Franklin-Licking County OhArchives Biographies.....Griffith, John 1849 - 1938 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/oh/ohfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Suzanne Tait stait@umich.edu August 30, 2006, 5:47 pm Author: Curtis Allen JOHN GRIFFITH, LOCAL OCTOGENARIAN, CROSSED OCEAN ON 2nd STEAMSHIP EVER TO MAKE TRIP In a neatly kept little bungalow, 66 Binns blvd., lives a distinguished looking little old man. You may have seen him on the street. If you have you won’t forget him and his well trimmed white beard. John T. Griffith, who says he is hale, hearty and healthy, will vote in this coming election for the 16th time. Mr. Griffith is 87 years old and when he was 21 he voted for Grant in his second term. He was born in Merioneithshire, Wales, in 1848. His father was Rev. John Griffith, a congregational minister in Wales (mother Jane Jones). Mrs. Griffith says like many other people in the old country, when he was 17 he got the “American Fever” and came across wit his sister and brother in law on the second steamship every to journey across the ocean to the U.S. While at sea the ship became a victim of Asiatic Cholera and Griffith’s brother in law and niece died one day before land was sighted. The ship landed in Nova Scotia where may of the victims died. The boat was there for six weeks and many of the people had to sleep on boards as the ship was smoked every day and all belongings that were exposed to the disease were thrown away. Griffith’s sister found refuge in a tent with some people from London and he had to sleep on the ground because there was no more room in the tent. When he awoke the next morning he was covered with three inches of snow. After many hardships which many of the immigrants were compelled to endure, Mr. Griffith’s citizenship records were put on file in Newark, Ohio. After spending a few years in Newark he went to Granville and learned the carpenter trade. He says he helped build the second building on the Denison campus, and can point to may store fronts there today which he built under a contractor who was 20 years ahead of his time. In 1868 he went west and bought his first farm which covered 80 acres. He was married in 1879 and he and his wife (Margaret E. Evans) are still enjoying good health. After living on the farm a short time he went to Chicago where he stayed until the great fire swept the city. Laughingly he says “I remember seeing the first smoke of the fire and after the city was burned down decided to return to Granville. The local octogenarian has lived in Columbus for 62 years and has been a resident of the Hilltop for 13 years. He says the house on the southwest corner of Belvedere Avenue was the first house on the Hilltop. After spending 30 years with the Columbus State Hospital as a carpenter he retired at the age of 60. He has two sons, Edwin, who lives in Detroit, and William, who lives in Dayton. Mr. Griffith says he has seen many panics, and thinks of the one of ‘90 as one of the worst but says this one has it all over the rest. He is going to vote this year but has not decided yet who he’ll vote for. Griffith says that he reads the articles “DO You Remember” and “25 years Ago Today” and can remember them all. Only last year he was seen driving his car or riding his bicycle. Two years ago-at the age of 85, mind you-he pained his entire house. Additional Comments: John T. Griffith died in 1938. Margaret Evans Griffith, his wife in 1936. Son Edwin in 1977 and son William in 1974. Photo: http://www.usgwarchives.net/oh/franklin/photos/bios/griffith14nbs.jpg File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/oh/franklin/bios/griffith14nbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.net/ohfiles/ File size: 3.9 Kb