Finding Leonard Davis's family in his will

Leonard Davis’s birth is found in the Killingworth town records the date is given as September 23, 1791. Leonard married Arta Hill who was born in nearby Madison. Leonard was the son of Azuba Griffin and Henry Davis. We have documented Azuba and Henry’s history on the Blog in January and March 2013. In 1791 it must have been a sight as Azuba present her new baby at the homestead on Roast Meat Hill. The rough farm boys Joel, Asahel, John, Worden, Samuel and Dan. Her sister Lois Griffin Stevens, Her sister Polly Doud up from Guilford. Any number of little cousins. I am sure her father Samuel probably took delight in holding his new grandson. Finding all of Leonard’s family has been a difficult task. We have know for some time that he was buried next to his parents in the Stone House Cemetery along with his wife Arta and two sons Joel Hobart and Henry D. Davis. His headstone lists the date of his death as July 20, 1840 at the age of 49. Sons are often easy to identify using Census records daughters are almost impossible to trace if you do not know their married name. A review of the census records indicates that the family also included two girls. Their identities remained hidden until we were able to recover Leonard’s Will and probate file. As required by the probate courts all of the parties to the transfer of the real estate were required to sign the court document authorizing the transfer. A probate file can cover a period of 15 to 20 years usually ending when the widow signs over her rights to her children which is what we have in this case. It is from this page in the probate file that we can identify Leonard’s family. The signatories to the document were; Orpha Skinner, Emma A. Scranton, Sabrina D. Stone, Eleanor A. Burr, Henry D. Davis, Emily S. Davis and Joel H. Davis. ------ In his will Leonard sets aside a section to address the inheritance given to each of his children. They start with the phrase “We set out”. In his will is a section, Set out, to Orpha Skinner. A review of the Stone House cemetery records identifies; Orpha Davis Skinner, wife of William, died January 21. 1897, age 77 yrs. Next to Orpha is a headstone that reads, William S. Skinner died February 26, 1876, age 59 yrs.------ There is a section, set out, to the heirs of Eleanor Francis. Eleanor was the first child born into the family. Next to the rest of the Davis family in the Stone House Cemetery we find a headstone for, Eleanor Francis, wife of Henry Francis. Eleanor died September 9, 1841 at the age of 26. Henry Francis’s headstone reads, died September 22, 1874, age 60 yrs. The Emma A. Scranton, Sabrina D. Stone and Eleanor A. Burr listed in the probate record are their married daughters left to sign the probate after their mother Eleanor’s passing. ------Next on the signature list and listed third in the will is Henry D. Davis he and his wife Diantha are buried next to his parents. ------ The last two signatures on the probate document are husband and wife Joel H. Davis and his wife Emily. Emily is identified as Joel’s wife elsewhere in the will.------ This leaves one last mystery who is the Joel Hobart Davis buried next to Leonard and Arta? His headstone reads “Joel Hobart Davis, son of Leonard & Arta, died March 11, 1825, age 2 yrs”. The answer is found in the Killingworth Episcopal Church Records. The Killingworth clan had been so faithful to the Killingworth Second Society that it never occurred to us that there would be any family records in the Episcopal records. But in the Episcopal records we find the baptismal records for all of Leonard’s children including one for Joel Hobart Davis on April 27, 1823. Because of his early demise the family then named a second son Joel Hobart a practice we have seen several times in our family history. The second Joel was baptized on July 2, 1834. The second Joel married Emily S. Doty and he is buried in the Evergreen Cemetery in Watertown, Connecticut. His headstone reads September 2, 1832 to October 11, 1894.---- There are a number of things that would seem to indicate that Leonard and his family remained close. With the exception of the 2nd Joel the family is all buried in the Stone House Cemetery. In the 1850 census we find living as neighbors. Henry D. Davis and his wife Diantha, Atra and Joel H., William S. Skinner and his wife Orpha and two of their children, the family all gathered around the large farm created by Henry and Azuba. ------ Eleanor 1815, Orpha 1820, Joel, 1823, Henry 1826, Joel 1832 / Leonard / Azuba Griffin / Samuel-Marah / Samuel Griffin.

A view of an 1850's household

Azuba Griffin (Azuba / Samuel / Samuel ) married Henry Davis and they raised their family on a large farm in Killingworth. Their story is told elsewhere on the Blog ( January and March 2013 ). Their son, Leonard, in all likelihood lived on their homestead until his death. Leonard married Arta Hill. Her will is filed in the Killingworth probate files. One part of Arta’s probate file is an extensive list of all of her personal property some items probably inherited from Azuba. This list provides an interesting insight into the lives of the Griffin Clan living in the mid 1800’s. The list includes feather beds and bed ticks plus pillows and bolsters and all manner of linens. Of a personal nature 3 white lace caps and a fancy black handkerchief. As a reflection of the nature of their existence the list contains a whole section devoted to items from a well outfitted kitchen including a sugar box. A commentary on the quality of the kitchen fare is a set of silver spoons and wine glasses. The list includes 8 lbs of butter, 23 lbs of lard ( you can’t make pie crust without lard) and 43 lbs of pork hams. Listed are a cider barrel, a molasses keg and a wine keg.

Thankful Griffin Buell of Killingworth

Thankful Griffin, the daughter of Samuel Griffin and his wife Mary Beckwith, was born in Killingworth, October 14, 1731. Her birth is recorded in the concise little family record written on a page set aside for that purpose in the land deed ledgers. Her death is recorded in the Congregational Second Society records “The widow Thankful Buell” January 16, 1816. She was married December 4, 1751 to Nathan Buell, the son of Daniel and Elizabeth Buell, who was born September 24, 1728. Nathan died at the young age of 42 on June 12, 1770. The Buell family history writes of Nathan “He was a man of great native shrewdness, and many of his sayings continue to be quoted in the neighborhood where he lived”. Thankful, contrary to the norms and demands of the day, never remarried. Nathan and Thankful are buried in the Union Cemetery which borders her brother Samuel’s house------ Thankful was the 2nd child born into the Griffin family but historical evidence suggests her older sister Mary did not survive into her teens thus Thankful became the older sister to her siblings with her sister Jerusha eventually becoming part of her household until her own marriage. Her father Samuel died in 1846 leaving the family to fend without a husband in the house. For most of her life it seems that Thankful assumed the role of the strong pioneer woman exercising an independence seldom experienced by women in early America even to the point of raising a family of six by her own wits. Her independent status is noted in the record of her death where the entry reads Thankful Buell rather than the traditional reference as the wife of her husband. Her independent nature is further highlighted in the Congregational records where she is listed as having assumed the Congregational Covenant awhile still in her teens. From the histories written concerning the Buell family we learn that Thankful’s father in law, Deacon Daniel Buell, was so impressed by Thankful’s grit that he determined to take her family into his home and help raise her children in a fitting manner. Thus Thankful lived out her remaining days in the ancestral Buell home among the fields and orchards mentioned in Daniel Buell’s will. The Buell house is described as being large enough to serve at times as a tavern and gathering place. The Buell homestead was located on Roast Meat Hill a sort distance from her brother Samuel’s home which we have shown elsewhere on the Blog. In his will Daniel Buell left control of the home-lot to Thankful and her son Asa who raised his family there. A hint of the influence of her presence in the household can be found in the names of Asa’s children. He named his oldest daughter Thankful and a son Jeremiah Griffin Buell after his mother’s baby brother Jeremiah who had died at a young age. Thankful and Nathan were the parents of five children.------ The oldest child Gordon /Gurdon was born February 21, 1752. Gordon married Martha Whittlsey. They had four children; Charles, Horatio Gates, Martha and Sarah Josepha (Hale) who went on to a life of some prominence in America. Sarah’s story is found on the Blog.------ Mary married Jeremiah Kelsey. The Kelseys lived in Newport, New Hampshire near Gordon.------ Amanda married Constant Redfield and they raised their eleven children in Killingworth. -------Asa married Mercy Porter. Together they had a family of nine children. They shared the Buell homestead with his mother until moving their family to LeRoy, New York in 1806.------ Siba never married living a singular existence into her 90s in Killingworth. ------Nathan married Hannah Turner and they lived in New Milford, Pennsylvania.------We have a few documents from Thankful’s life. The 1st is the Griffin family record found in the land deed ledgers which contains the birth date for “Thankful ye daughter of Samuel and Mary Griffin”. The 2nd is the notation in the Killingworth 2nd Society records for the souls, including Thankful, who on their Profession of Faith were granted Full Communion. The 3rd document is the marriage record for Thankful and Nathan Buell. From the land deed ledgers we have the record of Thankful’s children. The next few documents are the notations in the Congregational records for the baptism of Thankful and Nathan Buell’s children. The last record is also from the land deed ledgers it is the record of her son Asa’s family. Asa’s son Jeremiah Griffin Buell published a family history in 1885 that we hope to post in the near future.------Click on images to enlarge.

Samuel Griffin's grandsons at Antietam

The Battle of Antietam on September 17, 1862, climaxed the first of Gen. Robert E. Lee’s two attempts to carry the war to the North. About 40,000 Southerners were pitted against the 87,00 man Federal Army under the command of Gen. George B. McClellan. And when the fighting ended, the course of the American Civil War had been greatly altered. ------After his victory at Manassas in August, Lee had marched his Army into Maryland hoping to find vitally needed men and supplies (remember Maryland was a southern state) McClellan followed. On September 14 at Turner’s, Fox’s and Crampton’s gaps, Lee tried to block the Federals. But because he had split his army to sent troops under General Stonewall Jackson to capture the Federal Arsenal at Harper Ferry, Lee could only hope to delay the Northerners. McClellan forced his way through, and by the afternoon of September 15 both armies had established battle lines west and east of Antietam Creek near the town of Sharpsburg. When Jackson’s troops reached Sharpsburg on the 16th, Harpers Ferry having surrendered the day before, Lee consolidated his position along the low ridge that runs north and south of the town.------The battled opened at dawn on the 17th when Union Gen. Joseph Hooker’s artillery began a murderous fire on Jackson’s men in the Miller cornfield north of town. “in the time I am writing.” Hooker reported, “every stalk of corn in the northern and greater part of the field was cut as closely as could have been done with a knife, and the slain lay in rows precisely as they had stood in their ranks a few moments before.” Hooker’s troops advanced driving the Confederates before them, and Jackson reported that his men were “exposed for near an hour to a terrific storm of shell, canister, and musketry.”------About 7 a.m. Jackson was reinforced and succeeded in driving the Federals back. An hour later Union troops under Gen. Mansfield counterattacked and by 9 o’clock had regained some of the lost ground. Then, in an effort to extricate some of Mansfield’s men from their isolated position near the Dunker Church, Gen. John Sedgwick’s division advanced into the west woods. The Confederates struck Sedgwick’s men in both flanks, inflicting appalling causalities.------Meanwhile, Gen. French’s division moved up to support Sedgwick but veered south into the Confederates under Gen. Hill posted along an old sunken road . For about 4 hours bitter fighting raged along this road (afterward know as bloody lane). Confusion and sheer exhaustion finally ended the battle here and in the northern part of the battlefield generally.-----Southeast of town, Union Gen. Burnside’s 9th Corps had been trying to cross over the bridge on Antietam Creek since 9.30 a.m. Confederate troops had driven them back each time. As the day wore on more and more Confederates units were taken from Burnside’s front and moved to support the severe fighting surrounding Jackson’s troops. Finally at 1 p.m. the Federal troops forced their way across the bridge. Burnside’s Corps moved to the other side of the creek and after a delay to form up their line began to move forward with great success against the weakened Confederate lines. By late afternoon they had driven the Confederates back almost to Sharpsburg, threatening to cut off the line of retreat for Lee’s decimated army. Then in one of turning events in the war about 4 p.m. Gen A.P. Hill’s division, left behind by Jackson at Harpers Ferry to salvage the captured Federal property, arrived by surprised on the field and immediately entered the fight. They struck Burnsides troops in the flank with terrible results. Burnsides’ troops were driven back to heights near the bridge that they had taken earlier. The Battle of Antietam was over. More men were killed or wounded at Antietam than on any other single day in the Civil War. The next day Lee began withdrawing his army across the Potomac River. ----- This is where our story starts the story of 8th Connecticut Regiment. While the main effort was being made to force a crossing at the bridge over Antietam Creek The 3rd Division, of which the 8th Connecticut was a part, forced a second crossing wading across Antietam Creek some distance below the bridge and engaged the Confederates units stationed along the slopes overlook the creek. After forcing their way across the creek the units of the 9th Corps required a considerable amount of time to organize into battle formation. As the attack moved forward the 2nd Brigade under Col. Harland was ordered to attack a battery of artillery. Of the four regiments in the brigade only the 8th Ct moved forward taking the Confederate battery. This action placed the 8th CT in a position in advance of the rest of the whole Union line. It was at this point in the battle that the famous attack by A.P. Hill’s Division, coming up from Harpers Ferry, exploded against the flank of the 9th Corps and the exposed 8th Ct. ------From the Confederate reports of the battle we take the following. “When A.P. Hill’s Division was announced as approaching the field Toombs was directed, that as soon as Gregg’s Brigade arrived and relieved him, to move this command to the right of his own division. Before Gregg arrived he received an order to move immediately to meet the enemy, who had already begun his attack on Jones’s Division. He quickly put his command in motion, and fell back to the Harper’s Ferry Road where he was met by another order to hasten his march as the enemy had broken the line of Jones’s Division and were nearly up to the road without a Confederate soldier in front. At this point Toombs was joined by the 20th Georgia, and the entire command went double-quick along the road, passing the 7th Virginia, which had fallen back, and in a short time the head of the line passed the narrow cornfield and saw the abandoned guns, and the 8th Connecticut “standing composedly in line of battle,” about 120 yards from the road, APPARENTLY WAITING FOR SUPPORT. ………Little’s battalion was in advance followed by the 17th Georgia, 15th Georgia and a large part of the 20th in rear. All, however made a short line, and Col. Benning, when he thought the rear had not quite cleared the cornfield, for he did not desire to see the enemy to see how short his line was, halted the head of his line opposite the right of the 8th Connecticut and ordered it to begin firing: “the rest of the, line as it came up, joined in the fire. The fire soon became general. It was hot and rapid. The enemy returned it with vigor, and showed a determination to hold their position stubbornly.”” ------ While most of the 9th Corps was pushed rearward the 8th Ct was driven sideways and swept from the battle field. The regimental monument, at the battlefield site, notes that of the 400 men present 190 were killed or wounded. Two members of the Connecticut 8th Regiment were brothers Ellis and Emerson Stevens from Killingworth (Ellis / Mercy Griffin / Worden / Samuel / Samuel). Their family history is posted on the Blog. Ellis and Emerson’s letters, written to their father, have survived the ages and are housed in the Connecticut State Library. On the 24th of September Ellis writes from Sharpsburg, noting that he received a wound above his knee, he writes, “We have had two very hard fights with the rebels and whipped them lost a good many men the rebels lost a good many also”, “ you can get the particulars of the fight in the papers better that I can write them”, “Em (Emerson) did not come with us he had no shoes”. Countless pages have been written on the horrors of Antietam. In the same collection of letters are several from their sister Sabra were she expresses her fears to their father that the boys will not survive the war. Ellis voiced nothing of those horrors to his father. Ellis writes that his brother was spared the ordeal of Antietam for wont of a pair of shoes. The great irony here is that their father, Daniel, was a shoemaker. Ellis and Emerson were also at Fredericksburg with Burnside where they were both wounded again. They were later joined by their brother Francis and were part of the final days of the war at Petersburg, Virginia. Ellis died at the young age of 42 possibly as a result of the trauma of the war.------ I hope to some day put a number on the members of the extended Griffin clan that fought in the Civil War. It is not a small number. Our ancestry paid a steep price for our American heritage. I have also documented one single branch of James Needham Griffin’s family that fought for the Confederates.------ I invite every branch of the family to submit their Civil War histories to the Blog.