Documents for the family of James N. Griffin

The family of James N. Griffin and Jemima Rossiter left behind a very faint trail of documentary evidence. But they did leave behind a large posterity who has worked diligently to keep their memory alive. I think part of what attracts all of us to family history research is for the joy of those moments when some story, some document, brings those people to life. They become more than names in a family tree. Eventually they become us. The story of this branch of the Griffin family takes place in Clinton, Middlesex County, Connecticut. The story has as its central theme the ancestral Griffin home of Samuel Griffin and his wife Mary Beckwith. Their son James, as the oldest son, seems to have inherited the family home where he would have raised his family as well as taking care of his widowed mother. There is a whisper in the family history that suggests Mary may have outlived James. The house then passed on to James Needham Griffin and then to James N. Griffin. In earlier deeds the property is refereed to as the Samuel Griffin property. In James N. Griffin’s day it is referred to the as the property of Mary Griffin. Among the documents below is a deed referencing the Griffin property making note of the “dwelling house theron standing”. Was that the original Griffin home? We have also included the original marriage records for James and Jemima’s girls. I love the little asides “by me this day” and “of this place”. It is easy to imagine the town clerk with a smile on his face, with the memory of the wedding party fresh on his mind recording the marriage of the daughters of his neighbor and friend James N. Griffin. The names that he was recording were for people that he was so familiar with, that he knew where they were born, Wethersfield, Meriden, or of this place. Who made up the wedding party? The Rossiters were a large clan in Clinton and Killingworth. I am sure Jemima and her married sisters probably set out a wonderful table. James’s sister Polly Griffin Hurd and her large family lived in Clinton.I am sure their favorite uncle Ansel Jones attended. From his uncle Samuel Griffin’s line Worden Griffin and his family from Killingworth Harmon and Mercy Griffin Stevens and their children. The children of Aruba Griffin and Henry Davis who lived in Killingworth probably attended as well as those of her sister Lois Griffin Kelsey. In addition to the extended family I am sure a good number of their neighbors and friends joined in the celebration. And most importantly we in our imaginations have the chance to attend. James N/James Needham/James/Samuel