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An American Family History

Captain Stephen Griswold

New Hampshire was first settled by Europeans in 1623. It was separated from Massachusetts in 1679.

Lush forests in Colonial America allowed settlers to build wooden homes.

Estate inventories give us a glance into the home life of Colonial Americans.

Stephen Griswold was the son of Isaac Griswold and Jemima Keep. He was born on November 21, 1732 in Killingsworth, Middlesex County, Connecticut.

His married, Hannah Colmons on January 10, 1751 in Bolton, Tolland County, Connecticut.

Stephen and Hannah's children were born in Bolton, Tolland County, Connecticut. They were
Molly Griswold (1752, died as an infant),
Isaac Griswold (1753, married Lucy Osgood),
Jemima Griswold Dewey (1756, married Timothy Dewey),
Mary Griswold
Hurd (1761, married Zadoc Hurd) and
Stephen Griswold (1767, married Cynthia Kingsbury, Elizabeth Curtis and Maria).

Hannah died on December 2, 1767 in Hartford Connecticut.

Captain Stephen Griswold was probably the first settler of Sullivan, Cheshire County, New Hampshire. He must have settled there as early as 1768.

During the revolution he was a lieutenant in Colonel Samuel Ashley’s regiment. He served with Captain Isaac Davis, his wife’s first husband.

Lieut. Stephen Griswold. This young man entered the army the very fall that his father moved from this place. He was made a lieutenant in the company of Capt. Isaac Davis, in Col. Ashley's regiment, which went, in 1776, at the requisition of Maj. Gen. Gates, to reinforce the continental army at Ticonderoga. Griswold became a captain of the militia in Keene. (History of the Town of Sullivan)

On September 22, 1778 he married Elizabeth Powers Davis. They were married by Abraham Wood, clerk in Keene. Their children and life together are described in detail in the section on Isaac and Elizabeth Davis.

After leaving the farm he may have lived in Gilsum where his son had a store and operated a mill.

In 1801, Stephen and Stephen, Jr. were on the list of people whose land the Third New Hampshire Turnpike crossed.

He died about 1806.
Children of Isaac Davis
and Lucy Osborn
  • Jonathan Davis
  • Lucy Davis
  • Jemima Davis McMichel
  • Jacob Davis
  • Samuel Davis
  • Isaac Davis
  • of Isaac Davis and
    Elizabeth Powers
  • Susannah Davis
  • Elizabeth Davis
  • Olive Davis
  • Joel Davis
  • Susannah Davis Shattuck
  • Eunice Davis Dwinnell
  • Lydia Davis
  • Hannah Davis
  • Abigail Davis Stephens
    of Stephen Griswold and Elizabeth Powers
  • Mary Griswold
  • Clara Griswold Rockwood
  • Flavia Griswold Hendrix
  • Esther Griswold Bliss
  • Boston
    1756

    Connecticut's first European settlers were Dutch.

    1

    The town clerk was one of the first offices in colonial America. The clerk recorded births, marriages, and deaths.

     

    divider

     
    A militia is a military unit composed of citizens who are called up in time of need.
    primer
    18th century primer

    A History of the Town of Sullivan, gf, 1777-1917 by Josiah Lafayette Seward published by Sentinel Printing Company, 1921

    Stephen Griswold was probably the first settler of Sullivan He lived at the site of the later house of the Lockes, at 102. He must have settled there as early as 1768, having been the drawee of the lot upon which he settled. Benjamin Olcott came the same year to what is now the town farm, and lived at the site of 68. They were the first two families in town, and evidence seems to make it probable that the Griswolds preceded the Olcotts. Mrs. Griswold's first name was Hannah. We know no more of her.

    He m. 2d, Sept. 22, 1778, in Chesterfield, by Rev. Abraham Wood, Mrs. Elizabeth [Powers] Davis, probably the widow of Capt. Isaac Davis of that town. Ac. to Hayward's Gilsum, he d. ab. 1806. We know no more of his personal history.

    We do not know the number of his ch., nor the order of their births. Among them were
    Stephen, Jr.,
    Isaac,
    Jemima, b. in Keene, July 1755; m. Timothy Dewey, Jr., q. v. probably also
    Mary (or Mally), and
    Clara,

    gr he lived in S., on the place named until 1776, when he sold it to Joseph Ellis, Sr.

    Flavia and Esther, daus. of Stephen Griswold, who were bap. in Keene, July 7, 1785, were most likely, also, daus. of the elder Stephen by his second wife. We do not know any more of them.
    Joseph Griswold of Surry, who was m. in that town, Apr. 8. 1801, by Key. P. Howe, to Susannah Fowler of Surry, may possibly have been a son or grandson of Stephen Griswold, Sr.
    Asahel Griswold of Walpole, also, who m., Sept. 1796, Prudence Bliss of Gilsum, may have been another son of Stephen Griswold, Sr. No one of his ch. was b. in what is now Sullivan. We cannot discover the family record.

    Stephen Griswold, Jr., son of Stephen, m., Sept. 2, 1790, in Keene, by Rev. A. Hall, to Cynthia Kingsbury, b. in Wrentham, Mass., June 27, 1769; dau. of Daniel and Nancy (Thurston) Kingsbury. They lived in Keene and Gilsum, and removed to Keene, N. H. He owned for two years, 1805-07, the old farm in S., which was later the farm of Rev. C. Cummings, at 178. It is not probable that he lived upon it. He lived at Gilsum "Lower Village," and had a store. His father also lived there and operated a mill. We know of seven ch...

    Isaac Griswold, son of Stephen, m., Aug. 10, 1778, Mrs. Lucy (Osgood) Wilder, b. in Leoininster, Mass., Jan. 2, 1752; dau. of Joshua and Lucy (Carter) Osgood, and widow of Thomas Wilder. They were m. in Keene, by Rev. A. Hall. Eight ch...probably the Isaac who m., Mar. 11, 1803, Orpah Bliss of Glisum, b. there, ab. 1780, dau. of Jonathan and Sarah Bliss; ...

    Mary (or Molly Griswold), probably a dau. of Stephen, m., Sept. 2, 1784, ac. to a Gilsum record, Zadok Hurd, b. in East Haddam, Conn., ab. 1760. ..

    Clara Griswold, probably dau. of Stephen, 1, m. in Keene, Apr. 26, 1803, by Lockhart Willard, Esq., to Luther Rockwood of Elizabethtown, N. J.

    The American Revolutionary War (1775–1783) was between the Kingdom of Great Britain and the 13 colonies which became the newly formed United States.

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    ©Roberta Tuller 2020
    tuller.roberta@gmail.com
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