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Charles T. Granger

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Charles T. Granger
Justice of the Iowa Supreme Court
In office
January 1, 1889 – December 31, 1900
Preceded byWilliam H. Seevers
Succeeded byEmlin McClain
Iowa District Court Judge for the 13th district
In office
January 1, 1887 – December 31, 1888
Serving with L. O. Hatch
Preceded byPosition established
Succeeded byL. E. Fellows
Personal details
Born(1835-10-09)October 9, 1835
Monroe County, New York, U.S.
DiedOctober 26, 1915(1915-10-26) (aged 80)
Long Beach, California, U.S.
Resting placeOakland Cemetery, Waukon, Iowa
Political partyRepublican
SpouseAnna Maxwell
Children
  • Ula A. Granger
  • (b. 1869; died 1891)
  • Rollo S. Granger
  • (b. 1874; died 1920)
Relatives
Professionlawyer
Military service
AllegianceUnited States
Branch/serviceUnited States Volunteers
Union Army
Years of service1862–1865
RankCaptain, USV
Unit27th Reg. Iowa Vol. Infantry
Battles/warsAmerican Civil War

Charles Trumbull Granger (October 9, 1835 – October 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

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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

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Charles Granger was the youngest son of Trumbull Granger and his first wife Sally (née 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

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U.S. House of Representatives (1874)

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Iowa Supreme Court (1888, 1894)

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Iowa Supreme Court Election, 1888[5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
General Election, November 6, 1888
Republican Charles T. Granger 210,098 52.27%
Democratic P. Henry Smyth 182,894 45.50%
Independent M. H. Jones 8,943 2.22%
Plurality 27,204 6.77%
Total votes 401,935 100.0%
Iowa Supreme Court Election, 1894[6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
General Election, November 6, 1894
Republican Charles T. Granger (incumbent) 228,762 54.55% +2.28%
Democratic John Cliggitt 183,148 43.68% −1.83%
Populist Jacob W. Rogers 7,181 1.71%
Scattering 237 0.06%
Plurality 45,614 10.88% +4.11%
Total votes 401,935 100.0% +4.33%

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f Past and Present of Allamakee County, Iowa. Vol. 1. The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company. 1913. p. 173–174. Retrieved June 2, 2022.
  2. ^ "Twenty-Seventh Infantry". Roster and Record of Iowa Soldiers in the War of the Rebellion, together with historical sketches of volunteer organizations, 1861–1866. Vol. 3. Office of the Adjutant General of Iowa. 1908. p. 1164. Retrieved June 2, 2022.
  3. ^ "Supreme Justice Dies". Los Angeles Times. October 27, 1915. p. 12. Retrieved June 2, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ Granger, James N. (1893). Launcelot Granger of Newbury, Mass., and Suffield, Conn.: A Genealogical History. Retrieved June 2, 2022.
  5. ^ Jackson, Frank D., ed. (1889). Official Register of Executive, Judicial, and County Officers of the State of Iowa (PDF) (Report). State of Iowa. p. 192. Retrieved June 2, 2022.
  6. ^ Official Register of the State of Iowa (PDF) (Report). State of Iowa. 1895. p. 184. Retrieved June 2, 2022.
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Legal offices
New court established Iowa District Court Judge for the 13th district
January 1, 1887 – December 31, 1888
Served alongside: L. O. Hatch
Succeeded by
L. E. Fellows
Preceded by Justice of the Iowa Supreme Court
January 1, 1889 – December 31, 1900
Succeeded by