Where Were Our Ancestors in 1776?

Our Griffin roots were in Wales, then immigrating to Connecticut.     Benoni Griffin, Jr., father of our Jonathan Griffin, lived in Simsbury, CT during the Revolution.  His father, Benoni Sr. was a "Loyalist" during the American Revolution.   Other Loyalists/Royalists moved out to Nova Scotia, but Benoni stayed where he was.   Perhaps it was because his wealth was in land, cattle and sheep, things that could not be easily moved.   Despite being loyal to the crown, he did furnish cattle for the starving American Army.   George Washington appealed to Governor Trumbull for help to feed and clothe the men, and Washington’s  comment was, ' Only Brother Trumbull could have made it happen, and it could only happen in Connecticut.'   Trumbull, Washington, and Benoni  Griffin were all Masons.   There are certain appeals that MAY NOT be ignored by a Mason.   However, nephew Stephen II, son of Benoni's dead brother was in the colonial Army too.   Perhaps he had no choice but to feed when appealed to.     We have no mention of Benoni Jr. during the Revolution. His son, Jonathan, was born in 1777.  This family migrated to western Virginia.

William Sharp Sr., was the father of Rachel Sharp who married Jonathan Griffin.  William is described in records from the American Daughters of the Revolution as serving as a private and fifer in Capt. Lewis  Pelham's Company, Colonel Parker's Virginia regiment in 1778.  Mr. Sharp was likely in Bath county VA prior to 1769 to be  familiar with the Greenbrier property he was granted that year and he located his permanent homestead here about 1773.  He saw service as a  scout, spy and soldier against the Indians and the British.   His own parents had been killed by Indians, as well as those of his wife, Mary Meeks. 

Another ancestor, Joseph Rodgers, would have been about 20 at the time of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.   He was the grandfather of our 2 gt grandmother, Elizabeth M. Rodgers Griffin. They hailed from Madison County VA, near the Rapidan River.   Joseph probably knew or knew of the patriots who came from  that area… Madison, Monroe, and  Jefferson.    Joseph’s son, James Rodgers, was married to Elizabeth Jackson,  daughter of Drury Jackson,  who was a Revolutionary Soldier, serving from 1776 to 1778.  Part of his service took place at Charleston, SC, and he mustered out at Valley Forge.  We have many documents concerning Drury’s service and pension.  

Drury Jackson’s wife Elizabeth Bryan(t), was daughter of Jeremiah Bryan(t),  a man of the same area of Virginia (Madison and Culpeper counties).  His wealth was in land, which he claimed by “tomahawk claim”, making improvements and staking out much land to the west of Virginia. Then he did a lot of trading and selling.  He was not mentioned as taking part in the Rev. War, but was probably expanding his own interests to the west.

 On our Terry side of the family, our known ancestors were still in England till 1840’s .  The McGills were in Ireland  until early 1800s.   The Frost family were in Massachusetts and Connecticut at the time of the Revolution. The DAR has record of our Samuel Frost, serving as a private in the 10th Regiment of Connecticut.   He was part of campaigns in New York in 1776 under Brigadier General Walcott. 

On our maternal branches of the family, I have recently found info that our 4 Gt Grandfather, Robert Cochran, was a Revolutionary Soldier from South Carolina. He was one of the first men to declare against the "Tories" in that state. Another maternal ancestor, Samuel Lowry, born 1757 in North Carolina, states in his pension application that he enlisted in 1775 (only 18 years of age) and served for 6 months. By 1776, he volunteered with a regiment fighting Indians, then joined "the company commanded by Samuel Young, and served as a Ranger, and was employed in resisting the scouting and plundering detachment from Lord Cornwallis' army which was then on its way to little York". After the war, he lived in South Carolina and became a medical doctor. (Coincidentally, my Gt Grandfather was named Samuel Young Griffin. I wonder if he was named for this Revolutionary Soldier.)

Our Easter ancestor, James Easter, originally from Virginia, served in Georgia as a Rev. Soldier in 1778. Muster rolls during that year listed him in Brunswick, and White Plaines, Georgia. He later brought his family to Georgia, perhaps on a land grant for his service. I guess he didn't feel a loyalty to the King who had granted his Virginia land, thirty years before.

Our Grant ancestor, Thomas Grant, was still an infant in Scotland, at the time of the Revolution. He possibly came to America as an orphan, indentured servant, ending up in Tennessee.

Fifth Great Grandfather, James Dillard III, was from Williamsburg, Virginia, a most interesting city during that time. On May 15, 1776, the Virginia Convention passed resolutions urging the Continental Congress to declare American independence from Britain. James is shown to have been a Captain in the 10th Virginia Regiment, retiring to Amherst, VA, after the war. His son John Dillard of Amherst was a Colonel, as declared by descendants who applied as members of the Sons of the American Revolution.

We continually discover more generations and try to chronicle ancestors' lives here in the United States and back into the colonies. We begin to relate to these ancestors as real people and wish we knew more about their lives.

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks.  Week #49 theme is "New Horizons".

As our families arrived on the Atlantic Coast, some as early as the 1640s, they must have been anxiously waiting for the view of the new land on the horizon. They were so brave and ready for new experiences. 

Choosing just one of these many early families, I would like to chronicle our Frost family through more than two centuries of seeking "New Horizons."  The immigrant John Frost, our 9th great grandfather, was born 1614 in England. He came first to New York with his father, John, and then to New Haven CT by 1660s.  His son, John, married Mercy Paine there, and was the father of our 7th gt grandfather, Samuel Frost.  (We will find the surname of Paine again in this family line.)  But first, three generations of "Grandpa Samuels" lived in and around New Haven. They would have lived through the struggles of clearing lands and surviving the elements of a new world, including the French and Indian Wars.   Then in 1754, our 4th gt grandfather, Isaac Frost, was born.  His father fought in the Revolutionary War, and they saw the new nation on the horizon.

Soon after the war, a Connecticut investment company made plans to populate the Western Reserve which would include the new city of Cleveland, Ohio.  Isaac and his family would be among the first to make this venture.  In fact, we believe that one of Isaac's sons, Elias, surveyed the plats for the city of Cleveland. Another son, Johnson LymanFrost, our 3rd Gt Grandfather, married Oriana Paine, daughter of Seth Paine (see, I told you that name would show up again). Oriana Paine Frost was the first teacher in the Brecksville, OH area, and her name shows up in streets and institutions. Oriana’s mother, Hannah Nash Paine, descended from a most interesting line including Canada Waite, born in captivity in Canada when her mother was kidnapped by Indians.

Old Isaac, and sons, Elias, and Lyman helped establish the town of Olmstead, OH.  The Frost name is still seen in the area. But even further horizons beckoned, and in 1820, Johnson Lyman and family are found in St. Clair, Michigan. Both Elias and Lyman had studied medicine, and although Lyman was not a doctor, he used his knowledge to assist a doctor there. Then in 1830, he and his family, including our 2 Gt Grandfather; Elias Carlos Frost, have moved further into the frontier to Lacon County Illinois, near Peoria.  As a side note here, while in Lacon County, the Frosts lived about a mile from the Graves family who went west as part of the Donner party.  New horizons were difficult if not impossible to conquer for many in that era.

When the wilds of Iowa opened for settlement, Lyman, whose wife had died in Illinois, took his children, and traveled to Iowa City.  As we look back, it had been 200 years since the first Frost immigrants had arrived in North America, and they had lived in 6 states, always moving westward.  Iowa in the 1840s was a new frontier, with forts and Indian confrontations. Many settlers came with very little furniture and belongings, as they had to travel by wagons pulled by oxen. But Iowa City grew up quickly into an area of businesses, a militia, and academics. The University and debating societies were established by 1847.

It was in Iowa City that our Frosts, Herringtons, Shafers, and McGills came together through marriage. In the 70s, Elias and family, including daughter, Eva, who married Daniel McGill, moved on to the western part of the state. Our grandma, Harriett “Hattie” McGill, and her siblings were born in Audubon County.  According to family lore, farming was difficult due to the weather and the plague of locusts or grasshoppers.  And at one point, the general store in Audubon County, owned by Elias (also called Carlos) was robbed by the "Crooked Creek Gang".

The brother-in-law of Elias (D.P. McGill's foster father), Daniel Shafer, had helped to survey the state line of Nebraska; so Elias and Lucinda, along with the elderly Lyman, moved on to Stuart, Nebraska.  Lyman died there according to the family Bible. His life alone had stretched from Connecticut to Nebraska, and his very interesting personality has been recorded... another story.

After a few years near Keya Paha County, Elias and family moved on west again, to Chadron, Dawes County, Nebraska, around 1888.  The McGills, still in Iowa, headed for the newly opened territory of Oklahoma, with Daniel making the Run of 1889. And Elias also moved his family to Oklahoma, where they lived and died in Perry, Noble County. 

Many descendants and relatives of these Frost families followed their dreams even further west in the U.S.   Their stories include California during the gold rush days and later years, as well as other states. We have so many families who made similar treks, but this is an example of the pioneer spirit…seeking New Horizons.

 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - Week #31 Theme - Help.   

Genealogists/ Family Researchers  are known for generosity and willingness to help others. 

Here is the long story of a helper who went the extra mile to help with our McGill Family research. We knew from Bible and baptism records that Gt Grandfather, Daniel Patrick McGill, had a sister, Bridget Jane, about 9 yrs. older than he was.  Daniel and his siblings were orphaned a few years earlier. Bridget Jane was in one census in Iowa after they came from Canada, age 14, living with brother, John. S. McGill, in 1860, Lura, Cass County, Iowa. Then she was never found in records again, although we searched all available. In Daniel's Bible she wrote, "Study well the lessons taught in this book. They will be worth more to you, my brother, than though I gave you the whole world.  From your sister, Jane.  Grove City, Iowa, Jan. 23, 1864."   Bridget Jane would have been 18 at that writing.  Very touching, but we  never heard about her after that date. 

Finally I searched "Find a Grave" for Iowa and found a grave in Wiota Cemetery, Cass Co. Iowa, for a Bridget McGill, but the  transcribed information said "wife of..." then the transcriber could not read the rest of the inscription.  The photo showed that it was all blackened with moss and age. I knew that if she had married, Bridget's surname wouldn't be McGill, so I wrote to the volunteer  in Iowa who had taken the pictures of the graves. I told her the possibility of our Bridget, but that no one could make out any words. Wiota was a cemetery that was near to where Grove City was once located.  I live in the Atlanta GA area and have never had a chance to visit Iowa. 

So my new long distance friend went to the cemetery three times, over a period of weeks, cleaning and transcribing what she could from the stone.  Sadly, it was broken, but she propped it in place for photographs.  I'm showing the pictures of her progress, before, middle, and after.  She has now posted them to  Find a Grave, and my story there memorializes "our lost girl" Bridget.  Rather than "wife of ..." we found she was daughter of  P & M McGill (Patrick and Mary).

Transcription:  Bridget J. dau of P & M McGill   Died Oct. 31, 1868  Aged 22 Y. 6 M.

Her brothers, Daniel and John would have chosen and had the stone inscribed. If not for a kind lady who volunteered to help, we would never have known about this memorial and we now have the correct information on our 2 Gt Aunt, Bridget Jane, at Find a Grave.

 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - Week #20 theme, Textiles.

May I introduce you to our Gt Aunt Mamie (Mary Lucinda McGill). Notice her beautiful blouse. She may have made it herself, as well as those of her sisters , since she was shown to be a dressmaker in 1900 Census. The McGill family had traveled by covered wagon from Iowa to the newly opening land in Oklahoma in 1889.  By 1910, she had left her rural home in Edmond Oklahoma, to live in the big town of Oklahoma City and work at the five story, marble-floored  Mellon Department Store as a milliner.  

We have found an advertisement from the Mellon Store which states:

Just received from the most authoritative producers of millinery styles, a shipment of hats in the new vogues for early  fall street and afternoon wear.

The new styles are strikingly beautiful and diversity is shown in models, large shapes and small shapes. The Watteau or ageless model  is a very novel one, having a flat round crown and an unusually shaped mushroom brim. Other styles find their inspiration from the ages of Louis XV.

Velvets, hatters' plush silk, and felt are the foundations, with folds, aigrettes, paradise feathers and other plumage as trimmings.

We now have very smart styles at prices ranging from $5.00 - $15.00.

The Mellon Company

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

I believe that Mamie was hired to reproduce those new styles  for the ladies of the city.  In later years she was a milliner at John A. Brown's department store, also in downtown Oklahoma City. She never married and lived in a boarding house where we would visit her.  She dressed stylishly, similar to Chanel styles, in linen dresses or suits, with strings of beads. She dyed her hair auburn all her life. 

These pictures are from a trip she made to California to visit a sister and some cousins.  You can see her ivory linen traveling dress with hat, shoes, hose and gloves to match, even though she and her niece, Evana, were up close and personal with an ostrich.  The second photo was made at the beach during that visit... about 1930.  This family scene carries out the theme of Textiles because of the variety of clothing. (Aunt Mamie is in black with sun glasses.) Makes me grin to see all this bunch dressed up  At The Beach !!!

 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks. Week 13 theme - Sisters.   

These are the 5 McGill girls circa 1900, Edmond OK. My Grandma Hattie and her sisters. Top: Mary Lucinda (Mamie), b. 1876, and Kitty Lela b. 1890. Center: Eliza Amelia, b. 1878. Bottom: Carrie Gladys, b. 1884, and Harriett Emily, b. 1880 (Hattie... my paternal Grandma).

I believe they all were seamstresses and may have made their dress-up blouses. Eliza and Hattie married two of the Griffin boys, who lived about two farms away. We grew up learning that those of us descended from their families were "double cousins". The McGill and Griffin families were '89ers... claiming free land in the Oklahoma Land Run and settling west of Edmond OK. I knew all these lovely ladies and wish I had asked them about their pioneer lives, especially about their grandmother, Lucinda Herrington Frost, who is my "brick wall ancestor". They would have grown up knowing her through their childhood and teen years. Lots to learn about the history of the McGill and Griffin pioneer families.

Irish in Nepean Area, Canada

I have been reading about the Irish immigrants in that county, where Daniel Patrick McGill was born.   Nepean's first permanent settler came to the area in 1810. However, it was the building of the RIDEAU CANAL that boosted settlement in the township with many coming about 1825.  The first settlers farmed plots that were given them and worked on the lumber drives in the winter.  It was a heavily forested area but also swampy.  Among the many diseases that ravaged workers during the building of the Rideau Canal, three of the worst were dysentery, small pox and malaria.Not only the workers but their families suffered from these diseases. We do not know if one of these illnesses caused the deaths of Patrick and Mary McGill's two baby girls, or Patrick himself.  

 

Irish Roots - Mary McGill

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks. Week 4 - CURIOUS.      For the descendants of Daniel Patrick McGill... an anecdote about his mother, Mary. We know very little about her as he only remembered being held to view her at her funeral when he was four or five.

Mary was born in Ireland and crossed the Atlantic to Canada when she was about 8 yrs. old. The new land was very desolate in the 1820s. Logging and working on a new canal was the work of the men. The Catholic church was the heart of the little community of Nepean, near Ottawa. She married Patrick McGill, a man 30 years her senior, also an Irish immigrant, and bore at least 5 children, losing two little baby girls in infancy. When her husband died in his 70s, the 42 year old mother took her 3 children, ages from 2 to 15, joined a group of pioneers and traveled nearly 1000 miles to the state of Iowa. How did she get the idea to start such an undertaking? Did she travel with a large group?  Relatives?  What means of transportation?  We are curious. 

When she arrived in Iowa City, she may have known that with her poor health she could not raise her children. We have found her will which sees to the care of the children.    The oldest boy, John, at age 15, went to work on a farm even further west, for the family of a prominent farmer (whose daughter he later married.) He became a citizen of the United States. Mary’s daughter, Bridget Jane, and youngest son, Daniel Patrick, were assigned to the guardianship of Daniel Shafer and Amelia Frost Shafer, by the terms of the will of their mother, Mary, in 1856. The Shafers were a childless couple also of pioneer stock. They had been  educated as a civil engineer and a teacher-- a strong Presbyterian family, who saw to the higher education and loving care, as well as the religious training of the children. Through the perseverance and plans for the care of her children, made by Mary McGill, our family’s destiny was changed, as we descend from Mary’s youngest son, Daniel Patrick McGill.

Come a Hip, Come a Whoop, Come a Hi Low

This is a song passed down in our Griffin/ McGill family for at least 4 generations. We always thought it was a nonsense song, as the "poor reindeer" couldn't have climbed a tree. But now as I search the Internet, I find it was a hunting song about a fox "Beau Reynard". I am wondering which branch of my family tree brought this song into the family lore, and which generation "mis-heard" the lyrics. Here are the words we know and below are the lyrics from a hunting song from Cornwall.
COME A HIP, COME A HOOP, COME A HI-LO
Chorus:
Come a hip, come a hoop, come a hi-lo
Across the merry way.
With a rip tip tip, and a rap, tap, tap,
And hurrah, boys..
And a bow wow wow and a roodle doodle doo,
And the bugle horn plays fee fie eeedle-ey I - dee oh...
And through the woods we’ll run brave boys,
And through the woods we’ll run.
Verse:
The first thing I saw was a school boy a-comin’ home from school
He said he saw a poor reindeer a - swimmin’ in a pool...
Chorus:
Verse:
The next thing I saw was a blind man, as blind as he could be,
He said he saw a poor reindeer climb up a hollow tree...
Chorus.
______________________________________________________________________________
Published in "The Book Buyer, Vol 11" in 1894, the song was at least 50 years old when printed. The writer says it was brought from Cornwall at that time.
Come all ye merry sportsmen
Who love to hunt the fox,
Who love to chase bold Reynard
Among the hills and rocks!
Come a whoop, come a whoop, come a hi lo
Along the merry lane
With a rap tap tap and a rip tip tip
And hurrah boys, with a bow wow wow
And a roodle doodle do goes the bugle horn
Sing fee-fi-fiddle-di- i -dee-ay
And through the woods we'll run brave boys,
And through the woods we'll run.
_________________________________________________
Another version, attributed to the Germans, says:
With a hoop, hoop, hoop and a heigh-O
Along the narrow straat.
Rat tat tat and a tippee tippee tap
With a bow wow wow
Come a hoodle doodle do
And a bugle sound.
As through the woods he ran brave boys,
And through the woods he ran.
Followed by many verses about Beau Reynard, the fox.

Dan Harrell Griffin

My Daddy, Dan H. Griffin of Edmond and Oklahoma City, OK. Posting his obituary here at Father's Day, along with a few comments made by minister at Daddy's funeral.

DAN HARRELL GRIFFIN, 85, died Thursday, September 30, 1993, at Edmond. He was born before statehood at Edmond, OK, October 26, 1907, oldest son of early settlers of Oklahoma Territory, Charlie and Hattie Griffin. He was preceded in death by brothers, Forrest Lynn (Jiggs) Griffin and Charles Warren (Chick) Griffin, an wife of 55 years, Bess Eloise Avera Griffin.

(I have edited out list of living descendants: Three daughters, one son; nine grandchildren; and now fifteen great grandchildren.)

Mr. Griffin’'s mother, Hattie McGill, was an 89er, daughter of Daniel Patrick McGill, who staked a claim at Deer Creek during the Run of '‘89. Paternal grandmother, Lizzie Terry Griffin, and family settled near Edmond in 1890. He grew up in Edmond and in Cotton County, graduating from Normal Highschool in Edmond, and then from Central State Teachers’ College in Edmond in 1932, with a degree in Industrial Arts Education. For nearly 14 years, he traveled throughout several states working for Phillips Petroleum Co. on seismograph drilling crews. With the establishment of Griffin Drilling Co. in 1946, he and his family returned to Edmond, then to Oklahoma City in 1950. He was always personally involved with every phase of the family business even after retirement and to the final weeks of his life.

He was a member of Edmond Masonic Lodge, #37, Scottish Rite Consistory in Guthrie, and a member of the India Temple Shrine in Oklahoma City. He was an avid sports fan, bird watcher, flower gardener, photographer, and constant student of every type of earth and natural science, geography and history. Sharing these loves with his family, he had traveled to 41 states, Canada, Mexico, and Cuba.

During the past few months he was a resident of Teal Ridge Retirement Community at Edmond where he will be missed by many friends.

Services will be Monday, October 4, at 10:30 a.m. Baggerly Funeral Home in Edmond, with burial at Memorial Park Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation.

Notes from Minister for Dan Griffin's funeral:
Dan... Grandaddy
Determined, persevering, integrity, never a quitter, his word was his bond.
Always interesting and interested, more to learn.
Natural teacher, knew much information.
Telling the young guide, and the tour crowd, in Capitol rotunda about the acoustic bounce.
When he took kids on vacation, it was "industry on Parade", touring factories, dams, etc.
Explaining scientific principles to family.
Multi-faceted, world class student of everything.
Wanted everyone to learn how to do well.
For brief period, a wealthy man, but not very materialistic.
Told future son in law: "Don't marry ___ for my money, I intend to spend it all."
But he didn't ---Generous man.
As a husband, he was the Boss.
As a father, the authority.
As a father in law, a role model and an affirming and generous man.
As a boss, all business to employess, but made lasting friendships with many.
As a Grand Daddy, lively and fun, showing you how to do it. Wanted the grandchildren busy.
OU fan - big time - red jacket - football and basketball.
Type A personality behind wheel of a car.
Taught sharing and giving, very practical. Always picked up the check.
Mad a bird trap (for birds he didn't want in his yard). Took them away opened trunk and bluejays and sparrows flew. Leaving the birds he loved and fed, watching from his office window.
Word person, oral and written communication. Frustration in later years when a stroke left him with problems of communication.
Enjoyed life, did what he wanted to do, was finished.

Miss you, Daddy.

Sixteen Great Great Grandparents

Paternal Gt Gt Grandparents:
1. William Griffin. b. 27 Mar 1812, Bath County, VA (later Pocahontas, WV). m. 25 Oct 1838, Pocahontas Co., VA. d. 4 Nov 1889, Edmond OK OK. Nationality - Wales, England

2. Elizabeth M. Rodgers. b. 4 Aug 1818, probably Madison Co, VA. d. 16 June 1903, Edmond OK, OK. Nationality - probably English, some Dutch

3. William J. Terry. b. 11 Apr. 1812, England. m. 12 Sept 1836, St. Luke's, Old Charlton, Canterbury, Kent, England. May 14 1863, Macon Co., IL. Nationality - English

4. Charlotte Clarke. b. 5 Oct 1806, England. d. 8 Nov 1890, Clackamas Co., OR. Nationality - English, possibly Irish.

5. Patrick McGill. b. bet. 1782-1790 Ireland. m. before 1835 probably Carleton, Ontario, Canada. d. Between 1852 - 56 Ontario, Canada. Nationality - Irish.

6. Mary _____ . b. About 1814, Ireland. d. About Apr 1856, Johnson Co., IA. Nationality - Irish.

7. Elias Carlos Frost. b. 19 Dec 1826, Berea, Cuyahoga Co., OH. m. 5 Oct 1850, Johnson Co., IA. d. 3 Jan 1907, Perry, Noble Co., OK Territory. Nationality - English

8. Lucinda Harrington. b. 26 Jan 1828, New York. d. 11 Feb 1900, Perry, Noble Co., OK Territory. Nationality - English

Maternal Gt Gt Grandparents:
9. Hardy Richard Avera. b. 5 May 1825, Mississippi. m. about 1845 in Wayne Co., Mississippi. d. Sept. 1907, Texas. Nationality - Scotch-Irish

10. Martha Caroline McLeod. b. June 1829, Mississippi. d. Jan 1910, Texas. Nationality - Scottish

11. John C. Easter. b. 1841 in Athens, Limestone Co., AL. m. 19 Nov. 1860 , Grant's Prairie, Robertson Co., TX. d. 4 June 1862, Grant's Prairie, Robertson Co., TX. Nationality - English.

12. Nancy Levenia Grant. b. 21 Mar. 1845, Pontotoc Co., Mississippi. d. 1862, Grant's Prairie, Robertson Co., TX. Nationality - Scottish

13. Francis Asbury Cochran. b.15 Jun 1817, South Carolina. m. 1849, Tennessee. d. before 1880, Arkansas. Nationality - Scottish

14. Sarah Ann Lowry. b. 24 Mar 1833, Union Co., South Carolina. d. 21 Sept. 1878, Fairview, Hopkins Co., TX. Nationality - Scotch-Irish

15. Robert Dillard. b. 1807 Henry Co., VA. m. 15 Sep 1840, Ralls Co., MO. d. 18 Feb. 1868, Jefferson, Marion Co., TX. Nationality - English

16. Elvira Elizabeth Chitwood. b. 1821, Spencer Twp., Ralls Co., MO. d. after 1883, Cooke Co., TX. Nationality - English

My nationality would be from the British Isles. Over 50%, English, with a dash of Welsh. 31% Scotch or Scotch-Irish. And 12.5% Irish. 12 of the 16 born in the United States. 2 Ireland, 2 England. I hope to publish DNA percentages soon.

Frost Family in Oklahoma and California

My gt grandmother, Eva Ida Frost McGill, (center with square neck dress) with siblings and descendants. I believe this picture was taken in Edmond Oklahoma, around early 1920s. Eva's two sisters are on the right, Kitty Frost and husband Dr. Levi Reichard, and Eliza Frost Morgan. The occasion must have been the Reichards' visit, as they lived in Stuart, NE, and such a long trip would be rare. My father, Dan Griffin, is a teenager, on back row left, behind his mother, Hattie and beside his father Charley Griffin. I love the joy in this family gathering.


A day at the beach, near Alhambra, California, during the 1930s. Two Oklahoma cousins, Mamie McGill, 2nd from left, and Evana Bunstine, far right, visit their Frost relatives near their home in California. The older man and woman would be Lew and Alice Frost. Others are children and grandchildren of Lew and Alice. Lew was the brother of my gt grandmother, Eva Frost McGill. We love to see this fully dressed family, gathering at the beach for their photo.

Elias Carlos Frost and Lucinda Harrington

The Biography of Audubon County lists Carlos E. Frost as Clerk of the first election of Exira Township in April 1855. He is listed as an early settler of that county. In 1860 census, their family matches the family Bible:
Carlos E. Frost , age 33, farmer b. Iowa
Lucinda age 31, housework, born NY
Luther C. Age 8 b. Iowa
Celina E. Age 7 b Iowa
Amelia age 6 b. Iowa
Eva Ida age 4 b. Audubon Co. Iowa (the first mention of our gt grandmother)
Omar age 2 b. Audubon Co. Iowa
Lyman J. 7 mo. b. Iowa
Lyman J. Frost age 66 Carpenter [Johnson Lyman Frost, b. CT]
(another child, Vesper, is listed in the family Bible born after Omar. He died as an infant.)

We know very little of the background of Lucinda Harrington. She is found as a single young lady living with a family in Iowa probably serving as a nanny. Her parents were from New York and Rhode Island. I think of her as the true pioneer woman because of her long journeys and strength as she raised her family in frontier homes. Several children of Elias and Lucinda died very young in Audubon County, Iowa between 1860 – 65. Three died in less than 30 days of one another. Amelia,6, Omar,3, and Vesper,1, are buried in the Bowen Cemetery near Exira.

Eva Ida Frost married Daniel Patrick McGill. These are our gt grandparents, and their story is found at this website. http://www.dgranna.com/McGill.html
From Audubon Co. History Book
“Carlos E. Frost came here with his father from Iowa City in 1853, and was a farmer. He lived in the Northwest quarter of section 35, Exira Township. He was a Republican and a popular gentleman. He was clerk at the first county election, April 2, 1855, county treasurer, 1864-65, and during that period lived in Exira, in the Charles Chapin house, which was on the site of the John Mertis residence, Block 16, Exira.”

A report on the county board of Audubon County 1863:
“The board of 1863 consisted of C. E. Frost, Chairman, and J.A. Halleck, Clerk. Among the acts of this board is found in records, “W. S. Carter (pauper) was to be ‘let’ to Wm. Carpenter at $1.40 a week , with $3 appropriation with which to purchase said Carter a hickory shirt and a pair of blue drilling pants.” The further work of the June session of 1863 was to make the following classification for the use of tax assessors:
Prime, wild land per acre, $2.25 tax
Improved land per acre, $4 - $10
Timber land per acre, $ 5 - $15
Town lots in Exira $5
Work cattle per head $40 – 50
Cows per head $6 - $12
Steers (3 yrs. old) per head $6 - $12
Bulls (all ages) $10 - $15
Work horses $10 - $15
Mules $40 - $70
Sheep $3 - $5
Swine (per lb.) 1 ½ cents

In 1883, Elias Carlos Frost was a merchant in Brayton, where his store was burglarized by the “Crooked Creek” gang. His son, Lew C. Frost, and son in law, Dan P. McGill, held the office of county surveyor. A narrative about this era in and near Brayton and Oakfield Iowa is found here http://www.auduboncounty.net/oakfield/OakfieldHistory.html Lucinda and Carlos moved to Stuart, NE about 1884, leaving three children buried in the Bowen Cemetery near Exira. Surviving children who traveled with the family to Nebraska were Lew C., who married Alice Hartman, Salina [Celina], Eva, who married Dan. P. McGill, Edward, Eliza, and Kittie.

Daniel Shafer and Harriett Amelia Frost

Harriett “Hattie” Amelia Frost, older daughter of Johnson Lyman Frost, married Daniel Adam Shafer on April 8, 1843, Johnson Co., Iowa. By 1850, we find J. Lyman and son, Carlos, 24, living with the Shafer family in Johnson County. J. Lyman is listed as a farmer, age 56. (We will note later that the Shafers are the family that took in our great grandfather, Daniel Patrick McGill, as a foster child and raised him when his mother died.)

Biography of Daniel Shafer:
Daniel Adam Shafer was born in NorthHampton County, Pennsylvania, on Dec. 23, 1818, son of Adam Shafer and Mary Buskirk, the oldest of eight siblings. The father, Adam, was a school teacher and soldier, having served as First Lieutenant, 176th Regt. Pennsylvania Militia, Company F.

Daniel Shafer is said to have been educated as an attorney and a civil engineer. He migrated to Iowa Territory as one of its earliest settlers about 1840, at about age 22, and lived in Iowa City, Johnson County. A first cousin, Samuel Huston, came from Pennsylvania at about the same time. According to the Shafer - Huston family history, he ran the Nebraska State Line for the U.S. Government and laid out the city of Omaha, Nebraska.

Daniel Shafer and Harriett Amelia Frost were married April 8, 1843, in Johnson County, Iowa. Miss Frost, also called "Hattie", was the daughter of Johnson Lyman Frost and Oriana Paine. She was born in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, May 19, 1820. Harriett's sister, Celina Calista Frost, married Shafer's cousin, Samuel Huston.

To show how primitive the state was at this time, D.A. Shafer received a bounty [probably $1.00] for one wolf scalp, in the Wolf Harvest of 1845. Ninety-five wolves were killed in that year's county harvest. This from an early history book of Johnson County.

In the 1850 Census of Johnson County, Iowa, Penn Township, the Shafers are farming north of Iowa City. The value of their Real Estate was $1,450. (Average for farmers of the community.) Harriett's father, Lyman J., and brother, Elias Carlos, live with them, as well as a young man, Levi Freeze, and Eliza Huston, the daughter of Harriett's late sister Celina Frost Huston, above. Eliza's father Samuel Huston, had gone to the gold fields of California at that time.

Daniel Shafer is the attorney of record for the will of Mary McGill in April 1856. He was appointed one of the guardians of her three children, along with her older son John S. McGill. The younger children were Bridget Jane, and Patrick D. McGill. The latter is our great grandfather, known as Daniel Patrick McGill. He was raised by Daniel Shafer and wife, Harriett. We do not know the relationship of Mary McGill and the Shafers. She had arrived in Iowa from Canada between 1852 and 1856, with her three children.

In August of 1862, Daniel A. Shafer enlisted in the service as a Lieutenant 1st Class, at the age of 43. He was commissioned in Company E, 28th Iowa Infantry, 10 October 1862, and promoted to Full Captain on February 1, 1863. Resigned 16 Mar 1864. He received a pension as an invalid in 1886, and his second wife, Mary, received pension after his death.

Shafer is listed as a Republican in 1865, and a Democrat in 1872 - History of Johnson Co. Iowa. The family identified with the Methodist Episcopal Church.

The census of 1870, North Liberty Township, Johnson County, Iowa, lists Daniel A. Shafer and wife Harriett, farmers with $12,000 Real Estate and $3,000 Personal Property. Daniel P. McGill, 19, is living with them and attending school, as well as working on the farm. We know he was enrolled at the University of Iowa at about that time. Others in the household are: Daniel S. Wise, Farm Laborer, age 14, Catherine Hack, domestic, age 22, and Catherine Wise, age 2, born Nebraska. The Wise or Weiss family of Johnson county consisted of Daniel Shafer's sister, Julia Shafer Wise, and her husband, Jesse, and children.

Harriett Amelia Frost died April 1, 1871. She is buried in the Oakland Cemetery, Iowa City, Iowa. About nine months later, Daniel married Mary E. Frost, niece of Harriett. Her father was Luther Paine Frost, brother of Harriett; mother was Caroline White. Mary was only 23, at the time of the marriage, while Daniel Shafer was 54. There were no children of this union or that of Harriett and Daniel.

In 1881 Shafer was nominated by Democrats in the election for County Surveyor of Johnson County, Iowa, but he was defeated by Mr. Worden, Republican candidate. Also in that year, D.A. Shafer was an officer of the organization of "Old Settlers" who held dinners and meetings to recall and record the early days of the territory.

He died July 19, 1888 and is buried in Oakland Cemetery, Iowa City, Iowa.

As Daniel A. Shafer was a father figure, who acted as guardian, and mentor who saw to the education of our Gt. grandfather, Daniel Patrick McGill, our family owes a debt of gratitude to this man and his wife, Harriett.
He was mentioned in Daniel McGill's obituary with pride:

"Mr. McGill's parents died when he was quite young. He was reared to manhood by Captain Shafer in Johnson County, Iowa. He received his higher education at a college in Liberty, Iowa. He spent a number of years surveying and teaching school, both in Iowa and after coming to Oklahoma."

New Series on Frost Family Heritage

The Frost family seems to have left clues for us all across the country, from Connecticut to Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, Iowa and Nebraska, then to Oklahoma. Along the way, we find the names of spouses which we will attempt to trace… Paine/Payne, Nash, Cooper, Sanford, Fenn, Towner, Harrington, and more.

Eva Ida Frost McGill, pictured, was our gt. grandmother. Her father was Elias Carlos Frost, the son of Johnson Lyman Frost. Johnson’s father was Isaac Frost. Isaac (our 4gt grandfather) was born in the New Haven area of CT in the 1750s. His family tree, which I am still verifying, will take us back into the 1600s, still in CT.

Oklahoma Land Run of 1889

The anniversary of the Oklahoma Run of April 22, 1889 is upon us. As children we celebrated by re-enacting the Run, making covered wagons, dressing in long skirts or cowboy garb, packing a lunch and staking our claims on the playground. Being descendants of '89ers, we also went to the parades, picnics, and rodeos on '89ers Day. Grandma Hattie (Harriett Emily McGill Griffin) was a true 89er, having arrived by covered wagon from  Iowa after her father, Daniel Patrick McGill, had staked his claim on that memorable day. Her husband, Charley Griffin's family came in the earliest years of the new Oklahoma Territory, living on land claimed by Uncle Pete Griffin also near Edmond. (see Peter Griffin's story in archives).

To read more on the 1889 Land Rush, follow this link transcribed from 1889 Harper's Weekly Magazine. Note the mention of the train coming from Arkansas City, Kansas. Both of our ancestors, Daniel McGill and Peter Griffin, came on that train. Found this photo on line taken at Arkansas City before the Run. Can you find your Gt Grandpa?

The Santa Fe Tracks veer off to the west when they go through Guthrie, and the land west of Edmond would have looked great from the tracks around Waterloo Rd. So Pete Griffin made his claim and his parents' on the south side of Waterloo Rd. on a creek later called "Bloody Rush" or "Bloody Run" creek, west of the Deer Creek. It is now just "Rush Creek" on maps.