compiled August, 1995, by Sharon Mangum Bliss
PHOTOS
Mary Pitts was born August 4, 1810, in Inkberrow, not far from Flyford Flavel. Her parents were William and Elizabeth Hirons Pitts, also farm laborers. She had two sisters, Elizabeth and Catherine, and three brothers, John, William and Henry. Mary was baptized in 1840.
After William and Mary married, they moved to Naunton Beauchamp, a small farming community where William worked as a farm laborer. All of their six children were born there: Theophania (named for her Grandmother Griffin) was born January 7, 1841; John was born November 1, 1842; Caroline was born January 1, 1845; William Hyrum was born November 18, 1846; Walter was born August 4, 1848; Elizabeth Sarah was born February 21, 1852 and died three months later on June 1, 1852. Thomas, the subject of this book was born last March 1, 1856.
In 1862, Theophania and John, the two oldest children, had saved enough money to go to Zion. On April 23, 1862, they sailed from Liverpool, England, on the ship "John J. Boyd." They crossed the plains and came to Utah the same year. William Hyrum came two years later in 1864.
In April of 1866, the rest of the family was ready to leave. It must have been a busy and touching time for them to leave their families and friends behind. They had to dispose of their furniture and belongings that they could not take with them. Their route took them to Liverpool, a seaport in Lancashire, where the L.D.S. Church had passage reserved for them. On April 30, 1866, they sailed into the Irish Sea on the ship, "John Bright," with a group of 747 saints under the leadership of C. N. Gillet. They landed at Castle Gardens in the New York harbor on June 6. They traveled on rail cars by way of New Haven, Connecticut, Montreal, Canada, Detroit, Michigan, Chicago and Quincy, Illinois; and St. Joseph Missouri, and then by steamboat up the Missouri River to Council Bluffs, Iowa. Here they joined the L. D. S. emigrating company for the trip across the plains. In writing of the trip, Thomas says they came by mule train, but the Journal History of the Church writes that they arrived in Salt Lake City on September 4 with Captain Thomas E. Rick's ox train. Thomas also wrote of an incident that happened to his father, William, while crossing the Platte River. He undertook to wade across and got into a whirlpool where he was nearly exhausted when the captain sent a mule to his aid. William caught hold of the mule's tail and was pulled across. They also met two bands of friendly Indians, but they caused no trouble.
In Salt Lake City, they bought an ox team and wagon and went through Wellsville Canyon on the pioneer road to Logan in Cache Valley. About September 11, they traveled about 15 miles northwest to Clarkston where their three older children were living. Their daughter, Theophania, had married John Griffiths and was living there, as well as John and William. The Griffiths families were among the first settlers of Clarkston as Theo, John and their 6-week-old son, came into the Clarkston Meadows in the fall of 1864. When William and Mary arrived in Clarkston, they found the townspeople just moving back from Smithfield where they had gone for safety because of Indian trouble.
Their first home in Clarkston was in the fort and was a log house without windows, doors or floors. That fall the family gleaned wheat and picked up potatoes for food during the winter. They lived in the fort for three years. Then as the Indian trouble ceased, the townspeople began building their homes on higher ground. The first Griffin home was built south of the Clarkston Church. On October 16, 1870, their son, Walter, died at the age of 22 and was buried in the Clarkston Cemetery.
Caroline married Joseph Lewis Thompson, a widower with 12 children, 11 of them living. Theo also became Joseph's plural wife after John Griffiths' death. They both lived in Clarkston. John and William both married and moved to Newton, Utah.
William married a second wife, Eliza Thompson Coutcher, a widow, on May 19, 1873. This was a plural marriage. Her first husband, William Coutcher, had died leaving her a widow with three small children. From this second marriage, William had three children: Nellie, born May 25,1874; Annie Henrietta, August 12, 1876; and Henry Alfred, October 29, 1879. William spent most of his remaining years in Eliza's home. This home was on the road to the Clarkston Cemetery, one block north of the Trenton/Newton road corner, on the east side of the road. This property and farm were left to his son, Henry. William died, February 2, 1880, the year after his youngest son, Henry, was born. He is buried in the Clarkston Cemetery.
On October 8, 1883, William and Mary's son, John, left to serve a mission for the Church in England. He left a wife and seven children at home, the oldest child being about 13 years of age. He was away about 18 months. When he returned from his mission to England, he brought William's oldest brother, John, with him. John died after 1885 and is probably buried in Clarkston.
After William took a plural wife, Mary was alone much of the time. This may be the reason she developed a very close relationship with her daughters, Theo and Caroline.
Mary was a refined and intelligent little English lady. Everything she did was in good taste. Her actions were ladylike and becoming. She was very particular and precise in all of her activities. Her physical features were small and petite. As Mary's hair grew gray, she used her favorite dye on it. She was very stylish.
Laura Griffith, a grandson's wife, remembers, "When I was a little girl, it was my idea of a home. It was a tiny palace. It was one-room with a buttery or pantry. It also had a 'slant'. In the slant was a tiny black cook stove which she always kept polished. If Mary felt that she wanted to clean and polish her stove she would not remove her embroidered white apron. She said one could polish a black stove in a white apron without getting spots. How Mary loved to keep this stove polished, there was NEVER any rust on it. This stove was used to cook her food as well as heat her home.
In her buttery were her "dainties" and her "savories." Savories are what she called her tiny meat pies. There would also be "tarts." Her preserves and jellies were made from black native currants gathered along the fences or from the nearby meadows. She also used gooseberries, English currants, and apples. Another name for black native currants was "Bed bug currants." These, when sugared, were a pioneer delicacy. Molasses was still the standard sweet, and drying was still the most used method of preserving fruits. These choice sweets were served on muffins, fresh bread, toast, or popovers, which were soda biscuits.
The north side of Mary's home was a closed-in porch, and did not have too many windows. This was good, because it helped shield them from the Clarkston blizzards. The floor to their one-room home was covered with wall-to-wall hand woven carpet. She had a loom which was used extensively for all kinds of weaving. It made beautiful cloth, either wool or homespun cotton. She also used it to weave her carpet.
Beautiful ruffled curtains were around the bed. These hid "unmentionables" of the bedroom--bed pot, bed pans, etc. The pillows were embroidery and ruffles, made into a sham to dress up the bed in the daytime. They were removed at evening to make the bed ready for sleeping. The window curtains were fluffed and ruffled. Her pieced quilts were beautiful--tiny little blocks, intricate in design and perfectly matched. Round cheese boxes with lids that came off were upholstered with chintz and calico. The lids were stuffed and padded with wool. When these cheese boxes were finished and placed about the room, they served as comfortable extra chairs. Mary was very good at sewing. Her buttonholes and eyelet embroidery were just about perfect and her blind hemming was really blind on the right side.
Mary was re-baptized August 5, 1877, by Martin Harris Jr., a son of the Book of Mormon witness. When her son, John, returned from his mission to England, she became very interested in doing temple work in the Logan Temple for the family. Mary was very religious and attended her church meetings regularly. She became president of the Clarkston Relief Society on January 12, 1875, and served for sixteen years until she died. She always went to conference in Salt Lake City. These trips became a real event for her. Her daughters said they were shopping sprees. They always wondered what she would bring home. One year she brought an iron shoelast for a grandson, and he used it all of his life and prided himself on how well he could sole his shoes.
Her daughters told that "just before she died of pneumonia, she got
up in bed a bit, fluffed her pretty pillow, straightened her bed covers,
laid down again, turned over and died easily and gently." She was
precise, neat, and dainty, even in death on February 23, 1891. She
is buried in the Clarkston Cemetery.
Mary Pitts Griffin's death card that was sent to close friends
and relatives reads:
In Loving Remembrance of:
Mary Griffin
Died February 23, 1891
One by one earth's ties are broken,
As we see our love decay;
And the hopes so fondly cherished,
Brighten but to pass away.
One by one our hopes grow brighter,
As we near the shining shore;
For we know across the river;
Wait the loved ones gone before.
Biography compiled August, 1995, by Sharon Mangum Bliss from:
Carter, Kate B. Heart Throbs, Vol 4, p. 147
Clarkston Ward Records, microfilm, Salt Lake
Genealogical Library
Crossing the Plains Index, Church Historians
Office
1851 Census of Naunton Beauchamp, Worcs.,
England
Griffin, Thomas, Autobiography of Thomas Griffin
Griffin, Thomas, Sketch of the Life and Travels of
Caroline G. Thompson.
Griffin, Kaylene, Genealogical data correction
Griffiths, Catherine H., History of Clarkston
Heinrich, Josephine S., Mary Pitts Griffin "These
are the Early People," notes from Biographical
Sketches, April 1961; Edited by Florence
Griffin Butler, December, 1991.
Jensen, Andrew, Church Chronology
Millennial Star, Vol. 5, Conference Report
Naunton Beauchamp Parish Records
Ravsten, Eunice, History of Clarkston
Shipping List Index, Church Historians Office
PHOTOS
Life History of Mary Pitts Griffin, by
Mary B. Thompson 1964
Life History of William Griffin, by Mary
B. Thompson 1964, with date corrections by Lana Archibald
Photo of Mary Pitts Griffin home in Clarkston,
Utah
Photo of their daughter, Theophenia
Photo of their son Thomas and his two wives
and family
Photo of William Griffin
and Mary Pitts Griffin
Mary Pitts Griffin,
full length
Mary Pitts Griffin,
closeup photo
