The data between 1840 and 1850 is sketchy at best.  But we know James settled in the Corning, Alfordsville area of Southern Indiana in Knox/Daviess County.  He was married to Bridget Farel and raised a family.  I'm assuming James and Bridget were married in Ireland since the births of their children are listed as Ireland.

    The 1850 Indiana census for Reeve Township lists James as age 75.  However, the 1860 census lists his age as 80. He is not listed at all in the 1870 census.  James married Bridget Farel, who was born approximately 1780 in Ireland and died sometime after 1860.  The 1850 Indiana census for Reeve township lists her age as 70.  The 1860 census lists her age as 80 and she is not listed in the 1870 census either.  Here is a picture of Bridgett’s headstone in St Peter’s Cemetary in Barr Township, Indiana.  The picture was taken by Denise Grannon who is researching the Bernard Grannon line.  According to Cemeteries of Daviess County, Vol III, compiled by Barbara Sims-Waggoner, James' grave is there too.

James and Bridgett had 3 children:

Patrick Grannan (1810 – 1893)

James Grannan (1828 – 1847) who’s headstone is pictured here. This is also in St Peter’s Cemetary in Barr Township next to his mother's.

Mary Grannan (1833 - ?)

    Of their three children, James died at age 19 in 1848 (headstone pictured here).  I have no information on Mary Grannan after the 1850 census.   The oldest of the three, Patrick, became my great-great-grandfather.

    PATRICK GRANNAN (my great-great grandfather) was born on Christmas day in 1810 in Longford County, Ireland, immigrated to the United States in 1836 and died on 1 Nov 1893 in Corning, Indiana (Reeve Township) and is buried in St. Patrick’s Cemetary.  Patrick was a farmer and owned a 200 acre farm in Daviess County.  I have located several original land deeds referencing this plot of land.  In the National Archives in Washington, D.C. I managed to find the original request for a Land Patent from James and Patrick Grannan in Daviess County IN.

    It states that on 10 Aug 1841, "Patrick Grinon of Hamilton County Ohio" purchased from the Indiana District of Lands "the East half of the North West quarter of section twenty one, in Township two North of Range five West, in the District of Lands subject to sale at Vincennes, Indiana, containing eighty acres."  This is immediately adjacent to his father's land (James owned the West half and Patrick owned the East half) and the same land he would later give to his son Peter.

     This shows where the land came from (although Patrick would later acquire more land in this area according to deeds).  It is interesting that it states James and Patrick were from Ohio.  This shows a potential connection to the line of Grannan/Grannons from Hamilton County Ohio.

            On February 2, 1846, Patrick married PHOEBA A. MULLEN in Daviess County.  I found this information in the Indiana State Library from the 1850 census data.  Patrick was 36 and Phoeba was 18.  Phoeba Mullen was born on October 15, 1828 (one census places her birth in Rhode Island and another in Virginia.  She would later die on September 22, 1902 at the age of 74.  She is buried next to her husband Patrick in St. Patrick's Cemetery in Corning, Indiana.  Note there is no date of death on the headstone.  The date I have is from the Indiana State Library Index of Daviess County Death Records.

                I received the following note from Sandra Kenkel (g-g-g-granddaughter of Patrick and Phoebe) regarding the age difference between them:

       I have no information that refutes or substantiates this story but it sounds very plausible.  If anyone has any information to add to it, please let me know.  Stories like this are what turns family history into a story instead of cold facts. 

        Below is a copy of the handwritten marriage certificate (actually just a notation in a ledger book) of the marriage between Patrick and Phoebe.  The annotation of their marriage is about three quarters of the way down the page.  Many thanks to Denise Grannon who came across this while researching her line of Grannons and forwarded it to me.

Below are pictures of Patrick and Phoebe's graves taken by me at St. Patrick's cemetery in Corning, Indiana.  Also shown is Patrick Grannan's obituary from 1893, sent to me by Denise Grannon.

By 1850, the Indiana Census for Reeve Township shows the family as:

    Note how the spelling has gone from GRANNAN (1840 census and Patrick's Immigration record) to GRINNON (James' headstone and Patrick's Land Patent) and now GRANNON.

    This shows that James and Bridget were living with Patrick and Phoebe in 1850.  Further, it shows Patrick's younger sister, Mary, also living with them, along with Patrick and Phoebe's children, James (age 4) and Mary (age 1).  

    Patrick and Phoebe would have 8 children: James, Mary Ellen, Bridget, George, Margaret Elizabeth, Patrick E., Peter J., and Anna Grannan.

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