Lewis Brown Griffin – A Wrench in the Meharg Theory? (Short answer – No)

[As always, read the endnotes.]

Now here’s the long answer.

When I was researching the Meharg problem, the one issue that could have thrown my entire theory off was the possibility that Benjamin F. Griffin had been previously married and had children by his first wife. That could have accounted for the numerous children in the 1840 household of Benjamin F. Griffin. And now, I have found that he was, indeed, previously married, and that he and his first wife did have a son who grew to adulthood.

But this, on further investigation, does not wreak the Meharg Theory.

Since I am jumping in mid-stream here, let’s recap.

Various internet sites and even published books claim that the approximately six stray Mehargs born in the 1820s and 1830s in St. Clair and possibly Benton/Calhoun Counties, Alabama, belonged to James Meharg and his first wife, Mary “Polly” Autrey. [I do not refer to the children of Lewis S. Meharg, as they are well-established, but to the “stray” Mehargs found in mid-19th Century records]. But when I examined the 1830 and 1840 census records,[1] I found only two children in James Meharg’s household while I found numerous children in the household of his probable brother, John Meharg and his wife Mary Y. Moody [to whom internet sites assign only one child together].

The widowed Mary Y. Moody Meharg remarried in 1838 to Benjamin F. Griffin in Benton [Calhoun] County, Alabama, and the 1840 US Census shows the Griffin household overflowing with kids. Through careful research and via overwhelming preponderance of the evidence, I concluded that these “stray Mehargs” were, in fact, the children of John Meharg and Mary Y. Moody. [Please see my article “The Meharg Problem”—found on this website—for the entire discussion of the theory, as well as further posts on additional evidence.]

I also concluded there was one extra male Meharg, born in the late 1820s, in the Griffin household in 1840, who disappears from the records by 1850. Most likely, he died, but it is possible he left Calhoun County and Alabama altogether [when in doubt, look in Texas—but I’ve never found him. How can I? No one knows his name.].

Since doing all that research on the Mehargs, I have discovered Lewis Brown Griffin. And since this is technically going outside my research perimeters, I’m afraid I am not going to be as thorough as usual. My apologies, but I do hope someone researching the Griffin family of Calhoun County, Alabama, might find the included information useful. For my part, this is a quick examination of the readily available online records related to Lewis Brown Griffin. My aim is to determine if he could be the unknown male in the household of Benjamin F. Griffin in 1840.

***

A write-up found on Findagrave.com gives a good summary of Benjamin F. Griffin’s life [his gravesite is unknown]. The source of the information is The Griffin Family by Nancy Sue Griffin Lovvorn. I have not tracked down this book, but the book is stated to be based on family letters, etc., and I suspect it is full of information that cannot be found elsewhere.

The Findagrave write-up states that Benjamin F. Griffin married Fanny Brown, daughter of Lewis Brown of Pickens County, South Carolina. South Carolina is problematic for researching marriages as records were not kept until the 20th Century. Benjamin and Fanny had a son, Lewis Brown Griffin. [Sadly, I have no proof for the name of Lewis Brown Griffin’s mother, but I did find evidence proving the rest.]

The dates for Lewis Brown Griffin are problematic.[2] Online sites state he was born 30 May 1835 in Pickens County, South Carolina, and died 14 or 16 December 1914 or 1916 in Tom Green County, Texas. Unfortunately, I cannot locate a burial site, and strangely for Texas, I cannot locate a death certificate. None of which means the information is wrong; only that I cannot find documentation to confirm this information.

However, all the census records confirm that he was born in 1835 in South Carolina. Furthermore, he disappears from the records after the 1910 census. So the dates given are consistent with what I found in the records. [Please note: this is a basic search; I have not gone to libraries or searched newspapers or tracked down descendants in the hope of finding bits of information.]

Here are the factual records that are readily available:[3]

1840 US Census – Pickens County, South Carolina – the household of Lewis Brown. Included in the household are 1 male age 5 to 10, 1 male age 60 to 70, and 1 female age 60 to 70, all of which is in keeping with a 5-year-old Lewis Brown Griffin living with his maternal grandparents, Lewis and Julia Brown.[4]

1847 – 3 February – the will of Lewis Brown, signed on 18 November 1843, is submitted to the court in Pickens County, South Carolina.[5] In it, he names his wife, Julia Brown, and his grandson Lewis Brown Griffin, as well as other family members. He also names “Benjamin Griffin” as his son-in-law.[6]

1850 US Census – Pickens County, South Carolina – “Lewis Griffin”, age 15, is living with Julia Brown, age 72, his maternal grandmother, now a widow.

1853 – 20 September – Lewis Brown Griffin married Mary Elizabeth Moody in Benton [Calhoun] County, Alabama.[7] Mary was the daughter of Benjamin E. Moody (1808-1892)[8] and Martha E. Caddell/Cadwell.[9] Benjamin E. Moody was the brother of Mary Y. Moody [Mrs. Benjamin F. Griffin and Lewis’s stepmother.[10] Besides being a cousin to Lewis’s half-siblings, Mary Elizabeth Moody was first cousin to our “stray” Mehargs].

1860 US Census – Round Pond, St. Clair County, Alabama – “L B Griffen” [sic], 25, listed with his wife Mary, and their three children, Julia 5, Fanny 3, and Lewis 2. Compiling a list of all their children [see below], it becomes apparent that their eldest child, Martha Ann, is missing from this census. She was born in 1854, nine months almost to the day after her parents’ marriage. I believe she is one and the same as Julia, based on records listing Martha Ann’s middle initials [see below].

1870 US Census – Odenville, St. Clair County, Alabama – the Griffins are living next door to Mary’s parents, “B. E.” and Martha Moody. “L B” Griffin is listed with his wife, Mary E., and five children, Martha 16, Frances 14 [the previous “Fanny”], Benjamin 10, Winfred 5, and Mary J 1.

1874 – 24 December – daughter “Martha A. J. Griffin” married James F. Hawkins in St. Clair County, Alabama.[11] “L B Griffin” signed the marriage record. The presence of this J middle initial leads me to believe her full name was Martha Ann Julia Griffin, thereby accounting for the Griffin daughter “Julia” in the 1860 census record.

1880 US Census – Branchville, St. Clair County, Alabama – “L B” Griffin is listed with wife, “ME” and six children: “BE” 18 with his wife “Tina” 18, “LW” 14, “MJ” 12, “AA” 9, “SV” 6, and “MM” 4. On this same page of the census a few doors up is “J F” Hawkins 25 and his wife “MJ” Hawkins 24 [Martha Ann J Griffin], with their two daughters, Allis 4 and Ida 2.

1900 US Census – Bell County, Texas – “L B” Griffin, born Mar [sic] 1835 in South Carolina to parents born in South Carolina, is listed with his wife, “M E” Griffin, born Dec 1835 in Alabama. She has 7 out of 10 children still living. With them are their daughter, “S V Rivus” [sic] and granddaughter, “Artie May Rivus” [sic]. This is, in fact, Sallie V. Griffin Rivers[12] and her daughter.

1901 – Mary E. Moody Griffin dies. There is a page for her gravesite at Findagrave, with a photo of her gravestone, which gives her date of death only as 1901. The write-up states she died in Brown County, Texas, and thus she was buried there at the Blake Cemetery.

1910 US Census – Coryell County, Texas – Lewis B. Griffin is listed in the household of his son, Benjamin E. Griffin and his family.

I couldn’t find any record for the death of Lewis Brown Griffin or his gravesite.[13]

The children of Lewis Brown Griffin and Mary Elizabeth Moody are as follows:[14]

1) Martha Ann Julia Griffin [Mrs. James F. Hawkins] (22 June 1854 – 13 January 1946) – had issue

2) Frances “Fanny” Griffin (born c1856, died after 1870)[15]

3) Lewis Griffin (May 1858 – 14 November 1860)[16]

4) Benjamin Epps Griffin (6 October 1861 – 24 February 1944)

Married 1) Lucy Tinie Strother – had issue

2) Julia Alma Freeman Branham – had issue

5) Lewis Winfred Griffin (24 April 1866 – 4 March 1939)

Married Missouri Christine Morgan – had issue

6) Mary Jane Griffin [Mrs. Duncan McInis] (16 January 1868/69 – 27 December 1961) – had issue

7) Andrew A. Griffin (13 January 1872 – 7 May 1938)

Married Nannie N. Galloway – had issue

8) Sallie V. Griffin [Mrs. Robert F. Rivers] (10 May 1873 – 21 November 1935) – had issue

9) Memory Melvin Griffin (24 March 1877 – 8 May 1938)

Married Willie Lee Mayes – had issue

10) unknown Griffin child, died young[17]

***

Having laid out the documented details, I have no doubt that, Lewis Brown Griffin, born in 1835 in South Carolina, cannot be the unknown male born in the late 1820s found in the household of Benjamin F. Griffin in 1840 in Benton [Calhoun] County, Alabama. Furthermore, that unknown male is consistent with the unknown male born in the late 1820s found in the household of John Meharg in 1830 in St. Clair County, Alabama.

As a result, we have yet to find anything to disprove the probability that this unknown male was a son of John Meharg and Mary Y. Moody.

[1] Both censuses list only the head of household by name. The rest of a household are listed only by sex and age range.

[2] His full name is documented in the Texas death records for his children.

[3] I used FamilySearch.org and Findagrave.com.

[4] The 1840 US Census shows a male child about this age in the household of Benjamin F. Griffin in Benton [Calhoun] County, Alabama. I contend this is James S. Meharg, and given that Lewis Brown Griffin matches the child in the Brown household in Pickens County, South Carolina, I stand by my conclusion the boy in Alabama is James S. Meharg.

[5] “Box 16, No. 207”—I found his will at FamilySearch.org via court records on microfilm that can be found by using the catalogue and looking up the county. After finding the correct microfilm, you have to look through it page by page.

[6] This record proves the links between Lewis and Julia Brown, Lewis Brown Griffin, and Benjamin Griffin… but is it the right Benjamin Griffin? [See below.]

[7] Alabama County Marriages, 1809-1950, FamilySearch.org

[8] Alabama Deaths and Burials, 1881-1952, FamilySearch.org. Mr. Moody died in St. Clair County but I did not find a gravesite for him.

[9] Census records and Alabama County Marriages 1809-1950, FamilySearch.org. In her marriage record, Martha’s last name is “Caddell” while online sites list it as Cadwell. I have not researched this enough to reach a conclusion one way or another.

[10] Thereby demonstrating the Benjamin Griffin named as the son-in-law of Lewis Brown in the Pickens County will is probably the correct Benjamin Griffin. While technically, this is still circumstantial evidence [our Benjamin F. Griffin could be a cousin with the same name as Lewis’s father], it’s enough to satisfy me.

[11] Alabama County Marriages, 1809-1950, FamilySearch.org

[12] It is tempting to speculate that her full name was Sarah “Sallie” Varnon Griffin Rivers, after Lewis Brown Griffin’s half-sister, Sarah A. Griffin Varnon.

[13] Online sites state he died in Tom Green County, Texas. However, I searched page by page through the Tom Green County Death Register microfilm found at FamilySearch.org [via the catalogue], and found no trace of Lewis in either the index or on those dates in the register. In addition, I searched through similar records for Coryell County, Texas, and likewise found nothing.

[14] The 1900 US Census for Bell County, Texas, states that Mrs. Griffin had 7 out of 10 children still living. As I believe daughter “Julia” from the 1860 census is one and the same as daughter Martha A. J. Griffin, one child is unaccounted for. All information regarding the children came from census records, Alabama marriage records, Texas death certificates, and Texas marriage records found at FamilySearch.org or via gravestones at Findagrave.com.

[15] She was 14 in 1870, when she last appears in the census records with her family. It is possible she married, perhaps even having children, but died prior to the 1900 census, where she is undoubtedly one of the three children her mother has lost. That said, she most likely died between 1870 and 1880 in St. Clair County, Alabama, and I suspect she was buried in the Moody Cemetery.

[16] According to Findagrave.com, “L. A. T. Griffin” is buried in the Moody Cemetery, St. Clair County, Alabama. A photo of his gravestone is included, but it is very difficult to read. It appears to state he was the son of “L B and M” and it lists the dates of his birth and death.

[17] The Griffins, apparently, left for Texas in the mid-1880s or so, when Mrs. Griffin would have been about 50. With that in mind, I suspect that wherever this unknown child fell within the family, he/she was most likely born in Alabama and died in Alabama and was probably buried in Moody Cemetery.