# Samuel Griffin > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Samuel_Griffin > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Samuel_Griffin.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Griffin > Source revision: 1356758578 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{short description|American politician}} {{for|the Georgia governor Samuel Marvin Griffin|Marvin Griffin}} {{Use mdy dates|date=November 2020}} {{Infobox officeholder | image = SamuelGriffin.jpg | caption = Portrait by [Gilbert Stuart](/source/Gilbert_Stuart), {{circa}} 1800 | state1 = [Virginia](/source/Virginia) | district1 = {{ushr|Virginia|13|13th}} | term_start1 = March 4, 1793 | term_end1 = March 3, 1795 | predecessor1 = None (district created) | successor1 = [John Clopton](/source/John_Clopton) | state2 = [Virginia](/source/Virginia) | district2 = {{ushr|Virginia|10|10th}} | term_start2 = March 4, 1789 | term_end2 = March 3, 1793 | predecessor2 = None (district created) | successor2 = [Carter B. Harrison](/source/Carter_Bassett_Harrison) | office5 = Member of the [Virginia House of Delegates](/source/Virginia_House_of_Delegates) from [Williamsburg](/source/Williamsburg%2C_Virginia) | term_start5 = December 16, 1786 | term_end5 = November 14, 1788 | preceded5 = [James Innes](/source/James_Innes_(Virginia)) | succeeded5 = [Edmund Randolph](/source/Edmund_Randolph) | birth_date = {{birth date|1746|04|20}} | birth_place = [Richmond County](/source/Richmond_County%2C_Virginia), [Colony of Virginia](/source/Colony_of_Virginia), [British America](/source/British_America) | death_date = {{death date and age|1810|11|23|1746|04|20}} | death_place = [Williamsburg](/source/Williamsburg%2C_Virginia), [Virginia](/source/Virginia), U.S. | party = | spouse = Elizabeth Braxton | alma_mater = | allegiance = {{flag|United States|1777}} | branch = [Continental Army](/source/Continental_Army) | rank = [Colonel](/source/Colonel_(United_States)) | battles = {{Tree list}} * [American Revolutionary War](/source/American_Revolutionary_War) ** [Battle of Harlem Heights](/source/Battle_of_Harlem_Heights) ** [Battle of Iron Works Hill](/source/Battle_of_Iron_Works_Hill) {{Tree list/end}} }} '''Samuel Griffin''' (April 20, 1746{{spnd}}November 23, 1810) was an American lawyer, soldier, politician, and slave trader from [Virginia](/source/Virginia).{{Cite web |title=Samuel Griffin |url=https://npg.si.edu/object/npg_S_NPG.2000.4 |access-date=2025-07-09 |website=npg.si.edu |language=en}} Following his service during the [American Revolutionary War](/source/American_Revolutionary_War) as a Continental Army officer, Griffin served as mayor of [Williamsburg, Virginia](/source/Williamsburg%2C_Virginia), as well as represented the former state capitol in the [Virginia House of Delegates](/source/Virginia_House_of_Delegates), then (with surrounding areas) in the [U.S. House of Representatives](/source/United_States_House_of_Representatives).{{CongBio|G000466}} ==Early and family life== Born in [Richmond County](/source/Richmond_County%2C_Virginia) in the [Colony of Virginia](/source/Colony_of_Virginia) to Leroy Griffin and his wife, the former Mary Ann Bertrand. His slightly younger brother [Cyrus Griffin](/source/Cyrus_Griffin) would likewise become a Virginia lawyer and patriot, serving as a Continental Congressman representing Virginia's Northern Neck region (where they were raised) and later as federal judge, for what was then the [U.S. District Court for the District of Virginia](/source/United_States_District_Court_for_the_District_of_Virginia). Another brother [Corbin Griffin](/source/Corbin_Griffin) (d.1813) received a medical degree from the University of Edinburgh before setting up a practice in [Yorktown](/source/Yorktown%2C_Virginia) and became chief surgeon during the Revolutionary War before his imprisonment by the British, and later served as a Virginia state senator.{{Cite AMB1920|wstitle= Griffin, Corbin |page= 467|last= Slaughter |first= R.M. |author-link= |year=|short=1}} Earlier, the Griffin boys received a private education appropriate to their class, including classical studies and law. Samuel Griffin married Elizabeth Braxton, daughter of prominent Virginia planter and patriot [Carter Braxton](/source/Carter_Braxton), likewise of the [First Families of Virginia](/source/First_Families_of_Virginia). They had only one child, Elizabeth Corbin Griffin Stewart (1779-1853), who survived two husbands (including a Williamsburg physician) and ultimately died in Philadelphia. ==Continental Army officer== During the [Revolutionary War](/source/American_Revolutionary_War) Griffin accepted a commission as a colonel in the [Continental Army](/source/Continental_Army). An [aide-de-camp](/source/aide-de-camp) to English-born General [Charles Lee](/source/Charles_Lee_(general)), he was wounded at the [Battle of Harlem Heights](/source/Battle_of_Harlem_Heights) on September 16, 1776. Colonel Griffin recuperated from his wounds near Philadelphia. When the American army retreated behind the [Delaware River](/source/Delaware_River) in December 1776, the commanding general of the Philadelphia Department, [Israel Putnam](/source/Israel_Putnam), followed General Washington's instruction and ordered Col. Griffin to "create a distraction" for the British forces then present near [Trenton, New Jersey](/source/Trenton%2C_New_Jersey). Thus, Griffin led about 900 militia and Virginia regulars into [Mount Holly](/source/Mount_Holly%2C_New_Jersey), from which he harassed the pickets of Colonel [Carl von Donop](/source/Carl_von_Donop) at [Bordentown](/source/Bordentown%2C_New_Jersey). Colonel Von Donop brought all of his 2,000 or so troops to Mount Holly to punish Griffin in the [Battle of Iron Works Hill](/source/Battle_of_Iron_Works_Hill).{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20031205192205/http://www.ironworkshill.org/]}} However, the action put Von Donop's troops out of position to assist Colonel Rall in Trenton. Thus, on the morning of December 26, 1776, Washington crossed the Delaware and [defeated Rall at Trenton](/source/Battle_of_Trenton). Local lore says a "certain young widow of a doctor" assisted Griffin by detaining von Donop in Mount Holly.{{cite book|last= Peach|first= John Harding|title= On the Banks of the Rappahannock: A Captivating Story of Romance and Mystery in Colonial Virginia |year= 2011|page= 247|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=CDEV9GOQv3sC|publisher = AuthorHouse|isbn= 9781463419318|place = [Bloomington](/source/Bloomington%2C_Indiana)}}{{cite journal|title= Education in Colonial Williamsburg |journal=The William and Mary Quarterly|volume= 7|year= 1899|page= 61|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=PyUjAQAAIAAJ|publisher = Whittet & Shepperson|place = [Richmond](/source/Richmond%2C_Virginia)}} ==Lawyer and politician== Admitted to the Virginia bar, Griffin practiced law. Following the New Jersey battles, Griffin returned to Virginia and as a citizen soldier served on the State's board of war (1779-1781). During this period, [Williamsburg](/source/Williamsburg%2C_Virginia) remained strategically important as the colonial capitol and was threatened by British warships offshore in [Hampton Roads](/source/Hampton_Roads). Griffin served as Williamsburg's mayor from 1779 to 1780. After the war ended and fellow former soldier and Williamsburg lawyer [James Innes](/source/James_Innes_(Virginia)) became [Attorney General of Virginia](/source/Attorney_General_of_Virginia), Williamsburg voters elected Griffin to replace him in the [Virginia House of Delegates](/source/Virginia_House_of_Delegates) and re-elected him twice to the part time position. Thus, he served from 1786 through 1788, when he resigned upon being elected to the [U.S. House of Representatives](/source/U.S._House_of_Representatives) and [Edmund Randolph](/source/Edmund_Randolph) resigned as Virginia's governor (at the time elected by the Virginia General Assembly and having little power) in order to succeed Griffin as Williamsburg's delegate.Cynthia Miller Leonard, Virginia General Assembly 1619-1978 (Richmond: Virginia State Library 1978) pp. 162, 166, 170 Voters from Williamsburg and surrounding areas elected Griffin to the [First](/source/First_United_States_Congress), [Second](/source/Second_United_States_Congress), and [Third](/source/Third_United_States_Congress) Congresses. Thus, he served from March 4, 1789 until March 3, 1795, although the district number changed from [Virginia's 10th congressional district](/source/Virginia's_10th_congressional_district) to [Virginia's 13th congressional district](/source/Virginia's_13th_congressional_district) in 1793. ==Death and legacy== Griffin died in New York City on November 23, 1810. His grave site is unknown. ==References== {{reflist}} ==See also== Retrieved on 2010-01-05 *[Fischer, David Hackett](/source/David_Hackett_Fischer) (2004). ''[Washington's Crossing](/source/Washington's_Crossing_(book))''. New York: Oxford University Press. {{ISBN|0-19-518159-X}}. {{s-start}} {{s-off}} {{succession box |title=[Mayor of Williamsburg, Virginia](/source/Williamsburg%2C_Virginia) | before=[incomplete record](/source/William_Holt_(mayor)) | after=[William Holt](/source/William_Holt_(mayor)) | years=1779–1780}} {{s-par|us-hs}} {{s-bef|before=''District created''}} {{s-ttl|title=Member of the [U.S. House of Representatives](/source/List_of_United_States_representatives_from_Virginia)
from [Virginia's 10th congressional district](/source/Virginia's_10th_congressional_district)|years=1789–1793}} {{s-aft|after=[Carter B. Harrison](/source/Carter_B._Harrison)}} {{s-bef|before=''District created''}} {{s-ttl|title=Member of the [U.S. House of Representatives](/source/List_of_United_States_representatives_from_Virginia)
from [Virginia's 13th congressional district](/source/Virginia's_13th_congressional_district)|years=1793–1795}} {{s-aft|after=[John Clopton](/source/John_Clopton)}} {{s-end}} {{VirginiaRepresentatives10}} {{VirginiaRepresentatives13}} {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Griffin, Samuel}} Category:1746 births Category:1810 deaths Category:Mayors of Williamsburg, Virginia Category:Members of the Virginia House of Delegates Category:Continental Army officers from Virginia Category:United States representatives from Virginia Category:Virginia lawyers Category:18th-century United States representatives Category:18th-century members of the Virginia General Assembly --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Samuel Griffin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Griffin) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Griffin?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.