When Atlas James Graham was born on 21 April 1922, in Orange, North Carolina, United States, his father, James Daniel Graham, was 42 and his mother, Tinie Helena Burton, was 34. He married Luna Katherine Clayton on 7 April 1944, in Hillsborough, Orange, North Carolina, United States. He lived in Cheeks Township, Orange, North Carolina, United States in 1940 and East Flanders, Belgium for about 12 years. He died on 18 April 2003, in Durham, Durham, North Carolina, United States, at the age of 80, and was buried in Efland, Orange, North Carolina, United States.