| Notes |
- RESEARCH_NOTES:
1. FHL book 929.242 G868f "The Greswold Family, 12 Generations in England," researched and edited by Robert L. and Esther G. French, comp. by Coralee Griswold [Wethersfeld, CT; 1999]. The authors standardize spelling as Greswold for England and Griswold for America. As of 2012, it appears that this book is the most current evolution of the Griswold ancestry and includes all previous research up to 1999 when it was published. (It also supersedes the author's own work in 1990 for the later English generations). See notes in this database of the original Griswold for a more detailed explanation of the various sources and a bibliography of previously published books that the authors include in this genealogical compilation.
"Matthew12 Griswold (George11, Roger10, John9, John8, John7, John6, John5, William4, Richard3, Ralph2, John1) was born 1620 in England. Matthew died 27 Sep 1698 in Saybrook, Middlesex, Connecticut, at the age of 78. There is no stone for Matthew's grave, nor do we know exactly where he is buried. There are records which lead us to believe that he is probably buried in the Old Saybrook Cemetery. Although he removed to Lyme, he remained a member of the Saybrook church and was brought there for interment.
He married Anna WOLCOTT 16 Oct 1646. She was born 1620 She was the daughter of Henry WOLCOTT and Elizabeth SAUNDERS. She was living in Sept 1700 when she and Abraham Bronson were summoned before the court at New London as administrators of the estate of Matthew. Abraham Bronson was summoned alone to the court in May 1701, so Anna evidently died in the interim (1700/1701). There is no record of her death or burial.
He came to Windsor in 1639 with Edward Griswold, his older half brother, and the congregation of the Rev Ephraim Huit, but did not remain there long He moved to Saybrook where he received a grant of land in 1645, which became the foundation of a large fortune
Old Lyme was first settled in 1664 as East Saybrook, and Matthew was the pioneer and its first settler He was one of the signers of the Articles of Separation in 1665. This was an age when distinctions of rank were accorded universal respect, and Matthew, established his family among the leading ones in the community
It is said that Matthew built a log cabin for one of his Negroes which became known as "Blak's Hall" or "Blackhall" and that this explains the origin of the name of Matthew's ancestral estate. It is unlikely because the early English settlers rarely, if ever, built log buildings and would also be unlikely to name an estate after a slave's cabin. In any event, the early houses built upon Blackhall lands have all disappeared and the earliest house now standing (1935) was built in 1796 by Matthew the fifth. It is an exact replica of an earlier house built on the same spot by his grandfather, Judge John.
Although Matthew was a lawyer, he also followed the trade of a mason, furnishing the stones for many of the graves of the early settlers.
Matthew was apparently somewhat in advance of his time in his view of the rights of women. His wife had some twelve acres of meadow land in Windsor Great Meadows which came to her as an inheritance from her brother Christopher Wolcott. In a deed dated 23 Apr 1663, Matthew made over to her this parcel, "to remain to her and to her children and her dispose forever." It was not usual for a woman with a husband living to have property in her own right.
The terrible consequences of the witchcraft delusion and the opportunity which it provided for the poor and unscrupulous members of the community to harass people of wealth and character cannot be better illustrated than by the following account, although the outcome was more fortunate than for some.
In 1667 John Tillerson charged the wife of Matthew Griswold of Lyme with being a witch and induced others to suspect her of witchcraft, for which Matthew caused him to be arrested and arraigned before the court. This John stated the cause of his suspicions and jealousies. The court decided that she was not a witch and that he had no cause to be jealous of her, that he had greatly sinned in harboring such jealousy against so good a neighbor who had done him so many favors. To clear Mrs. Griswold all suspicion of the offense the Court ordered that its opinion should be published by the constables at Saybrook and Lyme at some public meeting. To recompense her for the wrong, and because Tillerson was poor, he was ordered to pay 7 shillings for the express warrant and 5 shilling for the constable. They had 5 children:
i. Elizabeth Griswold, born about 1648, died before 1700.
ii. Anna Griswold, born about 1651, died 13 Apr 1721.
iii. Matthew Griswold, born 1653, died 13 Jan 1716
iv. Sarah Griswold, born about 1656, died 12 Sep 1690.
v. John Griswold, christened 15 Sep 1668 in Middletown, Middlesex, Connecticut, died after 168?."
2. The book "The Phelps Family of America and their English Ancestors," comp. by Oliver Seymour Phelps of Portland, Oregon and Andrew T. Servin of Lenox, Massachusetts, 1899, pp. 88-89:
"Samuel Phelps, b. England, about 1625, emigrated to New England with his father, in ship Mary and John, settling with his father in Dorchester, removing from there to settling of Windsor, Ct., in 1635-6, where he m. Sarah Griswold, and b. Kenilworth, England, and came to New England with her father in 1639. After the death of Mr. Phelps, she m. 2nd Nathaniel Pinney, 21st July, 1670, and had Nathaniel Pinney b. 11th May, 1671, and Sarah Pinney b. 11th Oct., 1673. Mrs. Pinney died 6th Nov., 1715. [Nathaniel Pinney was the brother of Sarah Pinney who married Samuel Phelps' brother William.]
Mr. Phelps bought 1st Oct., 1657, Thomas Orton's house and land south of road separating it from his father's homestead, and brother William's: the house stood on the rear of the lot just opposite his father's house. This lot was a triangular shape, 4 rods on the rivulet, 60 rods on east and west road, 40 rods on Mill road, and 47 rods on the southeast line. The rear of this lot and house he sold to his brother Nathaniel, and removed to Poquonock, where he had received a grant of land, and where he also bought John Bartlett's place east of Stony Creek, and north of Thomas Holcomb's, and running east of the rivulet. Here he died 15th May, 1669. He witnessed a deed of land to his father by the Indians in 1666.
January 8th, 1660, he paid rates for short slips, 7 shillings, highest amount assessed that year.
Town Records - 24th May, 1669, 'There was a day of training; by reason of the death of Samuel Phelps, voted that Benjamin Holcomb supply his place as Way Warden.'
(Noted - Edward and Matthew Griswold, two brothers, the latter of whom was the ancestor of the two Govs. Griswold, resided in Kenilworth, England, where they had a third brother, Thomas. These two brothers came to New England in 1639, in a vessel sent out by Mr. William Whitney. Edward b. in England, 1607, settled in that part of Windsor, called Poquonock, m. 1st Margaret, and later settled in Killingworth, Ct., one of the first settlers, and a prominent man. His wife died Aug 22nd, 1670. (A slab may be seen in the Clinton, Ct., burying ground, 7 in. by 2-1/2 ft., with inscription M.G. 1670.) Had eleven children all by 1st wife. He m. 2nd Sarah Bemis, daughter of James Bemis, of New London; of his children a daughter Sarah, m. Samuel Phelps, and. m. Nathaniel Pinney. Another daughter, Mary, m. Timothy Phelps son of William the emigrant of 1630.)
3. Henry R. Stiles, "The History and Genealogies of Ancient Windsor, Connecticut," 1892, v. 2, pp. 346-353:
"The Connecticut Griswolds are descended from Edward and Matthew, who came to Windsor in 1639, and from Michael, who, some years later, came to Wethersfield. There appears to have been no relationship between the latter and the brothers Griswold of Windsor. [See footnote #1 below.]
Edward and Matthew came from Kenilworth, Co. Warwick, Eng., in the year 1639, in company with Rev. Mr. Huit's party, who came to Windsor that year. [See footnote #2 below.] They had lived at Kenilworth [see footnote #3 below] and owned property there; but we know not whether it was their birthplace. They had a brother Thomas [see footnote #3 below], who continued to reeside there, and the record of his marriage, in 1634, is still to be found in the old Kenilworth Church records, also the baptisms of several of the children of Edward, and the burial of a daughter, but the old church records of K. suffered greatly from the ravages of the War of the Great Rebellion, it has been found impossible to find any other connecting links between that parish and the two emigrant brothers. [See footnote #4 below.]
It has been claimed that they belonged to the ancient county family of Solihull, near Kenilworth,and, as such, entitiled to the use of the family arms, but there exists no evidence to prove the claim. Indeed, all that has been said in regard to their relationship to Humphrey Greswold, lord of the manor of Greet in Yardley, and also rector of Yardley parish; or of their connection with the Greswolds who held Malvern Hall in Solihull, has no foundation in fact, and can be proved untrue.. There is a tradition that the name of their father was George, concerning which see Prof. Salisbury's genealogical article referred to on... [see footnote #6].
Whatever their local antecedents and connections in England, it is certain that the emigrant brothers Griswold were men of education and property' and, after their arrival in the new colony, were always styled 'Mr.,' which was then equivalent to 'gentleman,' as distinguished from yeomen or tradesmen. Both brothers, though young men when they came to this country (Edward being then 32 and Matthew 19 years old), speedily allied themselves with the best social element of Windsor, took positions of commanding influence, and quickly became prominent in colonial affairs. 'Besides, if it be a principle of heredity that the characteristics, physical, intellectual, moral, and social, of a strongly marked ancestor are repeated in his descendants, so that form the offsrping may be inferred what was the progenitor, then, apart form all we know of the first generation of the Griswolds of New England, the qualities developed by succeeding generations of the family have been an accumulating proof that its emigrant ancestors were high-minded, intelligent, Chirstian 'gentlemen.'''
Matthew Griswold, the younger brother, did not long remain at Windsor, though (see page 75, Vol. I.) he came very near being a permanent resident here, and we will therefore discuss his history first. Coming to Windsor, 1639, being then 19 years old, he m. 16 Oct 1646, Anna (dau. of Henry Sr. and Elizabeth Saunders) Wolcott of Windsor, and, between that date and 1649/50, removed to Saybrook as agent for Col. Fenwick. He speedily assumed a prominence at that place; was Deputy to the General Court in 1654, and, in the same year, was directed by the Court to go with Capt. Mason to Pequitt and join with Gov. Winthrop to draw the lines between that towne and Uncas, etc. He was largely instrumental in the movements which led up to the settlement of Lyme, on the other side of the Great River, and became the leading and wealthiest man in that town, which was set off from Saybrook in 1665/6. He was frequently a Deputy and Commisioner, Justice of the Peace, Lieutenant of the Trainband, etc. His landed possessions soon assumed baronial proportions, especially upon the shores of Long Island Sound, where, near the mouth of the Connecticut River, he establisd 'Backhall,' since the family seat of the Griswolds of Lyme.
He died at Lyme, Conn, 27 Sep 1698, and was buried at Saybrook. His wid. survived him, and was living in Sep 1700, age about 80 yrs. Their children were (1) Elizabeth, b. about 1652; m. (1) John Rogers of N. London; m. (2) Peter Pratt; m. (3) Matthew Beckwith. (2) 'Mr.' Mattews. (3) John, d. young. (4) Sarah, b. abt. 1655; m. Thos. Colton. (5) Anna, b. about 1656; m. Lieut. Abraham Bronson, and was the ancestress of Hon. Henry Matson Waite, until 1854 the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Connecticut, and of the late U.S. Cheif Justice Morrison Remick Waite.
Through their only surviving son, Mr. Matthew, b. 1653, who followed in the footsteps of his father in public life, and died full of honors in 1715, they founded a family 'that has been unusually free from the vicissitudes which are apt, in the course of many generations of a family, to occur to lower the social standing of some of its persons, or branches.' Those who would study a singular and (in American family history) an almost unparalleled prominence in public affairs and in intellectual ability, are referred to the Appendix to the Wolcott Genealogy in this work, and to 'The Griswold Family of Conncticut' (already referred to), by Prof. Edward E. Salisbury of New Haven, Conn., an exceedingly interesting and gracefully penned contribution to Connecticut genealogy. [See footnote #6.]
Footnotes:
1. Michael Griswold's Eng. origin is unknown; he d. 1684, his will and the wills of his sons being now on file in 'Htfd. Co. Prob. Rec.' One of the grandsons, Capt. Jacob, was a first settler in Litchfield; another, Maj. Josiah, was famous as a soldier in the French War.
2. See pp. 74 and 75. The affidavit of Edward, then aged about 77 yrs., as given May 15, 1684, in the celebrated case of Henry Whiting's sons vs. John Bissell, says; 'About the yeare 1639, Mr. Wm. Whiting (deceased) was undertaker for a shipp in England, in which shipp I came to New England': and his brother Matthew (then aged 64) in his affidavit made in the same suit, says: 'Further I testifie that, when I came over to New England about the year 1639.' - 'State Archives, Private Controversies,' Vol. II, Doc. 203, 204.
3. From 'New London Prob. Rec.': Georg Griswold, aged about 67 yeares, testifyeth as follows: that in his youthfull years he lived with his father in England, in a town called Keillinsworth (Kenilworth was, in Queen Elizabeth's time, called Killingworth), in Warrackshire; he did severall times since hear his father Edward Griswould say that the house they then lived in, and lands belonging thereto, was his brother Mathew Griswold's; and have lately seen a letter under the hand of Thomas Griswould of Keilinsworth aboves'd, directed to his brother Mathew Griswould aforesaid, wherein the said Thomas Griswould intimated that he did then live in the abovesaid house belonging to his said brother Mathew Griswould aforesaid.
'May 9th, 1700. George Griswould appeared before me in Hartford, and made oath to ye above testimony. Joseph Curtiss, Assistant.'
4. The reference to one Francis Grissell by Dr. J. Hammond Trumbull, mentioned in 'Calend. State Papers, Col. Series,' 1474-1660, 'Lond., and Mag. Am. History,' pp. 121-22, Vol. XI, is all founded on a mistake in spelling.There was no Francis or other Grissell among the Dorchester settlers, and the fact mentioned refers to a person of another name.
5. The large views of Matthew, very much in advance of his time, are well illustrated by the following item from 'Windsor Town Records': 'April 23d 1663, Hannah Griswold, wife of Matthew Griswold, has a portion of meadow-Land in Windsor Great Meadow, twelve acres more or less... this comes to her as part of her portion that fell to her by the Last will of her brother Christopher Wolcott Dec'd, out of his Estate that was to be Devided among his Relations; and this parcel of meadow is allowed by her Husband Mattew Griswold to be Recorded and made over to Hannah his wife, to remain to her and her children, and their Dispose forever.'
6. Prof.Salisbury, also, disposes satisfactorily of the tradition that Matthew Griswold was a stone-mason, and that he cut the tombstone of Henry Wolcott in Old Windsor Cemetery.
4. From the book "The Griswold Family: England-America," by Glenn E. Griswold, 1935, vols. 2 and 3:
A. Pps. 120-122:
"MATTHEW Griswold. Came to New England 1639 with Edward Griswold and Rev. Ephraim Huit, and eventually arrived in Windsor, Conn., but did not long remain there, having become an agent of Lord Fenwick, removed to Saybrook, Conn. Received a grant of land 1645 which became the foundation of a large fortune.
Matthew was a typical Englishman, hardy and venturesome, and with a lusty desire to accumulate large land holdings and a vigorous method of accomplishing it. Full of energy and was held in high esteem by the early settlers, and he was counselor and friend to all. He possessed very largely those traits of physique and character, so often met with in men of the Griswold Clan. Large community spirit, genial and easy-going, yet forceful when required. A man of powerful build and used his strength in the combat with the wilderness to found a home and fortune. It is said he was exceedingly kind and gentle in his family.
Old Lyme was first settled in 1664 as East Saybrook, and Matthew was the pioneer and its first settler, which was set off from Saybrook in 1665, and he was one of the signers of the Articles of Separation. This was in an age when distinctions of rank and caste were held in severe respect, and Matthew, by his constant contact with the more aristocratic families, through his association with Lord Fenwick, became more or less embued with this, and the family of Griswold being constantly in the public eye gradually became part of the leading families. However the family were devoted to the public cause and exercised all their powers to build a substantial and lasting community.
Matthew built a log cabin. One of his Negro men occupied it and it became known as "Blackhall" or "Blak's Hall," and doubtless this is the origin of the name Blackhall which has come down to the present time as a name for the ancestral estate.
The early houses built upon Blackhall lands have entirely disappeared. The oldest house now standing was built in 1796 by Matthew fifth. It is an exact reproduction of an earlier house built on the same spot by his grandfather Judge John.
Matthew was a lawyer, but by trade a mason and he furnished the stones for many of the graves of the early settlers. There is a receipt dated Apr. 1, 1679, registered at Saybrook for 7 pounds sterling "paid M. Griswold in pay't for tombstone of Lady Alice Boteler (Lady Fenwick), late of Saybrook." He also furnished the stone for his father-in-law Henry Wolcott which is almost intact after all these years. That of Lady Fenwick, by reason of its removal from the point where the railroad crosses to its present site has sadly lost its ancient symmetry. And no stone marks his own grave nor do we know exactly where he was buried. There are records which lead us to believe in all probability that he was buried in old Saybrook cemetery. Although he removed to Lyme he retained his connection with Saybrook church as a member until his death, and from the church records we find that he was brought thither for interment. During his lifetime he presented to the church the first silver cup used in the observance of the Lord's Supper. The inscription upon it is: "S.C. ex dono domini Matthai Griswold." The S.C. evidently is the initials of Sacramentales Calix.
Matthew had many views far in advance of his time and concerning the rights of women was one of them. There is an ancient deed Apr. 23, 1663, Hannah or Anna Griswold, wife of Matthew, has a portion of meadow land in Windsor Great Meadows - "Twelve akers more or less - " this comes to her as part of the portion that fell to her by the last will and testament of her brother Christopher Wolcott out of his estate which was to be divided among his relations, and this parcel of meadow is allowed by her husband Matthew Griswold to be recorded and made over to Anna, his wife, "to remain to her and to her children and her dispose forever."
Matthew served as deputy 1654, 1667, 1678, and 1685; also as J.P. Was trusted with many important affairs of the Colony in its struggle with those matters which always beset the formation of a new community.
He was married Oct. 16, 1646, to HANNA WOLCOTT, daughter of the first Henry Wolcott, of Windsor, who emigrated from England and was the ancestor of the Wolcott family in America; son of John Wolcott of Tolland, England, bapt. 1578. Came in the ship Mary and John and was made a freeman on the first day of the first General Court, Oct. 19, 1630, in Boston. Hanna came over with her sister and youngest brother after the family were settled. She was living in Sept. 1700 when she and Abraham Bronson were summoned before the court at New London as administrators of the estate of Matthew. She probably died before May 1701, when he was summoned alone. We have no record of her death and the place of her burial is unknown. Matthew died at his home Sept. 27, 1698.
The children as named in the family records:
Sarah.
MATTHEW, b. 1653.
John, b. ___.No records. Probably d. unm.
Elizabeth.
Anna.
Records of Lyme and Saybrook, Conn.; Wolcott Mem. Conn. Colony records, Vol. I, 158, 161, 162., 205, 352, 404; Vol. II, 43, 46, 48, 70, 83, 109, 294, 317, 557; Vol. III, 24, 43, 66, 92, 121, 139, 158, 159, 201, 482; Hist. Soc. Coll., Particular court records; Court of Assistants records, Office Secretary of State."
B. 1943 Edition, pp. 152-153:
"MATTHEW Griswold has come to be considered as a brother of Edward, largely from his coming to New England with Edward and the Rev. Huit company, but without definite proof. We have also come to consider him as a tall, heavy man, full of strength and vigor; forceful and above the average in intelligence, and having the full confidence of the community; fully capable of pursuing his efforts for the best interests of the community.
Like all forceful men he was involved in some controversies with his neighbors, but in those matters brought to the attention of the Court, he was usually held in the right (Vol. I, Colonial records).
He, with Ensign Waller and Thomas Minor, was evidently employed to layout the bounds of New London, the town being ordered to pay them for this service.
He was ordered to assess the true valuation of all rateable estates in Lyme, and was directed to sign for all amounts due to their plantation.
He also subscribed for Lyme to the settlement of a land controversy between New London and Lyme. By this agreement of 1668, a portion of meadow at Black Point was reserved by Lyme for the use of the ministry in that town. A similar reservation had been made by New London at the same place and for a like purpose. It was upon this tract of "ministry land" that the affray between the two towns took place in 1671. About 30 New London men (with whom were Major Palmer and Ensign Clement Minor), going to Black Point meadow to mow grass for their minister, were met and resisted by a party who had come from Lyme on a similar errand. A good many hard words were indulged in, and some blows were exchanged between the parties. The Lyme constable, provided with a warrant from Mr. Matthew Griswold, carried Ensign Minor away prisoner, and in return, Major Palmer gave to the constable of New London a warrant for the arrest of Mr. Griswold. After a conference, however, it was agreed that they would let the law decide the controversy. "Soe drinking a dram together, with som seeming friendship," every man departed to his home (Vol. II, Colonial records).
Matthew served as deputy to the General Court:
Oct. 1667 May 1682
May 1668 May 1683
Oct. 1677 Oct. 1683
May 1678 Oct. 1684
May 1680 May 1685
Oct. 1680 Oct. 1685
Oct. 1681
Appointed commissioner: May 1680, May 1681, May 1682, May 1683, May 1684. May 1685, Oct. 1686, May 1687, May 1689.
He was granted 100 acres in 1681.
In 1670 he evidently had been given the right to perform marriage ceremonies, for he is said to have performed the ceremony at the marriage of his daughter Elizabeth to John Rogers.
He was a member of the important committee appointed by the Court to compose differences between the Pequots and Uncas in love and peace (Caulkins' History of New London).
In 1679 he was appointed commissioner with power to grant warrants and perform marriages in Lyme. The right of the state to solemnize this rite was thus recognized at a very early day and for a time this led to many controversies between the ministry and state officials.
Matthew continued to be a first citizen until his death, and he laid the foundation for a strong and valued posterity."
5. The following is a from the Windsor, CT, Historical Society from the Griswold family file. It is attributed to the "Dutchess County Farmer" (no date) and is entitled "Recollections of Some Old New England Families. It is a single sheet of paper. From more modern research, we now know the father of the emigrants Edward and Matthew is George Griswold without any apparent connection with Humphrey Griswold, Lord of the Manor of Greet. Also one should discount that Matthew proceded his older brother to New England from Old England. The following is as printed:
"There is no name more talismanic in the brave old State of Connecticut than Griswold; and in that quaint New England town, Lyme, they swear by it. The family were of the English gentry, and have always borne 'Without abuse the Grand old name of Genetleman.'
Senator Stephen M. Griswold, Brooklyn, traces the descent from Humphrey Griswold of Greet, Lord of the Manor, and say they are mentioned as an honorable family in English history early in the sixteenth century. Malvern Hall, and its estates, came into the family about 1600, and still remain in their possession. The Coat of Arms, together with Malvern Hall, in 1659 belonged to Humphrey Griswold, who died in 1671. He was succeeded by his brother, Rev. Henry Griswold, who died about 1720, the title then passing to his son Humphrey, who, dying left it to his brother Henry. The latter left no male heir, and the representative of the family then devolved upon the Rev. Matthew Griswold. He had an only daughter who survived him, and who became the wife of David Lewis, Esq. One of their daughters married the fourth Earl of Dysart, and the other, the fifth Earl. Again a male descendant was wanting, and so the tiltle passed to Henry Griswold Lewis, a son of David Lewis by a second wife. The estates were then inherited by Lieutenant Edmund Meysey Griswold of the English Army, and at his decease by his uncle Henry Griswold Wigley, M.A., who assumed the surname of Griswold, and his descendant now owns the old Hall.
Matthew Griswold, Esq. of Kenilworth, Warwickshire, England, was an uncle of Humphrey Griswold of Greet, and had three sons, Matthew, Edward and Thomas. Matthew was the youngest, and while a mere boy, he joined a company of pilgrims for America. This compnay sailed from England under the leadership of Rev. John Wareham, a prominent preacher of Exeter. It was during the reign of Charles the first, and they landed on the shores of Massachusetts, the 30th of May, 1630, ten years later than the Pilgrim Fathers at Plymouth. Edward Griswold joined his brother Matthew nine years later, and settled at Windsor on the Farmington River, Connecticut, his brother being at Saybrook, at the mouth of the Connecticut River. Windsor was the first white settlement in the State, and closely associated with its origin were the names of Griswold, Wolcott and Ellsworth. Edward had married in England and had a large family. In 1664, together with his son John, he moved to Killingworth, Conn., so named form his native place, his descendant intermarried with the Phelps, Buels, Gaylords, Holcombs and Veits. His son Squire Samuel Griswold was the grandfather of the celebrated Bishop Alexander Veits Griswold, of the Episcopal Church, the second Bishop of Pennsylvania and senior Bishop for the United States, who was for ten years Chancellor of Brown University. Bishop Griswold was a great uncle of C.C.Griswold, the landscape painter. Another son of Squire Samuel, Ezra, was instrumental in organizing the first Episcopal Church in the state of Ohio.
We now turn to Matthew Griswold, a man who numbers descendants by thousands and of this number very many have attained unusual prominence. He was born in 1618, and was a stone-cutter by trade. In 1645 he was granted a tract of land at Lyme, Conn., and here has since been the Griswold homestead, 'Black Hall.' It is a cluster of half a dozen houses, surrounded by a dense grove of trees, which slopes toward the sound. Mr. Griswold built a lug-hut on his grant, which was the first house in Lyme, and dug a well which is still in existence and has been used by successive generations. The Indians were too hostile for him to remove his family so far from the fort of Saybrook, and he therefore sent a negro to occupy the hut, and tradition says hence the pleasant sounding name of Black Hall. Mr. Griswold was the first Justice of the Peace in Lyme, and the first magistrate of the Saybrook Colony. He married Hannah, daughter of Henry Wolcott, and died in June, 1699, at a ripe old age.
His daughter Ann, married Abraham Bronson. She was the great-great-grandmother of Chief Justice Henry Watson Waite, of Connecticut, whose son, Morrison R.Waite, is Chief Justice of the United States. She was also a greet-great grandmother of Hon. John Turner Waite, a prominent Judge and lawyer of Norwich, Conn., and now member of the House of Representatives.
The fifth Child, Matthew Griswold, Jr., was born at East Saybrook, Conn., in 1653. At one time there was a troublesome controversy between New London and Lyme about a tract of land, about four miles in width, which both towns claimed. After much wrangling and expense it was agreed to 'leave it to the Lord,' in other words settle it by single combat, and Matthew Griswold and William Ely, were chosen contestants from Lyme, and they fought so valorously that New London was compelled to relinquish her claim to the ground.
Matthew Griswold, Jr., had ten children. [Children listed.]
Mrs. Griswold died Nov. 29th, 1704, and May 30th, 1705, the disconsolate widower consoled himself by marrying Mary, widow of Thomas Lee. Mr. Griswold died Jan. 19, 1716, age 63, and lies buried in the old cemetery below the hill at Lyme. His widow survived him eight years..."
[Article continues about the descendants of Matthew Griswold, Jr. and has no further bearing on my research.]
6. The booklet "The Griswold Family in England before 1639 - A Report of the Findings of Bonnie Boone Day Griswold and James Wells Griswold," 1984, Exeter, NH, copy in the library of the Windsor CT. Historical Society. The authors went to England to look up actual records. Quote from pp. 10-13:
"The search for hard facts about our direct Griswold ancestors in England has yielded information only on Edward. This we found in the Warwickshire County Records Library. Even this information is evidently not new because the names and accurate dates are given in Glen E. Griswold's Vol. II of the Griswold Family. But since he does not cite the source of his information, maybe the following will add a bit...[See notes for Edward for full transcription of records found of his children.]
The publication, the "American Genealogist," Volumes 39, 40, and 71 reports the extensive work of Genevieve Kiepura and John Hunt. Since their findings take 12 pages of close print, we will attempt to summarize it here. None of the original documents reported here have we seen personally, but the source reported in these articles suggest other areas for investigation.
The articles clearly represent the extensive and careful work they have done and further dramatize the difficulties encountered because there were so many Griswolds in the area and so many of the families used the traditional first names.
Mrs. Kiepura reports that the parish regester for Wootten Wawen lists the baptism of "Edward, son of George Griswold, 26 July 1607. There are references to the baptisms of George, son of Roger, 6 Nov. 1574; and to the burial of Dousabele, wife of George Griswold, 28 Aug. 1615. No Matthew or Michael in the index."
For their research, Mrs. Kiepura and Mr. Hunt had copies of 11 wills that were on file at the Worcester Records Office. Piecing the fragments of facts given in each will to create a sequential chart is like a detective story. However, as a summary, the following is given by Mr. Hunt:
Roger Griswold of Rowington. Will 1545 [had son:]
William, b. ca. 1515-20? [had son:]
Roger of Kenilworth, b. ca. 1540-45?, d. before 1607 [had sons:]
Roger of Kenilworth, b. ca. 1570? of age by 1607.
Thomas of Stonley, d. 1620. House in Kenilworth.
George, bp. 1574 at Wootten Wawen [had sons:]
Edward, bp. 1607 Wootten Wawen.
Matthew, b. 1620.
Thomas of Kenilworth [had sons:]
Thomas.
Matthew of Stonley. Will of 1701/2.
(BDG and JWG Note: We still have not found an English source that proves that Matthew is a brother of Edward. The listing given above is based on the testimony given by George Griswold in 1700 for a court in Connecticut as to what he remembers.)
In Volume 71 of the 'American Genealogist', Mr. Hunt reports on a copy of a will of 'Thomas Griswold of Stonley, Warwickshire dated the last day of Feb. 1620 wherein the testator, besides mentioning the rent of his house and gorunds in the town and parish of Kenilworth, names his close called Beggerspath and the ground called Broomfield, alias Thickthorn clearly in the vicinity of Kenilworth.'"
7. From "The Griswold Family England-America" 1943, p 190:
"The Griswold Family.
The terrible consequence of the witchcraft delusion, and the opportunity of the ignorant and unscrupulous to harass people of wealth and character cannot be better illustrated than by the following account:
In 1667 John Tillerson charged the wife of Matthew Griswold of Lyme of being a witch and induced others to suspect her of witchcraft; for which Matthew caused him to be arrested and arraigned before the court. This John stated the cause of his suspicions and jealousies. The court decided that she was not a wtich and that he had no cause to be jealous of her; that he had greatly sinned in harboring such jealousy against so good a neighbor who had done him many favors. But as he was poor, the Court to recompense Mrs. Griswold for the wrong, and to clear her of all suspicions of the offense, ordered that the opinion of the court should be published by the constables of Saybrook and Lyme, at some public meeting, and ordered Tillerson to pay 7 shillings for the express warrant, and 5 shillings for the constable.
How truly some of this could apply to the recipients of charity in our present day."
8. From the book "The Griswold Family," by Edward Elbridge Salisbury, privately published 1884, copy in Windsor, Conn. Historical Society Library. The book contains many prime sources not found in other Griswold publications. In the previous part of the book, Mr. Salisbury documents that Edward, Matthew, and Thomas are brothers (see these individuals' notes for a transcription). Pp. 3-5:
"With regard to the ancestry of the three brothers whom we thus distinctly trace, we have no certain information reaching beyond their father. A deposition lately found among the papers of Rev. F.W. Chapman, 'a full and true copy' of an original now lost, enables me to begin the Griswold pedigree one generation further back than it has been hitherto traced. This valuable document is in these words:
'The testimony of Captain George Griswold, aged about 72 years, and the testimony of Mr. John Griswold, aged about 69 years, they both being sons of George Griswold, The Deponents being both of Windsor in the county of Hartford and colony of Connecticut in New England, is as follows;
'Viz., that our Grandfather's name was Edward Griswold, and it was formerly and has ever since been always accepted and reputed that our said Grandfathers's father's name was George Griswold, and the said George Griswold our Great Grandfather had three sons, the eldest named Edward, the second named Matthew, and third or youngest son named Thomas, and the said Edward the eldest son, and the said Matthew the second son, came into new England from Killingsworth in Warwickshire in England; and in all our discourses amongst the families of said Griswolds in New England, together with other elderly observing gentlemen, they are and have ever been so accepted and reputed to be, without contradiction or gainsaying, according to the best of our rememberance.
'And the Deponents further add and say that the above named Edward Griswold's eldest son has always been called and reputed to be Francis Griswold, without any contradiction or gainsaying as aforesaid that we know of.
'Windsor in Hartford county in Connecticut, New England personally appeared on the 19th day of January Anno Dom. 1737-8, Captain George Griswold and John Griswold the above named Deponents, and made solemn oath, in due form of law, to the truth of the above written testimony, before me. Henry Allyn, Justice Peace.'
(Author notes: This copy was given to Mr. Chapman by Mr. J.S. Griswold of Benson, Vt., whose brother Mr. W.D. Griswold, now of St. Louis, Mo., writes to me respecting the original paper as follows: 'As regards the original paper, I remember to have seen it on occasion of a visit I made to my native home in 1841. My Father, then alive, showed it to me, and I read it over and over with great interest, and I then took a copy of it, which I think I have sent to some inquirer, without retaining a copy of the copy. The affidavit was evidently taken in aid of some pending legal proceeding, and in anticipation of some legal use. It was inherited by my Father with the old papers and muniments of his Father, and that is all that can be said of its history.' In anothre letter Mr. Griswold says: 'I read it over repeatedly, and critically observed the paper, old and faded, and the writing of style verifying its age.' These two Griswolds brothers are descendants of Edward Griswold, through his son Francis.)"
9. From the book "The Griswold Family," by Edward Elbridge Salisbury, privately published 1884, copy in Windsor, Conn. Historical Society Library. The book contains many prime sources not found in other Griswold publications. Pp. 6-7:
"...The large views of Matthew Griswold, very much in advance of his time, are illustrated b a record which has just come to light, as follows:
'April 23d 1663, Hannah Griswold, wife of Matthew Griswold, has a portion of meadow-Land in Windsor, Great Meadow, Twelve acres more or less... this comes to her as part of her portion that fell to her by the Last will of her borther Christorpher Wolcott Dec'd, out of his Estate that was to be Devided among his Relations; and this parcell of meadow is allowed by her Husband Matthew Griswold to be Recorded and made over to Hannah his wife, to remain to her and her children, and their Dispose, forever.'
(Author's note: 'Copied by the Town Clerk of Windsor from Records there, in August 1882.')
We can only wonder at the enterprise, courage and energy of these early pioneers, Matthew Griswold, at the early age of nineteen years, came with his brother Edward to Windsor, among its earliest settlers, then struck out from there to find a new home in Saybrook; then, as if that spot had become too narrow, crossed the 'Great River,' and made his final settlement as the first man who took up land in Lyme. Perhaps this may have been partly due to the English passion for landed possessions - also, perhaps, to a hereditary longing which could be fully gratified only by first occupation.
In this connection I may most appropriately dispose of a statement, distinctly made or hinted at in different quarters, that the first Matthew Griswold followed the trade of a stone-cutter. The only proofs alleged of this are, first, a receipt given by him, Apr. 1, 1679, now registered at Saybrook, for seven pounds sterling, 'in payment for the tombstone of the lady Alice Bottler (Lady Fenwick), late of Saybrook;" and, secondly, the tradition that the tombstone of his father-in-law, Henry Wolcott of Windsor (who died in 1655) - similar in form and material to that of Lady Fenwick - was obtained by his agency. (Author's noted source: 'History of New London, by Frances Manwaring Caulkins, New London, 1852, pp. 173-74; and Memorial of Henry Wolcott, New York, 1881, pp. 12, note, and 32.') As to the receipt, nothing is more likely than that he gave it for money which he had long before paid out as Agent ot Gov. Fenwick; and as to the Wolcott tradition, that by no means necessarily means that the monument of Henry Wolcott was a work of his hands. Still, it is possible that Matthew Griswold may have learned the art of stone-cutting in preparation for his emigration - perhaps as a disguise in aid of his expatriation; and that he practiced the art occasionally, as the exigencies of colonial life in a new country made it useful for him to do so, is also possible. But that stone-cutting was his occupation, or trade, there is not the slightest reason to believe; indeed, the supposition is a variance with all that we know of his prominence in the public affairs of his time, and inferable education, or are led to conjecture, from his large acquistions of land at an early period, of his having given himself, from the first to agriculture. Evidently he was skilled in laying foundations, and in sculpturing monuments, but it was with material, and in forms, far more enduring than stone - nay, more lasting than the brass of the mechanic artificer: 'Momumentum aere perennius.'"
10. From the book "The Griswold Family," by Edward Elbridge Salisbury, privately published 1884, copy in Windsor, Conn. Historical Society Library. Some of the information is dated and has since been updated with more modern research; but the book contains many prime sources not found in other Griswold publications. I do not quote the portions wherein Mr. Salisbury dismisses that the two other Griswolds in New England, Francis and Michael, were not brothers of Edward, Matthew, and Thomas. Pp. 3-4:
"From a valuable document in the New London Probate Office (relating to a lawsuit in which the only son of our first Matthew Griswold was involved), we obtain proof that, beside Edward and Matthew, there was another brother, Thomas by name, who remained in the old English homestead; and the same paper gives documentary evidence as to what part of England the emigrants came from. It deserves to be quoted here, exactly and in full:
'George Griswold, aged about 67 years, testifyeth as followeth - that in his youthfull years he lived with his father in England, in a town called Keillinsworth (Author's note: 'In Queen Elizabeth's time Kenilworth was called Killingworth.') in Warrackshire; he did severall times since hear his father Edward Griswould say that the house they then lived in, and lands belonging thereto, was his borther Mathew Griswould's; and have lately seen a letter under the hand of Thomas Griswould of Keillinsworth abovesd, direct to his brother Mathew Griswould aforesaid, wherein the said Thomas Griswould intimated that he did then live in the above said house belonging to his said brother Mathew Griswould aforesaid.
'May 9th 1700. George Griswould appeared before me in Hartford, and made oath to ye above testimony.' 'Joseph Curtiss, Assistant.'
"...To come, then, to the two emigrants, a tradition remains to be alluded to, that their emigration was in company with the Rev. Ephraim Huet of Windsor, who 'had been a minister of Wraxall, near Kenilworth, in Warwickshire, was proceeded against by Archbiship Laud, 1638, for neglect of ceremonies, came next year.' ('Geneal. Dict.,' by James Savage, Boston, 1860, ii. 490') Savage thought this tradition plainly erroneous, for the reason that George, son of Edward Griswold, in his deposition above cited, testified that he lived with his father in England 'in his youthfull years,' which, according to Savage, must have extended later than to the year 1639. But the year of Huet's emigration, this very year 1639, being now fixed, independently, as the date of the emigration of Edward and Matthew Griswold, the tradition of their companionship with Huet gains in probability; while Savage's objection is quite set aside by the fact that George Griswold, having been 67 years old in 1700 (as he himself affirmed) was born about 1633, not in 1638 - as Savage says - and could, therefore, well speak, when advanced in life, of a time prior to 1639 as having been in the days of his youth."
11. From the book "The Griswold Family," by Edward Elbridge Salisbury, privately published 1884, copy in Windsor, Conn. Historical Society Library, pp. 3-4:
"Matthew Griswold, having come to Windsor, married, October 16, 1646, Anna daughter of the first Henry Wolcott of Windsor, an emigrant from Tolland, Co. Somerset, by Elizabeth daughter of Thomas Saunders, of the adjacent parish of Lydiard St. Lawrence (Memorial of Henry Wolcott, ut supra, p.II. The Wolcott family of Windsor were of the old English gentry). Either before or after the date of his marriage he removed to Saybrook, in the capacity of Agent to Governor Fenwick. The exact year of his removal to the river's mouth cannot now be fixed, but he is said to have been the earliest actual occupant of land within the bounds of Lyme (set off as separate from Saybrook in 1665-66), implying that he had settled there long before this separation. Indeed, his original grant is believed to have emanated from Fenwick, (Caulkins' History of New London...ut supra, p.72) which would carry us back to 1645, at least, when Fenwick's rights under the Warwick Patent were extinguished by agreement with the colony of Connecticut (The History of Conn...By G.H. Holister. New Haven, 1855, i. 135). Another indication of his having very early become a resident of Saybrook is given by his testimony of 1684, quoted above; for in that he speaks of having thought to leave Saybrook and purchase land in Windsor ("beeing not accomodated to my mind where I then liued at Saybrook"), (see above, p. 121) at a time when land up the river had depreciated in value by reason, as is plain enough, of the prevalence of Parliamentarian rule in England lessening the inducements to emigration, before the progress of events in the old country, culminating in Cromwell's military usurpation, had again tempted the more conservative Englishmen to expatriate themselves-from all which it would appear that he was a resident of Saybrook as early as within the fifth decade of the seventeenth century, though after the middle of October, 1646, because he was already married when he contemplated returning to Windsore.
By the colonial records we find him at Saybrook, first, on the 20th of March, 1649-50, reference being made, under that date, to an answer to a "petition from the inhabitants of Saybrook, presented by Matthew Griswold and Tho. Leppingwell" (Public Records of the Colony of Connecticut...1636-1665. Hartford, 1850, p.205). He was a Deputy to the General Court in 1654. In the same year Major Mason was deputed to take with him "Matthew Griswold of Seabrooke," and "goe o Pequett and joyne with Mr. Winthrop to draw the line between Pequett and Vncus according to the bounds granted that towne,"...and indeavor to compose differences bet: Pequett & Vncus in loue and peace" (Id., p. 257). At a court held May 17th, 1660, it was "granted that ye Dep: Gouernor & Math: Griswold shal lend vnto N. London two great Guns from Sea brooke with shot" (Id., p. 352). In 1661 he headed a committee "to try the bounds of N. London" (Id., p.366). Under the year 1663 it is recorded that "Matthew Griswold" and others were to lay out certain bounds "to fruent future in-conueniences" (Id., p.418). About 1664-65, when Lyme was soon to be set off from Saybrook as a separate town, there arose a dispute between New London and Saybrook as to the westward extent of the former town-whether or not the land between Niantic Bay and Bride Brook, including Black Point and Giant's Neck, belonged to New London. This lasted for several years, when at length in 1671, "the town [of New London] annulled all former grants...except.."but set apart, at "our west bounds at Black Point," a tract of three hundred and twenty-five acres "for the use of the ministry forever," which same tract had been reserved, three years earlier, for the same use, by the town of Lyme. In August, 1671, "the people of both New London and LYme were determined to mow the grass on a portion of the debatable land...Large parties went out from both towns for the purpose, and, having probably some secret intimation of each other's design, they went on the ground at the same time...The Lyme men, under their usual leaders, Matthew Griswold and William Waller, were in possession of the ground when the party advanced...Constables were in attendance on either side, and Messrs. Griswold and Palmes were in the commission of the peace, and could authorize warrents of apprehension on the spot. As the New London men approached, and, swinging their scythes, began to mow," the Lyme constable attempted to do his office, supported by his fellow-townsmen, "who came rushing forward waving their weapons; and he succeeded; when "a general tumult of shouts, revilings, wrestlings, kicks and blows followed." A warrant was issued for the arrest of Griswold, "but he was not captured." The noisy encounter was terminated "by an ageement to let the law decide;" and the General Court ordered a division of the land in dispute, by which the matter was settled (Caulkins' Hist. of New London, ut supra, pp. 166-69). Such, in substance, is the account of this affair given by the historian of New London, on the authority of testimony taken at the trial of the rioters in March, 1671-72. Family tradition among the Griswolds, however, runs to the effect that the rights of the respective parties were finally made to depend upon the issue of a personal combat between chanptions chosen on both sides, a son of our first Matthew Griswold, the second of the name, who was noted for his athletic form and great strength, being the representative of Lyme; and that the result was in favor of his own. But this tradition may be only a mythical amplification of the recorded historical facts (The tradition is alluded to, as authentic history, by Dr. Dwight in his Travels in New England. New Haven and New York, 1821, ii, 522).
On the 13th of February 1665-66 the articles of separation between Saybrook and Lyme were signed by Matthew Griswold as one of the committee for the east side. In 1666 he and William Waller were ordered by the General Court "within the space of one month to send up to he Tresurer a true valuation of all ye rateable estate of the persons that haue estate in that place called Lyme" (Public Records of Conn....1665-1677. Hartford, 1852, p. 48). He was a Deputy to the General Court in 1667 (Id., p. 70), and again in 1668, his name having then, first, on the colonial records, the prefix of "Mr.," at that time distinctive of "gentleman," which afterwards they always give to it (Id., p. 83). He was chosen Commissioner for Lyme, in 1669, for the ensuing year (Id., p. 106); in 1676 was appointed with others "to signe bills in theire respectiue plantations, for what is due from the country" (Id., p. 48); and in 1677 was temporary Lieutenant of the train-bands of Lyme (Id., p. 317). In May 1678 he was a Deputy for Lyme (Public Records of Conn....1678-1689. Hartford, 1859, p. 3); and the next year was appointed "to grant warrants and marry persons in Lyme for the yeare ensueing" (Id., p. 27). One hundred acres of land were granted to him by the General Court in 1681, "provided he take it up where it may not prejudice any former grants" (Public Records of Conn....1678-1689. Hartford, 1859, p. 93). He was a Deputy for Lyme in 1685 (Id., p. 181). On the 14th of May 1685 ("in the first year of our Sovereign Lord James the Second of England") the township of Lyme received a patent of confirmation, when it was granted, ratified and confirmed "unto Mr. Matthew Griswold, Senior, Mr. Moses Noyes, Mr. Wm. Measure, Mr. Wm. Ely, Ln't Abraham Brunson, Sargeant Thomas Lee and John Lay, Jr., and the rest of the said present proprietors of the Township of Lyme, their heirs, successors and assigns forever." In 1686 the General Court confirmed to him and others a tract of land eight miles square, "lyeing and being near unto Connecticut River, about twelve or thirteen miles up the said River," which had been deeded to them in 1674 by "Captain Sannup (or Sanhop)" of the Niantics (Id., pp. 200-01). The Court chose him in 1689 to be a Justice of the Peace, or Commissioner, for Lyme, and he held the same office the five following years, successively (Id., p 252; and Public Records of Conn....1689-1706. Hartford, 1868, pp. 24, 43, 66, 92, 121).
To these notes from colonial records, mainly showing the public trusts conferred on the first Matthew Griswold, I add a few others from the public records of Lyme and the family-archives, illustrative of the growth of the Griswold landed domain within his time. He was reputed to be the richest man in Lyme. After his death the landed property of the family was increased yet more, until it came, at length, to be an estate almost baronial in extent, stretching along Long Island Sound and elsewhere. So early as in the third generation, as appears from a paper preserved in the family, dated November 2, 1724, Patience Griswold released to her brothers John and George, and to several sisters, her proportion of right and title, as one of her father's legatees, to "about four thousand five hundred and fifty acres, be ye same more or Less, situate, Lying and being in ye Township of Lyme." From a plea in answer to a charge of trespass, of the year 1781, by Governor Matthew Griswold- which is among the family papers- we learn that by "the Proprietors of the Common and Undivided Lands in the Township of Saybrook...on or about ye Year 1655...were duely sever'd and laid out to Matthew Griswold Senior, then of said Saybrook, who then was one of said propriators...for him to hold in severalty as part of his share and interest in said common and undivided lands," certain lands including a fishery at the mouth of the Connecticut River, on the east side: "and the said Matthew Griswold Senior soon after enclosed the same in a good sufficient fence, and continued so seized and possessed of the place...till the time of his death...and the same lands...with all the appurtenances to the same belonging, by sundry legal descents descended from the said Matthew Griswold Senior to his Great Grandson Matthew Griswold Esq..."
There can be no doubt that this document refers to a part of the estate, at the mouth of the "Great River," which has been occupied by the family for seven generations; and it probably fixes the date of the first Matthew Griswold's beginning to occupy that site as a place of residence. This family home has been always known by the name of Blackhall-a memorial, doubtless, of some familiar English locality. There are several places of the name in England. Here, then, not in the rich alluvial meadows of Windsor, nor on the breezy, but sandy, plain of Saybrook-as limited to the western side of the Connecticut, after the setting off of Lyme-did Matthew Griswold fix his home. He settled upon the extreme point of land that stretches out between Connecticute River and Long Island Sound. It was all "made land," under the slow processes of nature: the sea had washed up its sand to meet, and be mingled with, the alluvial deposits brought down by the "Great River," in its progress from Canada to the sea. After all these centuries, the modeling of nature's forces still appears in the roll and swell of the ground, the hillocks and the eddies. This lower level is near the sea. The land begins to rise toward the north-west; the nearest spur of the northern mountains is to be seen just above the present railroad-station, and follows the Connecticut, with hills, sometimes rolling, often well-wooded, sometimes rocky and precipitous. Another range-the so-called Meetinghouse-Hills- further eastward, runs toward the north. Between these ranges is the tract on which the village of Lyme now stands, in a position much sheltered from the cold winds on the east, north and west, while lying open, on the south, to winter-sunshine and summer-breezes. Long Island stretching along, some miles away, between the main land and the open ocean, cuts off the violence of storms, while not shutting out the freshness of the ocean-air. The seasons are tempered along the shore. Frosts come late, and melt away earlier in the spring than in any other part of New England. The autumn usually lingers long under the golden light radiated from the sun, and reflected from the sea, which, from Newport all along the shore, fills the atmosphere with a halo of beauty.
The land-records of Lyme show an indenture of March 8, 1664, by which the first Matthew Griswold then had deeded to him "A parcell of Land Lying and beeing uppon Blackhall point, near the dwelling-house of Matthew Griswold aforesaid (showing that Matthew Griswold had a dwelling-house at Blackhall point before March 8, 1664. The original well belonging to it is believed to exist still, within the grounds of Mrs. Charles C. Griswold, a little to the south of whose residence the first dwelling of the first Matthew Griswold is said to have stood)...the upland beeing by estimation forty akers...with all the meadow or marsh-lands thereto belonging, part of which meadow is adjoining to the upland, and part thereof is lying and beeing on the southwest end of the Great Island or Marsh..."
Among the family-papers is an original deed of Thomas Leffingwell to Matthew Griswold, dated February 18, 1674, conveying his "whole accommadations of Lands att Seabrooke, situate, lyeing and being on both side of Connecticott River, except...The particulars of which is sold unto the said Matthew Griswell being as followeth: Imprs, on the west side of the above said River the whole right of Commonage belonging unto one hundred & fifty pound Allottment withe the ox-pas-tour, house & home-Lott; Seconds, on the east side of the said River the whole accommadations belonging unto a two hundred pound Allottment which was bought of ffrancis Griswell (This is, undoubtedly, Francis son of Edward, mentioned p.122)...only excepted twenty acers of Land of the first Division where the house stands...Resigned unto ffrancis Griswell..."
Another private paper, dated July 11, 1674, records the laying out to Matthew Griswold of "fifty acres more or Less of upland...bounded west by the Sea and Bridebrook, East by the land bought of Richard Tousland, south by the Sea, north by the Commons," which seems to be a description of the promontory of Giant's Neck, the home of the Rev. George Griswold, of the third generation, and of a branch of rhe family descended from him. On the 28th of February, 1676, as Lyme records show, Matthew Griswold gave in a statement of certain lots of land then owned by him, as follows: "Matthew Griswold Senior, his lotts in the first division of upland & meadow, whar his new dwelling house doth stand, Containing in Generall about one hundred and fourty aight akers and a half...and is bounded Northerly by Blackhall river, Easterly by the highway as far as his dwelling house, southerly by Sea, westerly by the Great River..."
Of the church, or ecclesiastical society, of Lyme, there are no existing records early enough to show whether the first Matthew Griswold was concerned, or took an interest, in the organization of either. But the First Church of Saybrook possessed, within a few years, a silver communion-cup which was his gift, as the inscription on it: "S.C.C. dono domini Matthew Griswold," attests; though the three initials at the head, probably standing for "Saybrook Congregational Church," would seem to prove the inscription to be of a much later date than the fact it commemorates (This cup now belongs to the family of the late Deacon William R. Clark of Saybrook).
"Matthew Griswold died in his house at Lyme [September 27, 1698], was buried at Saybrook; his gravestone is not to be found." Mrs. Griswold survived him, and was living September 17, 1700, when she and her son-in-law Abraham Brownson were both cited to appear before the New London County Court, as administrators of her husband's estate; but she had, probably, died before May 22, 1701, when Brownson was summoned alone as administrator, by the same Court. Her age in 1699 was seventy-nine years (See her testimony of Jan. 5, 1699, in Col. Records, Private Controversies, v. doc. 145, MS.).
Matthew and Anna (Wolcott) Griswold had five children, named in the following order in a family-record: Sarah, Matthew, John, Elizabeth, Anna. But neither the family-papers nor the existing public records of Windsor, Saybrook, or Lyme (all of which have been consulted) give us their birth-days, excepting that of Matthew, who was born in 1653. This date being given, it is immediately evident that the order of names, at one point at least, should be changed; for, if Elizabeth was the second child born after Matthew, her birth could not have occurred before 1655, whereas she was first married in 1670 - which is quite improbable. Accordingly, I shall assume an order which seems likely to be nearer the truth, as follows:
1. Elizabeth; born, according to corrected order of names, not later than 1652, and, very likely, from the date of her marriage (early marriages being then usual), in that year; who married: 1st, October 17, 1670, John Rogers of New London, Connecticut; 2d, August 5, 1679, Peter Pratt; and 3d, soon after 1688, Matthew Beckwith. She had two children by her first husband: 1. Elizabeth, born Nov. 8, 1671; 2. John, born March 20, 1674; by her second husband she had a son Peter; and by her third marriage, a daughter, Griswold Beckwith (Caulkins' Hist. of New London, ut supra, pp. 203-09.) In 1674 John Rogers, her first husband, departed from the established orthodoxy of the New England churches by embracing the doctrines of the Seventh Day Baptists; and, having adopted, later, "certain peculiar notions of his own," though still essentially orthodox as respects the fundamental faith of his time, became the founder of a new sect, called after him Rogerines, Rogerene Quakers, or Rogerine Baptists. Maintaining "obedience ot the civil government except in matters of conscience and religion," he denounced, "as unscriptural, all interference of the civil power in the worshp of God." (Caulkins' Hist. of New London, ut supra, pp. 204-05.) It seemed proper to give here these particulars with regard to Rogers's views, because they were made the ground of a petition by his wife for a divorce, in May 1675, which was granted by the General Court in October of the next year, (Public Records of the Col. of Conn...1665-1677. Hartford, 1852, p. 292.) and was followed in 1677 by another, also granted, for the custofy of her children, her late husband "being so hettridox in his opinion and practice." ((Public Records of the Col. of Conn...1665-1677. Hartford, 1852, p. 326.) The whole affair reminds us of other instances, more conspicuous in history, of the narrowness manifested by fathers of New England towards any deviations from establish belief; and of their distrust of individual conscience as a sufficient rule of religious life without the interference of civil authority. There is no reason to believe that the heterodoxy "in practice," referred to in the wife's last petition to the Court, was aught else than a non-conformity akin to that for the sake of which the shores of their "dear old England" had been left behind, forever, by so many of the very men who forgot to tolerate it, themselves, in their new western homes. Of course, like all persecuted, especially religious, parties, the Rogerenes courted, gloried in, and profited by, distresses. John Rogers always claimed that the Court had taken his wife away from him without reason; both of his children eventually sympathized with their father, and lived with him.
2. Matthew (see below).
3. John; who died young, s.p. (Anna Griswold and John Griswold appear as witnesses to a deed of sale, among Lyme records, dated Apr. 26, 1681. The association of names and the date identify this John as the son of Anna Griswold - showing that, if not born later than 1654, he lived as long as to his 27th year.)
4. Sarah; born, according to corrected order of names, not earlier than 1655; who married, probably by 1675 [someone has penciled in 11 Sep 1677], Thomas Colton (not George
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Chris & Julie Petersen's Genealogy
Abt 1620 - 1698 (78 years)
