John Gaston Grant as born 1 January 1858 in a log cabin in Henderson county, North Carolina (approximately BatCave), along what is now Highway 74. He was the fifth child of William Colin and Sarah Elizabeth (Freeman) Grant, of Henderson county, NC. He was self-educated and a life-long Radical Republican. He was called "Cornbread John" by local Democrat press. He married Zsa Zura Edney, 30 March 1876 in Henderson county, NC. Grant was a Member of the State house of representatives in 1889, but declined a renomination. He was the sheriff of Henderson County 1892-1896 and refused a renomination in 1896. He was elected as a Republican to the Sixty-first Congress (March 4, 1909-March 3, 1911). He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1910 to the Sixty-second Congress after which he resumed agricultural pursuits.
Grant died in Hendersonville, N.C., June 21, 1923and is intered in Oak Dale Cemetery.
