History of Patriot William Griffin, Sr.
@1721 Virginia – 1791 South Carolina
4th Great Grandfather
It is believed that our early Griffin ancestors came to America from Wales. Wales has a wonderful history that goes back centuries and makes interesting reading. Part of that history includes significant emigration. As explorers, migrants, settlers, and missionaries, the Welsh people—themselves descended from European explorers —led early waves of “westering” Europeans to America. Generally, Welsh people came to the United States within swells of British migrants. Many valued religious freedom, especially Welsh emigrants whose Christianity did not conform to the Church of England.
Additionally, popular belief in pre-Columbian contact between Wales and the New World prompted Welsh migration to America. According to that belief, centuries before Columbus, Welsh migrants had crossed the Atlantic, reached North America, and mixed with Indians. Supposedly, the first Welsh emigrants to the New World were Madog ab Owain Gwynedd (Prince Madog) and a band of settlers disillusioned with their lives in the 12th century. In Wales, many published reports circulated from those who claimed to have found Welsh Indians in North America. Though no one ever proved the legends, they nevertheless helped propel Welsh immigration.
Interestingly, contemporary artifacts commemorate the legend. According to a plaque to Madoc ap Owain Gwynedd on the wall of the Fine Arts Center of the South in Mobile, Alabama, visitors can see where Prince Madoc, the Welsh explorer of America, is believed to have arrived with three ships. Also, the plaque of the Daughters of the American Revolution, which is located on the public strand of Mobile Bay, reads: “In memory of Prince Madoc, a Welsh explorer, who landed on the shores of Mobile Bay in 1170 and left behind, with the Indians, the Welsh language.” However, even discounting the legendary Madoc, the Welsh came to the American continent early, relative to other Europeans.
Migration to America from Wales started in earnest in the 17th century. Even though this migration sometimes involved the movement of whole communities, when compared to migration from other countries the numbers do not seem so significant.
Despite Wales’ relatively small size as a country, it seems the Welsh have played a disproportionately big part in American life. Many of the Welsh men and women who emigrated to America had emigrated here to seek a new life away from the economic and cultural oppression that was being carried out by the central London government on the nations of Britain – a problem which particularly seemed to target the Celtic countries of Wales, Scotland and Ireland although the poor of England did not escape unharmed either.
The influence that many of the Welsh immigrants had on the emergence of modern America belies their relatively small numbers. Sixteen (16) of the fifty-six (56) signatories of the Declaration of Independence were of Welsh descent. Presidents including Thomas Jefferson, James Monroe, Abraham Lincoln, Calvin Coolidge and Richard Nixon had their family roots in Wales.
Thomas Jefferson read, spoke, and wrote Welsh as can be seen by his correspondence with his principal aid and fellow Welsh American icon Merriwether Lewis. Lewis corresponded with Jefferson in Welsh in all his dispatches while trailing and founding the Northwest Passage across America together with fellow Celt William Clark (a precedent for the use of American Indian code talkers in WWII).
*************
The Griffin’s
This story of our line of American Griffins will start in the 17th century. The Griffin trail winds from Wales, to Virginia, to South Carolina and, finally, to North Alabama.
As “William” and “Griffin” were very common names in the UK, and as many of those William Griffins emigrated to America, tracking this family is more than a challenge. Below is my best effort at supporting the claims of lineage that are commonly made (but not well documented) by descendants worldwide of Patriot William Griffin, our fourth great grandfather. Questions remain.
- Important:
Four generations of Griffins will reside in Virginia. To correctly track the Griffins, the evolution of Virginia Counties must be taken into account. County names/boundaries changed fairly frequently as the colony grew while actual locales may have been the same or very close. These are pertinent changes for our Griffins with relevant counties in bold:
- New Kent from old Rappahannock in 1692
- King William from King and Queen in 1701
- Spotsylvania from Essex, King William and King and Queen in 1720
- Orange from Spotsylvania in 1734
- Culpeper from Orange in 1748
*************
William Griffin, Esq. – 7th Great Grandfather, c 1628 UK – 1684, Virginia
The first leg of the Griffin trail begins with William Griffin, Esq. and his emigration from the UK to Virginia. William Griffin, Esq. was born circa 1628 in the UK. Some say he was born in England. However, family documents assert the Griffins were Welsh. It is suggested that his parents were William Griffin and Margaret Griffin (nee’ Hatch).
Emigration to America from the UK – The Virginia Colony:
In September 1649, during the period of the English Civil War (1642 – 1651), then exiled King Charles II of Scotland hoped to shore up the loyalty of several of his supporters by granting all of the Virginia Colony between the Rappahannock and Potomac Rivers to seven Englishmen. It was known as the Northern Neck Proprietary. The extent of the Northern Neck Proprietary grant was barely understood by either the King or the grantees because most of it had never even been mapped. The proprietors thought little of their grant since Charles II, due to the political struggles in England, was in exile. However, this grant became actual when King Charles II re-issued it @1661 following his restoration to the throne.
The proprietary constituted up to 5,000,000 acres of what is now known as Northern Virginia:
There were three “necks” in the Northern Neck Proprietary: the land between the Potomac and Rappahannock rivers was the “Northern Neck”. Between the James and York Rivers was “The Peninsula”. The Peninsula was the center of English settlement during the first 325 years after Jamestown was established. The “Middle Peninsula” was the land between the York and the Rappahannock. It was settled after “The Peninsula”. In the late 1600’s it would have included Old Rappahannock, Middlesex and New Kent Counties.
Though under the jurisdiction of the Virginia Colony’s royal government, the Northern Neck Proprietary maintained complete control of the granting of land within that territory and revenues (rents/taxes) obtained from it.
Upon Charles’ royal reinstatement, he instigated a wave of religious intolerance which threatened the rights of several groups to worship in the way that they chose. Significant numbers of people – in some cases, whole communities – began to leave Wales for the American colonies. Land patents in the Northern Neck Proprietary were sought. Our 7th great grandfather, William Griffin, Esq. emigrated to this area, specifically to Old Rappahannock County in the Middle Peninsula.
We don’t know the exact date of his emigration. However, in Cavaliers and Pioneers, Abstracts of Virginia Land Patents and Grants, we find records for quite a few William Griffins. The earliest Griffins came in the 1630’s. Ours arrived later in the 1600’s.
These patent and grant abstracts followed the “headright system”, the major method of land acquisition in seventeenth-century Virginia starting with Jamestown and the Virginia Company. In 1618, to encourage immigration into the colony, the Virginia Company passed a body of laws which came to be considered “the Great Charter of privileges, orders and laws” of the colony. Among these laws was a provision that any person who settled in Virginia or paid for the transportation expenses of another person who settled in Virginia should be entitled to receive fifty acres of land for each immigrant. The right to receive fifty acres per person, or per head, was called a headright. The practice was continued until 1789 under the royal government of Virginia after the dissolution of the Virginia Company in 1624.
The 1670 land patent 0f John and George Mott in New Kent County on the north shore of the Rappa River is of particular interest. One of the persons transported to America to settle this property was William Griffin. This, I believe, is the William Griffin most descendants claim as our direct ancestor.
These abstracted land grants are interesting as they show the name of the immigrant, the date of arrival to the Virginia Colony and the person’s sponsor (generally an investor who loaned money/resources to the immigrant for the trip and expected loan repayment with profit). The sponsors/patentees in this 1670 transaction were John and George Mott.
Brothers John and George Mott settled early in Old Rappahannock County, Virginia and were planters. George Mott was born about 1625 in England and died 31 Mar 1674 in Old Rappahannock County. Between 1660 – 1670 George Mott and his brother John patented extensive tracts of land in the Northern Neck of Virginia. John is believed to have been a bachelor. He died circa 1678. George married Elizabeth Pigg. George and Elizabeth had four daughters: Ann (Glendenning), Margaret (Doniphan), Elizabeth (Fossaker) and Ellen (Shippy). We will see Margaret’s husband, Alexander Doniphan, in other land transactions related to the Griffins.
After patenting and surveying a tract of land, the patentee was required to settle the land within three years of the award date and pay one shilling for every fifty acres as annual rent. If the land was not settled during that three-year period, the title would lapse and be returned to the crown treasury. The lapsed lands could then be claimed by the first person to petition the General Court, so some Virginians were able to acquire quite large tracts of land in a particular area. Later complaints about the headright system indicated it did not benefit newcomers as was originally intended but merely added available land to the extensive holdings of established planters.
Records suggest that William, Esq. increased his land holdings following purchase of his original property. At some point before 1683 he purchased an additional 75 acres on the North side of the Rappa River from James Jackson.
1683: (Note the names of James Jackson, James Harrison, James Orchard as they will recur in later Griffin land transactions)
William Griffin Esq. was married to a “Jane”. Records aren’t clear regarding who she was. William and Jane had at least two sons: William II and John.
William Esq. was a planter. Most settlers along the various creeks of the Rappa (Rappahannock) River were planters. They grew tobacco, corn, “peese”, and garden vegetables. They all had a few cows and hogs and several horses if they were fortunate. The animals all ran loose in the swamps and each planter has his own mark or “crop” on his livestock so they could be recognized. The settlers concentrated on growing tobacco; they transplanted the tobacco plants between stumps in the first week in May. When it bloomed, they pinched off the blooms. Tobacco was harvested in late August through September with the leaves being hung up to dry. When the tobacco was ready, it would be put in hogsheads (tobacco barrels) and the planters simply rolled it over the Indian paths to the plantation landings where it was put on boats to Europe.
History of Tobacco Plantations in Colonial Virginia:
William Griffin, Esq. died in late 1684. This is an abstract of his will:
Note: The 350 acres bequeathed to his sons, William and John, were “bought of Mr. Mott”. Son, John also received 75 acres bought by William Esq. from James Jackson. Son, William, was our 6th great grandfather.
*************
William Griffin II – 6th Great Grandfather, @1665 Wales – ?
William Griffin II was born in 1665, reportedly in Caernarfon, Caernorfonshire Wales.
Caernarfon Castle
St. Baglan’s Church, Caernarfon
Restored 17th c. thatched roof cottage, N. Wales
At that time, Wales was not an independent nation, but rather was ruled by England. If William Griffin Esq. came to Virginia in 1670 and William’s II’s birth date was indeed 1665, then William II would have been about 5 years old when he came to Virginia with his father.
Like his father, William II was a planter and continued that profession following his father’s death in 1684. As noted, he inherited 225 acres from his father. His brother, John, must have died in 1687, as some of the land John inherited from William Esq. was sold by William II in January 1688. Remember that William Esq.’s will stipulated that should one son die without issue, the other would inherit the full estate. It appears to have happened.
This William was married to a Rebecca. I have found no will for William and Rebecca. It is widely held that a will for a William Griffin dated 1725 is that of our 6th great grandfather. However, the wife of William Griffin who died in 1725 was “Anne”. There is a 1713 record of a William Griffin marrying an Ann Burgar. The 1725 will mentions four boys: William, John, Charles and Joseph. Where I find pause with this will is that William and Anne’s sons are not yet 24 years old when the will was written in March of 1724. Most descendants believe our 5th great grandfather, John, was born before 1700. So, I don’t think this is our William II’s will.
*************
John Griffin – 5th Great Grandfather, @1690 Virginia – 1744 Virginia
Information on our Griffin line becomes more sound going forward with John. I believe John was born in Virginia although some claim he was born in Wales. The website Early Colonial Settlers of Southern Maryland and Virginia’s Northern Neck Counties provides information on John Griffin, born before 1700 in King & Queen County (which had been New Kent County which bordered Old Rappahannock), and dying Feb. 3, 1743 in Orange County, VA. This website has him married twice. First to an Anne Harrison and second to Margaret Goode. This is the only reference I have found to Anne Harrison as wife to John. She is presented as the mother of John’s children: William, David, Catherine, Mary, Sarah, and John. Margaret is listed as the mother for James, Richard, Anthony, Margaret and Joseph. Most descendants name only Margaret Edna Goode as John’s wife:
Children of John Griffin are:
i. David Griffin, born 1720 in Rappahannock, VA.
ii. Sarah Griffin, born 1722 in Orange Co., VA.
iii. William Griffin, born 1725 in Wales, UK.
iv. Katherine Griffin, born 1726 in Orange Co., VA.
v. Mary Griffin, born 1727 in Orange Co., VA.
vi. James Griffin, born September 15, 1731 in VA.
vii. Richard Sr. Griffin, born November 10, 1734 in Wales
viii. Anthony Griffin, born 1736 in King and Queen Co., VA.
ix. John Griffin, born Abt. 1738.
x. Joseph Griffin, born Abt. 1740.
xi. Margaret Griffin, born 1742.”
The earliest documentation I have found on John and Margaret is a June 12 – 13, 1735 deed in which Patrick Welsh sells 210 acres in the north fork of Lake Anna in Orange County to John. It was called Terrys Run. The deed was witnessed on June 17, 1735.
These indentures do not use the term “sale” though that was the transaction. Indentures of “lease and release” literally meant the lease (tenancy) of non-tenanted property by its owner followed by a release (relinquishment) of the landlord’s interest in the property. This sequence of transactions was commonly used to transfer full title to real estate under real property law.
Terrys Run:
This Orange County, VA road record shows continuing development in the area:
John became ill in 1743 and passed away soon after. His will was written December 2, 1743. Margaret and son, David, were executors of the will and produced it in court on Feb. 23, 1743.
John’s estate was value at £87.0.8 which in A.D. 2017 converts to approximately $20,000. This does not include the sale of his land which would not occur until 1745.
John’s Executors sold the Terry Run property to a John Wisdom in July 1745. This is an abstract. The original source needs to be checked for the exact sales price of the property.
*************
Patriot William Griffin – 4th Great Grandfather c 1721 Virginia – 1791 South Carolina
William Griffin, Revolutionary War Patriot, was born to John Griffin sometime between 1721 – 1725 in St Thomas Parish, Orange County, Virginia. Like his ancestors before him, William became a planter. William married Rachell Smith on April 13, 1738 at Christ Church Parish in Middlesex County, Virginia. Rachell had been born in that parish on Aug. 17, 1719. The original church was wood and built in the mid 1600’s. In 1712, it was remodeled and the wooden walls were covered with brick. Below is the church attended by Wm and Rachell.
Initially, William and Rachell must have lived on the Terry’s Run land with his family, as they were very young. However, in June 1740 we see that William purchased 200 acres of land on the border of St. Mark’s Parish in Orange County and St. George’s Parish in Spotsylvania County.
He and Rachell worked this land for a little over four years, then sold it in November of 1744. This would have been following his father’s death in late 1743.
In 1745 William and Rachell had a son, John Taylor. In 1746, we see that William and Rachel have decided to lease property to plant tobacco. They secured 150 acres at the cost of 800 pounds of tobacco per year.
Interestingly, the property that they were leasing had belonged to Alexander Spotswood (c. 1676 – 6 June 1740) who was a Lieutenant-Colonel in the British Army and a renowned Lieutenant Governor of Colonial Virginia. He is noted in American history for many projects including his exploration beyond the Blue Ridge Mountains, his establishment of what was perhaps the first colonial iron works in Virginia, and his negotiation of the Treaty of Albany with the Iroquois Nations of New York. Spotswood was a wealthy man owning over 80,000 acres in Spotsylvania County, Virginia along with three iron furnaces. To see the full contract William signed with Spotswood’s agents, the following link provides an identical indenture (contract) for 150 acres at the cost of 800 pounds of tobacco with a Thomas Thornton. Thornton signed his indenture on the same day that William signed his.
http://files.usgwarchives.net/va/orange/deeds/s132a1dd.txt
In 1750, William and Rachell purchased 100 acres of land from ‘Thomas Jones on the branches of the Robinson River and nine years later sold that 100 acres to Charles Laysle for £16 (October 18, 1759). I do not have Williams’ purchase document, but I do have his sales indenture and have seen the documentation of Thomas Jones purchasing this land from Richard Mauldin in 1740.
William and Brothers move to the 96 District, South Carolina:
Again, a bit of history: In 1663, re-instated King Charles II, who gave away vast regions in Colonial America as if they had really belonged to him (e.g. Northern Neck Proprietary), was again playing favorites, this time with land in the Carolinas. He granted to eight of his English friends/supporters a charter with certain governing privileges to repay them for their financial and political assistance in restoring him to the throne of his father. This grant was of the territory extending from the present southern line of Virginia to the St. Johns, in Florida, and from the Atlantic to the Pacific and was called the Province of Carolina. The first permanent settlement, at Charles Town (Charleston) on the Ashley River, was established by the English in 1670.
From 1670 to 1800 there was mass migration from northern colonies as well as from Europe to a westerly expanding South Carolina territory, i.e. the “backcountry”. The 96 District of South Carolina is of particular importance to our lineage. This is basically the area around today’s Greenville, S.C. In the mid-eighteenth century, Ninety-Six, South Carolina was a thriving community, built close to the convergence of the Cherokee Path, a key route from the Cherokee lands to Charleston, and the Island Ford Road, which led to the Saluda River and points further southeast. The strategic location of Ninety-Six made it a crucial stopover for traders and travelers—it was a location known widely throughout the South during the late colonial period.
In the first half of the 1700’s, the European settlers who established themselves in the area to live and trade, co-existed peacefully with the Cherokees. However, colonial leadership wanted to increase European settlement in order to develop a buffer between the colony’s thriving coastal plantations/developments and the Cherokees. The colony advertised for settlers who were willing to work hard if given security in their lands and freedom to have their own churches. The migration began with a trickle in 1750 and became a flood in the 1760’s. The new inhabitants neither understood nor appreciated their Indian neighbors. Discord grew, resulting in an Anglo-Cherokee war in 1760 and 1761. During this time, the British built a fort in Ninety-Six which would develop into an important British Army stronghold during the Revolutionary War.
Following the war with the Cherokees, many displaced, truly lawless men moved into Ninety-six. The backcountry pioneers lacked access to courts and suffered from the depredations of general lawlessness. Eventually, the backcountry settlers formed vigilante groups to protect their interests. After much political wrangling, and on-going violence, the South Carolina Provincial Assembly recognized the need to provide law enforcement and court access to the back county. Ninety-Six again benefited from its strategic location and the South Carolina Assembly, in 1769, directed that a substantial brick courthouse and jail be built in the town.
Sometime around 1768, William and Rachell, with William’s brothers, Richard, Anthony and James, had migrated from Orange County, Virginia to South Carolina’s backcountry. The two principal land routes to South Carolina, used by settlers from the northern colonies, are known to historians as branches of the Great Philadelphia Wagon Road, viz., the “Upper Road” and the “Fall Line Road.” As you can see from this map, the Griffin’s would have traveled the Upper Road to the 96 District.
South Carolina was divided into two distinct cultural groups at this time. In the coastal tidewater, large plantations owned by a “gentlemanly” leisure class but worked by slaves predominated; the cultural focus was the city of Charlestown and the prevailing religion was that of the Anglican Church. Conversely, the inhabitants of the backcountry, were mostly hard working, small farmers, who owned few if any slaves; their religion, if any, was primarily Presbyterian or Baptist. The backcountry people were also grossly under-represented in the South Carolina Assembly and although they paid much money in taxes, they received little support from the government of any sort.
In 1768 William received a royal grant of 350 acres on a branch of Little River (off the larger Saluda River) called Carsons Creek, in the 96 District. This area is southeast of today’s Greenville. In July 1771, he purchased another 200 acres just north of his initial property. From Laurens and Newberry Counties South Carolina: Saluda and Little River Settlements 1749 – 1775:
Here William raised tobacco and children. He and Rachell had at least six children: John Taylor, James, Joseph, Janes, William and Nancy. They had been in South Carolina about 7 years when the Revolutionary War challenged them.
Revolutionary War :
(Specific info on the war in Ninety-Six, S.C. comes from research done by Ann Midgley; citation is noted at the end of this section)
In 1775, while the backcountry settlers of Ninety-Six and surrounds were concerned with the constant threat of violence, the more established coastal regions became caught up in the general colonial ferment against restrictive or repressive British policies and Britain’s attempts to raise revenue through taxation of the colonists. William would have been between 50 – 55 at the beginning of the Revolutionary War. He watched as South Carolina’s influential and wealthy planter class split between political radicals and moderates. He saw that the rebel radical Whig leaders successfully seized control of the state government and established a Provincial Congress and Council of Safety to control the colony.
The Provincial Congress called upon citizens to sign a statement siding with the rebel cause. Determined to bring their viewpoints to the backcountry and rally the populace to the rebellion, a delegation visited the outlying regions during the summer of 1775. They encountered a mixed reception; while recent settlers from Europe tended to support the Crown, most in the backcountry were apathetic to the political nature of the conflict and supported neither side.
Loyalist leaders in Ninety-Six, who had developed a militia, threatened the delegation from Charlestown. To counter the influence of these Loyalist leaders, the delegation called out a local rebel militia. These rebels marched against the Loyalist militia and both sides camped near Ninety Six. Tensions in the area were extreme. To head off full-out armed conflict, a peace conference was held which resulted in the Treaty of Ninety-Six on September 16, 1775.
The treaty didn’t hold, as a few months later Loyalists stole a shipment of rifles being sent by the Provincial Congress to the Cherokee in hopes the natives would help repulse the British. With the stolen rifles, the Loyalist militia descended upon Ninety-Six, captured the courthouse, and attacked the stockade. Again, the local rebel militia emerged. The combatants sporadically fought the first Battle of Ninety-Six off and on over a three-day period, from November 19 to November 21, 1775. It resulted in one rebel death and minimal rebel casualties; the Loyalists lost fifty-two men but routed the rebels.
In reaction, the Whig-controlled colonial government in Charlestown sent a force to arrest the local Loyalist leaders. As the force marched to Ninety-Six it grew in numbers, ultimately reaching over 5,000. With this show of patriotic force, Loyalist resistance withered away in the South Carolina backcountry. The Provincial government gained control of the region. It was perhaps at this time that our Griffins became Patriots.
For the next three years, the focus of the war remained to the North, although there were skirmishes throughout South Carolina. After years of fighting the Northern and Middle colonies, the British and American forces had reached a stalemate. Struggling to find a way to end the war and retain at least some of their American mainland colonies, the British seized upon their “Southern Strategy”. This strategy was built upon the precarious assumption that a significant population of Loyalists existed in the Southern colonies and waited only on the military support of Britain to rise and take back control of their colonies.
Initial successes followed Britain’s shift to the Southern theatre, with the capture of Savannah in Dec. 1778 and Charlestown in May 1780. Anxious to seal their victories, the British fanned out forces to pacify the backcountry, establishing strong posts at key strategic towns, including Ninety-Six in June 1780. The war was again on William’s doorstep, Ninety-Six being about 28 miles from Carsons Creek (see map above). Battles and skirmishes whirled throughout the area.
At this point we know that William and his family were heavily involved as patriots. Too old to be a soldier, William provided supplies to the colonial forces. Brothers, Richard and Anthony, also provided supplies and Richard served as a juror. Younger brother, James, served in the SC Militia under Captains William Freeman and John Calhoun. William’s oldest son, John Taylor Griffin, fought in the war and was killed at the Battle of Fishing Creek in the Camden District of South Carolina in August 1780. http://www.revolutionarywar101.com/battles/800818-fishing-creek/. Son, James, served as a private and corporal under Captains Blount and Fugles, Colonels Buncombe and Harney, North Carolina troops. William’s son, Joseph, our 3rd great grandfather was born @1767 and was too young to participate in the war.
The British had returned to Ninety-Six in 1780 not only for its strategic location but also because they believed that most residents in the surrounding area stood ready to support the Crown. British leadership was initially successful with their campaign to attract and train Loyalist troops in the area. However, early triumphs came to a swift defeat at the Battle of Kings Mountain on October 7, 1780, where a mixed group of rebel militia gathered from many regions decimated the Loyalist troops. News traveled as fast as horses, so word spread quickly. King’s Mountain was 85 miles from William’s home.
With that major defeat, General Cornwallis, the British leader of the “Southern Strategy” thought it was urgent to protect the British forts at Ninety-Six (Star Fort) and other backcountry areas. He cautioned his officers on February 4, 1781, “You know the importance of Ninety-Six, let that place be your constant care.” While Cornwallis had troops chasing the rebels up through North Carolina into Virginia in 1781, British forces assigned to Ninety-Six were not idle. Beginning in September 1780, the British commander had worked ceaselessly to secure Star Fort, building two redoubts and a block house, improving the existing palisade surrounding the village with a deep ditch, which he further enhanced with an abates, felled trees intertwined and set into the ground, with sharpened ends facing the direction of potential attack.
On May 22, 1781, Nathaniel Greene’s rebel forces lay siege to Star Fort. They fought until June 11th but had not yet taken it. With British reinforcements 30 miles away, they were forced to change tactics and head to Charlotte, NC. and then to Yorktown, where they were ultimately successful in beating the British.
In the end, the strategic significance of Ninety-Six doomed its future. Ninety-Six ended in a blaze of fire and smoke when in July 1781 the British abandoned Star Fort, torched the town and shepherded its Loyalist inhabitants to Charlestown. With the fall of Ninety-Six, the British indeed lost the war in the backcountry. They fully surrendered at Yorktown, Virginia four months later.
Although on the winning side of the Revolutionary War, the Griffins, as other backcountry patriots, suffered terribly during this conflict.
Midgley, Anne (2013) “Ninety-Six: Strategic Backcountry Outpost and Microcosm of the American Revolutionary War,” Saber and Scroll: Vol. 2: Iss. 1, Article 6. Available at: http://digitalcommons.apus.edu/saberandscroll/vol2/iss1/6
After the war:
By the end of the Revolution, South Carolina had lost many slaves and skilled Loyalist workers, causing an economic upset. They could combat this, however, with the coastal area’s dominant plantation-based economy that characterized the eighteenth century and would continue to do so for decades to follow. These large farms, typically no less than 500 acres, continued to produce mass quantities of staple crops harvested specifically for market, rendering South Carolina one of the wealthiest states in the Union. The expansive plantations specialized primarily in indigo and rice.
In the backcountry, the 350-acre Griffin farm, like other smaller farms, existed primarily for consumption; most backcountry families were subsistence farmers and typically grew only what they needed for themselves, infrequently harvesting enough for market.
Yet, the backcountry grew in population and backcountry planters grew in prosperity, and with greater numbers and fortunes backcountry political influence increased. By 1808, compromise between the low country and backcountry granted better apportionment in government and succeeded in improving governmental administration: districts were established, improving parish administration; backcountry courthouses were established; and South Carolina’s capital moved from Charlestown to Columbia.
William and Rachell lived in South Carolina through tumultuous times. William died at the age of @ 70, in 1791. His lands were first left to Rachell, and at her death they were divided among his three living sons, Joseph, William Jr., and James.
*************
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; 7,000,000 in 1860. In the federal census of 1850, Joseph is 83, Charity is 53 and daughter Sara is 14. His sons, Samuel (20) and William (16) are farming his lands with him. 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”.
*************
Joseph Casen Griffin, 1820 Meridianville, AL – 1909 Cullman Co., AL
2nd Great Grandfather
As has been noted, Joseph Casen Griffin was the first child born to Joseph Griffin and Charity Davis. Joseph Casen also became a farmer. On March 15, 1842 at the age of 22, Joseph Casen married Katherine “Kitty” M. True in Madison County, Alabama.
They initially lived in the same area as his father Joseph. The 1850 federal census has Joseph/Charity and children Samuel, William and Sarah Janes living in 2 Regiment No. 33 household 82 of Madison County, AL. Joseph Casen is in the same area but in household 236. He is living with Kitty and children Kijah, John, and Susan. His occupation is “farmer”.
Joseph Casen farmed in Huntsville, on the portion of his father’s land that he purchased following Joseph’s death. He also purchased property in Section 26 of T2 R1W of Madison County. However, by 1860 he is living and farming owned property in Valhermoso Springs, Morgan County, AL. He had moved slightly south from his Huntsville land. At this point, he and Kitty have John J., Charity, Susan, Margaret “Pug”, and George Washington Griffin (our great grandfather). Samuel was born in 1860 sometime after the census was taken.
At the time of the 1860 U.S. Agricultural Census, Joseph Casen had no reported crops. However, he did have livestock. It may be that his move to this property had been recent and plantings were either anticipated or not yet bearing product.
On April 25, 1861 Joseph Casen took out a loan for $95 (@$2,500 in current dollars); the purpose of the loan is not stated in the April 28th Trustee. It is interesting to note that not only was collateral required for the loan, but in this case, the collateral (“one small horse 4 years old and one grey horse thirteen years old”) was to be held in trust. The selected Trustee was none other than our 2nd great grandfather, Joseph Rice, who also lived in the area. The Rice/Griffins would not become “family” until 1900 when Joseph Casen’s granddaughter, Minnie Lee Griffin married Joseph Rice’s son, Hugh Welsh Rice.
The Civil War Comes to North Alabama:
Alabama seceded from the United States January 11, 1861. Though Alabama did not have any major battles within its borders, it did contribute about 120,000 white men to the Confederate armed forces. Most served with others from their local areas.
The Confederate States of America recognized from the outset of the Civil War that they had disadvantages in terms of population and industrial output. Their strategy was to take advantage of their compact geography, with internal lines of communication, their military heritage (Southerners had been disproportionately the officers of the United States Army), and their greater enthusiasm for their cause to wear down the Union will to wage war. They also believed that Britain, with its heavy dependence on Southern cotton to supply its mills, would be at worst neutral with a bias in their favor. Ideally, they dreamed of direct European assistance. The South believed that since they did not intend to occupy and hold Northern territory, they would be fighting principally in defense of their homeland and their soldiers would consequently have greater morale and stronger commitment to the cause. Their southern strategy did not work.
The North had a great triad of resources: men, agricultural and industry. True, though, they were less motivated and in unfamiliar territory. Quickly the difficulty and ferocity of the war became apparent to both sides. The initial war fever dissipated in both the North and South, and each side was compelled to resort to conscription. The South instituted a draft in 1862, requiring three years of service for those selected between the ages of 18 and 35, providing for substitution (repealed Dec. 1863) and exemptions. A revision, approved 27 Sept. 1862, raised the age to 45.
In 1863 at the age of 43, Joseph Casen enlisted in the confederate army in Lacey Springs and was assigned to the 4th (Roddey’s) Cavalry Regiment, Company D. His unit was considered “Home Guard”.
Joseph may have enlisted to avoid the draft and harsher duty. Home Guard referred to somewhat loosely organized militias that were under the direction and authority of the Confederacy. They were tasked with both the defense of the Confederate home front, as well as tracking down and capturing Confederate Army deserters. Home Guard units were, essentially, to be a last defense against any invading Union forces. They were often made up of older planters or others exempted from front line service.
On Roddey’s cavalry:
Philip Dale Roddey was born in Moulton in Limestone County in 1826. He was a tailor in Moulton before he was appointed sheriff of Lawrence County in 1846, serving at least until 1852. He then purchased a steamboat, which he ran on the Tennessee River.
When the American Civil War began, Roddey, who had not supported secession, sought to remain out of it. After the fall of Fort Henry, Tennessee, to Ulysses S. Grant in February 1862, however, Union gunboats were able to sail as far as Florence, Alabama, where the shallows at Muscle Shoals stopped them.
Rather than allow his steamboat to be seized and used by the union army, Roddey burned her. He then organized a cavalry company, Roddey’s 4th Cavalry Regiment, at Tuscumbia in October 1862. It moved to Tennessee where it wintered. The men were from Franklin, Lauderdale, Lawrence, and Walker counties. During the spring of 1863 it was sent to Northern Alabama, assigned to General Roddey’s Brigade, then took an active part in raiding and attacking the Federals. It was at this time that Joseph Casen enlisted. After fighting at Brice’s Cross Roads it saw action in various conflicts from Montevallo to Selma where on April 2, 1865, most of the unit was captured. The remaining part surrendered at Pond Spring. Its commanders were Colonels William A. Johnson and Phillip D. Roddey, Lieutenant Colonel E.M. Windes, and Majors R.W. Johnson and John E. Newsom.
Joseph Casen was in the Home Guard until surrender. I suspect he was at Pond Spring for surrender with other local men.
After the Civil War:
The Civil War devastated the South’s economy. Military destruction cut deep gouges into the region’s infrastructure, farms, and white population. More basically, emancipation wiped out the bulk of Southern capital and the basis of its economy and society. The postwar South remained overwhelmingly agricultural. And, for multiple reasons, in the decades that followed, Southern life was impacted by social turmoil, a dearth of capital, and poverty.
Joseph Casen was not spared the aftermath. He followed suit and continued farming. He and Kitty had had son, Edgar, born in 1864. By deed dated Feb. 1869, Joseph Casen purchased “Lot 25” in Somerville, Alabama for his residence. He had or would also own lots #22 and #24.
In 1870 Joseph, age 59, and Kitty, age 50, had their last child, Zeekee. Kitty is enumerated in the June 24 1870 census but Zeekee is not. Six months later, on December 29, 1870, Joseph Casen married his second wife, Mary Frances Quarles, a widow who lived in his community.
Since Zeekee is not listed in the June, 1780 census nor is she found in the 1880 census, it would not be illogical to surmise that Kitty and Zeekee died together during childbirth in the summer or fall of 1870.
Mary and Joseph Casen had one child: Jennie who was born in 1872. In that year documents indicate that Joseph Casen took out loans in February and November in the total amount of $475 (@$9,000 today) for purposes of planting crops. He borrowed a total of $145 in March and Aug of 1873 (@ $2,800 today) again, for crops. In November of 1873, he sold lots #22 and #24 in Somerville for $250 (@$5,000) probably to help pay off the previous loans. He secured loans in 1875, 1876 and 1878 all for the purpose of farming.
In 1880, 15 years after the end of the Civil War, Joseph Casen, Mary, Jennie, George Washington and Edgar Griffin were living together in Somerville. Joseph Casen was now 60 years old. He was leasing the farm, paying a share of his product for rent. His operation included:
- Acres tilled, 22
- Farm implements, 2
- Livestock valued at $55
a. 2 oxen
b. 2 cows
c. 4 “other”
d. 2 calves
e. 2 cows had died in the last year
f. 12 swine
g. 30 chickens
h. 2 “other” poultry - Annual value of product: $250 (Value in 2016 – $5,573)
a. 100 lbs of butter
b. 100 eggs produced
c. 8 bushels of cow peas
d. 10 bushels of sweet potatoes
e. 30 bushels of corn
f. 4 bales of cotton
g. 30 gallons of sorghum
It is apparent that Joseph Casen’s farming was never successful enough to fully support his family off his own product. It must have been a stressful existence.
In 1899, thirty-five years after the Civil War, the State Legislature authorized pensions for Confederate veterans living in Alabama who weren’t disabled (disability had previously been required). In 1900, Joseph Casen and Mary had left farming and were living in Falkville with Joseph Casen and Kitty’s daughter, Susan (Venable,) who was 53 and widowed. Joseph Casen and Mary had few assets at that point.
In May of 1901, Mary and Joseph Casen applied for a confederate war pension. Joseph was granted a Class 4 pension which paid $18 per year (@$500/year today). It then increased to $22.65 in November, 1904.
In 1907, with the help of his son, John J., Joseph Casen requested re-assignment to Class 1, which paid $40 per year. He must not have received the upgrade, for in 1909 he was paid $25 per year. Joseph Casen died in Cullman in Nov. 1909 at the age of 89. No will has been found for Joseph Casen, probably because of his lack of any real or personal property. Mary applied for her widow’s pension in 1911. She apparently died soon thereafter. Joseph is buried in Cullman City Cemetery.
*************
George Washington Griffin, Great Grandfather
Sept. 7, 1854 Madison Co., AL – Sept. 26, 1929 Cullman Co., AL
George Washington Griffin was born in Madison County in 1854. In early 1860 his family moved to Valhermoso Springs, Alabama. He grew up in Morgan County and farmed with his father. As noted above, in June of 1880, George W. was living with his dad and step mother and farming in Valhermoso Springs. But, in November of that same year, George Washington Griffin married Laura Jane Houston (whose gg grandfather was our Patriot Samuel Houston). During her courtship and engagement, Laura Jane was living with her parents, Samuel Theodore and Mattie Houston, 10 miles away in Somerville, AL.
Laura and George W. married at Samuel T. and Mattie’s home:
George W. and Laura had six kids. Minnie Lee Griffin (our grandmother) was their oldest child born in 1881. They also had Lily Maud, Marvin Theodore, Roy Casin, Frank C. and Annie (who some of you may remember as Ann Stuart married to Dick. They lived in Maryland).
1890 Census records were lost in a warehouse fire, so we have no information for George W. and Laura that year. In 1900, they were living in Pct. 2, Beat 8 Valhermoso Springs and farming leased land. One of their neighbors, also a farmer, was 45-year-old Hugh W. Rice. Hugh was a widower and only 6 months younger than George W. In August of 1900, Hugh W. married George’s daughter, 19-year-old Minnie Lee Griffin.
In 1910, George W. and Laura moved a little north and were renting farm land at Mooresville (Hwy 20) and Swancott Roads (now just off I-565) in Limestone County. They were in house #119.
Laura died in 1918. In 1920, at 65, George W. was renting a house in Mooresville and he had the youngest, Annie (age 7) living with him. George died in Belle Mina on September 27, 1929. He was 74 years old and died from chronic nephritis and partial paralysis. George W. and Laura Houston Griffin are both buried in the Houston family cemetery in Somerville, AL.
No will has been located for George W. probably owing to the lack of any measurable real or personal property to pass on to his heirs, a similar situation as his father’s. One has to wonder at the difference in lifestyles for George W. and Joseph Casen, from that of their grandfather/father, Joseph. It is fair speculation that their loss of property/assets resulted largely from the geographic and economic devastation wrought by the Civil War; southern cotton’s wartime and post-war loss of market share to other countries, e.g. India and Brazil; and, sluggish economic diversification in the south following the war. They simply couldn’t overcome these factors.
*************
Minnie Lee Griffin, Grandmother,
1881, Lacey Springs, AL – 1963, Decatur, AL
As noted above, Minnie Lee (“Lee”) Griffin was born August 22, 1881. She lived in Lacey Springs with her family. On August 12, 1900, 10 days short of her 19th birthday, she married her father’s friend and neighbor, widower Hugh Welsh Rice. It is my understanding that she always called him Mr. Rice. The marriage was obviously arranged by her father.
This picture was taken @ 1907 and shows Hugh, Lee, Toney and Berta:
Hugh and Lee had a total of 8 children: Joseph Lester, Toney Laura, Berta Mae, Maude, Ruth, Mayme, Harry and Roy Lee. Joseph and Roy died in infancy and are buried in Bartee Cemetery in Morgan County. In late April of 1910, Hugh, Lee, Toney, Berta and Maude were living in the Richland Precinct of Limestone County at the intersection of Mooresville and Swancott Roads, in house #137. This was the same area where George W. and Laura were living. Son, Harry, was born in Swancott in 1915, Roy in 1918.
In January of 1920 Hugh, Lee and children (including Roy Lee who was about 1 ½) moved to a rental home on Browns Ferry Road in Greenbrier (House # 152).
Toney, Berta, Maude, Ruth and Mayme @1918:
Hugh was doing “general farming” in 1920. In September of that year, Roy Lee died. I remember our father, Harry, saying that he recalled his mother and father trying to warm Roy in front of the stove when he was ill. I can’t remember the cause of death. Could have been croup.
In 1930, Hugh was 75 and Lee is 49. He and Lee rented a home on Cain Street in Decatur for $35 per month.
Toney, Berta, Maude, Ruth, Mayme, and Harry lived there along with Hugh’s sister, Josie Rice Hughes, and three women “roomers”. Hugh claimed to be a mechanic at Cotton Compress, but he was not a salaried employee and was apparently counted in the U.S. Gov’t’s 1930 Unemployment Schedule.
The 1930 census also tells us that the family did not own a radio; they no longer lived on a farm; Hugh’s age at his first marriage was 22 and he could read and write. At the time of this census, our father (Harry W.) was 14 years old. Harry would live in the area until soon after his father’s death. Hugh died in February of 1934. He is buried in Bartee Cemetery near his two infant sons and his first wife, Mariah Wall.
In 1940, widowed Minnie Lee and daughter Berta were living with daughter Toney and her husband, Otis Raley, at their home, 310 McKinley Avenue in Montgomery, AL
In January 1945, son, Harry, was in the U.S. Army Air Corps and was stationed in Memphis, Tennessee. Lee went to visit Harry and mentioned it in her diary:
By 1952, Lee was back in Decatur, living on her own at Garden Court Apartments #2, 1020 Grant Street, S.E. in Decatur. It appears that she preferred Decatur over Montgomery.
Seven years later, in 1959, Lee’s daughter, Berta, was killed in a car accident. Berta was single at the time. Lee died from heart failure in April 1963 at the age of 73. She had lived a good life and left 5 children and 11 grandchildren behind.