Jay County IN Archives History - Books .....Chapter XI 1896
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Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com September 22, 2007, 8:48 pm

Book Title: Reminiscences Of Adams, Jay And Randolph Counties

CHAPTER XI.

    Levina C. Griffin was born in Pelham, Mass., in 1809. Her parents and grand
parents were born twelve miles from Providence, R. L, in Cumberland. Her father
was a minister in the Friends' church. Her mother was a member of his church.
Mrs. Griffin remembers of goinng to school at the age of 4 years; the distance
to her school was one-half mile. There were two old maids that lived near the
school would always have her come in and dry her dress every morning that was
wet with dew. Mrs. Griffin only had one sister, at the age of 4 or 5 years. She
remembers of her sister weaving yarn that was spun at the "Slater's factory,"
the first factory that was in New England. There was no weaving done at the
factory at that time. Her sister, who was weaving with another girl, would say
when Mrs. Griffin would go to see them, "Well, let's drive a nail through that
little girl's ear and hang her up to the side of the house." She would go down
stairs in a hurry. Her mother would say to her, "thee had better stay with me."
Mrs. Griffin would attend school six months in a year, three months in the
summer and three in the winter, until she was nine years old, then she only went
to school in the winter until she was eighteen years old. At that age she was
through in orthrography, reading, writing, arthmetic, grammar and geography.
Then she attended school in her 22nd year in Providence, R. L, at the New
England yearly meeting boarding school. She taught in all two years in Rhode
Island and Massachusetts. She had six brothers, one younger and five older than
herself. Her sister was married when she was only six year old. She and her
younger brother were born in Massachusetts, the rest being born in Rhode Island.
The oldest and youngest died when they were born. Whipple Cook, next oldest, was
thrown out of a wagon and killed near Portland, Ind., at the age of 84 years.
Simon Cook, next oldest, died in Dixon County, Neb., at the age of 75 years.
Tremer Cook, died in Baltimore, Md., at the age of 50 years. Ammon Cook died in
Howard County, Ind., and her sister died in Boston, Mass. She was married to
Sumner Griffin August 27th, 1837. He was the son of Johnath and Mary Griffin,
who were old residents of Pelham, Mass. She started with her brother, Whipple
Cook, and his family of six children for Indiana in September 1st, 1837. It took
them two days to come to Troy, N. Y., one week they were on the canal to
Buffalo, N. Y. There they took a steam boat to a little town by the name of
Huron, at the west end of Lake Erie. There they hired two teams and they brought
them within about two miles of their destination. There the teamsters swore that
they would not bring them another step. They unloaded their goods and left. Then
Whipple Cook started for Jay County, and hired three men with teams, Mr. Spade,
George Bickle and Henry Welch, and returned the fourth day. They reloaded their
goods and they started for Jay County and arrived at Whipple Cook's farm of
sixty acres, just one month from the time they left Massachusetts. Whipple Cook
had come out the year before and Mrs. Griffin. Not a tree was cut on their land,
and in the spring Mrs. Griffin. Not a tree was cut on their land, and the spring
was a mud hole full of deer tracks. Inside of a week they had a cabin built 16
feet square and the floor was laid with puncheons-two-thirds over the room.
Whipple Cook had put in six acres of corn, pumpkins and potatoes. Whipple gave
Mrs. Griffin two nice pumpkins and they were used as chairs. The first meat that
they had to eat in their little cabin these pumpkins were used to sit on, and
there goods box as their table. Mrs. Cook said once to Mrs. Griffin, "I have
brought all the school books of my children and paper for them to write with,
and now there is no school, and I would of never come here if it hadn't been for
you." And Mrs. Griffin answered, "I never urged you to come; I only told you I
was coming. But if you will send your children up to our cabin I will do my best
to teach them." The Widow Hardy, living three-fourths of a mile off, had three
children that attend. Henry Welch had two and he lived one mile off. Wm. Clark
had four that lived about one and one-fourth of a mile off, three sons and a
daughter, Wilson, Curtis, George and Patsy, all of these children being well
known all over the county. Curtis H. is now a resident of Portland, Ind. Mr.
Ware had four one-fourth of a mile away, and her brother had five children that
attended. She had a $1 fee for three months and take pay in anything they had,
except, her brother's, which she taught for nothing. She remembers of taking
soap grease from one and think it too tedious to the rest. In Massachusetts
there were no women worked out doors, not even to make garden. She thought to
work out doors and turned her attention to making something in the house, and as
she came to Indiana with the determination of making an honest living or die
trying, she brought palmleaf with her to braid, and the second year they were
out here they had two cows. She making cheese, which they had plenty to use and
some to sell. She was thoughtful enough to bring two brass kettles with her. Mr.
Griffin, on their arrival, went to Portland, Ind., then a town of three or four
houses, to get some cooking utensils. There he could get nothing but a tea
kettle. They then borrowed a bake kettle of Widow Hardy, which had a lid on it.
That was all they had the first year. Then there was a neighbor that died and
had two big iron kettles that Mrs. Griffin bought. That was all they had until
the next spring. The next spring Edward Edger, at Deerfield, brought on plenty
of iron ware, and they had a chance to get all they needed. They had to live on
corn bread mostly for two years, as they could get no flour on this side of New
Port.

    Mr. Griffin cleared up four acres of land the first winter and put it in
corn in the spring. He traded his watch for a gun and went around the field
three times a day to keep the squirrels from destroying his corn. He killed more
than one dozen a day. They had all they could use and gave them to Widow Hardy
for her hogs. Mr. Griffin started to go over to Maring to the raising of a barn,
four miles off, at George Bickle's. He handn't been gone an hour until he came
home with a deer on his back. He dressed that and started again, and within an
hour he came back again with another; dressed that and left his gun at home and
started again, saying the higher the logs were laid the more help they would
need. I can do some good yet. Mrs. Griffin says that almost every one that talks
with her of it says, "you must have had a hard time," but she said it never
seemed hard until they began to have somthing to sell, and they then had a hard
time, as she began to experience the rub. No matter for what they had to sell,
and it brought so little that it seemed very discouraging. The third year they
were out here Mr. Griffin sold some hogs at $1.25 a hundred. He sold them to
Edward Edger, at Deerfield. He had to take one-third of his pay in goods. He
paid 25 cents per yard for calico, 20 cents for muslin, and other things in
proportion.

    Mr. Griffin took a pail of butter to Portland and could not get but 3 cents
per pound; he said, "well, I won't take it back. But one thing certain, I won't
bother you with any more." He took a load of wheat to Piqua and got only 30
cents a bushel, and said if we lived like a white man he couldn't make a cent.
It took five days to go and come. Mrs. Griffin packed his basket, which was all
the food he had while he was gone. Mrs. Griffin could make more money braiding
hats and making cheese than he could with all the grain he could raise. Could
not get but very little money, but they needed furniture very badly and
exchanged cheese for it; also a clock. Mrs. Griffin sent "home," (as she called
it) to Massachusetts for $40 worth of palmleaf, which took her three years to
braid. She sold her hats at the store, but would have one-third cash, and there
she got her money back for her palmleaf. Mrs. Griffin is the mother of Mrs. John
Hardy, who was born August 14th, 1839, on the land they entered. Mr.Griffin died
February 3rd, 1876, and since that time she has lived with her only child, Mrs.
John Hardy. Mrs. Griffin says when they came to Jay County that the woods looked
like a beautiful flower garden. There was the blue bells, beautiful
for-get-me-nots, deep red and vermine kinds of yellow fourners that she never
knew the name of. She said when they were moving out here a man at Sidney, Ohio,
asked where they were going, Mr. Griffin answering, Jay County, Indiana. Well, I
would not live there if they would give me the whole county; one half of the
land is under water and the other half is mud knee deep. Cattle and horses could
live with very little feed. A neighbor said that he had fed his stock but very
little feed all winter; if they could not browse they could bark. Mrs. Griffin
would often get the "blues," as we term it. But Mr. Griffin swears he never
wanted to go back east on a visit. He was left an orphan at six years of age.
The man that took him to raise died when he was sixteen years old. His widow was
left with very little to help herself with. Mr. Griffin then had to make his own
living. He got a good common school education, but had no steady home until he
was married and then came to Jay County, and was happy and thankful to think he
had a home of his own where he could sit under his own vine and sugar tree, and
no one to molest or make afraid. Mr. Griffin was a member of the New Light (or
Christian) church, at Salamonia, he helping to build two meeting houses there of
his own demonination, and did his full share or a little more in supporting the
church. Had a long, painful sickness and died in hopes of another happier and
better life. Mrs. Griffin still survives, enjoying unsual health for one of her
age. But yet in a few days, months or years she hopes to pass to a better life
where the wicked cease from troubling and the weary are at rest.



Additional Comments:

Extracted from:

Reminiscences of Adams, Jay and Randolph Counties

Compiled by Martha C. M. Lynch

Ft. Wayne, IN: Lipes, Nelson & Singmaster

Circa 1896

File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/in/jay/history/1896/reminisc/chapterx547gms.txt

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