Biographical Sketch of Moses Grenia, Washington County, Missouri >From "History of Franklin, Jefferson, Washington, Crawford and Gasconade Counties", Biographical Appendix, Goodspeed Publishing Company, 1888. ********************************************************************** Moses Grenia was born near Ontario, Canada, in 1820 and is the son of Joseph and Julia Grenia, both natives of Canada, and of French descent. After marriage they lived in the land of their nativity until about 1834, when they moved to St. Louis, and about six years later to Wash- ington County, where they spent the remainder of their lives. The father was a farmer by occupation and a Democrat in his political views. Moses was one of eight children born to his parents, and his early education was extremely limited. At the age of fifteen he left home without the permission of his parents, went to New Orleans, got a position on a boat, and for three years followed the river. He then spent seven years in the Rocky Mountains for the American Fur Company, and during his stay there had many stirring adventures, and came very near losing his life several times by the Indians. In 1846 he was united in marriage to Miss Eliza A. Whaley, a native of Washington Co., and three years later he drove an ox team from Caledonia, Mo., to Bid- well Bar, on Flat River, Cal. Having established a ranch he remained about three years and then returned. Since then farming has been his calling, although while the Iron Mountain was being tunneled though, he was engaged in merchandising at Irondale about two years. In 1874 he came to the farm where he now resides, which consists of 234 acres. The following eight children were born to Mr. Grenia and wife: John (de- ceased), Joseph, George, William, James, Robert, Julia and Mary. In 1881 Mr. Grenia lost his wife; she was a member of the Baptist Church. Although commencing with nothing, Mr. Grenia has been quite successful, and although not educated himself, he has seen the need of it, and has given his children good educations. His eldest son, John, was killed in Potosi, during Price's raid. Mr. Grenia is a Republican in politics. ==================================================================== USGENWEB NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the Internet, data may be used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material. These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or for presentation by other persons or organizations. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for purposes other than stated above must obtain the written consent of the file contributor. This file was contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by: Joe Miller Penny Harrell ====================================================================