Person:Malcolm Grindstaff (1)

Information on Malcolm Grindstaff

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MACK AND MARGARET (HOPSON) GRINDSTAFF

Malcolm “Mack” Grindstaff married Margaret “Paggie” Hopson on June 13, 1858 in Yancey County. Margaret “Paggie” (or “Peggy”) Hopson was born August 14, 1838. She was the daughter of Thomas Hopson (or Hobson), who was born about 1810, and his wife Nancy (Catherine) Short, who was born about 1815. Thomas Hopson lived in the Little Rock Creek section of Mitchell County and was apparently the son of Benoni Hopson, who had moved to the area from Wilkes County. Other sons of Benoni Hopson were Litttleton Hopson and John Hopson, who married Elizabeth Short.

In July 1863 Mack Grindstaff enlisted in Co. I, 29th NC Regiment and served until the end of the Civil War. He was wounded in the right hand near Nashville TN during the fall of 1864, and as a result was almost totally disabled in that hand. In spite of his injury, he continued serving until the end of the war. He is listed on the 1870 Mitchell census and according to his wife’s pension application he died in 1875; strangely, however, his tombstone states that he died in 1869. In any case, his wife outlived him by many years. She never remarried, and lived to be almost 90.

During 1929 and 1930 several Mitchell County officials petitioned the state to increase the Confederate widow’s pension that “Paggie” Grindstaff was receiving. These officials stated that she was totally disabled and confined to a bedroom in the house of her daughter and son-in-law, Beadie and C.E. Young, and they urged the state to change her Class B pension for a Class A. The last such request was received by the pension board on Feb. 24, 1931. On March 6, 1931 Paggie Grindstaff died; on June 2, 1931, she was approved for the increased pension: apparently bureaucracy in the 1930‘s was no better than today.

Sixty years after her death she was still remembered by her great-granddaughter Estella King Young. According to Granny Young, “Aunt Paggie” would tell stories about life in western North Carolina during the Civil War: survival was difficult, for marauders and both Union and Confederate soldiers stole food and livestock. Lawlessness was rampant, and the theft of a cow or pig meant near starvation for many mountain families.

Mack and Margaret Grindstaff are buried in the lower half of Bakersville Memorial Cemetery.

CHILDREN OF MACK AND MARGARET GRINDSTAFF

1. Isaac Grindstaff (b. @@1859)

2. Julia Grindstaff (b. @@1862)

3. Thomas C. Grindstaff (January 19, 1863- December 2, 1914) m. 1st) Elizabeth “Betty” Wilson (June 27, 1869- Dec. 24, 1890). She was the daughter of James Wilson and Mary Anna “Emily” Ollis of White Oak Road, Bakersville. The couple had two children: A)Minnie Grindstaff (Sept. 1, 1885- Dec. 13, 1978), m. 1st) Jeff Milton King 2nd) Jim Sparks 3rd) Albert Woody; B) Essie Grindstaff (June 2, 1891 [?1890?]- Feb. 11, 1933) m. Slite Braswell. Tommy Grindstaff‘s second wife was Cynthia “Sis” McKinney, with whom he had several daughters.

4. Catherine Grindstaff (Sept. 27, 1866- Jan. 7, 1956) m. Will Huskins.

5. Beadie Grindstaff (Feb. 17, 1868- Dec. 5, 1943) m. 1st) Landon Woody m. 2nd) Cornelius Ervin Young. Beadie and her first husband Landon Woody had two sons, Clayton and William Landon Woody, both of whom lived in Virginia. According to her great-granddaughter Bette Young Dickenson, Beadie was a renowned grannywoman/midwife, and at least one grandson remembered helping her gather herbs and juice from her own special poppies to make medicine for the folks in the area.