Joel Grammer (1808 - 1861)

Born 1808 in Ohio, Kentucky, United States

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 15 Jul 1861 at about age 53 in Eagle Valley, Churchill, Nevada, United States

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Biography

Joel Grammer, son of Jacob Grammer and Sally Barker, was born about 1808 in Ohio County, Kentucky. He died on 15 Jul 1861 in Eagle Valley, Churchill, Nevada. He married Catherine Elizabeth Clapp about 1824 in Alabama. Family legend says that when Dr. Joel was about 16, he eloped with Elizabeth from Union County, Illinois, and moved to the deep South, where his first son and his daughter Louisa were born. If this is true, then Dr. Joel is not Jacob’s son, because Jacob was still in Kentucky at the time Dr. Joel would have been eloping from Illinois. In any case, it seems unlikely that Joel met Elizabeth in Union County, since she was from Alabama. He married Lydia Sides on 5 Mar 1851 in Jackson County, Illinois.^[1]

Joel Grammer was born around 1808 in Ohio County, Kentucky and before 1810 the family had moved to Rutherford County, Tennessee. Another person living in Rutherford at the time was David Crockett.

Dr. Joel was in Graves County, Kentucky, by 1835 (the first settlers arrived in this area of the Jackson Purchase around 1820).^[2] Joel Grammer is mentioned in a state history as being “one of the first teachers” in the southern part of the county (Lynville Precinct, near the state line?). At that time, children were usually educated at subscription schools, paid for by their parents. Since education was not free, many children missed out on it entirely. What education the others received was primitive at best: ^[3]

The first schoolhouses of the county were rude log dwellings, which had been deserted by some family that had found the hardships of settling the new country too great to be borne, or log dwellings, in which the family still lived, one corner of the room being fitted up with rude clapboard seats and desks. Testaments were frequently the first readers, and the ability to read, write and cipher constituted the sum and substance of a teacher’s qualifications. Several schools were taught early in the thirties, although no substantial progress was made in the cause of education until many years later.

Dr. Joel moved to Union County, Illinois in 1837. He located in the northern part of the county at what was called “Grammer Hill.”^[4] In 1837, Dr. Joel Grammer was summoned to serve on the grand jury in Union County.

In 1838, Dr. Joel was allowed $12 for attendance and medicine furnished J. Brim, a pauper. Dr. Joel filed a suit against John Hall, “upon certiorari.” Dr. Joel’s attorney, Mr. Lander, entered a motion to squash certiorari, which the court sustained.^[5] Also, in 1838, Dr. Joel was summoned as a grand juror again.

In 1839, in a court case of Dr. Joel against John Grammer (presumably Senator John), the jury found for Senator John. Further information on the case is no longer extant. Too bad; this could have been quite interesting, perhaps even specifying relationships.

Sometime in the 1830’s, Dr. Joel was involved in a circuit court case vs. William Connaway, presumably Senator John’s son-in-law, per Darrel Dexter.

In 1839, Dr. Joel was allowed $25 for medicine and attention furnished to J. Breen, pauper, under the order of N.K. Tripp, overseer of the poor. Dr. Joel initiated a court case against William Connoway (son-in-law of Senator John), but Dr. Joel later dismissed the case as long as William Connoway paid court costs. In the 1839 list of property in Union County, Joel had 1 horse valued at $40, 5 cattle worth $25, and $100 of other property, for a total taxable worth of $165. No real estate was listed. Also, in 1839, Dr. Joel, “living in said Union County about 9 or 10 miles North of Jonesborough on the road leading from Brownsville,” found a stray bay mare.

The 1840 census shows two daughters born between 1825 and 1830, probably Lousia and Sarah. That year, Dr. Joel was allowed $12 for medical attention and medicine furnished to Solomon Williams, poor person, and $10 for the same furnished to John Anderson, pauper. Also, in 1840, Dr. Joel sued David Knight, with the case described as “trover [a common law action to recover the value of goods wrongfully converted by another to his own use] and conversion.” ^[6]

In 1841, Dr. Joel initiated a suit against John, William, and Jesse Hall, which he won. In 1842, he was allowed $5 for care of Michael Powers, $2 for care of William Roach, and $27 for care of Susan Wigle, all paupers. In December of that year he was allowed $6.37 for funeral expenses of the same Susan Wigle.

In 1842, Elizabeth Clapp’s father, the Lutheran Minister Ludwig “Lewis” Clapp, died in Kentucky, probably Calloway County although it might have been Nauvoo, Illinois instead. Her brother Benjamin Lynn Clapp and her mother, Margaret (Loy) Clapp, moved to the Mormon colony at Nauvoo, Illinois. Benjamin Lynn was a prominent elder in the church and it seems that Margaret had converted, too. Around 1846, Benjamin’s family, with Margaret in tow, made the trek to Salt Lake City.

Dr. Joel was appointed one of the trustees of school land in T11S, R2W in 1842. In 1843, Dr. Joel was allowed $2.23 for three days service as trustee of these school lands. Also, in 1843, he was allowed $4 for sundry articles furnished ____ Burry, a pauper, and his or her child.

Sometime between 1845, when Mary was born, and 1850, when Dr. Joel appears on the census, Elizabeth died. It seems likely that she may have died during or as a result of Mary’s birth, since childbirth was a leading cause of death for women in those days (even if your husband was a physician).

In 1846, Dr. Joel was allowed $4.50 for services as school trustee, T11S R2W, and $35 for building a bridge across Running Lake on Old Green’s Ferry Road. In 1847, Dr. Joel sued the administrators of the estate of Luke Shaw. Dr. Joel was awarded his fees and court charges. Also, in 1847, he was appointed supervisor of Ridge Road District 11 for one year, allowed $6 to repair the bridge across Pond Slew on Old Greens Road, and allowed $11.75 for medical attention and nourishment furnished Zebedee Cossey during his last illness. He also bid $30 to provide medical attention to paupers. L.K. Parks got the contract over Joel even though Park’s bid was $4 higher.

In 1847, Joel filed suit in Union County against Otis Shaw and Sampson Keith, administrator of the estate of Luke Shaw. Witnesses in the case were Aaron Grammer, Mary Tweedy, Dorcus Butcher, John S. Rendleman, William Welch, and Caleb Lindsey. On July 10, 1847, Joel was awarded $49.50. Shaw and Keith appealed. The debt was most likely for medical services (apparently unsuccessful) for Luke Shaw.

In 1848, Joel presented his report as supervisor of road district 7 and was discharged. Apparently acting in his capacity as supervisor, he paid his son John W. and Wilson Stone $4 for carrying chain for the surveyor in T11S, R2W. Later that year, he was allowed $2 for four days service as trustee in dividing school lands.

In March of 1848, The Commissioners Court ordered that bids for providing medical attention to paupers must be considered from any regular practitioner of medicine without regard to the physician having a medical degree. Darrel Dexter wonders if this might be a reaction to Dr. Joel’s 1847 bid, which was turned down even though he was the lowest bidder. We have yet to find any evidence that Dr. Joel had any formal medical training, although he may have studied with his brothers-in-law, who were physicians.

Later on, in 1848, Joel was involved again in bidding to keep paupers. He presented the lowest bid at $45, which was apparently accepted. Then both he and H.C. Hacker bid on medical attention for paupers. They each presented first bids for $30. Both bid $25 on the next bid. On the third and final bid, Hacker’s $20 offer beat Dr. Joel’s $23 bid, so Hacker received the contract. On December 5, 1848, Joel was allowed $6 for medical attention to Dr. Parsons. This is the last known reference to Dr. Joel in Union County records.

Some sources state that by 1845-46, about the time of the death of his supposed father, Jacob, Joel had moved again to Makanda Township. In either case, he had certainly moved there by 1850, when the 1850 census shows three sons and two other daughters living with him; Tiletha and Louisa were married by then. He served as physician in Makanda, Jackson County, until 1859.

At the August 1848 term of court in Union County, Illinois, Dr. Joel was appointed guardian to his grandchild, Emma Caroline Penrod. Caroline’s mother and Dr. Joel’s daughter, Louisa, was widowed when her husband, Jacob, was killed in the Mexican War.

In May of 1851, Jackson County indicted Dr. Joel (“late of the county”) for keeping a “tippling house” open on the Sabbath on January 5 of the same year. ^[7]The charge stated that he “did then and there unlawfully keep open a certain tippling house Then and there occupied by him and vissorus [visceral?] spirituous and mixed liquors did then and there sell and give away….” On May 12, Dr. Joel swore that he would be able to procure a deposition from Dr. Caleb Jones (married to the sister of Dr. Joel’s first wife), of Calloway County, Kentucky. Dr. Joel expected the deposition to state that Dr. Joel was using the spirits “for the cure of the disease of his patient and no other use.” No papers have been found detailing the outcome of this case. On November 22, 1851, a grand jury in Jackson County indicted Joel on the charge of fathering a bastard child upon Sarah M. Gregory.^[8]

Dr. Joel was not ready for trial, so he was required to give bail of $500 and was ordered to appear in court on November 29. Subpoenas were issued to Phebe Nelson (for Sarah Gregory) and to John Russell___, Aaron Russell, and John W. Grammer (for Dr. Joel). On November 29, Dr. Joel made bail, with the help of William Hagler, William Spences, and J.W. Grammer.^[9] Final disposition of the case has not been found.

Dr. Joel moved to Nevada Territory in 1859,^[10] the year that gold and silver were discovered in the area. Carson City was only one year old. Several of Lydia’s brothers had moved there earlier and were prominent figures in the area. “It is very likely that he [Dr. Joel] moved there in response to the urging of Emanuel Penrod, his wife’s brother-in-law, and one of the original developers of the strike.” ^[11]

Dr. Joel was listed as a farmer, not a physician, in the 1860 Nevada census. One speculation was that Dr. Joel could no longer practice medicine because of his health, and that the same poor health was the cause of his move to Nevada Territory. If so, the gesture was futile – he died soon thereafter.

Sources

1. ↑ Illinois, U.S., Compiled Marriages, 1851-1900 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005.
2. ↑ "US Census,1830, Graves, Kentucky; Series: M19; Roll 36; Page: 289; FHL microfilm: 0007815.
3. ↑ Perrin, W. H., Battle, J. H., & Kniffin, G. C. (1999). Kentucky, a history of the state, embracing a concise account of the origin and development of the Virginia colony ... Greenville, SC: Southern Historical Press.
4. ↑ John Wesley Grammer's obituary, Carbondale Free Press, Jan. 20, 1906.
5. ↑ Index of the Union County Circuit Court Journals 1818-1869.
6. ↑ US Census,1840, Union County, Illinois; Roll 71; Page: 49; FHL microfilm: 0007644.
7. ↑ Criminal Records, Division F, Box 6, File 626-628. Transcription courtesy of Yvonne F. Jones.
8. ↑ Jackson County Circuit Court files, Div. F, Box 6, File #626 and 628. Dr. Joel’s signature is on several of these papers.
9. ↑ Division F, box 6, File #626 628. YFJ.
10. ↑ "US Census,1860, Nevada Territory, Carson County, UT Territory, Nevada #153, Eagle Valley, Carson Territory #1840.
11. ↑ Jacksonian Ventilator, December 1976, no. 7, page 3

• https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KFKT-7Z3

1860 U.S. Census

• https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MH2W-KDV

Marriage of Son

• https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KFKB-9W8

Marriage of Son

• https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KFKB-MYQ

Notes

• Joel Grammer is listed in the 1830 Census: Graves, Kentucky; Series: M19; Roll: 36; Page: 289; Family History Library Film: 0007815. with 2 males between 20 and 30, 1 male under five, 1 female between 20 and 30 and 2 females under 5.

• Joel Grammer is listed in the 1840 Census: Union, Illinois; Roll: 71; Page: 49; Family History Library Film: 0007644. Also listed Free White Persons - Males - Under 5: 1; Free White Persons - Males - 15 thru 19: 1; Free White Persons - Males - 30 thru 39: 1; Free White Persons - Females - 5 thru 9:1; Free White Persons - Females - 10 thru 14: 2; Free White Persons - Females - 30 thru 39: 1; Persons Employed in Agriculture: 1; Free White Persons - Under 20: 5; Free White Persons - 20 thru 49: 2; Total Free White Persons: 7; Total All Persons - Free White, Free Colored, Slaves: 7.

• Joel Grammer is listed in the 1850 Census: Southern District, Jackson, Illinois; Roll: 110; Page: 246a. He is listed as a doctor 48 years old born in Kentucky. Also listed are John W. 25y (M)__, Louis Frank 19y (M) KY, Emery H. 7y(M) IL, Mary E. 5y(F) IL and Martha J. 4y(F)IL.

• Joel Grammer is listed in the 1860 Census, Nevada Territory, Carson County, UT Territory, Nevada #153, Eagle Valley, Carson Territory, #1840 as a farmer 58 years old and born in Kentucky. Also listed is Lydia 28y (F) IL, Louisa 6y (F) IL, Ellen 3y (F) IL, Joel D. 1y (M) IL Emery 17y (M) IL farm hand, Mary 8y (F) IL and F. Hawley 20y (M) CT laborer.

• On the 1860 Nevada Census, Dr. Joel’s youngest son was listed as one year old, but born in Illinois, which means that Dr. Joel had been in Nevada less than one year.

• Children of Joel and Lydia Sides were: Ellen Grammer b. 1856, Joel D. Grammer b. 1859, and Calvin M. Grammer b. 1860.

• Last Will and Testament of Joel Grammer

Will of Joel Grammer Joel Grammer’s Last Will and Testament, Probate # A-24-922, was signed June 2, 1860 in Carson Valley, Nevada Territory. His will lists wife Lydia Grammar, children Mary, Katherine, Ellen, Joel A. Also mentioned are Emery Grammer and Emanuel Penrod. William Wilford and J. S. Eastman were witnesses. In the Affidavit of Decease and Names of Heirs John Wesley Grammer lists “no widow in the State of Illinois and John Tridly? Grammer, Luisa Corgan? and Martha Wright his children.”

Probate # A-24-922 Last Will and Testament I Joel Grammer of Nevada Territory .... do hereby make and decree this to be my last will and testament in the manner and form wit. 1st It is my will that my funeral expenses and all my just debts be paid. 2nd after such payment of the funeral expenses and debts, I give devise and bequeath unto my beloved wife Lydia Grammar the interest in a farm known and designated the North half and the Southeast quarter of Northeast quarter section 19 in township 10 South Range one West of the third principal meridian in Jackson County, Illinois. Also the residence that we reside on in Carson County Territory affore mentioned. I also give bequeath to her Lydia Grammar all my goods, chattels, household furniture and other articles of personal property. Not enumerated to be controlled and used for the support and education of my children as follows: Mary, Katherine, Ellen, Joel to be applied and used for the support and education of all her children so long as she may remain alone or single and alone if it should happen that she should marry. Then at that time all the interest in the remainder of lands, tenements, goods, chattels. My wife Lydia is to inherit one third of the remainder of real estate and all the personal property for the purpose of the support and education of our children. I give and bequeath to Joel A. Douglas Grammar, my youngest son now born, a land warrant to be laid for him and in his name of the .... description No. 90918 of one hundred.... I desire that Emery Grammar remain on the place and perfect the crop have 1/3 ... his horse saddle Co. And lastly I hereby constitute and appoint Emanuel Penrod my Executor of my last Will and Testament. Revoking and annulling all former will by me made and ratifying and confirming this and no other will and testament. In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal this second day of June the year of our Lord 1860. Joel Grammar Signed, sealed, published by the said Joel Grammar as and for his last will and testament in the presence of us who in his presence and of each other and at his request have subscribed our names as witnesses thereto. Residence Carson Valley N.T. William Wilford Residence Carson Valley N.T. J. S. Eastman

J.N. W. Winton hereby certify that the ... last will and testament of Joel Grammar deceased was admitted to Probate in the Probate Court of Carson County, Nevada Territory before Hon. F... Probate Judge. Sworn to and approved this 31st day of July A.D. 1860.