Joseph Linnel, 1754-1834

Bryant Number: 783
Type of Memorial: Sandstone headstone and base
Stonecarver: Unknown

Inscription:

Joseph
Son of
Elkanah & Mary
Linnel
Born in Orleans
Mass. Dec. 3, 1754:
Removed to Granville
Mass. 1782: thence
to Ohio 1805 Died
Jan. 21 1834: aged
79 years.

Commentary: One of Granville’s original settlers, Joseph Linnel emigrated with his family of seven from Granville, Massachusetts in November of 1805. As a young man, Joseph had served in the Revolutionary War as a private in Rhode Island (1776-77) and Massachusetts (1778) units.

Like most of the other settlers, the Linnel family probably spent their first winter or two here in a crude log cabin, but eventually they built a commodious brick house whose ownership remained in the family across five generations for 127 years. The two-story brick home, still occupied, can be seen on the west side of Lancaster Road south of town, just past Roseview Drive.

Joseph and his wife Zerviah (whose headstone is just to the right of Joseph’s) had six offspring who became leading citizens in the new Granville community. One, Elkanah Linnell, served as one of the village’s first constables. His grave is #789, six plots to the right of his father’s. In the same row, at site #788, is the grave of Joseph’s daughter Bethiah, who was married to the Rev. Timothy Harris, first pastor of Granville’s Congregational church. Two other sons, Joseph Jr. and Knowles, became teachers. Knowles, who owned a clockmaking business, not only served as Mayor of Granville, but was also instrumental in the establishment of a school for young women, the Granville Female Academy. And Joseph Jr., who owned a farm located on the road that is now the Newark-Granville Road, was an ardent abolitionist who hosted an important stop for runaway slaves on the Underground Railroad, even as early as the 1830s and ’40s.

Joseph Sr. lived to the ripe old age of 79, succumbing in 1834 to the plague that killed many Granville citizens that fateful year.

Find a Grave link: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/19687531/joseph-linnel