Samuel M Griffin (1796 - 1866)

Born 4 Aug 1796 in Horton, Kings, Nova Scotia, Canada

Ancestors

Husband of Anne (Lawrence) Griffin — married about 1829 in Kings, Nova Scotia, Canada

Descendants

Died 23 Dec 1866 at age 70 in Harbourville, Kings, Nova Scotia, Canada

Problems/Questions Profile managers: Terri Davis [send private message] and Wayne Griffin [send private message]

Biography

Nova Scotia, Canada, Census, Assessment and Poll Tax Records, 1770-1795, 1827, 1838^[1]

Name: Samuel Griffin

Residence Year: 1838

Residence Place: Horton Township, Kings, Nova Scotia, Canada

Record Type: Census Return

excerpts from UNTANGLING THE MAYFLOWER CONNECTION TO THE GRIFFIN ANCESTORS prepared by Ancestry.com Pro Genealogists^[2]

Samuel was identified on the 1861 census as living in Kings County with five males and three females in their household which means Samuel and Sarah had four sons and two daughters.

Records were found for:

• James Griffin, son of Samuel and Ann, married Emma Marshall on 10 November 1875 in Aylesford.
• Mayhew Griffin married Annie M. Caldwell on 6 December 1871 in Berwick.
• Julia Griffin married her cousin Oscar P. Griffin at the Berwick Baptist Church. Oscar P. Griffin lived at Brooklyn, Cornwallis Township, and his parents were Stephen and Catherine Griffin.

In 1838 Samuel Griffin, farmer, lived in Horton Township, Kings County. His household included seven people without counting the head, actual total was eight people.

• 1 Male Children under six years of age
• 1 Female Children under six years of age
• 2 Males under fourteen years of age
• 1 Females under fourteen years of age
• 0 Males above fourteen years of age and not heads of Families
• 1 Females above fourteen years of age

Samuel Griffin was sought in the 1827 and 1851 censuses, but he was not listed in either. Since these censuses are not complete sets, it is possible, even probable, that Samuel lived in Kings County during that time. But the extant documents do not prove that theory.

Since working back in time is important to pinpoint when a family lived in a certain location, at this point we moved from Cornwallis Township to Horton Township. Horton town records held a valuable list of the family of James C. Griffin.

Samuel Griffin died in Harbourville, Kings County, on 23 November 1866. His death was recorded as an accident and his record said he was born in Cornwallis to Jas. and Sarah Griffin, with the informant being a James Griffin. Since Samuel’s death was an accident his estate was intestate (probate without a will), and the administrators were his wife Ann and their son James, the same son who acted as the informant for Samuel’s death record.

We next found extensive settlement papers for Samuel Griffin which firmly connected Watson as Samuel’s son. These estate papers were over 85 pages long. On the first page, the petition of Ann Griffin, widow of Samuel Griffin was recognized. She and her son, James, wrote Samuel left behind “eight children, two of which are infants under the age of 21 years… James Griffin the oldest son…”.

Sadly, these children were not mentioned by name. It was not until a listing of expenses for some of Samuel’s heirs where we finally found the positive connection. On page 21, some of Samuel’s children were given shoes and the costs then charged to the estate. These included James, the oldest son (described as “self” as he was the petitioner), and two others, Mahue [sic], and your ancestor, Watson.

The estate papers for Samuel M. Griffin were found, but because he died in an accident that placed his estate in an intestate (without a will) status. The administration was given to Ann and their son James and the settlement of the estate was to happen in court on 1 July 1868. At this time the settlement papers haven’t been found. However, we currently have the following list of children for Samuel: James C., Samuel, Elizabeth, Julia, Mayhew, and Watson. No burial has been found for Samuel, but if he was buried on his farm there may not be a headstone. James Chipman Griffin and numerous other Griffins were buried in Oak Grove Cemetery, Kentville, but not Samuel, Anne, nor any of their children. Unfortunately, we have not seen any record proving James Griffin the father of Samuel was the same person as James Chipman Griffin. Many public trees on Ancestry and FamilySearch make that connection, but none offer a source for a document proving this kinship link. One source is given stating Samuel was granted land in Horton, but that grant was 100 years Samuel Griffin lived in Horton Township in 1838 and they had 5 children by 1838. Samuel was farming at that time. Unfortunately, none of the marriage records for the children of Samuel and Ann provided Ann’s maiden name. Likewise, no marriage record for Samuel and Ann has been found either.

In the History of Horton^[3] , it states Samuel Griffin received land in 1761. That is too early to be the ancestral Samuel Griffin, but it could have been a relative.

• [Terri's note - In 1761, history books write about the "New England Planter" movement. There was a mass migration of many towns from New England (including Stonington Connecticut) who received free land grants in towns in Nova Scotia, granted by English government, designed to repopulate the land once inhabited by French (known as Acadians). The Acadians refused to sign allegiance to England and were transported to what is now New Orleans, LA in the USA.

Kings Township Records; Birth Records^[4]

Family: 754

Surname: Griffin

Given Name: Samuel

Birthdate 04/08/1796 (dd/mm/yyyy)

Father Surname: Griffin

Father Given Name: James C

Mother Surname : Harris

Mother given name: Sarah

Township : Horton

1861 Census of Canada^[5]

Name: Samuel Griffin

Home in 1861: Kings, Nova Scotia

District Number: 05

Relation to Head: Head

Living next door to James Lawrence

California, Death Index, 1905-1939^[6]

Name: Mayhew R Griffin

Birth Year: abt 1849

Death Date: 5 Sep 1931

Age at Death: 82

Death Place: Los Angeles, California, USA

He passed away in 1866. ^[7]

Sources

1. ↑ Nova Scotia, Canada, Census, Assessment and Poll Tax Records; Nova Scotia Archives; Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada; Census, Assesment and Poll Tax Records 1767-1827; Reference: Commissioner of Public Records Nova Scotia Archives RG 1 vol. 449 no. 161
2. ↑ UNTANGLING THE MAYFLOWER CONNECTION TO THE GRIFFIN ANCESTORS; PREPARED FOR WAYNE GRIFFIN RESEARCH REPORT; JULY 2020; prepared by Ancestry.com Pro Genealogists
3. ↑ Arthur Wentworth Hamilton Eaton, The History of Kings County, Nova Scotia, Heart of the Acadian Land … (Salem, Massachusetts: Salem Press, 1910), p. 73; FHL Book 971.634 H2e, digital image, Catalog, FamilySearch(http://www.familysearch.org),accessed March 2020.
4. ↑ Kings Township Records; Kings County Historical Society, Kentville, Kings, Nova Scotia; available on CD
5. ↑ 1861 Census of Canada: Library and Archives Canada; Ottawa, Ontario, Canada; Census Returns For 1861; Roll: M-881
6. ↑ California, Death Index, 1905-1939 “California, Death Index, 1905-1939,” Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com), Mayhew R Griffin, died 5 September 1931 in Los Angeles County, accessed March 2020.
7. ↑ Source will be added by Wayne Griffin by 2 Nov 2020.

• birth cert
• Kings County (Nova Scotia, Canada) Probate Court, Probate Acts, Volume 2, p. 89, Administration of Samuel Griffin’s estate, dated 6 March 1867; FHL Microfilm 1686171, digital image, Catalog, FamilySearch (http://www.familysearch.org), accessed March 2020. - Estate of Samuel Griffin. Administration given to Ann and their son James

• Kings County (Nova Scotia, Canada)Probate Court, Probate Acts, Volume 2, p. 124, Administration of SamuelGriffin’s estate, dated 6 March 1867; FHL Microfilm 1686171, digital image,Catalog, FamilySearch (http://www.familysearch.org), accessed March 2020 Next step of probate. Settlement of estate to be at court 15 July 1868

• Death & Marriage certificates

Acknowledgement

This person was created on 14 April 2010 through the import of Jamie 2010_2010-04-10.ged.

Unsourced family tree handed down to Wayne Griffin.