John Grant (1746 - 1825)

Born 1 Sep 1746 in Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts Bay Colony

Ancestors

Husband of Sarah (Wise) Grant — married 8 Jan 1771 in Berwick, Maine

Descendants

Died 3 Nov 1825 at age 79 in Kennebunk, York, Maine, United States

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Biography

BIOGRAPHY OF JOHN GRANT (1746 – 1825) (b. September 1, 1746 Boston, MA; d. 1825 November 3, Kennebunk, ME) By Frank Grant Bragg III

John was born in Boston, Massachusetts on September 1, 1746 he married Sarah Wise (1750 – 1817), daughter of Captain John Wise and Elizabeth Malcolm, in Berwick, Maine on January 18, 1771. They had nine children in Kennebunk: John - 1772, Edward – 1773, Stephen – 1776, Joseph – 1778, Hannah – 1780, Sarah -1782, Abigail – 1784, Eliza – 1786 and Anna – 1792. Sarah died on January 22, 1817. John died November 3, 1825 and is buried next to Sarah at the Grant plot of Hope Cemetery in Kennebunk, ME. 


Life Summary

John was reportedly a reasonably wealthy young man who traveled in the best of colonial style when he visited Maine and won Sarah Wise, the "Belle of Berwick", as his bride. Sarah wished to return to Boston to live the city life. However, John chose to continue to seek his fortune in Maine. He entered the merchant trade in Kennebunk, Maine. In 1789, he and Michael Wise, brother of Sarah, formed the firm of Wise and Grant that engaged in the West Indies trade. John served in the Revolutionary War. John was a Captain with the "Green Mountain Boys" from July to November 1775. These were the famed Minutemen. Subsequently, he served as Quartermaster to Jackson's Continental Regiment from June 1777 to April 1779. He was thereafter the Quartermaster of New Hampshire militia forces. In July 1779, he was aboard the ship Hampden where he was taken prisoner. Following the Revolutionary War, John was a merchant ship owner that lost the sloop "George" in 1797 and the brigantine "Rainbow" in 1800 to "French Spoliation". John purchased the “Long House” in 1799 and added another story. His daughter Anna used part of the house as a private school room. Anna and her sister Sarah also used part of the home as a millinery store. The home today is a museum called “Jefferd’s Tavern” in Kennebunk, ME. John and Sarah’s sons died young; Joseph in 1797, he was 19, of unknown cause; the others died at-sea; Stephen in 1813, age 37; Edward in 1815 was 41; and John in 1816 was 44.

Revolutionary War Record

Green Mountain Boys

John was a Captain with the Green Mountain Boys, along with Benedict Arnold and his small troop, arrived at Fort Ticonderoga on May 10, 1775. There were not many British there to defend the fort. Ethan Allen stepped boldly out and announced that the Americans would be taking the fort and the British had better run. He then attacked and his Green Mountain Boys were right behind him. As soon as they had bypassed the wall, their enemies quickly surrendered upon seeing the number of assailants. The capture of Fort Ticonderoga was one of the major turning points in the war. Many speculate that if the Americans had not successfully taken it, they might not have won the war.

Quartermaster John Grant served with Massachusetts Line during the American Revolution.

John Grant is a DAR Patriot Ancestor, A047057.

Quartermaster Massachusetts Line

John served as quartermaster in the Massachusetts Line. He was placed on the pension roll of York County, ME in 1818 and received his pension from April 1819 until his death in November 1825.

The Official record of a ballot by the House of Representatives of Maine, dated June 23, 1775, for choice of officers to command the six regiments raised to serve before Boston until April 1, 1776; John’s chosen Quarter Master of Colonel Lemuel Robinson's regiment raised in Suffolk and York counties; also, Quarter Master, Colonel Henry Jackson's regiment, Continental Army pay accounts for service from June 1777 to November 1777; marched to Peekskill, NY in October 1777, assigned to Lt. Colonel David Cobb's Regiment to take charge of stores at Cambridge, MA until February 1779.

16th Massachusetts Regiment

Also known as Henry Jackson's Continental Regiment was raised on January 12, 1777 at Boston, Massachusetts. The regiment saw action at the Battle of Monmouth and the Battle of Rhode Island. The regiment was disbanded on January 1, 1781 at New Windsor, New York. 
The Battle of Forts Clinton and Montgomery was an American Revolutionary War battle fought in the highlands of the Hudson River valley, not far from West Point, on October 6, 1777. British forces under the command of General Sir Henry Clinton captured Fort Clinton and Fort Montgomery, and then dismantled the Hudson River Chain. The purpose of the attack was to create a diversion to draw American troops from the army of General Horatio Gates, whose army was opposing British General John Burgoyne's attempt to gain control of the Hudson. 


The twenty-gun ship Hampden

John went aboard the ship Hampden in April 1779 as Clerk to Master Titus Salter. Titus was appointed and commissioned to command the Ship Hampden in an expedition at Penobscot Bay, ME.
He was ordered to clear out, put to sea and join the fleet from Massachusetts. John was taken prisoner when the British captured the ship in July 1779 (the British took his Congressional Commissions).

A NAVAL HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION
 
THE PENOBSCOT EXPEDITION, 1779
 


“When the news of the British occupation reached Boston the General Court was in session, and it was soon determined to drive out the enemy, if possible, before he had had time to strengthen his position. Preparations were made with energy and a military and naval force was soon organized, although the full number of militia called for could not be obtained. Application was made to the Continental Congress for the services of three national vessels at that time in Boston Harbor and they accompanied the expedition. New Hampshire contributed one vessel. All the rest of the force was made up and the expense borne by Massachusetts. The fleet organized for this enterprise consisted of nineteen armed vessels and twenty or more transports. The Continental vessels were the frigate Warren, 32, Commodore Saltonstall, the brig Diligent, 14, Captain Brown, and the sloop Providence, 12, Captain Hacker. The state navy furnished the brigs Hazard, Active and Tyrannicide of fourteen guns each, commanded by Captains Williams, Hallet, and Cathcart. The Diligent and the Active had recently been taken from the British. In addition to these six vessels, twelve privateers were taken into the service of the state, the owners being guaranteed against loss. Four of these privateers carried twenty guns each and four others eighteen guns, while of the remaining four there was one sixteen, two fourteens, and one eight. Eight of the privateers were ship-rigged. One vessel was furnished by New Hampshire, the twenty-gun ship Hampden, a privateer temporarily taken into the service of that state. The fleet carried over two hundred guns, a large proportion of them probably light ones, and more than two thousand men; Saltonstall was in command. The military force on board the transports it had been intended to recruit to the number of fifteen hundred men, but owing to hurried preparations, less than a thousand apparently embarked on the fleet; and they, according to the testimony of the officers, were a very inferior set of men, even for militia. These troops were under the orders of General Solomon Lovell, with General Peleg Wadsworth second in command and Lieutenant-Colonel Paul Revere in charge of the artillery (Court Records, June 24, 1779.)”
 


History of the Hampden

“Taken as a pilot boat, pilot Isaac Simonson, in March 1776 was seized by New York City HMS Nautilus and retained as a tender. Continental Navy brigantine purchased in 1776, condemned in 1776, Captains Hoysteed Hacker, Thomas Weaver, Ezekiel Burroughs, sold at Providence, RI in 1777. MA privateer brigantine, 14 guns, 100 men, operating in July 1777 under Captain Benjamin Warren of Salem; under John Bartlett in Nov 1777; captured under Captain John Ashton after July 1778 (when it was listed as a schooner by Howe). NH state ship of 30 guns, Captain Titus Salter, deserted at Penobscot in 1779 and taken by British. Privateer of 22 guns and 150 men contracted for as a NH State ship in the Penobscot Expedition in 1779. She was later captured off Penobscot Bay in July 1779, and used by the British.”

History of Wells and Kennebunk by Edward E. Bourne, LL.D. 1875

John Grant “We should feel that we were guilty of a great wrong were we to withhold the tribute justly due to the memory of this worthy man. He made no special display in any department of life; yet his character was such as to merit the affectionate remembrance of every lover of his race. He was a solid man in every sense of the word; a gentleman of the school of the 18th century. Amidst all the vicissitudes which marked his condition, he was the same incorruptible, faithful servant of right and duty. His grandfather was an Englishman, who came over to this country in the beginning of the last century, having for his companion a Mr. Malcolm; the families of the two, we suppose, having lived in the friendly and dignified relations, which distinguished the nobility of Great Britain. The daughter of Malcolm was educated in Boston; highly accomplished, and familiar with the etiquette and all the refinements of high life. Among other aristocratic notions in which she indulged, she was accustomed to have a barber to dress her hair every morning with flowers, dipped. Wise, one of the sons of Rev. Jeremiah Wise, of Berwick, was fascinated by her charms, and she became his wife. He then moved to Berwick, where he lived in true English style. The issue of this marriage was three sons and one daughter, Jeremiah, Daniel, Michael and Sarah. Sarah was the belle of Berwick. When she had come to maturity, John Grant, then a wholesale merchant in Boston, came to Berwick, and was captivated with the attractions of the scenery, and with the attentions which he received from the people.
The Malcolm's and the Grants when they visited Berwick, came in the style of the grandees of the Province. Young Grant, of course, was the object of a flood of civilities. Possessing the many attractions with which the graces of the true gentleman invest the person, he soon impressed the heart and secured the affections of the daughter of Captain Wise; and in due time she became his wife. But much to her disappointment, instead of taking up her residence in Boston, Grant's attachment to Berwick had become so strong, that he determined to close his business in Boston and move there. Accordingly, he opened a store for trade in Berwick, or what is now termed South Berwick. But he no sooner commenced business than a great freshet carried off his store and all his merchandise. The store went down the river, and was secured at Portsmouth; but all his goods were lost or destroyed. About the same time a vessel and cargo, of which he was part owner, was totally lost:
He then started in business anew, as partner with Richard Cutts in the traffic of West India goods and groceries. But he was again doomed to disappointment. A gang of thieves entered the store in the darkness of night, and carried off the entire stock of goods. They were tracked and pursued to the eastern end of the Province, but all exertions to overtake them were fruitless.
But Grant was a persevering man, active and industrious; still self-possessed, cheerful and determined under all the adversities of life. He suffered no delay, but starting again in the same business alone, he went to Portsmouth and purchased goods to the amount of five hundred dollars; brought them up in a gondola, which reached South Berwick late in the evening. They were put into the store; and wearied with the day's work; he went home and retired to bed. On going to the store in the morning, the goods had all disappeared; the thief, and if to see how completely he could perfect his work, having carried off every article except a single paper of pins. He had no doubt who the robber was. But such were his sensibilities, and so adverse was he to being, even under the most aggravated circumstances, the instrument of bringing distress upon a family, that it was not in his heart to take measures to unfold the crime and punish the offender. But at a subsequent period the thief found a home in the State's prison, where he died, having previously made confession of this and other offenses. Notwithstanding these repeated misfortunes, so rapidly following each other, his enterprising spirit was in no measure subdued. Neither were the elements of his social character in the least degree affected. He was still the same thorough gentleman in his domestic and friendly intercourse; pleasant and respectful to all.

The Revolutionary conflict having commenced, he readily took sides with the people in opposition to the English government, and being " chosen by the General Court" in 1776, as Quarter-master of the Suffolk and York regiments, he went into the army. After the war was over, he came to Kennebunk. Here he soon entered on a profitable business. Being of a kind and generous temperament, he drew to his store a large custom, and in a little while more than retrieved his former pecuniary condition. His son Edward went into partnership with his uncle Michael Wise. The firm did an extensive business; and in January, 1804, Grant being desirous of being relieved, in a measure, from its cares and burdens, took his son into partnership with him, under the firm of John Grant & Son.”







Post War Kennebunk, ME “Soon after the close of the Revolutionary war and the establishment of the independence of the United States, lumber was turned out from the mills in great quantities, and there was apparently nothing in the way of a profitable investment in navigation. The shipyards were filled with workmen. In a few years wharves were built, and vessels of a larger size were receiving their cargoes for the West Indies. Several enterprising men were now added to the settlers in Kennebunk. Among them were Jonas Clark, Thatcher Goddard, John Grant, Richard Gillpatrick, Oliver Keating, Tobias Lord, John Bourne, Joseph Moody, John Low, Jacob Fisher, Daniel Wise, Michael Wise, Joseph Hatch, and Jeremiah Paul. There were also several active men in Arundel, whose interests were allied to those of Kennebunk. All entered into navigation with spirit, anticipating thereby the speedy acquisition of wealth, so that in 1798 we had ships, George, 262 tons; a new ship, 202 ; ship Phebe, 168 ; Aurora, 195; Mercury, 180, and Sally, 179. Bark, Truxton, 132. Brigs, Success, 152; Franklin, 149; Neptune, 117; Commerce, 122; Panther, 142; Pallas, 135; America, 117; Union, 126; Franklin, 149; Hope, 115; Experiment, 117; Morning Star, 122; Polly, 102; Rainbow, 140; Atlantic, 151; Alexander, 119; Horatio, 150; Nathaniel, 128; William, 132; Maine, 130; Snow Eliza, 135; and sixteen schooners and twelve sloops.
 These facts would seem to indicate a high degree of pecuniary prosperity; but we are compelled to say that a more full history does not warrant any such inference. Almost every man at this period, with a few thousand dollars, or owning a respectable farm, was interested in the navigation of the town. There were no insurance offices, to which owners were accustomed to resort for the purpose of obtaining insurance. Policies were signed by individuals specifying against their names the amount they insured, so that farmers in Alewife, traders, and other persons became insurers. Col. John Taylor, Benjamin Titcomb, Samuel Waterhouse, Benjamin Brown, Thatcher Goddard, Oliver Keating, sea captains and ship owners, insured in this manner, for about four per cent, on a voyage to the West Indies and back. Insurance by the year was not yet in vogue. In estimating, therefore, the profit of navigation, the interests of all concerned are to be taken into the computation. We suppose that the art of building and managing vessels was not so well understood then as now; but from whatever cause, the result of all this commercial investment, activity, and labor was no material addition to the property of the town. We know but little of the details of the voyages of these vessels; but we have sufficient knowledge of our ancient navigation in all its relations, to satisfy us as to the accuracy of our judgment in this matter. Mr. Lyman, we have stated, built four vessels during the war. Three of them were captured by the enemy on the first voyage. The fourth was very unsuccessful. Capt. Hovey went out with a cargo or freight of cattle, many of which were lost overboard the first night. Another, soon afterward', loaded with lumber, was lost on the Keys near the West Indies. Nathaniel Littlefield was shipwrecked in the West Indies in 1769. Daniel Paul went out in one of these small vessels in 1760 with a load of cattle. Thirty-nine of them were lost overboard, and he returned to port. In 1786, one of the sloops was lost on Plum Island, at Newburyport. The crew succeeded in reaching the land, where,, wet and chilled, they found a haystack in which they burrowed;. but soon, the tide rising to an extraordinary height, they were driven from this refuge, and Mr. Curtis, the owner, and one man were frozen to death. John Perkins succeeded in reaching the fort,, but was very badly frozen. Though some of these facts may be irrelevant in this place, we insert them from the conviction that they are matters of interest to those connected in the way of descent with the sufferers. In 1794, a brig of Mr. Adam McCnlloch was burnt while lying at the wharf. These losses would, of themselves, furnish but little support to our position; but taken in connection with the great losses in the years closing the century, they are not without their weight. The war between France and England made sad havoc with the navigation of Kennebunk. For the benefit of those interested, we append a statement of the losses which have come to our knowledge. The United States Government, having received an equivalent for all these losses, may yet, even after a delay of more than seventy years, come to the conclusion that it is best to pay its honest debts. Our information is probably imperfect as to the number of vessels of which our people were unlawfully deprived, but we give such as we have obtained: The brig Dolphin, owned by Tobias Lord, Daniel Wise, and Richard Gillpatrick, was taken in 1793; brig Harmony owned by Jonathan Stone, Daniel Walker, and Wheelright Stevens, in 1794; ship Sally, owned by Thomas Perkins, John Blunt, and Thomas Perkins, jr., in 1798; ship Phebe, Lemuel Walker, master, 1799; schooner Phoenix, owned by Theodore Lyman, 1797; brig Hope, owned by Daniel Wise and Dr. Keating; brig Atlantic, owned by Tobias Lord, Samuel Lord, Nathaniel Lord, and Jonathan Stone; brig Betsey, Capt. Baker, owned in Wells; brig Panther, Capt. Merrill; sloop George, Capt. Grant, 1797; brig Fanny, Capt. Gould, owned by Daniel Wise, Dr. Keating, Thomas Perkins, and Joseph Perkins; schooner Columbus, Capt. Mason; brig Harmony, Capt. Burnham ; Snow Eliza, Capt. Ephraim Perkins ; brig Betsey, Adam McCulloch, owner, 1797; brig Rainbow, Capt. John Grant, 1800; brig Fame, owned by Richard Gillpatrick and others; brig Success, owned by Richard Gillpatrick; schooner Mercury, owned by John Bourne; schooner Fortune, owned by Tobias Lord and Daniel Wise; brig Active, of Wells, Capt. Gerrish, 1798; brig Horatio, owned by Eliphalet Perkins, and ship George.
A few of these were not condemned, but were subjected to great expenditures and loss of time by the unlawful detention. There were probably others of which we have not learned. The century closes leaving an unfavorable history of the commerce of the town. The enterprising men, who had for so many years expended their industry in business on the seas, in the period of declining life saw no fruits of all their labors in this branch of human activity. They nearly all died leaving no other property than their real estate, of which they had become invested by patrimony or purchase in early manhood. So closed the days of Pelatiah Littlefield, John Low, Nahum Morrill, John Storer, Joseph Storer, Michael Wise, John Grant, Jonas Clark, John Bourne, and Hugh McCulloch. No more successful issue of life's labors cheered the hearts of any of those who had spent their days in building vessels. We have been unable to find the evidence that any one of them possessed in his last days, a reasonable competency of the conveniences and comforts of life. John Bourne, the first master builder and contractor of whom we have any knowledge, dying in 1787, built a large number of vessels for townsmen and persons at the West, but died without any property, excepting a very little real estate. So also did his son Benjamin, who built many vessels and died in 1778, and John Butland, who built the vessels on Monsam river. They gathered no fruit from all their hard labors. The history of these three, we believe, is the history of all the ship-builders of Wells to the time of which we speak, so that we may well say that the navigation of Wells and Kennebunk, and to the commencement of the present century, wrought no great addition to the wealth of the town. Still, here and there, a fortunate owner reaped the benefit of a successful voyage, and a few acquired a very respectable amount of property. These facts awakened and kept alive a desire for further adventures. A profitable speculation of one man, though a similar enterprise of ten others may have entirely failed, is almost always sufficient to lead the multitude to try their luck in the same direction; and about the beginning of the present century the commercial business of the town seems to have received a new impetus. In 1798, an attempt was made to improve the Kennebunk River. It was believed that a pier, built at the mouth, would be of service in deepening the water and afford much aid in getting vessels to sea. The navigation for vessels which were beginning to be built was not regarded as convenient or safe. The larger class were loaded in part at the wharf, and then towed over the bar, where they were obliged to lie until the loading was completed. This sometimes occupied many days. An act of incorporation was obtained in 1798, authorizing the cooperators to build a pier at the month of the river, and allowing the company to take toll on all vessels passing out. Most of the people in the village of Kennebunk, at the Landing, and at the Port took stock in the company, a reasonable toll of five cents a ton being allowed on all vessels passing out, and two cents on smaller vessels exceeding ten tons. The pier was erected and a period of successful navigation followed. A great number of vessels was added to our commerce, nearly all of which were engaged in the West India trade. Vessels of larger capacity were beginning to be built, and in the year 1811 two large ships, the Rubicon, 408 tons, and another, 479 tons, were built by Hugh McCulloch. But the war of 1812 blighted all the prospects of the ship owners. These two vessels were built just below Durrell's bridge. One of them laid there during the war; the other went to sea but did not return. All the navigation during the years 1812 to 1814 was laying up the river out of the way of danger from the enemy; but when the war closed many of these vessels were of little worth. The great ship of Mr. McCulloch had rotted and was nearly ruined, so that this last period of commercial business terminated very much like the first. Very few of the people were much better off from this last fifteen years' adventure on the sea. Still, commercial ardor was not abated. The navigation was again rapidly increased, and in 1820, there were five ships, forty-three brigs, and a large number of schooners and sloops. The business after the war was still confined to coasting and the West Indies. The crews were almost entirely of our own people.”

Sources

• "Massachusetts Births and Christenings, 1639-1915," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VQXK-G5D : 10 February 2018), John Grant in entry for John Grant, 01 Sep 1746; citing BOSTON,SUFFOLK,MASSACHUSETTS, ; FHL microfilm 0014734 V. 24.
• "Maine Deaths and Burials, 1841-1910," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F4ZF-MVM : 11 February 2018), John, 2nd. Grant, 1825; citing reference yr 1820-1856 p 155; FHL microfilm 11,326.
• Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988
• The New England Historical & Genealogical Register, 1847-2011
• U.S., Newspaper Extractions from the Northeast, 1704-1930
• Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988
• A Naval History of The American Revolution - 1779

• History of Wells and Kennebunk by Edward E. Bourne, LL.D. - 1875
• Earliest Settlement to the Year Kennebunk was set off, 1820, Biographical Sketches by Edward E. Bourne, LL.D.
• North America, Family Histories, 1500-2000
• Heitman's "Historical Register of Officers of the Continental Army
• DAR membership #168868 for Khadijah Miriam Grant
• SAR membership #106935 for Harold Marion Grant (1900 - 1986).
• History of Kennebunk by Daniel Remich and War Department records.
• Jan 1, 1799 Deed signed to Jefferd's property Kennebunk property owned by William Jefferds and Stephen Tucker. Building known as the Long House at the time. Later known as Jefferd's Tavern.