Person:Michael Griswold (1)

Possible Lineage

The Greswold Family:12 Generations in England speculates that he was the son of Edward Griswold and Margaret Blencow^[3]

Will & Probate

In Michael's 1678 will, he provides names of his family:^[2]

• his wife Anne
• son Thomas Griswold, son Isaac Griswold, son Jacob Griswold, son Michael Griswold, ("I give to my Fower sonns above named");
• "my daughter Hester Bradly 20s, & to her children, Ann, Abigail & Mary & Hester, to each of them 20s"
• "my daughter Abigail Lattin 20s, and to her daughter Ann Lattin £5"
• "my daughter Sarah Hill £10"
• "son-in-Law, Obadiah Willcox, one shilling" [husband of dau. Mary]

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4} Michael Griswold, in Manwaring, Charles W. A Digest of the Early Connecticut Probate Records. (Hartford, Conn.: R. S. Peck & Co., 1904-06)
   1:314, 315.

   Griswold, Michael, Wethersfield. Died 26 September, 1684. Invt. £628-01-00. Taken by Samuel Talcott, Samuel Butler, Timothy Hide. Will dated 10th September, 1678...Codicil, dated 22 September, 1684; Will Proven 18 December, 1684. John Allyn, Secretry.

2. ↑ ^2.0 2.1 #121, in French, Robert L.; Esther G. French; and Coralee (editor) Griswold. The Greswold Family: 12 generations in England. (Wethersfield, CT: Griswold Family Association of America, 1999)
   pages 35-36.

   'Michael GRESWOLD ... was born about 1620 in Cubbington, Warwickshire, England.'
   
   'This interpretation of the data [his being the son of Edward and Margaret (Blencoe) Greswold] explains much of the mystery which has always surrounded the origin of Michael. It would account for his name, one used by religious outcasts from the established church. It would account for the lack of a baptismal record. It puts him on the edge of Warwickshire in 1633, whence he presumably left for America and connects him to the Warwickshire families. Apparently his grandfather arranged for his schooling, as he was literate, and apparently he was not a penniless immigrant as he owned property before he was married. The Vicar at Marston St. Lawrence [in Northamptonshire and his grandfather's home] from 1634 to 1638 was the Reverend Charles Chauncy, a man of rigidly unorthodox beliefs. Reverend Chauncy came to America at the same time as George Wyllis of Fenny Compton making it highly likely that Michael Griswold came with them. Nothing in this hypothesis is contradicted by the records left by Michael in Wethersfield.'

   If Michael is the son of Edward, he would have had to be born in or after 1619, since his brother John, born Jan 1619, is known to be Edward's heir. The birth place given in this source is based on the speculation that he was the son of Edward, and thus should not be taken as fact.

3. ↑ ^3.0 3.1 Griswold People, Griswold Family Association online (www.griswoldfamily.org/griswold people.htm), accessed Aug.

   Photo of a headstone engraved: 'In Memory Of MICHAEL GRISWOLD b: 1618 - d. 1684 and his wife ANN Settled at Wethersfield 1640 erected by the Griswold Family Association 1996'

   The birth year is an estimate, and was apparently re-estimated a few years later based on speculation that Michael was the second son of Edward Greswold and Margaret Blencoe.

4. ↑ French, Robert L.; Esther G. French; and Coralee (editor) Griswold. The Greswold Family: 12 generations in England. (Wethersfield, CT: Griswold Family Association of America, 1999)
   page 37.

   'Michael died 26 Sep 1684 in Wethersfield, Hartford, Connecticut.'

5. ↑ Adams, Sherman W. (Sherman Wolcott), and Henry R. (Henry Reed) Stiles. The History of Ancient Wethersfield, Connecticut: Comprising the Present Towns of Wethersfield, Rocky Hill, and Newington; and of Glastonbury Prior to its Incorporation in 1693, from Date of Earliest Settlement Until the Present Time with Extensive Genealogies and Genealogical Notes on Their Early Families. (New York: The Grafton Press, 1904)
   2:395.

   'Michael Griswold, died 26 September 1684'