Edward Griffin of Flushing

Not the same as Edward Griffith

Edward Griffin is said to have been born about 1602, somewhere in Britain; arrived in Virginia late in 1635 or early in 1636 aboard the vessel Abraham, and died after 1698, in Flushing, New York.

Family

Edward and Mary UNKNOWN Griffin were married between 1647 and 1658, probably at Gravesend, and had, in Flushing, the following children:

http://freepages.rootsweb.com/~griffingriffenfamily/genealogy/Edwar...

1. Edward2 Griffin (Jr.) [466], born abt. 1648 in Flushing, , New York. He married Deborah (Barnes) Griffin [3245].
2. John2 Griffin (Sr.) [467], born 1655 in , , New York. He married (1) Elizabeth (Wright) Griffin (Mrs.) [471]. He married (2) Susanna (Price) Griffin [3801].
3. Richard2 Griffin (Sr.) [468], born abt. 1655 in Flushing, , New York. He married Susanna (Haight) Griffin [472].
4. Deborah2 Griffin [469], born abt. 1660 in Flushing, , New York; died aft. 1723.
5. Susannah2 Griffin [3777] married in 1724, William Barnett [3916].

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Disputed Origins

Griffith lineage mentioned above seem to break at the immigrant ancestor Edward Griffin, Sr. of Flushing, NY.

See Theresa Griffin's extensively researched and sourced discussion of the origins of Edward Griffin and the myths which have been associated with the Griffin family. Edward Griffin, son of John (Pengruffwnd) ap Gruffudd and Ann Langford died by 1622 in England. link
The same goes for Sgt. John Griffin of Simsbury, CT. Theresa Griffin writes that DNA evidence has ruled out that the two of them were brothers and that the John Griffin who was the son of John (Pengruffwnd) ap Gruffudd and Ann Langford died by 1624 in England.
Theresa Griffin writes that "we have unequivocal evidence that this Pengriffin family cannot possibly be the ancestors of our Edward Griffin of Flushing or of Sgt. John Griffin of Simsbury. The men in question had been dead for more than ten years before the Abraham or the Constance departed London in October of 1635."
She also writes that the coat of arms that are associated with the Griffin families in the U.S. belong to completely different families. "The coat of arms attributed to the descendants of Edward Griffin, Sgt. John Griffin, and Jasper Griffing, was actually awarded to Griffin Appenreth, of Calais, who died in 1553, leaving no male heirs. No American or Canadian Griffins have rights to the following coat-of-arms, family crest, or motto"

”As of today, Edward Griffin is without a homeland, parents or siblings.”

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https://www.ancestry.com/boards/surnames.griffiths/831/mb.ashx

We have located documented evidence that the Edward Griffith (aka Griffin)who boarded the Abraham in London for Virginia on 24 Oct 1632, and died in Flushing, New York, after 1698, is NOT the Edward Pengruffwnd/Pengriffin listed on Lewys Dwnn's 1613 Visitation of Walton West, Pembrokeshire, Wales.
The Pengruffwnd family had changed its name to Griffithes (aka Griffiths and Griffith) by 1616. They lived on a farm between Coxall, Shropshire and Coxall, Bucknell, Herefordshire, while Richard Pengriffin was serving as Parson at All Saints Church in Walton West, Pembrokeshire, Wales. Richard, who was shown living with his wife Agnes (Powers) and sons Henry/Harry, Richard and Thomas, left the position at All Saints Church by 1619.
Shortly, I'll post our findings on Paul Jennings Griffin's new website. His site moved to:

http://freepages.rootsweb.com/~griffingriffenfamily/genealogy/Griff...

There are several biographies, versions are shown below.

Biographical Sketch by Paul J. Griffin

According to Paul J. Griffin, "My focus concerns the descendants of Edward Griffin b.1602 in Wales, his brother John Griffin b.1608 in Wales or Jasper Griffin b.1648 in Wales. John settled in the Simsbury & Granby area of Connecticut. Some of his descendants are still there. Jasper settled near the eastern tip of Long Island in Southold, his descendants settled around New England. My ancestor Edward went from Wales to England and adopted the English spelling of his surname (originally Pengruffwnd, then Griffith). He was a constable in London when he killed a man in a tavern in the line of duty. He was pardoned by King James I on January 7, 1625 for justifiable manslaughter. He was said to have been a trusted servant and financial agent for Lady Wake (Wakefield?) in 1633. Edward and John sailed from England, on August 24, 1635 bound for Virginia, Edward aboard the ship "Abraham," John aboard the "Constance". It should be noted that those immigrants that left England at that time fortuitously escaped the Bubonic Plague that devastated the population some thirty years later. Edward first settled on Kent Island off the east shore of Chesapeake Bay near the mouth of the Susquehanna River. It is reported that he built oak staves for the hulls of ships. [The story handed down to me from my father was that the Griffins were ship builders in Wales.] In June 1638, armed emissaries of Lord Baltimore attacked the Virginia settlers on Kent and Palmers Islands, killed three of its defenders, captured Edward Griffin and took him to Maryland. [There was a land feud at this time concerning the control of Virginia and Maryland. Lord Baltimore, siding with Maryland in trying to force the Virginia colonist off the Islands, ordered his brother to seize Kent and Palmer Islands and arrest everyone loyal to Captain William Claybourne, secretary of the Colony of Virginia. King Charles I mediated this squabble and censured Lord Baltimore, ordering him to cease his violence against the Virginians. This was not immediately carried out as Edward was held a prisoner for some time.] Edward escaped to the Dutch Colony of New Amsterdam, where he acquired land and finally located at Flushing L.I. about 1657 as one of its first settlers. He joined the Society of Friends (Quakers) in 1657 and protested the persecution of Quakers to Gov. Peter Stuyvesant. His descendants in the third generation became pioneers in Westchester and Dutchess Counties (especially Nine Partners Patent area) in New York State. They continued to be pioneers when they migrated to new areas. Many generations after Edward were Quakers."[4]

Biographical sketch by Theresa Griffin

http://griffdna.org/Groups/group8.htm

Many stories have been written about Edward Griffin, presumed b. 1602 in the UK, probably either Wales or England. I have been working on verifying those stories by documenting primary and secondary sources For now, I will only discuss the information that I have been able to verify and leave Edward’s life in England and/or Wales for a time when I’ve been able to validate that history. I do want to correct one item that has used in many family genealogies and was posted on the Internet:

There has been speculation that sometime in the early 1620s the Griffin family moved to Yorkshire from the UK and that Edward was pardoned for killing a man in the line of duty as a constable in London. The only evidence I’ve been able to locate to date follows. Note the date and King’s names have been erroneously posted previously. From Green, M. A. E., Ed. (1889). Calendar of State Papers, Domestic Services, of the Reign of James I 1623-1625 with addenda; preserved in the State Paper Department of Her Majesty's Public Record Office. London, Longman, Brown, Green, Longmans & Roberts., p, 439

1625 Jan 7. Grant to Edw. Griffin of pardon for manslaughter, committed in self-defence. (sic) [Docquet]
Edward Griffin boarded the Constance on 24 October 1635 in London, headed for Virginia. He was indentured to Capt. William Claiborne, Secretary of the Virginia colony as was his brother, John (speculation) who departed London aboard the Abraham on the same day.

Edward was taken to Palmer’s Island where he worked on building staves for ships and trading with the Indians. In 1638, Edward was captured by agents of Leonard, the second Lord Baltimore, as a result of the land battle between Lord Baltimore and Claiborne. He was taken to prison in Maryland where he was put at the service of Lord Baltimore. Somehow, he escaped from the Maryland gaol and ended up in New Amsterdam.

He stood trial in a Dutch court and even though Lord Baltimore’s attorney, Peter Draper showed up to claim Edward, he was freed based upon the testimony of Henry Pennington along with the condition that he post a bond. A fellow Welsh countryman, Captain Thomas Gems/Gams/Games/James, posted the bond for Edward. New York Colonial Manuscripts Vol 1 Page 214 State Archives Albany Calendar:

I, the undersigned Thomas Gems, an inhabitant of Maryland, bind myself as bail and principal for Edward Griffins who has agreed and contracted with Peter Draper for the sum of five pounds sterling who also acknowledges in the presence of the underwritten witnesses to have received the money and that for the freedom of said Griffens and if it happen should he exhibit Captain Clavers indenture, and molest him, Griffens, I substitute my person and property as aforesaid in place of the principal Edward Griffens. Done this 28 August 1640. Thomas James Tho Willett, Witness John Hampton, Witness To my knowledge Cornelis Van Tienhoven, Secretary.
We lose track of Edward until 1653, when he shows up in Gravesend, Long Island, New Amsterdam, where he bought property from Lady Deborah Moody/Mowdy. He bought and sold several pieces of property in the 1650s. In 1657, Edward was recorded as one of the signers of the Flushing Remonstrance and although several family genealogists insist Edward was a Quaker, he does not appear in any of the early Quaker meeting records that I have read. Edwards’s date of death has yet to be determined; some genealogists speculate that he lived until 1701, but I have only been able to find him in the Flushing Census of 1698 listed as living with his wife, Mary, their daughter, Deborah and a Negro male, Jack.

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Biographical Sketch by Timothy Mullen

Edward Griffen, son of Johan Pengruffwnd and Ann Langfort, [evidence?] was born in Walton, Pembrokeshire, South Wales, about 1602.He enlisted in the King's service, was convicted of justifiable manslaughter and pardoned by the King Jan. 7, 1625.In 1633 he was financial agent for Lady Wake.He left London for Virginia (of Colonial times, not the State of Virginia of modern times - TJM, 25-06-2002) Oct. 24, 1635 aged 33, with his brother John in the ship Constant.He entered the service of Capt. William Claybourne and was captured on Palmer's Island 1638 by soldiers of Lord Baltimore.He escaped and came to New Amsterdam (present day City of New York - TJM) 1640. (N.Y. Gen. & Biog. Record vol. 37, p.54).He is said to have settled in Flushing in 1653, but would seem to have been living in Gravesend in 1656.He was on of the signers of the Flushing Remonstrance (which he signed himself as 'Edward Griffine' - TJM) against Governor Stuyvesant's order forbidding the harboring of Quakers Dec. 27, 1657.In 1661 he was a resident of Oyster Bay, and on Sept. 23rd of that year he acted as interpreter between the Indians and John Richbell in the purchase of land in Mamaroneck.Some time before 1675 he settled permanently in Flushing (Dutch town of Vlishing) on Long Island, New York - TJM).He sailed for England Dec. 14, 1678 in the ship Blossom, but later returned to Flushing.In 1686 he petitioned in behalf of his son John in relation to his share of the common lands of Flushing (Cal. N.Y. Col. Mss. p.39).The census of 1698 records him as still living in Flushing with wife Mary and daughter Deborah - Timothy Mullen, direct descendant of Griffin

This was taken from Families of the colonial town of Philipsburgh by Grenville Mackenzie

Comments

https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/vitals/LYSL-NHD

[Note by Wayne J. Domes: Does anyone reading the above believe that Edward Griffin of Flushing is the same Edward born 1602? Among other "unlikelies," that would mean he had his first known child at about age 53, and married a wife 28 years younger than himself. Note that Mackenzie, while generally reliable when discussing his Phillipsburgh families during the period that they resided in Phillipsburgh [the 1690s to the 1780s], was notoriously gullible about accepting as fact any published material on those families' origins, or the generations before their settlement on the Manor.]

Biographical sketch

Edward Griffen was born about 1608 in Wales.[1] , perhaps in Walton, Pembrokeshire, perhaps 1602.

Edward emigrated first to Virginia in 1635. He came, aged 33, in the ship Abraham, Oct. 24, 1635, with a party under the direction of Captain William Cayborne, Secretary of the Virginia Colony, and his partners William Clobery and David Moorehead. They settled on islands in the Chesapeake Bay, Kent Island, opposite what became Annapolis, and Palmers Island, further north at the mouth of the Susquehanna River.[2]

Three years later, June 30 1638, Edward Giffen and others were attacked and taken prisoner by forces sent by Lord Baltimore, who claimed the islands for the Maryland colony. Despite a letter from King Charles I censuring Lord Baltimore for those violent acts, Edward was imprisoned for two years, until he somehow escaped and fled to New Amsterdam. There he was brought before the authorities on 27 August 1640 when Leonard Calvert, Governor of Maryland applied to have him returned. Edward persuaded the Dutch that he had been a prisoner, rather than a fugitive, and was allowed to remain in New Amsterdam.[2], p. 3.

Edward acquired land in Flatbush in 1653, sold it a few months later, then bought and sold land at least twice at Gravesend between 1655 to 1661 and lived there for a time in the colony started by Lady Deborah Moody.

During that time, by 1657, he removed a few miles north from Gravesend to Flushing, still part of New Netherland. There, with others, he bravely signed the Flushing Remonstrance to Peter Stuyvesant protesting the persecution of Quakers,[2], p. 4., a document much celebrated as a foundation of religious freedom in America.

In 1661, Edward acted as interpreter between John Richbell and the natives in the purchase of lands at what became Mamaroneck, in Westchester County.[2], His sons later benefited from their father's key role when they acquired what became the Griffen family estate in Mamaroneck.

He married Mary about 1647.[1]

He was still living in Flushing, with wife Mary, daughter Deborah, and one black slave Jack, in 1698.[3]

He died in 1706 in Flushing, Queens County, New York.[1]

Biographical sketch

Edward Griffen was a Welchman, [born in 1602 in Wales where the name was originally Pengruffwnd (proof?)]
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KCR3-8JR?from=lynx1UIV8...
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=coo.31924055329670&view=1up&... They have the same birth date, this person that is in here is wrong, the last Edward is the right 1602-1698

He settled in Flushing about 1653 and records show that in 1657 he signed a protest to Governor Peter Stuyvesant against repressive laws passed against the Quakers.

His name appears in association with John Richbell in purchases of Oyster Bay land before 1661 and he is last mentioned in a Flushing census of 1698.

His sons Richard, who married Susannah Haight of Rye, Edward, who married Deborah Barnes in Mamaroneck, and John all lived in Mamaroneck and their descendants married into the original English families, particularly such families as Coles, Haviland, Gedney, Cornell and Palmer. Edward also had a son Edward, born in Flushing about 1655 who died in Mamaroneck in 1742.

The Flushing Remonstrance, 1657

Note: Edward participated in the "Flushing Remonstrance." From an announcement by the Bowne House Historical Society:

"On December 27, 1657, thirty townspeople of Flushing, Queens signed a "remonstrance" addressed to Peter Stuyvesant, the director general of the Dutch colony, New Netherland. The two-page letter, set down by a local cleric, protested Stuyvesant's ban on the rights of Quakers to assemble and worship in the colony. Significantly, it further demanded that all people-regardless of religion or ethnic background-be given "free egresse and regresse unto our Town, and houses, as God shall persuade our consciences."
Stuyvesant ignored the Flushing Remonstrance, as it came to be known, but its principles were later tested by John Bowne, an English immigrant and prosperous landowner in Flushing. Although not a Quaker himself, Bowne was married to Quaker minister Hannah Feake Bowne. In defiance of Stuyvesant's ban, Bowne allowed people of her faith to meet and worship in their Flushing farmhouse. For this "crime," Stuyvesant imprisoned Bowne in 1662 and banished him to Holland. Refusing to capitulate, Bowne argued his case before the Dutch West India Company. In 1663, the company revoked Stuyvesant's ban, and ordered him "to allow everyone to have his own belief, as long as he behaves quietly."
The men who signed the Flushing Remonstrance, and John Bowne, risked their lives and their livelihoods by challenging Stuyvesant. Their heroic stand is widely acknowledged as having contributed to the principles codified more than a century later, in 1791, in the First Amendment of the Bill of Rights, which guarantees religious and political freedom to all citizens.
In honor of the 350th anniversary of the Flushing Remonstrance, the Bowne House Historical Society is seeking descendants of the men who signed the Flushing Remonstrance...." Source: #S409, Page: The Bowne House Historical Society. 37-01 Bowne Street Flushing, NY 11354

References

• Ancestry.com. U.S., New England Marriages Prior to 1700 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2012. AncestryImage Name: Edward Griffin Gender: Male Marriage Date: 1658 Marriage Place: New England, USA,Spouse: Mary
• “ Debunking the Published Griffin Family Myths: Edward Griffin of Flushing was not Edward Pengruffwnd (Pengriffin) of Walton West, Pembrokeshire, Wales.” link
• http://griffdna.org/Groups/group8.htm
• http://freepages.rootsweb.com/~theresagriffin/genealogy/debunkingwe...
• http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~vantasselfamilyhi...
• http://freepages.rootsweb.com/~griffingriffenfamily/genealogy/Edwar...
• The Documentary history of the State of New York by E.B. O'Callaghan, Albany, 1849. v. 1, p. 661-664 Hathitrust Notes "An Exact list of all ye inhabitants names wthin ye towne of Fflushing and p'cincts of old and young ffreemen & servants white & blacke &c. 1698" p. 664: "Edward Greffein Se & Mary his wife, Deborah" "John Greffin & Elizabeth his wife, John, Benj, Isaac, Joseph, Elizab'th" "Richd Greffin and Susan his wife, Sam'll, Sarah, Rich'd"
• The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record, Volumes 13-14. Page 147. GoogleBooks
• https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Griffin-434 cites
  • Frank J. Doherty. The Settlers of the Beekman Patent, Dutchess County, New York: An Historical and Genealogical Study of All the 18th Century Settlers in the Patent, ten volumes. 1990–2003. p. 837. (Online database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2013).
  • Archives of the Griffen Family, compiled by Robert B. Miller and Chas. Field Griffen, (Privately printed and bound, 1900, viewed and photocopied at the Port Chester-Rye Brook Public Library, call # R929.2
  • Formerly at www.isu.edu/~grifpaul/Griffin.html. Now archived at: Paul J. Griffin archive This website contains an outstanding bibliography of virtually all that has been written about this immigrant family and its descendants. link
• https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/vitals/LYSL-NHD cites
  • https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=coo.31924055329670&view=1up&...
• https://web.archive.org/web/20081007054717/http://www.isu.edu/~grif... is the annotated bibliography page for literature compiled by Paul J. Griffin
• Theresa Griffin’s Ancestry tree