History of Bourbon, Scott, Harrison and Nicholas Counties, Kentucky, ed.
by William Henry Perrin,  O. L. Baskin & Co., Chicago, 1882.  p. 590.
[Scott County]  [Georgetown City and Precinct]

JAMES L. GRIFFITH, farmer, P. O. Payne's Depot.  The subject of this
sketch dates his ancestry to William Griffith, who was born in the year
1760, in the State of Virginia, and his parents emigrated to that State
from Wales in England, but the exact date is not certainly known. He came
to Kentucky from Greenbrier County, now West Virginia, and landed at
Louisville on flat boats, in the year 1787.  A considerable company of
emigrants accompanied him, the most of whom found their way with him to
Steele's Run, in Nicholas County, where they settled and where their
descendants live to this day.  Among the leading families that accompanied
him, and whose descendants are to be found there, were those of William
and Hamlet Collier, Martin and William Baker, from whom Baker's school
house on said stream was named; William, John, and Nathaniel Conway, the
father of the present John Hardy, and perhaps others.  The land where they
settled was then a part of Bourbon County, but was afterward made a part
of Nicholas County.  William Griffith received a grant of land from the
State of Virginia, a part of which is in the hands of his descendants to
this day, having first passed to his son, Martin Griffith, and from him to
the late William A. Griffith, and is now held by his children.  In person
William Griffith was tall and commanding, his body was strong, vigorous
and athletic, and the strength and manliness of his intellect was fully in
keeping with the vigor of his body.  He was active in all the duties that
pertained to the infant settlement, and his great energy and force of
character suited him for the age in which he lived.  He had considerable
knowledge of the civil and common law, and was well versed in the politics
of the day, and the people were not long in recognizing his worth, and
usefulness.  He was first elected one of the Justices of the Peace of
Bourbon County.  He was also a member of the Kentucky House of
Representatives for the session of 1799.  For some years previous to the
said session of the Legislature, the people had been agitating the
questions relating to a new Constitution for the State of Kentucky, in all
of which he took an active interest and a leading part, and when it was
determined to frame a new Constitution, William Griffith was chosen on of
the three delegates from Bourbon County to frame the Constitution of 1799.
His political knowledge and wisdom was well understood, and his energy
greatly facilitated the formation of that instrument.  His colleagues from
Bourbon County in that work were Nathaniel Rogers and James Duncan. After
the Constitution had been framed and ratified by the people, William
Griffith was taken sick with a fever, and died during the year 1800, at
the age of forty, at the very beginning of his usefulness, greatly beloved
and respected.  He was buried on his own land, in a family graveyard, laid
out by himself, he being the first of occupy it.  Before leaving Virginia,
William Griffith had married Sally Baker, a sister of Martin and William
Baker, who proved to be more than an ordinary woman, and whose early life
seemed to be a necessity to the early settlers.  At that time doctors were
few and lived a great way apart.  After coming to Kentucky she studied
medicine and soon mastered the knowledge of herbs, and before civilization
had cast its mantle over the county, her practice had extended far and
near.  She died in the year 1835, after having spent a life of great
usefulness.  For some years after the settlement was first made, Indians
made frequent raids through the country.  On one occasion they captured
and carried off two horses belonging to William Griffith, and at another
time they captured and carried off a negro slave belonging to him, who had
gone fishing at Steele's Ford, on Hinkston.  The negro was never afterward
heard from.  The children had sometimes to be hid in the cane brakes, and
the men had sometimes to follow the raiding Indians.  William Griffith
left several sons and daughters whose descendants are now scattered over
Kentucky and the West.  The oldest son of William Griffith was Major
William Griffith, who settled in Harrison County, between Cynthiana and
Leesburg, Ky.  He showed marked ability as a financier, and left a handsome
estate as the reward of his industry.  He made several successful trips to
New Orleans upon flat boats to take out the products of Kentucky's virgin
soil before steam boats had become in use on the Mississippi, and brought
his money home in saddle pockets on horseback.  He was a Major in the State
Militia and was held in high esteem by all who knew him.  He was born in
Virginia on the 5th day of November, 1783 and died July 7, 1843.His
grandson, Wm. K. Griffith, now owns the farm where he lived and died. The
second son of William Griffith was Martin Griffith.  He was born in
Greenbriar County, Va., in 1784, and came to Kentucky when three years old.
He lived fifty-one years on the land that had been owned by his father; he
then moved to Calloway County, Mo., where he lived for thirty-three years,
and died on the 6th of January, 1868, at the age of eighty-seven years. He
was a successful farmer, an active Mason, an Elder in the Presbyterian
Church and a charitable and useful citizen.  He left sons and daughters,
all of whom settled in Missouri except the late William A. Griffith, who
died upon the old homestead, June 28, 1879.  Samuel Griffith was the third
son of William Griffith.  He lived at Scott's Station, in Harrison County,
Ky.  He served the people of Harrison County one term in the lower branch
of the Kentucky Legislature.  He was a faithful Representative, a useful
man and a popular citizen.  Thomas Griffith was the fourth son of William
Griffith. He was a soldier of the war of 1812 and acquitted himself
honorably in that war; he afterward moved to Missouri, where his
descendants now live.  John Griffith was the fifth son of William Griffith;
he lived and died near Millersburg, Ky.  He was an excellent citizen; kind
and hospitable and charitable to a fault; he left no children to inherit
his excellent traits of character.  The descendants of William Griffith are
now quite numerous, and many of them have proved themselves useful,
successful and honored citizens.  William A. Griffith, whose death is
recorded above, was born Feb. 29, 1868; his wife, Cynthia Mathers, was born
in 1801, and died in 1841; she was the mother of four children, of whom
James L., the subject of this sketch, was the oldest; he graduated at the
College of Danville in 1856, after which he engaged in a merchandising and
milling business at Pleasant Valley, where he remained until 1861, when
he obtained a license to practice law and entered upon the practice of that
profession in 1862, at Cynthiana.  He filled the offices of City Attorney
and City Assessor in connection with his other professional duties; he
remained at Cynthiana until 1873, when he moved to Scott County, and
purchased a farm and turned his attention to farming; his farm is situated
on the Lexington, Bethel and Moore's Run Pike, and contains 165 acres of
choice farm land, which he has placed in a high state of cultivation, and
he is now engaged in growing the usual farm crops and handling high-grade
stock.  During the first year of his farm life he built a fine frame
residence, which was destroyed by fire in the fall of 1879, and has been
replaced by a fine brick edifice, which is an honor to himself, and is
spoken of as one of the finest residences in the county.  He was married
near where he now lives, June 14, 1870, to Miss Adrienne Graves, who was
born May 13, 1846; she has borne to him seven children, viz: James, born
Jan. 17, 1873; Mary E., born Oct. 18, 1875; her twin died the following
year; William D., born April 5, 1879; Warren H., born Oct. 15, 1880. Mrs.
Griffith was a daughter of Jefferson and Mary (Dunn) Graves; he born Aug.
6, 1803, died March 30, 1880; she died in 1847.  Mr. Griffith is a true
gentleman and a thorough business man, and in him are embodied all the
noble qualities for which his ancestors were noted. Religiously himself and
wife are connected with the Presbyterian Church.  Politically he is
Democratic.

Griffith Collier Baker Conway Baker Mathers Graves Dunn
=
Harrison-KY Jefferson-KY Nicholas-KY Boyle-KY Calloway-MO
Greenbrier-WV VA England

http://www.rootsweb.com/~kygenweb/kybiog/scott/griffith.jl.txt