Ralph Griffin (1754 - 1838)

Born 5 Aug 1754 in Halifax County, Colony of Virginia

Ancestors

Husband of Catherine (Munson) Griffin — married about 1774 in Colony of Virginia

Descendants

Died 13 Sep 1838 at age 84 in Switzerland, Indiana, United States

Problems/Questions Profile managers: Marc Griffin [send private message] and Michele McNew [send private message]

Biography

Ralph Griffin was a Virginia colonist.

Ralph Griffin migrated from Halifax County, Virginia to Camden District, South Carolina.

Private Ralph Griffin served with Fairfield County Regiment, South Carolina Militia during the American Revolution.

Ralph Griffin is an NSSAR Patriot Ancestor.
NSSAR Ancestor #: 170725
Rank: Private

Ralph Griffin is a DAR Patriot Ancestor, A048219.

Ralph Griffin migrated from Chester County, South Carolina to Kentucky.

Ralph Griffin migrated from Kentucky to Jefferson County, Indiana Territory.

Ralph Griffin was an early pioneer in the Indiana Territory.

Ralph was a farmer.

Birth

According to his affidavit in support of a pension for his service in the Revolutionary War, Ralph was born on 5 August 1754, in Halifax County, Virginia. However, the War Department interpreted this date as 5 January 1754 and it is often reported as such.^[1]Likewise, his cenotaph, which is a government marker, bears the incorrect month of January.

Marriage

No record has been found of his marriage to Wilmouth Owen. He was married by 1775 when his oldest son David was born.

Southern Migration

Ralph appears on the Halifax County, Virginia, Militia Roster, as Ensign on 19 July 1770.^[2]He would have been a teenager at that time.

Sometime in the early years of the 1770s, Ralph moved from Halifax County, Virginia, to Camden District, South Carolina. His first son, David, was born there in 1775. He would have been a part of the flood of Scotts, Irish, Welsh, and German migration into the two Carolinas from 1740 to 1765. He resided there until he entered the service of the Patriots in January, 1779.

Ralph's first record in South Carolina came when he witnessed his father's deed of 14 April 1776 for the purchase of 100 acres on the Sandy River in Chester Co. Samuel was then living in St. Mark Parish, Craven County.^[3]

Ralph was sued in the Chester County, South Carolina, court by Edward Lacey & Company. On 4 July 1786 a jury assessed damages against Ralph in the sum of twenty-four pounds, three shillings and six pence.^[4]

Revolutionary War Service

In January 1779, he was drafted as a militiaman in the service of the United States. After his term of service of two months had expired, he was discharged and he returned home.

In July 1780, he volunteered for service. He was in the Battle of Kings Mountain on October 7, 1780 in Cherokee County, South Carolina.^[1] After several other battles, he returned home in the middle of April, 1781.^[1]

A file containing a transcription of his pension application, #S16389, can be downloaded here: http://revwarapps.org/s16389.pdf

Westward Migration

In the Fall of 1786, Ralph Griffin moved his family from South Carolina to Jefferson County, Virginia (present-day Kentucky). They most likely walked that famous path, which became known as the Wilderness Road, a trail blazed through the Cumberland Gap into Kentucky. The road crossed difficult mountains, and rushing rivers, and ran through Indian lands. Indian raids and white robbers both were significant problems, so many people chose to travel the road in large groups. But the risks were worth taking for the rewards of bountiful hunting grounds, rich farmland, and good salt licks.

Land speculation was an important source of income as the first settlers sold their claims for cash to newcomers and moved further west. Over a period of a decade, Ralph and his family moved further west several times.

Jefferson County, Virginia (now Kentucky)

Ralph's daughter Elizabeth Griffin married Aaron Vancleave on 3 May 1791 in Jefferson, Virginia, United States.^[5]

Kentucky separated from Virginia and was admitted as a State in 1792.

Fayette County, Kentucky

Ralph and his son John are listed in the 1788 and 1790 Fayette County, Kentucky, tax lists.^[6]

Shelby County, Kentucky

Shelby County was created in 1792. Ralph is listed in a 1795 tax list on Drennan's Creek in Shelby County, Kentucky, adjacent to his wife's brother-in-law Benjamin VanCleave and her nephew, Allen Munson.

His daughter Sarah married Allan Munson on 28 July 1795 in Shelby, Kentucky, United States.^[7]

His daughter Mary married Stephen Green on 18 September 1798 in Shelby, Kentucky, United States.^[8]

His son David married Elizabeth Robertson (~1788 - 1856 on 6 February 1806 in Shelby, Kentucky, United States.^[9]

Henry County, Kentucky

Henry County was created from Shelby County in 1798. In 1800, Ralph, as well as his oldest son David, are on the Henry County, Kentucky, tax list.^[6] He bought 30 acres on Drennan's Creek in 1804 and sold it the next year.

Ralph was a farmer and would have grown most of his own food, using the corn crop to feed hogs and to distill into whiskey. He may have obtained cash from the sale of tobacco.

His daughter Charity married Isaac Heady on 22 December 1801 in Henry, Kentucky, United States.^[10]

Early Hoosier Life

In April 1806, Ralph and his family came to what is now Jefferson County, Indiana.^[1][11]They settled along the waters of the Indian Kentucky Creek^[12]in what is now known as Sections 14 and 15 of Milton Township.^[13] Ralph and his family were Baptists.^[14]

Although the Treaty of Grouseland for the purchase of the land that included present-day Jefferson County had been signed the year prior to their arrival,^[15] Ralph and his family had many skirmishes with the local Native Americans.^[16]

On 24 October 1807, Ralph, his son John along with other citizens of Clark County, Indiana Territory (present-day Jefferson County), and signed a petition to Governor William Henry Harrison that he issue a commission to John Vawter as a Justice of the Peace because they are at a distance of twenty miles from one.^[17]

On 18 November 1808, Ralph is listed in the Clark County, Indiana Territory, Estray Book for taking up a stray animal, probably a horse, in that county (present-day Jefferson County).^[18]

He was on a list of electors in Madison Township, Clark County, Indiana Territory (present-day Jefferson County) on 22 May 1809.^[19]

Sometime before 1810, Ralph moved to Telegraph Hill.

On 19 February 1811, Ralph and his two sons, David and John, registered their stock earmarks.^[20]

On 1 April 1811 Ralph and his son John had their names added to the petition of Jesse Vawter and others to Governor William Henry Harrison to have Williamson Dunn become the judge to replace Judge McFarland who had resigned.^[21]

On or about 23 October 1811, Ralph and James Johnston, upon indictment for assault and battery on Isaac Jones, pleaded not guilty and both were found guilty by a jury. Ralph made bond with Charles Easton as his security.^[22]

He signed a petition to Congress, referred 11 Dec. 1811, by citizens of the Indiana Territory complaining of the improper interference of their governor in elections.^[23]

On 22 June 1811, the Grand Jury of Jefferson County, Indiana Territory, returned an indictment against his sons John and David, and Elijah Devore for a Riot. Ralph made their bond. ^[24]

At different times in 1812, Ralph and his sons John and David were indicted for assaults. All of the assaults were on Benjamin Devore. A couple of times they were acquitted but John was convicted more than one time for assault and Ralph and David drew at least one conviction each.

On 20 May 1816, Ralph appears in the Estray Book of a Justice of the Peace for Jefferson County, Indiana Territory.^[25]

Ralph, listed as Raff, is found in the poll book as a voter in an election held for the Township of Milton on 2 August 1819.^[26]

On 7 August 1826, Ralph was listed as a voter in Madison Township, Jefferson County, Indiana.^[27]

Nickname & Mark

The only mention of the nickname of "Rafe" appears in the History of Jefferson County Indiana.^[28] In all legal documents he was named Ralph.

Ralph could not write so he did not sign his name. He was known to sign "his mark" not with the typical "X" but rather with a capital "R".

Indiana Land Transactions

On 27 March 1811, Ralph entered 160 acres in Section 14, Twp. 4 N., Range 11 E., land on Indian-Kentuck Creek, near Manville. His other holdings included lots in Madison and land in Switzerland Co.

On 12 March 1816, Ralph purchased two lots in the newly created Town of Madison from the four proprietors, John Paul, Jonathan Lyon, Lewis Davis and Jacob Barnet. Lot 23 to Ralph Griffin, also Lot 28^[29]

On 18 May 1816, Ralph Griffin and Catherine Griffin sold their two lots to Basil Bentley, Lot 23 and also Lot 28, and they signed by their "X" mark^[30]

On 27 March 1817, Ralph obtained 160 acres in Section 14 of Milton Township, Jefferson County.^[31]

On 20 May 1817, Ralph purchased an assignment from Solomon Stephens and received a land patent from the federal government for 80 acres he purchased in Jefferson County.^[32]

On 14 January 1820, Ralph purchased land from John and John's wife Nancy.^[33]

On 15 December 1825, Ralph received a land patent from the federal government for 160 acres he purchased in Switzerland County between present-day Brooksburg and Canaan.^[34]

On 20 August 1827, Ralph received a land patent from the federal government for 80 acres he purchased in Switzerland County a short distance north of present-day Brooksburg.^[35]

On 5 July 1831, Ralph obtained 80 acres in Section 15 of Milton Township, Jefferson County.^[36]

On 5 December 1831, Ralph received a land patent from the federal government for 80 acres he purchased in Jefferson County between present-day Brooksburg and Canaan.^[37],^[38]

Census & Census Substitute Records

In the 1788 census Ralph was in Fayette, Kentucky.^[39]

In the 1790 census Ralph was in Fayette, Kentucky.^[40]

In the 1800 census Ralph was in Henry, Kentucky.^[41]

In the 1820 census Ralph was in Jefferson, Indiana.^[42]

In the 1830 census Ralph was in Jefferson, Indiana.^[43]

Ralph was listed on the 1835 Revolutionary War pension rolls as living in Jefferson County, Indiana.^[44]

Ralph was in a census of Revolutionary War Pensioners in 1831-1848 in Indiana, United States.^[45]

Death, Burial & Cenotaph

Ralph died in Switzerland County, Indiana, at the home of John Rogers according to probate records. Rogers was Griffin's executor and had married Griffin's granddaughter, Jamima Green. It is likely that Ralph is buried in a now unmarked grave near the home of John Rogers where he died.

The "In Memory of" Veterans Affairs headstone in the Brushy Fork Baptist Cemetery is a cenotaph as his actual burial location is unknown. There is no evidence to support that he was actually buried there where his son, David, was buried. A descendant honored his life by requesting this stone be placed here.^[46]

There is no evidence to support that he was buried in Springdale Cemetery in Madison, Indiana, as suggested by early records of the John Paul Chapter of the DAR.^[47] This information appears to be based on a newspaper account which says a Mr. Griffin was buried in Springdale in July 1838.

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3} [1]
2. ↑ Virginia's Colonial Soldiers by Lloyd DeWitt Bockstruck, 1988; page 19; [2]
3. ↑ Chester Co., S.C. Deeds.
4. ↑ Order Book A, pages 83,115 and 118, Minutes of County Court, 1785-1799
5. ↑ Marriage of daughter Elizabeth Griffin: "Kentucky Marriages, 1785-1979"
   citing Digital film/folder number: 005557866; FHL microfilm: 817859; Record number: 203; Packet letter: C
   FamilySearch Record: F43V-F9N (accessed 28 September 2023)
   Ralph Griffin's daughter Elizabeth Griffin marriage to Aaron Vancleave on 3 May 1791 in Jefferson, Virginia, United States.
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1} Ancestry.com. Kentucky, Compiled Census and Census Substitutes Index, 1810-1890 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 1999.
7. ↑ Marriage of daughter Sarah Griffin: "Kentucky, County Marriages, 1797-1954"
   citing Marriage, , Shelby, Kentucky, United States, various county clerks and county courts, Kentucky; FHL microfilm 259,276
   FamilySearch Record: Q2QD-SJZ4 (accessed 28 September 2023)
   FamilySearch Image: 3QSQ-G9S9-RV3Z Image number 00148
   Ralph Griffin's daughter Sarah Griffin married Allan Munson on 28 Jul 1795 in Shelby, Kentucky, United States.
8. ↑ Marriage: "Kentucky, County Marriages, 1797-1954"
   citing Marriage, , Shelby, Kentucky, United States, various county clerks and county courts, Kentucky; FHL microfilm 259,276
   FamilySearch Record: Q2QD-SKLB (accessed 30 September 2023)
   FamilySearch Image: 3QSQ-G9S9-RNGG Image number 00545
   Mary Griffin marriage to Stephen Green on 18 Sep 1798 in Shelby, Kentucky, United States.
9. ↑ Marriage: "Kentucky, County Marriages, 1797-1954"
   citing Marriage, , Shelby, Kentucky, United States, various county clerks and county courts, Kentucky; FHL microfilm 259,278
   FamilySearch Record: Q2QD-SLHX (accessed 30 September 2023)
   FamilySearch Image: 3QSQ-G9S9-RNKD Image number 00478
   David Griffin marriage to Elizabeth Robertson on 6 Feb 1806 in Shelby, Kentucky, United States.
10. ↑ Marriage: "Kentucky, U.S., Compiled Marriages, 1802-1850"
    Original data: Dodd, Jordan, Comp.. Kentucky Marriages to 1850. Electronic transcription of marriage records held by the individual counties in Kentucky
    Ancestry Record 2089 #33193 (accessed 28 September 2023)
    Charity Griffin marriage to Isaac Heady on 22 Dec 1801 in Henry, Kentucky, USA.
11. ↑ [3]
12. ↑ See Attached Image
13. ↑ See Attached Image
14. ↑ [4]
15. ↑ [5]
16. ↑ [6]
17. ↑ [7]
18. ↑ Clark County Estray Book, 1801-1817. Microfilm copy, Genealogy Division, Indiana State Library.
19. ↑
    Document: Election Returns, 1809, 1812 [Indiana Historical Society]; Call Number: Coll. # M98 Box 32; Volume Number: Folder 6; Page Number: 5; Family Number: 8
    Ancestry Record 2234 #156210 (accessed 12 July 2023)
    Ralph Griffin in Madison Township, Clark County, Indiana.
20. ↑ Jefferson County First Court Book, 1811-1817, The Hoosier Journal of Ancestry No. 2, by Naomi Keith Sexton, 1989, page 62.
21. ↑ See Attached Image
22. ↑ Jefferson County First Court Book, 1811-1817, The Hoosier Journal of Ancestry No. 2, by Naomi Keith Sexton, 1989, page 72.
23. ↑
    Document: Territorial Papers of the US; Volume Number: Vol 8; Page Number: 147; Family Number: 37
    Ancestry Record 2234 #13436 (accessed 12 July 2023)
    
24. ↑ Jefferson County First Court Book, 1811-1817, The Hoosier Journal of Ancestry No. 2, by Naomi Keith Sexton, 1989, page 68
25. ↑ See Attached Image
26. ↑ The Hoosier Journal of Ancestry, Jefferson County, Indiana, Special No. 3, LIttle York, IN: 1991, page 3.
27. ↑ Jefferson County Court Order Book A, 1810-1819, The Hoosier Journal of Ancestry Special No. 4, Publisher: The Hoosier Journal of Ancestry, Little York, Ind., 1992, page 41.
28. ↑ Biographical and Historical Souvenir for the Counties of Clark, Crawford, Harrison, Floyd, Jefferson, Jennings, Scott, and Washington, Indiana. (1889). United States: Chicago printing Company, page 164.[8]
29. ↑ Deed Book A, 1812-1817, Jefferson County, Indiana, as shown in Jefferson County Special No. 1, Publisher: The Hoosier Journal of Ancestry, Little York, Indiana; page 98
30. ↑ Deed Book A, 1812-1817, Jefferson County, Indiana, as shown in Jefferson County Special No. 1, Published by The Hoosier Journal of Ancestry, Little York, Indiana; page 99
31. ↑ Jefferson County Special No. 1, Publisher: The Hoosier Journal of Ancestry, Little York, Indiana; page 62
32. ↑ Bureau of Land Management, General Land Office Records; Washington D.C., USA; Federal Land Patents, State Volumes, Accession Number CV-0034-143
33. ↑ See Attached Image
34. ↑ Bureau of Land Management, General Land Office Records; Washington D.C., USA; Federal Land Patents, State Volumes, Accession Number CV-0084-309
35. ↑ Bureau of Land Management, General Land Office Records; Washington D.C., USA; Federal Land Patents, State Volumes, Accession Number CV-0085-142
36. ↑ Jefferson County Special No. 1, Publisher: The Hoosier Journal of Ancestry, Little York, Indiana; page 62
37. ↑ Bureau of Land Management, General Land Office Records; Washington D.C., USA; Federal Land Patents, State Volumes, Accession Number IN0240_.182
38. ↑ [9]
39. ↑ 1788 Census: "Kentucky, U.S., Compiled Census and Census Substitutes Index, 1787-1890"
    Original data: Jackson, Ron V., Accelerated Indexing Systems, comp.. Kentucky Census, 1810-1890. Compiled and digitized by Mr. Jackson and AIS from microfilmed schedules of the U.S. Federal Decennial Census, territorial/state censuses, and/or census substitutes
    Ancestry Record 3549 #8136420 (accessed 17 September 2023)
    Ralph Griffin in Fayette, Kentucky.
40. ↑ 1790 Census: "Kentucky, U.S., Compiled Census and Census Substitutes Index, 1787-1890"
    Original data: Jackson, Ron V., Accelerated Indexing Systems, comp.. Kentucky Census, 1810-1890. Compiled and digitized by Mr. Jackson and AIS from microfilmed schedules of the U.S. Federal Decennial Census, territorial/state censuses, and/or census substitutes
    Ancestry Record 3549 #8136428 (accessed 17 September 2023)
    Ralph Griffin in Fayette, Kentucky.
41. ↑ 1800 Census: "Kentucky, U.S., Compiled Census and Census Substitutes Index, 1787-1890"
    Original data: Jackson, Ron V., Accelerated Indexing Systems, comp.. Kentucky Census, 1810-1890. Compiled and digitized by Mr. Jackson and AIS from microfilmed schedules of the U.S. Federal Decennial Census, territorial/state censuses, and/or census substitutes
    Ancestry Record 3549 #8373032 (accessed 17 September 2023)
    Ralph Griffin in Henry, Kentucky.
42. ↑ 1820 Census: "1820 United States Federal Census"
    Fourth Census of the United States, 1820; Census Place: Jefferson, Indiana; Page: 285; NARA Roll: M33_13; Image: 323
    Ancestry Record 7734 #1245980 (accessed 17 September 2023)
    Ralph Griffin in Jefferson, Indiana, USA.
43. ↑ 1830 Census: "1830 United States Federal Census"
    Year: 1830; Census Place: Jefferson, Indiana; Series: M19; Roll: 28; Page: 129; Family History Library Film: 0007717
    Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry Record 8058 #998740 (accessed 27 November 2023)
    Ralph Griffin in Jefferson, Indiana.
44. ↑ The Hoosier Genealogist - Connections and Indiana Source Books Indiana Source Book, Volume II, 1967-1972, [10]
45. ↑ Military: "U.S., Revolutionary War Pensioners, 1801-1815, 1818-1872"
    The National Archives; Washington, D.C.; Ledgers of Payments, 1818-1872, to U.S. Pensioners Under Acts of 1818 Through 1858 From Records of the Office of the Third Auditor of the Treasury; Record Group Title: Records of the Accounting Officers of the Department of the Treasury; Record Group Number: 217; Series Number: T718; Roll Number: 7
    Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry Record 1116 #21234 (accessed 27 November 2023)
    Name: Ralph Griffin; Year range: 1831-1848; Pension Office Place: Indiana, USA.
46. ↑ Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/149088945/ralph-griffin: accessed 28 September 2023), memorial page for Ralph Griffin (5 Jan 1754–13 Sep 1838), Find a Grave Memorial ID 149088945, citing Brushy Fork Baptist Cemetery, Jefferson County, Indiana, USA
47. ↑ Roster of Soldiers & Patriots of the American Revolution buried in Indiana, page 164, D.AR., 1938.[11],[12]

See also:

• Edmund West, comp.. Family Data Collection - Births [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2001.

• Edmund West, comp.. Family Data Collection - Marriages [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2001.

• U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900, Source number: 1856.000; Source type: Electronic Database; Number of Pages: 1; Submitter Code: DP1 Source Information, Yates Publishing. U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2004.

• Ancestry.com. Kentucky, Compiled Census and Census Substitutes Index, 1810-1890 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 1999.

• Ancestry.com. Kentucky, Tax Lists, 1799-1801 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2006. Original data: Clift, G. Glenn. Second Census of Kentucky, 1800. Baltimore, MD, USA: Genealogical Publishing Co., 2005.

• Ancestry.com. U.S. General Land Office Records, 1776-2015 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2008. Original data: United States. Bureau of Land Management, General Land Office Records. Automated Records Project; Federal Land Patents, State Volumes. http://www.glorecords.blm.gov/. Springfield, Virginia: Bureau of Land Management, Eastern States, 2007.

• Ancestry.com. U.S., The Pension Roll of 1835 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014. Original data: United States Senate. The Pension Roll of 1835. 4 vols. 1968 Reprint, with index. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Company, 1992.

• Revolutionary War Pension Claim # S 16389, http://revwarapps.org/s16389.pdf

• Ancestry.com. U.S., Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files, 1800-1900 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Original data: Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files (NARA microfilm publication M804, 2,670 rolls). Records of the Department of Veterans Affairs, Record Group 15. National Archives, Washington, D.C.

• Edmund West, comp.. Family Data Collection - Deaths [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2001.

• Daughters of the American Revolution, DAR Genealogical Research Databases, database online, (http://www.dar.org/ : accessed January 28, 2021), "Record of Ralph Griffin", Ancestor # A048219.

• Yates Publishing. U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2004.

• Ancestry Family Trees. Online publication - Ancestry.com.