Will County IL Archives Biographies.....Giffin, E R 
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Author: Past and Present of Will County, IL; 1907

E. R. GIFFIN. Among the representative agriculturists and large land-owners of 
Will county, none are more worthy of mention in this volume than E. R. Giffin, 
who owns an excellent farm of three hundred and two acres situated on section 
21, Lockport township. He is a native son of this township, his birth here 
occurring in 1852. His father, John E. Giffin, was born in Pennsylvania and 
was one of the early settlers of Will county, where he engaged in agricultural 
pursuits throughout a long period, being the owner of a good farm of eighty 
acres at the time of his death, which occurred August 27, 1891, when he had 
reached the advanced age of seventy-seven years. The mother bore the maiden 
name of Cynthia Rodgers, and was a daughter of William and Miriam Rodgers, the 
former a chair-maker by trade. She survived her husband for only a few years, 
passing away in 1895, at the age of sixty-six years. She was a communicant of 
the Episcopal church at Lockport, while Mr. Giffin was a member of the 
Congregational church and was a republican in politics. E. R. Giffin of this 
review is the only son of that marriage, his sisters being Myra, Martha, Mary 
and Cynthia. The son, whose name introduces this record, was reared in the 
usual manner of farm lads of that period, assisting his father in the various 
tasks of carryng on farm work, and during the winter seasons he pursued his 
studies in the district schools of Lockport township and remained with his 
parents until twenty-four years of age, when he started out in life on his own 
account, engaging in the pursuits to which he had been reared. He has worked 
energetically and persistently in the acquirement of a good property and as he 
prospered in his undertakings he added to his land from time to time until 
today a fine farm of three hundred and two acres, situated on section 21, 
Lockport township, gives evidence of the success which he has achieved. He 
paid from fifty to one hundred dollars per acre for his land, all of which is 
now under a high state of cultivation. He is practical and progressive in his 
work, using the latest improved machinery in the development and cultivation 
of his fields. He has improved his farm with good buildings, has a fine 
country residence and many substantial outbuildings for the shelter of grain 
and stock, and his property is kept in the best possible condition. Choosing a 
companion and helpmate for life's journey, Mr. Giffin was married September 
19, 1882, to Miss Hattie Hayward, who was born in Cook county, near Chicago, 
her natal year being 1846. Her father, Richard Hayward, was a farmer of Green 
Garden, where his death occurred. The mother, who bore the maiden name of 
Elizabeth Rider, died when Mrs. Giffin was forty-four years old. Unto our 
subject and his wife have been born seven children, all of whom are still 
under the parental roof. The record is as follows: John E., who assists in the 
operation of the home farm; Beulah E., who is now a college student; Merritt 
H.; Grant; Cora; Gilbert; and Mary. Mr. Giffin is a member of the Eastern 
Avenue Baptist church at Joliet. Mr. Giffin has spent his entire life in Will 
county and has here found in the development of its rich agricultural 
resources ample opportunity to acquire a competence, and through the 
assistance of his estimable wife he is now in possession of a good property 
which supplies himself and family with all the comforts of life, and he is 
also enabled to give to his children good educational advantages. He has ever 
been found reliable and straightforward in all business transactions, so that 
he has won the confidence and good will of all with whom he has come in 
contact either in business or social relations, and he and his family are 
popular with a wide circle of friends. 

Additional Comments:
PAST AND PRESENT OF WILL COUNTY, ILLINOIS By W. W. Stevens President of the 
Will County Pioneers Association; Chicago: The S. J. Clarke Publishing 
Company, 1907

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