“In the old German records, and early American records you will find the name under CRANTSDORF or KRANTZDORF, also KRANTZDORFF. Our German ancestors came from the area Zweibrucken in the southwestern section of the Palatinate. The Church records of Hornbach and Rimschweiler list at least the sons and a few of the daughters of the original family.
 According to the records found, two of the brothers, Johann Nichel his wife and children and Johann Bartholomaeus his wife and children came to the American shores on the ship Thistle, skippered by John Wilson, arriving at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on September 19, 1738.”
                                                                                                     - quoted from A Grindstaff Genealogy
 

Dietrich Crantzdorf  (b. probably before 1650, d. after 1714)
DIETRICH CRANTZDORF WAS PROBABLY THE FATHER OF THE FOUR SONS LISTED BELOW:
1. Johannes Crantzdorf
2. Phillipp Crantzdorf
3. Johann Nichel Crantzdorf
4. Johann Bartholomaeus Crantzdorf

CHILDREN OF JOHANN NICHEL AND BARBARA CRANTZDORF
1. Anna Catherine Crantzdorf (baptized in the Reformed Church about July 10, 1715)
2. Anna Rosina Crantzdorf (baptized in the Reformed Church at the end of July 1719)
3. Johann Michael Crantzdorf (baptized in the Catholic Church on October 3, 1728)

Johann Michael Crantzdorf / Gransdorff / Grindstaff married Catherine ___ , probably in York County, Pennsylvania. Michael Grindstaff, planter, purchased land in Tryon County, North Carolina in May 1773. This land was cut off into Lincoln County in 1799 and into Catawba County in 1842. The 1790 census of Burke County, NC lists Michael Grindstaff with one male under 16, one male over 16, and 4 females.

CHILDREN OF JOHANN MICHAEL AND CATHERINE GRINDSTAFF
1. Susanna Grindstaff  m. Joseph Rainbolt
2. Catherine Grindstaff
3. Nicholas Grindstaff (b. @1748)
4. Isaac Grindstaff (b. before 1754)
5. Michael Grindstaff (b. January 5, 1754 in Lancaster County, PA. Died about 1833 in Indiana)
6. Adam Grindstaff (b. @1760. Died in 1781 in a military hospital of wounds received during the
        Revolutionary War)
7. Jacob Grindstaff (b. @1765. Died December 25, 1844 in Washington County, Kentucky)
 

It is believed that Isaac Grindstaff had two wives. Their names are unknown.
CHILDREN OF ISAAC GRINDSTAFF
1. A son b. @1774.
2. Jane Grindstaff  (b. @1776)  m. Reuben Moody. Lived in Haywood County, NC.
3. Isaac Grindstaff, Jr.  (June 14, 1774- January 21, 1866)
4. Mary Grindstaff  (b. @1785)
5. Sarah “Sally” Grindstaff
6. Henry Grindstaff  (b. @1789. Died in 1870 or 1871 in Yancey County, NC.)
7. A daughter b. @1791
8. Catherine Grindstaff  (possibly)

 Isaac Grindstaff, Jr., the son of Isaac Grindstaff,  was born in Burke County, NC and lived near Bakersville, NC. He was a prosperous farmer, and the 1860 Yancey County census shows him  with real estate valued at $1500 and personal property worth an additional $500.
  Isaac Grindstaff, Jr. married Sarah Hart on March 23, 1809. She was born about 1780 and is thought to have died around 1845 or possibly earlier. His second wife was Prudence “Prudy” Ledford. Prudy Ledford was born August 14, 1812 and died August 14, 1883.  Isaac’s older children were with Sarah Hart, his younger children with Prudy Ledford. The dates of birth of Isaac’s sons Malcolm and Peter make it more likely that their mother was Prudy Ledford and not Sarah Hart. Isaac Grindstaff, Jr. and Prudy (Ledford) Grindstaff are buried in the lower half of Bakersville Memorial Cemetery on Duck Branch Road, Bakersville, NC.

CHILDREN OF ISAAC GRINDSTAFF, JR.
1. Prudence Clarissa Grindstaff  (b. @1817, died April 15, 1905) m. Noah Ledford in 1835.
2. Isaac Grindstaff III (b. @1820)
3. Henry Grindstaff  (March 25, 1823- May 29, 1906)
4. William Grindstaff (b. @1830)
5. Malcolm “Mack” Grindstaff  (December 1, 1835- December 18, 1869[? 1875?]) m. Margaret “Paggie” Hopson.
6. Peter H. Grindstaff (March 3, 1836 [1837?]- January 2, 1910) m. Caroline McKinney
7. Isaac Grindstaff (March 15, 1840- August 23, 1914)
8. Lawrence Eddie “Effler” Grindstaff (January 1842- Sept. 7, 1916) m. Mahalia Hoilman. Served in the Civil War in Co. I,  29th NC Regiment. Buried at Mine Creek Cemetery, Mitchell County, NC.
9. Dorothy Grindstaff (b. @1845)
10. Abarilla Grindstaff (b. @1848)
11. Martha 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 93.
  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.
 

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