| Home Surname List Name Index Sources Email Us | Sixth Generation30. George John GRIGGS28 was born on 15 January 1597 in Boxted, Babergh District, Suffolk County, England.30,39,45,59,65,66,75,93,94,95,96,97,98 (The research of Ian Clyde Griggs indicates that this George was the son of Thomas Griggs, Jr. (1570- ?), who was a son of Thomas Griggs, Sr. (1537-?) and Anne Cranwell (1543-?). The research of Forrest King indicates that George was a son of John and Martha Griggs, and that he was born 15 Jan 1597 and died 23 Jun 1660. Ian's research indicates that George was born in 1593 and that he was married to Alyce Sibthorpe.) "The earliest colonial ancestors bearing the name of Griggs settled in Massachusetts, Virginia and North Carolina. The New England families descended from George and Thomas, who arrived from England about the year 1635." From the book, "Genealogy of The Griggs Family," by Walter S. Griggs, of Norfolk, VA, published in 1926 by The Biblio Company, Inc. (His given name is shown as "George NP" in some sources.)
ORIGIN: Lavendon, Buckinghamshire. MIGRATION: 1635 on the Hopewell on 1 April 1635, "Geo[rge] Griggs," aged 42, of "," "Alyce," aged 42, "wife of Geo[rge] Griggs," and "children of Geo[rge] Griggs aforesaid," "Tho[mas] Griggs," aged 15, "W[illia]m Griggs," aged 14, "Elisa[beth] Griggs," aged 10, "Mary Griggs," aged 6, and "James Griggs," aged 2, were enrolled at as passengers for New England on the Hopewell [Hotten 44]. FIRST RESIDENCE: Boston [NEHGR 2:189]. OCCUPATION: Millwright (the inventory of George Griggs included "working tools" valued at 2lb.: "two wheels, a shovel, 5 augers, 3 axes, 3 adzes, 2 handsaws, 7 planes, 5 chisels, one hammer, two millbills, a holdfast, 2 adzes more, 1 square, 2 drawing knives, a tenon saw"; the inventory also included "3 [illegible] old wooden platters, dishes, trenchers, one wheel more," valued at 5s.[SPR 3:202]). OFFICES: His inventory included "a musket & sword" valued at 14s., and his widow's inventory included "a sword, rest and musket," with no valuation [SPR 3:202, 4:142]. ESTATE: On 21 March 1635/6, selectmen declared that the allotments made on 30 November 1635 to "_____ Grigges" and many others had not been built upon, as specified in the grant, and were thus "free to be otherwise disposed of"[BTR 1:9]. On 8 January 1637/8, according to an order of 14 December 1635, "George Griggs" was granted twenty-eight acres, being Lot #15 at Muddy River[BTR 1:23-24]. On 16 April 1638, "there is granted leave to George Griggs to sell his house, and garden in it, and 20 acres of his Great Lot, to Mr. Tuttell, of, and Mr. Tuttell, of, for his redeeming out of their debts"[BTR 1:33]. On 9 April 1649, "George Griggs" was one of those who promised to pay 6d. a year per acre for their land at Long Island, for the use of the school [BTR 1:95]. On 7 April 1652, "Goodman Griges, Senior, hath hired twenty and four foot broad to the street adjoining to his garden on the east"[BTR 1:110]. In the 1645 Book of Possessions, "George Griggs" held one parcel of land: "one houselot" [BBOP 39, 80]. On 8 October 1650, "George Griggs of "mortgaged to" W[illia]m Tuttle of his house & ground in [SLR 1:127]. In his will, dated 4 July 1655 and proved 3 August 1660, "George Griggs of Boston" named "my loving wife Alice Griggs" sole executrix and bequeathed to her "my house & ground about it with all the appurtenances & the two acres of land at Long Island ..., also my household stuff," during her lifetime; at her death, "my son James Griggs" to receive house and land around it and land at Long Island, he to pay "to my daughter Anne Joanes" 10lb., to "my daughter Mary Brookes" 40s., and to "my daughter Sarah King" 10lb.; to "the said James Griggs" household goods, also "all my working tools at my decease"[SPR 1:342]. The inventory of the estate of "George Griggs," taken 7 July 1660, totalled 132lb. 11s. 4d. (against which were debts of 14lb. 3s. 2d.), of which 92lb. was real estate: "two acres of land at Long Island," 2lb.; "a dwelling house and the land belonging unto it with fruit trees," 70lb.; and "another lot joining to this garden upon the west side which was before bought of one Pettitt & an old barn," 20lb.[SPR 3:202]. In her will, dated 20 July 1662 and proved 1 May 1663, "Allice Greegss of" bequeathed, "in case my son James Greegss come not," to "my grandchild William King ... the one half of the ground, that half that the barn stands on by the widow Planton's ground"; to "my daughter Sarah Burgess the near end of the house and three rods broad quite through the lot & also the other old end of the house"; "the rest of the land belonging to it" to be equally given to "my daughter's children"; to "my daughter Sarah Burgess" the cow, and if the cow have a calf, the calf to "her sister Ann Joanes"; residue of moveables not in "my husband's will," equally to "my two daughters and to their children and my daughter Sarah is to have the better part which is to the value of 40s."[SPR 1:407]. The inventory of the estate of "Alice Green [sic] widow deceased 20 July 1663," taken 1 May 1667, had no valuations associated with the list of possessions, and included no real estate[SPR 4:142]. On 5 September 1665, administration was granted to "the estate of James Grigges to Robert Lattimore, in right of Anne his wife ... & also to Roger Burges, in right of the children of Sarah his late wife," there being "no certain information of the said James Grigges though he hath been absent for many years & most probable that he is dead, not being heard of for several years" [SPR 4:240]. On 6 September 1665, the house lot in Boston was divided between the two administrators, while the two acres at Long Island was to remain undivided and be held jointly [SPR 4:241]. On 11 June 1683, "William King," "James Burges," and "Sarah Burges " "agreed for the division of the housing & land that was George Griggs his in & of right belongeth us whose names are hereunder written heirs thereof by our mother"; in the description of the portion of land set off to Sarah Burgess, reference was made to "her brother William King" and to abutting land of "her aunt Lattimore"; in the description of the portion of land set off to William King, reference was made to "his father-in-law Roger Burges during his natural life and of his mother-in-law Elizabeth during her widowhood"; in the description of the portion of land set off to James Burgess, reference was made to "his aunt Lattimore" [SLR 13:178-79]. BIRTH: About 1593. DEATH: Boston 23 June 1660 [BVR 75]. MARRIAGE: Lavendon, Buckinghamshire, 11 May 1618 Alice Sibthorpe [TAG 64:196]. CHILDREN: ii WILLIAM GRIGGS, bp. , 27 February 1619 [/20] [TAG 64:196]; bur. Boston [blank] December 1638 ("William of George Griggs") [NEHGR 2:189]. iii ELIZABETH GRIGGS, bp. , 10 March 1623/4 [TAG 64:196]; sailed for New England in 1635, but probably died during the passage, as her death is not recorded in Boston, yet a younger full sibling of the same name was born at Boston in 1636. iv MARY GRIGGS, b. about 1627 (see COMMENTS below); m. by 1655_____ Brooks (see COMMENTS below). v ANNE GRIGGS, b. about 1629 (see COMMENTS below); m. (1) by 1651 Rice Jones (eldest known child b. 30 June 1651 [BVR 33]); m. (2) Charlestown 1 September 1662 Robert Lattimore [ChVR 1:41]. (Because of some erroneous records, both in the original and as published, there has been much confusion about the marriages of this daughter, but John R. Totten (in 1921) and "R.I.F." (in 1930) wrote at length, clarifying our knowledge of these marriages [NYGBR 52:6-8].) vi JAMES GRIGGS, bp. , 16 December 1632 [TAG 64:196]; named in father's will on 4 July 1655, but soon left New England and not heard of again. vii ELIZABETH GRIGGS, b. 14 May 1636 [NEHGR 2:189]; d. [blank] May 1640, "aged 4 years" [BVR 9]. viii SARAH GRIGGS, b. 15 May 1637 [NEHGR 2:189]; m. (1) by 1655 William King (eldest known child b. 6 November 1655 [BVR 51]); m. (2) by 1659 Roger Burgess (eldest known child b. 24 April 1659 [BVR 68]). ASSOCIATION: George Griggs, his wife and children were one of several families which migrated from Olney, Buckinghamshire, and vicinity, in association with their minister, WILLIAM WORCESTER . These families are JOHN COOPER [2:2:202-4], EDMUND FARRINGTON [ ], JOHN FULLER , WILLIAM GAINES , NATHANIEL KIRTLAND , PHILIP KIRTLAND , ANTHONY NEWHALL , THOMAS NEWHALL , WILLIAM PARTRIDGE , HENRY PIERSON and WILLIAM PURRIER [TAG 64:193-202, 65:65-69, 73:119-22]. COMMENTS: The passenger list entry for this family includes a daughter Mary, aged six, and no daughter Anne [Hotten 44]. This probably represents a case of scribal haplography, in which the dockside clerk, or a later copyist, omitted the age of Mary and the name of Anne, thus attributing Anne's age to Mary. We suggest, therefore, that the list should correctly have included daughters Mary, aged eight, and Anne, aged six. (H. Minot Pitman and Thomas W. Cooper II have also addressed this question [NEHGR 123:170].) In his will of 4 July 1655, George Griggs included a bequest to "my daughter Mary Brookes," but when the widow of George Griggs made her will on 20 July 1662, there is no mention of this daughter, or any heir of this daughter, strongly implying that she had died in the interim. The suggestion has been made that her husband was John Brooks of, but the wife of this man was still having children after 1662 [FANH 336], so this is not a likely solution. We merely note here that on 28 November 1654 "Rob[er]tt Brooks is admitted an inhabitant" of [BTR 1:121]. The working tools found in this immigrant's inventory might indicate any one of several woodworking occupations (carpenter, joiner, turner, cooper). The choice of millwright given above is based on two items, the mill bill and the several wheels. The wheels could be mill wheels or lathes, and so are somewhat ambiguous. The mill bill is "a steel adze fixed in a wooden thrift used for dressing and cracking millstones" [1796]. On 23 February 1645/6, "for the difference between Georg[e] Griggs and Will[iam] Blanton, it is ordered that George Griggs shall set up his garden fence between them by the 30th, 2d month, 1646 [30 April 1646], in penalty of 20s. for the default hereof" [BTR 1:87]. On 25 March 1648, "gave a letter of attorney to" to recover of Phillip Hatch 3lb. due by bill" [Aspinwall 139]. On 25 December 1648, "Georg[e] Griggs & Rich[ard] Gridley" gave a bond of 30lb. to "Richard Woodward," and "George Griggs" gave a bond of 40lb. to "Richard Gridley" [Aspinwall 179]. BIBLIOGRAPHIC NOTE: In 1969 H. Minot Pitman, as part of his examination of "Early Griggs Families of Massachusetts," published a brief treatment of George Griggs and his family [NEHGR 123:169-71]. In 1989 Thomas W. Cooper II published his study of several families of Olney, Buckinghamshire, and vicinity, which included much information on George Griggs and his family [TAG 64:194-200]. The ship's register indicated that the family consisted of George, 42; his wife Alyce, 42; and their children Thomas, 15; William, 14; Eliza, 10; Mary, 6; and James, 2. George's name appears in the Boston Book of Possessions in the first volume of the Town Records, giving names of the original grantees, compiled 1639-1645. He settled in Muddy River (Brookline, now part of Boston) a year or two later, where in 1638 he owned 28 acres. It is believed that George's brother Thomas emigrated about the same time, but he is not listed as a passenger on the "Hopewell." George died on 23 June 1660 at the age of 63 in Boston, Suffolk County, Massachusetts Bay Colony, British Colonial America.30,39,59,66,78,94,104,105 He made his will July 4, 1655 in Boston. (See attached Media File.) He was buried in June 1660 in Boston, Suffolk County, Massachusetts Bay Colony, British Colonial America.66 He has Ancestral File Number 9J68-GJ. Emigrated to Boston in 1635 George John GRIGGS and Alyce SIBTHARPE were married on 2 June 1618 in Lavendon, Buckinghamshire, England.30,59,65,66,75,94,102 Alyce SIBTHARPE, daughter of Guye SIBTHARPE and Elizabeth GOODWIN, was born in 1593 in Lavendon, Buckinghamshire, England.94,106,107 (Her surname may have been spelled "Sibtharp" or "Sibtharpe." Her mother may have been Elizabeth Goodwin, b. abt 1570 in Lavendon, Buckinghamshire County, England.) She emigrated on 1 April 1635 from Lavendon, Buckinghamshire, England.94,99,100,101,108 She and her husband came to the US on the ship "Hopewell" with their five children. She was listed as "Alyce." She signed a will on 20 July 1662.104 Her name in the Will was spelled "Allice Greggss" and it was probated 1 May 1663. (See the Media file for the Will in 3 separate picture files.) Alyce died on 26 May 1663 at the age of 70 in Boston, Suffolk County, Massachusetts Bay Colony, British Colonial America.94,104 (Her death date may have been 19 July 1662.) George John GRIGGS and Alyce SIBTHARPE had the following children:
|