Jesse Boles Grinstead (1816 - 1886)

Born 14 Jun 1816 in Barren, Kentucky, United States

Ancestors

Husband of Melinda C. (Hendricks) Grinstead — married 5 Apr 1838 in Carlinville, Macoupin, Illinois, USA

Descendants

Died 17 Dec 1886 at age 70 in Polk, Iowa, United States

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Mike McMinn [send private message]

Biography

Jesse Grinstead was born June 14, 1816 and died 17 Dec 1886.^[1] The tombstone is only partly legible.

Jesse B. Grinstead married Malinda Hendricks 5 Apr 1838 in Macoupin Co., Illinois. ^{[2] [3]}

Census

1840 Macoupin Co., Illinois
Jessee Grindstead 10001 -- 00001; 1 in agriculture
male female
1 < 5
5-10
10-15
15-20
1 20-30 1
30-40
40-50

1850 Polk Co., Iowa; Aug 19; pg 27
73/80
Jesse B. Grinstead 34 Ky $1000 Carpenter
Melinda " 32 Ky
William " 11 Il
Susanna " 9 Il
John " 3 Ia

1860 Polk Co., Iowa, Four Mile Township, p.o. Rising Sun; June 21; pg 75
550/491
J. B. Grinstead 44 Ky $2400/$500 Farmer
M. " 42 Ky
J. W. " 21 Il $500/$150 Farmer
Anna S. " 19 Il
John T. " 13 Ia

1870 Polk Co., Iowa, Four Mile Township, p.o. Rising Sun; Aug 26; pg 12
83/85
J. B. Grinstead 54 Ky $6000/$950 farmer
Malinda " 50 Ky Keeping hous
John " 25 Ia
Nancy Beggs 11 Ia

1880 Polk Co., Iowa, Foremile Township, ED 169; July 1; pg 14
15/15
J. B. Grinsted 64 Ky Va Va Farmer
M. C. " 62 Ky NC Ky Keeping house

WGFA

THE WILLIAM GRINSTEAD FAMILY IN AMERICA (Gorrell Shumaker and John L. N. Grinstead, April 1974):

pg 14: Jesse Boles Grinstead (6-14-1816 - 12-17-1886) Married (4-5-1838) Malinda C. Hendricks (9-13-1818 - 2-26-1904). Malinda was born in Kentucky of German and Holland parentage. In his early years, Jesse learned the trade of cabinet making. For some years, he carried on a business in Illinois, probably in McCoupin County. Then he moved to Iowa in 1845, locating in Pella of Marion County. In the following year, he moved to Four Mills Twp. of Polk County where he did extensive farming. He had four children: Anna S., Martha J. , John T. and James William Grinstead. Jesse and Malinda are buried in the Steward Cemetery at Rising Sun, IA."

Two Jesse Grinsteads

The adult life of Jesse Boles Grinstead is amply documented. In the 1840 census he is in Macoupin Co., Illinois. He married Malinda Hendricks there 5 Apr 1838. By 1850 he is in Polk Co., Iowa, where he remains. In the census he consistently says that he was born in Kentucky in 1816. The birth year on his tombstone is 1816.

So who were his parents? The standard story, which can be found in The William Grinstead Family in America, that he is the son of Jesse Grinstead and Anna M. Gadberry, who were married in Barren Co., Kentucky 20 Jul 1814. They were married for only a short period of time. Jesse's estate was inventoried in April 1816. Anna bought items at the estate sale, so we know that she did not die at the same time as Jesse. She cannot be found in the 1820 census. She may have died or she may have remarried. In the absence of a marriage record, there is no way to find her. If she had remarried in Barren Co., there would probably be a record of it, but there are no marriage records for Hart Co. in that period.

Jesse and Anna were married long enough to have one child, and that child could have been Jesse Boles Grinstead. The place and date of his birth are a good fit. There is, however, ambiguity. There are two separate and distinct Jesse Grinsteads born in about 1816 in Kentucky, and the wife of each of them is named Malinda.

In the 1840 census in Hart Co., Kentucky Jesse Grinstead is 20-30 and has a wife 20-30 and 2 children <5, a boy and a girl. In 1850 Malinda Grinstead is the head of household in a census entry in Hart Co. She has 4 children -- 2 born before 1840 and two after. The youngest is six, suggesting that her husband died in about 1845. Malinda is still in Hart Co. in 1860.

So who is this Jesse Grinstead in Hart Co. in 1840? He has to be accounted for. Somebody has to be his father. Jesse married to Anna Gadberry was probably a son of old Jesse Grinstead married to Lucy Deeds, who moved to Hart Co. from Barren Co. in about 1818. The Jesse Grinstead in Hart Co. in 1840 is the right age and is in exactly the right place to be the child that Jesse and Anna may have had before he died. He is a more probable candidate for that child than is Jesse Boles Grinstead. All we know about Jesse Boles Grinstead is that he was born somewhere in Kentucky in 1816.

It is instructive to look for men named Grinstead in Kentucky who have a male child less than 10 years old in 1820. In 1820 there are 3 Grinsteads in Kentucky apart from the 8 related men in Barren, Warren, and Hart counties. Only one of the three has a son less than 10. He is Robert Grinstead of Fayette Co. Of the 8 Grinstead men in Barren, Warren, and Hart counties five have sons less than 10. Those sons can be accounted for, but there is another Grinstead who never appears in the census. William Grinstead married Lucy Grinstead 24 Dec 1810 in Barren Co. I have argued that this William is a son of Jesse and that Lucy is a daughter of David.

William is in the Barren Co. tax list for the first time in 1812, and he is there until 1817. He is commonly close to Jesse, Sr. and/or Jesse, Jr. After 1817 William is not in the Barren Co. tax list, and his wife Lucy is never in the list. Neither William nor Lucy is in the 1820 census. Presumably they died, probably in some epidemic. They were married long enough to have had a small number of children. Either of the two Jesse Grinsteads born in 1816 could be their son. Since there is an established story that Jesse Boles Grinstead is the son of Jesse Grinstead and Anna Gadberry, it will be convenient to assign the other Jesse Grinstead to William and Lucy.

The William Grinstead Family in America mistakenly says that Lucy is a daughter of Jesse and that William is a son of David and that his full name is William Warren. In fact, William Warren Grinstead is a different person. He is a son of David's son Bartholomew.

In the 1820 census there are 2 boys < 10 and 1 girl < 10 in the household of Jesse Grinstead and Lucy Deeds. They are too old to have young children. Those children can reasonably be the son of Jesse and Anna Gadberry (Jesse Boles Grinstead) and a son and daughter of William and Lucy (Jesse Grinstead in Hart Co. in 1840). One or the other of the two Jesses remains in the household of old Lucy Grinstead in 1830.

I am not aware of any documentary evidence that would clarify which Jesse belongs to which set of parents.

Death

Polk Co., Iowa Register of Deaths 1880-1888, Film # 1015218, Item 1 at familysearch.org; page 193, image 203/676:

REGISTER OF DEATH No. 2444; Date of Report Mar 4, 1887; Jesse Grimstead, male, white, 70 years old, farmer; died Dec 17, 1887; born in Kentucky; 30y in Iowa; died of pnumonitis in 4 miles T.P. Polk Co.; 6 days duration of disease; complication heart disease; burial 4 mi. T.P. Polk Co. Ia Dec 18, 1887; Ell. Masteller physician

Note that the reported death date is after the date of the report. The death year should be 1886..

Research Notes

Marriage

Husband: Jesse Boles Grinstead

Wife: Malinda C. Hendricks

Marriage:

Date: 5 Apr 1838

Place: Carlinville, Macoupin, Illinois, USA

Child: James William Grinstead

Relationship to Father: Biological^[4]

Relationship to Mother: Biological^[5]

Child: Anna Sue Grinstead

Relationship to Father: Biological^[6]

Relationship to Mother: Biological^[7]

Child: Martha J. Grinstead

Child: John Thomas Grinstead

Relationship to Father: Biological^[8]

Relationship to Mother: Biological^[9]

Data Changed:

Date: 8 Jul 2011

Time: 09:40

Sources

1. ↑ Find-a-Grave Memorial # 42171378
2. ↑ Illinois, U.S., Marriage Index, 1860-1920 at ancestry.com
3. ↑ "Illinois, County Marriages, 1810-1940," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q28H-JD9Q : 22 July 2021), Jesse B. Grinstead and Malinda Hendrick, 05 Apr 1838; citing Macoupin, Illinois, United States, county offices, Illinois; FHL microfilm 1,320,490.
4. ↑ Source: #S262 Page: M432, roll 188, p. 30 (image), p. 14 (written), dwelling 73, family 80, line 3, William Grinstead, accessed 14 Jul 2011 Quality or Certainty of Data: 4
5. ↑ Source: #S262 Page: M432, roll 188, p. 30 (image), p. 14 (written), dwelling 73, family 80, line 3, William Grinstead, accessed 14 Jul 2011 Quality or Certainty of Data: 4
6. ↑ Source: #S262 Page: M432, roll 188, p. 30 (image), p. 14 (written), dwelling 73, family 80, line 4, Susanna Grinstead, accessed 14 Jul 2011 Quality or Certainty of Data: 4
7. ↑ Source: #S262 Page: M432, roll 188, p. 30 (image), p. 14 (written), dwelling 73, family 80, line 4, Susanna Grinstead, accessed 14 Jul 2011 Quality or Certainty of Data: 4
8. ↑ Source: #S262 Page: M432, roll 188, p. 30 (image), p. 14 (written), dwelling 73, family 80, line 5, John Grinstead, accessed 14 Jul 2011 Quality or Certainty of Data: 4
9. ↑ Source: #S262 Page: M432, roll 188, p. 30 (image), p. 14 (written), dwelling 73, family 80, line 5, John Grinstead, accessed 14 Jul 2011 Quality or Certainty of Data: 4

• Shumaker and Grinstead, "THE WILLIAM GRINSTEAD FAMILY IN AMERICA", as compiled by Gorrell Shumaker and John L.N. Grinstead, April 1974. Supplements dated October, 1974 and June 1975. This issue is available in several libraries. Mike McMinn has a copy of book with supplements and will scan on request.

Acknowledgements

• WikiTree profile Grinstead-82 created through the import of export_15_aug_2011.ged on Aug 15, 2011 by Taco Goulooze.