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- Daughters of Republic of Texas Volume II
Levin Chapman Griffin
The Griffins were originally from Scotland, then to Ireland, and then migrated to America. They were at one time one of the wealthiest and largest landowners in Virginia. My Griffins moved on into the Deeper South.
Levi Chapman Griffen was born in 1841 in Alabama. He was named after his father Levy (L.) Griffin and the Chapman family the Griffins had married into. The Griffins and Chapmans all lived near each other. Levi Chapman was only three years old when they lived in Washington County in 1844. The Family moved on, into Milam County in the late 40s and early 50s with all their possessions and many slaves. He grew up in the Milano area and married Mary Jane Cave, the daughter of Henry W. (Bud) Cave and Nancy (Bass) Dave. (Nancy was the daughter of Uriah Bass Jr., and Ruth (a) (Pipkin) Bass from North Carolina. Uriah was an Emissary for the Republic of Texas in 1839). Mary Jane was born in Clarke County, MS.
Levi Chapman Griffin and Mary Jane Cave were married at Milano ca. 1864/5 and lived in the area all their lives. Thei children were: Martha Cizar Griffin married (1) John A. Freeman, #2 Frank Uher, Madani Elizabeth (Danie, Duanna) Griffin married Sidney (S, Syd) Edmonds, Nancy Anice Griffin married Leonard Ben Winkler, Jeff James Griffin married Minnie Childress.
Levi Chapman Griffin helped his father with the managing of the vast holdings they had in the Milano area. They had ?places? (plantations) at Sand Point, Sand Grove, Sandy Creek, Cedar Creek, one south of Cameron below the Little River, and one at Griffin Chapel ? so named after the Griffin holdinds there where his father and mother Levi (L.) Griffin and Madania Elizabeth (Runnels) lived and died. The Griffins gave the land for both the white and the colored Griffin Cemeteries.
Many slave descendents wtill life at and maintain the Griffin Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church at Griffin Chapel, which was organized by the Griffin Slaves when they all lived there. The church is at tis third location.
Levi Chapman Griffin and his wife Mary Jane (Cave) are buried at Sand Grove Cemetery where they lived on the Griffin ?place? in that area. They sleep on ? those Old Ones ? in marked graves. Levi Chapman Griffin played an important part in the settling and colonizing of this area.
He was an upstanding, serious, God-fearing, law abiding, hard working citizen. He was respected by his friends and neighbors. He left his mark there in that deep Texas sand, his legacy to us who follow it clear: carry on ? carry on ? and we, his descendents, meet that challenge, and: we carry on ? carry on.
Ethel Jewel Morgan Burch (GGD of Levi Chapman Griffin), 29132S.
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Bassett Family Association Database
