BIRD AND CREACY GRIFFIN HOME NEAR NIXON, TEXAS
::Reading the Life and Death document written about
Bird Griffin by Pastor P. C Vinson is a must:: This document compliments
of Burt Richards G-Grandson of Bird Griffin
Life
& Death of Bird Griffin
LINK TO KIMBRO
LINEAGE THAT MAKES REFERENCES TO THE GRIFFIN AND SEALES CHAPEL
Search for Griffin, Seal or Seale's to find
reference
BIRD GRIFFIN & LUCRETIA (CREACY) ANN FLOWERS GRIFFIN
Were Parents of Martha Virginia Griffin McGlothing
and (Great grandparents of Paul G. McGlothing m. Freelin Shoemaker)
This information is furnished by Freelin McGlothing
This information is also available in various books in the Clayton Library, Houston Texas
Bird and Lucretia Ann Griffin were a prominent family in Central (Wilson,
Karnes and Gonzales Counties) Texas. Bird Griffin came to Texas in the 1850’s along with
Jack
Flowers,
his father-in-law, and other family members. Bird was born November, 1825
( 1822) near Halifax Court House, Virginia and grew up on a plantation,
later moved to Mississippi where he married Miss Flowers. From Mississippi
they went to Texas where Bird established himself as a leading farmer and
stockman. Here he built the first school house in the community Elm, Texas, hired
and paid the teachers, and permitted many people who were unable to afford
school privileges to send their children free. For many years the Methodists
held their services in the school, and later Bird was the chief contributor
to the building of a church that was named Seales Chapel. He was a steward
in the church and active in the Sunday school programs. Bird died in 1905
and his wife Lucretia passed away in 1910--HISTORY OF GONZALES COUNTY Vol.
I, pp. 515 Gonzales Historical Commission, Copyright 1986, John Lewis Weber
Family History.
See picture of Seales Chapel. Hazel McGlothing, cousin of Paul G.
McGlothing and a granddaughter of the Griffins, told us that she started
school in Seales Chapel (Some times referred to as Ellem School. Thomas
Byrd Griffin (grandson of Bird Griffin) also attended Ellem School).
| Bird's property now lies within the confines
today of : Click the Logo for more information |
 |
From the book A MIXED BOUQUET by Develand Flowers, “Jackson Flowers
gave his daughter,
Creacy and her husband, Byrd Griffin, a hundred acres
of land” “and built them a house of logs with clay between the logs and
hand-made boards on the outside and hand-made shingles on the roof. (See
picture above, this apparently made this a very nice house for that time) Later
the Griffins built a two-story
frame house” -- This house was moved to a new location and later burned.
This information from Hazel McGlothing, Seguin, Tx., granddaughter of Creacy
and Bird Griffin. The Bird Griffin farm was at the confluence of three
different counties, Karnes, Wilson, and Gonzales, in Texas. The family
home was very near the town of Nixon (Elm Creek) in Wilson, Co. The crops raised
on the farm were corn and cotton.
Bird and Lucretia Griffin are buried
in a cemetery near the old family home.
Link to cemetery roster
The following is from: A
HISTORY OF TEXAS AND TEXANS by Frank W. Hohnson Volume IV, Page 1724 dtd
1916
Thanks
to: Katherine (Weber) Theilen
Bird Griffin was born near Halifax Court House, Virginia, in November,
1825 (1822), grew up on a plantation, and in young manhood went to Mississippi
(Bird is listed in tax rolls and census for 1849 and 1850 in Smith County),
where he married Miss flowers in Rankin County. Her father was
Zack Flowers,
an extensive Mississippi planter and slaveholder. Bird Griffin came
to Texas during the 1850s accompanied by
Zack Flowers and the latter's sons,
Felix, Jeff, John, and Morgan. Two other young men who came along
were Sol Brown and Emanuel Carr, and all the young men of the body married
and most of them reared families in Wilson County.
Bird Griffin on coming to Texas located in the Ezekial Smith Survey and
James B. Fannin League, and
was one of the leading farmers and stockmen. During the war he enlisted
in the Confederate
Army (Mann's Cavalry Regiment Company A) for service in the state, and spent most of his time along the
Rio Grand border. In the years after the war he broadened his interests
as a stockman and raised extensive herds of horses, cattle and sheep and
also acquired a large estate in the Smith, Fannin and Erskin leagues.
He was not only a rancher but also a farmer, and brought several hundred
acres under the plow. Bird Griffin built the first schoolhouse in
his community, hired and paid the teacher, and permitted many people who
were unable to afford school privileges to send their children free.
For many years the Methodist held their regular meetings in the schoolhouse,
and later he was the chief contributor to the erection of a church edifice,
which is call Seales Chapel. He was steward in the congregation for
many years, and active in Sunday School affairs, In polities he was a democrat,
but the only office he is known to have held was as trustee of the school.
Bird Griffin died in 1905 and his wife passed away in 1910. The Griffin
children were: *William, who died in Nixon, leaving children by two wives,
*Susie Ware and Sallie Woodall; Alfred, who married Bettie Woodall, and
died in Wilson County; Thomas, who is now a farmer in Karnes County, and
has children by his marriage to Mary Haskell; Madison married Lizzie and
lives at the old Griffin homestead; Jeff J. lives at Nixon, and by his
marriage to Fannie Johnson, who is deceased, has several children; Bird
is unmarried and occupies the old home; Mrs. Lillie Weber was next
in order of birth; Lee is a farmer near the old home and has children by
his wife, Leona Hill.
* My Grandparents
Bird
Griffin Will
1880 U.S. Census lists Bird Griffin, Karnes Co (Wilson County) Age
57, from Va.
Creacy (Criesee) Ann - Age 51, from Mississippi. Children:
Thomas 24
Alfred 25
William H. Griffin 27 and wife Susan Wear
Jeff 18
Bird 15
LillieC. 13
The spelling Bird and Byrd both appear in records. We do not
know which is the correct spelling.