June 14, 1956

Transcribed by Bob Morrow

* CAL'S COLUMN *

We have learned that the children of Foster Grinad or Greanead, as sometimes spelled and spelled Grinnad in the 1820 census, and his wife, Rebecca Sutherland, included: Sallie Grinad, who married Christian Austin; Betsy Grinad, married Malcolm Smith, a brother of Abraham Smith, sometimes called Abel Smith; Nancy Grinad, married a Evetts; Celia Grinad, married Levi Shoulders, son of Malachi and Polly Gregory Shoulders; one daughter, name not known, married William Patterson, father of Neil W. Patterson, father of Elmore Patterson; Martha Grinad, married Jackie Russell; Rebecca Grinad, married Lanson Dickerson, father of Jim Dickerson and grandfather of John and Will Dickerson, who still reside in the Pleasant Shade section; Judy Grinad, married Bailey Kemp, father of Sike Kemp, who died some years ago, near Red Boiling Springs; Mary Elizabeth Grinad, commonly known as Polly Grinad, married the late Elder Luther Smith, a Baptist preacher of the Pleasant Shade section, and father of Lum Smith, who still lives there; and three sons, although it has been reported that there were only two sons, James and William Grinad. However, in the census of 1850 for Smith County, we find the following record: Rebecca Grinad, aged then 58 years and born in Virginia; husband, Foster Grinad, already dead; and two children living then with the widow; Silas J. Grinad, aged 22 years; and Mary, then 12. It is possible that Jim Grinad and Silas J. Grinad were one and the same, although we confess that we do not know this to be true. It is exceedingly difficult to go back more than 100 years and find an accurate record of the names and ages of the various members of the almost innumerable families in our country.

If any of our readers can furnish us with the information lacking in the above account of the children of Foster and Rebecca Sutherland Grinad, we shall be glad to print it in the paper. We are specially anxious to learn the name of Mrs. William Patterson, and the mix-up on the two or three sons of Foster and his wife.

Mrs. Foster Grinad was a sister of Mrs. Celia Sutherland Oldham, wife of George Oldham, who with his family, consisting of two daughters and their mother, came to the present Herbert Sloan farm on Peyton’s Creek, about a mile and a half below Pleasant Shade, in 1805. They were from Virginia, as the census records of 1850 show, as above given. We have a fairly complete list of the descendants of George Oldham.

The first Grinad or Grenead or Grinnad to arrive in Smith County and those that came later, with the spelling as given by the census enumerators, are as follows: In the year 1820, and we might add that the greater part of the U. S. Census records for 1800 and 1810 were destroyed by the British when they captured the city of Washington in the War of 1812, William F. Grinnad, who had one male under 10 and he himself was between 18 and 26. His wife, who was between 26 and 45 years of age, was the only female in the family in 1820. The reader may be surprised to know that it was not till 1850 that the census records give the names and ages of all members of each family. Before that time the census listed only the head of the family, and the various members were listed by age groups.

Another member of the Grinnad family in Smith County, Tenn., in 1820 was Silas Grinnad, who was between 26 and 45 years of age. He had: Five females under ten, and one female between 26 and 45 years of age, presumed to have been his wife. There are the only Grinnad families in Smith County in 1820. Smith County included then about two thirds of the present Macon County.

In the Smith County census of 1830, the following is recorded: Silas Grenade, one male under five, one from five to 10, and one from 40 to 50, presumed to have been Silas himself. Females, one under five, one from five to 10, two from 10 to 15, one from 15 to 20, and one between 30 and 40, presumably his wife. This family lived next to the family of George Oldham, whose sister-in-law, Rebecca Greneade, is mentioned earlier in this article. Readers will note that the spelling in 1820 was given as Grinad; ten years later, it is given as Grenade. From the census records, judging by the names of near neighbors of this Grenade family, we suppose they lived in the vicinity of the present Pleasant Shade. Other near neighbors of the Grenade family were: Archibald Sloan, William Sloan, Edward Sanderson, Woodson Clarke, and Parthenia Winkler.

Fasky Grenade, in the year 1840, had: two males under five, one from 15 to 20, and one from 50 to 60, presumed to have been Fasky, and one female, between 50 and 60. Whether this could have been Foster Grinad of 1840, we do not know. However, we doubt if the name was “Fasky.”

Near neighbors of “Fasky” were: Pleasant Cheatwood (Chitwood), Charles Cheatwood (Chitwood), Benjamin Slate, Samuel Slate, James Temples, Will Fogg, Neal Bug, and Reuben Regland. The Chitwoods in 1840 lived near the present Red Boiling Springs.

Elias Grinade is the only other member of the family listed in Smith County in 1840. He had: One male from 10 to 15, one male from 15 to 20, and one between 50 and 60, presumably Elias himself. Females: One under five, one from five to 10, one from 10 to 15, one from 20 to 30, and one from 40 to 50, supposed to have been Mrs. Elias Grinade. Near neighbors were: Christian Austin, Leo Winkler, Harbert Gregory, supposed to have been Harbard Gregory; John Evans, John Hessian, Samuel Jenkins, John Hall and John Ballard. As shown above Christian Austin married Sallie Grinad. We wonder if Elias Grinade could have been Silas Grinade.

In the Smith County census for 1850 we find: William Grinade, 56, and born in North Carolina; Nancy Grinade, presumed to have been his wife, 60 years of age and born in North Carolina; John Grinade, 31, born in Tennessee; William Grinade, 25, and born in Tenn.; and Polly Grinade, 22, and born in Tennessee. Near neighbors of the family were: Levi Austin, John Austin, Parthenia Winkler, Reuben Goad, Malcolm Smith, and Christian Austin. As shown above, Malcolm Smith married a daughter of Foster Grinade, and Christian Austin married Sarah Grinad, another daughter of Foster. The spelling of the name of Sallie Austin is given in the first of this article with that spelling. In the census of 1850, she is listed Sarah.

Malcolm Smith’s wife was listed in the first of this article as Betsy, but in the census of 1850, we find her name is Elizabeth, showing her to have been the same woman as first mentioned above.

In 1850 Judy Grinade was 18 years of age and lived with the family of John Knight. Near neighbors of John Knight were Archibald Wilkerson, Edward Sanderson, Alexander Patterson, George Chaffin and Rebecca Grinade.

The last-named William or Bill Grinad is believed to have been the same Bill Grinad, who once lived on top of Hall’s Hill above the present home of Tom Josh Gregory and across the road from the former home of Tom M. Smith, not far from the Charlie Goad place in the Russell Hill section. This Bill Grinad was a peculiar character and we have quite a lot of incidents on his life. We have probably mentioned all of them heretofore in our column, but we give them again. One of them dealt with Bill’s being excluded from Macedonia Baptist church, near Red Boiling Springs. He is reported to have returned from church one Saturday, with the report that the church had “turned him out.” He reported this to one of his neighbors who asked what the charge against him was. He replied, “They turned me out for lying.” He apparently did not deny the charge, but readily admitted it. On another occasion, when he had not been married very long to Hulda Davis, he is said to have stated to his neighbor, “Well, I reckon it is a fine thing we all are not alike. If everybody had been like me, all of them would have wanted Hulda.” His neighbor replied, “I do not know about all of them; but if they all had been like me, none of them would have had her.”

On another occasion in the early manhood of Dr. George W. Herod, the young physician was called to treat Bill. In that day and time they had no devices such as the ear phones of today, to hear a man’s heart beats and listen to the action of his lungs. The physicians in that day and time had to place their naked ear on a man’s chest and hear the beating of the heart and so on. Dr. Herod had been listening to Bill’s heart action and lungs, with his ear to Bill’s chest. Bill spit in Dr. Herod’s face and the young physician then said, “Doggone you, I ought to let you die.”

In Bill’s last illness it is said that one of his daughters was talking to her father about his soul. She is reported to have said: “Pa, didn’t you know the Lord Jesus died for your poor soul?”

Bill’s reply was: “Huh, I did not know He had been sick.” Perhaps there were many other things charged against Bill, which were without foundation.

Rebecca Granad is mentioned in the census of Smith County for 1870 when she was nearly 80 years of age. She lived in 1870 with the family of Martha Piper, in whose family were: Martha, herself, aged 58 years; Harvey Sloan, 16; Minerva Piper, 21; Elizabeth Sloan, 14; Viana J. Sloan, aged 12; James T. Sloan, aged 9; and Archibald J. Sloan, aged 7.

In the census for 1870, we find that Bailey Kemp was the head of a family; that he was 33 years of age and was born in Tennessee; that his wife, Juda Grinad Kemp, above mentioned, was 36 years old; and that the others in the family were: James P., 14; Rebecca, 12; Laircen K. (Kenny), 10; Burrell, nine; Silas (Sike) W., six; Minerva E., four; and Peggy A., one.

In the same census we find Christian Austin, 61 years of age; his wife, Sarah Grinad Austin, 60, their son, Leonidas Austin, 18; and Mary J. Ballard, eight. John Grenade, 50, lived in the family of John W. Hall and his wife, Mary Hall.

In the 1870 census we find: William Grenade, 46, and born in Tennessee; his wife, Hulda, 41, and born in Tennessee; Sarah A., 16; Mary, 14; and Nancy E., 12, all born in Tennessee. This William Grinad was no doubt the same as the one listed as having married Hulda Davis.

The names we have shown above, have various spellings. It is supposed that the name is of German origin, perhaps called 100 years ago, “Black Dutch,” they were called as in the long ago.

If any of our readers can supply us with additional information on this family, your help will be appreciated and we shall be glad to publish same in the Times.