Samuel Griffith ^{1 2}

  Noted events in his life were:

• He appeared on the 1850 US Census in Pleasant Township, Porter County, IN on 6 September 1850. ²

1850 US Census
Page 122A, Dwelling 322, Family 322, Roll 165
Pleasant Township, Porter County, Indiana
Samuel Griffith..36..PA..Farmer
(Living with 2nd wife, 4 step children, 1 daughter from 2nd wife, and 4 children from 1st wife.)
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Samuel married Ruth Lightfoot, daughter of John Lightfoot and Alice, on 21 April 1832 in , Wayne County, OH. (Ruth Lightfoot was born in 1810 ³ and died in 1847 in , Porter County, IN ¹.)

  Marriage Notes:

Name: Samuel Griffith
Event Type: Marriage
Event Date: 21 Apr 1832
Event Place: Wayne, Ohio, United States
Spouse's Name: Ruth Lightfoot
Reference ID: p208
GS Film number: 425753
Digital Folder Number: 004260647
Image Number: 00227
Citing this Record
"Ohio, County Marriages, 1789-1994," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/XZKM-3BC : accessed 27 Mar 2013), Samuel Griffith and Ruth Lightfoot, 1832.
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NOTE - Other than the documented marriage between Samuel Griffith and Ruth Lightfoot, any other evidence of the family seems to be missing. The census forms prior to 1850 did not list family member's names and there has yet to be any birth registrations found for the 4 children that they supposedly had.

There is an 1850 census from Porter County, Indiana that lists Samuel Griffith, age 36, and what is probably his wife (relationships were not shown on the 1850 census), Elizabeth Griffith, age 38. Living with them are four children between 10 and 3 all with the surname of Williamson. I suspect that these may have been from a previous marriage of Elizabeth's. The census form then lists an Amanda Griffith, age 4 months, which is probably the daughter of Samuel and his current wife, Elizabeth. The census form then lists 4 additional Griffith children ranging in age from 15 to 4 and these are probably the 4 children of Samuel Griffith and his first wife, Ruth Lightfoot. Because of the sequential manner in which all these Griffith children were listed, it can be safely assumed that the children were from a different set of parents.

Unless birth or baptism documents are found, there is no proof positive that these 4 children were Ruth's. But what makes this much more likely than not was the fact that living right next door to Samuel Griffith and his new wife, Elizabeth, was the brother of Ruth, John Lightfoot and his complete family. This probably means that when Ruth died in 1847, Samuel Griffith and children continued to live in the family home next to John Lightfoot. When Samuel remarried in about 1849, his 2nd wife and her 4 children all moved into the house.
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Based on the birth year and location of their two youngest children, Samuel and Ruth moved from Ohio to Porter County, Indiana sometime between 1841 and 1846.
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Samuel next married Elizabeth Ann Williams on 23 December 1849 in , Washington County, IN. (Elizabeth Ann Williams was born in 1812 in Vermont ² and died after 1 June 1850.)

  Noted events in their marriage were:

• They appeared on the 1850 US Census in Pleasant Township, Porter County, IN on 6 September 1850. ²

1850 US Census
Page 122A, Dwelling 322, Family 322, Roll 165
Pleasant Township, Porter County, Indiana
Samuel Griffith..36..PA..Farmer
Elizabeth Griffith..38..VT
Ezra F. Williamson..10..IN
William J. Williamson..7..IN
James Williamson..5..IN
Albert H. Williamson..2..IN
Amanda J. Griffith..4m..IN
Mary A. Griffith..15..OH
John J. Griffith..13..OH
Ruth Griffith..9..OH
Mahala Griffith..4..IN

NOTE - Samuel was living with his 2nd wife, her 4 children from a marriage to Williamson, their 1 daughter, and his 4 children from his 1st wife.

Living next to John and Eltha Lightfoot.
.

  Marriage Notes:

Name:Samuel Griffith
Event Type:Marriage Registration
Event Date:23 Dec 1849
Event Place:Washington, Indiana, United States
Gender:Male
Marriage License Date:22 Dec 1849
Spouse's Name:Elizabeth Ann Williams
Spouse's Gender:Female
Officiator's Name:T N Jordon
Page:124
Record Number:5084
GS Film Number:001306389
Digital Folder Number:007030114
Image Number:00124
Number of Images:1

Citing this Record:
"Indiana Marriages, 1811-2007," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:27V4-PZB : 21 January 2016), Samuel Griffith and Elizabeth Ann Williams, 23 Dec 1849; citing Washington, Indiana, United States, various county clerk offices, Indiana; FHL microfilm 1,306,389.
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