 "I felt as though I could have stormed the gates of Hell and captured the Devil himself!" -- John Summerfield Griffin, regarding the demonstrative reception given by local inhabitants of Holly Springs, December 1862. John Summerfield Griffith was born 17 Jun 1829 in Montgomery Co MD, the son of Michael Berry Griffith and Lydia Ridgley Crabb. He descends from Samuel Griffith, a Captain in the Revolutionary Army who was the son of Henry Griffith, a member of the Colonial Assembly 1773-1775. Michael Griffith was a merchant and in 1834 he removed his family to Jefferson City, Missouri, much to the dissatisfaction of his wife. He did not find the opportunities he was hoping for there so within a year he moved the family again to Portland, Missouri. However, his business endeavors there were not favorable. In 1839 he moved the family to Texas, settling in San Augustine . John was educated at home and by late in the year 1849 he was working as a clerk in a mercantile. On 18 Dec 1851, in a ceremony officiated by S A Williams at Nacogdoches, John married Sarah "Emily" Simpson, daughter of John J Simpson and Jane Mercer Brooks. She was born 28 Nov 1832 and died 31 Dec 1913.
The 1850 San Augustine Co TX Census shows John residing in the home of his father but by the year 1851 he had opened a business of his own and found himself a prosperous businessman in several different endeavors. By 1859 John had moved his wife and son to the tiny town of Rockwall in Kaufman County, established a mercantile there. He also was a cattle broker and was an innovator in the raising of potato and cotton crops in the area. In 1860 he was enumerated on the Kaufman County Census in household#604/602 with wife, Sarah E and son William C, age 2, and his older brother and business partner, Jeremiah C. Griffith. At the onset of the Civil War John Griffith enlisted in the Sixth Texas Cavalry, Company B, as a Captain, under the command of Col. Warren B Stone. The first engagement of the Sixth Cavalry with the Union Army was fighting Federal Indians at Chustenahalah. They then saw action at Elkhorn Tavern, Oak Hills and other skirmishes in southern Arkansas. Griffith's largest military accomplishment, however, was not a battle - it was leading the raid on Holly Springs Mississippi on December 20, 1862, with a relatively small force of Southern cavalry troops. "If you will fit up an expedition, comprising three or four thousand men, and give us Major-General Earl Van Dorn, than whom no braver man lives, to command us, we will penetrate to the rear of the enemy, capture Holly Springs, Memphis, and other points, and perhaps, force him to retreat to Coffeeville; if not, we can certainly force more of the enemy to remain in their rear, to protect their supplies, than the cavalry could whip if we remained in front." -- Lieutenant Colonel John Summerfield Griffith, letter to command headquarters, 1862. The unexpected raid by Van Dorn and Griffith on the Union Arsenal at Holly Springs irrevocably changed the course of the war and caused Gen. U. S. Grant to withdraw his entire army of 75,000 troops from Mississippi. So effective and precise was Griffith's attack that he nearly captured Gen. Grant in the process. Also at Holly Springs Griffith was involved in an often-published story called the "Crinoline Encounter" that occurred during that raid.
Mrs. Grant and her son Jesse had been staying at the home of Confederate Col. Harvey W. Walter. Mrs. Grant was placed there when the Union Army occupied the town as it was believed she could be protected there. However, after Holly Springs was secured and the Union arsenal was put to flames, Griffith ordered all houses searched for Union officers in hiding. After some time, he received word that only at the Walter house could his orders not be carried out. Griffith went to the house and found three resolute women with full hooped dresses blocking the gate to the Walter home. The ladies were certain no southern gentleman would take direct action against them, being southern themselves. But the resourceful Griffith ordered his men to remove sections of the fence on either side of the gate rather than move the women, proving them correct in their assumptions of the Lt. Col. Because of this encounter, for many years following the war, many believed that Mrs. Grant was still within that house and was captured by Griffith. The printed piece, below, touts the story and shows an exchange of words between Griffith and Mrs. Grant. However it has since been proven that she had escaped the night before with her son on a railway car   Not long after the victory at Holly Springs Griffith became frail in health and resigned his commission. He returned to Kaufman County where in 1863 was elected to the Tenth State Legislature as a Democratic representative of District 27 (Kaufman, Henderson, and Van Zandt counties), where he became chairman on the committee for military affairs. The Commission of John S Griffith to Brigadier General, March 1, 1864: March 1, 1864 During the Civil War John Griffith had lost nearly everything he had financially and he had to recoup the losses that war had brought to him . Being an industrious person he took advantage of the abundance of an indigenous north Texas plant to rebuild his fortune - the Bois D'arc tree. The areas surrounding the Trinity river are over run with the plant and John began a business of selling the seeds of the fast-growing, prolific tree to persons in the east for hedges and wind-breaks. It took him less than three years to rebuild his fortune, at which time he became interested in brokering real estate and moved in the late 1860's from Rockwall to the Oak Cliff section of Dallas. This proved to be a very prosperous move for Griffith. In 1870 he was enumerated on the Dallas County Census with his wife and two sons, William and Augustus. On that census he lists his occupation as Teacher, with assets in access of $10,00.00. By 1873, when the town of Terrell was founded, John moved back to Kaufman County. There he owned a mercantile with his brother and once again dabbled in the cattle trade. In 1876 he was elected to the Fifteenth Texas Legislature where he was perceived as a tireless advocate for carefully watching over the treasury. His adamant behavior earned him the nick name "Watch Dog" Griffith. On the 1880 Kaufman Census he is listed with his wife, using name Emily, and his three surviving children, William, Augustus and Emily. His listed assets totaled over $50,00.00. . He accumulated small fortunes both before and after the Civil War, a success reflected in public respect. In 1883 he became a member of a committee chosen by the people of Terrell to get a state psychiatric hospital located in the town. He was appointed to the board of governors when the facility opened in 1885 and retained this position until Governor James Hogg appointed a new board in 1890. He was enumerated on the Kaufman County Census in 1900. He was active in political and fraternal affairs the remainder of his life within the county as can be seen by the following, taken from the June 26, 1891 edition of the Dallas Daily Times Herald, p. 2, col. 1. INSTALLATION OF OFFICERS The lodge met in the Masonic Hall at 10:30 a.m., formed procession and proceeded to the Oak Cliff Park grounds, under Bro. John S. Griffith as grand marshal, and were installed by Most Worshipful Past Master David Witherspoon John became ill with appendicitis on Saturday, August 3rd 1901 and underwent surgery for the ailment the following Monday. He died from complications of that surgery on Tuesday, August 6th in Terrell. He is buried at Oakland Cemetery in Terrell near his wife and many members of his family.  Above is Obituary of J S Griffith   BIBLIOGRAPHY:
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