OUR GRIFFIN FAMILY
Generation 6
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RESEARCH-CHALLENGE:
A Martha Griffin mar. Daniel S. Dean. Martha Griffin Dean died in October 1850 at Ballston, Saratoga County, New York. No Martha Griffin appears in any genealogy we have, however Daniel Dean appears in Waupun, Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin, across the road from Elvira (Sheldon) Griffin?s parents, Nathaniel & Electa (Smith) Sheldon. There definitely was a connection between Daniel Dean (through Griffins) and the Sheldons. I have been unable to find Daniel S. Dean and his wife, Martha Griffin, in the 1850 New York census, either at Saratoga County or elsewhere in New York. Research queries in Saratoga County have proved fruitless.
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ELVIRA SHELDON was Emerson's first wife. She was the daughter of Nathaniel and Electa (Smith) Sheldon.
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Their Marriage License is dated 25 September 1848. The ceremony was performed on the 28th day of September 1848, by Rev. Jeremiah Murphy, "at the house of Nathaniel Sheldon in the Town of Waupun." According to the marriage certificate, her middle initial was "A.", which could be for "Althea" - the middle name she gave her only daughter.
LAND IN WISCONSIN
Emerson and Elvira bought land in Columbia County, Wisconsin, just to the SW of Fond du Lac County; not far as the crow flies from her home. Click here for a map of the Columbia County?s townships. Their land was in Fountain Prairie Township.
1849 Dec 23 - BUY - $500. Columbia Co, Wis.: Fountain Prairie Twp.
T11N R12E. Have copy.
Grantor: Ethan A. & Jane R. Roe, Fountain Prairie, Columbia Co Wis.
Grantee: Emerson G. & Elvira A. Griffin, Fountain Prairie, Columbia Co Wis.
Description:
Sec 30 - SE1/4 SE1/4, and SW1/4 SE1/4.
Sec 34 - W1/2 NW1/4 of SE1/4.
1849 Aug 18 - BUY - $100. Columbia Co Wis.
T11N R12E. Have copy.
Grantor: Stillman R. & Sarah J. Dix.
Grantee: Emerson G. Griffin, Columbia Co Wis.
Description:
Sec 30 - Rods and links measurements.
OTHER GRIFFINS IN COLUMBIA COUNTY
In speculating regarding Emerson Griffin's move from Ohio to Wisconsin, it must be mentioned that there are many land transactions in Columbia County for other members of Emerson's family. Please note: the xerox copies of the Grantor/Grantee lists that were sent to me were too large for the machine, and on some pages the transaction dates didn?t fit, and on other pages, the land description didn't fit. It's not in my interests to procure the documents, however, it is to be noted that the Grantor/Grantee indices do record:
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WISCONSIN CENSUS
1850 U.S. Census, Wisconsin.
Columbia County, Fountain Prairie Twp (Dist. #8), p. 136. Taken August 1.
Griffin, Emerson, 26 [b. 1824], farmer, Real Estate $1,000, b. NY.
Griffin, Alvira, 28, b. Ohio.
Griffin, James S., 8/12, b. Wis.
Griffin, Mary A., 8/12, b. Wis.
Griffin, Alexander, 19, farmer, b. NY.
Griffin, Lurancy, 28, b. NY.
The twins were born end of Dec 1849 or the beginning of Jan 1850.
Alexander and Lurancy are brother and sister of Emerson.
Fountain Prairie is on Hwy. 16 near intersection of Hwy. 146.
DEATH OF HIS FIRST WIFE
1852
Elvira died on the 10th of February 1852 at Columbia County, Wisconsin, and is buried at a small country cemetery there. She left behind her, her twin children, just over two years old.
Her tombstone states she was 30 years 1 month and 21days old. She may have died with a fever or the flu or in childbirth. All my research on this question has remained unanswered.
It has been rumored that upon his wife's death, Elvira's mother, Electa Sheldon, hurried down to Columbia County from Waupun in horse-and-buggy, stormed into the house, pulled the shades shut, bundled up the children, and took them home with her. The story I heard was written me by my Aunt Charlotte, as related to her by her own mother.
AUNT CHARLOTTE'S NOTES
Emery Griffin had also married a Sheldon descendant against the wishes of her family. He was probably born in New York state, perhaps near Syracuse, New York, where the Sheldons probably lived before moving to Waupun. He followed them to Wisconsin, whisked Elvira out of the bosom of her family, took her to central Illinois to a tiny frontier farm village (name unknown to me),/1/ gave her a pair of twins, Mary Althea and James Sheldon, and buried her when the children were somewhere between 3-5 years old./2/ The grandmother, Electa Smith Sheldon, hurried to the village from Waupun, Wisconsin, pulled down all the shades of the windows, packed up the children's belongings and took them to Waupun, where they were raised by grandparents and uncle./3/ There was very little contact with Emery Griffin/4/ until, perhaps, the elopement of Mary Althea who followed in her mother's footsteps/5/.
/1/ Emery and Elvira bought farm in Fountain Prairie Township, Columbia County, Wisconsin, just north of Madison, Wisconsin.
/2/ The children were two when Elvira died in 1852.
/3/ Mary Althea was raised in Waupun with her Sheldon grandparents; she was in the 1860 census there. She is not with her Wisconsin uncle in his 1870 census. Twin James was found with his father in the 1855-1860-1870 Illinois censuses. He may have spent a very few years with his grandparents prior to the 1855 Illinois census.
/4/ This is unfounded.
/5/ This is also unfounded. There had to have been contact before the "elopement" of John F. Nickel and Mary Althea Griffin, because, after 1880 there is no indication that Mary Althea spent time in Illinois. Her daughter, Laura, knew Emery's family well enough to be there living with step-aunt Ida Pond in 1900, teaching school 1900-1903, and her daughter, Jennie, lived in the vicinity taking nurse’s training.
Letter from Charlotte S. Maneikis to Mary Turman dated 18 April 1981.
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How I Found Elvira Sheldon Griffin’s Grave
I had been searching for Elvira's grave for some time. While at the public library in Missoula, Montana, in the Genealogy Section, I chanced to find a publication on finding U.S. cemeteries, in a box of loose genealogy publications. An article in it gave contact information for every state of the union, where such existed.
There was a name and address for an association that was compiling cemetery information for the state of Wisconsin. I sent off a postcard. Almost a year later, I got a letter back in which I was informed that Elvira's burial spot had been located, giving me the name and address of this little cemetery. It would be several years before I could make a side-trip to visit the cemetery.
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FOUNTAIN PRAIRIE CEMETERY
My brother and his family were living in Madison, Wisconsin at the time. On a visit to them in 1994, my brother and I took a genealogy road-trip and visited several Wisconsin sites pertinent to the Griffins, and Elvira?s parents, Nathaniel and Electa (Smith) Sheldon, in Waupun, Wisconsin. On our way south, back from Waupun to Madison, we drove around in the country consulting our county map, and finally located the cemetery.
We walked through the cemetery scanning for Elvira's name. Finally, near a tree, and near the back fo the cemetery, we found her tombstone. Pure white. Slightly bent over. Standing tall. And alone.
It was so quiet in the cemetery. Cows lowed in the field next. A sense of awe struck me. Why? Because I imagined the scene in 1852 as her body was laid to rest here. Brought to the cemetery in, possibly, a horse-and-buggy hearse. Or, more likely, in the back of a farmer's buckboard wagon. Two-year-old children either at home with relatives, protected from this grim scene, or standing at the side, holding the hands, of their father or grandmother.
Fountain Prairie Cemetery, Fountain Prairie Township, Columbia County Wisconsin, Section 20. 1857. Take highway 16 west of Fall River. Turn north on Highway 146. About 1 1/2 miles North on 146, cemetery is on the East side of highway 146. 2006 transcription by Anna Mae Axness, Barb Ferguson, Amy, Caitlin & Callie Luebke. Cemetery records & maps furnished by Phil Waterworth, cemetery Sexton.
Click here for photo of Elvira's tombstone.
Certainly Elvira's parents were there to bid their goodbyes to their beloved daughter. Certainly Emerson was there. His brow furrowed with grief and worry. What to do with his little children. Whatever relationship he had with his in-laws shot.
Once the service was over, the Sheldons removed back to Waupun, and Emerson removed back to his farm and the cares of that business. A few years later he remarried, and removed to Illinois. He never returned to Wisconsin to live. He possibly never returned for a visit. Farm people in those days, with farm life being what it was, though they did "get around", didn't have the free time we have and didn't travel and visit to the extent that we can and do.
It is very likely that the Sheldons never visited Elvira's grave again. And very likely, also, that Emerson never visited her grave after his removal to Illinois. The awe I felt standing there at her grave, was that my brother and I were the first family visitors to her grave since the mid-1850s - about 140 years.*
SECOND MARRIAGE
1854
At any event, Emerson remarried, about 1854, Margaret Roberts at Wisconsin. She was born on 13 November 1833 at Caernarvon, Wales, the daughter of Morris Roberts and his wife, Elizabeth, who emigrated from Wales in 1847. She was from Cambria, about six miles to the north of Fountain Prairie township. Her father Morris (wife Elizabeth), is buried at the Cambria Cemetery (Div. 7, Lot 2); he died in 1883. Elizabeth is buried with him, she died in 1900. The cemetery seems full of Robertses, it must have been a huge clan. This cemetery is at the intersection of State Road 146 and Cemetery Road South, Cambria.
MOVE TO ILLINOIS
Within a very short time, Emerson and Margaret moved to Illinois.
On 15 September 1855, E. G. Griffin was the recipient of a land transfer in Warren County, Ellison Township, Illinois.
In 1856, Emerson paid $5.83 in state and county property tax (Ellison Twp., Warren County), on 6.5 acres in Sec 20, T9N R3W. The property had tax value of $395.
Then he and Margaret moved to McDonough County where they lived the rest of their lives.
Click here for an old McDonough County, Illinois, map. You can see where Emerson Griffin's land was if you look in the upper left-hand corner. The Village of Blandinsville lies mostly on the south edge of Blandinville Township. To the west of the village, in Section 31, in the extreme SW corner of the township, he owned land. Adjacent to it, but in the next southern township of Hire, he owned land in Section 6, in the extreme upper left-hand corner. These properties were bought in 187_.
LAND
Village of Blandinsville, Illinois. Davis First Addition. Lot #16.
Three years before Emerson’s death, his son James Griffin deeded this land to his step-sister, Laura Griffin. The date of the deed was 30 Oct 1892. It is recorded in Book 51, pg. 544.
James deeded this property (along with land) to his step-sister. Somehow I believe this was Emerson Griffin's land and it came into the childrens' hands.
ILLINOIS CENSUSES
1855, State Census IL
Warren Co, Ellison Twp (T9N R3W).
Griffin, E. G. [Emerson] Griffin, 30-40.
1 boy Under 10 [son James S. Griffin, now 5].
1 female 20-30 [wife, Margaret Roberts].
1 female 10-20 [unknown at this time, possibly a sister].
Emerson was in the Militia, and the value of Live Stock was $120.
1860, U.S. census IL
Warren Co, Ellison Twp, Dwelling 587, Family 584.
Griffin, E. G. Griffin, 35, Farmer, Real Property $2,500, Personal Property $563, b. NY.
Griffin, Margaret, 27, b. Wales.
Griffin, James, 10, in school, b. WI
Griffin, Ida E., 3, b. IL
1865, State census IL
Warren Co, Ellison Twp; or McDonough Co
Need to get this.
1870, U.S. census IL
McDonough Co, Hire Twp, Household 231 (just below the "end of Blandinsville Village"); Taken 2 July 1870.
Griffin, Emerson Griffin, 46, Farmer, b. NY
Griffin, Margaret, 38, Keeps house, b. WI [sic: Wales].
Griffin, Jas. S., 20, Farmer, b. IL [sic: WI; and the check mark for "mother of foreign birth" refers to Margaret, who was James' step-mother].
Griffin, Ida, 14, b. IL
Griffin, Elizabeth, 8, b. IL
Griffin, Laura 4, b. IL
1875, State census IL – none taken.
1880, U.S. census IL
McDonough Co, Hire Twp, Household 139.
Griffin, Emerson Griffin, 56, Farmer, b. NY, parents b. NY.
Griffin, Margret, 47, Housekeeper, b. WI [*], parents b. WI [* her 1860 census states she was born in Wales, and parents b. Wales].
Griffin, Louise J. [Elizabeth], 18, at school, b. IL, father b. NY, mother b. WI [no, see above].
Griffin, Laura E., 14, at school, b. IL, father b NY, mother b. WI [no, see above].
ILLINOIS LAND TRANSACTIONS
1875 Sept 18 - BUY - $300. Hancock Co, Carthage, Fountain Green Twp.
T6N R5W. NE1/4 of Section 2, approx 26 acres.
Grantor: Lewis & Agnes Noble of Blandinsville, McDonough Co IL
Grantee: Emerson G. Griffin, of Town of Hire, McDonough Co IL. Book 94 (pg. 507) #8902.
Date of Sale, unknown.
BUY - Purchase date unknown - Hancock Co, Carthage.
T7N R5W. SW1/4 of Section 36, approx 40 acres.
At, or after, 1895 death of E. G. Griffin, this land was occupied by Robert Craft (as described in E. G. Griffin's Probate records).
The home farm, bought in 1878, lay in Sections 6 and 31 of McDonough County. This was just to the West of Blandinsville. At some point, Emerson gave up farming and lived in town. Margaret was ill, Emerson had to care for his father, and simply wanted to give up farm life. This was described in his letter of 1889 to his cousin in New York. When Emerson died in 1895, the farm seems to have been occupied by Samuel Moore (as described in Emerson's probate records). Per the probate records, fifty-five ares off the south end of the property in Section 6 were set off to Margaret Griffin for the term of her natural life.
AUNT CHARLOTTE?S NOTES
Emery married again. He had two [actually, three] daughters, Ida, Lizzie, and Laura. Ida and Lizzie lived in Blandinsville and it was in Blandinsville where my mother taught school for two years before she met and married my father. I think that was also the place where your mother [Jennie] took nurse's training - in Macomb, the county seat, about 30-40 miles away. All four [Nickel] girls lived with those two half-sisters of their mother for several years.* [This last statement is unfounded. Laura is the only one appearing in the 1900 census, living with Ida Pond. The Nickel girls are all with their father in the 1900 census in Oklahoma: Jennie keeping house, and Iva and Ida in school. All four girls are with their father in Smith Center, Kansas, in the 1895 Kansas state census.]
Letter from Charlotte S. Maneikis to Mary Turman dated 18 April 1981.
MILITIA ?
In the 1855 state census, there was a check mark beside the name of Emerson Griffin, in the column marked "Militia". The Warren County Courthouse, at Monmouth, Illinois, in 1987, sent me "all" that they could find from the Militia Book. There are seven Griffins on the two pages that were sent to me:
- Winfield Griffin, No. 503, Letter "C", Regt. 83
- Henry M. Griffin, No. 291, Letter "C", Regt. 83
- Wm. C. Griffin, No. 246, Letter J, Regt. 11
- A. H. L. Griffin, No. 294, Letter "D", Regt. 7
- Jm. W. Griffin, No. 39, Letter "L", Regt. 12
- Myron Griffin, No. 687, Letter "D"
- James D. Griffin, No. 947, Letter "I" or "J", Regt. 11
The xerox copy cuts off the last digit of the year for which the record is, I see only "for the Year 186_". More research should be done at the Warren County Genealogical Society. The records are set up by township first, and then alphabetically. It isn?t stated on these sheets for which township these are the records, and I do not at this time have the township in which Emerson Griffin lived.
THE 1889 LETTER
Emerson's last saved letter was written in 1889 to his cousin, Mrs. Simpson, in which he writes of his own family history. A page of this letter is below (click on the picture for a larger, readable image.)
Click here to read this letter
DEATH
Emerson Griffin died 28 Sept 1895 (burial records), and is buried at the Glade City Cemetery, Blandinsville, Illinois.
?Died in Blandinsville?
Theodore Mustain of this city received a telegram Saturday announcing the dangerous illness of his wife?s father, E. G. Griffin, at Blandinsville. Mr. and Mrs. Mustain left immediately for that place but when they arrived he was dead.
Deceased was in good health Friday and went to his farm; returning in the afternoon he was taken seriously ill with something that appeared like cramp colic. His sufferings grew worse and within 24 hours he was dead. Mr. Griffin was a native of New York state, but had lived in Blandinsville or that vicinity for a number of years. He leaves a wife and four children: Mrs. Theodore Mustain of this city; Mrs. A. B. Pond of Blandinsville; a single daughter, Laura, who lives with her parents, and James A. [sic] of Witchita, Kan. Funeral services at Blandinsville Wednesday.
Macomb Daily Journal (Monday, 30 September 1895).
His gravesite is in the "original" section, in the pines. The family plot is Lot 88, and Emerson is in Space 6.
ESTATE OF EMERSON GRIFFIN
Emerson Griffin died intestate. McDonough County has his Probate as File #1996. His Estate was administered by his son-in-law, Alvin B. Pond, who dispensed available funds here and there, to the widow and different companies around town for this or that during a period between 1895-1897. The final report of the Account was filed the 3 day of Feby A.D. 1897, and recorded in Record of Reports B Page 352, by J. E. Lane, County Clerk.
Documents regarding Emerson Griffin:
Administration of Estate of E. G. Griffin.
There is a large probate file for Emerson Griffin. Some papers are more valuable for familiy history than others; e.g., there is a large number of papers to do with each individual heir being notified, etc.
Margaret Roberts lived for many more years. She was surely a figure in the young life of her step-daughter, Mary Althea.
SETTLEMENT OF ESTATE
By the time of her father's death, Laura Griffin was the only child left at home, unmarried. She took care of her elderly and ailing parents for several years. She may have felt like the "rug" of the family. She eventually married, but not until after both her parents were safely buried. She watched her two sisters up and marry, her step-sister (Mary Althea Griffin) went off, Mary?s twin brother, her step-brother, was a social gad-about of his day and he went off and married. There Laura was left alone to care for these aging elders of hers. Things were tough in those days for unmarried girls. By all rights, everything should have been left ot her, poor thing. ?At least she had enough spunk to do something about it.
She filed a claim for $2080 for ?services in family of Emmerson G. Griffin for five hundred weeks at rate of $4 per week? and took the family to court about it. A few payments made by the Estate to her were for $1040 and for $104.22. She probably got half of what she asked for and maybe some interest.
Since Emerson died without leaving a will, his estate ended up being quite a mess. His four motherless grandchildren, the Nickel girls (Laura, Jennie, Ida and Iva) were represented by a "guardian ad litem" George Tunnicliff, to represent their interests as heirs (due to the fact that Emerson's daughter, Mary, was dead by this time. Tunnicliff filed to deny most of the claims against the estate (in re. the widow's claims and Laura's claims) because the appraisals were so much smaller than what the widow claimed and to deny the widow $1080 as her part or the balance of $503.96 due her yet. And to deny Laura E. Griffin $2080 because five years before his death the same did accrue and arise and that Emerson Griffin never agreed to pay her for her care of him. The lawyer did admit the four children as heirs and eventually James S. Griffin gave up his interest in inheritance to his sister, Laura Griffin.
CENSUSES
1900 Illinois Census - McDonough County - 15 June - Blandinsville Township.
Household 205
Griffin, Margaret, head, b. Nov 1833, age 66; b. Wales (father: Wales; mother: Wales)
Griffin, Laura, dtr., b. Feb 1866, age 34; b. Ill. (father: NY; mother: Wales)
Household 210
Pond, Al B., head, b. Jun 18, age 49, b. Ohio (father: Ohio; mother: Ohio)
Pond, Ida, wife, b. Nov. 1846, age 49, b. Ill. (father: NY; mother: Wales)
Pond, Blanche, dtr., b. Jun 1881, age 19, b. Ill. (father: Ohio; mother: Ill.)
Pond, Charles, son, b. Dec 1880, age 16, b. Ill. (father: Ohio; mother: Ill.)
DEATH OF MARGARET GRIFFIN
Margaret died on 7 May 1914 (14 May - burial records), and is also buried next to her husband in the Glade City Cemetery.
Margaret Griffin was born at Caernarvon, Wales, November 13, 1833. With her parents, Mr. And Mrs. Morris Roberts, she came to this country in 1847, living with them on a farm near Cambria, Wisconsin, which has ever since been the home of the family.
She died in Blandinsville, Illinois, on May 7, 1914, aged 80 years 5 months and 17 days.
July 3, 1854, she was married to Emerson Gilbert Griffin, whom she survived nineteen years. Their married life was a very happy one, and to them were born five children, two sons who died in infancy, and three daughters, Ida, Lizzie and Laura. The funeral of Lizzie, Mrs. Theo. Mustain, occurred here two weeks ago. The other two daughters are still living.
Besides this family of her own were two step-children, Mary A. Griffin, deceased and the writer, J. S. Griffin, who wishes to pay this tribute of love and respect to her memory, as truly a second mother to whose wise care and unfailing affection he owes an infinite debt of gratitude and many of the happiest memories of his life. She was a woman of happy disposition, of quick and tender sympathy, fond of her friends and the friend of everybody who knew her.
Mrs. Griffin was brought up in the Presbyterian faith; but since her marriage she has been a faithful member of the Christian church to which her husband belonged.
For the past twelve years, Mrs. Griffin has been a helpless Invalid, but bore her affliction with true Christian cheerfulness, patience and hope.
Funeral services were held at the home at 2:30 o'clock on Sunday, May 10th, the Rev. J. G. Slick, pastor of the Christian church officiating. Interment in Glade City cemetery.
The Mothers service was inspiring. 125 men and boys, each wearing a white carnation in memory of his mother, 38 men to furnish the music with two special numbers made the service an inspiring one long to be remembered and one you who stayed at home could not afford to miss for the sake of a nap, big dinner or those folks who came to see you.
The funeral of Sister Griffin at 2:30 was largely attended. The quartet gentlemen Grigsby and Duncan, Ladies Huston and Banks sang. The sermon was "The Law of Divine Growth." The men did a most beautiful act when they took the carnations they were wearing in memory of their own mother and placed it on the casket of this mother of Israel as they viewed her face for the last time.
J. S. Griffin of Madison, Wisconsin, and Mrs. Al. B. Pond of Kansas City, children, and Mrs. F. J. [sic: I.] Saemann, of Chicago, and Mrs. Blanche Crawford, grandchildren of Mrs. Margaret Griffin deceased, were here to attend the funeral. Mrs. Pond will stay for a visit with old friends here.
FIRST CHRISTIAN CHURCH
Blandinsville, Illinois
Quasquicentennial Anniversary 1849-1974
History of the Christian Church of Blandinsville
The beginning of the nineteenth century witnessed a wide-spread revolt against human authority, both Papal and Protestant, in religion. Many men in many places came to see that God alone can be Lord of the conscience. Everywhere these reformers, protesting against the creeds of councils and dogmas of fallible men, appealed to the Bible alone. Everywhere their aim was the emancipation of the church from the bondage of human traditions and rule. This movement first focalized in the religious body known as the "Christian Connection" and "Christian Church."
xxx pick it up from here. This will be a click-page.
GLADE CITY CEMETERY
Photos were taken of the monuments in this cemetery. I will in the near future provide these photos.
CHILDREN BY ELVIRA SHELDON
MARY ALTHEA GRIFFIN, a twin, born in 1849 at Columbia County, Wisconsin. She married John Francis Nickel, probably in January of 1880.
James Sheldon Griffin, twin, born in 1849 at Columbia County, Wisconsin. He married Emma (-). He received an M.A. degree in French at the University of Wisconsin. He also taught languages at the new Garfield University in Wichita, Kansas. No children.
CHILDREN BY MARGARET ROBERTS
The primary information about Margaret Roberts's children came from Charlotte Saemann-Kniazzeh-Maneikis. Other informants are obituaries, and paid research from Blandinsville, Illinois.
Ida E. Griffin, was born in Nov 1856 [about 1860] at IL. On the 28th of August, 1879, at the age of 23, she mar. Alvin Bateman Pond (31 years old, the son of Vallorous & Emma O. Bateman Pond). They were married at her home in Hire Twp, McDonough Co, by T. H. Goodnight. Alvin may have been born in OH. He was a pharmacist; lived and died in Blandinsville, Illinois. He was an alcoholic. [My grandmother, Laura Nickel, lived for some years in Aunt Ida's home and it was there that she was married in 1903.]
Alvin B. Pond, a druggist in this village for almost twenty-nine years, is of Ohio birth, having been born at Bateman, June 8, 1849. His parents were Vallorous P. And Emma Bateman Pond, also natives of Ohio. After leaving the public school he continued his studies in Westminster Academy, a Presbyterian institution located at Waterford, Ohio, and the Ohio Wesleyan University at Delaware. He was united in marriage with Anna McVeigh, March 29, 1877. One child, Emil A., surviving but a few months, came to this union. The wife and mother passed away in August, 1878.
August 28, 1879, he married Ida E. Griffin. Of this union one daughter, Blanche E., now Mrs. C. C. Crawford of Warsaw, Illinois, and three sons, Charles E., Rollo A., and Robert B. Mrs. Pond, as Miss Griffin, completed her education at a christian church university for ladies located at Eminence, Ky., and is a lady of many accomplishments.
Immediately following the first marriage the family moved to this place where, April 16, 1877, he engaged in the drug trade, which has continued to the present. The first stock was purchased by Willis Hume and in the Hume buildings and business was conducted about eighteen months. He was a Methodist and a Republican, was a member of the Masonic order, in which he has attained to the degree of Royal Arch.*
* Sent to me by Kathryn Thompson of Blandinsville, Illinois, in a letter April 1984. She states this came from an old 1906 Souvenir book of Blandinsville. It included a picture with the write-up.
The summary of an obituary for Alvin B. Pond (Macomb Daily Journal, 24 Feb 1921) states that Alvin died at the age of 71 years, on 18 February 1921, at his Kansas City (MO) home. He spent many years in business at Blandinsville, he and his brother were druggists. He came from Ohio about 1875. In this obituary, it mentions that his son Charles E. Pond was “of Denver”; and sons R. A. and R. B. of Kansas City; was only R. B. of Kansas City? or both sons?
Blanch Pond, b. about 1880; attended Knox College, Galesburg, Ill. She mar. (-) Crawford. .When her father died in 1921, she lived at Warsaw IL. She died about 1935. Her children were: (1) Mary Crawford, born about 1905; (2) Charlotte Crawford, born about 1908; attended Univ. of Illinois; mar. Elzey Dare about 1930. She died about 1954 at River Forest, Ill. Had one daughter, Virginia Dare. [River Forest is next door to Oak Park, where her cousin Laura Nickel Saemann lived. I never heard anything about this cousin or her family.]
Charles Pond Jr. No known children. Blandinsville notes indicate he was in Denver; in 1943, his aunt’s obituary indiates he was in Spokane WA. [Aunt Charlotte wrote that he lived and died in Blandinsville, where he assisted his father in the pharmacy.] No issue.
Rollo A. Pond. Possibly in 1943, at Kansas City MO.
Robert B. Pond. No known children. Aunt Charlotte wrote that he lived and died in Blandinsville, and assisted his father in the pharmacy, just as she stated that about Charles Jr. Blandinsville notes indicate that he was, at least in 1943, in Kansas City MO.
Elizabeth ("Lizzie") Jane Griffin, was born 4 January 1862. She died on 20 April 1914, and is buried at Glade City Cemetery. The newspaper told of G. D. Mustain of South Campbell St., in Macomb IL, receiving word of the death of mother at Kansas City, Missouri, from Leland. The body was taken to the home of her mother (Margaret). Aunt Lizzie was an excellent cook; her receipes were considered the best ever, by unanimous acclaim, in both the F. I. Saemann and the C. D. Jones households.
Lizzie Jane Griffin, daughter of Emerson and Margaret Griffin was born at the home of her parents, near Kirkwood, Illinois, Jan. 4, 1862. In early life she moved with her father's family to a farm near Blandinsville, Illinois, where she grew to womanhood. She taught school for a year or two but at the age of twenty was married to Theodore Mustain, who with two sons, Leland and Floyd, survive.
Immediately after marriage Mr. and Mrs. Mustain moved to Macomb, Ill., where they resided for twenty-five years with the exception of two years spent in Huston, Texas. Several years ago the family moved to Kansas City, which has since been their home. Monday evening April 20, 1914, Mrs. Mustain quietly passed into eternal life, aged 52 years, 3 months and 16 days.
With Mrs. Mustain, home and church were everything. She was a faithful christian, a bible student who knew the book, her faith was as the rock. For many years she had been a member of the Christian Church, an active worker while health would permit. Her home life was ideal, a loving wife, a devoted mother – a woman of marked personality, she made lasting friendships wherever she went.
Besides her immediate family, Mrs. Mustain leaves to mourn her loss, an aged mother, Mrs. Margaret Griffin, of Blandinsville, Ill., two sisters, Mrs. Ida E. Pond, of Kansas City, and Miss Laura Griffin who resides at home with the mother, also one brother, James Sheldon Griffin, of the University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wis.
For several months, Mrs. Mustain had been a semi-invalid physically, but until a few moments before her death, she was alert mentally. She died as she had lived, a christian. At her own request her body was brought to Blandinsville, Illinois, her girlhood home for burial.
Funeral services were held at the home of her mother, Mrs. Margaret Griffin at 2:35 p.m., on Thursday April 23, the Rev. J. G. Slick officiating, and Elder John Huston spoke in reminiscence of her life here and extended sympathy and consolation to the sorrowing friends. The interment was in Glad City cemetery.
Lee Mustain, born about 1886.
Margaret Griffin, born about 1864. She never married, became a Methodist missionary and worked all her life in Africa. On furlough in 1910, she stayed with her niece, Laura N. Saemann, in Oak Park. Later she resumed work at her mission in Africa and, by her request, remained there the rest of her life. She was buried in Africa. As children we all admired and studied the beautiful handmade artifacts from Africa (beadwork and small wooden ornaments) made by "Aunt Margaret's people" and given by Aunt Margaret to our mother in 1910.
The above Margaret Griffin information was given to me by my Aunt Charlotte, who would have been only 4 years old in 1910. I leave it here due to the detail of my aunt’s commentary; however, I must stress that, in my genealogy research, nothing about this ‘daughter’ has ever been seen. She is not mentioned in any published obituary, nor in Emerson’s own letter to his cousin in New York, written in 1888, in which he mentions all his children. Oddly, as well, my aunt knew nothing of the next child, Laura Griffin, for she never mentioned her, nor included her on the family list she gave me.
Laura Griffin, b. 1866. After being a spinster for many years, living in her parents’ home and taking care of them in their later years, and after the death of her mother, she married a Mr. Baker. She lived in Oakland, California, at 3016 Fruitvale Ave., where she died on 23 April 1943. Her ashes are buried at Glade City Cemetery, Blandinsville, Illinois. Her obituary was published in the Blandinsville Gazette on Thursday, 6 May 1943. Nothing is known of her husband or her marriage.
Death Came on Easter Sunday to Laura Baker
In the soft meaningfulness of Easter morning in Oakland, California, Mrs. Laura E. Baker passed on to her maker. The highly respected and beloved ex-Blandinsville citizen, long known as Laura E. Griffin, expired at her home there on Sunday, April 25, 1943 at the age of 76 years. Pneumonia developed following a heavy cold and her death came within a few hours.
Funeral rites were conducted for her by Rev. Hughes, minister of the Fruitland Avenue Christian church at the Cooper mortuary in Oakland on April 29, but her remains will be brought back to Blandinsville and about June 15th will be laid to their eternal rest mid the scenes of Glade City cemetery, so familiar to her.
Laura Griffin was born at Ellison in Henry county, Illinois, in 1866, a daughter of Emerson and Margaret Griffin, and she spent many years of her life here in Blandinsville. She lived in the home which formerly stood on the site of the Shell service station at the head of Blandinsville’s Main street. That was a hospitable place then. She loved Blandinsville and its people, and they, in ready exchange, bestowed their kindness and affection upon her. It is with sincere regret that old friends here learn of her demise.
Mrs. Baker left here to locate in California about 1916. Surviving are one sister, Mrs. Ida E. Pond, of Oakland, and several nieces and nephews, among them a niece, Mrs. Laura Seaman [sic: Saemann] of Chicago, and a nephew, Chas. Pond, of Spokane, Washington. Mrs. Baker resided at 3016 Fruitvale Avenue, Oakland.
PRIMARY RESOURCES
Smith, David N. Letter dated 30 April 1988. Mr. Smith had a collection of 48 letters, handed down mostly from Asa Griffin, through to his grandfather, Herman W. Smith, and given to him. He numbered the collection arbitrarily and abstracted the contents. He kept the spelling as seen. Mr. Smith sent me the abstracts, and the transcripted copies of six letters from my ancestor, Emerson Griffin, and his father Aaron Jr., to Asa Griffin and cousins. He sent also a typescript of a poem written by Emerson Griffin.
Smith, Philip W. Griffin Family Lineage, hosted by Rootsweb.
SECONDARY REFERENCES
Hill, George William. History of Ashland County, Ohio. Cleveland OH: Williams Brothers, 1880. Digital version available at SLC FHS Library. FHL Microfilm #934875 Item 3.McDonough County land records are indexed by township, section by section; and are not alphabetized. The books list land transactions by each quarter section.
WEB RESOURCES
Ashland County OH GenWeb website.
Wayne County OH GenWeb website.
Wayne County OH, hosted by Rootsweb.
Farm and Home Publishers, publisher of plat maps and much more.
Smith, Philip W. Griffin Family Lineage, hosted by Rootsweb.
LOCALITY RESOURCES
McDonough County Genealogical Society, P. O. Box 202, Macomb IL 61455.
Glade City Cemtery, Blandinsville IL.
Directions to the Cemetery are: From the Village, drive N along the main road N-S highway. Along the west side of the cemetery, turn in just south of the pine trees. The "Gardner" stone is to your left. It is probably the largest stone in the cemetery. The Griffin lot is north of the Gardner lot. The family plot is "Lot 88". Margaret's remains occupy Space 3. Others in Lot 88 include Margaret's daughter, Laura Griffin Baker (ashes; d. 25 Apr 1943); and her daughter Lizzie Mustain (d. 20 Apr 1914), her husband Theodore (d. 10 Sept 1923), and their son Floyd (d. 24 Jul 1945). There also appear to be two empty spaces.
Official Website of the
Burch, Nickel, Sheldon, Griffin,
Saemann and Brazelton Family
This is the Emerson G. Griffin Family Page
Joann Saemann
West Jordan, Utah
Design and presentation © 2007 Joann Saemann
Some material may be paraphrased
Last Updated - 28 March 2009
