Cyrus Griffin (July 16, 1748 – December 14, 1810) was an American lawyer and politician, who served as the final President of the Congress of the Confederation and first United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Virginia.

Education and career

Born on July 16, 1748, to the former Mary Anne Bertrand and her husband Col. Leroy Griffin in Farnham Parish (now

Farnham Farnham is a market town and civil parish in Surrey, England, around southwest of London. It is in the Borough of Waverley, close to the county border with Hampshire. The town is on the north branch of the River Wey, a tributary of the ...

), then in Lancaster County (which became part of Richmond County in his lifetime),

Colony of Virginia The Colony of Virginia was a British Empire, British colonial settlement in North America from 1606 to 1776. The first effort to create an English settlement in the area was chartered in 1584 and established in 1585; the resulting Roanoke Colo ...

British America British America collectively refers to various British colonization of the Americas, colonies of Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and its predecessors states in the Americas prior to the conclusion of the American Revolutionary War in 1 ...

, He was a descendant of an Englishman named Thomas Griffin, who settled to the Virginia Colony in the early 1600s, and received land grants including from Edward Bradshaw of Lancaster County. That Thomas Griffin may have emigrated with relatives, for one old genealogist stated his widow married Samuel Griffin of Northumberland County, and bore another Col. Leroy Griffin of Rappahannock County, who married Winifed Corbin (daughter of a member of the King's Council) and bore sons Thomas Griffin (who became a burgess), Corbin Griffin of Middlesex County, and daughter Winifred who married Burgess and Col. Peter Presley of Northumberland House, and whose only daughter, also Winifred, married Anthony Thornton and whose son therefore was Col. Presley Thornton who served on the King's Council 1760-1769. Clearly, this Griffin was a patriot and also had two older brothers as well as a sister who married Col. Richard Adams of Richmond County. Thomas Bertrand Griffin, the eldest son, inherited his maternal grandfather's and uncles estates, Belle Isle in Lancaster County and also served as the Lancaster County clerk 1770-1777. Another slightly older brother Samuel Griffin also became a Virginia lawyer, and Continental Army officer before beginning a political career that included service in the U.S. House of Representatives. Another brother, Dr. Corbin Griffin (d. 1813) practiced medicine in Yorktown and became the state surgeon during the Revolutionary War but was imprisoned by the British, and after his release served in the state senate. The family could trace its descent from Thomas Griffin, who had received land grant in 1651.Tyler p. 111 Meanwhile, like his brothers Cyrus received a private education appropriate to his class in Virginia, then sailed to

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

to complete his education. He studied law at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

and at the

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court entitled to Call to the bar, call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple (with whi ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

Legal and political career

Admitted to the Virginia bar, Griffin had a private legal practice in Lancaster County and surrounding areas in the Colony of Virginia from 1774 to 1777. Lancaster County voters elected him as one of their two part-time representatives in the

Virginia House of Delegates The Virginia House of Delegates is one of the two houses of the Virginia General Assembly, the other being the Senate of Virginia. It has 100 members elected for terms of two years; unlike most states, these elections take place during odd-numbe ...

, and he served from 1777 to 1778 (resigning to serve in the Continental Congress as discussed below), and later from 1786 to 1787 (during which session his brother represented Williamsburg). Fellow legislators elected him among Virginia's delegates to the

Second Continental Congress The Second Continental Congress (1775–1781) was the meetings of delegates from the Thirteen Colonies that united in support of the American Revolution and American Revolutionary War, Revolutionary War, which established American independence ...

, where he served from 1778 to 1780. He was a Judge of the

Court of Appeals in Cases of Capture A court is an institution, often a government entity, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and administer justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in accordance with the rule of law. Courts gene ...

from 1780 to 1787. Griffin became a delegate to the Ninth

Congress of the Confederation The Congress of the Confederation, or the Confederation Congress, formally referred to as the United States in Congress Assembled, was the governing body of the United States from March 1, 1781, until March 3, 1789, during the Confederation ...

from 1787 to 1788, serving as the final President of the Congress of the Confederation under the

Articles of Confederation The Articles of Confederation, officially the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union, was an agreement and early body of law in the Thirteen Colonies, which served as the nation's first Constitution, frame of government during the Ameri ...

in 1788. He aligned with the Federalist party and served as United States Commissioner to the

Creek Nation The Muscogee Nation, or Muscogee (Creek) Nation, is a List of federally recognized tribes, federally recognized Native American tribe based in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The nation descends from the historic Muscogee Confederacy, a large grou ...

in 1789.

Federal judicial service

Griffin received a

recess appointment In the United States, a recess appointment is an appointment by the President of the United States, president of a Officer of the United States, federal official when the United States Senate, U.S. Senate is in Recess (motion), recess. Under the ...

from President

George Washington George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...

on November 28, 1789, to the United States District Court for the District of Virginia, to a new seat authorized by . He was nominated to the same position by President Washington on February 8, 1790. He was confirmed by the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

on February 10, 1790, and received his commission the same day. His service terminated on December 14, 1810, due to his death in Yorktown, Virginia. He was interred in Bruton Parish Church in Williamsburg, Virginia.

Personal life

Griffin married Christina Stewart (1751-1807), oldest daughter of John Stewart, the sixth Earl of Traquair (1699–1779), in 1770. They married with some subterfuge because of her father's objections, since her family was Catholic and Griffin Protestant. They had at least a daughter Mary, who married her cousin Thomas Griffin, son of Dr. Corbin Griffin of Yorktown and a member of the Virginia House of Delegates as well as U.S. Congress.

Death and legacy

Griffin suffered from various illnesses late in his life, and a letter he wrote from a

Newport, Rhode Island Newport is a seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Rhode Island, United States. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, and nort ...

health resort about his diminished appetite and swollen limbs to his relative Dr. Samuel Stuart Griffin survives.22 Virginia Magazine of History and Biography vol. 22, pp. 275-276. He returned to Virginia and died on December 14, 1810 at Yorktown, in York County, probably at the home of his daughter or of Dr. Griffin as referenced in that letter. However, a state historical marker commemorating his legislative and judicial career is further north along the coast in Richmond County near Belle Isle State Park, which includes two historic houses, one constructed by a descendant.

References

Sources

Cyrus Griffin at Archontology.org
. *

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Griffin, Cyrus 1748 births 1810 deaths Members of the Virginia House of Delegates Continental Congressmen from Virginia Virginia lawyers American people of English descent Judges of the United States District Court for the District of Virginia United States federal judges appointed by George Washington 18th-century American lawyers 19th-century American judges People from Farnham, Virginia Burials at Bruton Parish Church Alumni of the University of Edinburgh People from colonial Virginia Virginia Federalists 18th-century members of the Virginia General Assembly