History of Charles N Griffin 1788 to 1862

Charles N. Griffin was born in Killingworth, Connecticut to Capt. Edward Griffin and Submit Dewolf. Determining a date of birth for Charles involves a bit of detective work. Using data from Census records and a birth order from Edward’s Will, supplemented with the know dates for his siblings, it seems he was born about 1788. His family belonged to the Congregational 1st Society, in southern Killingworth, the area of present day Clinton. At the turn of the century Edward moved his family across the Hammonasett River to Madison, Connecticut where he died at an early age in 1802. Edward, a wealthy sea captain, left a very detailed will including a section on the inheritance that he left to Charles, as well as his brothers, Harry Allen and Edward Hargrave. His father’s early death played a pivotal role in how Charles’s life was to play out. In 1806 the Family moved to Colebrook, Connecticut to settle on a farm that had been purchased as per Edwards will for Charles’s mother. We find Charles living there until 1826/27. As Edward’s children came of age they were granted an inheritance of the farm property in Colebrook. What we see is Charles, as the older brother, buying that property from his siblings eventually assembling a large farm. But the records show in 1826 and 1827 he sells all of his Connecticut holdings and then disappears from Connecticut records. Using Census records we find him living in Copley, Medina, Ohio. In the 1830 Census he is married with a son. How do we know it is the same Charles? In the 1826/27 time frame we find him still in Colebrook buying his first piece of property in Ohio from a group of men living in Hartford, Connecticut. In 1827 he buys more property in Ohio. The record then indicates that he personally appeared at the Probate Court in Medina, Ohio. In the 1830 Census we find Charles N. Griffin living next to Edwr H. Griffin. Same first names, same middle initials, of the correct age of the two brothers who had recently left Colebrook. They were also living next to the family of James Bell. Who were the people listed in Charles’s household in the 1830 Census? The 1850 census, the first to include all family names, identifies the son as Philander Griffin, born 1827/28. In the 1850’s we find Charles selling part of his holding to Philander. There is no record for the identity of Philander’s mother. On October 27, 1832 Charles N. Griffin married Elizabeth Bell. The marriage recorded in Volume A, page 97, of the county records. The 1850 Census shows Charles’s family with two more children Cerona age 15 and Sherman age 8. In the 1860 census Charles and Elizabeth are living in Hinckley, Medina, Ohio. In the 1870 Census there is no record of Charles and Elizabeth is living with Cerona’s family in Michigan. In the county records we find a Probate for Charles N. Griffin dated May, 1862. His executor is William Bell. Charles had ended up with about 130 acres located in Lot 82 in Bath township, which sat next to lots 2 and 9 in Copley. There are no references to Charles in the local histories and there are no stories of him that have survived down through his descendants. Copley was at the end of the Ohio and Erie Canal system, which probably made it profitable farm country, 130 acres, is about the maximum one family could manage. But at the end of the day we are left with very little history for Charles N. Griffin. But what of his family? There is even less historical evidence for his wife Elizabeth Bell. Census records indicate she was born in Pennsylvania. The history of the Bell family indicates that they had their origins in Shenango, Mercer, Pennsylvania. I think it is James’s son William, Elizabeth’s brother that served as executor for Charles’s Probate. Elizabeth’s age, as established by Census records, fits into the framework of James Bell’s family. She probably died some time after 1870. Death records for her daughter Cerona indicate that she is buried in Ohio. Philander appears in the 1850 Census and is counted in both Bath and Copley. In 1853 he buys property from his father, which he subsequently sells in 1854 and then disappears. Cerona Ellen Griffin married Henry G. Piper November 9, 1853 in Medina County, Ohio. Family records give her a date of birth on November 4, 1835. They later moved to Orleans, Iona, Michigan where they raised a large family including Henry “Griffin” Piper. Her death certificate, dated November 9 ,1892, identifies her parents as Charles and Elizabeth Griffin. In the 1870 Census her mother “Elizabeth Griffin” is part of the household. Sherman Griffin born 1842/43 appears on a marriage record In Medina County, Ohio dated February 1, 1865 where he is married to Cassa Finch. The 1870 Census finds a Sherman Griffin age 27 and a wife Kate Griffin age 23 living in Township16, Saunders, Nebraska. What we know of Sherman comes from the history of his wife, Catherine Lucinda Finch, who went by “Kate”. After Sherman’s death she moved back to Hinckley, Ohio where she married William Kratzinger a German immigrant. They raised their family in Anna, Union , Illinois. The Kratzingers were apparently a prominent family in Anna. On her death in 1929 the local paper issued a lengthy obituary. It is from this material that we gain an insight into the history of Sherman. From the Obituary “She was born 13 Oct 1846, in Hinckley, Medina Co, Ohio the daughter of William and Louisa Finch. She married in 1864 Sherman Griffin. They went West in a covered wagon to Nebraska, where her husband died 10 years later…..Three children were born to this union, May who died in infancy, Cora Belle, who died December 11, 1881 and Bert H. Griffin his death on 15 November 1936 in Los Angeles, California”. In addition we find recorded in the Medina county records, “Without name, April 11, 1871, Male, parents Sherman Griffin Catherine L Finch.” Apparently another child who died in infancy.Charles family trees is Charles/Edward/James/Samuel Griffin of Killingworth Connecticut.