Obituary

My great great grand father, Louis Edwin Granger, died a hundred and fifteen years ago this coming April. I found his obituary from the New York times. It is an interesting piece of myth making. Some of  it is verifiably true, some of it is patently false and some of it may simply be wishful thinking. Col. Louis Granger the head line reads. The US army never made Louis E. Granger a Colonel. As far as I can tell, he started using Col. in his professional life in the 1880's. I always figured this use was a marketing scheme like Colonel Sanders. Apparently, his last wife wasn't aware. His official record lists two brevets - one to First Lieutenant for his actions at Antietam, and Captain for his actions at Port Hudson. Lieutenant, Lieutenant Colonel perhaps someone misheard.

Otherwise the Obituary's description of his military career is accurate. The general story arc matches the official record. Boston Guard to Massachusetts Infantry, serving with the Army of the Potomac. A transfer to be an officer with the US colored troops in Louisiana. A stint in North Carolina serving with the Judge Advocate General during Reconstruction. A return to Louisiana to sell off the Army's equipment in Louisiana and east Texas. Discharge, reenlist. While it mentions the end of his service in the army, it does omit he ended his Army career in 1869 under less than voluntary circumstances. The Evening Star reported

Capt. Louis E. Granger, 25th United States Infantry, of Massachusetts, has been dismissed [sic] the service and sentenced to imprisonment at the Dry Tortugas for conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman, and for misappropriation of public money.₁

His obituary then summarizes the next thirty years in two sentences:

He retired from this position and army life in 1869, and went in the brokerage business.  In 1889 Col. Granger erected a monument in Hardwick, Mass., to the natives of that town who were killed in the civil war.₂

The "brokerage" business landed him in court at least three more times. Once for forgery - possibly related to his discharge in 1869. Once for bad debts while he was living in Utah. And finally in 1898, when he declared bankruptcy. There was also a civil suite in Salt Lake and at least one divorce in Chicago. The monument in Hardwick still stands - it's a bit out of the way but it is still there.

The final paragraph lists his widow in Manhattan, her two daughters and her two stepsons from Utah. It omits his third (?) wife in Boston who had claimed to be his widow from at least 1880 until her death seven year later in 1906. There is also the possibility his first (ex?)wife was still alive as was his eldest daughter. According to our family stories - both had died prior to 1870, but the daughter magically appeared in a couple of articles in Salt Lake Newspapers in 1885. Leaving the issue entirely open. If she was alive in 1885 it is entirely plausible she was still alive when her father died.

The man had successfully created a myth that made a checkered past a bit more palatable. He highlighted the good things, omitted the bad, and exaggerated when it suited his sense of self. Perhaps this is something we would all like to do.

¹The Evening Star, Volume 34, Number 5181, Washington DC, October 18, 1869, pg 1, http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov, accessed February 24, 2014

²New York Times (1857-1922); May 1, 1899; ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The New York Times (1851-2009) pg. 7