Capt. John Grainger (Granger) 1654–1723
Birth 15 JAN 1654 • Newbury, Massachusetts Death 05 APR 1723 OR 1725 • Andover, Essex, Mass
My 7th great grandfather...who's birthday was yesterday.He was the oldest son of Lancelot and Joanna Adams Grainger, of their 12 children. Three siblings didn't live beyond their first year however. And they each were memorialized by having a younger child named after them. It's pretty confusing in the family trees, to see 3 same names with different birthdays and death dates...but families used to do that. When a young child died, they would name the next one born after them.
So Robert Granger was born in 1657 and died in 1658, but after the birth of George in 1658. It wasn't until the birth in 1660 that another Robert was born who lived to 1709. When Rebecca died within her first year, there were 3 more daughters born before they renamed one Rebecca (1666-1693). And by then Hannah had died in her first year, so another Hannah was born who lived (1666-1729.) Did you notice these last girls were twins?
OK, back to Captain John. I guess he must have captained a ship, but have yet to find documentation of that. Newbury MA, where he was born, is a coastal town, so it's probable that he sailed...and I'd love to know where. Or another possibility is that he wasn't really a Captain, and some descendant gave him that title by mistake...I really don't know at this point.
Both his parents were born in England, came to America as children and married in Essex County, MA. (Joanna Adams and Lancelot Granger.) I will be telling more about them later this week!
After he married Martha Poor Granger when he was 25, he moved to Andover, MA, where he had a farm across from that of the Poor family. He died in Andover in 1725 at age 71.
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| North Andover Burying Ground - I don't have records that the Grangers were buried there until their grandson Jacob was in 1795 |
The John and Martha Granger family consisted of 8 children, most of whom lived to adulthood. Just their first child, Mary, died before her 3rd birthday.
My ancestor was their youngest son, Samuel, born 1701, died 1739. He married Martha Marston, and they had 6 children, including another Captian John Granger of Andover, MA (1734-1783) but my ancestor was Samuel and Martha's son, Jacob Granger (1735-1795). Jacob is the Granger who married a distant cousin, Sarah Farnum (Farnam) (1732-1806).
Today's Quote:
If you have built castles
in the air your work need not be lost. That is where they should be. Now put
the foundations under them.
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Henry David Thoreau
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So interesting! I love stuff like this. I just returned from Tampa, where I finally was able to track down the unmarked graves of my great grandfather, great grandmother and two of their children. I had been trying to find them for years and I was ecstatic when I finally did. Yay for the internet and the city of Tampa for helping me!
ReplyDeleteHi Lois, that's great. I visit Tampa (and used to live there) often...and I'm so glad you located your ancestor's graves. It is sure worth finding them, isn't it?
DeleteYes it is! Tampa holds a special place in my heart because my great grandfather (whose grave I finally located this past weekend) was Silas Leland Biglow and he built the Biglow-Helms Mansion on the corner of Bayshore and Gandy, a grand old house that still stands there today. I always visit the house when I'm there and take pictures. It is currently being used as a medical spa, but was previously used as law offices and even a hospital many years ago. It's in wonderful condition and has been well taken care of. I love to see it now and compare it to the old photos I have of what it looked like when my family lived there back in the early 1900's.
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