Margaret (Unknown) Griswold (abt. 1608 - 1670)

Born about 1608 in England

Wife of Edward Griswold — married about 1629 (to 23 Aug 1670) in England

Descendants

Died 23 Aug 1670 at about age 62 in Killingworth, New London, Connecticut

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Margaret (Unknown) Griswold migrated to New England during the Puritan Great Migration (1621-1640). Join: Puritan Great Migration Project Discuss: pgm

Biography

Margaret (______) Griswold died August 23, 1670,^[1] and is buried in Clinton, Connecticut, Congregational Burying Ground: gravestone marked M.G. 1670.^[2]

Her grave site is reportedly the oldest in the Old First Church (Indian River) Cemetery. Marked only with "M.G. 1670", it is believed to be the burial place of Margaret Griswold, wife of Killingworth (now Clinton) settler Edward Griswold. Several birth surnames have been posited for Margaret, most frequently HICKS, but all have been discredited in family literature.^[2]

There are no actual records of her birth or marriage, and her maiden name remains unknown.^{[3] [4]}

According to the Griswold Family Association, who have done extensive research, and "The Griswold Family: 12 Generations in England" 1999, p. 54, Edward married Margaret [__?__] about 1628 in England. She was born about 1609. Margaret died 23 Aug 1670 in Killingworth, Middlesex, Connecticut…

NOTE: THE NEXT TWO PARAGRAPHS ARE PENDING INFORMATION THAT WILL BE UPDATED LATER: About Aug. 17, 1639, Rev. Ephriam Huit arrived in Windsor, Connecticut with his company. He had been pastor at Warwickshire, England of the Kenilworth Parish and of the Puritan faith. He was censured and silenced which was the moving cause of his organizing his company and for his removal to New England. Edward and Matthew Griswold were members of this company. Edward and Margaret Griswold arrived in America in 1639 with their growing family. (The Griswold family : England-America, Vol. II. about Edward Griswold)

Margaret and Edward Griswold married in England, and their first five children were baptized in Kenilwoth Parish, England; the other children were recorded in Windsor, Connecticut. They had twelve children, but three died young, or are presumed to have died young. Their children are Sarah born in 1631, but died young; George born in 1633; Francis, a son, born in 1635; Lydia born in 1637, presumably died young and no further information is available; a second daughter, Sarah born in 1638; John born in 1642 and died young; Ann or Hannah born in 1642; Mary born in 1644; Deborah born in 1646; Joseph born in 1647; Samuel born in 1649; and a second son John born in 1652. (The Griswold family : England-America, Vol. II. Edward Griswold, and Dawes-Gates https://archive.org/details/dawesgatesancest00ferr_0/page/398/mode/2up)

From Genealogical and Personal History of Western Pennsylvania:

(Edward Griswold,) He married (first) in England, in 1630, Margaret , who died August 23, 1670. Her gravestone is the oldest in the burial ground at Clinton, formerly Killingworth. Children of first wife: Sarah, born 1631, in England; George, mentioned below; Frances, 1635; Lydia, 1637; Sarah, 1638, married (first) November 10, 1650, Samuel Phelps, (second) July 21, 1670, Nathaniel Pomeroy; Ann, baptized June 19, 1642, at Windsor ; Mary, baptized October 1, 1644, married, March 19, 1661, Timothy Phelps; Deborah, June 28, 1646, married Samuel Buell ; Joseph, born and baptized March 12, 1647; Samuel, born and baptized November 16, 1649, died July 6, 1672; John, born and baptized August 16, 1652.

Research Notes

Disputed Parents and Last Name

There is lack of agreement about her maiden name. The theories are as follows:

1. Blencow, daughter of John Blencow and Mary Walleson of Marston-St. Lawrence, Kings Sutton Hundred; "married Edward Griswold of Cubbington in Solihull, co. Warwick."^[5] BUT, a later TAG article points out that the Edward Griswold of that parish died in 1633 and his wife died the same year, excluding the possibility that this was the immigrant couple to Connecticut!^[6]
2. Hicks -- either daughter of a Robert Hicks, or wife/widow of a Hicks who she supposedly married in 1628, the year before she married Edward Griswold. New England Genealogy, Vol. 1, p.250, cites her surname as HICKS, but the Robert Hicks family was already in Plymouth as of 1621. Records indicate Margaret and Edward were married in England after this date.
3. Diamond. The source for this claim appears to have been "The Compendium of American Genealogy" that states that Margaret Diamond, Edward Griswold's first wife was the daughter of John Diamond. It states that Edward's second wife was Sarah Bemis of New London, CT. However, after the death of Edward’s first wife, Margaret, he married Sarah Bemis, the widow of James Bemis. Most likely the names of Margaret and Sarah Dimond were confused.

• Her parentage has been disproven, so the profiles of Robert Hicks and Margaret Unknown have been removed as her parents.

Sources

1. ↑ Killingworth Vital Records pg. 79 - GRISWOLD MARGARET w. Edward d: 23 Aug 1670
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} Find A Grave: Memorial #7604241
3. ↑ Mary Walton Ferris, Dawes-Gates Ancestral Lines, (1943, 1931), viewed on Ancestry.com, page 402.
4. ↑ Glenn E. Griswold, The Griswold Family, England-America (Middleboro, Massachusetts, 1935), viewed on Ancestry.com, page 16.
5. ↑ "Margaret (Blencow) Griswold," in The American Genealogist, 39(1962):180, but without citing a source for this claim, unless she is citing Visitation of Northamptonshire, 1618-1619, p 69
6. ↑ John G. Hunt, "Note on the Ancestry of the Griswolds of Connecticut," in The American Genealogist, 40:43

See also:

• Jordan, John W. Genealogical and Personal History of Western Pennsylvania (Lewis Historical Pub. Co., New York, 1915, Vol. 3. pg. 1707-1711)