festival at the historic property.
September 3, 2007: Josiah hosts his first GrahamFest Music Fesival
October, 2007: The Virginia Paranormal Society begins to investigate and later confirm local reports of paranormal activity at the Major Graham’s Mansion; the Mansion is haunted!
August 31st – September 1st, 2008: Josiah’s second GrahamFest Music Festival.



Don’t miss the GrahamFest 2008 “FEEL THE SPIRIT MANSION GHOST WALK TOUR!”