52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks.  Week #36 theme is Exploration.

There are many ways to explore in genealogy searching: Online records, libraries, other people’s trees, newspapers, or in person. We have prepared by doing all of the above, and then headed out, off the beaten path, to visit the locations where our ancestors lived. So far, we have visited more than 25 locations in Oklahoma, Kansas, Texas, Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Rhode Island, Connecticut, and New York. We took many, many photographs along the way and my husband has even painted watercolors of some locations. 

There are so many photographs, that I need to choose just one family line for this post. You will see where we explored our Griffin line, starting with John Griffin, immigrant from Wales, who arrived in Connecticut about 1640. We visited Granby and Simsbury, where roads, farms and even shopping centers bear the Griffin name. The photo below is a current day sheep farm on the original land called Griffin’s Farmstead. Of course the structure was not there in 1640.  John's son, Thomas, was born on that property, in 1658. 

Thomas Griffin was the father of Benoni Griffin,Sr.,  born 1714. His mill was located at The Falls, on the Farmington River, in Simsbury, CT. It was formerly owned by his grandfather, John Griffin. We found the Farmington River, but couldn't see The Falls. 

Although other siblings stayed in Connecticut, Benoni Griffin, jr. acquired a grant in Virginia, about 1784.  He settled in the area of Bath County, which is now Arbovale, West Virginia. The photo is of the view he would have seen of the Greenbrier River valley. 

 

His son Jonathan married Rachel Sharp and lived on Stony Creek, which is near the present city of Marlinton, West Virginia. We explored the area, still known as the Griffin land. Photo is of the working  farm there. 

After the Civil War, Jonathan’s son William and family migrated (by way of stops in Iowa and Missouri) to live in Montgomery County Kansas. Their homestead in current photo is still called Griffin Hill, and down the hill is the land belonging to William’s son, Samuel, my Gt.Grandfather.  This is where my Grandfather Charley Griffin was born, and probably road his horse up that trail to his Grandfather's home. 

In 1889, when land was opened in Oklahoma Territory, a claim was staked in William’s name, by his youngest son, Pete Griffin.  A few years later, Samuel’s widow, Lizzie, brought her family to that same property, west of Edmond, and homesteaded. Charley and his siblings helped to farm the land, near Waterloo Road and Portland.  Photo is of hay bales, as the land is still agricultural, although near one of the fastest growing cities in Oklahoma. 

Charley married Hattie McGill (of another 89er family) and for a time they farmed near Ahpeatone, in Cotton County OK.  My father, Dan Griffin, shared his boyhood memories of living in Cotton County, and fun with his brothers. We believe this is the house they lived in.

 The last photo is the house where Charley and family lived in Edmond, Oklahoma, where our own family memories include porch swings, marking our heights on the door frame, fun with cousins, celebrating Christmas and Fourth of July, and more. 

   

 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks.  Week # 11 Theme - Flowers

The wildflowers shown here are on land that was once patented by my 4Gt Grandfather, Benoni Griffin  1743 - 1796.  On a visit to West Virginia a few years ago, we found a clue concerning the location of Benoni's land near Arbovale in Pocahontas County. When Benoni settled on this land it was in Bath County, Virginia.  We were at the Bath County Courthouse and found a tiny paragraph written 60-70 years ago.  

"The town of Arbovale is situated on the grant of Benona Griffin & James Rucker, Jr. The set stone corner near the gate of C.O. Wood's store building is a common corner to the two grants mentioned and to the land supposed to be owned by Jacob Rambo. The Arbovale Church is in the Griffin Patent. " 

We drove toward Cass and Snowshoe, where skiers love to adventure in winter, but we were there in the summer when wildflowers were blooming.  Finding the Arbovale Church and, looking to the west toward the Greenbrier River, we could see where Benoni's beautiful view would be.  But now all is fenced off and classified, as it is the location of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory .   
http://www.nrao.edu/directions/greenbank/map.jpg

The enormous Greenbank Telescope is located in that complex.  It can be seen for miles around.  

Just imagine what Benoni and his sons, Jonathan, Samuel S., Abraham, Levi, and daughter Mary,  would think if dropped back into Arbovale 200+ years later. Change is inevitable, but the wildflowers keep coming back every summer. 

William Griffin, son of Jonathan

William Griffin, my great great grandfather, was the third child of Jonathan and Rachael Sharp Griffin. He was born March 27, 1812, in Bath County Virginia (later to become Pocahontas Co. West Virginia). An old family letter states that William was called “Billy”, and also that he was educated in Connecticut. I have seen no evidence of the latter. Although his father was born in CT, we find no information that family members returned to CT from West Virginia for education.

We do know that the family valued education, and William was a school teacher and Sunday School teacher. According to his obituary, he was an active member and later an officer, of the Methodist Episcopal Church from age 22. He may well have met his wife, Elizabeth M. Rodgers, at church, as her father, James Rodgers, was a devout man of the area. Of course, the churches met in homes in those days, or outdoors under the trees.

This quote is from “Moccasin Tracks and other Imprints” by William C. Dodrill, 1915.

“It is not known that any schools were taught in this county [Webster] before 1835. The first school of which I have any knowledge was erected by two brothers, William and Benjamin Hamrick, and James Dodrill, on the Elk [River] nearly opposite the mouth of Wolf Pen Run, six miles above Webster Springs. [My note: At that time this would have been in Nicholas or Braxton County, later Webster.] These three men employed William Griffin to teach three months, for which he was to receive 30 dollars and board. Spelling, reading, writing, and arithmetic were the branches taught. The Bible was the text used in the reading classes. …”

Note: William would have been about 23 at this time. Another source says that William’s brother, Benoni Griffin, taught at the school. Benoni later married William Hamrick’s daughter, Nancy.

Elizabeth Rodgers, daughter of James and Elizabeth Jackson Rodgers, was born Aug. 4, 1818, in what she called “East” Virginia, probably Culpeper or Madison County, VA. Her mother died when Elizabeth was a child. Her father brought seven children over the mountains to the Buckeye area of Pocahontas County, where he married for a second time, and had six more children. They lived on Rodgers Mountain, south of the Stony Creek area where the Griffins lived.

After the time that William was a teacher, we next find a record of William as an adult, recipient of 62 acres (possibly more) of land transferred or sold to him by his father, Jonathan Griffin, Sept 4, 1838, just a few weeks before William and Elizabeth's marriage. The land was originally granted to Benoni Griffin of Connecticut, on the Greenbrier River (now site of the Green Bank Telescope.) Jonathan was somehow related to this Benoni; I hope to discover a father/son relationship.

We have a copy of the marriage certificate for William and Elizabeth, which is found on pg. 25, Pocahontas Co. Marriage Book as follows:

22 Oct 1838 Bond: William Griffin and Elizabeth M. Rogers. Surety, William Griffin and James Rogers.

25 Oct 1838 Return: William GRIFFIN and Elizabeth M. Rogers by Joseph G. McKeehan.

There is no indication that William and Elizabeth ever lived on the Green Bank land. Their first son, Joseph was born in 1839, in Pocahontas, where the rest of the Jonathan Griffin family lived. Then in 1840, William, Elizabeth, and son, under 5, are found in Nicholas County. This county was the home of Elizabeth’s two sisters, Tabitha Rodgers, wife of James McAvoy, and Sarah Ann Rodgers, wife of Adonijah Harris, and brother, Robert Rodgers. Harris and Robert Rodgers were both blacksmiths by trade. In later years, at least three of William’s children/grandchildren list their occupations as blacksmith.

William and his wife Elizabeth farmed in Pocahontas County near the family farm in 1850, as father, Jonathan, was aged. After Jonathan’s death around 1852, most of his sons and families, as well as their mother, Rachael, moved to Braxton (later Webster County west of the mountains near the Elk River. Brother, Abraham, stayed on the family farm on Swago and Stony Creek in Pocahontas County.

William was on the petition for the formation of Webster County West VA, in 1860. It has been stated in a family letter that he farmed 400 acres in Webster County. He was blinded in one eye by a corn stalk when walking through his field.

Military Service: Two sons, James M., and Levi J., died of illness, in service to the Union during the Civil War. James served in the 47th Regiment of the Ohio Voluntary Infantry - probably mustered in 1861. He died June 22, 1862. He was first buried in the military cemetery at Charleston West VA, then later re-interred at the military cemetery at West Virginia.

Levi J. was a Private in the 10th West Virginia Volunteer Infantry, mustered at Sutton May 3, 1862, at age 18. He died Oct. 13, 1864, at Winchester, of fever. Another son, Samuel Young Griffin, also served the Union in the Ohio Vols 47th Regiment. Although he was stricken with illness, he did return from the war and accompanied the family as they headed west. Our Griffin line descends through Samuel. Letters to father, William, from Samuel during the Civil War.

During the latter part of the war, the families were forced to leave their farms in Webster County and relocate to the military base in Clarksburg, Harrison County. At the close of the Civil War, William and Elizabeth along with their remaining children, and several related families, decided to leave the new state of West Virginia to head for western states. Their sympathies for the Union brought persecution from their neighbors...to the extent that at one time they had to hide in a water filled ditch. The story of this exodus is recorded by a descendant of the Miller family, who traveled with Griffin and Harris families (all related). Click Here for John J. Miller's Civil War Story.

Family letters state that in 1865, William and Elizabeth and ten children, along with several other related families boarded a steamboat on the Ohio River (probably at Marietta OH), and sailed down the Ohio to the Mississippi, then to the Missouri River and up to Council Bluffs, Iowa. As John Miller had land in Exira, Audubon County Iowa, the family must have traveled there by wagon. Elizabeth’s aunts, Julia and Elizabeth Rodgers, in their 80s, (Julia was blind) traveled with them and then on to their brother Chesley’s home in Indianola, Iowa.

As stated in Miller’s story, the Griffins and Millers farmed for a short time in Iowa, then in Carthage, Missouri, and finally in Montgomery County, in southeastern Kansas. Sycamore Township became the home of this family and descendants for many years.

In 1889, William and Elizabeth’s youngest son, Peter Griffin, unmarried, age 28, made the Oklahoma Land Run, staking claims for himself and his parents, west of Edmond in Deer Creek. Soon after they moved to Edmond, Oklahoma Territory, William died. He is now buried at Gracelawn Cemetery. Elizabeth died in 1903, after her daughter in law, Lizzie Griffin, widow of Samuel, and children moved to Oklahoma.

This obituary comes from a Kansas Newspaper, although Wm.'s death occurred in Oklahoma. Jan Griffin Leaf has provided this.

GRIFFIN - William Griffin was born in Pocahontas County, VA., March 27, 1812, and died near Edmond, I. T., [should be Okla. Terr..] Nov. 4, 1889. He married Elizabeth M. Rogers, Oct. 25, 1838. There were born to them twelve sons and two daughters; seven sons and one daughter survive their father, and also his aged wife. He was a devoted member of the M.E. Church for 55 years, during which time he filled various offices in the Church. Father Griffin was a true type of a man and Christian. He was one of the few that opposed secession in his township at the breaking out of the Rebellion. He moved and settled for a time in Montgomery County, Kans., during which time the writer was his pastor and always found him in his place at church when it was possible for him to be there. He died as the good man dieth, and leaves behind him the savor of a good name, more to be desired than gold. J. ALBERT HYDEN. Cherry Vale, Kans.

More information on the children of William and Elizabeth:

Three children did not survive to adulthood and we do not know their dates of death or burial place. They are Rachel J., Robert O., and Alpheus. The oldest son, Joseph, is said to have died of fever about 1861, at age 22.

Samuel Young Griffin married Elizabeth “Lizzie” Terry, in Montgomery Co., Kansas. When he died in 1891, Lizzie brought the children to live in Oklahoma on the land claimed by her brother-in-law, Pete. The story of Sam and Lizzie, their life and family will be found on a separate blog page.

Adam Bland Griffin. We have a biography of Adam, contributed by a descendant, Elisha Dawn Barnett. Adam met Sarah Wiggins in Iowa, where they eloped. They then came to Kansas, farmed and raised a large family. Adam made the Oklahoma Land Run of 1893.

Sarah Ann “Sally” Griffin, the only surviving daughter of Wm. and Elizabeth, married Hugh McNutt when the Griffin family lived in Iowa. She was widowed in her 40s, and after living in Edmond, OK, with sister-in-law, Lizzie for a while, followed her children to Burbank, California, where she died in 1937.

Andrew W. Griffin married Zara Mayfield. He farmed in Montgomery Co., Kansas. Andrew was listed as a blacksmith in the 1870s, as was his brother Adonijah Harris Griffin. We have made contact with a descendant of Andrew and Zara, who lives in Colorado. Link to Andrew’s obituary.

John L. Griffin, with wife Clara O. Piersol & family, migrated from Kansas to Colorado around 1892. John was a mathematician and held positions as teacher, principal & Supt. of Schools, in Boulder and Everett, WA. We also have a biography of John L. and family, contributed by Jan Griffin Leaf of the Seattle, WA area.

Adonijah "Nije" Griffin went to Colorado at about the same time as John, and then to Texas. His first wife was Mattie Hinton, and second was Ida Groseclose. In Baylor County, TX, Nije was a blacksmith and served as postmaster. His descendants are found in New Mexico, Arizona and California.

William F. Griffin married Ellen Davis in Montgomery County, KS, in 1880. He was a farmer and settled in Sparks, Lincoln County, OK. Later he listed his occupation as house painter, was divorced, and lived for a time in Oklahoma City, OK. He died in Sparks, OK, in 1922. His children stayed in Oklahoma.

Peter Charles Griffin was the youngest son of William and Elizabeth. "Uncle Pete" never married. He worked the farm with his father. In 1889, he made the Oklahoma Land Run, staking a claim at Edmond, for himself and his parents. At his death in 1934, he willed his accumulated wealth to his many nieces and nephews. His will provided for a stone for his parents, Elizabeth and William Griffin, in Gracelawn Cemetery, Edmond, Oklahoma. Link to Uncle Pete's story.

Jonathan Griffin and Rachel Sharp

Our ancestors in the Griffin family have taken us on a journey which is far from complete. Jonathan Griffin, my 3Gt Grandfather, was born in 1777 in Connecticut, the year that the flag made by Betsy Ross was adopted by the Continental Congress. His wife was Rachel Sharp. She was born in 1787, at Huntersville, in Bath Co., Virginia. (later part of Pocahontas Co.) Rachel's maternal and paternal grandparents had each been killed by Indians, leaving her father, William Sharp, and mother, Mary Meeks, and their siblings, as orphans. William Sharp and Mary Meeks married, and William became a pioneer of the Bath County area. Another descendant has written an account of William Sharp and wife, Mary Meeks, where he is described as "a scout, spy, and soldier against the Indians and the British."

We have much circumstantial evidence to show that Jonathan Griffin, is son of Benoni Griffin Jr. of Simsbury. This Benoni was married several times and migrated to Virginia near the Green Bank area. This Griffin line has been said to trace to England, and back to Wales. The repeating names of Benoni, Abraham, Levi, Samuel are among Jonathan's descendants seem to refer to the Benoni and Abrahams of the Connecticut Griffin families. We are discovering land records which give further evidence of Benoni as Jonathan's father.

In 1800, Jonathan is found as a taxpayer in the personal property tax rolls of Bath County VA. I do not see his name as a land owner, but he was an adult and probably owned a horse and other property which was taxed. He married Rachel Sharp in 1806.

The Bath County Marriage Bonds book lists the following:
Aug 12, 1806: Bond for Jonathan Griffin and Rachel Sharp.
Surety, Robert Gay. Return filed Sept. 1 by Jeremiah Burns. Robert Gay was a justice of the peace. Jeremiah Burns was a Methodist Episcopal minister. I believe that Jonathan's father, whoever it may be, was no longer living, or not living in the area, otherwise, he would probably have signed the marriage bond.

Jonathan and Rachel must have lived with family after marriage as they are not found in 1810 Census records. Jonathan made purchases at the Bath County estate sale, of John Drennan, in 1815. This is recorded in Abstracts of Wills and Inventories of Bath Co. VA 1791-1842 - Bruns. Possibly he and Rachel were ready to set up housekeeping with their young family.

"Historical Sketches of Pocahontas County West Virginia," by Price, [written about 1900] states:
"Rachel Sharp, daughter of William Sharp, was married to Jonathan Griffin, and lived near the head of Stony Creek, on the farm now owned by Levi Gay . Her children were Abraham, Benoni, Jonathan, and Mrs. Charles Ruckman [Rachel]." [We know there were more children: Margaret, William, and Samuel.]

In 1813, we find Jonathan making a large purchase of land on Stony Creek (near present day Edray, WVA.) He also owned land on the eastern side of the Greenbrier River in the Green Bank area where we now find the National Radio Telescope, not far from the area where the first Griffins (from CT) are found in this county. Maybe these land records will give us clues as to Jonathan's ancestry. We find through census and other records that there are other children: sons, William, our ancestor, and Samuel, and another daughter, Margaret, who married Isaac Hamrick.

An article from "Moccasin Tracks & Other Imprints" by W. Dodrill:
"Pioneer School Teachers"…
"In 1850, Robert Gregory built a school house near the present site of the St. Mary's school house. The school building was of the most primitive kind. Among the early pioneer school teachers were the following: William Kain, William and Samuel Given, Israel Clifton, Jonathan Griffin, Joseph Woods and Timothy Holcomb." [ The Holcombs also came from CT with marriages to Griffins.] The Jonathan mentioned may have been the son of Jonathan and Rachel Griffin. He lived in Webster County in 1850s.

Residents of Webster County have related that the St. Mary's school house (and thus the Gregory school) were located "on the road going over Point Mountain from Webster Springs towards Elkins, between the Barton (Curtin) Road and Bergoo Rd."

The last census record where we find the elder Jonathan Griffin is the 1850 Census, Pocahontas VA. Jonathan is shown as age 72, born in Pennsylvania. [This is the only time that Pennsylvania is mentioned. See other notes that say b. CT. I believe the latter is correct.] Also in 1850 census in the same county, we find members of the Sharp, Waugh, Duffield families, and sons Abraham, William, and Benoni Griffin and their families.

By 1860, all the children of Jonathan and Rachel were married, except for Samuel, who never married.
Abraham, b. 1808 in Bath County, VA, married Nancy Waugh, daughter of James Waugh, Jr.
Margaret b. 1810 in Bath County, VA, married Isaac Hamrick, son of William F. Hamrick
William b. 1812 in Bath County, VA, married Elizabeth M. Rodgers, daughter of James Rodgers.
Benoni b. 1814 in Bath County, VA, married Nancy Hamrick, daughter of William F. Hamrick.
Rachel b. 1820 in Bath County, VA, married Charles Ruckman, son of D. L. Ruckman.
Jonathan b. 1826 in Bath County, VA, married Margaret Rader, daughter of John H. Rader.
Samuel b. 1828, in Bath County, VA, never married.

We believe that Jonathan, Sr. died sometime in the early 1850s possibly in Braxton Co. [from note on a land record.] We find that his son, Jonathan, bought property in 1852, possibly using his inheritance [no will has been found.] Benoni Griffin and his wife, Nancy Hamrick, also moved away from Pocahontas in 1852. Abraham and his family probably stayed on or near the home place. By 1860, Rachel Sharp Griffin, and son, Samuel, are living in Webster County, West Virginia with close family friends, William and Caroline Tracy. In 1870, she is about 84 years old, living with daughter, Margaret Hamrick, and her husband, Isaac, in Fork Lick, Webster County, West Virginia. We believe that Rachel died between 1870 and 1880. Her grave is found in the Isaac Hamrick Cemetery, marked "Rachael Sharp Griffin", with no dates.

Griffin Family from Mayme Hamrick's Book

There are a few updates to the information above. First of all, Benoni Griffin, father of Jonathan, was born in Connecticut, although he was of Welsh descent. This article does not mention Benoni's first marriage in Connecticut which ended in divorce (to Martha Viets). In listing the children of Benoni, the youngest, Levi, is missing. Also, there is a definite possibility that there were 3 or maybe even 4 wives, since Abraham, Mary, and Levi were born in Virginia.

Weddings and Social Life on Stony Creek

Hello Time Travelers,
We are still in the first years of 1800s, on Stony Creek in Bath County,Western Virginia (later to be Pocahontas, West Virginia.) It is 1803, and a young lady, Mary Griffin, of about 19 years is to be married to Hugh Brown. Her father, Benoni Griffin, Jr. died when she was a young teen, and perhaps her mother and step mother as well. The marriage bond states that John and Sally Moore Smith gave consent for the marriage. And our 3Gt Grandfather, Jonathan Griffin, was "surety" which means he guaranteed the bond promised by the groom, as would the nearest male relative. [Older brother, Samuel S., had left the area, and brothers Abraham and Levi were not old enough to sign for her.] This leads us to believe that Mary was taken in by the Smith family of Stony Creek when she was left orphaned. They had 2 or 3 children at the time, so maybe Mary was a nanny, helping Sarah in the home. Later on, Jonathan and wife Rachel purchased land on Stony Creek, living near the Smiths. Mary and Hugh moved to Ohio.

Thinking that the idea of a wedding at the Smith's might be part of our family's history, I found the following narrative taken from Price's "History of Pocahontas County." The original article was written by Georgia C. Shinaberry, submitted by her daughter, Juanita Dilley, Clover Lick West Virginia, May 24, 1940.

"The home of John and Sally Moore Smith on Stony Creek was a place where good times could be had, by the young people, as good times were known in pioneer days. At log rollings, wool pickings, flax scutchings and quiltings, the young people met, fell in love, and did much of their courting. Sunday would be preaching or all day prayer meetings, when it was not deemed right and proper to think or talk of any thing but Heaven and heavenly things.

The grandest social events would be the weddings. These occurred just as fast as the young folks thought themselves old enough to go to themselves. For a long time after the first settlement of this county the inhabitants, as a rule, married young. There was no distinction of rank and very little of fortune. On these accounts, the first impression of love resulted in marriage. A family establishment cost but much labor and nothing else. A glance at a pioneer wedding of the early 1800’s serves to mark the manners of our forefathers, and shows the grade of civilization which has succeeded their rude social condition.

At that time a wedding created a great sensation and attracted the attention of all the people from 12 to 15 miles around. This is not surprising when it is remembered that this was almost the only gathering, aside from church, which was not attended with the labor of reaping, log-rolling, building a cabin or some other labor.

The people came dressed, to the wedding, in their linsey and coarse linen clothes, all homemade. Because there were no stores from which to buy tailored things. Most of them came horseback, with only a girth with an attached stirrup for a saddle. Later leather saddles were made. "

More to come on the social events of the early 1800s.

Anatomy of an Online Search - Levi Griffin

We recently shared the Soap Opera of the life of Benoni Griffin, Jr., mentioning a son named Levi Griffin. How did we discover this son and establish the relationship? Read on.

A description of the Griffin family in West Virginia never mentioned youngest son, Levi Griffin. But when we were at the Bath County courthouse a few years ago, we found our Jonathan and other Griffins selling or purchasing portions of the land in Benoni Griffin, Jr.'s estate, with Levi Griffin as the person paying taxes on the land, even though he lived in Kentucky.

Who was this Levi? Googling the name of Levi Griffin and Kentucky, brings us to a message board with a complete posting of "Family Bible of Levi Griffin, Gallatin Kentucky" contributed by Carl Bogardus, Sr. M.D. What a find!!!! Many birth and death, marriage dates of Levi and his descendants. Even the statement that Levi was son of Benoni and Sarah Griffin. (This may have been his step mother.) It shows his birthdate as January 10, 1788.

With that information, Levi would have been about 3 years old when the family came to the Green Bank area, Bath County, VA, in the early 1790s. His name would never show up until he came of age at 21, and would have been old enough to be taxed or to vote and sign legal documents. Going to Ancestry.com records, Levi is first found as an adult in the 1810 Census but is listed as Love Griffin male, age between 16 - 26.

We also found a biography of Samuel P. Griffin, which mentions his paternal grandfather, Levi Griffin in a mini bio. "Levi Griffin, the paternal grandfather of Samuel P., was a native of Culpeper County, Va., and a farmer; he moved to Kentucky at an early day, and first settled in Bourbon County, but subsequently went to Fayette County, where he lived for a short time, and then moved to Gallatin County, where he died. He took part in the war of 1812."

Now I have several paths to follow.... looking for Griffins in Culpeper County, VA, and several counties in Kentucky, plus a search for participants in the War of 1812. A book, "The Battle of Tippecanoe" by Pirtle, says that Levi Griffin participated as a Private in that battle. And Ancestry.com shows census records for Levi Griffin and family in 1820 - 50, in the counties mentioned above. It does not include his death date, but since we don't find Levi in 1860 Census and the last date in the Bible is 1859, perhaps he died around that time.

When I look back at the Bath County land records that started this search, I have come up with this "supposed chain of events." Levi Griffin was the youngest son of Benoni Griffin, Jr., and was the last son living on the 220 acres near Green Bank Virgina, after Benoni died. I don't find a record that he was the executor, but he was continuing to pay taxes on the land, even after he went to Kentucky and settled after the War of 1812. By the 1830s, our 3Gt Grandfather, Jonathan Griffin, probably a half brother to Levi, bought up portions of the estate from siblings out of state, Abraham, Mary, Samuel S., and Levi. Jonathan gave part of the land to son William at the time of his marriage.

I won't say that searching a particular person is easy, but so rewarding. And now I have "met" online descendants of Levi. I hope to find out more about his pioneer life in Gallatin, KY, during the mid 1800s, putting this family into their place in history.

The Griffin Land

Farm on Stony Creek, Pocahontas County, West Virginia

I was born in Texas, raised in Oklahoma, and now live in GA. We discovered that our Griffin family roots reached back to West Virginia. We traveled to Pocahontas County one recent summer, and explored the one lane roads where our Jonathan Griffin family may have once lived. When we stopped to take pictures of an interesting cabin, we found we were blocking a farmer's way. Apologizing, we told him why we were there, "looking for the Griffin land." He said "I live on the Griffin land."

No Griffins had been there for 100 years, but it was their (our) land. We were home.