Elizabeth M. Griffin

b. circa 1830
  • Elizabeth M. Griffin was born circa 1830 in Ohio.
  • She married James L. Mitchell, son of James L. Mitchell and Ann Anderson Hall, on 9 September 1851 in Harris County, Texas.
  • Evelina Wood wrote on 5 March 1855, to her daughter Lizzie Powell, undergoing treatment for cancer in Murfreesboro, Tennessee: ". . . James Mitchell is at Queechy run at work. I do not know what he is doing -- he has not got all the Machinery yet -- Forrest has hired Smith to finish Billie's house and gone to the mill -- James has missed you very much, poor fellow. he has had to work very hard -- he tried to get his father to assist him some in the the loan of money but not a dollar was forthcoming. . . ."
         Apparently "Queechy run" is a literary allusion. Queechy, a novel published in 1852, was a story about a young girl, a little village and a saw mill. Perhaps Evelina and Lizzie read it to the grandchildren in the household.
  • On Thursday, 22 March 1855, Green Wood recorded in his plantation daily account book: "Sent four hands to help raise Steam Mill for Mitchell."
  • On Wednesday, 11 April 1855, Green Wood recorded in his plantation daily account book: "Sent John to work at James Mitchell's mill to pay for Blacksmith George's work."
  • James L. Mitchell and Elizabeth M. Griffin appeared in the US federal census of 1 June 1860 in Anderson PO, Grimes County, Texas. Other members of the household included Mary Josephine Mitchell, Ellen Mitchell and Virginia A. Mitchell.
  • Lina Wood wrote to her father's younger sister Ella on 26 May 1867, "Aunt Bessies nurse has the itch which makes her very uneasy for fear Frank will have it. they now have Lucretia nursing for them. I see but little of Frank."
  • James L. Mitchell and Elizabeth M. Griffin appeared in the US federal census of 1 June 1870 in Galveston, Texas. Other members of the household included Mary Josephine Mitchell, Virginia A. Mitchell, Frank Mitchell, Annie J. Mitchell and Sallie C. Mitchell. While daughter (or niece) Jane appears to be absent from the 1870 household, the fact that daughter Ellen is enumerated as "Millie Mitchell" three households away on the same page, with the Mitchell family number noted next to her name, indicates enumerator error in recording the household. And it is possible that Jane is enumerated as so Frank, age 10.
  • It appears that James and Elizabeth Griffin Mitchell died between 1870 and 1880, based on the presence of their three youngest daughters in the households of his brother William Mitchell and sister Josie Wood in the 1880 census.
  • Last Edited: 26 Oct 2014

Family: James L. Mitchell b. circa 1832