G. W. Griffith

As printed in 1909

G. W. GRIFFITH owner of three sections in Texas. He derives his income from farm properties, giving his time and energies to the management of his invested interests.

He was born in Crawford county, Ohio, January 22, 1844, and is a son of Robert W. and Eleanor (Long) Griffith, natives of Delaware and Pennsylvania, respectively. The former was a son of Paris Griffith, also a native of Delaware as was his wife, Mrs. Sarah (Warren) Griffith, a lady of English descent. Their ancestors were Quakers who came to this country from England with William Penn in 1680. In 1805 they removed from Delaware to Pickaway county, Ohio, where Paris Griffith purchased wild land and developed a farm. He died in that county, April 20, 1828, at the age of fifty-one years and eleven months, his remains being interred in the Salem churchyard in that county. His widow survived him for about fifteen years and died in Crawford county, Ohio, at the age of sixty years.

They were the parents of seven children, including Robert W. Griffith, who was born in Sussex county, Delaware, September 22, 1804, and was reared to manhood in Pickaway county, Ohio. He acquired a limited education in the common schools but, owing to the pioneer conditions which existed in that locality and the fact that his services were needed on the home farm, his educational opportunities were limited. After leaving the parental roof he worked as a farm hand for eight dollars per month but carefully saved his wages and in due course of time was able to purchase land and engaged in farming on his own account. On the 27th of December, 1832, he wedded Miss Eleanor Long, who was born in Northampton county, Pennsylvania, near the Delaware river April 3, 1813, and was a daughter of William and Sophia (Drake) Long, the former of German and the latter of English descent. In 1834 Mr. and Mrs. Robert W. Griffith removed from Pickaway to Crawford county, Ohio, settling on what was known as the Sandusky plain, where Mr. Griffith purchased two hundred acres of land and improved a farm. In 1846 he went west to Macon county, Illinois, where he purchased nine hundred and forty acres of land, much of which he leased to other parties. In 1848 he came to Washington county, Iowa, where he purchased a farm of two hundred acres in Clay township and from time to time added to this property until he had seven hundred acres in the township. Continuing he made various purchases in Franklin township until his landed possessions aggregated twenty-five hundred acres, which he afterward divided among his children. Starting out as a farm hand on a meager salary his close application, keen business discernment and careful investment brought him to a place amcnic; the extensive landowners and wealthy residents of this part of the state and his life record proves that success and an honorable name may be won simultaneously. He died on the old home place on section 13, Clay township, in 1888 at the age of eighty-four years, while his wife passed away May 13, 1894, at the age of eighty-one years.

They were the parents of thirteen children, five sons and eight daughters and all reached adult age, namely: Elias, who has passed away; Eliza, the deceased wife of Thomas Bain; Samuel, who was killed by a horse in Oklahoma; Mary, the wife of William Hart, of Leon, Iowa; Isabel, the widow of

Thomas Whittaker, of Brighton, Iowa; Jane, the widow of Jacob Engel, of Oklahoma; George W.; Martha, the widow of Welhngton Harbaugh; Sarah, a resident of Seattle, Washington; John O., who died in 1874 at the age of twenty-four years; Harriet, who died April 11, 1895; Robert, living in Brighton, Iowa; and Nellie, the widow of Al Rehkopf, of Seattle, Washington.

George W. Griffith was reared on his father's farm in this county and remained at home until twenty-two years of age. In the meantime he had pursued his early education in the log schoolhouse which his father had built, and later he spent three years as a student in the Brighton high school. In 1867 he went to California by way of the isthmus route, being twenty-two days on the trip from New York to San Francisco. He engaged in the grain business on the Pacific coast and in 1871 returned to Washington county by rail. His father gave him a farm of eighty acres in Franklin township and sold him another of one hundred and sixty acres. There he resided until 1891, when he took up his above in the city of Washington. In the meantime his capable business management was manifest in the success which attended his efforts and in the extensive investments which he had made. He extended the boundaries of his home farm until it comprised six hundred and forty acres and he also had two hundred and eighty acres to the north of that property; one hundred and twenty acres southeast of Washington; two hundred and twenty acres northeast of the town; and two hundred and forty acres in Cedar and Jackson townships, making thirteen hundred and eighty acres in all. He has since disposed of much of this land and is now interested in twenty thousand acres in Canada. He also bought ten sections in Texas, of which he still owns three sections, so that his landed possessions are yet very extensive. As the work of colonization goes on in the southwest and in the Dominion his land is increasing in value and its sale brings to him a substantial profit.

On the 24th of February, 1874, Mr. Griffith was united in marriage to Miss Juliette A. Humphrey, a daughter of Eli and Lucia (Snow) Humphrey. Mrs. Griffith was born in Wellington, Ohio, near Oberlin. Her father was a native of New Marlboro, Massachusetts, and her mother of Mantua, Portage county, Ohio. The paternal grandfather was Elijah Humphrey, a native of Massachusetts, and his father was one of the soldiers of the Revolutionary war. Elijah Humphrey learned and followed the blacksmith's trade as a life work. He married Hannah Bartholomew and died when more than sixty years of age, while his wife was nearly seventy-five years of age at the time of her death. They were the parents of twelve children, six sons and six daughters: Harry, Sanford, Norman, Eli. Alfred, Horatio, Esther, Maria, Pamelia, Elizabeth, Harriet and Cordelia. The last named died at the age of thirteen years. The maternal grandfather of Mrs. Griffith was Franklin Snow, a son of Oliver Snow, who espoused the cause of the colonists at the time of the Revolutionary war and fought for American liberty. Franklin Snow was a native of Massachusetts and made farming his life work. He served his country as a soldier of the war of 1812 as did his eldest son. Hi lived and died in Avon, Lorain county, Ohio. He married Lvdia Alcott and they were the parents of Mrs. l.iiia Humphrey, Benjamin, Lura, Edwin, Rel)ccca, Lucia, Sahnon, (rjjheia and Hannah, for his second wife Mr. Snow married Ann L'onanl and by that union had one daughter, Mrs. Hannah Lewis.

Mr. and Mrs. Kli Humphrey, the parents of Mrs. Griffith, came to Iowa at an early day, setting in Fairfield, where they remained for two years and then returned to Ohio. In 1855, however, they became residents of Washington county, Iowa, locating in Dutch Creek township, where they made their home upon a farm until i8yi, when they removed to the cit\' of Washington, where Mr. Humphrey died in 1895 at the age of eighty-three years, while his wife passed away July 10, 1904, when almost ninety Aears of age, her birth having occurred September 5, 1814. She was remarkably well preserved for one of her years. In the family of Mr. and Mrs. Humphrey were three children: Henrietta, who became the wife of Elias Griffith and is now deceased; Mrs. George \V. Griffith; and Edwin S. Humphrey.

Mr. and Mrs. Griffith are widely known in this county and enjoy the warm regard of all with whom they have come in contact. They have always displayed many characteristics of genuine worth, hold friendship inviolable and belong to that class of citizens of whom the county has every reason to be proud. Mr. Griffith certainly deserves much credit for what he has accomplished and in all of his business transactions has manifested sound judgment and keen sagacity. He has labored for his success along honorable lines and his prosperity is the direct outcome of unwearied industry and careful investment.

As printed in History of Washington County, Iowa from the first white settlements to 1908. Also biographical sketches of some prominent citizens of the county (1909). See the original pages. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.