Lake County Ohio GenWeb

Phillip Griffith 1795-1845

This was written and submitted by Judy Stebbins. She says, "There are a number of Griffith families in the 1840 Census for Lake, Geauga and Trumbull Counties. I have identified the separate Griffith lines as the families were not all related. My husband's Stebbins family line is related to Dr. Samuel Griffith. (Almosina Flavia Griffith married Dr. Loren Clark Stebbins.) In my researches for Dr. Samuel Griffith, I discovered information on the other Griffith families."

In the 1810 Oppenheim, New York census William Griffith and Clemons Griffith were living next door to each other.

In the 1820 Farmington, Trumbull Co., Ohio census, we have Clemmons Griffith with Phillip Griffith living next door who has his own family. Phillip Griffith in 1815 married Lydia Lee (daughter of Abijah Lee listed above). I believe that Phillip Griffith was a nephew of Clemons Griffith. I think after William Griffith (Clemons brother moved on from Oppenheim) and Phillip Griffith moved into the household of Clemons Griffith and was living with him in 1810. The families came to Farmington, Trumbull Co., Ohio and lived next to each other. We have Clemons Griffith and Phillip Griffith living next to each other in the 1830 Farmington, Trumbull Co., Ohio census; also, John Moffit, Roswell Lee, and Abijah Lee were living within a few houses of Clemons Griffith-- just like they were in Oppenheim, New York. They could have all come together but there is a family story online of Abijah Lee's trip to Trumbull Co., Ohio, which does not list the Griffiths as making the journey with the Lee family.

Phillip Griffith was born in 1795 in New York. He married Lydia Lee in 1815 probably in Montgomery Co., New York. Phillip died Aug. 28, 1845 in Farmington, Trumbull Co., Ohio. Lydia Lee was for Feb. 1, 1797; died March 19, 1888 in West Farmington, Trumbull Co., Ohio. She was the daughter of Abijah Lee and Lois Swift.

Children born to Phillip Griffith and Lydia Lee:

• 1. Adeline S. Griffith
• 2. Caroline Griffith
• 3. Elvira Griffith
• 4. George W. Griffith
• 5. Henry Griffith
• 6. Lois L. Griffith
• 7. Capt. Isaac W. Griffith
• 8. Harried M. Griffith

Capt. Isaac Watts Griffith one of the oldest settlers of Des Moines, Iowa, was born in Trumbull Co., Ohio, April 2, 1820, son of Phillip and Lydia (Lee) Griffith of New York, he of Welsh descent and she of English. Phillips Griffith's father, Samuel Griffith, was a native of Wales and on coming to this country settled in the Mohawk Valley in New York, where he carried on farming, owning a large tract of land on the present site of Amsterdam; reared a large family and died there at a good old age. The Captain's mother was a daughter of Abijah Lee and a cousin of the late Bishop Lee, of Davenport, Iowa. Abijah Lee was a native of New York his people having come to this country from England. He had a brother who was superintendent of the armory at Springfield, Massachusetts, a colonel in the regular army, and who died at the age of 102 years. In 1814, Abijah Lee removed from New York to Trumbull Co., Ohio, among the first settlers of that section. He cleared up a farm there and spent the rest of his days on it, dying at the age of eighty-seven years. His wife lived to be over eighty. They reared a large family of children. Phillip and Lydia Griffith celebrated their marriage in Montgomery Co., New York in 1815. Their union resulted in the birth of the following children: Caroline, now deceased; Adeline S., widow of Albert Holcomb; Isaac W., whose name heads this article; Lois L., the deceased wife of Houston Dilley; George W.; Elvira, widow of a Mr. Bosley, of Portage Co., Ohio. The father of this family, a carpenter and joiner, settled in Trumbull County, Ohio in 1816, where the rest of his life was passed. He died at the age of fifty-eight years, while his wife lived to be ninety-two. He was an Elder in the Christian Church, of which they were both members, and he was Justice of the Peace and clerk of the township many years.

After leaving the district schools, where his principal education was acquired, our subject attended the academy in Farmington, Ohio, which was a branch of the Western Reserve College, located in Portage County. At the age of eighteen, he started out in life for himself, having since depended entirely upon his own resources. He had no capital with which to begin life but possessed energy and determination, and step by step he has worked his way upward to a position in which he may well feel a just pride. August 30, 1838, he left Farmington, Ohio, and made an engagement with a Mr. Greenback, who contracted for his services for a year. He drove a team to Fort Madison, then known as the Black Hawk Purchase, after which he cultivated a farm for his employer until the time of his service had expired, when he rented the same land and engaged in business for himself. After his crops had been gathered, he went to West Point, Lee County, where he worked at the carpenter's trade. It was during his residence at West Point that, September 17, 1840, he was united in marriage to Miss Eales Brand, the ceremony being performed by Parson Asa Turner, of Denmark, Iowa. The lady is a daughter of Samuel and Margaret (Gilbert) Brand, both of whom belong to early and respected families of Virginia. They emigrated from Indiana to Burlington, Iowa, in the year 1838, and later removed to West Point, where the mother died at the age of sixty-seven, and the father at the ripe old age of eighty-two. The latter was a soldier in the War of 1812, and his father, James Brand, in the Revolution. In 1839, during the troubles concerning the boundary line between Iowa and Missouri, Captain (then Colonel) Griffith, as a member of the State militia, was sent to the disputed territory, where it was feared blood would be shed. Matters, however, were settled by the Supreme Court of the United States, and he then returned home. Shortly, afterwards, he was appointed Lieutenant of the State militia by Governor Lucas, and in 1843 was commissioned Captain by Governor Chambers.

In 1846, he volunteered under the first call for troops for the Mexican war, but was unable to get into the army. Later a regiment was organized, comprising six Ohio companies, two companies from Michigan, one from Wisconsin, and a tenth from Iowa, the regiment to be commanded by George W. Morgan, of Ohio, known as the Fifteenth United States Infantry. Our subject, as part of Company K, which formed a part of the Fifteenth Infantry, in 1847 was ordered with his regiment to Mexico to join the forces of General Scott at Vera Cruz. They reported on the 10th of July of that year, and were engaged in a number of battles and skirmishes, in one of which-Churubusco-Sergeant Griffith was wounded, a ball striking him just below the elbow of the right arm. The wound proved to be of such a serious nature that it necessitated the amputation of the member. He remained with the command until October 17, 1847, when he was discharged from the service and returned to Lee County. The papers had reported him dead, a mistake occasioned by the death of a namesake, and we can imagine with what joy his wife welcomed his return.

The public has called upon Captain Griffith for his services in the political field. He was elected and served as a member of the House of Representatives in 1848, that being the second session of the State Legislature. He filled the position to the satisfaction of all concerned, and at the expiration of his term returned home, only to be appointed Deputy Sheriff of Lee County. In 1850, he went to Washington, District of Columbia, and by President Pierce was given a position on the police force of the capital, continuing to serve in that city a year after the accession of James Buchanan to the presidency. The family remained in the capital until the spring of 1858, when he was appointed Register of the United States Land Office in Des Moines, which position he held until July, 1861. During the exciting times attending the breaking out of the Rebellion, it was found necessary to appoint a committee to attend to the war expenses and other such matters. He was one of the committee, but afterward resigned to accept the nomination for County Sheriff, which his many friends urged upon him. He was triumphantly elected in the fall of 1861, and upon the first day of January following entered upon the discharge of his duties, continuing to fill the office until 1864, when he went to Memphis, Tennessee. There he was appointed Deputy United States Marshall for the Western District of Tennessee, holding the office until the spring of 1868, when with his family he returned to Des Moines. The succeeding six years of his life were spent in charge of the toll-bridge and in the pursuit of various vocations, whereby he might secure a livelihood for his family. These included a number of official positions, and in 1872 he was elected to the office of Coroner of Polk County, which office he held for twenty years consecutively. In the month of June, 1886, he was appointed Bailiff of the Supreme Court of Iowa. He was successively appointed by Governors Merrill, Kirkwood, and Newbold, on the gubernatorial staff, with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel of Cavalry.

We now return to the domestic relations of Mr. Griffith. By his union with Miss Brand, four children were born, but the eldest died in infancy. Stephen S., who faithfully served his country during the late war as a member of Company K, Seventeenth Iowa Infantry, died in 1877 from a disease contracted while in the service. He wedded Miss Martha A. Skinner, who with their only child, Carrie L., now makes her home in Des Moines. Albert Lee, who was born in Lee County, Iowa, October 10, 1846, and fought as "one of the boys in blue" of Company C, Eighth Iowa Regiment, wedded Miss Mary Russell, by whom he has two children, Frank and Lena, and also makes his home in this city. Augustus J., who was born December 26, 1850, in Lee County, is now a telegraph operator and railroad man. He married Miss Hettie E. Waterbury, and they have two children, Isaac W. and Charles M. More than half a century has passed since Mr. and Mrs. Griffith as man and wife started out on life's journey, it now being almost fifty-five years, and for many years they have made their home in Des Moines. A tree is now standing on one of the main business streets of that city that was planted by him thirty-eight years ago. They are earnest and faithful members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and the poor and needy have received from them many times help in the times of trouble.

Socially, the Captain is a member of the I.O.O.F., with which he has been connected for forty-five years, and he also belongs to the G.A.R. post of Des Moines. In 1888, he went as a delegate to the G.A.R. encampment at Columbus, Ohio, and there met Colonel Morgan, of Mount Vernon, Ohio, his old Colonel under whom he served in the Mexican war. Many were the reminiscences and tales told of those bygone days, and it is needless to say the meeting was one of great enjoyment to both. The record of the Captain is one of which his friends, children and descendants may well be proud. His career in the social, business, and political world has ever been such as to win the respect and good wishes of all with whom he came in contact. He was a faithful soldier during the Mexican war and a loyal and patriotic citizen throughout the Rebellion. He well deserves mention in this volume, and it is with pleasure that we record this sketch.

Extract from the Annals of Iowa from the State Historical Society of Iowa, Vol. 3, pps 77-78 refers to him as "Col. Isaac W. Griffith."

For nearly forty years he was one of the most familiar figures in the state capital. At Churubusco he lost his right arm at the shoulder. When in the State Legislature in 1849, he introduced and secured the passage of the Iowa Homestead law. When Judge Mason's portrait was placed in the Supreme Court rooms, May 22, 1895, the compliment of unveiling it was accorded to Col. Griffith. He was familiarly called "Old Churubusco."