Grass, Alfred H.

Born: 1802-02-13 Kentucky

Died: 1856-12-30 Lawrence County, Illinois

Flourished: Lawrence County, Illinois

In October 1823, Grass married Susanna Snyder in Spencer County, Indiana. Around 1830, Grass and his family moved from Indiana to Lawrence County, Illinois. In February 1832, he became postmaster of Lawrenceville. During the Black Hawk War, Grass served as a private in Captain Abner Greer's Company of the 2nd Regiment, 2nd Brigade of Illinois Mounted Volunteers. Later he received promotion to sergeant major. In 1848, voters in Clay, Edwards, Effingham, Jasper, Lawrence, Richland, and Wabash counties elected Grass as a Whig to the Illinois Senate. He won re-election in 1850, serving until 1852. In 1850, he was living with his wife and eleven of their children; he was a farmer who owned $2,000 in real estate. From 1860 to 1861, Grass served on the board of supervisors for Dennison Township.

Indiana Marriages through 1850, Spencer County, 4 October 1823, Indiana State Library, Indianapolis, IN; Record of Appointment of Postmasters, 1832-1971, NARA Microfilm Publication, M841, 145 rolls, Records of the Post Office Department, RG 28, 1832-1844, 12B;523, National Archives Building, Washington, DC; Illinois Journal (Springfield), 13 September 1848, 3:2; Combined History of Edwards, Lawrence and Wabash Counties, Illinois (Philadelphia: J. L. McDonough, 1883), 96, 114, 125, 287; Ellen M. Whitney, comp., The Black Hawk War, 1831-1832: Illinois Volunteers, vol. 35 of Collections of the Illinois State Historical Library (Springfield: Illinois State Historical Library, 1970), 1:317, 346; John Clayton, comp., The Illinois Fact Book and Historical Almanac 1673-1968 (Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1970), 216, 217; "Application for Membership, Frank J. Foster," Sons of the American Revolution Membership Applications, 1889-1970, Louisville, Kentucky: National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution; U.S. Census Office, Seventh Census of the United States (1850), Lawrence County, IL, 31; Bessie Irene Black, Cemeteries of Lawrence County Illinois (Danville, IL: Interstate, 1976), 212.