To commemorate my visit to Chesterfield County, South Carolina last weekend, I am writing about an ancestor who lived his whole life in Chesterfield County.
Zack Grant
Zechariah T. GRANT, known as Zack, was my great grand uncle. His parents were Daniel Baitey GRANT (1846-1900) and Flora Ann GRIFFIN GRANT (1851-1930), and he was born in 1881 in Chesterfield County, South Carolina.
Zack was a farmer from the time he was a boy. In the 1900 census, he is living in Cheraw with his mother and is farming. In 1907, when he was 26, he married Catherine Henrietta GRIFFIN, the daughter of Henrietta GRIFFIN who was killed in a tornado in 1884.
Read about Henrietta here: Henrietta, Tornado Victim
Catherine went by Kate. Kate already had a child named Ethel by a man named Wright, presumably Kate’s last first husband.
In 1910, Zack continued to farm in Chesterfield County. Zack and Kate’s household consisted of Zack, Kate, Ethel, and Herbert Thomas (Zack’s nephew). Herbert worked on Zack’s farm. Herbert’s family had moved to Richland County, South Carolina a few years earlier, and Herbert stayed on to work the farm with his uncle.
Pleasant Grove UM Church, photo from findagrave. com
Zack and Kate’s family grew with the birth of nine children over the years. One of the children, Odessa, was born and died in 1916. She died of meningitis following a bout of bronchitis. She is buried at Pleasant Hill Baptist Church in Chesterfield County according to her death certificate. The land for the church had been given by Zack, but I don’t know when exactly.
In the 1920 and 1930 census records, Zack and Kate are still farming. They own their land free and clear. They were still raising kids, though. Their youngest, William Griffin GRANT, was born in 1925 when Zack and Kate were 44 and 43.
In the summer of 1936, Zack became ill with his heart. He suffered for about a month with endocarditis, an inflammation of the heart. He passed away on 18 Jul 1936 at the age of 57. He is buried at Mt. Olivet United Methodist Church in the Teal’s Mill area of Chesterfield County.
Zack was a generous man. He raised Kate’s daughter as his own; he boarded his nephew who worked for him, and he donated land for a local church.
Copyright © 2015 Nancy H. Vest All Rights Reserved
Hi – I am looking for anything I can find about the Dees family from Chesterfield, SC. Have you written any articles about the Deas/Dees/Deese family?
Many thanks!
Shirley,
Thanks for asking.I have not written about anyone in the Deas/Dees/Deese family, no. I don’t believe I have anyone in my family with this surname. Have you checked with the Chesterfield County Historical Society in Chesterfield? I visited there in the fall, and they were quite helpful. They have an organized collection of local history books and information.