Two Griffin pioneer families of Cass County
THE GRIFFINS PART 3 MORE OF THE ORIGIN OF THE LAW’S CHAPEL GRIFFINS
Young Griffin, the son of Anthony Griffin and Anne Young was born in 1750 in Orange, Virginia. He had two sons with his wife, Mary. William S. Griffin was born in Prince Edward, Virginia in 1780. The date and place of birth of his wife, Jesse, is unknown. From the Edgefield District of South Carolina these Laws Chapel Griffins migrated across Georgia and Alabama into what was then called “Mississippi Territory.”
They eventually settled near the Western Tennessee village of Whiteville, in Fayette County about 35 miles east of Memphis. From Fayette County, they settled in Northern Alabama where they are believed to have joined the Law wagon train that journeyed to Cass County, arriving in 1853-54 However they got here, the Laws Chapel Griffins were pioneers with no prior relations in the area. “Old Liberty Bill” and his wagon loads also arrived in 1853 after a Burkhalter in-law had arrived in 1850 with Bill’s oldest sister, Eliza Jane.
William S. Griffin had migrated to Greenville County, South Carolina by 1800 where his first six children: Jesse H., Owen, Jehoiakim, James Erwin, Wade, and John Benjamin were born. By 1810 he moved his family first to the Tennessee and Alabama border today of the “Mississippi Territory.”
They initially settled in Lauderdale County, Alabama and Fayette County, Tennessee. He had three more children: Mary Ann, Delilah Elva, and William S. after arriving in the Mississippi Territory. The mother of all of his children was Delilah E. Wade. Records show he was Justice of the Peace of Lauderdale County, Alabama in 1823. Among many land transactions found, he bought land in 1827 in both Lauderdale County and Fayette County. William S. Griffin died 2 September 1839 in Fayette County. Delilah remarried to George Seaton in 1845 but passed away two years later.
Jehoiakim Griffin born 2 July 1803 in Greenville County, South Carolina, married Martha Temperance Williams (1805-1861) 10 May 1823 in Lauderdale County, Alabama and died 12 February 1887 in Dancyville, Haywood County, Tennessee. He is buried at Harmony Baptist Church Cemetery, Eurekaton, Haywood County, Tennessee.
John Walter Griffin was born 29 September 1826 in Lauderdale County and married Amelia J. Morrison 31 December 1848 in Fayette County, where they began their family with a son, William B. R. Griffin born 1849 and a daughter, Elizabeth Temperance Griffin born 1851, shortly before the move to Cass County in 1853. Amelia died during the journey. Fler burial site is unknown.
After the brothers arrived in Cass County, they were enumerated in the 1860 Census of Cass County, along with the Old Liberty Griffins. Amelia’s brother, James Morrison, is the 30-year-old living with William E. Griffin and family. John Walter Griffin remarried on 11 January 1855 to Mary Elizabeth Vaughn. Their children were: John Madison “Bud”, Mary A. Frances, Charlie A., James Calvin, Joseph Franklin, and Sarah A. E. John Walter Griffin died 20 March 1 877 in Linden and is buried at Linden Cemetery. There are many land deed records of the brothers in the Cass County Courthouse including a lot in Linden and land along John’s Creek. The Last Will and Testament of John W. Griffin of February 6, 1877, witnessed by E.A. Allday and W. E. Griffin left his wife Mary E. Griffin, half of his property and the other half to his children Mary A. Echols, John M. Griffin, Charlie A. Griffin, James C. Griffin, Sarah A. E. Griffin, and Joseph F. Griffin.
By the census of 1880, Mary Elizabeth (Vaughn) Griffin is a widow with four young children: Charlie, 14; James C., 12; Sarah E. 9; Joseph F. 6. She is not found in a subsequent census and her place of burial is unknown.
Charlie A. Griffin was born 21 February 1860 in Courtland.. He was quite a bit older when he married Jessie M. Weams on November 1, 1897. They had three sons and a daughter: Edward Alvis, Myrtis Jane, Allen Henry, and Ermon C. “Jack”.
“Allen Henry was my husband’s grandfather. Neither my husband nor his brothers knew , anything of Allen Henry’s family even though Ermon and his family lived in nearby Marietta and Myrtis Jane who married an Echols lived in nearby Atlanta. Edward Alvis had moved to Lubbock. Charlie had died in 1917 leaving Jessie with small children, She remarried 21 October 1919toJ.C. Fair and then on 18 March 1924 to James Columbus Tidwell.
Allen Henry Griffin was born 3 August 1905 in Cass County. He married the only daughter, Clura, of Richard Edward Johnson and Li Ilia Ellender Farmer. They had four children; three who lived to adulthood and have families of their own. Clura died at the early age of 49 of a stroke. The same fate took her son, Phi 11 Henry Griffin, Sr. at the age of 47.
When Phill Henry was born on October 30, 1925, in Atlanta, Texas, his father, Allen Griffin and mother, Clura, were 20. He married Corine “Jit” Turner on September 26, 1948, in Cass, Texas. They had three children in 10 years. Phill Henry died on July 10, 1973, in Linden, Texas, at the age of 47, and was buried in Cass, Texas. His sister Vestulia was born on September 2, 1928, his sister Mona Jean was born on July 3, 1932, but died on February 1, 1934, and his sister Ellen Kay was born on May 16, 1942. Phill was a brick layer.
Driving through Atlanta and the Queen City area, his sons would point out many brick homes and buildings where he had laid and mortared the bricks. Corine became a nurse after her husband died and she passed away of kidney cancer on September 27, 1987, in Cass, Texas, when she was 58 years old.
“My husband, Eric, was 12 years old when Phi 11 Henry died. Phi 11 had served in the United States Coast Guard during World War II on the USS Moberly. He was awarded an American Campaign Ribbon and a Bronze Star. Eric’s mother became a nurse to help raise her only son left at home.”
To Be Continued