Jonathan is credited with being the first white settler in Holmes County, Ohio.

Jonathan Grant was born August 27, 1755 [calculated from headstone birthdate and age at death] in Connecticut [birthplace source unknown]. He served in the Revolutionary War. On February 15, 1776, he enlisted in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in a company which was part of the Eighth Virginia Rifle Regiment. This regiment was widely known as successful and effective sharpshooters. They traveled mostly on foot and could cover great distances in a relatively short period of time. Jonathan fought in the following battles: White plains, Trenton, Princeton, Brandywine, and Germantown. He was wounded in the leg at Germantown. He served in that regiment until April 1778 when he was discharged at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania by Brigadier General Scott. He later served a three month enlistment as a volunteer.

Prior to 1785, he was married to his first wife, Mary Parkinson. Jonathan owned over 400 acres of land in Beaver County, Pennsylvania in the late 1790s. His first wife died and he married Sarah Kelley. They had several more children.

In the spring of 1809, Jonathan Grant and his son, Parkinson blazed a trail into what is now Holmes County, Ohio. They traveled on foot and carried only a few tools and a sack of corn meal. They built a log cabin on the bank of Salt Creek, cleared a patch of land and sowed turnip seeds that they had brought with them. Jonathan is credited with being the first white settler in Holmes County. This cabin had a dirt floor and no chinking between the logs. They hung animal skins over the logs to keep out some of the wind and cold. Jonathan became quite ill and both he and his son were in danger of starvation when a friendly Indian told them of another white man in the area. Parkinson went to the spring where the Indian directed and encountered Jonathan Butler and his family who had just arrived in the area. He returned with Parkinson to the cabin, bringing food and supplies and nursed Jonathan Grant back to health. They became good friends and in return for his assistance, Jonathan and Parkinson helped Jonathan Butler build his cabin. The turnip crop was a great success, so sharing some of it with the Butlers and burying part of it, Jonathan and Parkinson returned to Pennsylvania for the winter.

Early in 1810, they returned to Holmes County, bringing the rest of their family including his daughter Elizabeth and her husband John Nevill and his son-in-law's parents. When they got to Holmes County, they found their turnips and cabin in good condition. Jonathan was a skilled hunter and trapper. He helped John Bever and William Larwell and JH Larwell when they surveyed the Indiana Boundary Line in 1807 and 1808. He was employed by the United States Government for several years to look after the interests of the early settlers in the area.

Jonathan died on July 27, 1833, and is buried in the McCulloch Cemetery about two and a half miles west of Holmesville, Salt Creek Township, Holmes County, Ohio.

Reference: The Ancestors and Descendents of Goldsby Alaska Bennett and Ida Ellen Monroe Bennett, Compiled by Jeanne Bennett Calvert [birthdate and birthplace edits by Sara Bennett]