David Brainerd Griffin's Civil War Widow's Pension

David was killed at the battle of Chickamauga in September of 1863. The application for a widow’s pension filled by his wife Philinda Minerva Griffin is found in the national archives. In order to qualify for the pension Minerva was required to provide evidence of her marriage to David. She was also required to supply evidence of their children and their birth dates. The dates were important because the children were only eligible to the age of sixteen. The entire pension file contains 28 pages of documents. For those of us researching family history they hold valuable information. The dates of birth and full name for the children are give in the documents:--------- Alice Jane, born February 27, 1854. Ida May, born July 28, 1856. Edgar L., born February 27, 1861. Died April 28, 1870.------------- Several people in the extended family testified that they attended the marriage of David and Minerva in the house of her father, Almon Griffin, in Essex, Vermont on the 13th day of January 1852. The marriage was conducted by the Reverend O. Osborn. One of the people giving evidence for the marriage was David’s brother Henry F. Griffin. A court clerk in Howard County, Iowa certified his testimony.--------- There would have been a large gathering of Griffins for the marriage. In Minerva’s family there would have been all of her siblings and her grandfather David Almon Griffin and her uncle Joel. In David’s family there would have been his father Orlo’s whole family plus his grandmother Sylvia Bradley Griffin. Also in attendance would have been David’s uncle Samuel’s family, Electa, Sylvia, Rosetta and Harrison. From their Uncle John’s family there would have been Mary, Malinda and Jane (Bentley). In addition there would have been a number of people from the in law families. David was close to his Thompson grandparents. Minerva’s Chase grandparents belonged to a large family in Essex.--------- Minerva’s family had lived in nearby Westford, Vermont since the early 1800s. By 1850 her father had moved to Essex were he was working as a butcher. In the 1850 census both David and Minerva’s families are listed in Essex.