Griffith, William Patton, 1843-1936

Civil War soldier William Patton Griffith was born in Washington, PA, on July 22, 1843. Griffith worked at The Washington Reporter as a reporter, editor, and poet, and enlisted in the Union Army during the American Civil War. After the War, Griffith served as New York State Commander of the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR), a national association of Union Army Civil War veterans. He also served as editor and publisher of The Soldier's Journal . When the Order of the Purple Heart was revived in 1932, he was the first Civil War veteran to receive the decoration.

After his military service, Griffith went on to pursue a career as an editor at The Pittsburgh Dispatch, The New York Herald, The World, The Brooklyn Eagle, and The Brooklyn Press . Griffith later moved on to public service in Brooklyn, working as a court reporter in the Kings County Supreme Court and serving as the deputy City Clerk of Brooklyn. He was also an active member of the Kings County Republican Committee and served as a delegate to national and State encampments of the GAR, as well as an aide to the staffs of GAR Commanders-in-Chief, department commanders, and local grand marshals.

Other veteran activities included being national commander of the Union Veteran Legion, the "long-service order" of the Civil War, commander of the GAR Winchester Post 197, and GAR county commander and State commander in 1928. In addition, Griffith served as marshal and patriarch of the Brooklyn Masonic Veterans, and as historian and master of the Sylvan Grove Lodge 275. He was also a member of the Society of Old Brooklynites and the Kings County Republican Club.

At the age of 76, he studied chiropractic medicine and became a practicing chiropractor. Griffith participated in the New York State Chiropractic Society and the Long Island District Chiropractic Society. William Patton Griffith died at the age of 92 on February 17, 1936.

From the guide to the William Patton Griffith papers, 1865-1932, (Brooklyn Historical Society)