Joseph Griffin – 3rd Great Grandfather, b. @1767, S.C. – d. 1851, Alabama
Joseph Griffin, William’s 3rd son, was born and raised in Laurens County, South Carolina on the Carsons Creek property. He, as his brothers, would have assisted their father in farming duties, with Joseph carrying a large load as his older brothers fought in the Revolutionary War.
In 1792, when Joseph was 25, we find that he owned 130 acres of William’s 350 acres on Carsons Creek. Thus, Rachell must have died sometime between 1791 and 1792. In February of 1792, Joseph (noted as a “pl.”- planter) sold his 130 acres to brother, James. The transaction was recorded in 1794.
We also see in that same timeframe that brother, Wm. Jr., who was a sadler, sold his 85 acres of his dad’s/Rachell’s land to brother James.
So now James owns all 350 acres on Carsons Creek.
Joseph Moves to Edgefield County, S.C.:
Joseph and William moved shortly after these sales to Edgefield County, S.C. This is proven by indentures/deeds that reference William and Joseph in Edgefield County by 1794/5.
Around 1797, Joseph married a Lucinda Lucas of Edgefield County, S.C. which was adjacent to Laurens Co. She was born @ 1781 in Edgefield County, South Carolina. There is very little information available on Lucinda. A number of Lucas families lived in Edgefield, including those of John Lucas and Soloman Lucas. John was not Lucinda’s father. Perhaps, Solomon was.
Joseph and Lucinda had five children: Lucinda, Thacker Vivian, John W., Lorenzo Dow and Mary Hester Ann. These would be half aunts/uncles to us. Thacker Vivian and Lorenzo Dow Griffin were named after two well-known preachers of the time. The preachers are interesting to “Google”, as their philosophies must have been consistent with the thoughts of Joseph at the time. The 1810 Federal census for Edgefield County, S.C. appears to support Joseph and family still living in South Carolina at that time with their children.
Joseph Moves to Alabama/The Mississippi Territory:
After the Revolution the decline in European demand for southern staple products, especially tobacco, caused anxiety among southern farmers. In the 1790s, the invention of the cotton gin, together with a sharp rise in the foreign demand for southern cotton, created outstanding economic opportunities for southern farmers and fueled the Great Migration. The rich soils of the Mississippi Territory, its favorable environment for cotton, and the soaring prices being paid in England for cotton led to the genesis of the Cotton Kingdom. Alabama, with soil and climate ideally suited to cotton culture, became a hub of southern cotton production during the first half of the nineteenth century.
Nearly all, if not all, of the states composing the United States in 1809 had been settled and established under the auspices of foreign powers, title to lands in them having been acquired by “Grant from the Crown.” Under this system, as we have seen, the more influential inhabitants procured patents to vast areas of land. Unlike Alabama’s sister states, which had preceded her in the Union, Alabama was settled and established under the auspices of the United States Government as the Mississippi Territory was ceded to the Government by Georgia on April 24, 1803.
Sometime during the year 1807 a survey of that portion of the Mississippi Territory, which is now the State of Alabama, was commenced. This work was done by and under the supervision of Thomas Freeman, a surveyor out of Nashville, Tennessee. The survey was completed and reported to the Government in May,1809. In August 1809, lands were offered for sale. The lands in Madison county were the first surveyed and sold in North Alabama.
Substantial numbers of prospective purchasers poured into the settlement during the year 1809, eager to bid on the lands offered for sale by the Government. Joseph Griffin was not one of the original 1809 purchasers.
On the 23nd day of December 1809, the Territorial Legislature created a commission to lay out a town to be “called and known by the name of Twickenham.” At this time, the settlement had between two hundred and three hundred inhabitants. Pursuant to the legislative enactment, the commission early in 1810 laid out the town, including in its limits, about sixty acres. The first lot, in Twickenham, was sold on July 4th, 1810. This seemed to mark the beginning of an era of phenomenal growth for the town and county. The Territorial Legislature by act of November 25, 1811, changed the name of the town, by providing, that: “From and after the passage of this act, the county town of Madison county—now called Twickenham—shall be called and known by the name of Huntsville.”
The years 1810 to 1817 marked the second wave of major expansion in Madison County. Following the 1809 land sales, the development of housing became primary. This was accomplished fairly quickly. Economic and political interests drove further development. By 1816 there were 14,600 inhabitants in the county. This copy of the Huntsville Republican newspaper from August 1817 gives an interesting picture of life in the area at the time.
Huntsville_Republican_volume_2_number_3
Joseph moved to Madison County during this second wave of growth. He was in Madison County in 1812, per deed records. His trip would have been a bit circuitous but he probably traveled northwest up the Unicoi Trail to near Tellico Tennessee, then southwest into Madison County via the Great Indian Warpath and the Old Georgia Road that spurred off to Huntsville. Joseph and his family would have traveled in Conestoga wagons. The trip could have taken as much as two months.
Joseph’s first property in Madison County: Township 2 Range 1 W
T2 R1W Section 10 (Near Meridianville)
Section 10 (in yellow)
At the time of his land purchase, Joseph had 5 children ranging in ages from 3 to fifteen. Speculation has been that Lucinda died in S.C. and Joseph moved to Alabama as a widower. It is more logical that Joseph moved to Alabama with Lucinda and the children. As will be seen, he remarries in 1820. If Lucinda died prior to the move, then Joseph would have basically raised his children alone. Practice at the time would have been for Joseph to re-marry quickly in order to secure help with his children. However, Joseph’s second marriage took place in March of 1820. My theory is that Lucinda died in Alabama much closer to the date of Joseph’s re-marriage.
Joseph Griffin and Charity Davis marriage license. Charity was 30 years younger than Joseph, he being 53 and she being 23.
Joseph and Charity had four children, Joseph Casen, Samuel J., William S., and Sara Jane. We are direct descendants of Joseph and Charity. Joseph Casen is our 2nd great grandfather.
Joseph’s life in Alabama was busy and a bit litigious. There are Madison County court documents that reflect loans both to and by Joseph that were taken to court to be settled. This occurred at least 4 times. Early in 1819 Joseph borrowed $500 that he had not repaid by due date 1821. He was sued in 1822 and was ordered to make the repayments. Following that, his loans to three other people also became contentious; he successfully sued for repayment of those. In 1829, Joseph was heavily involved in his agriculture, with cotton and wheat being important products.
Transporting Cotton, 1820
Early in 1829, his son, Lorenzo D. Griffin, claims to have acted as overseer and cropper for Joseph’s land. Evidence of this is found in a lawsuit filed by Lorenzo against Joseph in 1830. In that lawsuit, Lorenzo charges that Joseph, by verbal agreement, made Lorenzo overseer and cropper and promised him 1/5th of the proceeds from the sale of crops. Lorenzo further alleges he was not paid and in the fall of 1829 was told by Joseph to stop his work. Lorenzo’s legal claim was basically “breach of contract” – in this case a verbal contract. Joseph fought the complaint and the case was closed late in 1831, when Lorenzo decided to drop the charges. It appears that Joseph paid the attorney/court costs incurred by Lorenzo in the amount of $62.84.
Cotton boomed in Alabama in the 1830’s. In 1838, Joseph purchased land in Section 16 of T2 R1W of Madison County. He also purchased acreage in Section 21 of T2 R1W (in red).
He was growing cotton and cotton was king in America. Between 1820 and 1860 world demand grew at 5 percent per year. The South produced 10,410 bales of cotton in 1793; 177,824 in 1810 after invention of cotton gin; and, 7,000,000 in 1860.
In the federal census of 1850, Joseph is 83. His sons, Samuel (20) and William (16) are farming his lands with him. Charity is 53 and daughter Sara is 14. Joseph died less than a year later in April 1851.
His will is very interesting. He owned 240 acres at the time of his death in T2 R1W Sections 16 and 21. Joseph had 14 slaves and significant livestock and other personal property. Based on the inventory of his estate, Joseph would be considered well off. He left his property to Charity for as long as she remained single or until her death. Given her re-marriage or death, the real and personal property was to be sold and divided equally among his nine children (five by Lucinda; four by Charity). He also had 14 slaves that he directed Charity to divide among his children. However, there was a blind slave named Allen that Joseph left to Charity. Upon her death, he directed his children to jointly provide for Allen and to let Allen select which of them he would live with.
There is another fascinating story in the will. Joseph mentioned rumors that his children by Lucinda thought they had rights to certain of Joseph’s slaves. Joseph added a provision in the will that if these children challenged his will in any way after his death, he would revoke the earlier provision that they receive an equal share of his real and personal property. Instead, he would bequeath only one dollar to each of these five children (Lucinda, Thacker Vivian, John, Lorenzo and Mary Hester Ann)! At the time of Joseph’s death, Lucinda Martindale and John W. Griffin were residing with their families in Limestone County. Lorenzo Griffin was in Cherokee County, AL; Mary Hester Ann Higgenbotham was living in Fayette County, Mississippi; and, Thacker Vivian Griffin had moved to Texas.
Will of Joseph Griffin and List of Heirs
In December 1852 Charity decided to sell Joseph’s land through public auction on the steps of the Madison County Courthouse in Huntsville. Charity bought 71 acres; Joseph Casen Griffin (our 2nd g. grandfather) bought 90 acres and a Robert Strong purchased the remaining acreage. Apparently, the Joseph/Lucinda children chose not to challenge Joseph’s will as settlement documents show that they received their equal share of the proceeds generated by the sale of Joseph’s property. Those same documents list the distribution of slaves to all the children. Attached are the detailed settlement records for Joseph’s estate which are fascinating to read.
Settlement, Joseph Griffin Estate
Chancery Court Case 420; Guardianship, etc
In 1857 Charity married Collin Hobbs of Madison County. There is no information on her death; however, in the 1860 census data, Collin is living with one of his children in Madison County and Joseph Casen’s information in Morgan County lists property (two slaves) from the “estate of Charity Griffin”.
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