The talents of Vernon Grant were not limited to sketches and oils. Mother Nature blessed him when it came to the earth’s soils. The use of his artistic talents to entertain soldiers in dimly lit hospitals during World War II damaged his vision. In 1947, following doctors’ orders to give his eyes a rest, Grant and his family pulled up stakes in New York and headed for his first love, the wide open spaces and the good earth. They settled on 200 acres of land belonging to his wife, Elizabeth Fewell, a native of Rock Hill.
Growing up on the prairies of South Dakota, Grant had fond memories of farm life that often surfaced in his mind. He knew he was a farmer at heart. Within six years of the Grants moving to Rock Hill, those original 200 acres had grown to 670 acres, producing lespedeza and fescue seed by the ton.
“I’ve made more money from farming than I ever have from art,” said the noted artist and illustrator in an article in the Fall 1959 Esso Farm NEWS. “Art has been a great source of personal satisfaction to me, but its farming I really love.”
He became a valuable and respected spokesperson for the farmers of South Carolina. The future Farmers of America awarded Vernon Grant an honorary degree as Chapter Farmer in 1971 and the Catawba Soil Conservation District awarded Grant a certificate of merit for “Outstanding Accomplishments in Soil Conservation” in 1953-54.
Growing up on the prairies of South Dakota, Grant had fond memories of farm life that often surfaced in his mind. He knew he was a farmer at heart. Within six years of the Grants moving to Rock Hill, those original 200 acres had grown to 670 acres, producing lespedeza and fescue seed by the ton.
“I’ve made more money from farming than I ever have from art,” said the noted artist and illustrator in an article in the Fall 1959 Esso Farm NEWS. “Art has been a great source of personal satisfaction to me, but its farming I really love.”
He became a valuable and respected spokesperson for the farmers of South Carolina. The future Farmers of America awarded Vernon Grant an honorary degree as Chapter Farmer in 1971 and the Catawba Soil Conservation District awarded Grant a certificate of merit for “Outstanding Accomplishments in Soil Conservation” in 1953-54.
