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I (Marty Grant) am a grandson of Garland and Luella Grant. I knew them both very well.
Garland Samuel Grant was born 5 Jun 1922 in Blairsville, Union County, Georgia. Garland's mother's family had been in Union Co, GA for several generations, but his father's family had only been there about 15 years. Garland told me that he asked his mother why she named him "Garland", and she just said she liked the name. (I'm often asked by Garland family researchers if I'm related to that family, but the answer is "No"). His middle name "Samuel" was after Lilly's brother Sam Gilbert.
Garland was a son of Marvin Roosevelt Grant and Lilly Belle Gilbert. I knew them both. I was quite fortunate to know all four of my grandparents, and three of my Great Grandparents.
The family moved to Murphy, Cherokee Co, NC while Garland was still an infant. They lived there until ca 1926 or so, when they moved to Robbinsville, Graham Co, NC where they remained quite awhile.
On 10 Nov 1941, Garland S. Grant married Luella George in Blairsville, Union Co, GA (they went down there to marry as many folks did because it was cheaper, and you didn't have to get a blood test, and for other reasons).
Luella George was born 2 Aug 1924 in Topton, Cherokee Co, NC. The daughter of Charles Noten George and Della Christmas Wright. She was born at home, and grew up in the same house, living there until marriage. She graduated from Andrews High School in 1941.
They lived at Long Creek in an Apartment until Garland got a job with the TVA (Tennessee Valley Authority). I'm not sure where Long Creek is, but I think it is Graham County.
They moved to East Buffalo near Lake Fontana (Graham County) and lived there a little while.
Garland S. Grant entered the United States Army to serve in World War II. He was drafted in 1942. After some extensive training as a Paratrooper, he was sent to Europe where he served. He spent a total of 37 months in the Army.
While Garland was away, Luella remained home with her parents in Topton, and raised their first born son Garland Jr. She spent 2 months at Newport News, VA working and got very homesick and returned to Topton.
Garland returned home in 1945. They lived on Talula Creek (Graham Co, NC) across from Luella's grandfather Jeff George. They lived in a house with no electricity. They had an out house and a well.
Then they moved in next door to his parents near Robbinsville, NC on Eller Branch and built a house.
On 19 Nov 1946, Garland's parents, Marvin and Lilly Grant sold Garland and Luella the land they were living on at Eller Branch, for $500. (Graham Co, NC Deed Book 50 page 242).
On 2 Feb 1948, Marvin and Lilly sold additional land to Garland and Luella, also on Eller Branch. (Graham Co, NC Deed Book 51 page 407).
They remained on Eller Branch until the 1951, when they moved. This started a long string of moves, as Garland moved the family about 40 times over the next 40 years. I asked him why they moved so much, and he said it was the only way to advance in his career. He worked in Saw Mills, as a Saw Filer, and the only way to move up was to go somewhere else that paid better, so they did that often. He was one of the best Saw Filers around.
Around 1990 or so, I sat down with Garland and Luella, and we came up with a list, in order, of all the places they lived. They weren't sure of the dates, but the places are correct, and in the correct order. In each of these towns, Garland worked at one of the local saw mills. Luella worked too in various jobs, at grocery stores or wherever she could. She was also busy raising four children.
In 1951, they moved to Blue Ridge, Georgia (Fannin County) and lived in an apartment above a drugstore. They lived there for 5 weeks.
They next moved to Mineral Bluff, GA (Fannin County) and stayed there through the winter. Luella said the nearly froze to death there, due to lack of good heat.
Still later in 1951, they moved to Bryson City, NC (Swain County).
In 1952, they moved to Topton (Cherokee County) and lived with Luella's parents for a little while.
Next, they moved to Orangeburg, South Carolina (Orangeburg County) and lived there for 15 months.
They moved back to Topton again briefly by Jan 1953, and shortly afterwards moved to Mountain City, Georgia (Rabun County) where they remained until April 1954.
In April 1954, they moved to Cullowhee, NC (Jackson County) for a short time.
From Cullowhee, they left the mountains completely and moved to the eastern part of the state, to Battleboro, NC (Edgecombe County). They were living here when Hurricane Hazel came through and did a lot of damage to the state.
In 1954 still, they moved back to the mountains again, and settled in Brevard, NC (Transylvania County) where they remained 4 years (the longest they lived anywhere up to this point).
In 1958, they moved to Arden, NC (Buncombe County) and remained there until about 1963 when they moved to the eastern part of the state again, to Hallsboro, NC (Columbus County). They didn't live there very long.
In 1963, Garland and Luella moved south a few dozen miles to Mullins, South Carolina (Marion County) and resided there about a year. This was fortuitous for me, as that is where my father met my mother, and where I was born in 1965.
Garland and Luella left Mullins in 1964 and moved to Grundy, Virginia (Buchanan County), and lived there for 15 months.
They left Grundy, VA in 1965 and went back to Eastern North Carolina to Enfield (Halifax County) and lived there until about 1967.
In 1967, they moved back to Marion County, SC to Sellers (on the Dillon County line, I don't know which county they were actually in).
Around 1969, they moved to Pantego, NC (Beaufort County).
From Pantego, they moved to Dillon, South Carolina (Dillon County) and from there back to Sellers, SC again (Marion or Dillon County).
They made a move from Sellers, SC to Whitesburg, Kentucky.
From Kentucky, they went to Summerville, South Carolina (Dorchester County).
From Summerville, they moved to Rock Hill, SC (York County).
From Rock Hill, they returned again to Orangeburg, SC (Orangeburg County).
From Orangeburg they moved to Perry, Georgia (Houston County).
From Perry, they moved to nearby Fort Valley, GA (Peach County), where they lived for 3 years, until around 1975.
In 1975, they moved to Alto, GA (Banks County) where they lived until 1976.
In 1976, they moved again to Pantego, NC (Beaufort County) and lived in a trailer on Seed Tick Neck Road. I believe they bought this land. They lived here until 1979. They later sold this land to son Garland Jr.
In 1979, they moved back home to Topton, NC (Cherokee County), putting their trailer on land that Luella had inherited from her parents on the head waters of the Valley River. They later sold this land to son Alan Grant.
In 1980, Garland and Luella moved to Chester, South Carolina (Chester County) and lived there until around 1982.
In 1982, they moved to Pembroke, Georgia (Bryan County). They lived there until 1984. I remember visiting them there in 1984 just before I went into the Air Force.
In 1984, Garland and Luella moved to Mount Gilead, North Carolina (Montgomery County), then moved back to Pembroke, GA the same year.
Shortly afterwards, they left Pembroke again, and moved to Troy, North Carolina (Montgomery County) where they remained until 1987.
In 1987, they moved to Mebane, North Carolina (Alamance County), just a few miles from my parents, and where I grew up (in Hillsborough), this was the closest they had ever lived to each other, since I was very small. Of course, I didn't live there at that time (I was in the Air Force still).
In 1989, my parents (Alan and Faye) decided to leave Hillsborough, NC (Orange County) after many years of living there. They purchased land near Prospect Hill, NC (Caswell County), which was about 30 miles north of where they had lived. They moved up there in 1989, and Garland and Luella moved in with them.
In 1989, my wife Karla and I took Garland and Luella to visit relatives. We went to Valdese, NC (Burke County), and to Topton, NC (Cherokee County) and to Marietta, GA (Cobb County) to visit Garland's father Marvin R. Grant (My great grandfather).
In 1990, we went again, only this time we stopped off in Blairsville, GA (Union Co, GA) to visit cousins Homer and Minnie Barnes.
Shortly after our trip in 1990, Luella was diagnosed with a form of Brain Cancer. She was taken to the Hospital at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (one of the best). There wasn't too much that could be done for her. She went back home briefly, then she and Garland went to Johnsonville, SC (Florence County) and stayed with their daughter Luanne and her family. They cared for her until she died on 4 Oct 1990. She was only 66.
She was taken back home to Topton and buried at the Red Marble Baptist Church Cemetery in Cherokee County. Several generations of her ancestors are also buried there, and many other relatives.
Garland moved back to Prospect Hill, NC with my parents.
In 1993, Garland remarried. He married Rosa Lee Byrd Crawford (widow of John Curtis Crawford). They married in Hillsborough, Orange Co, NC. Rosa had five grown children from her previous marriage. Rosa was from Watauga Co, NC, but had lived in Graham, NC for many years.
Garland and Rosa lived in her home in Graham, NC (Alamance Co, NC).
Garland had numerous health problems over the years, though he always seemed to be in good spirits whenever I saw him or spoke with him, no matter what his physical condition. He died on 21 Nov 2000 at the Hospital in Burlington, NC (Alamance County) after a sudden illness. He was 78 years old.
He was taken home and buried beside Luella at Red Marble Baptist Church Cemetery in Cherokee Co, NC.
Garland and Luella had four children. All are living, married with children, and generally doing well. I'll not provide any family details in order to protect their privacy.
Persons researching this family (click here for data on how to get on or off of this list:
No register report for this family to protect privacy.
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