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.

Sarah Josepha Hale and Thankful Griffin

Sarah Josepha Buell Hale was born October 24, 1788. Her father, Gordon Buell, was a tavern owner and farmer. The family circumstance was such that in a era where most boys only went to the 8th grade the Buell boys went off to college a privilege very rarely afforded to females in the early 1800’s. But despite these circumstances Sarah was destined to become a major literary figure in America. Encouraged by her mother, Martha Whittlesey, and tutored by her brother Horatio, who was attending Dartmouth, she began a lifetime of self-education. Sarah married a young lawyer, David Hale, and started to raise a family. David was destined to die at a relatively young age. Sarah began to write poems and short stories finding support from the Masons in getting her material published. Her growing reputation as an author attracted the attention of a Boston ladies magazine who recruited her to become their editor. The attention she gained from this position brought her to the attention of the owners of Godey’s Ladies Book based in Philadelphia. Godey’s was the leading ladies magazine of the day. She remained “Editress” , her term, for the next 40 years. Under her leadership Godey’s assumed a major role in American society. Wikipedia notes, “During this time, she became one of the most influential arbitrators of American taste. In its day, Godey’s, with no significant competition, had an influence unimaginable for any single publication in the 21st century.” Sarah used her position to champion many causes and charities. She was a committed abolitionist. She was a leading mentor to the newly emerging female authors who struggled to find their voice. She was a leading exponent of education for women playing a leading role in the founding of Vassar. In her argument for women’s education she wrote “not that they may usurp the situation, or encroach on the prerogatives of man; but that each individual may lend her air to the intellectual and moral character of those within her sphere”. It’s an interesting exercise to contemplate the nature of the society she was living in that would prompt such a statement. She was also the leading champion of the movement to proclaim Thanksgiving as a national holiday. This subject is the focus of the remainder of this article. Sarah was the daughter of Gordon Buell who was born in Killingworth, on February 21, 1752, the son of Nathan Buell and Thankful Griffin. Gordon’s inheritance from the large Buell estate was a large piece of property in Newport, New Hampshire where Sarah was born. With Gordon’s father having died at a young age his mother Thankful assumed the role of family matriarch. In his will Thankful’s father in law, Deacon Daniel Buell, broke from tradition and granted her, a women, a level of control seldom granted to women in that era. Thankful, again breaking with tradition which dictated that a woman needed to have a husband under whose name property was to be granted, never remarried instead assuming the role of head of the family. In an era when the death of a woman was recorded simple as “the wife of ” her death is recorded as “The widow Thankful Buell”. It leads you to wonder what influence a strong willed grandmother had on a granddaughter. As such it was to her home on Roast Meat Hill, a short distance form her brother Samuel ‘s home, that the young Sarah Josepha Buell came for Thanksgiving celebrations. Why do we think Sarah came to her grandmother’s house? Families in that era were very close. Her grandmother lived until 1816. Given what we know of the times it seems inconceivable that she would not spent some of the holidays listening to the Griffin stories from her grandmother. In addition we have a surviving letter from one of her Griffin cousin contemporaries. Written by Eliza Stevens to her parents, Daniel Stevens and Mercy Griffin, living in Killingworth. “We are coming up to spend Thanksgiving with you. You need not cook anything for us for we shall bring all we want and more.” This letter is part of a collection from this one family in which a prevailing theme is a call to come and visit or we are coming to visit. As part of her ongoing effort to promote the establishment of a national Thanksgiving Day Sarah wrote the following letter.-------- From Sarah J. Hale to Abraham Lincoln, Monday September 28, 1863 Philadelphia, Sept. 28th 1863. Sir.— Permit me, as Editress of the “Lady’s Book, to request a few minutes of your precious time, while laying before you a subject of deep interest to myself and—as I trust—even to the President of our Republic, of some importance. This subject is to have the day of our annual Thanksgiving made a National and fixed Union Festival. You may observe that, for some years past, there has been an increasing interest felt in our land to have the Thanksgiving held on the same day, in all the States; it now needs national recognition and authoritative fixation, only, to become permanent, an American custom and institution. Enclosed are three papers being, printed these are easily read, which make the idea and its progress clear and show also the popularity of the plan. For the last fifteen years I have set forth this idea in the “Lady’s Book”. And placed the papers before Governors of all the States and territories—also I have sent these to our Ministers abroad, and our Missionaries to the heathens—and commanders in the Navy. From the recipients I have received, uniform the most kind approval. Two of these letters, one from Governor (now general) Banks and one from Governor Morgan are enclosed; both gentlemen as you will see, have nobly aided to bring out the desired Thanksgiving Union. But I find there are obstacies not possible to be overcome without legislative aid--that each State should, by statue, make it obligatory on the Governor to appoint the last Thursday of November, annually, as Thanksgiving Day;--or, as this way would require years to be realized. It has occurred to me that a proclamation from the President of the United States would be the best, surest and most fitting method of National appointment. I have written to my friend, Hon. Wm. H. Seward, and requested him to confer with President Lincoln on this subject. As the President of the United States has the power of appointments for the District of Columbia and the Territories; also for the Army and Navy and all American citizens abroad who claim protection from the U.S. Flag—could he not, with right as well as duty, issue his proclamation for a Day of National Thanksgiving for all the above classes or Persons? And would it not be fitting and patriotic for him to appeal to the Governors of all the States, inviting and commending these to unite in issuing proclamations for the last Thursday In November for the people of each State? Thus the great Union Festival of America would be established. Now the purpose of this letter is to entreat President Lincoln to put forth his Proclamation, appointing the last Thursday in November as the Nation Thanksgiving for all those classes of people who are under the national Government particularly, and commending this Union Thanksgiving to each State Executive: thus, by the noble example and action of the President of the United States, the permanency and unity of our Great American Festival of Thanksgiving would be forever secured. An immediate proclamation would be necessary, so as to reach all the states in season for State appointments, also to anticipate the early appointments by Governors. Excuse the liberty I have taken. With Profound Respect--------Shelby Foote, the preeminent Civil War historian,wrote concerning Thanksgiving, "By coincidence, in a proclamation issued eight weeks earlier at the suggestion of a LADY EDITOR, Lincoln had called upon his fellow citizens "to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of thanksgiving"".-------- On October 3, 1863 Abraham Lincoln issued the Thanksgiving Proclamation.-------- The year that is drawing toward its close has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added which are of so extraordinary a nature that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever-watchful providence of Almighty God. In the midst of a civil war of unequaled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign states to invite and to provoke their aggression, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, the harmony has prevailed everywhere, except in the theater of military conflict, while that theater has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union. Needful diversions of wealth and of strength from the fields of peaceful industry to the national defense have not arrested the plow, the shuttle, or the ship; the ax has enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the mines, as well as the iron and coal as of our precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly that heretofore. Population has steadily increased notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege, and the battlefield, and the county, rejoicing in the consciousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years with large increase of freedom. No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy. It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently, and gratefully acknowledged, as with one heart and one voice, by the whole American people. I do therefore invite my fellow-citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next as a day of thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to His tender care all those who have become widows, orphan, mourners, or suffers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the imposition of the Almighty hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it, as soon as may be consistent with the divine purpose, to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility, and union. In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed. Done at the city of Washington, this 3d day of October, A.D. 1863, and of the independence of the United States the eighty-eighth.-------- As Sarah and her inner circle toasted the President’s actions I can imagine her saying, I can still remember Thanksgiving at my grandmother Thankful’s.

Franklin Pierce Calhoun 1859-1919

Franklin Pierce Calhoun was the son of George Albert Calhoun and Susan Amelia Griffing. Most of the town records concerning Franklin list his place of birth as Clinton, Middlesex County, Connecticut, the home of his maternal 3rd great grandfather Samuel Griffin. In Clinton he would have known all of the Griffin cousins from James N. Griffin’s family. Family records list his date of birth as March 9, 1859. The date is confirmed in the 1900 federal census. His full name is listed in the birth record of his son, Albert Franklin, in the Wallingford town records. Franklin’s father died in 1863 while serving in the Union Army. As a result he grew up in the household of his mother and her 2nd husband William J. Bradley. The family is in Essex, Connecticut in 1870. At some point the family moved back to the Madison/Guilford area where most of them married and raised their families. Franklin’s marriage record is found in the Madison town records. The record is dated October 11, 1882. It lists Franklin P. Calhoun, born Clinton, living Madison, age 22 and Alice R. Spencer age 18, born Madison, living Madison. The marriage is also found in the Methodist Church records. October 11, 1882, Franklin P. Calhoun, 22, Clinton and Alice R, Spencer, 18, Madison, by the Rev W.F. Marwick with the notation “married at my residence”. The first 3 children in the family were born in Guilford. The town records list the following births. ------Estella Calhoun (Florence Estella) August 3, 1883, Frank Calhoun age 23 and Alice Spencer age 19. The town clerks in Guilford always noted the birth order for each child. They list Estella as the 1st child born in the family. Her marriage record to Nelson E. Darrow is also found in the Guilford records. Florence Estella Calhoun age 14, January 12, 1898.------ Listed as the 2nd child, Ethel M. Calhoun born November 9, 1889. Her father is listed as Franklin P. Calhoun of Clinton age 33. ------ The 3rd child is listed simply as, M, a male born January 8, 1893 his parents listed as Franklin P. Calhoun and Alice R. Spencer. The nature of the town records seems to indicate a stillborn child.------ The 4th child is Albert Franklin Calhoun born September 25, 1899. Albert’s birth is part of the Wallingford town records. It lists his father as Franklin Pierce Calhoun age 40; it notes the area of his birth as Yalesville. The record notes that he is part of a family of 4 children with 3 surviving, as does the 1900 federal census. ------Franklin and Alice are buried in the Alderbrook Cemetery in Guilford. Frank P. Calhoun 1859-1919 and Alice R. Calhoun 1863-1930. Also buried in the family plot are Florence E. (Estella) Calhoun 1883-1921 and her 2nd husband Edward Miller 1884-1926. There is also a headstone for her son by her 1st marriage, Charles Darrow 1897-1919, killed in France ( actually date April 20, 1818). Also buried in Alderbrook is Franklin’s sister Jane and parts of her family including her husband Alexander E. Ingraham.------Franklin Pierce Calhoun/ Susan Amelia Griffing / Harry Allen Griffin / Edward / James / Samuel Griffin. Click on images to enlarge.

Susan Amelia Griffin, Susan A. Calhoun, Susan A. Bradley

Identifying the children of Harry Allen Griffin has proven to be a formidable task. As the prodigal son he was left out of his fathers will. It seems he led a wanderer’s life a life at sea. We have been unable to find birth records for any of his children. Instead we have discovered them one by one in the New Haven County communities where they were born and raised their families. Harry lived in what is now Madison, Connecticut. Madison became a separate city in 1826 dividing off from Guilford. The town records that start in 1826 are detailed and well organized. Anyone spending any amount of time reviewing those records quickly becomes familiar with a set of patterns. Madison was a small place in the early 1800’s. The town clerks were very familiar with each family in Madison. For anyone who has spent anytime editing written material it’s easy to understand the clerk’s mindset. Being familiar with everyone in town they would edit for clarity. If two people shared a name they would consistently use a middle initial for clarification. If the party involved was from somewhere other than Madison that information was always added. Based on this familiarity with the Madison records we have been able to identify two of Harry’s children. There was only one permanent Griffin family in Madison that of Harry Allen Griffin. In the town records we find the marriage certificate for the marriage of William L. Griffing to Fanny M. Bradley, which notes “ both of Madison” dated July 16, 1849. In the town records the marriage is again recorded with the ages of the young couple listed as 24 and 19. We find the young couple in Clinton in the 1850 census. After that they seem to disappear. In a land record we find a deed recorded under William’s name in which Fanny Margaret Griffin receives her inheritance from her father Benjamin Bradley whose wife Fanny is also noted. The age of 24 on his marriage record puts William’s date of birth at 1825 a match for the census records for Harry’s family.------ We also found a death record for a Susan A. Bradley. The record, spread across two pages of the ledger, lists her, as Susan A. Bradley age 68 died April 8, 1893. It notes that she was born in Madison. On the 2nd page is listed the cause of death and it lists her father as Harry Griffin( Harry's wife was Ursula Wright). Her marriage certificate is also found in Madison. It notes that Albert Calhoun of Killingworth married Susan Amelia Griffing of Madison February 1, 1846. Albert and Susan, like her brother William, also made their home in Clinton. In the 1860 census we find listed Albert Calhoun 36, Susan Calhoun 37, Catherine 13, Jane (after her aunt Jane Ann) 10, Elisha 9, Alfred 6, Fanny 4, Franklin age 2. Apparently the couple returned for a time to Madison where one of their children was born. The town records note that Fanny M. Calhoun was born March 17, 1856 (age 4 in the 1860 census) to Albert Calhoun and Susan Griffing Calhoun. Fanny was apparently named after her uncle William’s wife. History shows that Albert died while serving in the Civil War in 1863. In the 1870 census Susan has remarried to William J. Bradley. The family, including the Calhoun children, is living in Essex. The census lists William J. Bradley 34, Susan A. Bradley 42, Alfred Calhoun 13, Fanny 12, Frank 11, Albert 9, and Susan Bradley age 2 The town records note Susan’s birth in 1868 her parents listed as William J. Bradley and Susan A. Bradley. Susan and William are buried in the Hammonesset Cemetery in Madison. Her headstone notes that she was the wife of W. J. death on April 8, 1893. Next to her is William J. Bradley, Civil War soldier, died September 28, 1916.------ Susan Amelia Griffing 1823/4 to April 8, 1893 / Harry Allen Griffin / Edward / James / Samuel Griffin.------William L. Griffing 1825 to sometime after 1850. / Harry Allen Griffin / Edward / James / Samuel Griffin. Click on images to enlarge.

Captain Edward Griffin land record from Colebrook

Captain Edward Griffin set aside funds in his will for the purchase of a farm for his wife Submit. Submit choose to purchase that farm in Colebrook, Litchfield County. In the church records we find her name along with that of her youngest child Edward. The farm was to be divided between the children when they reached the age of 21. Part of the farm was to remain in Submit’s name until her death. The deed records from Colebrook show Charles N. Griffin buying each of his siblings portion when they came of age. In 1819 Submit gives her portion to her children. This deed provided the clues that allowed us to find her adult children. It’s discovery opened the door to our research on Edward Griffin’s family. The deed identifies Timothy Gaylord 2nd and his wife Polly (Griffin) of Norfolk, Lyman and Fanny Dowd of Guilford, Martin Lawrence and his wife Submit (Griffin) of Colebrook. It also names Charles and Julia Griffin of Colebrook. Conspicuous by his absence is Harry Allen. The deed reads in part “Estate that our mother Submit Griffin had her Dower upon from the estate of her husband deceased”. Submit kept a home lot of one acre. A few years before her death we find a deed record in which Submit deeds her home and property to Augustus Elmer, her daughter Julia’s husband, in exchange for his pledge to support her for her remaining days. In relative terms the current value for the property portions of Edward’s will has a value of over $800.000.00. In the ‘” Find a Grave” internet site for Colebrook you can find a picture of Submit Griffin’s headstone in the Beach Hill Cemetery.

Fanny Griffin Dowd 1786-1820

Fanny Griffin Dowd the daughter of Captain Edward Griffin and his wife Submit DeWolf was born in 1786. In the 1790 census we find the family of Edward Griffin listed in Killingworth. Family histories and deed records place Edward in South Killingworth near his grandfather Samuel’s home in what would eventually become Clinton. By the time of his death in 1802 Edward had relocated to nearby Madison, Connecticut. There is a portion of Edward’s will, which we recently published, dedicated to Fanny. She was to inherit a good portion of the household furnishing enough I am sure to give her a head start in furnishing her own home when she married. We find her listed in the deed records that marked the final disposition of her mother’s estate. Recorded on the deed record are Lyman and Fanny Dowd of Guilford. In the records of the Congregational First Society of Madison we find a marriage for Lyman Dowd and Fanny Griffing in May of 1805 (document). The marriage is also reported in the Connecticut Harold dated Thursday, May 21, 1805. We also find a record of their children in the Guilford town records (document). Each child is identified as the son or daughter of Lyman and Fanny Dowd. The Dowd/Doud much like the Griffin/Griffing spelling is used interchangeably seeming at the whim of the particular clerk recording the event. The same is somewhat true for Guilford/Madison. In it’s early days Madison was called East Guilford. That is why we find records for Fanny listed in both towns. In Alvan Talcott’s original notes (document) and in his history “Families of Early Guilford Connecticut” (document) we find a detailed history for Fanny’s family. She is identified as Fanny Griffing daughter of Edward Griffing. Her children and their spouses are listed as well as a number of significant dates. ------Lyman Dowd was the son of Joseph Dowd and his wife Mary Blatchley. They lived in East Guilford. In Talcott’s history we find Lyman’s date of birth recorded as March 6, 1784 (document). In the Congregational records in Madison we find his death noted in March of 1852 (document). The extended family is buried in a plot in the West Cemetery in Madison. There we find; Lyman Dowd, died Mar 25, 1852, age 68, Fanny Dowd, wife of Lyman, died Dec 2 1820, age 34 yrs, their son Richard W. Dowd Nov 9, 1835, age 21 yrs. their daughter Fanny, Fanny Dowd, wife of George, died Aug 16, 1865, age 57, her husband George Dowd, died March 25, 1883, age 76. There are also a number of grandchildren. ------ The family record from Guilford is very neat and concise. The oldest child was Emeline Dowd born September 23, 1806. We have published her history in another article on the Blog. She died November 8, 1868 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. ------ Fanny Dowd, named after her mother, was born February 24, 1808. She married a cousin George Dowd and they lived in Madison. Her death is noted in the “Register of Deaths” in the Congregational records Aug, 16, 1865 wife of George (document). ------ Edward L. Dowd’s birth is part of the Guilford record noted as August 15, 1809. Talcott lists a marriage to Julia Johnson. There are no other records for Edward named after his father and grandfather. ------ Susan Dowd was born, according to the Guilford record, on July 11, 1812. Talcott lists a marriage to Henry Bradley. Her family records are found in New Haven. In the New Haven town records we find a detailed accounting of her death on May 31, 1898 (2 documents). Susan D. Bradley, maiden name; Dowd, wife of Henry, parents Lyman and Susan. Death from Paralysis of the Heart. Did the clerk inadvertently write down Susan’s name as the wife of Lyman or was Fanny’s middle name also Susan? ------ Richard W. Dowd’s birth is noted on January 13, 1815. He was a teamster dying of Typhus in Northford, New Haven County. In the Northford Congregational records we find his death record, Richard Woolcott Dowd, Nov 9, 1835, age 21 (document). ------ Fanny Griffin-Griffing Dowd-Doud / Captain Edward Griffin / James Griffin / Samuel Griffin.