1905 Payroll, St. Paul City Directory and Census. Carpenter Charles S. Grant was born in Massachusetts in 1876 or 1877 and came to Minnesota about 1889. He joined Carpenters Local 87 1n 1902. He served in the armed forces during the Spanish-American War. He died in 1926.

Marc Rouleau, great grandson-in-law of Charles S. Grant wrote the following biography.

THE STORY OF CHARLES S. GRANT (1877 - 1926)

The first reliable historical mention of Charles Samuel Grant (CSG), comes from his adoptive father Samuel Grant's Civil War pension paperwork, where he states he adopted CSG on July 11, 1888. Samuel was living in Erie, MN at that time. Since he was not with Samuel in the 1885 census, it looks like CSG moved in with Samuel between 1885 and 1888.

In 1890 Samuel, and presumably CSG, were still in Erie, MN (evidenced by another letter to the Bureau of Pensions).

CSG's father, Samuel, married Margaret Jane Kelley on July 18, 1892 in Long Prairie, MN. CSG's sister (born on April 3, 1892, according to documents from Samuel's pension file from 1897 and 1898), Susan Alice, was adopted by Samuel and Maggie Grant on September 12, 1894. Maggie died February 17, 1895 and was interred in Brainerd. MN. Cause of death was given by Samuel as “asthma.”

We next find CSG in the 1895 Minnesota state census. He was 18 at the time, living with his father, Samuel (55), and sister Susie (2). The family was in Brainerd, MN.

The 1897 and 1898 St. Paul, MN city directories have CSG and Samuel Grant still living together. CSG was listed as a carpenter in the 1897 directory, and as a soldier in the 1898 version.

When the Spanish-American War broke out, CSG enlisted. His enlistment date was May 6, 1898 in St. Paul. He was a private in Company L in the 12th Minnesota Volunteer Infantry. According to service records he was 5 feet 10½ inches tall with blue eyes and light brown hair. We even get a few nice signatures of Charles Samuel Grant from the service record.

The CSG records I got from the Department of Veteran Affairs mainly chronicles the pension paperwork for his widow. I don't have any detailed information about his service at this time. I do have a note from Samuel's service record summary, dated July 4, 1898 stating that his son was “currently stationed at Camp Thomas, Chickamauga, GA.”

The Spanish-American War ended quickly, and CSG was discharged November 5, 1898 without seeing combat.

For some reason “Charley” Grant was counted twice in the 1900 federal census. Both times were at 556 State St. in St. Paul. In both versions, he is a boarder and a carpenter. On one version, he was a listed having been born January 1878 in Massachusetts, in another he was born March 1881 in Wisconsin. Strange...

CSG married Augusta (Gussie) E. Werner in St. Paul, MN on May 9, 1901. They had two sons, Lloyd, born August 7, 1902 in St. Paul (died in 1970) and Charles Roger, born January 3, 1912 in St. Paul, who died in 1916.

The Grant family lived in St. Paul on East 7th Street for the whole of the marriage, which unfortunately ended early when Gussie Grant died on March 13, 1918 in St. Paul.

In the 1920 federal census CSG was still living in St. Paul, again as a boarder.

CSG married a second time when he wed Ida Josephine Johnson in St. Paul on April 15, 1920, by a Presbyterian minister. Ida was born August 24, 1885 in Lacrosse, WI.

CSG is listed in the St. Paul city directories in the 1920's, always as a carpenter. In 1921 and 1922 he was living at 482 Michigan. There is no Charles S. Grant, carpenter, in the 1923 directory. In 1924 he's back, living at 1698 Fauquier, and in 1925 (foreman) at 1152 East Minnehaha. In 1926 it was recorded that “Grant, Chas. S. moved to Santa Maria Cal.”

CSG died October 3, 1926 near Casmalia, Santa Barbara county, California. He and Ida had been living there for nearly 11 months. Cause of death was listed as “acute indigestion due to gas on stomach.” The body was returned to St. Paul where it was buried at Union Cemetery.

CSG was a carpenter during his life. In the WWI registration card, it says he was a foreman carpenter at the Geo. G. Grant Construction Company. A pay stub from 1919 shows a payment of $35. In his death certificate, it states CSG was a carpenter for the O.C. Marriott Co.

After his death, Ida Grant received a pension from Veterans' Affairs, starting at $30 per month in 1926. She remarried [Thomas Lee Irwin] in October 19, 1935 and relocated to Yakima, WA. She was ineligible to receive the pension until her second husband died in 1952. Ida died in Yakima on January 20, 1977.

GENEALOGY RESEARCH CHALLENGES

Charles Samuel Grant (CSG), self-declared to have been born on April 1, 1877 in Boston, Massachusetts. It took me ten years to find out why I could not find that birth record, though – he was adopted. In an 1897 reply to a letter from the Bureau of Pensions Samuel Grant, a veteran of the “War of Rebellion” stated that he was “Never married but once... (Widower) My wife died Feb. 17th 1895 of Asthma remains interred at Brainerd Minn - Margaret Jane Grant formerly Margaret Jane Bellinger - Maiden name Margaret Jane Kelley.” As for his living children, he wrote he had “Charles S. Grant, Born April first 1877 Adopted July 11th 1888 (and) Susan Alice Grant Born April 3rd 1892 Adopted September 12th 1894.”

As he was adopted, we can't find his birth record in the Massachusetts Archives under the Grant name. Massachusetts Archives records 254 Charles's born in the Commonwealth in 1877. One of these might be our guy. One possibility is Charles Mosie Flynn, a twin to Joseph Henry Flynn, born on April 1, 1877 in Ashburnham, MA to a Mary Ann Flynn of Fitchburg, father unknown.

Of course, I ask myself why in 1888 a 48-year-old unmarried man from Minnesota would adopt an 11-year-old boy from Massachusetts. And again, why Samuel, then 54, and his wife, Maggie, aged 55 or 56, would adopt a two-year-old girl in 1894? My theory is that there was a familial relationship between Samuel and these children. Although it may not be provable, Samuel was living with a “Samuel, Jr.” in the 1880 U.S. Federal Census. And since Samuel was “never married but once,” in 1892, then Samuel, Jr., at least, could have been an illegitimate son. In the 1880 federal census, Samuel Grant (42) and Samuel, Jr. (17) were living in Erie, MN. Samuel (21) was living on his own in the 1885 census, while the older Samuel was living with another family. I am so far unable to trace Samuel, Jr. beyond 1885, but he was not listed among Samuel's living children in the 1897 Pension letter.

Could Charles Samuel have been an illegitimate son of Samuel Grant? No adoption record for Charles Samuel can be located in Massachusetts or Minnesota. In the case of Susie, the adoption record only states the father was unknown.