Biographical Sketch of Wilmar GRIFFITH (1893); Chester County, PA Contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by John Morris . Copyright. All Rights Reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/pafiles.htm ********************************************************* Source: "Biographical and Portrait Cyclopedia of Chester County, Pennsylvania, comprising a historical sketch of the county", by Samuel T. Wiley and edited by Winfield Scott Garner, Gresham Publishing Company, Philadelphia, PA, 1893, pp. 809-10. "WILMAR GRIFFITH, a prosperous farmer now serving as assessor and constable of Uwchlan township, is the second child and eldest son of Charles N. and Martha E. (Phillips) Griffith, and was born in Uwchlan township, Chester county, Pennsylvania, February 12, 1846. He was reared on his father's farm and received a superior English education in the public schools of his town- ship. After leaving school he learned the trade of carpenter and followed this occupation some six years, when he abandoned it to engage in farming. Since 1888 he has managed the home farm, and being energetic and industrious, as well as possessing a good degree of business ability, he has been quite successful in agricultural pursuits. In his political affiliations Mr. Griffith has always been a republican, and is now serving as assessor and constable of his township, which positions he has filled since 1889, when he was appointed thereto by the court. He has also been called on frequently to serve on the election board of his district. He is a leading member of the Methodist Episcopal church of Pughtown, and has been president and secretary of its board of trustees for a number of years. "On the 10th of February, 1868, Mr. Griffith was united in marriage to Rebecca Mitchner, of South Coventry township, this county. To them has been born a family of three children, two sons and a daughter: Martha, Lewis and Charles, all of whom are living at home with their parents. Mrs. Griffith is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. "Charles N. Griffith, father of the subject of this sketch, was born in West Vincent township, Chester county, in 1820. He removed to Uwchlan township in 1854, and died at his home here in September, 1887, aged sixty-seven years. He was a man of unusual energy, and in defiance of adverse circumstances in early life, went to work to make a career for himself, and ultimately became a useful, influential and honored citizen. He had few educational advantages, but by careful reading and close study educated himself in the ordinary Eng- lish branches, and later learned surveying and conveyancing. He was what is frequently termed a self-made man, having depended on his own unaided efforts from the start. He became well posted on all general topics, especially on history and the bible. By occupation he was a farmer, and first purchased forty-two acres of fine land in Uwchlan township, to which he afterward added a farm of fifty-four acres - where his son Wilmar now lives - and still later purchased an additional tract of timber land. Politically he was a whig un- til just before the civil war when he became a republican. He always took an active interest in political matters and became influential in the local councils of his party. He was elected to the position of justice of the peace in Uwchlan township in 1860, and served in that office continuously for a period of twenty-eight years. He was also school director for a long time, and served as county auditor one term. He was frequently a delegate to the county conventions of his party, and was a man who won and held the respect and esteem of all who knew him. In 1866 he was appointed revenue collector for this district and served for some time. He was frequently called as a juror in the supreme court. In religious faith he was a Baptist, and served for many years as a deacon and secretary of Windsor Baptist church. He mar- ried Martha E. Phillips, and to their union was born a family of six children, three sons and three daughters: Cecelia, married Oliver Channell, a cigar dealer in West Chester; Wilmar, whose name heads this sketch; Emerson, who graduated from the military academy at West Point in 1868, served twenty years in the regular army, first as lieutenant and later being promoted to the rank of captain, but resigned in 1888, and together with his wife, Bessie Irwin, now resides at West Chester in retirement; Daniel, who married Emma Trace and now lives at Pottstown, Montgomery county; Joanna, wedded John Hanson, an employee of the Pottstown Iron Company; and Mary, formerly a teacher in the public schools of Philadelphia, in which city she still resides."