jQuery Grid Plugin - jqGrid

I have a c# asp.net application that renders a wide table (many columns) using a Listview control.  I am using Release 4.4.4 of jaGrid.  I want to use jqGrid's "tableToGrid" function only to freeze the headers, handle vertical and horizontal scrolling, and freeze the 1st column of the  resulting table (although I intend to become more familiar with jqGrid's extensive functionality later). The frozen headers and scrolling are working, but I am having a problem with freezing the 1st column. 

I am not expicitly creating colNames and colModel for the table columns, since this is handled by the tableToGrid function.  Using an example for changing a frozen column I came up with this javascript: 

    tableToGrid($('#parcelTable'),
    {
     sortable: false,
     multiselect: false,
     shrinkToFit: false,
     width: 952,
     height: 300
    })
    .jqGrid('destroyFrozenColumns')
    .jqGrid("setColProp", "rowEdit", { frozen: true })
    .jqGrid("setFrozenColumns")
    .trigger('reloadGrid');  
 
When I tried the above, I got the message "Microsoft JScript runtime error: undefined' is null or not an object"

I also tried not chaining the code for the frozen columns statements,  using  

   $('#parcelTable').jqGrid('destroyFrozenColumns')
   $('#parcelTable').jqGrid("setColProp", "rowEdit", { frozen: true })
   $('#parcelTable').jqGrid("setFrozenColumns")
   $('#parcelTable').trigger('reloadGrid');    

and got the same message. 

I realize I have probably made some dumb syntax or usage error, but I would also like to know whether I am on the right track, or if this is the best way to do this.

Thanks in advance for any help!