Webmaster: griffing@fnal.gov
I must say, I do like the West
Fremont
[Ohio]
January 4, 1853
Dear Augusta,
Did you ever try to write in a public house in the barroom where about a dozen were talking? Well, if you have, you will know how to sympathize with me at this hour. I am at the Croghan House [1] -- a house named after Major Croghan of Indian notoriety as it occupies the spot near where he fought his decisive bloody battle with the Indians. I passed over the battle ground a few moments ago, but with my greatest efforts, I could not arouse much of a spirit of reverence for these butcherers of the red men. What hath a very few short years wrought? Here, where but a short time ago was his own wigwam and where unmolested he could pursue the deer and elk, and roam about wild and free happily in the bosom of his family, and [be] permitted to worship the Great Spirit unmolested, looking with anxious eye for the arrival of that day where he should leave his hunting grounds here and go to that "Elysian Island" far away in the Great Sea where all his fathers and friends have gone, where such an abundance of game abounds, and where forever he can play with instruments that never fail. Alas, poor Indian. He is beginning to exist only in name. Scarcely anything but some historical battle field [remains] that gives any indication of his once happy home. [2]
It has been several days since I have seen anyone that I formerly knew, but I understand that Henry Mersereau's wife, who went west with your Uncle Jasper [Goodrich], is married to a merchant who lives in Toledo and I hope I shall be able to find her. It will be so pleasant during my stay there. I received a letter from [my brother-in-law] Asa Brooks today saying that they were well and liked it very much in Berkshire [New York]. I was very glad to hear from [my] sister Permelia as her health was quite poor the last time I heard from her.
You spoke of Charlie Truman in your letter. I saw him in company with Fred Durkee (formerly of Owego but now selling liquor at wholesale in New York City). They came into the city of Cleveland [OH] upon the same train of cars I did. Durkee told me quite a yarn but I did not know whether to believe him or not. [He] said that he and Charlie were going to St. Louis. That they started from New York [City] with four young "darkies" with the intention of selling them in St. Louis. That one of them they [had] kept along with them for a waiter until they arrived at Dunkirk [New York]. Whilst there, a gang of colored men, by questioning their waiter, inferred what they probably were about and clubbed together and took him away from them. [He] said they were young, did not cost them much, and that buying and selling "niggers" was the best business out. And then they had a hearty laugh over the spree they had with the darkies at Dunkirk. I became completely disgusted with them and their conduct. Durkee spoke of Charlie's failure but said that he made a "big lift" by it. I wonder where it will lift him. He is a most miserable, profane, dissipated fellow -- a perfect nuisance anywhere -- an object of pity. He married a sister of my cousin's wife -- as nearly related as I should care to be. I feel sorry for his wife. I don't know whether Durkee's story is to be credited but he gave no other account of what they were making a western trip for. [3]
But
I must stop. I hardly know among the multitude of which I wish to tell you, what
to say, or what will interest you most. Please write direct. Give all the news.
If I had room, I would send you the letter I received from chum [George]
Stillman -- it was so good. Please send your next [letter] to Tiffin, Seneca
County, Ohio, as I shall pass by there next week. Excuse this letter -- only
three scribbled dirty papers which I have been obliged to carry about in my
pocket. Adieu tonight, my dear Augusta.
May the Lord bless you is the prayer of your, -- James.
Monroeville [Ohio]
February 14, 1853
Beloved Augusta,
It is now quite late in the evening and I am waiting for the cars which I am expecting along soon in which to start for Iowa. A number of gentlemen are sitting about me sitting up for the same reason so that if amidst the confusion I do not succeed in getting two ideas together, I know you will forgive me. I write because I cannot guess when I shall get another spare moment to write after I start for the West as I intend to expedite matters as briskly as possible.
I was glad to receive a good bundle of letters when I arrived here. I think there were eight and most especially was I glad to receive yours as I was looking forward to their contents with the most intense solitude. And now Augusta, I do wish I were capable of expressing to you the feelings of my mind after their perusal. I was so glad to hear you express yourself so frankly and freely. And now with a heart filled with the most grateful emotions, I can see nothing to prevent my living in the full possession of thou enjoyments, which have heretofore dwelt in doubtful anticipation. I think that if a permanent home would be something of a desideratum when your parents come to give their decision in the matter, that difficulty can be very easily obviated. Your suggestion was a good one about my bringing the matter before them, which I will endeavor to do the first favorable opportunity. And Oh, I never can think that although I may be unworthy of the hand I seek, they would wish to be instrumental in any act that would tend to embitter all my days.
You spoke of [your brother] James’ decision to go west. I wish I could only see him before I go or that he was here to go with me. Perhaps we might be helps to each other, and I am sure it would be better to have company. I expect that [my] brother Osmyn will relocate himself not far from me. From all the information I can gather, I have about concluded that somewhere in the region of Fort Desmoines will be the most favorable place in the state to locate for the present for these reasons. The country all through there abounds in immense quantities of stone coal. The Fort is talked of for the capital of Iowa as it is near the center. Iowa City, you know, is near one corner. Even this legislature came very near removing it. Besides, the very best timber and prairie lands abound in that region. And what is best of all, a great many Yankees are going there. However, I will endeavor to give you a faithful description after getting there. There is railroad to run through there from Chicago in a few years. And if one is built south from St. Paul, Minnesota, it must pass through there also.
I have money enough to buy one hundred and twenty acres, and shall claim about 120 more, which I hope to pay for in a few months. And if I get prairie land – if I can – I shall make arrangements to have some twenty-five or thirty acres broken up and sowed to wheat as I shall probably go out there next winter and commence taking care of it and begin my life in the West. If there is a good clergyman and good society at the Fort, I do not see why I may not pass my time just as profitably there as anywhere. And then I think if there are any places in the world where there are demands upon our exertions to do good, the molding of the new society there will bring a demand upon our choicest efforts.
But the men are beginning to bustle about as it is almost car time. I will put this in my pocket and if I get time, will write more before I mail it. Please pardon, and if I write no more, please send me a line in answer directed to Fort Desmoines, Iowa, asking all the questions you wish and I will try and answer them. Give all the news. I have none especially. I staid at Mrs. Crandall’s (Mrs. Daniel Ely) again the other evening and had a very pleasant time indeed. No more to write. Farewell, -- James
Chicago in the evening. At Toledo [Ohio] this morning I found Hannah (once) Hall. Was very glad to see her but could not stay only a moment. Shall stop over a day on my return. My trip through Michigan today was very pleasant. I never before looked out upon the boundless prairie. It was most a delightful view. Tomorrow going through Illinois. I hope I may have a splendid repetition. I do wish you could only enjoy the ride. I know you would like it. And then to have the pleasure of your company – that would be the best of all. But Augusta, you must excuse this miserable hurried blot. It’s too bad to send it but it must go or nothing. It does not deserve a reply, yet if you will just send a line to Fort Desmoines, Iowa, just as soon as this arrives, it will be most gratefully received by your best friend, -- James
In order that you may have something to read, I will send a part of the letter just received from my old chum [Walton]. It gives the workings of his mind upon an all-important subject, and as it is chum out and out, it will enable you to form his acquaintance. You can look over his disposition to flatter [me] and his depreciation of his own disposition. I do think him the kindest and best in my class, possessing a very even disposition. [To read the letter, click on the link at the top of this page.]
P.S. In thinking the matter over, I guess you had better direct me at this place as I shall come here upon my return and I know not exactly where and how long I may be at any one place. Horrible [excuse for] a letter but consider the circumstances. Believe me ever yours, -- James
Remember, Chicago, Illinois.
March 1, 1853
My dear brother Ralph,
I have not written to you for some time and I think you have not written to me for a long time either. But I will try to write a few lines tonight to send with the others.
James Fiddis sent a letter to you some time ago. Did you receive it? He wants to know. I directed it for him. He goes to school every day and studies hard all the time out of school. Do you go now to the [Owego] Academy? And has Mr. [William] Smyth recovered? I suppose Mr. [Charles R.] Coburn is still there. I would like very much to go in and see you in school and hear your recitations. Do you like Latin, and do you improve in it? I attended a lecture to young men last Sabbath evening in the Pearl Street Church. It was delivered by the minister of the church, Rev. Mr. [Elias R.] Beadle, and I wish you and [our brother] James could have heard it. Has he received a letter that I wrote him while in Hatfield?
It is just two months today since I heard of [our] dear sister Rachel’s death. And Oh! It was such sad news, and now I cannot realize it. It does not seem that I shall not meet her with the rest of you when I go home, but that one face will be missing. Oh! It is sad, and I know you feel it deeply. She was your twin sister. But she has passed from earth, we hope, to another and better world where if we are only God’s children, we may meet her hereafter. Think of her often. And when tempted to do wrong in after years (if your life is spared), just stop and think, would my spirit sister approve of it?
Let the remembrance of her be a safeguard. Never do anything but what you think she would approve of in the spirit world, did she but know it. But above all, give your heart to God now, in the morning of your life, and if your life be spared, so live that your example may be safely followed. It is my daily prayer that we may not be a divided family in another world [and] that at the judgment day, we may all be united in God’s Kingdom. We cannot be truly happy here unless we feel that we are God’s children & are looking forward to a home with Him when our brief life is passed. Brief it is if we live four score years and ten. But I hope we shall spend eternity together.
Please write to me soon.
I love to hear from you all & often. Your affectionate sister, --
Woodstock [Illinois]
March 18, 1853
Beloved
Augusta,
When I started from Chicago Wednesday [March 16, 1853], I [had] about made up my mind that I would deny myself the gratification of calling upon my relations and acquaintances without it happened to come right along in my line of travel. But when I came along [the "Chicago-Galena Railroad"] as far as Union Station [Illinois], I remembered that I had some cousins living at Woodstock and with all my resolution, I could not resist the temptation to come up and see them -- it being only about ten miles over the prairie -- as I had seen none of them in about a dozen years. And now I feel very glad that I concluded to come. Not one of them knew me at first, but when I made myself known, oh there was lots of the Griffing looks in me then. I am at present with my cousin, George Griffing [4]. His farm of eighty acres is situated partly within the corporation of the village of Woodstock, county seat of McHenry County and is quite valuable. He lives a farmer's life, works hard, and I think possesses a very happy and kind disposition. He married his wife in Richford, Tioga County [New York]. His sister (Amanda Leonard Griffing) is married to a gentleman from Massachusetts (Josiah Dwight) [5] and lives here in the village.
I like the country very much about here -- especially the smooth, beautiful prairie. Why people will live and work among the "boulders" and huge masses of stone in New England, rarely after a season's hard labor securing enough to winter through, when with one third the labor they can secure three times the crop here, and still continue to stay there among the rocks, I cannot possible see. Strange how much people will become attached to the scenes and labors of earlier years. Yet probably one great reason that more stay there is that they never go away to see how it appears in other parts of the world.
If you ever come west, I am sure you will pronounce Chicago one of the pleasantest cities you ever saw. It is considered very healthy and I am sure for locality, for the energy and go-aheaditiveness of its citizens, for the number of its railroads and the prospects that open for its future growth and extension for business, it has no superior in the Union. Its name ("Garden City") seems very appropriate. It contains many quite nice buildings, none very expensive when its wealth is taken into consideration.
I must say that I do like the West. The testimony of all living here say that it has been grossly misrepresented down East in many respects, especially concerning the healthiness of the climate and people. Those living here seem to think that for good health, this place has no superior scarcely under the broad beams of the sun. Perhaps the reason of its misrepresentation is this. That in some places of the Western country are low, marshy places in the vicinity of good land. Allured by this, many families have settled in such places and sacrificed their health and lives. And as they lived "in the West", of course the conclusion is that the "West" is a most woeful, unhealthy place. Judicion is as necessary here as anywhere, and persons can locate here in just as healthy places as the wide world affords.
When
I was coming up in the [railroad] cars yesterday, a young man sitting just ahead
of me in a seat, inquired if my name was not Griffing. I told him that [was]
what people used to call me. [He] said his name was Horace Roots, formerly of
Catlin Hill, [who] moved out West when the Sherman's did. [He] said he had been
out to Owego on a visit, was at our house and staid over night. He was in
company with one of Mr. Nathaniel Catlin's boys and returning home to
Janesville, Wisconsin. [6]
This morning, cousin George was saying that there were some Goodrich's in town. Remembering that you said you had some cousins in this county, I did not know but these might be the ones. So I went down to the grocery where one Joseph Goodrich was keeping [store] and sure enough, he proved to be a son of your Uncle Cyprian Goodrich of Cato, New York. [He] said he had a brother [Ansel or Ira?] who had gone to Oregon and that he had not received one letter since his departure about two years ago. [He] says he has a brother Charles [born 1814] about four miles out of town and a sister Sarah [born 1825] living with her sister Prudence [Goodrich] Golder [7], [who is married to] a drug merchant in the village. If I can manage some excuse, I shall call upon them before I leave town.
There is a farm of eighty acres containing about thirty five under improvement, a small frame house and some other things I am unable to mention until I go and see it. [It is] situated nearly halfway between this village and Franklinville, which village is about five miles south [of Woodstock]. The gentleman who owns it is in debt and unable to pay for it and offers it at a good bargain. Cousin George is quite anxious to have me get it and will go with me in the morning to look at it. I think I shall go and see how I like it, but hardly think I can make it suit. If I buy [it], most probably I shall not go any farther west at present, but shall wait until I get it paid for. It is much more difficult searching out the most suitable place to locate west than I anticipated. Scarcely a place but has its advantages and disadvantages so that it requires much foresight to weight judiciously all the pro and cons and decide aright.
Monday,
March 21st [1853] In fact, I am not
sure but I shall end my journey here for the present. On Saturday last, cousin
[George] and myself went to look at a farm for sale nearly three miles from
Woodstock out on the prairie. There was, on it, a small frame house, about
thirty fruit trees, about thirty acres under tillage as rich and black land as
the Maughwaumie Flats [west of Nichols, New York], and the rest meadow. There
[also] was on it a small pond abounding in fish and a chicken coup to raise
poultry. [Mr. Deville White], the owner, was absent. We looked around and then requested the owner
that if he wished to sell, to call up and see me Monday morning [in Woodstock].
He came, I made him an offer and gave him until tomorrow to think about it. I am
almost afraid he will take me up [on the offer] which will cut short my fine
anticipated journey over the Great West. Perhaps on the whole, it will be to my
advantage as the expenses of traveling are considerable and eat out of a poor
man's pocket fast. If I conclude to take it, I shall go immediately back to Ohio
and work until I pay for it in full. I
called [on] Mr. [Joseph] Golder Saturday p.m. [I] found your cousins and second
cousins all well. He has four
children, lives in a brick house, and [is] doing a good business here. He is now
quite steady, has joined the sons and daughters with the Presbyterian Church.
Did not see your cousin Sarah [Goodrich]. She had just gone out to her brother Charles on
the prairie about four miles from here.
Oh What a lovely morning! It seems as if I never saw its equal. I wish you were here to enjoy it and go with me out on my cousin's farm on the prairie this afternoon. I am sure you can not help liking the country here. A railroad is now underway which passes from Chicago directly through the village of Woodstock and passes right up through central Wisconsin. Another [railroad passes] about ten miles from here, and about five [miles] from Franklinville, directly west to Galena [IL] through Belvidere, uncompleted now to Rockford. Land, says my cousin, is increasing in value here every day. That which but a few years ago could be obtained for 3 and 4 dollars an acre, can not be procured short of 15 and twenty [dollars]. I thought I would purchase this place, pay for it, and if it did not suit, I can easily sell it as it was offered cheap. [8]
Sylvania, Ohio. I ought to have mailed this [letter] before. I am at Cornelius Mersereau's [house] to spend the night. [9] Shall stop at Toledo tomorrow after which I shall resume my occupation. In coming through here on the [railroad] cars, I saw a gentleman from Belvidere who informed me that Col. [Samuel] Rockwood's family are well. He had buried his father a few days before. He has sold the most of his farm at a good bargain. [10]
Mr. Mersereau says he saw your Uncle Jasper [Goodrich's] people a few days ago. All were unusually well. There had been an extensive revival of religion in that vicinity and your Uncle professed to entertain a hope in the pardoning love of God and appeared a happy man. Why should not he be? May the good spirit ever keep him under his immediate guardianship. I am sorry I directed your last letter to Chicago. I shall be obliged to ask the remailing. When shall you come to Owego? I hope to be there about the middle of May or sooner. I should go almost direct did I not wish to raise some money to pay on the land. How worldly I am becoming! May the good spirit keep me and yourself, dear Augusta -- and all our friends from the worldling's life and death. Oh when in secret before our common Father, at times breathe some earnest wish for the welfare of your unworthy, yet sincere, -- James
Hartford [Connecticut]
March 31, 1853
My
dear James,
I
received your letter last evening and also one from home. I was glad to hear from you and that you were well.
I was very much surprised when I saw where your letter was written
[from], for I thought, he is near my cousins and knows nothing about them. But when I read further, I was truly pleased to know you had
found them and became somewhat acquainted with them. I have never seen any of
them except Charles. But Sarah
and I correspond and have for two years or more.
I wish you could have seen her. I
know she would have been pleased to see you if she only knew you were
acquainted with me. I feel well
acquainted with her although we have never met. Still, we expect [to meet] next summer as she then intends to
return home by the way of Owego where I hope to be by that time.
Perhaps you were providentially sent there.
Still, I cannot but feel that you have not done just as you expected
and intended, and that I have prevented you [from going on to Iowa]. I shall never forgive myself if that is the case. Please write your plans and whether you have sacrificed any thing,
[only] thinking to please me. Have you given up the idea of a Theological course?
Of late, I have thought of you as a wanderer among the prairies west of
the Mississippi, little dreaming you were among friends and buying nearer home
than you intended. What little things apparently sometimes induce us to alter
our plans long formed and thought over. I
cannot but feel that God orders it for the good of those interested, or for
some wise purpose. It may be so
with you. You only intended to
visit a few days with friends, then this place was offered and you took it --
giving up all idea of going further. And
perhaps there is your place, your sphere of usefulness. If it is, I hope you may be the means of doing much good.
But do not on my account give up your plans formed long ago for my
sake.
How
do you like the society there? And
what churches are there in the place? And
do you like my cousins? How long
do you think of staying in Ohio? And
how long in Owego? I do not think
I shall go home until June, but do hope to then. I have not said anything to Uncle
[Elizur] for several weeks past about
it -- then he said I must come back again to take care of [his] children, but
I do not intend to. Still, I
cannot say what I may do. He said
I might take Jamie home with me. I
have written to you and directed [the letter] to Chicago. We have moved into our new home which is quite different from the other
-- only two rooms on a floor which makes it up and down stairs.
It is a block in front of the college. It is not as convenient as the other although there is more room in it. Uncle
[Elizur] has bought a lot on Main Street, but will not build yet
awhile. If he ever builds there,
it will be a handsomer one than the other for he was never quite satisfied
with that.
I
have not seen Hancie [Abbey Dayton] since I was there last summer. Cousin Maria
[Wright] called at the store the day we moved and said that [her brother] Shelton
was married to a lady from Philadelphia. You know he is living in St. Anthony.
Miss Strong is the principal of the [Ladies] Seminary [I am attending here in Hartford], not Miss Draper. [She] is very low and [is] not expected to live but a short time. She will be missed very much as she is an excellent woman and teacher.
In the last letters from home, they write that
Elisha Yates (the
deformed one) was dead; also George Light who went south. We both left Owego at nearly the same time and, since then, how many
changes there have been. Friends
and acquaintances without number have passed into the Spirit land. Never before in two short years have so many of our relatives died --
some here and others there at Owego and about. I hope all are in the Home of award. I know that we that are left ought to live nearer Christ, but I, for
one, feel that I do not live and act as I ought. That I do not daily "grow in grace" and often, very often,
feel that I have no right to profess the Christian name.
That instead of setting a good example, safe for others to follow, I am
only a stumbling block. I do wish
to be an active, cheerful, devoted Christian, but I am very far from it.
Will you not, my dear James, often ask our Heavenly Father to grant us
both more of His Holy Spirit?
I was very much gratified to hear such good news of Uncle Jasper [Goodrich]. Oh, that it might be the same with many others of our friends who are thinking only of what we shall eat & drink.
I have not seen Mr.
[Octavius] Perinchief in a long time. He is James
Fiddis' Sabbath School teacher, but does not know I am any
relation to James. The last time I
saw him, I said I should go home in March.
The
Junior Exhibition came off last evening, but I did not attend. There has been, and is now, some difficulty in [Trinity] College.
After the tickets were sent to those invited, others were issued by the
Sophomore and Freshman inviting them on Monday evening to attend the
"Exhibition of Juniors." When
the President found it out, he ordered the managers -- five or six in number
-- home. Then about 50 or 60
signed a paper saying if the five were sent [home], they would go also. The President said they might [all go] if they pleased. Upon getting such an answer, many [of them] withdrew their names.
But for several days, there have been protestations. This is what I have heard.
Whether
all is true or not, I do not say. But
things have not gone on as usual of late for we live so near, we can see.
I
have been up to the dentist today and had one tooth filled.
And [I] am to have about a dozen cavities more [filled] next week. I dread it very much. My
teeth have decayed very fast within a year or two. Some that I had filled in Owego [have] come out & has to
be done over.
There's
to be a centennial celebration in Glastonbury in May. The descendants of the first settlers are invited especially. They are to hear parts of the history of the town written by Rev. Dr.
[Alonzo B.] Chapin, the Episcopal minister there. I
hope I shall be able to go down.
Are you coming to ______ when you come to Owego? And how soon do you think you shall be there? Please write soon. Yours Truly, -- Augusta.
Hartford Connecticut, Gleason's Pictorial, April 1853
[1] The village changed its name from "Lower Sandusky" to "Fremont" in honor of Charles Fremont, the Pathfinder, in 1849. The Croghan House, where James sat in the barroom to write his letter, was built in 1846 at the corner of what is now West State and Front Streets. In 1875, the entire hotel burned down and it was rebuilt two years later. The second hotel, dubbed "The Fremont", survived until 1981 when it met a similar fate. In 1850, the village contained a couple of hotels, several warehouses, mills (flax seed, flour, woolen) and factories (blankets, plows, stoves, sash & doors, etc.). Within days after James visited the village, the "Toledo, Norwalk, and Cleveland Railroad" sent its first passengers through Fremont.
[2] In George Knepper's book, An Ohio Portrait, pages 54-55, he describes the battle alluded to by James: "[During the War of 1812, the] overall command of American forces in the [Old] Northwest was given to William Henry Harrison, who was admired in the western country for his aggressiveness in dealing with the Indians... By 1813, Harrison had established his main post at Fort Meigs near modern Perrysburg [Ohio] at the rapids of the Maumee [River] where his army successfully withstood a siege by Indians under Tecumseh. In August, [British General Henry] Proctor led about 1,200 soldiers and Indians up the Sandusky [River], but his thrust was turned back by the heroic defense of Ft. Stephenson (modern Fremont) by Major George Croghan and his small garrison who made effective use of their lone field piece, "Old Betsy."
[3] Charlie Truman (Charles L. Truman) was born 24 March 1825 in Owego, N.Y., the son of Asa H. and Betsy (Dean) Truman. He married Anna Thurston Dexter, daughter of Stephen and Deborah (Thurston) Dexter on 12 July 1849. He joined his brother Lucius Truman and William P. Stone in the general mercantile business in Owego until the partnership was dissolved in 1851. Charlie Truman entered the volunteer service as a first lieutenant in the 18th U.S. Infantry, 2nd Battalion on March 6, 1862. He was brevetted captain 19 September 1863 for meritorious service in the Battle of Chickamauga but was killed in battle on 20 September 1863.
Stephen Dexter, a civil engineer, was born in Cranston, Rhode Island 16 May 1792. He lived in Windham, CT., but came by invitation to Ithaca, N.Y. to stake out lots and make a map of the village. In the fall of 1836, Stephen Dexter was hired to survey and make a map of the Owego village as well. Tradition has it that in running the lines, Mr. Dexter "cut off in many instances land from the door yards of some of the property owners, which caused some dissatisfaction. But his survey was correct and the street lines as now existing are in accordance with his map." [Kingman, Early Owego, pg. 355] In 1838, Stephen Dexter removed to Owego where he spent the remainder of his life. He was also engaged on the survey for the Erie railroad. Charlie's wife, Anna Thurston Dexter, was the sister of Harriet Dexter, who married James Griffing's cousin, Frederick R. Parmele [or Parmelee] on 22 October 1841 [see Griffing Family Tree].
[4] George H. Griffing was born in Berkshire, Tioga County, New York, on March
22, 1812. He was the son of
Henry (James' Uncle) and Anna Leonard Griffing.
In 1837, he came west, remained two years; then returned home, and
January 5, 1839, was married to Mary Butler, a native of Onondaga County,
New York. They came west and
settled near Woodstock. He was
a prosperous farmer and an enterprising, influential citizen. He was superintendent of the Agricultural Society, an enthusiastic
supporter of educational movements, and an active member of the Presbyterian
Church.
George and Mary Griffing Gravestones in Woodstock, IL
[5] Josiah Dwight, was a native of Northampton, Massachusetts and was among the
earliest pioneers to settle in Greenwood Township (1838). He married Amanda Leonard Griffing in the early 1840's.
He edited the first newspaper published in McHenry County in 1846; he
opened the first store in Woodstock in 1845; and he was appointed Postmaster
by President Taylor. His son, W.
H. Dwight, carried on a boot and shoe business in Woodstock for many
years.
Josiah Dwight
Josiah
Dwight's Gravestone in Woodstock, IL
[6] In the 1850 census, Horace Roots (age 19) is shown living with Asa Roots (age 44) and Augusta Roots (age 42), presumably his parents. Other members of the household included Henry Roots (age 20), Chauncey Roots (age 16), Nathaniel Roots (age 13) and Sarah Roots (age 9). Their farm was located on the East Side of the Rock River in Fulton, Rock County, Wisconsin -- approximately 10 miles northwest of Janesville. On a farm nearby was the family of Asa Catlin (age 24), Cynthia Catlin (age 23), and their two young sons Samuel and Orrin. It is presumed that Asa was the son of Nathaniel Catlin of Tioga County, New York. There are Sherman's from New York living in La Prairie, Wisconsin, just east of Janesville.
The 1830 census shows Asa Roots living in Spencer, Tioga County, NY. In the 1840 census, he is shown living in Tioga, Tioga County, NY.
[7]
Joseph Golder and Dr. Hedger opened the first drug store in Woodstock in
1852.
[8]
James' offer for the farm was accepted by Deville E. White, formerly of
Chenango County, New York, at the price of
$2.50 an acre. The farm was not
fully purchased until August 29, 1853, however.
The property was NW SW & NE NW 11.44.6. On December 28, 1857, James sold the farm to Norman Frame for $11.08
per acre. Possibly Mr. Frame
defaulted on the payments, however, as James sold the farm again on
September 24, 1860, to Peter Bain for $12.50 an acre. The map below spans
the area between Franklinville and Woodstock, Illinois. George H. Griffing's
farm
Map
of Woodstock, Illinois
(see footnote 6 for location of James S. Griffing's farm)
[10] "Col." Samuel Rockwood (1804 - 18??) was married in 1832 to Augusta Goodrich (1811- 1839), a younger sister of Mary Ann Goodrich. He was the uncle, therefore, of James' fiancé, Augusta Goodrich. In the 1860 census, 55 year-old Samuel Rockwood appears as a grocer in Belvidere, Boone County, IL. Living with him was his 17 year-old daughter, Fanny A. Rockwood, who was employed as a teacher.
[11] At the time of his passing, Elisha Yates was a 34 year-old native of Ireland who farmed in Tioga County, New York. He was survived by his widow, Mahala Yates.