THE CARTHAGE REPUBLICAN By S. C. DAVIDSON CARTHAGE, ILLINOIS, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 25, 1911 Passing of a Pioneer Thomas Box Griffitts was born in Lexington, Ky., Aug. 26, 1826. In 1834 he came with his parents to Illinois and settled in Green County. In 1835 he came to Hancock County with his parents and located in Carthage. They drove through with ox teams and his first vision of Carthage was not very inspiring. There were but seven houses in the town and a vast mud hole or swamp existed where the court house and north side business houses now stand. At the building of the first court house, recently demolished, he assisted in its construction. In 1853 he was married to Rachel Waddell. To this union seven children were born. John, who died in Texas in 1893, Charles, died in infancy, Mrs. Addie Blair, of this city, Mrs. Mina Roberts, of Isabella, Kas., Judge T. C. Griffitts, who died in Spokane in 1900, Douglas, of Spokane, and Benj. F., of St. Louis. Mrs. Griffitts died in 1864 and in 1869 Mr. Griffitts was again married to Miss Maggie McCants who survives. Mr. Griffitts served one year in the Mexican war. Probably his most exciting experience was as a member of the Carthage Grays. He was one of the number who stood guard over the old jail during the imprisonment of the Smiths. He stood with his company and saw the mob come out of the woods and capture the jail. They were over- whelmed in number. He relates many interesting incidents of the troublous times in the 40's-of which he was a sometimes active participant. His life, withal, moved long in peaceful and uneventful lines. He was a man who said little and rarely took an active part in public affairs. He served for a half century as constable and deputy sheriff and in some other civic or municipal office. He was a member of the order of Odd Fellows and a democrat. He was a quite unostentatious citizen who shunned notoriety but did his duty as he saw it. Mr. Griffitts quietly passed away at him home in this city, Monday, Jan. 23, 1911, at 9:45 p.m., aged nearly 85 years. The funeral will be held from the late residence today, Wednesday at 2 p.m. Burial at Moss Ridge, Rev. W. W. Denham officiating. --------------------------------------------------------------------- UGENWEB NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by other organizations or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Laura Scott Campbell