An important figure in early Grant County church history is Elder
William Conrad. John B. Conrad's bio of him can be found here. (pdf)

 

Harry Webb and his Huckster wagon in Williamstown, c. 1915
Think of hucksters as general stores, on wagons, that drove all around the county.

Don't miss The Political Campaign of Caroline Gray, 1923, here.

 

The Webbs, Dry Good Merchants

“The Webster family forms an eighth of the population of Grant County.”
From the Covington Journal, March 30, 1872

“LARGE FAMILY. —Chalk Webster, aged 74 years, who resides at Stevens Creek, in Grant county. Ky., is the father of 45 children. His grandchildren number 80, and his great-grand-children 27. He is now living with his fourth wife, who is a sister of the wife of one of his own sons. Father and son thus stand in the relation of brother-in-law to each other.” Marysville Daily Appeal, August 25, 1865

 

One of more famous, or infamous, episodes in Kentucky history was the Caleb Powers saga.  Powers was indicted for his alleged role in the William Goebbels assassination.  There were four trials, one of which was moved to Grant County as a change of venue. You can Google Caleb Powers and find lots more.  There's a brief version here.  The pics above are the Grant County jury, all 12 men are identified in the photo on the far right.  ID's and pics are from the Louisville Courier Journal of December 6,1907

 

The first mention of an automobile in a Grant County paper is from the Williamstown Courier of June 29, 1905: “Claude Jones is now the proud owner of an Oldsmobile and is learning to be an expert at operating the machine.” A week later we get this: “Claude Jones, the energetic and popular telephone man of Williamstown . . .has purchased an auto and skims over the country with the ease and swiftness of a locomotive.” from the Williamstown Courier , July 6, 1905

 

	Grant County historian and educator Lloyd Franks.	Herbert Caldwell, Mayor of Williamstown for 26 years.

 

When the Boston Celtic's legendary Bill Russell was a rookie, who on the team did he look to for mentoring? That would be Williamstown’s Arnie Risen. Risen (Wikipedia) is in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. He was on two NBA championship teams, and is a four-time NBA All Star. He also led Ohio State to two NCAA Final Fours. Video at this site.

 

Theodore O'Hara “Doc” Sechrist, born in Williamstown,  played for the New York Giants baseball team. A pitcher, he appeared in one game, on April 28, 1899. He faced two batters and walked both of them. Because they did not score and he did not record an out, he has no official ERA from his appearance.

In 1876, the R. L. Polk Company published The Kentucky State Gazetteer and Business Directory, which listed information about virtually every town in Kentucky.  The listings from Grant County are these:
Corinth	Crittenden	Dry Ridge
Elliston	Mason	New Eagle Mills
Sherman	Williamstown	Zion Station

In 1883-84, the R. L. Polk Company published a new edition of his Gazetteer, which included these Grant County communities:
Cordova	Corinth	Crittenden	Dry Ridge
Elliston	Gardnersville	Holbrook	Mason
New Eagle Mills	Sherman	Williamstown	Zion Station

An 1879 Gazetteer listing of Williamstown is here. (pdf)

	Membership lists of the Masonic Lodges of Grant County in 1890 are here:
	Stewartsville	Williamstown	Corinth	Jonesville	Mason

Membership lists of the Masonic Lodges of Grant County in 1911 are here:  (pdf's)
Williamstown	Corinth	Crittenden	Dry Ridge

For membership rolls of ALL Masonic Lodges in ALL cities in Kentucky,
from 1878 thru 1922, they're at the Hathi Trust Digital Library, by individual year.

From The History of Kentucky, 1929, published by S. J. Clarke.  This book, like many of the period, should not be considered to have a definitive list of important people in the county.  More likely, the book was financed by people who paid to have their name included, and wrote their own bio. ( pdf's)
Robert L. Northcutt	Albert L. Abbott

Jacob Theophilus Simon had his bio (pdf) in the Biographical Encyclopedia of Kentucky.