Marty and Karla Grant

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Marvin Roosevelt Grant (1902-1992) and Lilly Bell Gilbert (1902-1983) of North Carolina and Georgia

[Grant Home] - [Table of Contents] - Marvin R. Grant

Marvin and Lilly are my great grand parents. I knew them both.

My Grant book covers my Grant ancestry in great detail. Get yourself a copy. If a printed version isn’t desirable or practical for you, get the PDF version. It’s much less expensive.

Marvin Roosevelt Grant was born 13 Jan 1902 in the Grassy Branch area of Swain Co., NC. This is in Nantahala Township and is today mostly under the waters of Fontana Lake.

I’ve often wondered who, if anyone, he was named for. There were no other Marvins in the family prior to him as far as I’ve discovered.

His middle name “Roosevelt” was in honor of then President Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919).

When I was a child I was told by a relative that “Daddy Grant” (as we called Marvin) wasn’t really a Grant by birth, but had been left on the doorstep of a Grant family as an infant. They took him in and raised him and he took their surname. Thus, we were adopted Grants. This story turned out to not be true, but as with many traditions, there was a grain of truth to it, but only a grain.

He wasn’t an orphan, nor was he adopted by a Grant family. He was indeed a Grant by blood, born to Hattie Thermudas Grant (1879-1953). The issue, and root of the tall-tale, was that she was a single mother, and not married to Marvin’s father, so Marvin had his mother’s surname, not his father’s. That was the law at the time for out of wedlock births. The tall-tale probably sprang up by someone attempting to hide his origin. There was a stigma attached to being born out of wedlock.

Marvin’s father was Carroll Alonso “Lon” Patterson (1880-1922). Lon was a neighbor of the Grant family in Swain County. I’ve never found any documentary evidence to prove he’s Marvin’s father, but Marvin told me himself that he was. The evidence is clear that the Patterson family lived there by the Grant family, so it is certainly feasible for Lon to be Marvin’s father. DNA testing has since proven the connection.

Marvin told me that he was raised by his grandparents John P. Grant and Darthula Evans. Other family members told me that Marvin and his mother Hattie had a very strained relationship, but I don’t know if that is true or not.

In 1909, Marvin’s grandparents moved the family from Grassy Branch in Swain County, down to Union Co., GA. They settled in the Gum Log region near Ebenezer Baptist Church. Most of their children came with him, but some remained in Swain Co, NC. John’s daughter Hattie, and her son Marvin came to Georgia with them.

I don’t know what drew the Grants to that particular area for they had no kin there as far as I’m aware.

Marvin R. Grant was listed on the 1910 census in Union Co, GA residing with his grandparents John and Darthula Grant. His mother Hattie was in the household as well. They were next door to Marvin’s future wife Lilly Gilbert.

1910 Census, Union Co., GA, Gum Log Dist 1024, Houses 50, 51, Families 50, 51

Marvin was about 12 years old when his mother married Thomas Joshua Gilbert in Union Co., GA. This was ca 1914. Their marriage produced five half brothers and sisters for Marvin.

Hattie’s husband T. J. Gilbert was a first cousin to Lilly Gilbert.

My Grandparents (Garland and Luella Grant) told me that when Marvin was a teenager, he was working as a laborer (either for the Railroad, or for the Highway Department, I can't remember now). While working in North Carolina, he met his father Lon Patterson who was also working on the same project. This was their only meeting as far as anyone recalls. They spent a few minutes talking, but that was all. Apparently Lon was very much aware that Marvin was his son.

It’s certainly possible they would have spent more time together later in life, except Lon died in 1922 when Marvin was 20 years old.

Marvin is on the 1920 census in Union Co., GA with his uncle Harkless Grant. They were next door to his 1^st cousin Inkabo Grant Henderson, and two houses from soon-to-be wife Lilly Gilbert.

1920 Census, Union Co., GA, Gum Log District, Houses 87-89, Families 87-89

Marvin R. Grant married Lilly Bell Gilbert on 11 Nov 1920 in Union Co., GA.

Lilly was born 10 May 1902 in Union Co., GA, a daughter of Noah Washington Gilbert and Ibiline Henderson. She was born and raised in the Gum Log area. When the Grant family moved in 1909, they moved in next to Lilly's family, thus Marvin and Lilly met while still children.

Marvin and Lilly lived in Union Co, GA until ca 1924 when they moved to Murphy in Cherokee Co., NC.

They left Murphy for Robbinsville in Graham Co., NC ca 1926 and remained there a number of years. I’m not sure where they lived at first, but they later lived on Eller Branch.

They are on the 1930 census in Graham Co., NC. They were listed as renters at $8 per month.

1930 Census, Graham Co., NC, Cheoah Township, House 105, Family 106

They are still in Graham for the 1940 census, listed as renting their property for $6 per month.

1940 Census, Graham Co., NC, Cheoah Township, House 142

On 14 Sep 1940 Ronald and Bessie Holland sold Marvin and Lilly 1 acre on Eller Branch. The land was described as bordering Frank James and Lon Brown. (Graham Co., NC Deed Book 43 page 602).

In April 1941, Ronald and Bessie Holland sold Marvin and Lilly another 1 acre on Eller Branch. (Graham Co., NC Deed Book 46 page 594).

On 29 May 1943, Perlie and Theat Hill sold Marvin and Lilly ½ acres of land adjoining where they already lived.

On 19 Nov 1946, Marvin and Lilly sold a portion of their Eller Branch land to their son Garland Grant and wife Luella. (Graham Co., NC Deed Book 50 page 242).

On 2 Feb 1948, Marvin and Lilly sold more Eller Branch land to Garland and Luella. (Graham Co., NC Deed Book 51 page 407).

They were still in Graham for the 1950 census, next door to son Garland and his family. The census taker had accidently listed “Garland” as the surname for both families, but marked that out and wrote in Grant.

1950 Census, Graham Co., NC, Cheoah Township, Houses 142, 143

On 12 Jul 1955, Marvin and Lilly sold their remaining land (in 3 tracts) on Eller Branch to C. N. George and Margie E. George (their daughter). (Graham Co., NC Deed Book 55 page 534).

I'm not sure if it was in 1955, but at some point around then, Marvin and Lilly moved from Robbinsville, NC to Marietta, Cobb Co, GA where they remained the rest of their lives. They lived at 183 Blackwell Lane. I remember visiting there a few times as a child.

Marvin Grant was a Furniture Maker and made a lot of finely crafted furniture. Lilly was a Home Maker.

Lilly died on 4 Nov 1983 at the Kennestone Hospital in Cobb Co, GA. She is buried at the Kennesaw Memorial Park Cemetery in Kennesaw, Cobb Co, GA.

Marvin suffered a series of strokes in the 1980s, after Lilly's death. He lived his remaining years in a Nursing Home in Marietta, GA. I took my grandparents (Garland and Luella Grant) to visit Marvin in 1989, 1990 and 1991. Though he was in very bad shape then, he recognized Garland right away. He didn’t recognize me at first, but after they told him who I was, he told me I looked just like my dad which was true.

Marvin died on 4 Apr 1992 at age 90 at the Kennestone Hospital. He is buried beside Lilly at the Kennesaw Memorial Park in Cobb Co, GA.

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Children

Marvin and Lilly had six children, the first born in Union Co., GA, the second in Cherokee Co., NC, the rest in Graham Co., NC.

 

1.         Garland Samuel Grant (1922-2000). Married 1^st Luella George, 2^nd, Rosa Byrd Crawford.

 

2.         Frances Marybelle Grant (1925-2006). Never married.

 

3.         Vonna Thermudas Grant (1927-1981). Married 1^st, Dillard Frank Phillips, 2^nd, James Warren Hawhee.

 

4.         Margie Ella Grant (1931-2020). Married 1^st Charles Noten George Jr., 2^nd Paul Francis Brank.

 

5.         Gerald Junior Grant (1936-2009). Married 1^st Sonja Louisa Brooks, 2^nd and 3^rd, Doris Venable.

 

6.         Bobbie G. Grant married Thomas Dee Sawyer.

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For more information see the family group sheet for Marvin and Lilly (Gilbert) Grant.

Revised: September 26, 2026

Copyright © 1996-2026 Marvin A. Grant, Jr. All Rights Reserved.

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