My Genealogy Hound

William B. Grant, an enterprising and well-to-do resident of Springfield township, Oakland County, is engaged in general farming and stock raising on his farm of 170 acres in section 35. He was born in Bloomfield township, Oakland County, August 1, 1863, and is a son of George and Elizabeth (Bontoft) Grant and a grandson of William Grant.

William Grant was a native of England, where he was engaged in farming all his life. He was the father of seven children, namely: Mary (Shaw), who resides in Clio, Genesee County, Michigan; Fannie; George, the father of our subject; Joseph; Robert; William; and Eliza.

George Grant, the father of our subject, was born in Lincolnshire, England, July 23, 1833, and came to America when 20 years of age, locating at Birmingham, Oakland County, Michigan. For 10 years after his arrival, he worked as a farm hand by the month, and then secured employment on a railroad. Later he purchased a farm and entered upon general agricultural operations with very good results, at the time of his death being the owner of a well stocked farm. When on a visit to England in 1862, he was married, on July 10th of that year, to Elizabeth Bontoft, who was born in Lincolnshire, England, and is a daughter of William Bontoft. They had four children: William B.; Sarah (Ogden), of Pontiac; Edith R., wife of David R. Teggerdine, of Springfield township, Oakland County; and Grace B. George Grant was a Democrat in politics, and fraternally, a Mason.

William B. Grant has always been a resident of Oakland County and has cultivated his present farm for the past 20 years; he has reached a prominent place among the farmers and stock raisers of his community. He has always been engaged in general farming, and has made stock raising a feature of his operations. He has at present about 60 head of Hampshire sheep, 25 Chester White hogs and five work horses. He raises about 1,000 bushels of corn, 800 bushels of other grain and 600 bushels of potatoes, annually. The farm is well kept up and improved with several fine and substantial buildings, such as a large barn and a commodious and homelike dwelling, which was erected by the father of our subject. Mr. Grant is a single man and resides with his mother and sister, Grace B. Grant, who assist him in the duties pertaining to farm work.