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Smith Cemetery ~ Hugh Robinson Grant ~ part of the Polk County Pioneer Cemeteries of Oregon
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Grant, Hugh Robinson
LAST NAME: Grant FIRST NAME: Hugh MIDDLE NAME: Robinson NICKNAME: 
MAIDEN NAME:  AKA 1:  AKA 2:  AKA 3: 
GENDER: M TITLE: 
BORN: 10 Nov 1830 DIED: 3 Apr 1912 BURIED: 5 Apr 1912 ~ Smith Cemetery
OCCUPATION:  Farmer
BIRTH PLACE:  Johnson Co., Missouri
DEATH PLACE: Dallas, Polk Co., Oregon
NOTES: 
Name of father John Grant
Maiden name of mother Mary Rice
MARRIAGE - to Josephine Williams 15 Jun 1851 in Daviess Co., Missouri.
DONATION LAND CLAIM #4596 - Polk Co., Oregon. Arrive in Oregon 1852 and settled the claim 1 Jun 1853.
1860 OR CENSUS - H. R. [Hugh] Grant, age 28, occupation farmer, b. Missouri, is enumerated with Josephine, age 24, b. Missouri, along with R.A. [Rachel], age 8, b. Missouri, M.C. [Mary], age 5, b. Missouri, N. A. [Nancy], age 3, b. Oregon, and J. M. [John], age 11 mos, b. Oregon. Also enumerated in the household is L. H. Shiles, male, age 11, b. Oregon.
1870 OR CENSUS - Robert H. Grant, age 39, occupation farmer, b. Missouri, is enumerated with Josephine, age 35, b. Missouri, along with Nancy, age 13, b. Oregon, John, age 11, b. Oregon, Wickliffe, age 6, b. Oregon, and David, age 2, b. Oregon.

BIOGRAPHICAL
(Source: Joseph Gaston, Centennial History of Oregon (Chicago: S.J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1912), Volume IV, pp. 497-498)
Hugh R. Grant, deceased, was a resident of Polk county for fifty-nine years, during the greater part of which time he was successfully engaged in agricultural pursuits. He was born in Lafayette county, Missouri, on the 10th of November, 1830, his parents being John and Mary (Rice) Grant, who spent their entire lives in Tennessee. In the family of Mr. and Mrs. John Grant were the following children: a son, who died in infancy; Hugh R., our subject; James, who is living in Davis county, Missouri; Nancy Ann, the deceased wife of Reed Brown; Benton, who died at Pikes Peak, Colorado; Rachel I., who is living in Davis county, Missouri; and John Milton, who lives in Joplin, Missouri. The family always attended the Presbyterian church, of which the mother was a member, and the father accorded his political support to the democratic party.
As he was the eldest of a large family of very limited circumstances, Hugh R. Grant had but meager schooling. He remained at home with his people until he had attained his majority, his energies being enlarged in farm work. When he was twenty-one he was married, and he and his bride located on a farm in Missouri, where they resided until 1852. In that year they started for the northwest with a wagon and two yoke of oxen, the first division of their journey being to Elizabeth, Missouri. They crossed the Platte river at Fort Kearney, where our subject was met by an uncle, Jackson Grant, who told him that they had kept account of the teams going across the plains and sixty thousand had been recorded. It took Mr. and Mrs. Grant six months, with the exception of one day, to cover the distance between their Missouri home and their destination in Polk county. Upon their arrival here they took up their abode with a paternal uncle, David Grant, who was living a mile east of Dallas. They remained with him from October 24th to the 3d of January, 1853, then removed to their own ranch eight miles northwest of Dallas, near Falls City, upon which Mr. Grant had erected a log cabin sixteen feet square, without either floor or windows. They lived for some time thereafter in true pioneer style, their bed being made of boughs and twigs, as they had no furniture save what they brought with them when they crossed the plains. Their ranch contained three hundred and twenty acres of land in the cultivation of which, as well as in the raising of cattle, sheep and goats, Mr. Grant met with such lucrative returns that he was able to extend his holdings at various times until he owned five hundred and five acres of land. Later he engaged successfully in breeding and raising high-grade horses. Through his industry and the intelligent direction of his various undertakings, Mr. Grant acquired a competence sufficient to enable him to retire in 1903. He then went to Falls City, where he resided until 1907, when he came to Dallas, and here he made his home until his death, April 3, 1912, when he had reached the advanced age of eighty-one years.
The 12th of June, 1851, was the wedding day of Hugh R. Grant and Josephine Williams, who was born in Richmond, Wray county, Missouri, on the 6th of November, 1835. Her parents were John A. and Nancy B. (Jamison) Williams, who were born and reared in Kentucky. In their early days they went to Wray county, Missouri, but later located in Davis county, where they resided until 1852, when they came overland to Multnomah county, Oregon. They located on a ranch four miles north of Vancouver, on the Columbia river, where they made their home for thirty years. Owing to the state of the mother’s health, at the expiration of that time they removed to Vancouver, and there she subsequently passed away. Later Mr. Williams came to Polk county and married Eliza Gardner, the widow of Samuel Gardner, and they located in the southern part of the county, where Mr. Williams died. Of the marriage of John A. Williams and his first wife there were born eleven children, as follows: Margaret, the wife of John Childs, who died while crossing the plains in 1852; Sarah Jane, the widow of Jackson Grant, who passed away in Polk county; Thomas, who died in childhood; Martha, who married Jeremiah Shelley, both of whom are deceased; Missouri, the deceased wife of John Dodd; Judith Ann, who married Owen Bozar, both of whom are deceased; Mrs. Hugh R. Grant; Elizabeth, who passed away in Oregon; Milton, who died in Vancouver; Wiley, who died in Polk county; and Sanford, who is also deceased. The mother was a member of the Baptist church. Mr. Williams gave his political allegiance to the democratic party. He always took a very active interest in all local governmental affairs, and represented his district in the state legislature both while residing in Missouri and Multnomah counties. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Grant there were born the following children: Rachel Ann, the eldest, passed away in Polk county; Mary, deceased, was the wife of Andrew Sheldon, who is living in Union county, Oregon. Nancy became the wife of Isaac Hubbard, but is deceased. John, formerly marshal of Dallas for twenty-five years, is now sheriff of Polk county. He owns several ranches in this county. He married Grace Doty of Monmouth, Oregon. Wickliff married Jessie Steele and engaged in farming but is now deceased. David is a member of the night police force of Dallas, where he was formerly engaged in the meat business. He now owns a store in Falls City. Milton B., a rural mail carrier of Dallas, married Frances Brower. Rosie died at the age of nineteen years.
Both Mr. and Mrs. Grant were lifelong members of the Baptist church, and he voted the democratic ticket and for a time served as school director in his district. He was among the last of the early pioneers of Polk county, where he spent the greater part of his life and had a large circle of friends, who accorded him the respect and esteem that is the just tribute to an honorable old age.
DEATH CERTIFICATE: 
OBITUARY: 
DALLAS, Or., April 5.—(Special.)—H. R. Grant, one of the early pioneers of Polk County, died in this city Wednesday at noon of heart failure. Mr. Grant’s death came as a great shock to this community. He had been up and around all the time, and it was thought that he was in the best of health, as he mowed the grass on his lawn most of the morning. At noon he went into the house, took up his newspaper and commenced reading. Within five minutes he died.
Mr. Grant was born in Johnson County, Missouri, November 10, 1830. He later moved to Davis County, Missouri, and June 12, 1851 he was married to Josephine Williams. On April 24, 1852 Mr. Grant and his wife left Missouri for Oregon, arriving in Polk County Oregon in October 1852, after an eventful trip across the plains by ox team. In February, 1853, Mr. Grant settled upon a homestead near the present site of Dallas, and since that time had lived continuously in this county. The deceased leaves surviving him, besides his widow, three children, all boys: John M. Grant, Sheriff of Polk County; David J. Grant, City Marshal of Dallas, and Milt Grant, of Dallas. The funeral was held in this city on Friday from the Baptist Church. Interment in the I.O.O.F. Cemetery near here.
Oregonian, The (Portland, Oregon) 6 Apr 1912

HONORED PIONEER DEAD
Heart Disease Take off H. R. Grant at Moment's Notice
Yesterday noon, while reading a paper shortly after lunch, Mr. H. R. Grant was suddenly stricken with heart failure and passed away at his home in this city before medical assistance could be of any avail. Mr. Grant had been a resident of Dallas for several years, having sold his farm on the Luckiamute a couple of years ago and moved with his wife to Dallas to pass his declining days in the quietude rightfully earned by a life of labor incident to pioneer life and the successful rearing of a large family. Mr. Grant always scorned political honors, and was a member of no fraternal organizatiuon. He was a man of sterling honesty, applying the principle of the goldern rule in his daily life, and with all he came in contact with, be it friend or stranger. He was a good true man in every sense of the word, and it with exceeding regret that his life long friends will hear of his demise. 
Hugh R. Grant was born in Johnston county, Missouri, November 10, 1830. He was united in marriage with Miss Josephine Williams June 12, 1851, and the next April they started across the plains, making the long journey in six months, and arriving in Dallas, October 24, 1852. In February 1853 they settled on a homesteasd at Bridgeport on the Luckiamute, where they consinuously resided until a couple of years ago. The result of the union was nine Mary, Rachael, Nancy, John, Eliza, Wickliffe, Dave, Milton and Rosa, only three of whom yet survive, John R., the sheriff of Polk county, D.J., night policeman of Dallas, and Milton, rural mail carrier. Mrs. Grant was born in Ray county, Missouri, November 6, 1885 [sic; 1835], moving to Davis [Daviess] county in 1843, where she married Mr. Grant. 
The funeral will be held from the Baptist church at 10 o’clock tomorrow morning, Rev. John Vine officiating, and interment will take place in the Smith cemeterty near the old homestead. The pall bearers will be W.J. White, C.L. Hubbard, C.G. Coad, Glen O. Butler, S.H. Petre and Geo Meyer. The bereaved family have the sympathy of the whole community in their bereavement.
Polk County Itemizer (Thursday) 4 Apr 1912, 7:8
INSCRIPTION: 
H. R. Grant
Nov. 10, 1830 - Apr. 3, 1912
[shares marker with Josephine]
SOURCES: 
PCHS
Gaston, IV:497-98
Missouri Marriage Records (Ancestry.com)
1860 OR CENSUS (Polk Co., Bridgeport, FA#481)
1870 OR CENSUS (Polk Co., Bridgeport, FA#609)
PCI 4 Apr 1912, 7:8
Oreg 6 Apr 1912
CONTACTS: 
ROW: 27-8  

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