Jesse Willis Grainger (1845-1910) was a tobacconist and businessman in Kinston, Lenoir County, N.C. He was a member of the Lenoir County Finance Committee, president of the Kinston Board of Trade, president of the Chamber of Commerce, vice president of banks in Kinston and New Bern, president of the State Mutual Life Insurance Company, president of the Atlantic and North Carolina Railroad, and owner of the Kinston Free Press. Grainger was also the Lenoir County representative to the General Assembly in 1885, chairman of the Lenoir County Democratic Executive Committee, and a member of the State Democratic Executive Committee.
From the description of Jesse W. Grainger papers, 1891-1918 [manuscript]. (East Carolina University). WorldCat record id: 657338023
