Samuel Griffing (1710 - 1789)

Born 25 Sep 1710 in Southold, Suffolk, New York

Ancestors

Husband of Martha (Vail) Griffing — married 25 May 1756 in Southold, Suffolk, New York

Descendants

Died 25 Aug 1789 at age 78 in Bradford, New Haven, Connecticut, USA

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Biography

Samuel Griffing was born in 1710. He was named as a son in his father's will dated March 1728-9. ^[1]

Samuel married first Elizabeth Landon, daughter of Nathan & Hannah (Bishop) Landon, in 1732 at Southold, Suffolk, NY - their children were Seth, Daniel, Lydia, James, Peter & Elizabeth

After the death of wife Elizabeth he married Martha Vail, daughter of John & Hannah (Landon) Vail, on 25 May 1756 at Southold, Suffolk, NY - parents of Mary, Parnal, Jared & Aaron

Grandfather of Augustus Griffin. Augustus and his father visited his grandfather in May of 1787 at Branford, Connecticut. Also stopped and visited Jasper Griffin, the son of Robert Griffin, brother to Samuel Griffin, grandfather of Augustus. Aunts Betsy and Polly were married and living in Guilford.

Samuel Griffing passed away in 1789.

Family Story

The following is a family story about Benjamin Franklin as told by Augustus Griffin, in "Griffin's Journal; ^[2] "About two years prevous to this (viz. 1755), Dr. Benjamin Franklin passed through the Island from Brooklyn to Southold Harbor, and in a carriage by his own construction. It as so contrived, with clockwork or machinery of peculiar make, that a bell would be struck at the termination of every twenty rods. By this means, the Doctor measured the distance accurately -- his object, no doubt, being to ascertain the length of the island, and it seems a little strange that he did not proceed to the end. He stopped at the Inn of my grandfather, Samuel Griffin, at the Harbor (120 miles from Brooklyn, as the road was at that day) and who too him, the following day, across the Sound to New London. The Doctor was on the way to Boston to visit his widowed mother."

Genealogical Records

The following section of this profile provides detailed information found in the various cited sources. The purpose of this section is to provide the reader access to the information contained in the cited sources; to identify source data conflicts and identify the origin of data errors; and, finally, to provide a platform to analyze, cross-correlate, and comment on important aspects of the cited historical data record.

Published Genealogical Information

• Secondary Source, Clara Jeanette Stone, Genealogy of the Descendants of Jasper Griffing, ^[3] Data:

1. ) Griffing Genealogy; page 10 - 12: Samuel Griffing (16), born 25 Sept., 1710, son of Robert Griffing (6) and Lydia (Kirkland) Griffing, married, 1732, Elizabeth Landon, born 14 June, 1710,daughter of Nathan Landon of Southold, who came from Herefordshire, England; born 1664; came to America; married; and died at Southold 1718, aged 54 years.
   1. ) Samuel Griffing was but nineteen years of age when his father died, and we find him soon after this event as eldest son in possession of the homestead, assuming charge of the family and the guardianship of his youngest brother Jasper, who was at his father's death but seven years old. The mother, Lydia (Kirkland) Griffing, married, 1732, a second husband.
   2. ) Elizabeth (Landon) Griffing was the mother of thirteen children, eleven of whom survived her. The entry in the family Bible, made by her husband at the time of her death, reads thus : "Aug. 19, 1755, departed this life my own wife, Elizabeth." He married as second wife, 25 May, 1756, Martha Vaill, by whom he had four children.
   3. ) In the large family which Samuel Griffing reared, there was the most marked loyalty to parents, and the most devoted love preserved between the numerous brothers and sisters even to old age. The grandmother of the writer always prefaced everyone of these, to her, precious household names, with " brother," " sister," down to her dying day. The father's was an iron will, as was wont in those Puritan days ; but there was perfect love and veneration for him notwithstanding. The step-mother, too, filled in a wonderful way the place of the beloved Elizabeth Landon, and the writer knows, by her own remembrance, that no two sisters ever loved one another more fondly than the step-sisters who both married in Guilford.
   4. ) In the autumn of 1776, as the British were taking possession of Long Island, many families fled panic-struck at their approach, and left their homesteads to the mercy of the invaders. Hon. Ezra L'Hommedieu and Samuel Griffing, whose houses stood not more than thirty rods apart, and who were closely attached by ties of neighborhood and friendship, both left with their immediate families for Connecticut.
   5. ) By reference to the incidents of Jasper Griffing's life in a succeeding page, it will be seen that he had settled down in the town of Guilford, Ct., some thirty years previous to this; had become a prosperous citizen, owning houses and lands ; and more, had just completed the purchase of the Whitfield House, or Stone House as it is called in common parlance to this day, and in this house our exile, with his wife, two daughters and two sons, found a home for a year or more. By this time a farm was found to his liking and purchased in the town of Branford, but a few miles west of Guilford, to which he soon removed. In 1787 his two daughters, Elizabeth and Mary, both married and settled in Guilford. Solomon Stone, a descendant of John Stone from England, marrying Elizabeth, and Medad Stone, a descendant of William Stone (John's brother) from England, marrying Mary. Samuel Griffing died 1789; Martha (Vaill) Griffing died 1791.
   6. ) Children of Samuel Griffing and Elizabeth (Landon) Griffing:
      1. ) Samuel Griffing (53.); b. 20 July 1733.
      2. ) Seth Griffing (54.); b. 12 Oct 1734.
      3. ) Daniel Griffing (55.); b. May 1736.
      4. ) Lydia Griffing (56.); b. 13 Nov 1737; d. 1 Oct., 1754.
      5. ) James Griffing (57.); b. 14 Oct 1739.
      6. ) Experience Griffing (58.); b. — — , 1741.
      7. ) Peter Griffing (59.); b. 2 Sept 1742.
      8. ) David Griffing( 60.); b. 1743 ; d. 11 Aug 1763, at St. Johns, Antigua.
      9. ) Moses Griffing (61.); b. 6 Sept 1745.
      10. ) Joshua Griffing (62.); b. 20 Aug 1749; d. 15 Sept 1771, at Cape May.
      11. ) Aaron Griffing (63.); b. 15 Feb 1752; d. 21 Oct 1754.
      12. ) Infant (64.); b. ; lived but a few days.
      13. ) Elizabeth Griffing (65.); b. 17 Feb 1755.
   7. ) Children of Samuel Griffing and Martha Vail:
      1. ) Mary Griffing (66.); b. 20 April 1758.
      2. ) Parnal Griffing (67.); b. 1 Sept 1759; d. 27 July 1764.
      3. ) Jared Griffing (68.); b. 16 June 1762.
      4. ) Aaron Griffing (69.); b. 10 June 1764

Samuel Griffing never returned to live in his Long Island home after he went to Connecticut — only returned to see his house a wreck, a " cannon planted in the window," and the like

• Secondary Source, Augustus Griffin, Griffin's Journal ^[2] This Journal provides a narrative on the Settlers of Oyster Pond, Long Island, New York, renamed Orient (for Easterly) in 1836. The Volume documents the state of the Orient, L.I. population at the time, 1857 of publication and traces the genealogies of those families back to the original Settlers of the area. The narrative of the contemporary and previous generation or so seems reliable, however, the accuracy of the earliest generations is questionable at best and has frequently been proven to be in error, as is the case for it's Beebe genealogy. Extract:

1. ) Page 228-229: Benjamin Franklin story.

Research Notes

1. ) The following definitions and syntax conventions apply to the preceding text of this profile:
   1. ) A Primary Source contains data that was recorded by the person in the profile; or by someone known to or with first hand knowledge of that person, during the person's lifetime, death or within two generations thereafter.
   2. ) A Secondary Source is a genealogical reference created as the result of a extensive study of available source material and it provides some evidence of the source documentation used to generate the text data.
   3. ) A Tertiary Source is a genealogical data source which is a collection of genealogical information that does not cite Primary or Secondary information sources, and the data may be factual or hearsay.
   4. ) Braces {Editorial Note Example} are used to insert editorial comments; that is to say, information or clarification that is not contained in the original, cited source material.

Sources

1. ↑ William S. Pelletreau; Abstracts of unrecorded wills prior to 1790 on file in the Surrogate's Office, City of New York, Vol XI; The New York Historical Society, 1903.Page 159
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} Griffin, Augustus, Griffin's Journal, First Settlers of Southold; The Names of Heads of Those Families, Being only thirteen at the time of their landing; First Proprietors of Orient; Biographical Sketches, &c. &c. &c.. Orient, L.I., Published by Augustus Griffin, 1857.
3. ↑ Stone, Clara Jeanette; Genealogy of the Descendants of Jasper Griffing, New York, 1881. Public Domain.

Other Sources