 |
Stories of Lucy & Thomas Grisham |
|
Thomas Grisham of Giles County, Tennessee was born about 1780-1790 possibly in that part of Virginia which later bacame the state of Kentucky. He married Lucy Foster, daughter of Drury Foster, in Smith County, TN December 4, 1810, and died in Giles County, Tennessee March 10, 1838. It is said that at a neighbor's barn raising in 1809 or 1810, Lucy Foster sliced a boiled egg in half, removed the yolk, then filled the cavity with salt and ate the egg. She went to sleep and dreamed that Thomas brought her a bucket of water to quench her thirst. When she awoke, she believed the dream was an omen that she was to marry Thomas. Lucy claimed to be a "faith doctor" and knew how to use folk medicine, cure warts, etc. Thomas was a veteran of the War of 1812, having served in Capt. William Griffin's 14th Regiment, Detached Kentucky Militia, under General Andrew Jackson at the Battle of New Orleans. He was discharged near Russellville, Warren County, Kentucky.
Family stories say that Thomas never cursed or used foul language in anyway. But shortly before his death, he saw a calf drinking from the family's water supply and became angry and began kicking the calf. Soon he became so violent that a cabin had to be built in which to hold him. A slot was cut in the logs with a shelf to enable the women to slide the meals to him. The men would unchain the door and clean him and the cabin up when necessary. One of the children placed a feather bed in the cabin for him to sleep on, but the next morning they found that he had torn the mattress to shreds and was blowing feathers through the air. He died shortly thereafter. In 1845, Lucy (Foster) Grisham's four youngest children sued her over the sale of their father's property in Giles County. The day Lucy moved her family to Tishomingo County, Mississippi, she sold the land to three different people at different times. By the time the second and third buyers found out what had happened, Lucy was already out of state!! |
|