Samuel Griffin's Probate 1702-1746

Samuel Griffin, 1702 to 1746, died in all likelihood, in the fall of 1746, probably in his mid 40s. His early death came before he had prepared a will. Having reviewed a number of wills and probate records I think there are a number of conclusions we can draw. I do not think his death was the result of illness but was instead a sudden event. Many wills were written by men, who in failing heath, recognized the coming end. It’s easy to read in their language their recognition of a need to set their affairs in order. A good example is the will of Samuel’s grandson Edward, who also died at an early age, but with a knowledge of his circumstance wrote into his will details for the rearing of his children including the selection of good homes, which he defined. But Samuel died intestate a term that indicates that he died without preparing a will. Wills are a great source of information for family history. Not having a will for Samuel leaves blanks concerning his family. Many wills named the surviving children and often their spouses we are left trying to fill in those blanks. What we do have is a file created by the Probate Court concerning his estate. The settling of an estate was a process that occurred over a period of time. With or without a will the concerned parties would file a claim with the court. Executors, if you had a will, or administrators if left without were assigned. The court ordered inventories and instigated a number of measures aiming toward a final settlement. All of this took time, each step usually created a document , all of these documents were gathered and placed into a Probate File. These files were stored as part of the public record. Samuel Griffin’s Probate File was stored as part of the Guilford Probate District. The original is now stored in the Connecticut State Library. So what can we read into the probate record for Samuel Griffin? Why a Probate? The probate process transfers the legal responsibility for payment of taxes, care and custody of dependent family members, liquidation of debts, the transfer of property to heirs from the deceased to an executor in the case of a will or an administrator in our case with Samuel dying intestate. What we see in the order of the documents is Mary being granted the opportunity of appearing before the court to make her claims concerning the estate. This action offered the widow an opportunity to play a major role in deciding who would control the probate process. We need to remember that women could not own property in their own right until the 1850’s. Should the widow decline the offer to appear the court would appoint an administrator. That is what happened in the case of Samuel’s estate. The earliest dated document is dated November 27, 1746. In this document Mary is invited to appear before the court to make her wishes known. The document also declares that if she does not appear the court intends to appoint Benjamin Gale as administrator. On the appointed date, December 8, 1746, the court formally assigns Benjamin Gale to serve as administrator for the affairs of Samuel Griffin. Two seemingly straightforward documents simple in their execution simple in their content. But there is really a lot of information here. With the death of a property owner who died testate or intestate interested parties were required to file claims with the Probate Court at its next term. This usually occurred between 30 to 90 days after a death. So Samuel must have passed away on a fall day in 1746. The falls in New England are beautiful, the forests are alight with color, and the fields rich with their harvest. The fall is a wonderful time but the joy ended abruptly for the Griffins. Why didn’t Mary appear before the court? Was the mourning too great? The answer may lie in the person of Benjamin Gale. Benjamin Gale was the leading physician in South Killingworth now present day Clinton. Physicians of the day were the product of the great universities in his case Yale. They were among the best educated men of the day and in most communities were considered a leading light. Even more so Benjamin Gale, from a reading of the property records, was a neighbor to the Griffins. I do not think that in the original documents his name appears by an arbitrary decision of the court. I think in those earliest deliberations the documents were written with a certain understanding of Mary’s circumstance and Benjamin Gales standing and willingness to serve as administrator for her husbands estate. Why a probate? Only a small percentage of deaths led to a probate being filed. In the majority of cases the estate was settled within the guidelines of laws of the colony. In Connecticut the spouse was granted one-third of the property and one-third of the goods and chattel. This was known as her dower rights. The spouse’s portion was not hers to keep and was to be divided among the children on her death. After the spouses portion the estate was then to be divided equally among the children with the oldest male receiving a double portion. In most cases this was accomplished without the involvement of the courts. In the case of large estates this division became more complicated and sometimes contentious. In this instance the probate court was used to facilitate the division of assets. If the estate was insolvent the courts were used to satisfy the claims of the creditors. If there were minor children involved the courts were also brought into play to protect the long term interests of the children. What of Samuel’s estate? It was not probated because he was insolvent. What you see in those cases is a document produced by the court which lists all of the creditors who have come forward to file a claim against the estate. An administrator is appointed to liquidate the assets and pay off as much of the debt as possible. This was not the case for Samuel because there is no such document. In Samuel’s case we have both a fairly substantial estate and the presence of minor children. The probate record contains the guardian records for his two sons James and Samuel Jr. In a probate record associated with the land deeds we find a brief record of the two boys being assigned guardians, Josiah Meigs in the case of James and Nathan Buell in the case of Samuel Jr. In the Probate File we find more detailed record for each that was written when they arrived at the age of 16. I have no idea why Josiah Meigs was selected. He was a Guilford resident by a little coincidence Josiah’s brother Timothy was Abigail Bradley Griffins 3rd great grandfather. Nathan Buell on the other hand was from Killingworth and later married Samuel Jr.’s sister, Thankful. By a twist of fate when Nathan died at a young age Samuel served as executor for his will. What was the value of Samuel’s estate? A clue to an estate’s value was the size of the bond required by the court. In this case the court required Benjamin Gale to post a bond of 500 pounds. The general rule was that the bond was large enough to cover the value of the real estate involved in the probate action. In addition the household goods, farm equipment , animals, tools, everything the deceased owned was to be divided. What did Samuel own? Samuel lived within the community of present day Clinton. He did not live out on one of the scattered farms that characterized the northern part of then Killingworth. Did he own a business? Most of his grandsons entered the ship building trades. Did Samuel own a wood working shop like his son Samuel Jr? In a land deed Samuel Jr. references a joiners shop as part of the description of a piece of his property. In Samuel Jr’s will he divides up his joiners tools and a loom. Both represent items of considerable value. In the land deeds written concerning his grandchildren there are references to the “Griffin Property” as a well known landmark which was used to identify other property. What of the 500 pounds? If you use the conversion tables available that compare 1746 to 2012, 500 pounds converts to between $100,000 to $ 120,000. If you convert the same value in real estate the value in 2012 dollars is in the neighborhood of $1,700,000. These numbers represent his worth in his forties. What would he have been worth at the end of a rich and full life? What about his children? In a will as detailed as that of Edward Griffin we find details about all of his children. Based on the conventions of the day they are listed by birth order. By the time Edwards estate was completely settled we even had information on the spouses of his children. In Samuel’s case we have none of this. The one thing that the records clearly declare is the name of his wife MARY. Until these probate records were discovered there was an active debate in many family histories that he was married to Ann Avery. I hope these probate records once and for all dispel that mistake. Samuel Griffin was married to Mary. In two family lines, that of her daughter Jerusha and that of her granddaughter Mercy who married Ithamar Pelton, there exists an oral tradition that her name was Mary Beckwith. That information could only exist if it were passed from generation to generation a strong argument for its authenticity. We have guardian records for two of his sons James and Samuel. I think it is a safe conclusion that Jeremiah had not survived. What of his daughters Mary, Thankful and Jerusha? There was a strong thread running through English law that was designed to keep a families property intact. As a result real property was in most cases passed on to the male members of the family although this was not always the case. The deed records show Mercy Bailey Griffin receiving a small parcel of land from her father. But since women could not own property it was registered in her husband’s name. So what happened to the girls? As daughters married they were customarily given their portion in cash, household furnishings, food, animals, etc. and sometime a little plot of land. We are left to our imagination as to what the girls inherited from their father. After the death of Samuel history hints that the family remained together in Clinton living on the family property. There are two known land deeds that refer to the Mary Griffin property which was probably the same as the Griffin property we referred to earlier. As the oldest son I think James ended up with the bulk of his fathers holdings including his house in Clinton. The reverse logic is that in a place where every other member of the family bought and sold property he did not. My logic is that he already had property that he inherited from his parents. I hope this brief essay provides you with a little more insight into your grandparents Samuel and Mary Griffin