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William Clark Grasty

William Clark Grasty[1]

Male 1817 - 1901  (83 years)

Personal Information    |    Media    |    Sources    |    All    |    PDF

  • Name William Clark Grasty 
    Born 27 Oct 1817  Pittsylvania County, Virginia Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Gender Male 
    Died 25 Jan 1901  Danville, Pittsylvania County, Virginia Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Buried Green Hill Cemetery, Danville, Pittsylvania Co., Virginia Find all individuals with events at this location  [2
    Person ID I18184  My Reynolds Line
    Last Modified 19 Feb 2022 

    Father Philip Lightfoot Grasty,   b. Est 1785, Tidewater, Colonial Virginia Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. Est 1825, Pittsylvania County, Virginia Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age ~ 40 years) 
    Mother Jane White Clarke/Clark,   b. 28 Sep 1788, Pittsylvania County, Virginia Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. Yes, date unknown, Pittsylvania County, Virginia Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Married 29 Aug 1812  Pittsylvania Co., Virginia Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Family ID F5885  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  • Photos
    Home of William Clark Grasty, Wilson St. Danville, Virginia
    Home of William Clark Grasty, Wilson St. Danville, Virginia
    p18184HomeWmClarkGrastyHomeWilsonSt.jpg
    Map Danville, Virginia William C. Grasty Home Location; Sutherlin Mansion; Capt. W. T. Clark, c. 1870
    Map Danville, Virginia William C. Grasty Home Location; Sutherlin Mansion; Capt. W. T. Clark, c. 1870
    MapDanvilleGrastyWmC18184.jpg

    Documents
    William Clark Grasty-Obit
    William Clark Grasty-Obit
    Richmond Dispatch
    Jan 26, 1901
    Philip Lightfoot Grasty-Obit
    Philip Lightfoot Grasty-Obit
    The Danville Bee
    Sep 13, 1924
    William Clark of Danville, Pittsylvania Co., Virginia
    William Clark of Danville, Pittsylvania Co., Virginia
    18184WmClarkeDanville.jpg

    Histories
    Descendants Clarke-White
    Descendants Clarke-White
    DescendantClarke-White.pdf

  • Sources 
    1. [S100] Internet Source, http://arsenalexplosion.blogspot.com/.
      William C. Grasty owned three lots numbered 145, 147 & 149. The kitchen and slave quarters are shown on this 1877 map. The school on lot 157 is the Danville Female Academy headed by Rev. Geo. W. Dame, the Episcopal Bishop. He ministered daily to the federal prisoners during the Civil War.
      The Grasty house on Wilson Street was built by James L. Denny in 1833 (not 1810). Col. Nathaniel Wilson owned a large tract which was outside of Danville at that time. He developed the area as "New Town" in the 1830s when he sold lots. Jefferson Davis and his cabinet evacuated Richmond and traveled on the Richmond & Danville Railroad to Danville and set up a new capital city. The train arrived at 3 pm on April 3, 1865. Cabinet members and Confederate officials stayed with Danville families. President Jefferson Davis stayed with Maj. William T. Sutherlin on Main Street. The government set up executive offices in the old Ann Benedict School on Wilson Street (P. J. Glass is now at that site). The home of William Clark was across the street. On the same lot there were quarters for the Grasty slaves where Sartial T. Grasty lived.
      This 1877 map of Danville shows the old ferry across Dan River at the end of Craghead. The large one-story building was said to have been a few hundred yards down Craghead Street from the depot near the "sunken road, now filled in," which was the old road to Col. Nathaniel Wilson's Lower Ferry. The grade drops sharply on the east towards the Dan River at this point. The arsenal was on level ground on the west side of the ferry road and on the north side of Craghead. The building was described as having a "high pent roof" (a single sloping shed-type roof).

      Anne recently discovered fascinating descriptions of the tragedy which about 14 people were killed. Sartial "Sart" T. Grasty was a slave at the time belonging to Col.William C. Grasty. Sart and four or five other slaves were brought to Danville from Mount Airy in 1856, when William Grasty bought a fine brick house on Wilson Street. William's son Philip Lightfoot Grasty and Sart were near the same age.

      Sart Grasty was an eyewitness to the arsenal explosion. He and his master's son Philip were at the site twenty minutes before the blast and returned twenty minutes after.

      Notice those two outbuildings on the Grasty lot. Slaves were taxed as personal property before the War. On August 1, 1860, Drury Blair recorded the age, sex and color of William C. Grasty?s 46 slaves. He notated that there were two ?slave houses.? The oldest was a 65-year-old Mulatto woman. There were 22 males and 24 females many of whom were children and babies. There were six two-year-olds and three under one year old. It is hard to imagine all those people in these two small buildings.

      Beginning in 1853, slave births were reported to the courts. William C. Grasty reported three slaves born in the Mount Airy area where his father operated a store. The mothers were not named for Henry, born in July 1853; Adaline, born in November 1853, and Lavena, born in April 1856. After William and family moved to Danville (bringing Sart of several other slaves), a slave named Ann gave birth to twins on August 16, 1858. The boy and girl were named Romeo and Julett. Sartial Grasty said that Wm. C. Grasty purchased him when he was young and that his father was Andrew Banks.

      Maj. William T. Sutherlin, who lived not so far away, is recorded as owning 40 slaves in 1860. He is shown to have provided 15 houses for his slaves. Since he was a large tobacco grower most of his slaves were probably scattered on different tracts in the county.

    2. [S32] Find-A-Grave.com, https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=9549652.
      Col William Clark Grasty
      Birth 27 Oct 1817
      Death: Jan 1901 (aged 83)
      Burial: Green Hill Cemetery
      Danville, Virginia
      Son of Philip Lightfoot and Jane White Clark Grasty. Husband of Letitia St. Clair Grasty. Father of known children: Serg. Sam Stone Grasty, James Clark Grasty, Fay Grasty, Mary Augusta Grasty, Ella O Grasty Hobson, Philip Lightfoot Grasty, and Letitia (Lettie) Stone Grasty Hairston. Had a grocery business. The family lived on Wilson St. in Danville at one time.