Figuring Out Who's Who

Everyone has his/her own methods of research and what works for one person may not work at all for someone else.  I floundered around until I realized that creating a time line worked for me, and it is particularly helpful in sorting out people with the same name.

I’m a descendant of Daniel Grant, d. 1793, Wilkes Co., GA, and I’m interested in all of Daniel’s descendants, not just my line.   I've been researching the Grant family in Georgia on and off for 15 years.

I discovered on Ancestry that there are several trees which have Daniel Grant’s grandson, Thomas Grant, Jr., as marrying Susannah Barber and living in Crawford Co., GA.  I really don’t think that Thomas Grant of Crawford Co., GA, is the same person as Thomas Grant, Jr., grandson of Daniel and son of Thomas Grant, Sr., of Jasper Co., GA.  But I could be wrong and I'm always open to new evidence and ideas and points of view.

There's proof that Thomas Grant, Jr., was still alive in 1833, but it appears Thomas Grant of Crawford Co., GA, was dead prior to the 1827 Georgia Land Lottery.

Thomas Grant of Crawford Co., GA, may have died before 1828, because his "orphans" won land in the 1827 Georgia Land Lottery.  [My tree showing Thomas Grant of Crawford Co. is here:  http://trees.ancestry.com/tree/9210907/person/6113196861].  The law creating this lottery doesn't define the term "orphan," but in previous lotteries, a child was considered an "orphan" if the father was dead and the mother dead or remarried.

I may be completely misreading this since Susannah (nee Barber) appears to have been alive in 1840 and 1850 (S. A. Grant (female) appeared in the 1850 Crawford Co., GA, census and Susannah Grant appeared in the 1840 census).  Since her surname in both census records is "Grant," she doesn't appear to have remarried.  Since Susannah was neither dead nor remarried, I don't see how Thomas Grant's children could have been considered "orphans" in the 1827 Lottery.

The exact wording of the winners (from a transcription) is:  "Thomas, Elizabeth, William, Nancy & J. Grant, orphans."  These "orphans" were residents of Crawford Co., GA, and won Lot 170, Dist. 19, Muscogee Co., GA.

However, Thomas Grant of Crawford Co., was definitely dead by 1832 because in the 1832 Cherokee Land Lottery in Georgia, Susannah Grant, widow of Crawford Co., GA, won land.  This is why I think Thomas Grant of Crawford Co., couldn't have been the son of Thomas Grant, Sr., of Jasper Co.  Thomas Grant, Jr., (son of Thomas, Sr., & Frances Owen) was still alive in 1833, because on 1 Aug 1833 he filed for letters of dismission from the estate of his nephew, Thomas W. Grant, in Greene Co., GA.  I haven't seen the original of this filing, but notice of the filing appeared in The Georgia Journal, the legal organ for Georgia.

Additionally, in 1854, William V. Burney (the husband of Lucy Grant who was the daughter of Thomas Grant, Sr., & his second wife Martha (nee Waddy) and, therefore half-sister of Thomas Grant, Jr.) filed suit in Columbus, Muscogee Co., GA, over the trust Thomas Grant, Sr., left for his wife, Martha (nee Waddy).  The defendant in the suit was Alexander Spear (sic).  Alexander Speer married Mary (nee Baird), the widow of Thomas Grant Jr., in 1839, Troup Co., Georgia.

If anyone reads this who is also a descendant of Daniel Grant of Wilkes Co., GA, or Thomas Grant of Crawford Co., GA, please leave a comment.  I’d love to have a discussion about these people.

[I've tried and tried to get the timeline I created in a table format inserted into this blog entry and it just isn't working.  I've used a different format and hope it's easy to follow.  I originally tried to put all this information into one blog post, but got error messages when I tried to upload.  I think the page was simply too long, so I've put the timeline into a separate blog entry immediately after this one - Grant Time Line.]  If you go to the tab that says "Classic" in the upper left corner and click that, a drop-down menu will appear.  Click on "Flipcard" and you'll see a button which says, "Grant Time Line."  Click on that to see my second post about the various Thomas Grant's.