The Griffith Family

This is a history of the Griffith family descended from Walter Griffith, who married Martha Cox in Christ Church, Philadelphia in 1720.

The following are some events in the life of Walter Griffith that I've found in records concerning Philadelphia and neighboring New Jersey. They begin to provide some idea of his life, but no indication of his origins, or of his death.

This Griffith family is related to my Hopkins family through the marriage of Martha Griffith to Hezekiah Hopkins. The image below is a transcription of the Hopkins family Bible records done by my Great-Uncle Charles Logan Hopkins. The records had been copied from the family Bible of the parents to those of the sons and daughters for several generations, as was often the custom at that time.

² Cushing and Sheppard, History of Gloucester, Salem, and Cumberland Counties, p. 139.

³ Documents Relating to the Colonial History of New Jersey, Vol 22. p. 160.
John GRUFFYTH, Joseph HARRISON and John DOE, all of the County of Gloucester, yeoman... [bound to]... Jonathan BELCHER, Governor... 500 pounds... 29 June 1754. ... John GRUFFYTH... obtained license of marriage for himself and for Susanna YOUNG of ye Township of Greenwich, spinster... [w] Sarah HOWELL, Hannah HOWELL.

I've been unable to find much information about Joseph Griffith. He was the eldest child of John and Susannah. William Griffith was the youngest son; he married Ruth Webster and had at least two children, Susan and Isaac.

Martha Griffith, who had married Hezekiah Hopkins, moved to Pennsylvania from New Jersey about 1800, first to Upper Dublin Township and later to Southwark in Philadelphia County. From there they moved to Waynesville, Warren County, Ohio. See more about them at westward.htm.

Isaac Griffith lived for many years in the Northern Liberties of Philadelphia at 181 North Third Street. He was a carpenter and shop keeper. He married Elizabeth Lukens, daughter of David and Sarah (Lloyd) Lukens in 1809. Their son, Lukens Griffith, was born in 1810. He moved to Waynesville in 1837 and married Elizabeth Wharton there. He later moved to Pennville, Indiana, along with the Hopkins family.

I've transcribed Isaac Griffith's will from the microfilm of Philadelphia Will Book 22. In his will, he mentions a number of his relatives, including three sons of Martha Griffith Hopkins, his sister. Also provided for are the three daughters of his son Lukens Griffith.

I found a reference to both Isaac and Lukens Griffith regarding a land transaction in Philadelphia. It's shown in this link in pdf format.

Lukens Griffith married twice: first to Elizabeth Wharton in 1837, and second to Sarah Grisell at Pennville in 1846. His son Isaac from the first marriage, named after his father, was one of the Indiana Quakers who served in the Civil War, despite the family's religious convictions about war. After returning from the war, Isaac married Loura Apaline Taylor and had four children with her. After she died in 1882, he married a second time to Anna S. Griffith. He had one child with her before his untimely death in 1886. He and his family were living in western Kansas, and he was caught in a sudden blizzard on January 6th, and froze to death before he could reach his home. The following is a transcription of his obituary:

Thomas County Cat
January 14, 1886

Isaac Griffith

News came to Colby on Friday of the disappearance of the above named gentleman. His home was near Otterbourne*. He had been to town on Wednesday, returning just before night; was at the house of Thomas Trump, just one mile from his home, before the storm, leaving when the storm had scarcely commenced. On Thursday the storm continued all day, and on Friday the neighbors turned out in force to search for him. His wagon was tracked to within one hundred yards of his house, where the mules made several circles, and then drifted south with the storm. On Saturday the wagon was discovered within forty rods of the residence of Mr. Harris, and about three miles from his home, and in the wagon was found Mr. Griffith dead. He had loosened his team evidently intending to try to keep up until daylight. When found his head and body were out of the wagon, while his frozen limbs caught on the side boards and kept his body from falling to the ground. On Saturday night the body was taken to the residence of his mother, Squire Archer summonsed a jury, the verdict being "Frozen to death in the storm of January 6th."

Mr. Griffith was a man of about 40 years of age, a disabled Union soldier, industrius and strickly temperate, and well thought of by all his neighbors. He leaves a wife, mother, and 5 children. Funeral services took place on Monday at the residence of the mother of the deceased.

[* Otterbourne is a small historical community about 6 miles north and slightly east of Colby.]

Thomas County, The Early Years
by Bill James (1985)

Mr. Isaac Griffin

Mr. James recounts the story of Isaac's tragic death, saying that he died when his wagon got stuck in a ravine near Wes Hutchins' place. He says that Isaac was buried near his home on a small hill, but that his body was later removed and reinterred in the family burial plot in the east [presumably in Jay County, Indiana].

Please see a report in pdf format for the descendants of Walter and Martha Griffith.

Also see an article in pdf format about Earl Garfield Griffith, son of Isaac, when he was a Washington State Legislator. There is a better photograph of him at this location.

There is an obituary of Earl Gordon Griffith, Earl's son, from the Denver Post.

Please see the New York Times, 13 Apr 1950, p 29 for an obituary of Eva Pearl Griffith Ulsaver, and the same paper, 22 Mar 1956, p 35, for an obituary of her husband, Ervin Ulsaver.

Go To Griffith Family History Excerpt

This file was last updated on 11/8/2011.