Great (times 3) Grandfather George Tyler Granger

Happy birthday to George Tyler Granger (1804-after 1870)

(repost and edited from Tuesday, August 20, 2013)

Born on August 20, 1804 in Newburyport, Massachusetts, with parents and siblings.  What kind of education did he receive?

Just looking at his correspondence later between himself and his children, and his level of business acumen, I would say some college is probable.  But he did spend most of his life dealing in lumber.

His mother's maiden name was Tyler, so it became his middle name...which was a tradition found in many families. George Tyler Granger's mother Sarah Tyler was the daughter of Silas and Phoebe Wood Tyler.

George married Lucy Pulsifer on February 13, 1828, when he was 23 years old in Newburyport, MA.  He posted his intentions for marrying her in January of that year, which is still a record available to read, though the transcriptionist kind of messed up the name Pulsifer.

He was a lumber dealer in Newburyport at age 45 (Census taken Oct 8, 1850).  In that year he lived with his wife, Lucy Pulsifer Granger, as well as children Mary H. (21), George (20), Elisabeth P. (17), Lucy E. (13) as well as 78 year old Elizabeth Raymond. A servant was from Ireland, 21 year old Nancy Sullivan.  His son George had an occupation as a clerk already.  I wonder if Ms Raymond was a relative or housekeeper? (I don't find any relatives of that name.)

Newburyport, MA: The town prospered and became a city in 1851. Situated near the mouth of the Merrimack River, it was once a fishing, shipbuilding and shipping center, with an industry in silverware manufacture

Barque Mary L. Cushing, last merchant ship built on the Merrimack, docked at the Cushing family pier in Newburyport

George T. Granger had documented sales through Newburyport's support program for paupers, all billing for lumber sales.  I really don't know if these sales were in support of him, or other people.  They continued from 1826 when he was 21, till after his marriage until he was around 38.

By the time he was 42 he petitioned the town council to purchase a clock for the market square, along with 39 others, so his name was on the historic record of Newburyport.

Brown Square in 1913, viewed from before the City Hall.. The houses and church still stand but the street has been paved and more modern buildings inserted.

In the Newburyport City Directories from 1846 through 1850 he had a residential address of 16 Boardman, and at times a business at 10 Water St.

City Hall c. 1910. The building looks about the same today. It was constructed 1850–1851. The corner of Brown Square is visible across the street. The view is from where the Post Office now stands.

Sometime between 1850 and 1860 Granger migrated with all his family to Texas.  His brother-in-law, Joseph Pulsifer had moved first to New Orleans, then was an early settler of Beaumont Texas.  George T. Granger's eldest daughter, Mary, had married William Phillips (from Georgia) before their first child was born in 1858.

By 1860 George T. Granger was a lumber merchant in Galveston, Texas, at age 56. He would spend  more time there, as well as having connections in Beaumont, TX and Sabine Pass, TX.

Some of George Tyler Granger's correspondence with his adult children has survived. I'm transcribing it and adding it to his overview on Ancestry.Com.  I started with his letter to his daughter, Elizabeth, after finding out his oldest daughter, Mary had just died in 1856 (written from Grigsby Bluff.)  There were settlers near Beaumont named Grigsby. George T. Granger's wife, Lucy Pulsifer Granger's brother, Joseph Pulsifer, was an unmarried pharmacist who made business partnerships including the purchase of land for Beaumont.

Of George Granger's children, his daughter Elizabeth, (Izzie on some letters), lived to be 78 years old.  She was widowed farily early after having 2 children, and in her later years lived with her son and his family.  She had been born in 1833, which I just chased down today, because trees of other families had her born the same year as her brother, Joseph Granger, but I have now found his written birth record. Unfortunately he died at 15 years old. I finally found a source document for Elizabeth's birth also.

Father George T. was a lumber merchant.  When he moved to Galveston he continued that occupation in the 1860 and 1870 census, but somehow changed into a surveyor before his death. His death date and place are unknown, but sometime after the 1870 census.  His wife, Lucy has a clipping giving her death as May of 1876, but is listed as 74 years old living with daughter Elizabeth Granger in the 1880 census. (I've found many census reports that still include people who have recently died, so perhaps families were keeping them on the records for some reason or another.)