Griswold Family Association

 

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We Get Mail... is a regular feature in the quarterly GFA Bulletin

Crystal writes: I wanted to provide feedback on your page (griswoldfamily.org/membership) As a student teacher working on a lesson plan, your page was a great source of information. As a thank you, I thought I'd suggest an additional resource that I also found useful in my research. I've been using material from this page
(www.degreetutor.com/library/articles/ellis-island). It has some great information about the history of Ellis Island that you might find useful.
Our genealogist, Coralee Griswold, responds:
I am not familiar with this site specifically but know that Ellis Island has it's own site whereby you can search the records and download the passenger list: http://www.ellisisland.org

Alex Watson writes from Glasgow, Scotland:
I am looking for information on my ancestor: Joel Griswold b.c. 1770, he married Mary Adam in 1798 in Greenock* Joel and Mary had a Daughter, Joel Anne born in 1799, Sarah b. 1809 and Jane b. 1814. There are no other records for Joel apart from the Marriage and birth records, his name is later spelt as Griswell and Grizzell. His occupation was a Mariner/Seaman. At this time Greenock was the main port on the West Coast; it was where all the Sugar was brought to be refined and where the Tobacco lords had their businesses.
Coralee responds:
I actually had a mutual correspondent send me your inquiry a few days ago and unfortunately I cannot make any connection to a Joel of this time period. The Association does not maintain a membership to any World subscriptions which might allow further searching but I can ask our Bulletin editor to print your query. Perhaps one of our members will be able to offer some assistance.

Rachel Edwards writes:
My 8th great grandmother is Elizabeth Griswold. She married Matthew (Mathew) Beckwith Jr and her father is Matthew Griswold and Anna Wolcott. Where does Samuel Griswold who owned Griswoldville fit in? I have the Griswold genealogy line pretty far back. Their Griswold kids are related to Spike Lee; he comes from Samuel Griswold and Matilda I think.
Coralee responds:
Most all of the GRISWOLD's are related, but your Elizabeth GRISWOLD descends from Matthew, while Samuel GRISWOLD descends from Edward. Edward and Matthew were half-brothers, making Elizabeth and Samuel "half" first cousins, 5 times removed.

Frank Golson of Columbia, SC writes:
I hope that some of you were able to see "Who Do You Think You Are?" on NBC featuring Spike Lee and possible/probable ancestor Samuel Griswold this past Friday. I really enjoyed it, being a descendant of Samuel's daughter Mary and growing up in Macon, which is just a few miles from the site where Griswoldville once stood.
I realize there is only so much that a show can accomplish in a one hour span, but I do think viewers would have found it interesting if it had explored or at least referenced Samuel's New England roots. I would imagine that he probably had siblings and certainly nieces and nephews who were alive during the Civil War. I am assuming also that a large number of his relatives fought for the Union and were probably fairly staunch abolitionists. Do you know if any of his New England relatives maintained contact with him or his offspring after the Civil War or if anything has been documented? I imagine it would have created a pretty interesting family dynamic if they did.
Coralee responds:
Yes, this was a very interesting series but as you say with just an hour show it leaves a lot of exploration yet to be done. We have not discovered any documentation with correspondence from relatives in the North though there were many. From all accounts and as you can testify to, his family settled into Georgia just fine, with his children pretty much marrying and staying in the area. A few years ago one of our members did more in depth research on this family that was published in our quarterly Bulletin. One of those articles is posted on our web site:
http://www.griswoldfamily.org/samuelgriswold.htm.
Perhaps this airing will bring forward some family folklore that could provide further clues to the family, and lifestyle they established.

June Willis writes:
How do I get more information about Samuel Griswold, who was my great-great-grandfather? His daughter, Lucia, married my great-grandfather, Isaac Hardeman, for whom my father, Isaac Hardeman Jones, was named.
Coralee replied:
You are partly right, but missing one generation.
Samuel GRISWOLD and his wife Lois FORBES had a son Giles Humphrey GRISWOLD m. Pennia
Temperance NEWTON and it was their daughter Lucia Pauline GRISWOLD who m. 2nd) Col.
Isaac HARDEMAN. Information on Samuel is in our publication: The Griswold Family, The Sixth &
Seventh Generation of Edward and Matthew, p.353-354 where Samuel is #1281/1837. He
has also been written up in several of the Bulletins which members receive and one
of which is posted: http://www.griswoldfamily.org/samuelgriswold.htm

Marti Hooten of SC posted this link on the Griswold Family Association Facebook page:
Check out this link about Griswoldville, GA.
http://www.nbc.com/who-do-you-think-you-are/video/crazy-history/1224023
The full hour broadcast is available online at:
http://www.nbc.com/who-do-you-think-you-are/video/categories/season-1/1197290/

From Larry McGregor, GFA Life Member
Read with interest your request for someone to write up the "Griswold Cast Iron" story. I am not "an expert" on the subject and could not do it justice, so am deferring to others with a lot more experience as a "collector" of Griswold.

The piece in the current Bulletin, however, caused me to recall how I got started collecting Griswold pieces. My wife and I were back east and had on our agenda to visit the Michael Griswold house in Wethersfield, formerly Griswoldville. We were graciously shown the house, I believe by Richard, and we were fascinated by the kitchen cast iron pieces in the large central fireplace. Upon learning that they were manufactured by a Griswold we from that time on began to look for selected pieces in places of antiques, eventually accumulating some 100 pieces, several of which are prominently displayed here in our Scottsdale, AZ kitchen. Being a Griswold descendant (Michael of the early 1600s) through Angeline (Griswold) Coon (b. 17 Jan 1816 VT), the eldest child of Elias Griswold (b. 6 Oct 1797 VT) and the granddaughter of Adonijah Griswold (b. 11 Jun 1759 CT) who was a scout with the Vermont Militia during the Rev. War, we delight in displaying the Griswold ware!

We hope that you will get someone to take on the job of presenting a detailed account of the Griswold's whom manufactured the iron ware. It should make for interesting reading.


Cleta Riggins writes:
On Antiques Roadshow a man had a sword made by Thomas Griswold of New Orleans, Civil War era -- anything on him?
Several years ago, in Oklahoma City at a Veterans museum, we saw a Griswold & Gunnison revolver. We weren’t allowed to take pictures but I was thrilled to see it.
If anyone can send us information on these items, we’ll be happy to share it. Cleta is a collector of Griswold iron ware and serves on the GFA Executive Board.
 

The Griswold Coat Of Arms

We get many requests for a Griswold Coat of Arms.  Many versions exist because they are changed as family affiliations change. Running greyhounds is the recurring component. 

Courtesy of Dennis Mann

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Last update: January 26, 2011

Send email to: Contact@griswoldfamily.org

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