J.E. Grinstead(1866-1948)
- Writer
Jesse Edward Grinstead was born on 16 October, 1866, at Owensboro,
Kentucky, the son of William Grinstead (1825-1900) and Elizabeth
Miranda Priest (1833-1940). His father had been a farmer in Missouri
before returning to his home state of Kentucky during the American
Civil War. At the time of his mother's death (at the age of 107) she
was thought to have been the oldest woman in America.
Long before Jesse was born, his father had worked as a guard for Lt. John James Abert (1788 - 1863), of the U.S. Army Topographical Engineers, during his survey of the American Southwest, made nine trips across the American Plains as a wagon-master to New Mexico and California, prospected for gold in California's Sacramento Valley, walked from San Juan del Sur on the Pacific Coast to Lake Nicaragua, transported supplies to the army under the command of Gen. Albert S. Johnston's (1803-1862) while they were stationed at Salt Lake City during the Utah War (1857-58) and conveyed the first threshing machine to Ft. Bridger in the Wyoming Territory
In the late 1860s Jesse's family relocated to Pettis County, Missouri, where his father had farmed before the outbreak of the Civil War. Around 1880 his family moved to Oakland, Indian Territory (now Marshall County, Oklahoma). Later when his family once again decided move on, this time to Texas, Jesse chose to stay behind. For the next few years he supported himself by building cabins, hauling logs, branding cattle, digging wells and even washing clothes. Eventually he found full time employment as a printer for a newspaper in the nearby town of Ardmore. Before devoting his energy fulltime to the newspaper business he had considered practicing law. A learned judge helped make up his mind when he told him: "Young man I think you are ruining a fairly good newspaperman by trying to be a damned poor lawyer".
In 1893 Jesse founded the Oakland News, a few years later he became owner and editor of the Mountain Sun in Kerrville, Texas. In 1903 Jesse was elected mayor of Kerrville and four years later as their representative in the state legislature. While serving in the legislature he was instrumental in the creation of the State Tubercular Sanatorium in Carlsbad.
Jesse's first wife died shortly after their move to Kerrville. The couple had two boys, Grady H. (1894-1874) and Doyle E. (1897-1951). Within a year he married Gertrude Wright (1868-1946), a widow who operated a boarding house in Kerrville. A daughter, Bessie G. (1903-1958) and two sons, Jesse H. (1901-1942) and Pam (1905-1974), soon followed.
After retiring from the newspaper business in 1917, Jesse began writing Western fiction. Of the some 30 novels, approximately 50 short stories and numerous articles he penned, "The Hill Country" (1923), "The Scourge of the Little C" (1925), "Master Squatter" (1927), "When Texans Ride" (1938), "Flaming Guns" (1938), "Round-Up At Tiger Gap" (1940), "The Flying Y Brand" (1940) and "Feud at Twin Mountain" (1942) were among his most popular. He was a frequent contributor to such popular magazines as Big-Book Western Magazine, Thrilling Ranch Stories and Western Romances. Jesse had also published works under the pseudonyms, Tex Janis, William Crump Rush and George Bowles. In 1921 he began publishing Grinstead's Graphic, a monthly magazine that expressed through his writings and poetry his thoughts, reflections and views about the area of Texas that he called the "Hill Country" (West of Austin and Northwest of San Antonio).
Jesse Edwards Grinstead passed away on 8 March, 1948 at Kerrville after an eight month illness.
Long before Jesse was born, his father had worked as a guard for Lt. John James Abert (1788 - 1863), of the U.S. Army Topographical Engineers, during his survey of the American Southwest, made nine trips across the American Plains as a wagon-master to New Mexico and California, prospected for gold in California's Sacramento Valley, walked from San Juan del Sur on the Pacific Coast to Lake Nicaragua, transported supplies to the army under the command of Gen. Albert S. Johnston's (1803-1862) while they were stationed at Salt Lake City during the Utah War (1857-58) and conveyed the first threshing machine to Ft. Bridger in the Wyoming Territory
In the late 1860s Jesse's family relocated to Pettis County, Missouri, where his father had farmed before the outbreak of the Civil War. Around 1880 his family moved to Oakland, Indian Territory (now Marshall County, Oklahoma). Later when his family once again decided move on, this time to Texas, Jesse chose to stay behind. For the next few years he supported himself by building cabins, hauling logs, branding cattle, digging wells and even washing clothes. Eventually he found full time employment as a printer for a newspaper in the nearby town of Ardmore. Before devoting his energy fulltime to the newspaper business he had considered practicing law. A learned judge helped make up his mind when he told him: "Young man I think you are ruining a fairly good newspaperman by trying to be a damned poor lawyer".
In 1893 Jesse founded the Oakland News, a few years later he became owner and editor of the Mountain Sun in Kerrville, Texas. In 1903 Jesse was elected mayor of Kerrville and four years later as their representative in the state legislature. While serving in the legislature he was instrumental in the creation of the State Tubercular Sanatorium in Carlsbad.
Jesse's first wife died shortly after their move to Kerrville. The couple had two boys, Grady H. (1894-1874) and Doyle E. (1897-1951). Within a year he married Gertrude Wright (1868-1946), a widow who operated a boarding house in Kerrville. A daughter, Bessie G. (1903-1958) and two sons, Jesse H. (1901-1942) and Pam (1905-1974), soon followed.
After retiring from the newspaper business in 1917, Jesse began writing Western fiction. Of the some 30 novels, approximately 50 short stories and numerous articles he penned, "The Hill Country" (1923), "The Scourge of the Little C" (1925), "Master Squatter" (1927), "When Texans Ride" (1938), "Flaming Guns" (1938), "Round-Up At Tiger Gap" (1940), "The Flying Y Brand" (1940) and "Feud at Twin Mountain" (1942) were among his most popular. He was a frequent contributor to such popular magazines as Big-Book Western Magazine, Thrilling Ranch Stories and Western Romances. Jesse had also published works under the pseudonyms, Tex Janis, William Crump Rush and George Bowles. In 1921 he began publishing Grinstead's Graphic, a monthly magazine that expressed through his writings and poetry his thoughts, reflections and views about the area of Texas that he called the "Hill Country" (West of Austin and Northwest of San Antonio).
Jesse Edwards Grinstead passed away on 8 March, 1948 at Kerrville after an eight month illness.
