Griffin family

Griffin, Lavalette

Rank : Com. Sgt.

Regiment : 75th New York Infantry Regiment. Co. D (1861-1865)

Service : 1861 October-1865 April 10

Griffin, Reynolds

Rank : Corpl.

Regiment : 75th New York Infantry Regiment. Co. D (1861-1865)

Service : 1861 October-1863 July 18

Adnah H. Griffin (1808-1868) was the son of Jane Reynolds and Ephraim Griffin (son of Daniel Griffin). In 1834, he married Louisa Brown (1809-1897) in the town of Sempronius, New York; they had nine children: Lavalette (1835-1897), Loretta (1838-1912), Reynolds (1838-1863), Jane (Jennie) (1841-1889), Arthur (1845-1905), Leland (1848-1911), Alice (1849-1888), Eugene (1849-1850), and Daniel (1852-1894).

Reynolds and Lavalette Griffin enlisted in the 75th New York Volunteers in October 1861, and left New York on board the steamer Baltic for garrison duty at Fort Pickins, on Santa Rosa Island in Pensacola Bay, Florida. They were stationed there for three months, and in September, were ordered to New Orleans, then up the Bayou Lafourche to camp Brashear. There they joined parties sent out to collect food from the area and to take control the railroad linking Brashear and New Orleans. The regiment was involved in a few skirmishes and in the taking of the rebel gunboat Cotton that December. They then withdrew to Bayou Boeuf until March 1862. Reynolds Griffin died on July 18, 1863, at Baton Rouge, after being shot by a sharpshooter in the battle at Port Hudson, Louisiana. Lavalette remained with the army and participated in battles at Deep Bottom, Cedar Creek, Winchester, and Fisher's Hill, among others. He served until April 10, 1865, when he, a commissary sergeant, was honorably discharged for poor health. After the war, he returned to Sempronius and established himself as a successful farmer. He married Olive C. Sayles; they had three children. He died in 1897, after being gored by a bull.

Lavalette's sister Loretta Griffin (1838-1912) married Silas R. McConnell (b. 1849); they had three children: Louise, Miriam, and Emma.

From the guide to the Griffin family papers, 1799-1942, 1835-1868, (William L. Clements Library, University of Michigan)