Chapter 6 Dr. Joel Grammer - Faculty and TA Directory

John I?...Reverend John...Jacob...Dr. Joel…Dr. Joel’s children
on in southeastern Missouri. John was also a heavy drinker. 160 He raised tobacco on a
farm on the Cobden Road and dried the tobacco on the ceiling of his house. John plowed
corn with only a shirt on. If someone came while he was at work, he had to ask the visitor
to bring him some trousers before going in to dinner. John’s son Lonnie wouldn’t allow
John’s funeral to be in a church because he said John never went to church when he
could, and he also disliked John because of his drinking and womanizing. Clovis Ferrill
pretty much agreed with Lonnie’s opinion of John. Bessie Ferrill, his granddaughter,
thought he was a wonderful grandfather and viewed Lonnie as being just a bitter old man.
So the jury is out on this one. I am sure there is much more research to be done on this
fellow, particularly in documenting his many marriages, but I have not yet started.
• Nancy J., born July 1851 in Illinois; married D. H. Vancil on July 5, 1874, in Union
County; May have married 2) ? Ballard; 161 lived in Vienna, Illinois in 1931.
• Joel B. (presumably named after Louisa’s father), born 1856.
• Mary Ellen (used the name Ellen), born January 26, 1863 in Jackson County, Illinois;
married Bill Harden/Hayden January 26, 1884 in Union County; may have married 2) ???
William H. Lindsey (1865-1922) 162 in 1903; died November 26, 1931. Louise (Grammer)
Corgan’s obituary specifically mentions a daughter, Mrs. W.H. Lindsey. 163 In 1846, a W.
H. Lindsey bought land from Dr. Joel, but his wife Polly could not have been this child of
Louisa’s; Louisa’s child could not have been born yet.
• James Albert “Jim”, born March 26, 1863; 164 married 1894 Anna “Mae” Merico
Jackson (1871-1949), December 13, 1893, Jackson County; on 1910 Jackson County
census; in 1906 was living eight miles southeast of Carbondale; died May 29, 1945 in
Makanda Township; buried Zion Cemetery, Makanda Township. According to a letter
from Clovis Ferrill, [James] “Was always in a hurry with his oxen. What a shine he would
cut after getting them hot. They would run into the creek and what a time he had getting
them out.” Both Jim and Emery lived near Makanda, Illinois, and were carrying on an
Irish-style feud. Anyone who went visiting had to spend exactly the same amount of time
with both of them. James had at least one son, William Delmus (1896-1931) who m.
Carrie ?. Probable daughters were Mary (b. 1898) and Edna (b. 1903). This is probably
the Jas. A. Corgan shown on the 1907 plat map of Makanda, Section 14. 165
• Sarah, born 1865-66 in Illinois; married 2) Bill James (cousin of Jesse James); 166 lived in
Tamms, Illinois in 1931; had children. Another account has Sarah marrying the Lindsey
mentioned under Mary Ellen above. Ethel Ferrill McIntire remembersSarah and how she
160 This and all unattributed items are from Clovis Ferrill over the period of 1965-1991.
161 Ballard information provided by Iona “Tony” Ferrill.
162 Lindsey information provided by Iona “Tony” Ferrill.
163 Check for marriage of any W.H. Lindsey to any Grammer in UCI, JCI.
164 Birth, death, parentage, and spouse from Carbondale Death Records, 1877-1952, page 43. 1910 census gives birth
years of James, Anna, William, Mary, and Edna, and marriage year.
165 Breischke, Notes on Makanda, page 47.
166 Not in Illinois marriage archives, as of 1994.
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