Family Record: Frank Griffing, Franklin Parish, LA Submitted by: PATRICK A. COLLIER GRIFFING DESCENDENT MABELVALE, ARKANSAS ********************************************** Copyright. All rights reserved. http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm ********************************************** THIS IS A TYPE-WRITTEN LETTER GIVEN TO BYRON OSBORN GRIFFING DURING THE 1920’S (?). ALL CAPITALS DENOTE COMMENTS MADE BY PATRICK A. COLLIER, AND ARE NOT INCLUDED IN THE LETTER. ALL PUNCTUATION, SPELLING, “PHRASIOLOGY”, ETC., HAS BEEN COPIED AS WRITTEN IN THE LETTER. I, Ethel Wilcox Lafferty, (Mrs. E.E.) Daughter of Charles A. Wilcox and Georgia Anna Griffing, am trying to trace my family history on the Griffing and Cogan Lines. My grandfather was Frank Griffing, born about 1818. He married Sarah (Sallie) Cogan. They had six children: Georgia Anna, Frank, Edgar W., Irene, Fannie Cora and Tom. Frank Griffing's home was directly across the mississippi River from St. Joseph on the Mississippi side, about two or three hundred yards from the river bank. It was about a mile from Rodney. Frank Griffing had a wood yard on the river bank. He was living there from about 1847 to somewhere in the seventies when he moved to Port Gibson, Miss., where he lived with his niece Rosa Griffing, wife of Dr. Claud Gibson. 1. Was the name of Frank’s home near Rodney Oak Hill (or the Hill Place)? Where was Sandy Point (another place of Frank G.) Are there any remains of them today? Georgia Anna, the oldest child of Frank G., married Charles A. Wilcox of Rodney and they moved to the East Central part of Mississippi. The two girls, Irene and Fannie, lived with them. I think Edgar and Frank died of swamp fever. Tom was killed many years later in a political fight. Tom married Zoe Washburn (sister of Zeb) and at one time lived near Crowville. Their son was named Claud. I think little Claud was adopted by the Morehouses. Jabish Griffing was the only brother of Frank Griffing that I know of. He lived near Oakland College in Claiborne Co. until 1857 when he moved about thirty miles away and settled on Bayou Macon, in Louisiana. His children were: Monroe, Rosa, Joseph Fulton, Sue, Mollie, and Jabe. Monroe’s children: Mrs. Rosa Gravois (Mrs. Joseph) Grace, Miss. Clara and Alice (whereabouts unknown to Mrs. L. C. Dulaney, our informant). Rosa : none. Joseph: Both Joe and his infant son died within a short period about 1870. Sue: Wm. Mercer Harris, Lincoln National Bank, Washington D.C. Callie (Mrs. L. C. Dilaney, Grace, Miss. Jabe: Walter and Sue-Lou/ Mrs. Eddings-Eddins in Winnsboro, La. (Walter never answered my letter trying to trace him.) The only sister of Frank and Jabe Griffing was Penelope Eleanor Griffing, who married John Fulton. She died February 20, 1859. Her plantation was called “Forty Hills” and was maybe twenty miles from Rodney. 2. Where was “Forty Hills”, and does it exist today? 2.(a) Were there other children besides Frank, Jabe, & Penelope G. Fulton? (Who is spoken by Jabe’s son Joe as the only sister of his father, and Uncle Frank) ? 3. Who were the parents of Frank Griffing and where did they live? From what state did they come to Miss.? In an old diary, kept by Joseph Fulton Griffing, son of Jabe Griffing, Noah D. Stringer, living a quarter of a mile fromOakland College, was spoken of as a half-uncle of Joe. Was Mrs. Stringer a half-brother of Frank and Jabe Griffing? I think that Frank’s father died when he was a child and that his mother married a Mr. Stringer. 4. What were the names of the parents of Frank, Jabe, and Penelope? 5. Where are they buried? 6. Were there other Stringer Children besides Noah D. ? Any stringer descendents living today? Could any of them have the old Griffing family Bible? Do any of the Fultons have the Old Griffing Bible? (Bible got burned about 23 years ago.) 7. Where are the Civil Records of Rodney kept? Where are the Rodney Presbyterian Church Records? Sarah Cogan Griffing, the wife of Frank Griffing, was the daughter of Tom and Rebecca Foster Cogan. Her youngest sister, “Puss” (what was her real name? __________), died soon after her marriage. The oldest sister was Martha E. Cogan, who married Victor Moreau Stuart, of Rodney. Martha was born in Claiborne Co., Miss., Sept. 2, 1818. She died March 9, 1861. She had two daughters: Ann Lee and Irene. Anne Lee first married Theodore D. Broughton May 7, 1861. Their children were Martha (Mattie) and Jessie. Jessie Married Mr. Beck of Rodney. Her only child is Elise, Mrs. John Noble of Melton, Miss. Mrs. Noble has six (?) children. Ann Lee’s second husband was Mr. Bemis, Irene Cogan Stuart married John Limerick of Rodney. Their children were: George Stuart, Oliver Victory (died), John Aldrich Jr., Juanita (mar. Fulton McRae, ch. Limerick McRae of Vicksburg; Irene stuart, **THIS IS WHERE THE BEGINNING OF THE THIRD PAGE OF THE LETTER IS TORN AWAY AND MISSING. THIS IS WHERE I HAVE TO IMPROVISE. THE REMAINING PORTION MENTIONS:** Unknown died of epidemic brought by boat. The name G.A.G. Wilcox. Stephen Lee, Resident of Tensas Parish, Louisiana. “Point Place”, 75 miles below Vicksburg. Ann Lee died 1869/70. THE REMAINING PORTION OF THE LETTER CONTINUES AS:** 8. When did Sarah Cogan Griffing die? Where is she buried? 9. Were the following people related to Frank Griffing and how? Billy Griffing, J.D. Griffing, W.S. Griffing, Wash Griffing, Dr. Griffing (names from diary kept by Joseph Fulton Griffing, son of Jabe, from about 1859). 10. How were Penelope Griffing Emanuel, wife of Dr. Samuel Emanuel of Rodney, and Penelope Griffing Fulton, wife of John Fulton of “Forty Hills”, related? They were of the same generation, and both came from the region around Rodney. **END OF LETTER.**