Jerusha Griffin and Asa Landon

Jerusha Griffin was born July 23, 1736 in Killingworth, Middlesex, Connecticut the daughter of Samuel and Mary Griffin. The history of Jerusha Griffin is shaded in more mystery than any of her siblings. Her story is told in two parts. The first part takes place in Killingworth, CT. In Killingworth we find her listed with the rest of her siblings in a concise little entry found among the pages of land deeds. The only other record of her in Killingworth is found in the ledgers of the Congregational Society dated in 1753. The entry records Jerusha being granted Full Communion in the Society. After her father's early death land records indicate that her mother Mary took control of the family property and family fortunes. At some point in time Jerusha became part of her older sister Thankful's household. Thankful had married into the prominent Buell family. The Buell family is chronicled in a number of histories relating to Killingworth. In addition Thankful's son Jeremiah wrote a very good family history. In those histories we find mention of Jerusha as part of Thankful's household. Some mistakenly refer to Jerusha as Thankful's daughter. The point to be made is that we find record of Jerusha growing to young womanhood in Killingworth.---------------The second part of her story takes place in Salisbury, CT and later Ontario, Canada. There is a marriage record for Jerusha Grifface and Asa Landon dated in 1757 in Salisbury, CT. The Salisbury records also contain the birth records for their children. Salisbury was a hot bed for supporters of the English Crown. Asa choose to support the British cause in the Revolutionary War. His actions resulted in his removal to Canada where he and Jerusha lived out their remaining days. Their history in Canada is well documented. Below is a biography that is found in LDS Family Search.----------- The task before us is to connect the two stories together. Almost all of the histories written for Jerusha list her date of birth as May 23, 1736. They also note that she was born in Salisbury, CT. Most of those histories were written by her descendants working backward from Canada. Buried deep within the Landon family traditions was the knowledge that Jerusha was born in Connecticut in about 1736 the daughter of Samuel Griffin and Mary Beckwith. Looking at the family history in Salisbury, CT they referenced the marriage record for Jerusha Grifface and Asa Landon which included the phrase, "both of Salisbury". Using his phrase as evidence her place of birth was thought to be Salisbury. But key to the story is the fact that Asa Landon was born in Lichfield, CT not Salisbury. the phrase "both of Salisbury" in this instance is only an indication that at the time of the marriage both parties were citizens of Salisbury. The Landon family in its search for Jerusha, the daughter of Samuel and Mary, found record of that connection in the Barbour Collection for Killingworth which notes the birth of Jerusah the daughter of Samuel and Mary on May 23, 1736 a date that resonated with Landon family traditions. The problem is that the Barbour Collection is a transcription taken from original town records. The date, May 23, is a transcription error of the original, July 23, 1736. Despite many seeming contradictions a profile has been created for Jerusha that list her birth as May 23, 1736 in Salisbury. Added to that is the little twist of the misspelling of her name as "Grifface" in the marriage record even though it was spelled Griffin everywhere else. Although there is no direct documentary or historical evidence that states the case that the two Jerushas are one and the same person, the deeply embedded Landon family traditions make a positive connection between the Jerusha from Salisbury and Canada and the Jerusha Griffin found in Killingworth, CT.------------ To complete her story let us state that the documentary evidences places Jerusha's date of birth as July 23, 1736 in Killingworth, CT. The evidence points to the fact that Jerusha grew to young womanhood in Killingworth. But how did she get to Salisbury? Salisbury, CT was founded by families mainly from Killingworth. At some point in time Jerusha followed those souls moving to Salisbury where she met and married Asa Landon. Their story is chronicled in the biography printed below.--------------- ASA LANDON was born, 27 July 1736, at Litchfied, Litchfield, Connecticut. He was the third child of James Landon and Sarah Bishop. He married, 20 Oct. 1757, Jerusha Grifface (Griffin or Griffith?). They were married by the Rev. Jonathan Lee, who also baptized the couple’s first four children in Salisbury. Asa’s early life assumed an uneventful pattern. He had sufficient income for some speculation, as he invested in land in Vermont in 1763. In the Landon tradition, there was also a commitment to community service. Asa was commissioned as an Ensign in his father’s militia company in 1769, and promoted lieutenant in 1773. By this time Asa must have been experiencing a growing crisis of conscience. A very real probability was developing that he would be called to active military service against the Crown. After the battle of Bunker Hill, he wanted to get nearer to British territory, perhaps also to keep his options open. His original Vermont holdings had evidently been sold, for Asa bought, from his brother-in-law, Oliver Evert, a 200-acre partially cleared farm south-east of Castleton to which he moved. On this farm he led a bachelor existence, as it seems, his wife and children did not move north with him. Events were polarizing America, and with it the Landon family. Asa’s brother Samuel was ‘in the Secret Service’ spying for the British; another brother, James, was serving, rather lackadaisically, in the American Militia; cousin David Landon was raising volunteers for Washington all up and down Connecticut. Given his background and circumstances, Asa’s struggle within himself inevitably led to the same conclusion common to the great concentration of Tories in upstate New York, which made that colony’s contribution to British military power the largest of all. Burgoyne’s Sweep down from Canada in 1777 resolved Asa’s and many other Loyalist’s problems of conscience. During the summer Burgoyne slowly moved down Lake Champlain past deserted forts, and finally defeating the American forces at Fort Ticonderoga. He then settled down to a Fete Champetre, made merry by the companionship of his commissary’s wife. This lengthy picnic, refreshed with spring-cooled champagne on the long halts, took on a surrealist quality against the mountainous landscape. King George was in a fever of exultation with the news of the capture of Ticonderoga and that General von Riedesel had successfully chased the American rearguard over the mountains at Hubbardton. But, as Burgoyne paused at Skenesborough only 600 loyalists answered the call to arms that ‘Lord’ Philip Skene had promised would raise the whole countryside. Only six men from Castleton met the call: Asa Landon, his three Evert brothers-in-law, and two others. Unfamiliar with British musket drill, Burgoyne’s recruits spent the next six weeks guiding him south towards Bennington, felling trees and clearing roads as they went. For this service, holders of American militia commissions threw them away to hold fast by their “principle of loyalty to the King and his Government and laws.” Ten years later, Asa described how he delivered his good yoke of oxen (never seen again) to Burgoyne’s contractors, carried messages to General ‘Redheazel’ and guided the latter’s German soldiers through Roadless woods. As Burgoyne’s subordinates struggled to maintain fighting sprit in a slow moving disheartened army, encumbered with officer’s wives and children, General Stark began concentrating the Green Mountain Regiment on Bennington arms depot. Already the British troops suspected that Burgoyne’s planned juncture with General Howe, moving up from New York, would never take place. Burgoyne’s troops were defeated at Bennington, 16 Aug 1777 and retreated to Saratoga where they met further disaster. A French observer at Bennington noted that captured Loyalists were executed as traitors. Thus, Burgoyne’s American soldiers started to slip away, among them Asa Landon. He was never to see another Vermont autumn color the hills. Six short weeks had cost him his new farm and his personal belongings and put his life in danger. Asa returned to Connecticut to fetch his family where he hastily wound up affairs and fled to Canada with Jerusha and their five small children. It is possible that he took his father with him as well. He and his family arrived in St. John’s, Quebec, in 1777. The family drew provisions until 1784. Meanwhile, Asa worked first as a Surveyor for the Army engineers, then in the Quartermaster’s Department. While surveying, he and his teammate Sergeant Ward captured a Colonial spy. Asa seems to have felt this was the reason he was put on the ‘traitors’ list in the Vermont Assembly’s 1779 Act to Prevent Return in State of Certain Persons. Though described as “old and infirm” in the Haldimand Papers, Asa was still under 50. His experiences had marked him. In 1785, Asa arrived at Oswegatchie, on the way to take up his Loyalist grant at Augusta. Once settled at Augusta, he served on the grand jury, as arbitrator in a contested will case, and was one of the committee which organized and built the old Blue Church at Prescott. By 1802, he had a farm of 509 acres. Jerusha, who accompanied him to Augusta, survived at least until 1813. Asa so impressed the reporter who took his deposition for the Loyalist Claims Commission that the latter jotted in the margin of his notes “A very good man.” Respected in his community, he died at the ripe age of 78 in 1814. His will was filed for probate 14 Aug 1814. Asa’s material losses from confiscation are rather hard to assess quantitatively. He made no claim for loss of Connecticut property. Since Asa’s eldest child, Lois, remained in America and married James Sellich in 1773 (?) it seems likely that she and her husband settled with Asa for any property he retained in Salisbury. In his claim for compensation for the Castleton farm Asa valued it at 341 Halifax pounds (about $2,728 New York). This farm eventually was appraised by Rutland County Sales Commissioners, who set a value of £350 on the real property alone (at the rate of six shilling to the dollar that came to about $1,167) Children of Asa Landon and Jerusha Griffice: •Lois Landon, born 20 May 1759, Salisbury, Litchfield, Connecticut; married, 17 Jan 1783, James Sellich. •Sarah Landon, born 1 Oct. 1761, Salisbury, Litchfield, Connecticut; •Hannah Landon, born 6 Jan 1764, Salisbury, Litchfield, Connecticut; married about 1780, Caleb Closson, son of Caleb Closson and Elizabeth _____; she died, about 1810, at Augusta, Greenville, Ontario, Canada. •Asa Landon, Jr. born 13 Apr. 1766, Salisbury, Litchfield, Connecticut; married Elizabeth Bissell, daughter of David Bissell; he died in May 1822. He served in the British army from 1781 until the Treaty of Separation. •Herman Landon, born 15 Jul 1768 Salisbury, Litchfield, Connecticut; married in Jul 1789, Dorothy Brown, daughter of Jesse Brown and Hannah Gray; he died 8 Aug 1832 near Trois Rivieres, QC, Canada. He served in the British Army in 1783. •Electra Landon, born 9 Aug 1770, Salisbury, Litchfield, Connecticut; married in Augusta, Leeds, Ont., Daniel Burritt, Jr.; •Ezra Landon, born 22 Feb 1773, Salisbury, Litchfield, Connecticut; died 11 Sep 1776. •Nancy Landon, born 26 Sep 1775, Salisbury, Litchfield, Connecticut; •(A Daughter) Landon, died 15 Sep 1776, Salisbury, Litchfield, Connecticut. Reference: Aline G. Haornaday, “The Landons in Ontario: A Loyalist Family;” Canadian Genealogist, Vol. 1 No. 1. 1979; pp. 4-23.