DeSoto Parish Louisiana

Generation No. 1

1. JAMES GRIFFITH was born 1784, and died 1839. He married ENNIS (EUNICE) A. W. ?. She was born 1780, and died 1860 inTaylor County, Georgia. According to a family bible record James Griffith was born in 1784 possible in North Carolinaand died in Crawford County Georgia in July of 1839 at the age of 55. There is a James Griffith who was in the war of 1812.  Since James Griffith would be of the correct age to participatein that war this possible is the same person.

This information is found in the Muster Roll of the Detached Militia Organized in August, 1814. Names from Jones County, North Carolina, include James Griffith, Joshua Miller, Aaron Eubanks, James Mumford, and Amos Sanders. It is possible and believed that this same James Griffith is the one found on the 1820 Jones County, Georgia census. The James Griffith listed in the 1830 Bibb County, Georgia census is definitely the ancestor of the Griffith family descendants who continue to reside in Taylor County Georgia, DeSoto Parish Louisiana, and the one whose two sons eventually found their way to Athens and Malakoff, Texas.

Family tradition carries the message that the Griffiths were among the first settlers of Macon, Georgia in Bibb County. In 1830 four children - Amos, Harriet, James, and Benjamin were listed on A List of Poor School School Children in Bibb County, Georgia now deposited in the Georgia State Archives in Atlanta. On November 25, 1831 William Howard Griffith, born in 1810 and the son of James Griffith, married Mourning Parker, daughter of Cynthia Moore and Benjamin Parker, in Macon, Bibb County, Georgia. James Griffith of Jordan's Militia district of Bibb county drew land in the Georgia Land Lottery of 1832.  Also participating in this land lottery were a William Griffith and a Lemuel Griffith. Possibly these were his sons - William Howard and Lemuel - or they may have been brothers or other relatives. It is not known how James Griffith disposed of this land but it is not believed that he settled on it. No record indicates that he ever went to North Georgia (Gilmer County) to the Cherokee lands. The earliest records of James Griffith in Crawford County, Georgia are land purchases from Uriah Perkins and Gideon Johnson in 1836. These were lots five and six situated on the Old Agency Reserve west of the Flint River. Lucian Lamar Knight in Georgia Landmarks, Monuments and Memorials lists James Griffith among the early settlers and residents in the neighborhood of the Old Agency. It is believed that this James Griffith was one of the early members of Crowell's Meeting House.

The following are the children of James Griffith:
(1) William Howard Griffith, born in 1810 in North Carolina and married Mourning Parker in Bibb County, Georgia on November 25, 1831.
(2) Lemuel Griffith, born circa 1813. He married Louisa Perkins. He eventually moved to Henderson County, Texas.
(3) Benjamin Griffith, born in 1815 in either North Carolina or Georgia.
(4) Amos S. Griffith, born in 1818 and married Ellender L. Perkins in Stewart County, Georgia on October 4, l837.
(5) James Griffith, born in 1820 in either North Carolina or Georgia.
(6) Harriet Griffith, born in l821 in either North Carolina or Georgia.



Members of the Griffith family who once resided in Henderson County Texas or may still reside in Henderson County Texas can trace their ancestry to a James Griffith born in North Carolina. According to a family bible record James Griffith was born in 1784 possible in North Carolina and died in Crawford County Georgia in July of 1839 at the age of 55. There is a James Griffith who was in the war of 1812. Since James Griffith would be of the correct age to participate in that war this possible is the same person. This information is found in the Muster Roll of the Detached Militia Organized in August, 1814. Names from Jones County, North Carolina, include James Griffith, Joshua Miller, Aaron Eubanks, James Monford, and Amos Sanders. It is possible and believed that this same James Griffith is the one found on the 1820 Jones County, Georgia census. The James Griffith listed in the 1830 Bibb County, Georgia census is definitely the ancestor of the Griffith family descendants who continue to reside in Taylor County Georgia, DeSoto Parish Louisiana, and the one whose two sons eventually found their way to Athens and Malakoff, Texas.


1) WILLIAM H0WARD GRIFFITH

William Howard Griffith was born circa 1810 in North Carolina. He moved to Crawford County, Georgia in the mid 1830's. A Rev. William Griffith is listed by Lucian Lamar Knight in Georgia's Landmarks, Monuments, and Memorials, as being one of the early settlers in the neighborhood of the Old Agency Reserve.  According to family traditions William H. Griffith played an active role in the settlement of Macon. On November 25, 1831, William Howard Griffith, married Mourning Parker, daughter or Cynthia and Benjamin Parker in Macon, Bibb County, Georgia.  William H. Griffith was living on the half lot, number five, formerly of the Old Agency Reserve in 1837, at which time he purchased the other half from the older James Griffith. Many Georgia maps today indicate a settlement by the name of Griffith at the same location as lots five and six of the Old
Agency Reserve bordering the Flint River. The Griffith family records indicate strong identity with the South and Georgia. William H. Griffith is listed on the Taylor County census in 1880. No date of death is known. Supposedly he is buried at Crowell Churchyard but no tombstone can be located. The original Griffith home was made of logs and part of it was still standing as late as 1930.
William H. Griffith and Mourning Parker had the following children:
(A) Edward Joseph Griffith was born in Crawford County Georgia in 1834 and died in DeSoto Parish, Louisiana in 1907. On December 14, 1859, he married Margaret Jane Pace in Mansfield, Louisiana. She was a descendant of Capt. Samuel Maycock and Richard Pace of the Jamestown Colony and Edward Boykin of Isle of Wight, Virginia. Edward Joseph Griffith is buried at Grove Hill Churchyard, Dolette Hills, DeSoto Parish, Louisiana.
(B) Harriet Griffith was born in 1836 and married Robert Eubanks of Taylor County. Georgia.
(C) Newton Jasper Griffith was born in Crawford County, Georgia in 1838. He was studying medicine as an apprentice to Dr. James M. Duggar of Taylor County prior to the Civil War. He then enlisted in the Georgia Volunteer Infantry, Company G, 6th Regiment. This Taylor County group was better known as the "Butler Vanguards." Newton Jasper kept a personal diary of events during the war. He died at Chancellorsville- May 1863.  The whereabouts of this diary were as to remain a mystery for almost 60 years. It was last seen about 1930. It was recently discovered in the attic of Lucille Griffith Rogers of Warner Robbins, Georgia. It came to light only after family members began working on the compilation of family history!
(D) Francis Marion Griffith was born on September 19, 1842, in Crawford County, Georgia. He died September 9, 1904. He is buried in Crowell Churchyard. Francis served in Company C., 6th Reg., of the C.S.A. as a private. He married Henrietta Shines. 
Their children were:
(a) Margaret, married a Mr. Pierce of Eastman, Georgia.
(b) William E. Griffith, born in April 1867. He moved to DeSoto Parish, Louisiana to live with Edward Joseph Griffith. He married (1st) Laura Clanton of DeSoto Parish in 1891. Their children were:
*Lindsey Clanton, born March 1890.
*Elizabeth Clanton, born December 1892.
*Dennie Griffith, born February 1895.
*Alex Griffith, born February 1897. He married Mary Lou Santerford on June 23, 1916, in DeSoto Parish.
William E. Griffith, married (2nd) Emmeline (Davis) Clanton on December 24, 1897, in DeSoto Parish. She was born in Louisiana in April 1870. Their children, all born in DeSoto Parish, were:
*Robert Griffith, born February 1899.
*Della Griffith, born 1899 and married Louis De Voltz of Naborton, Louisiana, son of Oliver and Elizabeth De Voltz, on May 15, 1918.
*Mary Lee Griffith, married on June 11, 1918, A. M. Clanton of Mansfield. Louisiana. He was the son of Norah De Voltz and Robert Clanton.
William E. Griffith married (3rd) Zuella Boyd of Marthaville, Louisiana on November 26, 1918. After they divorced he moved to Norphlet, Union County, Arkansas in the 1930's.

(E) James Benjamin Griffith (1872-1953) married Beulah Davis (1879-1942).
(F) Cynthia Griffith was born in 1852 in Crawford County, Georgia.



2) Lemuel Griffith.  Very little is known about Lemuel Griffith other than his approximate birth year of 1813. Research has shown that he married Louisa Perkins, one daughter of Uriah Perkins. (Brother Amos also married a daughter of Uriah.) Lemuel is found in the 1850 Attala, County, Mississippi census.

Following is a letter written by Lemuel Griffith at the time in which he resided in Attala County Mississippi:

4) AMOS S. GRIFFITH  Amos was the second-born son of James Griffith and his wife Ennis. He was born in 1818. On October 4, 1837, he married Ellender L. Perkins. They resided in Stewart County, Georgia. Their first born son was Uriah Griffith. Later the family is recorded in the 1850 Union County Arkansas and in the Henderson County Texas Census for the years 1860, 1870, and 1880. His wife Ellender Perkins, daughter of Uriah Perkins, died in 1875 and is buried in the Athens Cemetery. Amos is listed among the "old pioneers" by J.J. Faulk in A History of Henderson County Texas.


iv. JAMES GRIFFITH. Notes for JAMES GRIFFITH:

DR. JAMES GRIFFITH Dr. James Griffith, believed to be the son of the James Griffith listed on the 1830 census in Bibb County, Georgia was born in 1820, in either Georgia or North Carolina. It is not known where he attended medical school or if he studied as an apprentice to another physician. Nor is it known exactly how he acquired the title "Reverend, but a love for preaching as well as medicine seems to have been a characteristic. Dr. Griffith married (1st) Jinsey Ann R. Johnson, daughter of William L. and
Lavinia Johnson, on January 9, 1848, in Crawford County, Georgia. She died January 21, 1859, in Butler, Taylor County, Georgia.

The following children were:
* William L., born in Crawford County, Georgia in 1849. He married Beatrice Willis.
*Howard, born in Crawford County, Georgia. He married Mary Butts.
*Ingatius Few, born in Butler, Crawford County, Georgia, on January 4, 1851. On December 12, 1871, he married Emma Pyron (or Byron). He was also a reverend. He died in Mancos, Colorado, on February 15, 1908. He is buried there next to his daughter, Hattie whom he had followed to Colorado because of ill health.
*Benjamin A., born in Taylor County Georgia, in 1853.
*Walter Johnson, born in Taylor County, Georgia, in 1853 and died at Reynolds in 1921. His wife was Alice Long.
Dr. Griffith married (2nd) Sarah Ann Johnson, daughter of William and Lavinia Johnson. There were no children. The date of marriage was February 14, 1860. She died in 1861.

Dr. Griffith married (3rd) Eva Bryant on May 6, 186. The following children were born:
* Parsons B. (1863-1907).
* Pierce, (1865- ? ).
*James, (1857-1894).
*Virginia, (1859-1884).



HARRIET GRIFFITH Little is known about Harriet Griffith also. She was the only daughter of James Griffith and his wife Ennis. She was born in
1821, in either North Carolina or Georgia.

Obituary of Rev. Dr. James Griffith published in the Southern Christian Advocate (Macon) on Wednesday, January 24, 1872:
Reverend Dr. James Griffith died 20 Nov. 1871 at Butler, Ga. He had served for many years as Superintendent of the Methodist and Baptist Union Sunday School of Butler, Ga. Several obituaries were submitted to the Southern Christian Advocate by members of his Sunday School Class. "His readiness to mitigate, according to his means, the sufferings of poverty, endeared him strongly to the poor, and will cause them deeply to deplore his loss. His consecrated life was a shining illustration of the truth that connection with temporal pursuits need not chill the ardor of the soul or abate its Christian sympathies. Well done,  good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of the Lord."


v. BENJAMIN GRIFFITH.
Notes for BENJAMIN GRIFFITH:

3) BENJAMIN S. GRIFFITH
Benjamin Griffith is believed to be the son of James Griffith who was living in Bibb County, Georgia in 1830. A Benjamin Griffith was attending school in Macon in 1830.  Benjamin Griffith was born in either Georgia or North Carolina in 1815.  He had moved to Crawford County by 1850 and appears to be living on land owned by William Howard Griffith. He died at age 43 of consumption. The 1870 and 1880 Georgia Census lists two of Benjamin Griffith's children living in the household with William H. Griffith: James, listed as nephew and Georgia, a niece.  Benjamin S. Griffith married (1st) Mary Ellen Sistrunk, daughter Jacob Sistrunk. She died July 14, 1846, at Culloden, Monroe County, Georgia. The following children were born:

1) John, born in 1837 in Crawford County, Georgia. He married Sarah E. Dickson in Taylor County on February 21, 1852.
2) Saunders S. was born in Crawford County in 1839. He married Cela A. L. Johnson, daughter of William L. and Lavinia Johnson, in Butler, Taylor County, on February 21, 1861. He died before 1870 and had one son, Sanders, born in 1862.
3) Elizabeth A. was born in Crawford County. Georgia in 1841.
4) Narcissa Adeline was born in Crawford County, Georgia in 1845.

Benjamin Griffith married (2nd) Elizabeth Sistrunk. She died before 1870. Their children were:
1) Harriet A. R. was born in Crawford County, Georgia, in 1849.
2) James L. was born in Crawford County, Georgia, in 1851.
3) Georgia A. V. was born in Taylor County, Georgia, in 1854.
4) William A. was born in Taylor County, Georgia, in 1856.
5) Ellenora J. was born in Taylor County, Georgia, in 1858.


vi. CYNTHIA GRIFFITH.\

Following are letters written to William Howard Griffith by various friends and family members as they moved West and East:
[Transcribed from letters in the posession of Lucille Griffith Rogers by Lisa & Warren Windham; Juliette, Georgia 31046; during April 1998]

(Letter addressed to W H Griffith, Near Francisville, Crawford County, Georgia)

Macon 29th Nov 1844

Dear Sir
Our superour adjourned on last saturday ------ I have the pleasure to inform you that Burrell Parker's counsil did not succeed in getting a new trial in your your case ------

The verdict stands & judgment has been entered up against Burrell Parker principal and Richard Basset & Gilford I {Sipsey} . his secumbed on appeal for the amount recorded
($587.00)
The next thing is where is the money to come from ------
Basset says if he can pay his own debts it is as much as he expects to be able to do, You know more about Sipseys{pecuniary} situation than I do ------
But if we should fail there we all know Absolom Jordon is good { the security on the administrator bond}

Upon the whole I think you must consider it a triumph when we take certain interrogations into consideration

/s/ Jms Res{_chy}

/s/ F P Stubbs





(Letter addressed to: Mr William Griffith, Francisville, Crawford County, Georgia)

Haywood County, Ten,
August 15th 1845

Cousin Wm Griffith Dear sir I take the privledge to address you a few line from this fair west. My self and Family are in modetate helth at this time hoping the
reception of this will find you & all well; 
{arrived} at my place [torn] distination on the 31st of March & after 8 or [torn] days got me a house to go into with about 18 acres of land to cultivate I laid by my corn the 27th of June & the prospect is good for 500 bushels if no more Dear sir a man can make more {__re} & give half he makes than he can & have all he can make off such land as you tend it is a fair calculation to say the most ordinary land are land here will produce from 25 to 35 bushels of corn to the acre & {_ea__} as fair south as you live it could easily double that amount-----
- Wm Griffith & Benjamin if you {______} expect to do much & to make abundance leave where you are & leave forth with for I consider you are graitly loosing every year you stay where you are I my advise to you is to go {____} as or 30 miles south east of Memphis in the state of Mississy I will tell you why I choose that place in preferance to where I live now, it is better watered country nearer to market & land equilly rich & per haps some better range it is about 80 miles from where I now live, there or here either you may for the same amount of land you have there gui[ink blot] as much or more than 1 acre [end pp1] will be worth to you & of that that you must own & I do not believe that any man can easily be so badly situated if he is well but what he can move if he will try & I see no reason for a man to stay where he is has to work hard {live} hard & dye hard & never make anything to {___} affect unless he is {____} fix [hole]plenty to workfor him. in such a case as that [hole] would not advise to {back} up & move, but for you I think it would be the best thing you can do for this world matters ------------ I expect to take school in corse of a week & Elizabeth will take one also about the same time ---- It is likely I may go to the mississy where I advised you to for the sake of being nearer market I can however get thangs landed in 2 miles of where I live from{________} at 40 cents per hundred but I would like to live nearer a large city like memphis it is a good deal larger than macon & {____} fair to
 be one of the first city's of these United States. Government has granted her a navy & the is bilding {it} with all possible speed Should you conclude to try this western country after I hear from you I shall be able to give you more & better directions  I hope you will write to me soon as you guit this Direct your letter to Lanefield Haywood County Tennessee

Dear cousins I cannot close this communication without saying to you contend ernestly for the faith {ancexibr___] to this saints send some preachers here if you can there is
considerable {_____} of preachers here [end pp2] Cousin Polly Griffith I know you were some what opposed to comeing to this country but let me say to you as one that want you to do well for this & for the world to come it would in my honest opinion be the best thing you could do for him you make in a [hole in paper] {___} & not work so hard here [line has tear from `in' to `here'] bountiful go to {mu___} [hole in paper] sing & pray guit happy & shout just as much & as loud as you please & what more can you want or desire; I have heard considerable shouting since I came here; The first time I had anything to say in {predick} after I got here was a stump of an exertation & there was a complete uproar before I was done. I tell you some people here know how to shout & I tell you it dose do them a grait deel of good to. Do not think it extravegant for me to tell you that I have preach afew times since I have been here & it has produced an excitement all through this region.  Tomorrow I expect to preach twice Cousin Mornin this a fair more furtile country than where you are therefore the {___ence} I gave to Polly I give to you I now close sending by you all my best respects and those of my family Remember me to all those who may wish to here from & do enquire after me.
With due respects yours, the,
/s/ Frederick Miller



(Letter addressed to: Mr William Griffith, Francisville, Crawford County, Georgia)
Haywood County, Ten.
March 10th, 1846


Dear cousin I take my pen to write you a letter we are all tolerable good health at this time hoping that these few line will find all you all well. I have bought land and settled
myself when I wrote to you before I had a notion that the place I directed you to was a better place than this but upon a better acquaintance with the country I think all together
diferently I now think this a gardin spot I will submit to you a few facts & you may Judge for your[self] last year I tinded 16 or 18 acres of what is here called sorry land & made
upwards of 80 barrels of corn I have been selling corn at 20 cent per bushel the man that tinded the I now own last year from 6 or 8 acres housed 60 barrels of corn & from 16 acres made 8 bags of cotton weighing upwards of 500 pounds a man may make with eas from 6 to 10 barrels of corn per acre & from 500 to 750 pounds of gin cotton per acre this country is better for corn wheet oats etc than it is cotten because it is colder than where you are but it will bring more at that than yours where I have sittled is said to be vary helthy I now say to you & Binjamin that I do honestly & concienciously think that all the time you stay there is temperalby a complete waist of time I have waisted a grait deel of time by staying there & for your good (& I speake from pure motives & good will) I say to you come right her to me soon as possible You may guit land any way you [end pp1] you may want either to buy rent or leace  Some men have made considerable fortions by leaceing There is here abundance of land yet to settle up therefor I say come & come quickly none of your poor pitiful excuses if you ever intend to do any thing for your selves your wives & children dont stay there with desires to go and I wish to go & I intend
to go some time & until you die with old age & never do what you wish to do---The society here is of the best kind all is peace and quetness I live 9 miles north of Brownsville half
mile from a Methodist church if you will come write to me & I will send you a way bill---When I wrote to you before I requested you to let me know something abot James where he was & what he was doing & where I should send a letter so that he would guit it but you did not so much as mention his name. I now ask you again will you inform me of these matters --- --- I received a letter from Lemuel not very long since him and family weare well & times was hard where he was corn he told me was 75 cents per bushel pork 5 cents per pound-------- yesterday I gave here a talk upon the subject of sunday schools with some degree of success & if you will come over here to Zion meeting house the second sunday in Apriel should I live & is well you may here me talk again to the people & you will see about the best be haved congragation you ever saw in any country------Piety say come her all of you & live in this land of peace & plenty----- on the first opportunity give our love & respects to Aunt Tele her we have not forgotten her & that we hope when this earth shall desolve & burn we shall meet above the fiery world in a better & happier state than this write to me soon and often Give my respects to Brother Johnson & all others who may wish to here from me, now William & Binjamin & your familyes please receive the good wishes of youre sincere friends
/s/ Frederick Miller
Direct your letter to Brownsville
Haywood County Ten


(Letter to Brother & Sister, Twiggs County, Georgia; from Charity Harrell)

Georgia | December 3rd 1848
Twiggs County |



Dear brother and sister.

I imbrace this opertunity of informing you that I am tolerable

well as to health but far from it in mind. I have had to

experience one of the trying {_______} of life, I have lost my

husband who departed this life on the morning of the 19th of

November last. I am left with two small children and am away

from any of my relations and and I know not what to do. Mr

Harrells business is left in such a way that I know little or

nothing about it and for all that I know I may be broke {____}

for if the affects is sold I shall brake up and leive this

neighborhood Though I had rather keep all together and stay

where I am provided that I could pay off the debts and do so

without and administration. But I do not know whether I shall

be allowed that privelidge or not. I can say to you that I

never knew what trouble was till now nor neither didn't ever

know how to appreciate a friend be {forfone}a friend till I

have felt the need of one. on the present occasion it appears

that I am alone helpless and friendless on at all events I am

comparitively amoung strangers and if I only could see some of

my own relations and converse with them face to face it would

be the greatest satisfaction that the world could afford but I

am awy from them all and I want you to come and see me if there

is any chance and let us talk and advise to gether on you

advise me what to do for the best. I must bring this letter to

a close so nothing more but remains your affectionate sister

until death

/s/

Charity Harrell

William Griffith |

Moarning Griffith |





(Letter addressed to: Dr. James Griffith, Butler, Taylor County, Georgia(

& others. See body))



Nacogdoches Texas July 16 1854



To Dr James Griffith, W H Griffith & John R Lucas Dear Friend

and Brothers in Friendship in trust in accordance with what I

promist you all I now compliance with the same set my self down

to rite you a few lines I can only say to you that my self and

family are all well and have bin well ever since we landed in

Texas with the exceptions of the mumps we all had soon after we

landed I hope these lines may reach you and your familys all

enjoying the same I can only say to you all that I am

satisfied with the country as far as the country is concerned

Land is cheap an good land two prices rang from 50 cts to $5

dollars per acre {__ing} to improvements range is good and good

water where I am as thear is in Crawford {__} for Cociety I

dont like for there is as good as non For there is more

profanity hear than any place I ever saw it is disgusting and

disgrace to human being to set and listen at men women and

children curse and swear and that over thear table at mealtime

{cus} thear {bictuals} and every thing else I did som times

{go} afishing of sundays in Crawford but I tell you I am broke

of such as that for I have become purfectly disgusted just to

see others tha keep open doors at nacogdoses on Sunday until

{9} o clock I recken I have give you a nuff of the corrector of

the Texas people we have any kind of land in Texas a man can

ask for I dont no of any land in Georgia that I could site you

to as a comparrison ours is som gray land delightful to {tend}

an som {Ca___d} {red} sandy land of the same as the gray land

onely the difference in the cullor some red land just as stiff

as your clay hills and as hard when dry and some of the

blackest land you ever saw [end pp1] Theare is the Black

Bottom land and the Black {______} it is as black as wet gun

powder and then we have what is {cauled} bees wax {forarw} I

am told it plows just like you {had} put your plow on a wet cow

hide this country is a little of everything I recken more so

than any other in the world I think this is the country wheare

all tongues are to be combined as we have all kind of land an

all kind of people all kin{s} of a most every thin{g} else or

little more To we have more varaties then noah had with him for

we have the {Cher__tler} and stinging lizzards which two i

never red of in the old book I will quit {foolry} our market

is very ill convenient which is Shreveport or Grand E.

{Core/Cane} La which is about one hundred and 10 miles to each

place we pay vary high by for groceries salt is worth five

dollars pr sack other groceries in proportion to tell you what

I am doing I dont hardly no what to say I worked 3 months out

from home and then set in to make a crop The first day of

march and {stain} at that Just 3 months and I now am at work

on a house one mile from home I have never had to work so fur

from home but what I went home every night expences on the

river {ware} so hi I did not get heare with means a nuff to

crop to my self and as such I have to make the best use of my

time I can I have had so little time to look I cant give you

the satisfaction I would like I will not incurrage any one to

come to Texas as theare are a grate many dis satisfied people

but that is for the want of good sound judgment I think and

what suits one dont suit all This is like all countries it is

a hard place for a pore man with out any money or acquaintences

a man that can git a start heare can live just as easy hear as

he can anny wheare in the world Crops just as good as I ever

saw yours in friendship truth & love. my {____} to l(e)tter

by half /s/ Eaton Roberts



[postscript] Give my respects to all enquiring friends {___}

to union lodg no 14 /s/ Joo H



I direct my letter to latter not noing wheare you get your

letters





(letter addressed to N. N. {D____}, N. J. Griffith, New Agency, Taylor

County, Georgia)

(also on envelope: {M_} [{_} torn] J. Griffith, New agency, Taylor County,

Ga)



Marshallville August 19th / 58



Dear brother

This will inform you that {your__} of the fifteenth instant

came to me this morning. I was sorry indeed to hear of the ill

health of Grandmother I sempathise {___ley} with yoy and if it

was in my power to relieve her or assist you in attend to her

it would be don with grate pleasur and haste I would be proud

to see her but I could not do her any good if I was to pay her

a visit but I would {___} to see her if my buisness would

permit me any {grace} but if she is as low as you stated it

would be as source of troubel in sted of pleasure to be in her

company I hope she may recover yet but if she dos not and I see

her no more in this world I hope to meet her in a brighter

world than [{this} page torn]when parting is not known, your

letter found me in bad helth I have bin quite {_____} for

several days I have had light feavers and a severe pain in my

left side but I am better this morning and hope that I will get

well with out having a spell of the fever I am geting along

slow with my business owing to the wet wether and sick negrous

I have nothing of interest to communicate to you mor than I

have [end pp1]got me a home for next year I have engaged with

Mr William, Roberson {Lunear} the gies me three hundred

dollars findes me every thing and a {harse} to wride I might

have don better than in {this} way of May but the places did

not suit me I could have got 350 by going to a {____ley} place

and have no harse to wride and a nother thing I am not so well

pleased with this side of the river now {____} ther is but one

thing over ther that I like well enough to try to, I would

like for you to pay me a visit as soon as you can I intend to

go to the Lebanon Camp meeting if I can I want to {_____}

sister a visit a bout that time and if my bussness will permit

I shall go at that time I want you to writer to me as often as

you can, I am doen {__eling} {foder}and will commense picking

cotton [{as} page torn] soon as the wether will permit [{I}

page torn] will close by asking you to remember me to all

inquiring friends

I am your brother

/s/ Edward, J, Griffith



I recived a letter from Sanders yesterday stating that he was going

west this fall







(Letter to her parents from Harriet Eubanks)



Georgia Macon County Dec 16th 1858







Dear father and Mother I avail myself the present opertunity

of writing these few lines to let you know that we are both

well at this time and also to let you know that I want {Mau} to

come down to see me I want her to come by the twentieth inst

if posible I want her to come prepared to stay two or three

weeks with me if not longer you must be sure to come as soon

you posibly can for I am very anxious to see you I have

nothing to writt that would interst you Mr Eubanks finished

sowing wheat yesterday he is going to work on his house again

tell Jay that I want to see him very bad I want him to writt

to me as often as he can he must not wait for me tell granmau

that I shall be glad if she could come and stay with me awhile

tell all the children howdy for me but as I am in a hurry I

will close as nothing more at present but remains your humble

daughter until death /s/ Harriet Eubanks









Children of WILLIAM GRIFFITH and MOURNING PARKER are:



3. i. EDWARD JOSEPH3 GRIFFITH, b. February 03, 1834, Reynolds,

Taylor County, Georgia; d. October 29, 1907, Dolette Hills,

DeSoto Parish, Louisiana.



ii. HARRIET RUTH GRIFFITH, b. Abt. 1836, Taylor County,

Georgia; d. July 16, 1898, Taylor County, Georgia; m. ISAAC

CHARLES EUBANKS.



Notes for HARRIET RUTH GRIFFITH:



(Letter to her parents from Harriet Eubanks)



Georgia Macon County Dec 16th 1858



Dear father and Mother I avail myself the present opertunity

of writing these few lines to let you know that we are both

well at this time and also to let you know that I want {Mau} to

come down to see me I want her to come by the twentieth inst

if posible I want her to come prepared to stay two or three

weeks with me if not longer you must be sure to come as soon

you posibly can for I am very anxious to see you I have

nothing to writt that would interst you Mr Eubanks finished

sowing wheat yesterday he is going to work on his house again

tell Jay that I want to see him very bad I want him to writt

to me as often as he can he must not wait for me tell granmau

that I shall be glad if she could come and stay with me awhile

tell all the children howdy for me but as I am in a hurry I

will close as nothing more at present but remains your humble

daughter until death /s/ Harriet Eubanks









(Letter to brother from Isaac C Eubanks)

[When folded, reverse shows: N J Griffith, New agncy, {Gor}, Lend your

lettr to Pond town, tenn]



Georgia Macon County Jan the 5 1859





Der broth I this morning have the privlige of ritin you a few

lines to let you know how wey are gitin a long Harriet has got

a fine son it onely waide twelv ponds tell {pow} and mother

to com and see us and all of the rest of you Harriet was taken

on sonday mornig and never had the child till friday nigt in

the {far} part of the nigt she is as well as mite be xpete

this mornig I hope that you all will not think hard of me for

not ritn to you nooftn then ihav I rote you won letr to com

I have look for {pau} and mother a bout thee weeks and I think

if thee Dont com now-- tha dont intned to com tll {fran} and

mother when tha com com to stay a while I want to rite me soon

as you git this lettr {_eth} more at present but remain your

brother until deth rite soon and all com when you can /s/

Isaac C Eubanks









(Letter to brother from Harriet Eubanks)



Georgia Macon County March 3d 1859





Dear brother your first letter came to hand a few days ago

and was received with much pleasure for we was very glad to

hear from you all and to hear that you were well but sorry to

hear of the death of our Aunt but I hope that she is far better

off than those she has left behind I was in hopes that I

should get to see her once more on earth but as I have failed I

can only hope to meet her beyound that vale of tears I do

cinarely simpathyas with uncl James and all the family for I

know that it was hard for them to give her up but gods will

must be done enoughly this letter will inform you that Mr

Eubanks declined the {Idie} of moving to his place and has move

to Mr Motts and is at work with him we moved here the second

day in February He has nothing to do with the negroes he

works as one of the hands Mr Mott gives him fifteen dollars a

month the year through you can tell Mother and Paw that the

would be surprised if they could see the baby he has grown so

and he is so [end pp1] smart it is given up by every one that

sees him that he has got the most sence of any child they ever

say to his age he is two months and one week old last night he

will laugh and crow and cry to go to his father when he sees

him he will by in his cradle and watch me all over the room

notwithstanding he has been obliged to get his living by

sucking the bottle for I give such little milk that it makes

him cry to offer him the breast some times I am almost temted

to wean him for it genaraly takes me an hour to make him such

and then some times fail he has he says Uncle Jay me is coming

up there and me is going to make you give me one little cap to

put on my little head tell cynth that if he could see her that

he would pull her hair for her this leaves us all well and I

hope may find you all enjoying the same blessing tell {pay}

that he must come to see me for I never did want to see any of

you as bad as I do now you myst try to com to see me write as

soon as you get this nothing more but remains your sister /s/

Harriet Eubanks







(Letter to her Father & Mother from Harriet Eubanks)



Georgia Macon County January 24th 1859





Dear father and Mother I avail myself the present opertunity of

writing you these few lines to let you know that we are all yet

alive and as well as could be expected I have suffered a great

deal with my breast since you was here though they are much

better now and I am doing as well a you could be expected I

feel well enough to attend to my business though I have not

taken charge of it yet {___} shall not while I stay here we

expect to move the last of this week or the first or the first

of next I have not had any more chills since you left here the

baby was very cross for two or three days after you left and

then he began to get better and he has been but very little

trouble since I do not give but very little milk for him yet

therefore he has suck the bottle yet we never have to get up

with him at night except to fix the bottle he has began to grow

and he would laugh at you now if he would see you I have not

desided on a name yet but enough give my love to all the family

and {_____ion} tell cyntheann that I have [end pp1] got one of

the prettiest little babys she ever saw tell her she must make

haste and go to school and learn how to write so she can write

me a letter I want you all to write to me and come to see me

when you can write to me as soon as you get this so nothing

more but remain your daughter until death /s/ Harriet Eubanks





Georgia, Taylor County July 20, 1862! Mr. N. J.

Griffith







Dear brother,





As I have not written to you in some time, I have again

prepared myself for writing you a few lines to let you know

that we are all as well as common hoping these few lines may

find you improving and recovering from your wound as fast as

possible. I should have written to you before this but we

expected you would come home with Uncle James so I put it off

to see or hear from you. I have not seen Uncle James since he

got back though he sent William out here to let us know that he

could find any of you or at least he could not find you and

they would not let him go to the other boys. He wanted Paw to

go with him and if he had he would have had his trip for

nothing though he says he intends to go as soon as he gets a

little nearer through with his work. He says you must all keep

writing so that when he comes he will know how to find you or

he says if you will come home and stay until you get able for

duty again that he will go back with you to see the other boys.

Maw says you must come. She says there is no use in staying

there until you could attend to duty. She and Paw both have

looked ever since they heard that you was wounded for you.

Now I will tell you why Paw did not go with Dr. Griffith. Well

in the first place he did not know that the Dr. had any

intention of going until about twelve o'clock the same day he

started. He sent out here for Paw to meet him in Reynolds and

did not say any thing about Paw going to Richmond and so he did

not go prepared to go on with him and there had been a storm

that evening and blowed down nearly all the fence he had so it

looked like it would not do for him to leave and had he left we

should have been very uneasy for we never any of us thought

that he would have the chance of going with him and then in the

second place if he had left home right at that time he would

have been compelled to have lost his crop for he has had a hard

struggle to save it anyhow for his crop is already injured some

for the want of work in time though he is getting nearly

through now. He has had a hard time this year any how for he

can't get no work done. Only when he is there himself and he

has not been able to be at it much more than half his time

first one thing and then another. Though he thinks if he can

have a good season that he will make enough to do him. He says

he has about eighty acres in corn and potatoes. His corn is

all late but it looks tolerable well so far. Crops in this

settlement are generally very good. As to news here we have

none. We have the lonesomest times here you ever saw. We have

no meeting to go







to only twice a month. No meeting of any kind. Only church

preaching. Seldom ever any person visits us and we are here at

home all the time Sunday and Monday from one week's end to

another and hardly ever any person comes unless it is to bring

news from you all. I never saw such times before and hope I

never may again. Sometimes I almost dread to see Sunday come.

It seems to me that I feel worse than any other time though I

generally try to amuse myself by reading. I often think of

past time when all was peace and pleasure when we were all here

together but we did not know how to appreciate time then. We

should be very glad to have your company this evening. If we

could I have many things to tell you that have occurred since I

saw you last. More than I can write things perhaps that you

have never thought of and some that you would be astonished to

know. S. S. Griffith.6 is still in Reynolds teaching school.

E. E. Philmon is living with him. I don't know how they will

all get along. She has stayed here all the time since she left

Philmons only two weeks.Grandmaw7 is in Butler at this time.

She was well when she left home. Maw and Paw take on a great

deal about you all. They want to hear from you all every day

if they could. As for myself I can't tell you any thing about

how I get along. Sometimes I feel like I shall have to give

up. I have tried all the time to get along the best I can and

say as little as possible but when I think of my situation and

think of the uncertainty of life and I don't know what minute

or hour I shall have to hear the sad news that many many others

have already had to hear. That I am left here in this

unfriendly world with two poor little fatherless children

though I hope for better things. I was very sorry to hear that

you had been wounded but feel thankful that it was not worse. 9

I really think we ought to feel very grateful to kind

providence for his care and protection over us all. You ought

to to come home if you are able and stay a while. You and the

other boys must all write as often as possible and let us here

from you for we are anxious to hear from you often. I will

have to close for this time as I don't think my letter will

interest you much. The family all send their love to you.

Write soon. Your sister,





Harriet Eubanks





Brunswick, Ga



.January 15, 1875



Dear Sister,"I seat myself to write you a few lines to let you

know that we are all well. Hoping that it will find you all

enjoying good health. Well Sister, I have seen some of the

largest swamps I ever heard of. It is nothing but swamp from

here to Macon. I think we are a living about as healthy a

place as there is. We can get the sea breeze. You just

ought to see this find woods country. Palmetto cabbage is a

plenty of them and they are nice too. We all taken a walk on

Sabbath morning. Brother caught a Alligator. It was a very

small one. He ties a loop at one end of it and slip it over

his head. We saw another one but we never can caught it. We

have plenty of berrys all a round us. We can have a cake when

ever we want. There are a fine, the largest I have ever seen.

RI have not seen a white woman since I have been down here.

Well I will quit.&Remain your Sister, Ella Griffith1Write to me

and don't wait as long as I did.Well Brother,ìI will write you

a few lines and tell of this rich country and maybe you will

get in a notion to come down here and see. You are so fond of

hunting. You could make a living on hunting. Deer, buffalo,

turkey, squirrels, a plenty. You had better come down here and

work on the railroad at $17 a month. Better that than $10 a

month. Brother says he would like to have you down here so you

had better make up your mind to come next fall.3I have your

green cravat down here. I found it since I have been down

here. It was in my Brother's trunk. I think crops are better

down here than they are up there from what I have seen. Don't

raise cotton much down here. Much corn, rice, potatos, wheat

is what is raised down here mostly I think.'Well I will quit

Brother. Give my love to the family. Receive a portion for

yourself. I will quit. Direct to Sterling Ga. Glynn Go. in

care of J. W. Trussell.Sterling, GeorgiaAugust 27, 1875Dear

Sister, I received your very kind and welcome letter on Tuesday

last and was very glad indeed to hear from you all. Glad to

hear you all was enjoying good heatlh. We are enjoying the

same good blessing. We are a going to move to the Station

Sterling 5 miles below here. The house is better than this one

though we will not move before October. There will be a few

familys of white folks down there. Oh, I would like so much

to be up there so I could go to the camp meeting but as it is I

cannot. All think of and pray for me. I have not been to

meeting since I have been here. I have not been no where.

There is no churches us



iii. NEWTON JASPER GRIFFITH, b. November 01, 1839, Taylor

County, Georgia; d. May 03, 1863, Chancellorsville, Virginia.



Notes for NEWTON JASPER GRIFFITH:



Newton Jasper Griffith kept a diary during the civil war. He

and his brother Francis Marion were in the same unit.



4. iv. FRANCIS MARION GRIFFITH, b. September 18, 1842, Taylor

County, Georgia; d. September 09, 1904, Taylor County, Georgia.



v. CYNTHIA GRIFFITH, b. 1852, Taylor County, Georgia.





Generation No. 3



3. EDWARD JOSEPH3 GRIFFITH (WILLIAM HOWARD2, JAMES1)1 was born

February 03, 1834 in Reynolds, Taylor County, Georgia2, and

died October 29, 1907 in Dolette Hills, DeSoto Parish,

Louisiana. He married MARGARET JANE PACE3,4 December 14, 1859

in DeSoto Parish, Louisiana5, daughter of THOMAS PACE and

ELIZABETH EVERETT. She was born August 17, 1842 in Macon,

Houston County, Georgia6, and died December 10, 1930 in

Mansfield, DeSoto Parish, Louisiana7.



Notes for EDWARD JOSEPH GRIFFITH: Served with a Louisiana

regiment in the Confederate Army, participating in campaigns in

Louisiana and Virginia. After the war he devoted his life to

the farm and was a prominent layman in the Methodist Church,

holding his membership at Double Bethel, a place so named

because it contained two churches, the Methodist and the

Baptist. He was a charter member of the Masonic Lodge at

Pleasant Hill.



See translation of Discharge paper dated December 19, 1862.



According to the Civil War 11th Battalion LA Infantry of DeSoto

and Various Parishes, Louisiana, published by Genweb.com., :



"Edward J. Griffith, Cp., Co. A, enlisted 3 May 1862 at

Mansfiled, LA Born Crawford Co., GA, age 28, blue eyes, light

hair, light complexion, occupation farmer & was 6'2" tall.

discharged 18 Dec 1862 because of tuberculosis."



ORIGINS OF THE GRIFFITH FAMILY

_ OF DESOTO PARISH _



by Gay Griffith Means



The following Pace-Griffith family record was furnished by Gay

Griffith Means who is a great-great granddaughter of Elizabeth

Everett Pace. She is also a great granddaughter of Margaret

Jane Pace and Edward Joseph Griffith and a granddaughter of

William Jasper Griffith. Her father was the late Luther Bailey

Griffith of Shreveport who was born in Mansfield on June 25,

1901.





Edward Joseph Griffith was born in 1834 and left his home in

Reynolds (Taylor County), Georgia in 1858. After a stay in

nearby Marshallville, Georgia, he eventually arrived in DeSoto

Parish in 1859. He settled in the Dolette Hills section of the

parish. Two other brothers Newton Jasper and Francis Marion,

one sister Harriet Ruth, and his parents, William Howard

Griffith and Mourning Parker remained in Taylor County,

Georgia. DeSoto Parish Marriage Records show Margaret Jane Pace

and Edward Joseph Griffith, son of William Howard Griffith and

Mourning Parker, were married in DeSoto Parish on December 14,

1859.



Edward Joseph served with Company A, 11th Battlion, Louisiana

Regiment in the Confederate army, participating in campaigns in

Louisiana and Virginia. He was discharged due to comsumption

and tubercular disease. After the war he devoted his life to

the farm and was a prominent layman in the Methodist Church.

He was a charter member of the Masonic Lodge, at Pleasant Hill.

Margaret Jane Pace Griffith came to DeSoto Parish in either

1858 or 1859, with her widowed mother, Elizabeth Pace, and

other family members. She graduated from a college in Georgia

and considered education a priority for all of her children.

She was the mother of eight daughters and three sons. Five of

her daughters became teachers.



Edward Griffith and Margaret Jane Pace owned the Pelican Hotel

during the latter part of the century. Edward Joseph Griffith

died in 1907. (Margaret was 82 in 1925.) They and some of their

descendants are buried in the Dolette Hills Grove Hill

Cemetery. It was once a part of Pierre Dolette's Spanish land

grant dating back to the late 1700's. Both were members of the

Bethel Hill Methodist Church in the same area, organized by the

Rev. Robert Parvin in 1863. George W. Martin, May 21, 1835-

March 9, 1915, and his wife Mary Thomas Pace (1840-1929) are

buried in the Cool Springs Cemetery, Western continued on next

page District, DeSoto Parish, Louisiana. Also buried near them

is their son, Charles E. Martin, (January 21, 1860-March 8,

1909 and his wife, Edna Pearl Scott, (July2,1873-February

17,1923). It is believed that William T. Scott and Harriet

Rebecca Pace are buried in the Pleasant Hill Cemetery. It is

not known where Elizabeth Pace is buried.



THE PACE FAMILY HISTORY The emigrant ancestor of the Pace

family was Richard Pace (ca 1590-1624) who with his wife,

Isabella Smyth, came to Jamestown, Virginia from Stepney

Parish, London about 1610.They had been married at St.

Dunstan's, London in 1608. Captain John Smith in Smith's

General Historie, Book IV, credits Richard Pace with having

saved the Jamestown colony from an Indian massacre in 1622. The

family played an important role in the early days of the

settlement of the Virginia colony. Richard Pace's home on the

James River was known as Pace's Paines. George Pace

(1610-1654), son of Richard and Isabella Smyth Pace, married

Sarah Maycock. She was the daughter of Captain Samuel Maycock,

a Cambridge scholar. (Capt. Maycock was in Virginia by 1618 and

was an ordained minister in the colony. He was also a member

of the Council.)Maycocke had been massacred by Indians on Good

Friday, March 22,1622. His wife died in 1622 when their

daughter Sarah was born. Sarah was reared by the second wife of

John Rolfe, Jane Pierce Rolfe. (Pocahontas had died in London

in 1617 and John Rolfe had returned to the Virginia colony

where he remarried.). The first record of George Pace is a

land patent dated September 1, 1628, which describes him as a

minor and heir-apparent of Richard Pace. In a sale of land four

years later he is listed as the heir of Richard Pace. Richard

Pace, II, son of the above George Pace, was a minor when his

father died at Maycock Plantation on the James River. It was

directly across from the present site of Westover Plantation,

the ancestral home of the Byrd family. A man named William

Baugh was chosen as the guardian of Richard Pace, II. By March

13, 1661, he had married Mary _____, with whose consent he sold

land on Powell's Creek in Charles City, Virginia. It is

believed that Mary was the daughter of Richard Baker. On

January 21, 1664, Baker made a "Gift Deed" to Richard Pace for

a parcel of land "lying on the other side of the bottom on the

west side of Baker's plantation containing 140 acres."

Richard Pace, II was born in 1638 and died in Charles City

County, Virginia in 1677. Richard Pace, III (circa 1663-1738),

born in Charles City County, Virginia, son of Richard II,

married Rebecca Poythress. He removed to North Carolina about

1704. Before 1706 he lived in Bertie Precinct just beyond the

Virginia line on the southern boundaries of Prince George and

Surry Counties. His name appeared on a jury list in 1723 and he

was vestryman of Northwest Parish (later Northampton County) in

1727. The will of Richard Pace III, made on March 1, 1737, left

a 320-acre plantation on Urshaw Swamp (North Carolina) and a

290-acre tract of land on Roanoke River in Bertie Precinct,

Northampton Co., North Carolina, to his son, Thomas Pace.

Thomas Pace, I was born in Bertie Precinct around 1704 and died

in Northampton County, North Carolina, in 1765. He was married

to Amy Boykin. Nathaniel Pace, son of the above Thomas Pace, I,

was born July 16, 1745, in Bertie Precinct, Northampton Co.,

North Carolina and died October 1, 1799, in Camden District,

Claremont County, South Carolina. He served in the American

Revolution from South Carolina and applied for and received a

Revolutionary Land Claim in Camden District, South Carolina. He

married Mildred Amelia Boykin on March 31, 1772. She was

descended from Edward Boykin, a prominent Virginian who

emigrated from Wales.



This couple had twelve children. Thomas

Pace, II, was the first-born son of Nathaniel Pace. He was born

January 22, 1776, in Camden District, Claremont Co., South

Carolina and died in Georgia on June 7, 1853. He married

Elizabeth Horton Everett (daughter of Jesse Everett and Sarah

Collins) in North Carolina on May 22, 1834. After her marriage

to Thomas Pace in Macon, Bibb County, Georgia on May 22, 1834,

the couple moved to Troup County, Georgia, where they are

listed in the 1840 census.Thomas Pace died in Georgia on June

7, 1853. Elizabeth Pace arrived in DeSoto

Parish in 1859. Her daughter Margaret's marriage to Edward

Joseph Griffith marked the beginning of the Griffith-Pace

family dynasty.













More About EDWARD JOSEPH GRIFFITH:

Ethnicity/Relig.: Methodist

Event 1: 1859, Moved to Louisiana from Georgia

Military service: Bet. May 03 - December 18, 1862, Captain, Civil War. Enlisted at Mansfield, Louisiana at 288

Occupation: Bet. January 08, 1901 - 1907, Postmaster for Dolette, Louisiana9

Residence: De Soto Parish



More About MARGARET JANE PACE:

Burial: December 10, 1930, Mansfield Cemetery, Van Buren and Pea Street, Mansfield, Louisiana 71052

Cause of Death: Cerebral Hemorrhage with Brights Disease and High blood pressure10

Event 1: Graduated from University in Georgia

Medical Information: Bright's disease is often a catch all for kidney diseases, but strictly speaking is glomerulonephritis, which may be a complication of streptococcal sore throat 11

Occupation: Teacher, then housewife12

Residence: De Soto Parish12



Children of EDWARD GRIFFITH and MARGARET PACE are:

i. HARRIETTE ELIZABETH4 GRIFFITH13, b. October 27, 1860; d. Unknown; m. GEORGE A WHEELER13, January 20, 1895, DeSoto Parish, Louisiana13.

ii. ELLA NORA GRIFFITH, b. January 24, 1863; d. Unknown.

iii. MARY EDWARD GRIFFITH, b. September 12, 1864; d. Unknown.

5. iv. WILLIAM JASPER GRIFFITH, b. April 19, 1865, Dolette Hills or Mansfield, DeSoto Parish, Louisiana; d. January 21, 1938, Mansfield, DeSoto Parish, Louisiana.

v. SARAH JANE GRIFFITH, b. October 28, 1868; d. Unknown.

vi. MAGGIE GRIFFITH14, b. November 04, 1870, DeSoto Parish, Louisiana; m. RICHARD G BOWDON14, February 13, 1890, DeSoto Parish, Louisiana14.

vii. MATTIE GRIFFITH15, b. November 04, 1870; m. W J ROACH15, July 30, 1894, DeSoto Parish, Louisiana15.

viii. BOY GRIFFITH, b. April 09, 1873; d. Unknown.

ix. JAMES MUMFORD GRIFFITH, b. May 11, 1874; d. Unknown; m. ALICE PARSONS16, July 20, 1899, DeSoto Parish, Louisiana16.

x. HENRIETTA HORTON GRIFFITH, b. April 11, 1877; d. Unknown.

xi. MINNIE PARKER GRIFFITH, b. August 19, 1879; d. Unknown.

xii. JOHN THOMAS GRIFFITH, b. March 08, 1883; m. LIZZIE BELL.





4. FRANCIS MARION3 GRIFFITH (WILLIAM HOWARD2, JAMES1) was born September 18, 1842 in Taylor County, Georgia, and died September 09, 1904 in Taylor County, Georgia.



Child of FRANCIS MARION GRIFFITH is:

6. i. WILLIAM E4 GRIFFITH, b. 1867.





Generation No. 4



5. WILLIAM JASPER4 GRIFFITH (EDWARD JOSEPH3, WILLIAM HOWARD2,

JAMES1)17,18 was born April 19, 1865 in Dolette Hills or

Mansfield, DeSoto Parish, Louisiana19, and died January 21,

1938 in Mansfield, DeSoto Parish, Louisiana19. He married (1)

LELA A WEBSTER20 December 01, 1887 in DeSoto Parish,

Louisiana21. She was born Unknown, and died Unknown. He

married (2) ELIZABETH BAILEY22,23 September 26, 1893 in Lapine,

Crenshaw County, Alabama. She was born July 12, 1875 in

Lapine,Crenshaw County, Alabama24, and died December 08, 1951

in Mansfield, DeSoto Parish, Louisiana.



Notes for WILLIAM JASPER GRIFFITH: William Jasper Griffith is

president of the W J Griffith Company., Inc. one of the most

important organizations of its kind in De Soto Parish,

manufacturing railway ties and timbers and shingles. The

Company has its plant and store twelve miles east of Mansfield

and provides under contract materials that are shipped to

widely separated parts of the country.



Mr Griffith was born seven miles east of Pelican, in Ward Seven

of De Soto Parish, April 19, 1866, son of E J and Margaret

Griffith. E J Griffith came to Louisiana in 1859 from Georgia.

He was born in 1833 and died in December, 1907. He served with

a Louisiana regiment in the Confederate Army, participating in

campaigns in Louisiana and Virginia. After the war he devoted

his life to the farm and was a prominent layman in the

Methodist Church, holding his membership at Double Bethel, a

place so named because it contained two churches, the Methodist

and the Baptist. He was a charter member of the Masonic Lodge

at Pleasant Hill. Mrs Margaret Griffith, his widow, is now

eighty two years of age, and resides with her son, William J.

She graduated from a college in Georgia and she took the

responsibility of looking after the primary education of all

her children. She was the mother of eight daughters and three

sons, and five of the daughters became teachers. One son,

James M., is in the railroad business at Monroe, Louisiana, and

the other J.T. Griffith, is in the tie business at South

Mansfield.



William J Griffith grew up on the home farm and remained there

to the age of twenty-one, getting his education in local

schools. Then, contrary to Greeley's advice, he went east

instead of west, seeing out some relatives who lived at

Crenshaw, near Montgomery, Alabama. He spent ten years as a

farmer in that locality and after returning to Louisiana,

farmed in this state for two years. Since then he has been a

manufacturer and contractor of railroad timbers and shingles.

For two years the center of his operations was at Oxford, in De

Soto Parish. For twenty-three years his home has been in or

near Mansfield, and at present he resides on Jefferson Highway,

three miles north of that city, in one of the most beautiful

spots along the highway. The W J Griffith Company has operated

on an extensive scale, frequently buying large tracts of

standing timber and converting it into railroad ties, shingles,

and other products.



Mr Griffith in 1886 married Lula Webster, of De Soto Parish.

She died one year after the birth of her only daughter, who is

now Theresa Parnell of Alexandria. In 1893, Mr Griffith

married Elizabeth Bailey. She is the mother of eight sons and

seven daughters and all but one of this large family of fifteen

are still living and all have been given exceptional

educational advantages. The sons are all associated with their

father in business. The son Joh C has a service record of

eighteen months during the World War, being with the Twentieth

Engineers in France, near the Switzerland border, where he

operated sawmills for military purposes. Mr Griffith is

President of the W J Griffith Company., Inc., while his son L B

is secretary-treasurer, and his son John vice-president and in

charge of mill operations. Mr Griffith is a Methodist, and he

and these two sons are thirty-second degree Scottish Rite

Masons.





More About WILLIAM JASPER GRIFFITH:

Burial: January 23, 1938, Mansfield Cemetery, Van Buren and Pea Street, Mansfield, Louisiana 7105225

Cause of Death: heart Condition due to hypertension25

Ethnicity/Relig.: Methodist

Occupation: 1938, Timber Man25

Residence: Mansfield, Louisiana



More About LELA A WEBSTER:

Residence: De Soto Parish



Notes for ELIZABETH BAILEY:

"She is the mother of eight sons and seven daughters and all

but one of this large family of fifteen are still living and

all have been given exceptional educational advantages."

History of Louisiana, p 235.





Child of WILLIAM GRIFFITH and LELA WEBSTER is:

i. THERESA5 GRIFFITH, b. Unknown; d. Unknown; m. UNKNOWN HUSBAND PARNELL; b. Unknown; d. Unknown.



More About THERESA GRIFFITH:

Residence: Alexandria, Louisiana





Children of WILLIAM GRIFFITH and ELIZABETH BAILEY are:

ii. LOUISE5 GRIFFITH, b. October 10, 1894; d. Unknown.

iii. JOHN CLIFTON GRIFFITH26,27, b. December 28, 1896, Pelican,

De Soto Parish, Louisiana28; d. July 10, 1984, Shreveport,

Caddo Parish, Louisiana; m. LENA BELL PRICE29, January 27,

1920, Fort Townson, Oklahoma30; b. June 12, 1898, Zwolle,

Sabine Parish, Louisiana31; d. July 27, 1968, Stonewall, De

Soto Parish, Louisiana32.



Notes for JOHN CLIFTON GRIFFITH: Service record of eighteen

months during the World War I being with the Twentieth

Engineers in France, near the Switzerland border, where he

operated sawmills for military purposes. [Broderbund Family

Archive #110, Vol. 1 A-L, Ed. 6, Social Security Death Index:

U.S., Date of Import: Oct 10, 2000, Internal Ref.

#1.111.6.97998.59]



Individual: Griffith, John

Social Security #: 435-50-1786

Issued in: Louisiana



Birth date: Dec 28, 1896

Death date: Jul 1984



Residence code: Louisiana



ZIP Code of last known residence: 71032

Primary location associated with this ZIP Code:



Grand Cane, Louisiana







More About JOHN CLIFTON GRIFFITH:

Burial: Grand Cane Cemetery, South Hwy 171, Grand Cane, De Soto Parish, Louisiana

Ethnicity/Relig.: Methodist Protestant church

Occupation: Roadside improvement contractor

Residence: Grand Cane, Louisiana

Social Security Number: Social Security #: 435-50-178633

State SS No. Issued In: Issued in: Louisiana33

Zip code of last residenc: Last residence ZIP: 7103233



Notes for LENA BELL PRICE:

Lena Bell (Price) Griffith and John Clifton Griffith married in

Oklahoma because she was living there at the time. Her father

worked in a saw mill there at that time. (per James Bailey

Griffith 11/11/1995.



Obituary in File.







More About LENA BELL PRICE:

Burial: Grand Cane Cemetery, South Hwy 171, Grand Cane, De Soto Parish, Louisiana

Cause of Death: Car Accident

Ethnicity/Relig.: Methodist-Grand Cane Methodist Church

Event 1: LouisianaState Normal Now Northwestern Un.34

Event 2: Interred in Grand Cane Cemetery34

Occupation: Teacher

Personality/Intrst: Gardening

Residence: Grand Cane, Louisiana



iv. BESSIE MAE GRIFFITH, b. December 10, 1899.



v. MATTIE BELL GRIFFITH, b. September 11, 1900; d. September

28, 1959; m. ROBERT L COLE; b. March 08, 1898; d. August 31,

1960.



vi. LUTHER BAILEY GRIFFITH, b. June 25, 1901, Pelican, DeSoto

Parish, Louisiana35; d. March 10, 1982, Shreveport, Caddo

Parish, Louisiana; m. LOUIE BARNARD, April 25, 1931, St Andrew

Episcopal Church, Jackson, Hinds County, Mississippi; b.

October 24, 1908, Anquilla, Sharkey County, Mississippi; d.

October 22, 1987, Shreveport, Caddo Parish, Louisiana.



Notes for LUTHER BAILEY GRIFFITH:

[Broderbund Family Archive #110, Vol. 1 A-L, Ed. 6, Social Security Death Index: U.S., Date of Import: Feb 8, 2000, Internal Ref. #1.111.6.98009.85]



Individual: Griffith, Luther

Social Security #: 435-07-3456

Issued in: Louisiana



Birth date: Jun 25, 1901

Death date: Mar 1982





Residence code: Louisiana



ZIP Code of last known residence: 71107

Primary location associated with this ZIP Code:



Shreveport, Louisiana

Hobbies include sailing and golf



More About LUTHER BAILEY GRIFFITH:

Comment 1: Issued in: Louisiana35

Event 1: Buried in Forest Park Cemetery, Shreveport

Occupation: Certified Public Accountant

Personality/Intrst: Genealogy, sailing, golf

Residence: 3255 Old Mooringsport Rd, Shreveport, LA

Social Security Number: Social Security #: 435-07-345635

Zip code of last residenc: Last residence ZIP: 7110735



More About LOUIE BARNARD:

Event 1: Buried in Forest Park Cemetery, Shreveport



vii. EDWARD LAMAR GRIFFITH36, b. August 29, 1903, Pelican, De Soto Parish, Louisiana36; d. April 19, 1967, Mansfield, DeSoto Parish, Louisiana37; m. LELA MAE JAMES, 1929, DeSoto Parish, Louisiana; b. November 10, 1909, Pleasant Hill, Sabine Parish, Louisiana; d. November 11, 1970, Shreveport, Caddo Parish, Louisiana.



Notes for EDWARD LAMAR GRIFFITH:

[Broderbund Family Archive #110, Vol. 1 A-L, Ed. 6, Social Security Death Index: U.S., Date of Import: Feb 8, 2000, Internal Ref. #1.111.6.97971.89]



Individual: Griffith, Edward

Social Security #: 425-10-4418

Issued in: Mississippi



Birth date: Aug 29, 1902

Death date: Apr 1967





Residence code: Louisiana



ZIP Code of last known residence: 71032

Primary location associated with this ZIP Code:



Grand Cane, Louisiana







More About EDWARD LAMAR GRIFFITH:

Residence: Residence code: Louisiana37

Social Security Number: Social Security #: 425-10-441837,38

State SS No. Issued In: Issued in: Mississippi39

Zip code of last residenc: Last residence ZIP: 7103239



viii. HOWARD DAWSON GRIFFITH, b. October 28, 190340; d. February 197340.



Notes for HOWARD DAWSON GRIFFITH:

[Broderbund Family Archive #110, Vol. 1 A-L, Ed. 6, Social Security Death Index: U.S., Date of Import: Feb 8, 2000, Internal Ref. #1.111.6.97990.157]



Individual: Griffith, Howard

Social Security #: 435-07-6771

Issued in: Louisiana



Birth date: Oct 28, 1903

Death date: Feb 1973





Residence code: Texas



ZIP Code of last known residence: 75501

Primary location associated with this ZIP Code:



Texarkana, Texas







More About HOWARD DAWSON GRIFFITH:

Comment 1: Issued in: Louisiana40

Residence: Residence code: Texas40

Social Security Number: Social Security #: 435-07-677140

Zip code of last residenc: Last residence ZIP: 7550140



ix. MOLLIE GRIFFITH, b. December 18, 190441; d. May 198241; m. UNKNOWN HUSBAND MCCROKLIN, Unknown; b. Unknown; d. Unknown.



Notes for MOLLIE GRIFFITH:

[Broderbund Family Archive #110, Vol. 2 M-Z, Ed. 6, Social Security Death Index: U.S., Date of Import: Feb 8, 2000, Internal Ref. #1.112.6.11874.142]



Individual: Mccrocklin, Mollie

Social Security #: 439-02-0975

Issued in: Louisiana



Birth date: Dec 18, 1904

Death date: May 1982





Residence code: Mississippi



ZIP Code of last known residence: 39042

Primary location associated with this ZIP Code:



Brandon, Mississippi







More About MOLLIE GRIFFITH:

Comment 1: Issued in: Louisiana41

Residence: Residence code: Mississippi41

Social Security Number: Social Security #: 439-02-097541

Zip code of last residenc: Last residence ZIP: 3904241



x. WILLIAM ALFRED GRIFFITH, b. January 10, 190542; d. September 198742.



Notes for WILLIAM ALFRED GRIFFITH:

[Broderbund Family Archive #110, Vol. 1 A-L, Ed. 6, Social Security Death Index: U.S., Date of Import: Feb 8, 2000, Internal Ref. #1.111.6.97980.164]



Individual: Griffith, Fred

Social Security #: 437-03-1756

Issued in: Louisiana



Birth date: Jan 10, 1905

Death date: Sep 1987





Residence code: Louisiana



ZIP Code of last known residence: 71106

Primary location associated with this ZIP Code:



Shreveport, Louisiana







More About WILLIAM ALFRED GRIFFITH:

Comment 1: Issued in: Louisiana42

Residence: Residence code: Louisiana42

Social Security Number: Social Security #: 437-03-175642

Zip code of last residenc: Last residence ZIP: 7110642



xi. REBECCA CLARA GRIFFITH, b. May 18, 1906; d. Unknown.

xii. EARLE VAN DORN GRIFFITH, b. September 25, 190643; d. March 195643.



Notes for EARLE VAN DORN GRIFFITH:

[Broderbund Family Archive #110, Vol. 1 A-L, Ed. 6, Social Security Death Index: U.S., Date of Import: Feb 8, 2000, Internal Ref. #1.111.6.97969.146]



Individual: Griffith, Earl

Social Security #: 435-07-4429

Issued in: Louisiana



Birth date: Sep 25, 1906

Death date: Mar 1956







More About EARLE VAN DORN GRIFFITH:

Comment 1: Issued in: Louisiana43

Social Security Number: Social Security #: 435-07-442943



xiii. NEWTON JASPER GRIFFITH, b. July 08, 191044,44; d. August 198044,44.



Notes for NEWTON JASPER GRIFFITH:

[Broderbund Family Archive #110, Vol. 1 A-L, Ed. 6, Social Security Death Index: U.S., Date of Import: Feb 8, 2000, Internal Ref. #1.111.6.98019.182]



Individual: Griffith, Newton

Social Security #: 457-01-6485

Issued in: Texas



Birth date: Jul 8, 1910

Death date: Aug 1980





Residence code: Louisiana



ZIP Code of last known residence: 71105

Primary location associated with this ZIP Code:



Shreveport, Louisiana







More About NEWTON JASPER GRIFFITH:

Comment 1: Issued in: Texas44

Residence: Residence code: Louisiana44

Social Security Number: Social Security #: 457-01-648544

Zip code of last residenc: Last residence ZIP: 7110544



xiv. ELIZABETH REBECCA GRIFFITH, b. June 23, 1912.

xv. VIOLA CORDELIA GRIFFITH, b. February 14, 1915.

xvi. EUGENE JOSEPH GRIFFITH, b. December 17, 1918.



Notes for EUGENE JOSEPH GRIFFITH:









6. WILLIAM E4 GRIFFITH (FRANCIS MARION3, WILLIAM HOWARD2, JAMES1)45 was born 1867. He married LAURA CLANTON45 February 19, 1891 in DeSoto Parish, Louisiana45.



Children of WILLIAM GRIFFITH and LAURA CLANTON are:

i. ELIZABETH5 GRIFFITH.

ii. LINDSEY GRIFFITH.

iii. DENNIE GRIFFITH.

iv. ALEX GRIFFITH.







Endnotes



1. Death Certificate of individual's child, Edward Joseph Griffith, DeSoto Parish, Mansfield, Louisiana, District 16-2106, File number 126, Registered no. 446.

2. Civil War, 11th Battalion LA Infantry-DeSoto and Various Parishes, Louisiana, Surnames A-L, Rootsweb.com, "Electronic."

3. Death Certificate, State of Louisiana, District #16-5151, File No. 151, Registered No. 15569, DeSoto Parish.

4. Death Certificate of individual's child, William Jasper Griffith, DeSoto Parish, Mansfield, Louisiana, District 16-2106, File number 126, Registered no. 446, Certificate listed her as Martha, not Margaret.

5. Compiled by John C Head, DeSoto Parish Louisiana Marriage Records 1843-1905, (J & W Enterprises, 8505 Dixie Blanchard Road, Shreveport, LA 71107-8176, 1992), Page, 30.

6. Death Certificate of individual's child, William Jasper Griffith, DeSoto Parish, Mansfield, Louisiana, District 16-2106, File number 126, Registered no. 446.

7. Death Certificate, State of Louisiana, District #16-5151, File No. 151, Registered No. 15569, DeSoto Parish.

8. Civil War, 11th Battalion LA Infantry-DeSoto and Various Parishes, Louisiana, Surnames A-L, Rootsweb.com, "Electronic."

9. Postmasters 1844-1928 Towns a-L, DeSoto Parish, Louisiana, Rootsweb.com, "Electronic."

10. Death Certificate, State of Louisiana, District #16-5151, File No. 151, Registered No. 15569, DeSoto Parish.

11. Taber, Clarence Wilbur, 1870-1968, Taber's Cyclopedic Medical Dictionary, (1997 F.A. Davis Company), Page 266..

12. Death Certificate, State of Louisiana, District #16-5151, File No. 151, Registered No. 15569, DeSoto Parish.

13. Compiled by John C Head, DeSoto Parish Louisiana Marriage Records 1843-1905, (J & W Enterprises, 8505 Dixie Blanchard Road, Shreveport, LA 71107-8176, 1992), page 121.

14. Compiled by John C Head, DeSoto Parish Louisiana Marriage Records 1843-1905, (J & W Enterprises, 8505 Dixie Blanchard Road, Shreveport, LA 71107-8176, 1992), page 99.

15. Compiled by John C Head, DeSoto Parish Louisiana Marriage Records 1843-1905, (J & W Enterprises, 8505 Dixie Blanchard Road, Shreveport, LA 71107-8176, 1992), page 119.

16. Compiled by John C Head, DeSoto Parish Louisiana Marriage Records 1843-1905, (J & W Enterprises, 8505 Dixie Blanchard Road, Shreveport, LA 71107-8176, 1992), page 142.

17. Social Security Application from Individual, John Clifton Griffith.

18. Social Security Application from Individual's child, Edward Lamar Griffith.

19. Death Certificate, State of Louisiana, DeSoto Parish, Mansfield, District 16-2106, File number 126, Registered no. 446.

20. Compiled by John C Head, DeSoto Parish Louisiana Marriage Records 1843-1905, (J & W Enterprises, 8505 Dixie Blanchard Road, Shreveport, LA 71107-8176, 1992), page 90.

21. Compiled by John C Head, DeSoto Parish Louisiana Marriage Records 1843-1905, (J & W Enterprises, 8505 Dixie Blanchard Road, Shreveport, LA 71107-8176, 1992), Page 90.

22. Social Security Application from Individual's child, John Clifton Griffith.

23. Social Security Application from Individual's child, Edward Lamar Griffith.

24. 1880 Census

25. Death Certificate, State of Louisiana, DeSoto Parish, Mansfield, District 16-2106, File number 126, Registered no. 446.

26. Social Security Application from Individual.

27. Social Security Application from Individual's child, John Clifton Griffith, Jr.

28. Social Security Application from Individual.

29. Social Security Application from Individual's child, John Clifton Griffith, Jr..

30. Marriage license

31. Obituary/Tombstone

32. Newspaper Clippings/photos

33. Broderbund Family Archive #110, Vol. 1, Ed. 6, Social Security Death Index: U.S., Date of Import: Oct 10, 2000, Internal Ref. #1.111.6.97998.59

34. Newspaper Clippings

35. Broderbund Family Archive #110, Vol. 1, Ed. 6, Social Security Death Index: U.S., Date of Import: Feb 8, 2000, Internal Ref. #1.111.6.98009.85

36. Social Security Application from Individual.

37. Broderbund Family Archive #110, Vol. 1, Ed. 6, Social Security Death Index: U.S., Date of Import: Feb 8, 2000, Internal Ref. #1.111.6.97971.89

38. Social Security Application from Individual.

39. Broderbund Family Archive #110, Vol. 1, Ed. 6, Social Security Death Index: U.S., Date of Import: Feb 8, 2000, Internal Ref. #1.111.6.97971.89

40. Broderbund Family Archive #110, Vol. 1, Ed. 6, Social Security Death Index: U.S., Date of Import: Feb 8, 2000, Internal Ref. #1.111.6.97990.157

41. Broderbund Family Archive #110, Vol. 2, Ed. 6, Social Security Death Index: U.S., Date of Import: Feb 8, 2000, Internal Ref. #1.112.6.11874.142

42. Broderbund Family Archive #110, Vol. 1, Ed. 6, Social Security Death Index: U.S., Date of Import: Feb 8, 2000, Internal Ref. #1.111.6.97980.164

43. Broderbund Family Archive #110, Vol. 1, Ed. 6, Social Security Death Index: U.S., Date of Import: Feb 8, 2000, Internal Ref. #1.111.6.97969.146

44. Broderbund Family Archive #110, Vol. 1, Ed. 6, Social Security Death Index: U.S., Date of Import: Feb 8, 2000, Internal Ref. #1.111.6.98019.182

45. Compiled by John C Head, DeSoto Parish Louisiana Marriage Records 1843-1905, (J & W Enterprises, 8505 Dixie Blanchard Road, Shreveport, LA 71107-8176, 1992), page 104.




 

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