Charles T. Granger Explained

Charles T. Granger
Office:Justice of the Iowa Supreme Court
Term Start:January 1, 1889
Term End:December 31, 1900
Predecessor:William H. Seevers
Successor:Emlin McClain
Office1:Iowa District Court Judge
Term Start1:January 1, 1887
Term End1:December 31, 1888
Alongside1:L. O. Hatch
Predecessor1:Position established
Successor1:L. E. Fellows
Party:Republican
Birth Date:9 October 1835
Birth Place:Monroe County, New York, U.S.
Death Place:Long Beach, California, U.S.
Restingplace:Oakland Cemetery,
Spouse:Anna Maxwell
Profession:lawyer
Allegiance:United States
Branch:United States Volunteers
Union Army
Rank:Captain, USV
Serviceyears:1862 - 1865
Unit:27th Reg. Iowa Vol. Infantry
Battles:American Civil War

Charles Trumbull Granger (October 9, 1835October 26, 1915) was an American lawyer and pioneer settler of Allamakee County, Iowa. He was a justice of the Iowa Supreme Court, serving from 1889 through 1900. He previously served on lower courts in Iowa, serving a total of 28 years in various judicial offices.

Biography

Charles T. Granger was born in Monroe County, New York, in October 1835. At age 2, he moved with his family to Huron County, Ohio. He was raised there, but after the death of his mother in 1845, he fell mostly under the care of his older sister and her husband. He was poorly treated in their home and left Ohio at age 13, going to live with his father in Illinois, who had remarried.[1] After being only minimally educated in Ohio, he began studying while working on his father's farm. In 1855, he entered an academy in Waukegan, Illinois, and continued to advance his own education by reading law texts borrowed from nearby lawyers.[1]

In 1860, he moved to Allamakee County, Iowa, and read law at the office of Hatch & Wilbur. Later that year he was admitted to the bar. Before starting his career, he went to Mitchell County, Iowa, to teach school, and was elected county superintendent of schools. Less than a year later, however, he resigned his office in order to enroll in the Union Army. He was commissioned captain of Company K, 27th Iowa Infantry Regiment, and served through the rest of the war commanding his company.[2]

After the war, he returned briefly to Mitchell County, but before long returned to Allamakee County to form a law practice in partnership with his former mentor, L. O. Hatch.[1]

Three years later, he was appointed district attorney to fill a vacancy. He was subsequently elected to a four-year term in that office in 1870, but before that term ended, he was elected Iowa circuit court judge. During that time, in 1874, he was the Republican nominee for United States House of Representatives in Iowa's 3rd congressional district, but was defeated by Lucien Lester Ainsworth.[1]

Granger ultimately served as a circuit judge until the Iowa circuit courts were abolished in 1886. He then was elected Iowa district court judge for the 13th district alongside his former law partner, L. O. Hatch.[1]

Just two years later, he was elected to a six-year term on the Iowa Supreme Court. He was re-elected in 1894. He retired at the end of his second term.[1]

He continued to make Waukon his primary home, but spent a great deal of time in California for his health. He died of pneumonia at Long Beach, California, in October 1915.[3]

Personal life and family

Charles Granger was the youngest son of Trumbull Granger and his first wife Sally ( Dibble). Granger's first cousin Jedediah W. Granger was also an officer in the 27th Wisconsin Infantry. Union Army general Gordon Granger was a second cousin. The Grangers were descendants of Launcelot Granger, who was kidnapped as a child from England and brought to the Massachusetts Bay Colony as an indentured servant in the 1640s.[4]

Elections

Iowa Supreme Court (1888, 1894)

| colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;"| General Election, November 6, 1888

| colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;"| General Election, November 6, 1894

External links

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Notes and References

  1. Book: Past and Present of Allamakee County, Iowa . 1913 . The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company . 1 . 173 - 174 . June 2, 2022 .
  2. Book: Roster and Record of Iowa Soldiers in the War of the Rebellion, together with historical sketches of volunteer organizations, 1861 - 1866 . 1908 . Office of the Adjutant General of Iowa . 3 . Twenty-Seventh Infantry . 1164 . June 2, 2022 .
  3. News: Supreme Justice Dies . . October 27, 1915 . 12 . June 2, 2022 . .
  4. Book: Granger, James N. . Launcelot Granger of Newbury, Mass., and Suffield, Conn.: A Genealogical History . 1893 . June 2, 2022 .