Mercy Bailey Griffin

Mercy Bailey Griffin wife of Samuel/Samuel------Mercy Griffin was the granddaughter of two of the founding fathers of Killingworth, Benjamin Wright and Henry Farnam. Benjamin was one of the founding fathers of the new colony of New Haven, which was later absorbed into Connecticut. He was living in Killingworth before the original land grant was authorized. Henry Farnam, original spelling Ffarnam, is one of the names on the original plat map of Killingworth that was located on what is now the main street in Clinton. Henry’s grandson Peter married Benjamin’s granddaughter Marcy Wright in Killingworth March 27, 1717. Peter Farnam had previously married Rebecca Rutty marrying Marcy Wright on her death. There are some family trees that mistakenly list Marcy Farnam's mother as Rebecca Rutty. Peter and Marcy's daughter, also named Marcy, was born February 5, 1718. Marcy Farnam married John Bailey, spelled Bayley at the time, on December 29, 1737. The first Bayley to come to Killingworth was the Reverend James Bayley of Salem, Massachusetts. He had left that community just before the infamous witch trails started. His story is posted elsewhere on the blog. The Bayley's had a daughter Marcy born May 22, 1739. On March 20, 1760 she married James Steevens 3rd. As James's young widow she met and married the recently widowed Samuel Griffin, ( Mercy Nettleton) March 15, 1770. In their marriage record she is listed as Mercy Steevens. At some point in the linguistic history the name Marcy became written as Mercy. Mercy was always referred to as Mercy Bailey in the histories written by her descendants. Mercy brought a rich family heritage into Samuel’s home. She gave Samuel six more children, Mercy, Molle, Worden, John, Samuel, and Daniel. Mercy is buried next to Samuel in the Essex Common Burial Ground in Essex, Vermont. A picture of their headstones is posted on the Blog.