| Notes |
- . WILL of Richard Griffin married Susanna Haight, daughter of Nicholas Haight, of Flushing, Long Island. Richard appears to have spent his life at Flushing according to some records, & accumulated considerable property. He had a family of 15 children.
He died in I722 or 1723, In his WILL, dated October 27, 1722, & was probated February 5, 1723, he mentions Susanna & 14 children.
He does not mention his third child, Richard, & it is supposed that he died earlier.
He made two specific bequests. First to "my eldest son, Samuel, £30 to be paid him next third month" &
to "son Joshua £20 when he comes out of his apprenticeship."
Then he bequeaths, "To my dear & loving wife Susanna, all my lands, housings, orchards & meadows with all the rest of my estate, real & personal, whatsoever, wholly to dispose of & use as she shall think best for the bringing up of my children, & if she die my widow she shall have full power to distribute whatever of my estate may be remaining, but if she chance to marry again then she shall have one-third of all when the land & housing is sold & all in a condition to be divided.
. During the revolution, a number of the sons in the 7th generation of American Griffins who lived in the Nine Partners, New York were Loyalists. Isaiah's sons, Joseph & Charles, were in Jessup's Royal Rangers, Samuel, being too young, had remained on the farm in Charlotte County. Joseph & Charles, as well as some of their cousins, were imprisoned in Albany's jail. William Griffin, a farmer in Charlotte County, was "committed as a dangerous person, examined & recommitted", a petition in his favor, & he was released on bail"
Ref: MINUTES of the Commissioners for Detecting & Defeating Conspiracies in the State of New York, vol. 11, 1780-81.
. The Exodus to Canada
Isaiah Griffin's sons. Joseph & Charles, as well as some imprisoned cousins, escaped & rejoined Jessup's Royal Rangers. This group moved up the Hudson River & took refuge in Quebec.
Samuel Griffin was granted as an United Empire Loyalist Lot 4, Con 2, Elizabethtown, Yonge Twp., Leeds Co., Ontario.
. Richard Griffin, eldest son of Edward, born June 22, 1732, was a school teacher, farmer & miller. He married Mary Smith, daughter of Judge Abraham Smith, New York.
They had 12 children, 7 sons & 5 daughters, all of whom, except the eldest daughter, came to Canada in 1786. Early in that year Richard & his second son, Edward, then 22 years of age, came over & selected as their future home the site of the present village of Smithville, South Grimsby, Lincoln Co., where the family was allotted 800 acres of land.
The father then returned to Duchess County for the rest of the family, leaving Edward alone in the vast wilderness, which he lived to see become a well populated & prosperous settlement. The arrangements for moving & the wearisome journey through a wild country occupied six months. Part of the family came by barges up lake Ontario from Rochester to Niagara, bringing their mill machinery, & the others followed the Indian trail, bringing their live stock through the forest, western New York not being then settled. Rochester consisted of little more than a blacksmith shop & a tavern. The settlement of this family in South Grimsby became known as the Griffin Settlement, & is sometimes yet called Griffinville, though they themselves called it Smithville, in honor of their mother. Great was the rejoicing of Edward on the arrival of his relatives, for a lonely time had been his lot, though he had kept himself busy building a log house & manufacturing rude furniture to make it as civilized as possible.
Richard lived long enough to see his family well established in this pioneer home & several of them married. He died in 1794, aged 62 years. Most of his children lived to very advanced age.
Edward, the pioneer of pioneers, died Aug. 13, 1862, aged 98 years, as his Monument in the Methodist churchyard states.
. An essay written in 1878 by Mr. Abishai Moore tells of their efforts. The following extract from the essay summarizes the facts : "In or about 1792 a Methodist class was organized in Smithville, or as it was then called, Griffin Settlement. There was a large family of these Griffins, & they appear to have had considerable influence in the community in those days. They all became members of the class, & proceeded, as was the custom among those early Methodists, to go out into the highways & seek those to whom they could tell the glad tidings. In a short time the little class at Griffin Settlement became an important institution in the locality, & many of the leading families of the district became connected with it, among them being the Merritts, Johnsons & Wrongs. - - - [1, 2]
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1655 - 1723 (68 years)