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.