(1886 – 1912)
Grant Hewitt was born on 17 Feb 1886 in Somerset County, Maryland. His father was William James Bell Hewitt; his mother was Sarah “Sallie” Elizabeth Meredith. William was born in 1848; Sallie was born in 1850. They married on 8 June 1870. William was 22 years old; Sallie was 20.
Ten years later, according to the 1880 census, the couple has had 4 children, all daughters, ranging in age from 7 years to 6 months. The census was taken in Fairmont, Somerset County, MD. Grant’s father’s occupation is listed as a sailor.
Grant was born 17 Feb 1886. His brother, Leonard, was two years older, and a younger brother, William Ellis, was born in 1888. After having 7 children, Sallie passes away in 1892.
William marries Sarah Virginia Jennie James (called Jennie) in (approx.) 1893. (The 1900 census says they had been married for 7 years.) Their first child, Theodore, was born in 1896; Esther was born in 1898.
The 1900 census, which was taken in the Tangier District of Somerset County, MD, lists the family as James (William’s second name, of course), Jennie (Sarah’s 3rd name), and 5 children – Theodore, Esther, Leonard, Grant and Willie. Grant is 14 years old and already listed as an “oysterman,” as was his Dad.
The “Tangier District” is a peninsula surrounded by the Bay of Tangier and the Chesapeake Bay – so sailor or oysterman, it is clear that the Harris family, at this point, was earning their living on the bay.
By the time of the 1910 census, Grant, who is 24, has already moved out of the house, and William and Jennie have had 3 more children: Rodger (1901), Russell (1903) and Catherine (1906). They are still living in Maryland’s Tangier District.
The couple go on to have one more child, Jennie, who dies shortly after birth. Also, Rodger dies at the age of 3.
By the 1920 census the family has moved to Baltimore. William James (Dad) is working as a watchman; Russell is still living at home. Catherine, her husband James, and their daughter, Esther, are living there, too, as well as 2 lodgers.
The Nanticoke Bivalve Church register has a record of a marriage between Grant Hewitt and May Roberts, of Clara, on 30 June 1910. Grant died 30 Dec 1912, at the age of 26. We cannot find a death certificate or information about why, where or how he died. He and May seem to have had no children. The 1920 census has May back home living with her mother, Zipporah. Both women are recorded as widows.
Grant’s final resting place is the Robertson Family Cemetery, in Clara, MD. No other member of his family is buried there.
The engraving on the tombstone reads ~
He passed beyond
Life’s long provision
For years
We know that
And it is well.
Perfect Day 