John Griffin (born 1774 or 1779 – death unknown) was an American judge. He was one of the original judges of the Supreme Court of

Michigan Territory The Territory of Michigan was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from June 30, 1805, until January 26, 1837, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Michigan. Detroit ...

. Griffin was born in either

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 ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

.Chardavoyne says Griffin was born in Scotland. Burton and Ross say he was a native of Virginia, while the Michigan Supreme Court Historical Society states that Griffin was born in Virginia. His father was Cyrus Griffin, the last president of the Continental Congress, and his mother was the daughter of a Scottish baron. He graduated from the

College of William and Mary The College of William & Mary (abbreviated as W&M) is a public research university in Williamsburg, Virginia, United States. Founded in 1693 under a royal charter issued by King William III and Queen Mary II, it is the second-oldest instit ...

and studied law, and was appointed a judge in the Indiana Territory in 1800 by President

John Adams John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Before Presidency of John Adams, his presidency, he was a leader of ...

. He did not like the climate, and in 1806 his father convinced President

Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (, 1743July 4, 1826) was an American Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was the primary author of the United States Declaration of Indepe ...

to transfer him to the Supreme Court of the recently created Michigan Territory. While on the court in Michigan, he generally deferred to the opinions of Chief Justice Augustus Woodward, going so far as to refuse to hear cases by himself without Woodward there to offer his opinion. He spent seventeen years on the court, and has been called "one of the most petulantly dissatisfied office-holders of all time" because he spent the entire time trying to find another job.

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References

* * * * * Justices of the Michigan Supreme Court Year of birth uncertain 1770s births 19th-century deaths 19th-century Michigan state court judges {{jurist-stub