Edward Grannis

From Appendix to "New Hampshire to Minnesota".

Trannis is an unusual name--appearing in old records also as Granest, Granis, Granniss, Graeness, Grannes, and Grannice. It was thought until recently that all in America sho bear the name decend from Edward, who was living in New Haven, Conn. as early as 1649. But recently (1962) a Grannisnot of that kin turned up in Mankato, Minn. He is of recent Scandinavian origin with a name orginally spelled Gronas which, because similar in pronunciation to the cognomen of Samuel H. Grannis, was re-spelled to conform.

this information may not be althogether coincidental. The European origin of the Grannises has been conjectural, with traditional preference for Scotland or Normandy. But in both regions, let it be recalled, amny a family name was planted by Viking invaders. The Minnesota incident suggests that Grannis may also be classified as scandinavian in orgin.

Whether ingnorance, carelessness, or pacifist conviction was th ecause no one now may say , but Edward "Granest" first breaks through the haze of history on October 2, 1649, because a court at New Haen, Conn., fined him "18 d., for want of Worme, Scourer and Flints." Edward had run afoul of law dting form 1639 in the New Haven Colony, then called "Quinnipiac." It required every male from 16 to 64 to provide himself with "a good servicable gun. . . and four to five good flints fitted for every firelock piece, all in good order, and ready for sudden occasion." At least we may conclude that Edward was aged 16 or more in 1649.

He shows up again in 1652 as an employee of John Wakefield--which spins a wisp of fancifrul association becasue some 200 years later one Wakefield was empoyed in Minnesota by Samuel H. Grannis. The 1652 record is unclear but does suggest something of the way life was lived there. The Rev. Peter Prudden , of MIlford, Conn., had brought suit agianst Thomas Langden for slaughtering three hogs owned by the minister. Langden's wife who had concelaed the theift was terrified--fearing that if her husband were conficted hewould take out his displeasure on her. "Edward Granest, Mr. Wakefield's man," says the record, "Testifyeth that Goodwife Langden told him that if husband was whipt by her meanes, if he came to her again, she must not expect to live." Perhaps she spoke with some reason for "Edward Granest further saith that "at one time in ye meddow at Pangaset, Goodman Langden beate his wife because she did not goe to weede corne."

Edward left New Haven for Hartford and in 1655 there married Elizabeth, daughter of William Andrews the Hartford schoomaster. Their one child, Joseph, was born in 1656 and died in 1676-77. HIs mother died shortly after his birth. In 1662 Edward became prototype for many an American since who has married his boss' daughter: his second bride was Hannah, daughter of John Wakefied by whom he had been employed in 1652 in New Haven.

Edward was appointed by "ye courte" of Hartford in 1656 as leather sealer and is referred to as a "cordwainer" or tanner and worker of leather. He lived for a whle in Hadley, Mass., but evidently the Grannises did not fit well into a strait-laced Puritan community.

In 1674 his wife was fined 10 shillings--"for wearing a silf hood and scarfe," which "through somewhat worn--had been of good silk." Apparently this broke a Massachusetts law of 1651 not permitting aperson whose estate wasn't 200 pounds ormore to wear "gold, or silver lace, gold or silver buttons, bone lace above 2s. value a yeard or silf hoods or scarfes."

In 1676 nine men in Hadley perpetrated a "public affronting of authority and hindering of the execution of a sentence which was ordered by authority." Leader of the riot was our Edward Grannis who took "twelve stripes, well laid on."

In 1676, or 1677 the Grannises moved back to New Haven, and husband and wife were admitted to the First Congregatonal Church in 1696. Both died there and small uncut red sandstone markes bearing their initials and dates of death were set up in Montowese Cemetery.

More Info HERE

New Haven, Connecticut - 1649 "Edward Grannis... first appears in colonial records in New Haven when, on October 2, 1649, the New Haven General Court fined him "18 d. for want of Worme, Scourer and Flints." At the time, all residents were required to bear arms and provide themselves with "a good serviceable gun and four of five good flints fitted for every firelock piece, all in good order and ready for any sudden occasion, service or view." Edward Grannis, at about 20 years old, was old enough to be armed."

Source: One Life at a Time: A New World Family Narrative, 1630-1960 By R. Thomas Collins, Joseph S. Wood Contributor Joseph S. Wood Edition: illustrated Published by RavensYard Publishing, Ltd., 1999 ISBN 0966788303, 9780966788303 244 pages Page 74

New Haven, Connecticut - 1652   "Grannis' name appears again in March 1, 1652, when, as an employee of miller John Wakefield, he was witness in a case against Thomas Langden, who was accused of beating and threatening to kill his wife, and of killing and eating three hogs owned by Rev. Peter Prudden."

Source: One Life at a Time: A New World Family Narrative, 1630-1960 By R. Thomas Collins, Joseph S. Wood Contributor Joseph S. Wood Edition: illustrated Published by RavensYard Publishing, Ltd., 1999 ISBN 0966788303, 9780966788303 244 pages Pages 74-75

Hartford, Connecticut - 1666   "Family tradition holds that Edward Grannis was of Norman origin and that he had been baptized in the Established Church in England. Evidence of this is in Hartford when on November 22, 1666, Edward Grannis joined other, former members of the Anglican (Established) Church, and asked for permission to become members of the First Church of Hartford, a Puritan congregation. This Norman view coincides with another family tradition that holds the name Grannis was of Flemis origin and that many of that name reside in Belgium."

Source: One Life at a Time: A New World Family Narrative, 1630-1960 By R. Thomas Collins, Joseph S. Wood Contributor Joseph S. Wood Edition: illustrated Published by RavensYard Publishing, Ltd., 1999 ISBN 0966788303, 9780966788303 244 pages Page 74

Hadley, Massachusetts - 1671   "On March 18, 1671, Edward sold three parcels of land he owned in Hartford and moved to Hadley, Massachusetts..."

Source: One Life at a Time: A New World Family Narrative, 1630-1960 By R. Thomas Collins, Joseph S. Wood Contributor Joseph S. Wood Edition: illustrated Published by RavensYard Publishing, Ltd., 1999 ISBN 0966788303, 9780966788303 244 pages Page 75

New Haven, Connecticut - 1677   "In the wake of King Philp's War, the Grannis family left Hadley in 1677 and returned to New Haven where they took up residence in a section of North Haven called Montowese."

Source: One Life at a Time: A New World Family Narrative, 1630-1960 By R. Thomas Collins, Joseph S. Wood Contributor Joseph S. Wood Edition: illustrated Published by RavensYard Publishing, Ltd., 1999 ISBN 0966788303, 9780966788303 244 pages Page 76

New Haven, Connecticut - 1696   "...on June 28, 1696 were admitted as members of the First Church of New Haven. New Haven records identify Eward as a "cordwainer," a tanner and worker of leather. Hannah died in North Haven in 1711 and was buried in Montowese Cemetery, where a small red sandstone marker reads: HG 1711. Edward Grannis died in New Haven December 10, 1719 and is buried in Montowese Cemetery, where a red sandstone marker reads: EG Dec 10 1719"

Source: One Life at a Time: A New World Family Narrative, 1630-1960 By R. Thomas Collins, Joseph S. Wood Contributor Joseph S. Wood Edition: illustrated

married Hannah Wakefield -- Date: 1662 Place: Hartford, Hartford, Connecticut, USA 505. Edward Grannis * Dec 1719 Husband of 506

506. Hannah Wakefield (Edward) Grannis Daughter of John and Ann(101); born 1644, wife of 505

Source: Title Historical catalogue of the members of the First Church of Christ in New Haven, Connecticut (Center Church): A.D. 1639-1914, Parts 1639-1914 Author Franklin Bowditch Dexter Publisher s.n., 1914 Original from the University of Michigan Digitized Oct 9, 2007 Length 469 pages Page 36

• ** http://greenerpasture.com/Ancestors/Details/1949

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Hannah Grannis (abt. 1665, Hartford, Hartford, Connecticut, USA - , )

daughter Mabel Grannis (1667, Hartford, Hartford, Connecticut, USA - 9 Dec 1745, Durham, Middlesex, Connecticut)

daughter Abigail Grannis (1668, Hartford, Hartford, Connecticut, USA - abt. 1759, Elizabeth, Union, New Jersey, USA)

daughter Sarah Grannis (20 Oct 1671, Hadley, Hampshire, Massachusetts - , )

son John Grannis (5 Dec 1674, Hadley, Hampshire, Massachusetts - , )

son Joseph Grannis (12 Mar 1676, Watertown, Litchfield, Connecticut - 1753, East Haven, New Haven, Connecticut)

daughter Ann Grannis (1706, New Haven, New Haven, Connecticut, USA - , )

Published by RavensYard Publishing, Ltd., 1999 ISBN 0966788303, 9780966788303 244 pages Page 76

• http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=ricktallm...