First Generation

1. Reverend Samuel J. GRISWOLD (*) was born on 28 February 1795 in Granville Township, Washington County, NY.^{1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8} (This is a map of an Eastern portion of New York state, with Washington County on the Vermont border.

The family history book written by Samuel's youngest son, Hiram Hector Griswold, lists his birthplace as Granville Township, Washington County, NY. Other sources list it as Fort Ann Township in the same county. (The 1900 Census for his son, Samuel H., listed his birthplace as Vermont, but that was an error.)

From Wikipedia: "Granville Township is a town on the eastern border of Washington County, abutting Rutland County, Vermont. The town of Granville contains a village that also bears the name Granville. It is named for John Carteret, 2nd Earl Granville, and has been called the "Colored Slate Capital of the World." Quarries in the town mine slate that comes in colors such as green, gray, gray black, purple, mottled green and purple, and red."

Samuel J. may have had a brother named Horace Griswold, whose oldest children were born in Fort Ann about the same time as those of Samuel. He may have also had another brother, Squire, who was born 17 Aug 1798 in Fort Ann.

The 1800 Census of Chester Township, Washington County, NY, includes a Samuel Griswold with a household consisting of 2 males, age under 10; 1 male, age 26-44; 3 females, age 0-10; and 1 female, age 16-25. Samuel J. would have fit this family's profile, so this may have been his parents and siblings.

There is a record of the marriage of a Samuel Griswold and Hannah Landon, married 3 August 1789 in Chester Township, Warren County (at that time), NY; they may also have been Samuel J.'s parents (5 children were in the family at that time). The 1810 Census of Chester Township includes this same family with 8 children including 4 males, age under 10; 1 male, age 10-15; 1 male, age 26-44; 2 females, age 10-15; 1 female, age 16-25; and 1 female, age 26-44. Samuel J. would have been about 15 at the time.

From the Granville, NY, Web site: "Settlements were effected prior to the Revolution. The first emigrants were mostly from New England. The attempt in 1781 to place themselves under the jurisdiction of Vermont was due to the fear of invasion, as the Revolutionary (War) was not then closed, and it was thought to be easier to secure the necessary protection from Vermont than from New York. Besides, they favored the New England institutions of universal suffrage and individual ownership of land, rather than the property qualification required by New York and the feudal land system, granting the soil in large manors to be cultivated by tenants.

The progress of early settlement was slow. A state of war was unfavorable to emigration and to the development of the arts of peace. Conflicting land-titles also discouraged settlers. Soon after the war closed, these valleys filled up as if by magic. The settlement of the boundary lines cleared away the difficulties to some extent, and the final adjustment between New York and Vermont, in 1790, left titles mostly clear and unquestioned. Emigrants purchased with confidence, cleared their lands, and erected their dwellings without fear of ejectment.

The first settlement undoubtedly dates back to about 1770, and probably even earlier than that—at least twenty years before the first recorded town-meeting of 1787. Several lists of names that appear under the head of church history, etc., show quite a population in the midst of the Revolutionary war. The Congregational church of Middle Granville had, in 1782, a membership on seventy-two. The petitioners for pardon and amity in 1782, thirty-seven.

These lists, together with the names found upon the town books for 1787-88, constitute the sources from which we determine the early settlers and, approximately, the time when they came to this town."

Source: The History of Granville, Middle Granville & North Granville, New York, 1737-1878. Reproduced from 1878 History of Washington County Published by The Bicentennial Committee of Granville, New York 1975. After 1815 he was a Free Will Baptist Minister in New York.^1,9,10,11,12 The history of "The First Seventh-Day Baptist Church" in Genessee Township, Allegany County, contains the following two items that may have referred to Samuel's ministry: "In 1844 S. S. Griswold was engaged and became the first pastor of the church. He remained a little over a year." "The Sabbath-school was commenced in 1844 as a Bible class, with thirty-five members and S. S. Griswold as leader." (Because of the differences in the middle initial, the above person may not be this Samuel.) He appeared in the census in 1820 in Alfred Township, Allegany County, NY.^13,14 His household consisted of Samuel (Male, age 26-45); his wife, Clarissa (Female, 26-45); their son, Gerome (Male, under 10); and their daughter, Hannah Jane (Female, under 10).

The 1820 Census of Washington County, NY contains a listing for a Rhoda Griswold, age over 45, who may have been the widowed mother of Rev. Samuel J. Griswold. Samuel appeared in the census in 1830 in Almond Township, Allegany County, NY.¹⁵ His household consisted of 1 male, age Under 5 (Samuel H., age 2); 1 male, age 10-15 (Gerome, 13); 1 male, age 30-40 (Samuel, 35); 2 females, age Under 5 (Mary, 3 and an Unknown Daughter); 1 female, age 5-10 (Permelia, 7) and one female, age 30-40 (his wife, Clarissa, 36). It is not known why their daughter, Hannah Jane, age 12, was not listed with the family; the census enumerator may have mis-stated her age or she may have been living in another household.
He appeared in the census in 1840 in Burns Township, Allegany County, NY.^16,17,18 His household consisted of 1 male, age Under 5 (Hiram Hector, age 1); 1 male, 10-15 (Samuel H., 12); 1 male, 40-50 (Samuel J., 45); 1 female, age 5-10 (Harriet, 9); 1 female, 10-15 (Mary, 13); 1 female, 15-20 (Permelia, 17); and 1 female, 40-50 (Clarissa, 46). Their oldest son, Gerome must have died prior to the Census, as must have the unknown daughter that was listed in the 1830 Census.

The family lived next door to the household of Charles Evans and his wife Hannah Jane, who was the oldest daughter of Samuel J. Griswold.

(It is not known where he lived during the 1850 or 1860 Census'. A search of each page of the 1850 Census failed to locate his household in Almond, West Almond or Burns Townships, where their children were born or lived after they married, or in Genesee Township, where he may have been the first pastor of The First Seventh-Day Baptist Church in 1844.)

History of Burns Township from the Allegany County Historical Society: "This town was named for the Scottish poet Robert Burns. Formed from Ossian, now Livingston County, March 17, 1826. Ossian was formed from Angelica March 11, 1808, and was in Allegany county until annexed to Livingston in 1856.

It is a part of the Morris Reserve, the northeast town of the county, and contains 15,482 acres. The surface is hilly and broken and well suited for dairying. Oanaseraga Creek, flowing north and northeast through the central part of the town, and its branches, South Valley and Slader creeks, flow through beautiful little valleys from 400 to 700 feet below the tops of the hills. The population has been 1860, 1,064; 1870, 1,340; 1880, 1,671; 1890, 1,506; 1892, 1,513.

The first known clearings were hacked from the forests along the upper Canaseraga Creek in 1805 by Moses and Jeremiah Gregory, Samuel Rodman and John Gaddis. Where these settlers came from is not known, but it is possible Jeremiah Gregory came from West Sparta. At least a man of that name had settled there about 1792. At least seven families settled in Burns in 1806. The next wave of settlement came after the township, still part of Ossian, had been transferred from Steuben to Allegany County—in 1808. 1817 saw the arrival of the Whitney family from Vermont and they named their area along the Canaseraga Creek the Whitney Valley. Down to the early 1850’s Whitney Valley remained the name of the Post Office at Canaseraga, while Whitneys Crossing served in the same capacity at Garwoods until the Post Office there was closed in the 1930’s. By 1869 there were Whitney properties from Poags Hole across the township almost to the Town of Grove line.

While the pioneer families were shaping their farms from the forests, county and township lines were being organized and re-organized in the Southern Tier. Allegany County was formed on April 7, 1806. Two years later, on March 11, Ossian-Burns was transferred into the new county. That same act of the State Legislature designated five townships in Allegany County, all of them larger than they are today with shapes quite unfamiliar to us. The five Allegany townships as of 1808 were Angelica, Alfred, Caneadea, Nunda, and Ossian. Then on March 17, 1826 Burns was separated from Ossian with the latter, however, remaining for the next 30 years in Allegany County." He died before June 1855 at the age of 60 in New York.^{7,19,20,21,22,23} In the 1855 Census, his wife, Clarissa, was living with one of their daughters and is listed as a "Widow." Their youngest son, Hiram, was living with his older sister, Harriet, and her family. So Samuel apparently died before June 1855.

(The FamilySearch.org website lists a Samuel Griswold with a date of death of 19 January 1863 in New York State. The Van Wormer (Griswold) cemetery in Fort Ann Township, NY, where he is reportedly buried, contains the gravestone of a Samuel Griswold with that date of death. But the wife of that Samuel is listed as Elizabeth Wood, who died in 1810. So, that is not Rev. Samuel J. Griswold, and the exact date of his death is not known.)

Samuel has Ancestral File Number LVKB-XBQ.⁷ He was buried in Fort Ann Township, Washington County, NY.^24,25 in the Van Wormer (Griswold) Cemetery. (His gravestone canot be located.)

The cemetery is located on a hill on the west side of Tripoli Road, near the intersection with Burquist Road. Take the hill up Rocky Road and turn left at the top of the hill to the Cemetery, which is surrounded by a stone wall.

Reverend Samuel J. GRISWOLD (*) and Clarissa "Clara" PETTINGILL (*) were married about 1816.^{1,13,14,26,27} Clarissa is not listed with her parents in the 1820 Census in Fort Ann, so it is assumed that she married Samuel before then.

The book mentions that Samuel and Clarissa "were the parents of twelve children, six of whom died in the younger part of their lives, and the remaining six lived to more mature years." The names of four of the six children who died are not known. Clarissa "Clara" PETTINGILL (*)²⁸, daughter of Samuel D. PETTINGILL and Hannah PRATT, was born on 1 May 1794 in Fort Ann Township, Washington County, NY.^{1,2,6,11,22,29,30,31,32,33} (Her name was spelled "Clarisa" in the 1860 Census and on her gravestone. In the book written by her son Hiram, it was spelled as "Clarissa" and "Clarrissa," and the former is believed to have been the correct spelling. It was listed as "Clara" on the Death Registration Certificate of her son Samuel. Her nickname may also have been "Carrie.")

The LDS Church IGI Index lists her birth place as Jefferson County, NY. According to her son Hiram's book, she was born in "Fort Ann" (probably Fort Ann Township), Washington County, NY. Because her two oldest children was born there, "Fort Ann" was most likely her birth place.)

(The 1900 Census for her son, Samuel, listed her birth place as Vermont; that is believed to have been in error.)

She appeared in the census in 1820 in Alfred Township, Allegany County, NY.¹³ About 1825 she was a cloth weaver.^1,26,34 Clara appeared in the census in 1830 in Almond Township, Allegany County, NY.¹⁵ She appeared in the census in 1840 in Burns Township, Allegany County, NY.^16,17,27 (She and her family cannot be located in the 1850 Census.) She appeared in the census in 1855 in Hornellsville Township, Steuben County, NY.²² She was living with her daughter Hannah Jane and her family and was listed as a "Widow." Clara appeared in the census in 1860 in Howard, Steuben County, NY.²¹ She was living with her daughter Mary and her family and was listed as "Clarisa Greswold," a "Lodger." Her husband, Rev. Samuel Griswold, was not listed as living with her. She appeared in the census in 1865 in Burns Township, Allegany County, NY.²⁰ She appeared in the census in 1870 in West Almond Township, Allegany County, NY.^27,35 She was living with her daughter Harriet and her family and was listed as "Clarissa Gage," age 76, a Widow. Clara died on 6 April 1880 at the age of 85 in Oakdale, Oakdale Township, Monroe County, WI.^{1,30,35,36,37,38} at the home of her daughter Jane.

Obituary Notes: "Mrs. C. Griswold, aged 86 years, died April 6th (it may have been the 10th), 1880, at 12 m., at the residence of C. H. Evans. Deceased was the mother of S. H. Griswold, of Wilton. She has gone to rest and her end was peace. Funeral services will be conducted by Rev. S. M. Love, of Baraboo."

There was no mention of her second marriage, to Elias Gage, in her obituary.

The Hiram Hector Griswold book about his family contains the following entry: "We deeply regret that there was no record of the death of our mother; and as our thoughts go back to the time when she bid farewell to all that is earthy, our minds are drawn to review the experiences of our childhood days, how we were nurtured and trained under the influence of a Christian mother; a mother whose desire was to establish a Christian character in her family by setting the examples of her Saviour.

How thankful we should be that we are reared under Christian influences that has made us to realize our obligations to our Creator for the tender mercies He has extended to us all through our past life, and the blessings He has given to us to enjoy.

Our mother, Clarissa (the wife of Samuel J. Griswold) died at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Jane Evans, Oakdale, Wis, April 10, 1880, being 83 years, 11 mos and 10 days old, leaving to mourn their loss six children all who had arrived to an advanced age. The funeral was held from the home of her daughter, the remains were interred in the Oakdale Cemetery." She was buried in April 1880 in Oakdale Township, Monroe County, WI.^1,30,32,39 in the Oakdale Township Cemetery.
She has Ancestral File Number LVKB-FHK. Her given name is spelled "Clarissa" and "Clarrissa" in the book "Obituaries of Friends and Relatives and Miscellaneous Items" written by her son Hiram in 1908. It is spelled "Clarisa" on her gravestone but as "Clarrissa" in other family records.

Reverend Samuel J. GRISWOLD (*) and Clarissa "Clara" PETTINGILL (*) had the following children:

2	i.	Gerome GRISWOLD was born on 9 January 1817 in Fort Ann Township, Washington County, NY.² He appeared in the census in 1820 in Alfred Township, Allegany County, NY.¹³ He appeared in the census in 1830 in Burns Township, Allegany County, NY.¹⁵ Gerome died before probably 1840 at the age of 23.^11,16 It is not known when he died, but his brother Hiram mentioned in his book that six of the children--including Gerome--"died in the younger part of their lives." He was not listed with the family in the 1840 Census. He has Ancestral File Number GMJ6-N8T.
+3	ii.	Hannah Jane GRISWOLD.
4	iii.	(Unknown Child I) GRISWOLD was born about 1820.²⁶ This is the Van Wormer (Griswold) Cemetery in Fort Ann Township, where many members of the Griswold and Pettingill families are buried. He/she died before 1850 at the age of 30.²⁶
+5	iv.	Permelia GRISWOLD.
6	v.	(Unknown Daughter) GRISWOLD was born about 1826 in New York.¹⁶ This is the Van Wormer (Griswold) Cemetery in Fort Ann Township, where many members of the Griswold and Pettingill families are buried. She appeared in the census in 1830.¹⁵ She died before 1840 at the age of 14 in New York.¹⁶
+7	vi.	Mary GRISWOLD.
+8	vii.	*Samuel Hiram GRISWOLD ().**
+9	viii.	Harriet GRISWOLD.
10	ix.	Hiram H. GRISWOLD was born on 26 December 1833 in Burns Township, Allegany County, NY.² (This is a map of the northern part of Allegany County, with Burns Township in the upper-right corner.) The Hiram Hector Griswold Record of the Griswold Family lists two sons named Hiram: "Hiram H." was born Dec 26, 1833 and "Hiram Hector," the book's author, was born Feb 4, 1839. It is assumed that the first Hiram died as a young boy before 1839. He died before 1839 at the age of 6.¹¹ It is likely that he died before 1839, when a younger sibling was born and was given the same name. He has Ancestral File Number GMJ6-VSC.⁴⁰
11	x.	(Unknown Child II) GRISWOLD was born about 1835.²⁶ This is the Van Wormer (Griswold) Cemetery in Fort Ann Township, where many members of the Griswold and Pettingill families are buried. He/she died before 1850 at the age of 15.²⁶
12	xi.	(Unknown Child III) GRISWOLD was born about 1837.²⁶ This is the Van Wormer (Griswold) Cemetery in Fort Ann Township, where many members of the Griswold and Pettingill families are buried. He/she died before 1850 at the age of 13.²⁶
+13	xii.	Hiram Hector GRISWOLD.