Biographical Sketch

• Early Friends Families of Upper Bucks, 1925

• [Note: Chapter XVIII, "Griffith Family," pp. 211-218. Only the portion of the chapter that bears directly on Abraham Griffith, Jr. (b. 1713) is given below; the complete chapter is on file as the source document 365_367_368_369_370_371-griffith_family_of_upper_bucks.pdf.]
  
  [Note: from sketch No. 1, his father Abraham Griffith, p. 212, on the tradition of the first white child born in the Great Swamp; the "first home" below is his father's:]
  
  According to tradition his first home was a temporary house erected against a large rock at the site of the "late residence of Samuel H. Getman" on the west side of the Bethlehem Road, about three-eighths of a mile northwest of its intersection with what is now known as the Station Road. The tradition further relates that in this house occurred the birth of the first white child born in the Great Swamp district. Authorities differ as to whether it was Abraham Griffith, Jr., born 2 mo. 13, 1713, or his younger brother Jonathan, born 1 mo. 25, 1715-16. The weight of the evidence seems to be in favor of the former. The house in which this child was born, and all trace of the rock referred to, have long since disappeared. [Note: the book prints "2 mo. 13, 1713" here but "2-12—1713" in the list of children on p. 213 and "2 mo. 12, 1713" in sketch No. 4. The inconsistency is the book's own and is left as printed.]
  
  [Note: his entry in the list of the children of Abraham and Hannah (Lester) Griffith, p. 213:]
  
  4 Abraham, Jr., b. 2-12—1713; m. Elizabeth Lynn.
  
  [Note: sketch No. 4, pp. 213-214, given in full:]
  
  4. ABRAHAM GRIFFITH, JR.² (Abraham¹), third child and second son of Abraham and Hannah (Lester) Griffith, was born in Richland, 2 mo. 12, 1713. He was a miller by trade and lived in several different localities. He never became a member of Richland Monthly Meeting, but retained his membership in Gwynedd Monthly Meeting. He was a recognized minister of that meeting and travelled considerably in the [p. 214] ministry. He married in Philadelphia, 7 mo. 24, 1742, Elizabeth Lynn, daughter of Joseph Lynn, a merchant of that city. [Note: a facsimile of Abraham Griffith, Jr.'s signature, reading "Abraham Griffith Jr", is printed in the text block of this sketch on p. 213.]
  
  Immediately following their marriage Abraham and Elizabeth (Lynn) Griffith settled in Burlington County, New Jersey. In 1752 they located on a farm in Southampton Township, Bucks County, devised to Elizabeth by her father. Abraham also owned and operated a mill in Southampton for about five years. He then removed to Lower Dublin Township, Philadelphia County, where he also operated a mill. In or about 1762 he removed to Upper Merion Township, now Montgomery County, and again became a member of Gwynedd Monthly Meeting, having previously transferred to Abington, Burlington (New Jersey), and Middletown, Bucks County. He was a "shopkeeper" in Germantown in 1767 and 1768. He retained his membership at Gwynedd until 1775, when he took a certificate to Haverford, having lived for a time prior to that date in Norriton Township. His father conveyed to him the home farm in Rockhill in 1759, and confirmed the gift in his will, dated the same year, but he does not seem to have resided thereon after his marriage, and removal in 1742.
  
  Children of Abraham, Jr., and Elizabeth (Lynn) Griffith:
  
  18 Joseph, b. 10-31—1745; m. Mary Thornton.
  19 Hannah, b. 5-13—1748; m. 1769 ———.
  20 Martha, b. 11-23—1750; d. same year.
  21 Abraham, b. 8-14—1752; d. 1823. (?)
  22 Samuel, b. 9-16—1755.
  
  [Note: from sketch No. 17, Samuel Griffith, his nephew and ward, p. 215:]
  
  His father died when he was an infant and his mother soon after married Elisha Parker; prior to 1750 his mother died and Elisha Parker remarrying, his uncle Abraham petitioned the court for appointment of a guardian, and was himself appointed Samuel's guardian. The child was reared from the age of about fifteen years under the care of his uncle and guardian, Abraham Griffith, and lived with him in Lower Dublin Township.
  
  [Note: from sketch No. 18, Joseph Griffith, his eldest son, p. 216:]
  
  His father joined him in the purchase of a lot for a hatter shop in Newtown, Bucks County, in September, 1771. The father later released his interest to the son.