•XliE
��GRANITE MONTHLY,
A NEW HAMPSHIRE MAdAZINE,
Devoted to Literature, Biography, History, and State Progress.
Vol. Y. JANUARY, 1882. I^o. 4.
GENERAL S. G. GRIFFIN.
��BY REV. A. B. CRAWFORD.
GENERAL Simon G. Griffin was born in Nelson, N. H., on the 9th of August, 1824. His ancestors, as far back as they can be traced, were prominent men in the community where they hved, strong and hardy physi- cally, and gifted with more than ordinary strength of intellect and force of character.
His grandfather, Samuel Griffin, Esq., came from Methuen, Massachusetts, soon after the Revolutionary War ; married a daughter of the Rev. Jacob Foster, the then settled minister at " Packersfield," now Nelson, and took up his residence in that town. His superior abilities soon brought him forward to fill responsible positions, and for many years he represented the town in the legislature, and held the highest town offices. Both he and the General's maternal grandfather, Nehemiah Wright, were patriot soldiers in the revolu- tionary army, and both were present at the battle of Bunker Hill.
His father, Nathan Griffin, was equally gifted with the earlier progenitors of the family ; but losing his health in the early prime of manhood, the care of rearing the family of seven children fell upon the mother. Her maiden name was Sally Wright. She was one of the loveliest of her sex, both in person and character, — one of those sweet and noble women who " bless the world by living in it," — and the General owes much to her wise counsels and careful training. She died recently at the age of ninety-four years, and attained this great age with eye undimmed and mind unclouded.
When but six years of age, in consequence of his father's illness, the boy Simon was sent to live for some years with his uncle, General Samuel Griffin, of Roxbury, New Hampshire, a successful farmer and a man of high natural abilities. He, too, had a decided talent for military affairs ; had been a volun- teer in the War of 18 12, though not called into active service. He was prom- inent in the State militia ; and was fond of repeating the military histories and descriptions of battles and campaigns that he had read, thus creating a deep and' lasting impression on the mind of the boy. But he was also one of those energetic men who believe in industry and frugality as means of success ; and never after he was seven years old could the boy be spared from the farm to attend school during summer. Ten or twelve weeks each winter, at the dis- trict school, was all the " schooling " he ever received ; but his natural thirst for knowledge led him to spend his leisure hours in reading and study ; and
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