Chapter 6 Dr. Joel Grammer - Faculty and TA Directory

One Horse and Saddle .............................................................. 200.00
Two Wagons .......................................................................... 175.00
Three Hogs .............................................................................. 20.00
Lot of Merchandise .................................................................. 100.00
Lot of Medicines........................................................................ 50.00
Ranch Situated North of Clear Creek ............................................ 600.00 76
The inventory of the estate in Illinois included a land description:
John I?...Reverend John...Jacob...Dr. Joel
west ½ of N.E. [?] Sec 19 Town 10 S R 1 West 80 acres 1 st Quality worth about 10 pr acre,
$800.00. SE [?] NE [?] of Same Section same Town and [?] 40 [acres] 2[nd] Quality worth about
$6.00 pr acre, $240. Held by Mortgage Deed from John G. Penrod.
All in all, this was quite a sizable estate. It is even more so when you consider that in 1839,
twenty years earlier, Dr. Joel’s net worth was only $165. 77
On one page, the personal estate in Illinois is declared to be only $250.00, but that is
contradicted by figures on later pages. The Illinois “affidavit of decease and names of heirs” gives
Joel’s death date as July 15, 1861, and lists his children (presumably only those residing in Illinois)
as John Wesley Grammar, Louisa Corgan, and Martha Wright. These were apparently only the
Illinois heirs; for instance, Emory, mentioned in the will, was not on this list. But what about Taletha,
Aaron’s Grammer’s wife, who is specifically noted as Dr. Joel’s daughter on her marriage records?
Although she was probably dead by then, her son Marion was still alive (and in Illinois) as late as
1860. Unless he died between 1860 and the settlement of the estate, Marion should have inherited in
his mother’s stead. For that matter, Tiletha’s husband Aaron could have also inherited, because he
did not die until 1896. Could Tiletha have been illegitimate or a stepdaughter, and thereby her heirs
did not inherit? Since she was not explicitly excluded in the will, nor were the other heirs explicitly
included, it seems that the estate was divided among all of Dr. Joel’s legal children, and that group
did not include Tiletha. Because of this, I am leaning toward the stepdaughter theory.
Apparently Lydia received her share of the estate promptly, because on February 4, 1864,
Lydia (then Lydia Newton) certified to the court that she had received the full amount due to her.
In March of 1864, John Wesley Grammer as executor of Joel’s estate brought suit against
James Corgan (Dr. Joel’s son-in-law) and Jacob Hagler (a relative of John Wesley’s wife?) for
payment of a $17.25 note issued by Dr. Joel on March 2, 1860. James was served with a summons to
court on March 31, 1864, but failed to appear. The court then ruled in favor of the estate and ordered
the defendants to pay a $22.25 debt to the estate and $1.50 in court costs. James and Jacob filed an
appeal on April 18, 1864, posting a $50 bond to cover the suit and all further court costs. The result
of the appeal is unknown. 78
76 The land in Nevada or in Illinois?
77 List of Property in the County of Union, 1839.
78 Check Jackson County court records.
Prepared by Penny McIntire (815)652-4237 5-18
7312 South Lowden Road penny@pennymcintire.com last updated January 1, 2004
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