Placer
County
Biographies
FRED B. GRANT
Fred B. Grant, of Penryn, is one of
California’s native sons and is an important factor in the business circles of
the town, where he is well known as the proprietor of the Grant Hotel. His birth occurred in Rich Gulch, Placer
County, on the 13th of August, 1857, his father being Elisha Grant,
who came to California in 1852 and is now one of the prominent pioneers of the
state. He was born in Prospect, Waldo
County, Maine, on the 24th of February, 1815. His father, Elisha Grant, Sr., was born in
the same town, was a soldier in the War of 1812, serving as a surgeon, and
lived to the advanced age of eighty-eight years. In early manhood he married Polly Mudget, a native of Massachusetts.
Elisha Grant, the father of our
subject, acquired his education in his native town and after putting aside his
textbooks worked for the government at Fort Knox for six years. In 1852 he sailed around Cape Horn to California. They saw much rough weather, and in a severe
storm the foremast of the ship was carried away and they were obliged to stop
at Rio Janeiro for repairs, and there secured a new mast. This caused a delay of a month at that point. Upon arriving in California Mr. Grant engaged
in mining on Yuba River, at Rose’s Bar, where he was paid five dollars per day,
but the cholera became prevalent and he left there in August, spending the
winter in the mountains. He engaged in
mining at Deer Creek, in Penn Valley, but his efforts were attended to with
poor results and he went to Calaveras County, engaging in mining operations at
Rich Gulch. He had been married in the
east in 1849 to Miss Dorothea Blake, who after his removal to the Pacific coast
sold their property in Maine and joined her husband in Rich Gulch, coming by
way of the Isthmus route and bringing with her their first born child, Ellen,
who is now a widow. Subsequently Mr.
Grant engaged in mining at Mokelumne Hill, where he took out considerable gold,
his largest nugget weighing two ounces.
In 1863 he arrived at Penryn and engaged in quarrying granite for G.
Griffith. He had been in the hotel
business in Calaveras County from 1856 until he came to Placer County; in 1873
he built and opened the Grant Hotel in Penryn, which he successfully conducted
until 1895, when his wife died and he turned over the hotel business to his
son, Fred B., who has since been its manager.
The father has supported the Republican Party since its organization and
socially he is connected with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the
Knights of Pythias fraternity. During
his long residence in California he has become widely known to its pioneer
settlers and to the later arrivals, and enjoys the high regard of those with
whom he comes in contact.
Fred B. Grant attended school at
Mokelumne Hill and for six years was engaged in work in the quarry in Calaveras
County. He afterward secured a situation
as brakeman on the railroad, in which capacity he was employed for two years,
and was also a fireman on the division of the Southern Pacific from Sacramento
to Truckee. He served as deputy assessor
of Placer County for four years and filled the office of constable for six
years. He is a man of much ability who
seems to have inherited the talent of his grandfather, of whom it was said that
“he could make anything or do almost anything.”
He has done much building and painting and other kinds of work and is
now engaged in taking the census of his district, at the same time conducting
the Grant Hotel, of which he is the popular host, doing all in his power to
promote the comfort of his guests.
Mr. Grant was married in 1878 to
Miss V. A. Logan, a native of Penryn and a step-daughter of J. A. Griffith, who
was a prominent citizen of Penryn, but is now deceased. Her own father was Edwin Logan. They children are Sydna
V., Eddie Elisha, Effie Mabel, Freddie and Dorothy. Mr. Grant is a stalwart Republican and is a
prominent representative of several fraternal organizations, including the
Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias and the Knights of
Maccabees. He is a man of fine personal
appearance, of attractive face and large physique, and his social qualities and
pleasant disposition render him particularly well qualified to conduct the hotel
of which he is now proprietor.
Transcribed by
Gerald Iaquinta.
Source:
“A Volume of Memoirs and Genealogy of Representative Citizens of Northern
California”, Pages 795-797. Chicago Standard Genealogical Publishing Co. 1901.
© 2010
Gerald Iaquinta.