William Griffin Jr (bef. 1755 - aft. 1820)

Born before 1755 in Long Island, New York Colony

Descendants

Died after 1820 after age 65 in Delaware, New York, United States

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Biography

1790 Census Included as a possible source for a William living in Westchester County, NY, five years after the birth of son Parent (born Westchester County) and 11 years after the birth of son Daniel. This census lists an adult male and two males under the age of 16, also four women, one presumed to be William's wife. I have no proof that this William is Parent's father, but it is possible that William would still be living in Westchester five years after his son was born there.^[1]

1800 - William Griffin living in Middletown, Delaware County, NY with a family, looks like four boys and two girls.^[2]

1810 - William living in Middletown, Delaware County, NY near a Parent and a William, his two sons. Also looks like he has two younger boys still at home and one girl.^[3]

1820 - William and Parent still still living close together.^[4]

Research Notes

Research yielded the following on rootsweb - this is from section pertaining first to William Sr:

Name: William Griffin Sex: M Birth: in England Death: in probably Westchester Co, NY Note: The evidence that William Griffin was the grandfather of Daniel Griffin and that William Griffin Jr was the father of Daniel Griffin is as follows:

Daniel Griffin said in his will that Matthew Griffin (son of Ezekiel) of Griffins Corner was his cousin. Part of a biography written about Matthew Griffin is as follows:

Matthew Griffin is a substantial real-estate owner and sagacious business man in Griffin's Corners, a part of the town of Middletown, which owes its name, if not its absolute being, to his enterprise. His genealogy is worth considering.

His grandfather, William Griffin, came from England with a large fortune, and settled on Long Island. When the Revolution broke out, he refused to take up arms against the mother country. He was therefore numbered with the Tories, and his estates confiscated to the patriot cause. William Griffin owned some very fine horses; and so his son John took the most valuable of the stallions, and rode away to Delaware County, whence he removed to Dutchess County, where he settled among the Fishkill Mountains. After the surrender of Cornwallis and the declaration of peace, William Griffin went to West Chester, where he died, leaving four children, all born on Long Island--William, Ezekiel, Solomon, John. The junior William Griffin had already settled in Middletown in 1765, a decade before the Revolution began, on a farm now belonging to Henry Boughton; and he became a very prosperous man, raising a large family. Solomon Griffin took up his residence among the Fishkill Mountains, and so did his brother Ezekiel.

Buying a large farm, Ezekiel Griffin became very prosperous, and married Charlotte White (a daughter of a farmer named John White). In 1833 he sold out his Fishkill property, and came to Delaware County, where he bought a hundred and fifty acres now belonging to the Benjamin Crosby estate.

Note that the biography says that William Griffin Jr settled in Middletown in 1765. It is unlikely that he was in Middletown that early but there was a William Griffin living in Middletown in 1800. It appears that the same William Griffin was still in Middletown in 1810 and 1820. He was living very close to Daniel Griffin in 1810.

Thus, if Daniel Griffin was a cousin to Matthew Griffin, he must have been the son of either William Jr, Solomon or John. William Jr was the one who settled in Middletown and was living very close to Daniel.^[5](Original source link no longer operational to cited content, content may have been removed or relocated)

More on William Sr., " GRIFFIN - William Griffin of Long Island had four sons: William, John, Ezekiel and Solomon. William (Jr.) settled in Delaware Co. 1765. William (Sr.) lost his property during the Revolutionary War due to his loyalty to England, and John hid William's fine horses in Delaware Co."^[6]

There was some question (repeated in various sources on the internet, too!) of whether or not it was this William Griffin, born before 1755, who married a Jemima Ragen/Ragan from SC and had a family there. Perhaps the fact that the SC mother's first name is Jemima and one of the granddaughter's of this NY William, is also a Jemima, contributed to the confusion. The two William's are different people however, who raised families with different children in two states, Jemima and her William (Griffin-7918) in SC, and this William with an unknown spouse, in NY.

FOR FURTHER RESEARCH: http://freepages.rootsweb.com/~griffingriffenfamily/genealogy/Griffin2.html, compilation of many Griffin family histories

Sources

1. ↑ "United States Census, 1790," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XHK5-NPD : accessed 25 August 2018), William Griffin, New Rochelle, Westchester, New York, United States; citing p. 150, NARA microfilm publication M637, (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 6; FHL microfilm 568,146
2. ↑ "United States Census, 1800," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XHRZ-QJW : accessed 28 September 2018), William Griffin, Middletown, Delaware, New York, United States; citing p. 1290, NARA microfilm publication M32, (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 22; FHL microfilm 193,710.
3. ↑ "United States Census, 1810," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XH23-7HR : accessed 22 August 2019), William Griffin, Middletown, Delaware, New York, United States; citing p. 384, NARA microfilm publication M252 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 26; FHL microfilm 181,380.
4. ↑ "United States Census, 1820," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XHL8-X7L : accessed 22 August 2019), William Griffin, Middletown, Delaware, New York, United States; citing p. 77, NARA microfilm publication M33, (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 65; FHL microfilm 193,720.
5. ↑ https://wc.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=griffin5a&id=I1814
6. ↑ http://www.dcnyhistory.org/queryg.html -

See also

• http://griffdna.org/Trees/109559/ghtout/gp15.htm#head4, suggests wife's name may be Anna

• https://worldconnect.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=ekpeckhamfamily&id=I14960, names sons

• https://wc.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=griffin5a&id=I1813, names sons