Zilpha Buell Griffin

One of the enduring mysteries in our family was the identity of Zilpha Griffin who was buried next to Samuel and Mercy Griffin in the Essex Common Burial Ground. As is true in many of the cemeteries of that time you find families buried in groups, in a family plot, as it were. Buried along one row you find Samuel and Mercy Bailey Griffin, their son John and his two children Truman Griffin and Chloe Griffin. Next to them is a headstone with the inscription “June ye 11, AD 1799 In memory of Zilpha Griffin wife of Samuel Griffin Jun’r in the 18 yr of her age”.   The condition of the headstone, which had become very deteriorated, added to the mystery.  When the cemetery records were transcribed the transcriber wrote down a 48 adding parentheses indicating some uncertainty. For us an age of 48 did not fit into any family pattern that would allow us to establish her identity even though her headstone identified her as the wife of a Samuel Griffin. We were all left to puzzle over the fact that we seemed to be missing something. We all were haunted by the fact that if she was in fact the wife of Samuel Griffin Jun’r she was being kept out of the family circle. With the discovery of additional information we came to realize the   misread 48 was in fact an 18. If her age at the time of her death was 18 then she must have indeed been the first wife of Samuel Griffin identified on her headstone as Samuel Griffin Jun’r who later married Sylvia Bradley. This also helped explain the name of Samuel’s first child a daughter who he named Zilpha Griffin. We considered the fact that the child Zilpha may have been named after her mother who may have died in childbirth.  But in the 1800 Census there are no children in Samuel and Sylvia’s household. So Zilpha Griffin the daughter of Sylvia Bradley was named in memory of Zilpha Buell an act of real family compassion from a second wife.

So how did we discover the identity of Zilpha Buell Griffin? On one trip to the Genealogy Library I found myself with a little extra time. I had been thinking of adding a little Essex flavor to the Blog. On the spur of the moment I decided to spend a little time going through the town records, which I had not visited for some time. In the back of Volume Two I ran across twenty or so pages of family records from the earliest days in Essex that I did not ever remember seeing. They were organized under the name of the head of the house. At some point a town clerk had gathered all of the information on a family and entered it as a single grouping of information, births, deaths and marriages. As I surveyed the material looking for family names a random name caught my attention, Orange Buell. The heading was for the family of Samuel and Rachel Buell. It listed four children born in Essex one of which one was Orange, and on the far right it listed family death records one of which read “Zilpha Buell, June 11, 1799”. The name Zilpha and the date 1799 jumped out at me. That was a name and a date that I was familiar with, “Zilpha Griffin, June 11, 1799 wife of Samuel Griffin Jun’r” from the Essex Common Burial Ground. Intrigued by the fact that I had found a Zilpha and a date of 1799 all in the very small town of Essex I had the profound impression that I had solved the puzzle. Following up on the lead I discovered that the family of Samuel Buell had moved to Essex from Killingworth arriving a little earlier than the Griffins. It is almost a certainty that they would have known each other.  In Killingworth Zilpha’s date of birth is recorded as  “Zilpha Buell daughter of Samuel & Rachael born July 3, 1781” which would make her 18 in 1799. We had discovered the identity of our Zilpha. Found on a day in which I had not even considered her name, in a film I had picked randomly out of several possibilities, in a record that I had not even suspected existed, under a name, which held no family connection. A name crying out from beyond the veil, found without anyone looking, Zilpha Buell Griffin.

Since God is we ought

The idea of the Lords House, a Temple,  is interwoven throughout our entire body of scripture. The Temple has existed in multiple places and multiple forms all the way from a simple stone alter to the magnificent structure of Solomon’s Temple.  The temple keys have been present at many times and places throughout the dispensations. The wonder of the Temple has influenced not only the believers but also the world at large. The mysteries of the temple have been sought after from the Hamitic line in Egypt all the way up to Jewish mystics of today.  Groups have recognized the loss of these ultimate truths at various points of history.  The Jews most noticeably after rebuilding the temple after its first destruction said it was missing many things such as the Ark of the Covenant, the holy eternal fire, and the spirit of the Lord.  They didn't realize that they themselves were missing the higher covenant from their temple, the covenant that their forefathers had received.  We see in Genesis that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob at the place called Bethel (literally translated the house of the lord) received messengers from the Lord and received the Covenant from God of everlasting families and children in number beyond the stars of the sky and all were renamed by the Lord, Jacob most notably became Israel.  The message repeats itself in Isaiah, “And the key of the house of David will I lay upon his shoulder, so he shall open and none shall shut” and in Revelations,  “and in a stone a new name written” and Mosiah, “and I give unto them a name”. The temple discusses our earliest ancestors Adam and Eve.  We see this theme and other parts of the mysteries played out in rituals from many cultures in almost every age. The Egyptians death ritual has the first man, Atúm, being tested to enter heaven; they wore a sacred garment on death with appropriate symbolism. This is something we see among the early Chinese as well. The Egyptians sought to replace the priesthood, which was lost to them. The Zoroastrians from the time of Persia up to modern times have a temple like ceremony and wear a white garment throughout their lives as a sign of their promises to God, a God different in name, but incredibly similar to Jehovah.  The Mandeans, a gnostic church from soon after the time of Christ, a group that still exists today in small numbers, also discusses Adam in their sacred ceremonies and the sacred knowledge and signs needed to enter heaven.  Brigham Young famously said that the purpose of the temple is to receive the signs and tokens needed to pass by the sentinel angels and enter heaven.  From mysticism to freemasonry we can see vestiges of the truth lost to be regained in modern times.  Although there is very little description of the temple ceremonies, including baptism for the dead, in ancient scripture there is ample evidence that the ancient prophets were well versed in these “mysteries”.  Although the Temple Keys have always existed the work of saving the dead will reach its peak in this the Dispensation of the Fullness of Times.

 

The central message of the Gospel is The Plan of Salvation. These principals are taught in one form or fashion by all the Worlds Christian denominations. Sadly as religion has, as they say in the vernacular, became more “progressive” salvation has become an abstract idea. Even among the more orthodox The Plan of Salvation is a poorly understood principal. For those of us gifted with a testimony of the restored gospel it has a very different reality. One of its most beautiful concepts is that of the eternal family a concept so beautifully taught to Jacob who became Israel in the process. That precept and the Temple Keys that make the work possible are present in our day to a degree never before seen. The heavens have been opened, the gospel has been restored, the priesthood keys have been delivered and the dead are speaking. They are calling on us to do their work; they are present in the Temples proclaiming their acceptance and joy. It has been my observation that the Griffins of early America were religious people. They did in fact believe in their God. As I have researched these families I find myself looking for clues as to their religious convictions. I find it very comforting when I come to the conclusion that they will accept the work. I can testify that there are people working on both sides of the Veil to bring about this marvelous work. One of the more recent families I have been working on is the family of Daniel Stevens and Mercy Griffin. That project was blessed with the discovery of a collection of letters preserved in the Connecticut State Library. The letters were written in the time frame of 1850 to 1870. They paint a picture of a very loving family. Deeply involved in caring for each other and their widowed father. The letters primarily revolve around their concern for their two brothers serving in the Civil War, Ellis and Emerson who survived, among others, the battles of Antietam and Fredericksburg. The primary letter writer is their sister Sabra who married Harlow Lewis. Her letters are poignant with her concern for the boys. They in turn write that with the passing of their mother she has stepped in to fill that role in their lives.  What follows is an excerpt from one of her letters. See if you get a sense of their belief in salvation and family.

 I trust that the message will inspire all of us to lengthen our stride as we perform this important work of saving our family.

Sabra had been discussing the number of funerals in town including a woman who “left a babe two days old.” “Death is all around us. The new year seems eager to fill its numbers……Our time will come ere long and if we are ready it will not be an unwelcome messenger to us. We shall be glad to lay this weary body to rest and be free from care and sin. We have the promise that if we are truly his we shall be at rest.  I hope we all shall meet in heaven. The departed ones that have left us, which I trust, are those waiting to welcome us home. I do feel very sad today. I am thinking where I was three years ago. Life very different than the scene I witnesses then and Friday it will be three years since my mother one the best of mothers died. She is gone never to return but we may one day go to her. This is a comfort to think that we may meet if we are faithful to the end  AND SINCE GOD IS WE OUGHT’.

Abigail Varney Griffin and Laura Maria Beebe Griffin

Albert Bailey Griffin and Laura Beebe

Albert B. Griffin church donation

Notice from the construction of the Manti Temple

Minutes from a meeting of the Seventies in Kanarra

Elizabeth Jarvis Griffin

Charles Emerson Griffin

Dora Roe Griffin (L)

Orlo Henry Griffin Missionary Picture Circa 1900

Charles E. and Sarah Smith Griffin

Charles Emerson Griffin and his wife Sarah Smith Griffin with their children Alice Lovina and Joseph Emerson.

Letter From Sylvia Griffin dated 1852

Underhill, Vt. May 30, 1852

   Dear beloved children I now will  try to write a few lines to let you know I have not forgotten you o, no your mother has not forgotten you altho time seems long and the distance great yet tis good to receive a letter from you tho directed to Harrison. Was glad to hear you are all well now. Albert you understand there has been changes in our family, yes indeed there has. Now your father is no more with us he fell asleep in  Jesus  we  trust  last Sept. 19^th. He was worn out with sickness, pain and ditness, he made his will and fixed the affairs to leave. Sold the land, some to Orlows to boys and some to Woolcott and took notes for cash but reserved a home for me in the house that you built having settled his business he said I give all up. I give my self up I shall soon know what it is to die. You may wonder why I am at Underhill, well I will tell you, Sylvia Fuller lives there and so I live with her  and  family. I came here last Jan. my health is not very good I feel the infirmities of age hasting on and soon, very soon, I shall be gone when a few more greifs I have tasted, but I will not murmur nor repine. God has led me through so far and I trust myself with him, he is the same yesterday, today and forever, yes Albert although I may wander and stray, yet God is true and has marked out the way that we should follow his steps and has said be thou faithful unto death and he will give a crown of life.  This from your mother and friend.

     Albert B. Griffin                                                                                 Sylvia Griffin

                   

The Bayley Family

The Bayley-Bailey Family in America

Albert Bailey Griffin’s gift to his descendants was the gospel of the restored Church of Jesus Christ. He had the vision to be one of the first in this dispensation to accept the truth of the restored gospel. This act testifies of his character, it testifies of a religious man from a religious family. It testifies of a family that had a true sense of family. His parents named him after his grandmothers’ family, the Baileys. The spirit of Elijah was present in their home; their reward was generations to do their temple work.

The story of the Bayleys later Americanized to Bailey begins with John Baileys’ welcome to America, as he was ship wrecked on the Ship Angel Gabriel on the coast of Maine in 1635. He was a weaver by trade. In America he made his living primarily by fishing with the sole right of fishing on the Powwow River being granted to him provided he supply the town with a portion of his catch. He built a solitary cabin on 50 acres on the edge of the wilderness.  He left a wife, son and two daughters in England but brought his son John to America with him.  He was never able to reunite his family. His death is recorded in 1651 in Newbury, MA as old John.

John Bailey Jr. married Eleanor Emery in 1640 in Newbury, MA.  History declares him a weaver and husbandman. They had 10 children.  The original records of Newbury record the birth of a son. ‘James, son of John b. Sept 2, 1650.’ The family made their home on the Merrimac River across from Carr Island.

The Bailey family was prosperous enough to send their son James to Harvard where he studied receiving a Divinity Degree and studied medicine graduating in 1669. He married Mary Carr Sept 17, 1672 in Newbury, Ma.  Together they had a family of nine with son John born Sept 29, 1676.

The first Carr in America was George, son of William Carr, 10^th Baron of Fennerhurst. He arrived in 1632 and married Elizabeth Oliver.  They lived on Carr’s Island in the Merrimac River they raised a family of 10 with Mary being born in Salisbury, MA.  Feb. 29, 1652.

James and Mary soon settled in James’s first parish where he was called as minister in 1671. The area was growing rapidly, the original city, one of the first settled in New England, had expanded into the country side becoming divided into the town portion and the village portion. The village eventually wanted to establish its own identity and its own church. The politics of the day involved religious control and with it tithes to support the church. Overlaid on top of this was a new religious diversification and a movement by the King of England to establish the Church of England as the leading church in America and reassert British control of the colonies. On top of this came King Phillip’s War, in 1675, a brutal and costly engagement with the Indian tribes. As a result of these pressures we see communities who had prided themselves on harmony and unity turning to jealousy and greed. Such was the situation the young preacher entered into. The Village tired of what they perceived as mistreatment by the Town had petitioned for their independence.  They elected a five-man leadership committee and started building a meetinghouse and hired a new preacher, the young James Bayley. The town opposed, arguing that the appointment process was biased and lacked authority. Groups on both sides supported or denounced the young preacher.  He became the rope in a nasty tug of war and a permanent wedge was formed between the two entities.  In the Biograplcal Sketches of Graduates of Harvard we find a description of James as being “orthodox, & competently able & of a blameless & selfe denying conversation and that the petitioners were very desirous of his continuance and settlement among them as their minister” In a letter to his parish James wrote. “There hath as yourselves well know some uncomfortable divisions and contentions fallen out amongst us here, which I cannot express without much grief, fearing what effects there may be of it. And these divisions being about myself, my request and desire is, that you called me amongst you to the work of the ministry, that so you will consider well how I was called, and in what condition I now stand amongst you, that so I may come to know what the will of God is and what to do in this case……The great thing that I desire and pray for is that we may know and do the will of  God; therefore, I pray, be serious about those things of so great weight. So beseeching the God of peace be with you and guide you in his way, I rest, Yours in what God calls me to James Bayley”

In the end James could not accept the conditions in the Village and in 1682 moved his family to Killingworth, CT.  Mary’s sister Ann married into the Putnam family and stayed behind. James turned the parish over to George Burroughs. The Town and Village were called Salem famous for the witch trials that started in the next few years.  George Burroughs was one of five men and fourteen women hanged. Ann Putnam and the Putnam family played a large role in these events, which from the view of history we now see as divided along the Town vs. Village lines. In the Harvard Sketches his biographer writes “ I have given these details respecting Bayley and his parishioners, because opposition to him laid the train for the disastrous and terrible scenes of the Salem witchcraft” “there is no indication that he had a hand in subsequent proceedings, or was in the slightest degree connected with the troubles that afterwards arose…”

James and Mary had three more children in Killingworth staying for nine years. He retired from the ministry and returned to Roxbury, MA where he practiced medicine, Mary having died in Killingworth. His son John married Elizabeth Plats Fox recorded in the Land book as 17 Dec, 1713. They had two sons John and James. The family is recorded on page 361 of the Land Book “John the sone of John & Elizabeth Bayley was born June te 24^th 1715 James the sone of John & Elizabeth Bayley was born Aug te 11^th 1716 the record is written in John’s hand in a neat little square among other entries. Elizabeth was the daughter of Samuel Fox and Mary Lester. Samuel the son of Thomas Ffox and Hannah Brooks, Mary the daughter of Andrew Lester and Barbera. Her birth is recorded in old world prose in the records of Glouchester, MA. “ Marie, d, Andrew and Barberie, 26: 10m: 1647”.  Thomas Ffox  and Andrew Lister being two of the earliest arrivals in America.

John married Marcy Farnam on Dec. 29^th 1737 the event listed on page 325 of the Land Book. Their daughter Marcy’s birth is recorded “Marcy daughter of John & Marcy Bayley was born May te 22d 1739”.

Marcy Bailey became the third wife of Samuel Griffin 15 March 1770 married by the Rev. William Seward. Around 1799 they moved to Vermont with their son Samuel and witnessed the birth of a grandson Albert Bailey Griffin.

These good people left to us a marvelous legacy. We are truly Americans descendants of the earliest Americans. They all made key contributions in the creation of a land favored above all other lands. A people and a place chosen to restore the gospel.  The spirit of Elijah should prompt us to keep their memories alive.  Albert, Bailey, Samuel, Berthene, Bradley, Marcy, Thankful, Sylvia, Mary, Thomas and Andrew all would make great middle names.

Owning the Covenant in Killingworth

What did it mean to "own the covenant" within the congregational community? One of the responses of the reformation movement was that salvation had to be earned, that it was not a free gift, it could not be granted or sold by the church. The social register of life in New England was the list of those who "owned the covenant". I am not sure what form the sacrament of granting the covenant took. What is sure is that gaining the status of owning the covent required strict obedience to the bylaws that were written and agreed on with the formation of each new congregation. For example it was expected that church be attended on a weekly basis with each missed Sunday being duly noted. In a world where beer was a part of every day life alcohol was to be absolutely avoided. The hallmark however was an active and public profession of faith. The recording of those owning the covenant is a major part of all Congregational Records. In the Killingworth 2nd Society we find Samuel and each of his three wives listed among those owning the covenant. History notes that the first meeting of those seeking to organize a Congregational Congregation in Essex, Vermont took place in the home of Samuel Griffin.

From a granddaughter of Orlow B Griffin

                                     MY GRIFFIN ANCESTORS

                                                            By

                                             Joan Firth Kaysen

                               

Mary Louisa Griffin, my great grandmother married “The Boy Next Door” so to speak. He was Solomon Austin Scullin son of the Irish immigrant James O. Scullin and his wife Rachel Austin. She was the fifth born of fifteen children and the third daughter of Orlow B. Griffin 1807-1851 and Hannah Kellogg Thompson 1811-1875. There are many small gravestones in the Essex Town Center Cemetery of the babies and young children born to Mary’s parents. Seven children survived into adulthood.

David Brainerd Griffin 1831-1863 married his cousin Philinda Minerva Griffin daughter of Almon Daniel Griffin and Mary Polly Chase and they had four children before he died serving in the MN 2^nd Infantry Regiment at Chickamauga Battlefield during the Civil War. David wrote hundreds of letters home and they are now in a book.

Henry Franklin Griffin 1832-1912 married his cousin Mary Elizabeth Kellogg and they had no children. Henry served in the 12^th Vermont during the Civil War.

Maria Ann Griffin 1835-1871 married Arvin D. Angell and they had one son and one daughter after which she died of birth complications.

Samuel Ebenezer Griffin b. 1842 d. after 1890 married Emma L. Seaver and had a son Orlow Burnham Griffin1869-1950. Samuel served in the 5^th Vermont during the Civil War and was wounded by a shot in the arm.

Sarah Andalusia Griffin 1846-1872 married Albert A. Bliss and they had two sons and a daughter.

Sylvia Nancy Griffin 1849-1878 did not marry. Sylvia lies buried next to her mother in Forest City, Sierra County, California.

Solomon Austin Scullin left Vermont to go to New York to learn the Timbering trade. Just before 1860 he sailed around the Horn to California under contract to timber gold mines. Mary at the same time had stayed in Vermont to work in a factory. After years of working in the gold mines Solomon joined the California Volunteers to fight the Indians in Arizona. After the war was over he returned to the gold mine timbering business. In the meantime his mother Rachel Scullin died in VT. He returned there and that is when he reclaimed his friendship with Mary. Since Mary’s brother Henry had moved to

Whittier California, she probably traveled to visit her brother and his wife, her cousin.

Solomon and Mary were married in Grass Valley, Nevada County, California on October 24, 1868 and they then returned to Forest City together. They had three sons, Earl, Austin and Paul, and bought half interest in Forest House Inn, in town. The years went by and about 1882 a huge fire broke out in the kitchen of Forest House it became uncontrolled and burned half the town to the ground. Solomon and Mary and their three sons, destitute returned to the east coast to live out the rest of their lives.

There are two Samuel Griffins, both from Killingworth, New London County Connecticut, buried in the Essex Town Center Cemetery. One is Mary L. Griffin’s grandfather and one is her great grandfather. Her grandmother was Sylvia Bradley and her great grandmother was Mercy Bailey. Solomon and Mary L. Griffin Scullin were seventh cousins through the OTIS line. Mary was a Mayflower descendant through John Howland and Elizabeth Tilley. Earl Scullin and his wife Margaret Anne Maguire were the parents of my mother Margaret Mary Scullin who married Thomas Firth.

Letter from Albert B Griffin to his son Charles

   

                                                  Albert Bailey Griffin Letter

                                                                                                                                        

                                                                                       Kanarra,  Iron Co.  Feb. 23, 1895

Charles I received your letter 4 or 5 days ago was glad to hear from you but sorra to hear you had poor health.  I hope you will recover and get well, I think I will get over thear this next summer some time.  My health is verry good, sleep good eat good wont work only when I am a mind to-get verray little money. Loucern hay varry light last year wheat good and potatoes verra little.

    I was born and you was in Essex Chittendon Co. your mother was born in Colchester Chittendon Co. joining Essex on the west.  Colchester lays on Lake Champlain joining Burlington City and Essx to.  Your mothers grandfarths folks ware quakers their names ware Austin I never saw them I guess you have got her fathers & mothers name and brothers and sisters name they are all dead except without it is Artemetio she moved I hear to Indiana.  I got a letter from my only brother Catty Harrison he is a cripple with rumatism 82 years old, my sister Lois Rosetta Hunt lives in Essex verry por health.  Electa Celina my youngest Sister lives in Nabraska whare a number of Counties have lost their crops and have to be helpt or suffer.  Sylvia Fuller and husband both dead they lived in Esex.  Henry Griffin your cousin was here two years ago he remembered you he staid two weeks went round to Calaforna, went back sold out, went back and bought and is there now –he is some 4 or 5 years older than you.  Has Earnest got home   how are all the Boys and Girls hope they are well and doing well, hoping this will find you and all well.  A B Griffin 86 the last day of this month.

O I wrote for you to put in a claim for Indian claim I dint hear from you wheather you did or not so I pit in one another firm for fear you had not  if you have, let me know I think it will come some time, the Whitmores have receives 22 thousand dollars I hear.  Please write soon.  I have wrote this without spects.

                                                                                A B Griffin

    I have got my room in the north east corner of my house plastered and papered and a sove and bed, sleep here nights.

                                                    So good bye

                                                             A B G

Copy of a letter sent by our Great Grandfather, Albert Bailey Griffin,  to his son Charles Emerson Griffin.  Spelling is his own.  I tried to follow exactly.