Without, invidious distinction Samuel Ames Griswold may be termed the leading merchant of Branford, having a business which in volume and importance exceeds that of any other in his city. He is actuated in all that he does by a spirit of enterprise and his progressiveness brooks no obstacles that can be overcome by determined and honorable effort.
     He was born in Essex, Middlesex county, Connecticut, March 17, 1867, and is a son of Deacon Samuel and Susannah Elizabeth (Pratt) Griswold. Ancestral records show that the first representative of the family in Connecticut was Edward Griswold, a son of Mathew Griswold, Esq., of Kenilworth, Warwickshire, England. Edward Griswold was born in England in 1607 and in 1629 emigrated to America, taking up his abode in Saybrook, Connecticut, in 1663, after residing for a number of years in Massachusetts. In 1667 he removed to what, is now Killingworth, in Middlesex county, and there became an extensive landowner, his death occurring in 1691. On the 33d of August, 1670, the death of his wife, Mrs. Margaret Griswold, whom he had married in 1630, occurred and two years later he married Mrs. Sarah Remes, the widow of James Remes, of New London, Connecticut. His first wife was the first person buried in the cemetery at Clinton, then Killingworth, Connecticut. Another ancestor of Samuel A. Griswold in the paternal line was Lieutenant Selah Griswold, an officer of the American army in the Revolutionary war and undoubtedly at one time in command of Fort Saybrook. He won distinction in the service of his country. He was early apprenticed to a shoe merchant of Essex. Connecticut, whose daughter he eventually married. She bore the maiden name of Mary Ann Starkey and their family included three sons and a daughter: Daniel, Asal Porter, Selah and Mary Ann. The first named, Daniel Griswold, married Fannie Babcock, of old Saybrook, and they had a family of nine children, of whom the first born died in infancy, the others being Maria, Alfred, Mary, Rachel, Charilla, William, Edwin and Samuel.
     The last named, Deacon Samuel Griswold, father of S. A. Griswold. was born in Essex and in early manhood engaged in teaching. He taught, in a preparatory school and other schools of Middlesex county and later removed to Meriden, where he spent his last years. He was a very public-spirited man and was called upon to fill various important offices in his town. He wedded Susannah Elizabeth Pratt. a daughter of Elias and Abbie Pratt, who were natives of Essex. Her father was a descendant of Lieutenant William Pratt, who removed from Boston to Hartford. Connecticut, with Thomas Hooker and his followers. They proceeded on down the Connecticut river in 1644 to Saybrook, now the village of Essex, and selected a site for a home, where Mr. Pratt then built his dwelling. This has been in the Pratt family from that time to the present and is now the property of Samuel Ames Griswold, one of his direct descendants in the tenth generation.
     Samuel Ames Griswold acquired his early education in the district schools of the town of Essex. Middlesex county. In young manhood he learned piano action manufacturing at Ivoryton, Connecticut, and later he removed to Wallingford, where he engaged in the undertaking and house furnishing goods business, there remaining until 1892. After a short period spent in Massachusetts he came to Branford and purchased the business of S. B. Miller on the 16th of September, 1893. The establishment was then a small one, but from that small beginning he has developed his trade until he now has the foremost mercantile enterprise of Branford. His business outgrew the original quarters and in 1897 he erected the Griswold block on Main street, opposite the Green. It is a three-story building, all devoted to his business of undertaking and house furnishings. He carries a very complete stock in both lines and in addition has a thoroughly equipped hardware department, carrying a large line of heavy and shelf hardware. He occupies the only block in Branford that was built for an especial business. It is thoroughly modern in every respect, and thus splendidly housed and capably managed, his trade has reached very extensive proportions. The summer residents on the shore no longer find it necessary to go to the larger cities in order to secure furnishings for their cottages, for Mr. Griswold has a complete stock of such furnishings always on hand. In addition he is one of the largest collectors of and dealers in antique furniture and antiques of all kinds, having in his stock furniture and bric-a-brac of the earliest New England makes and some of the old early English pieces of furniture brought to New England by the first settlers of this section of the country. He has in his own home a sideboard which has come to him through a long line of ancestors. He is thoroughly familiar with the history of furniture manufacture, as exemplified in his stock of antique New England furniture, and many of the articles in his store have a most interesting history. Mr. Griswold is a Stockholder and director in the Branford Trust Company and he is a member of the Connecticut State Undertakers' Association. In addition to his other business interests he owns considerable real estate, both city and country property, having made judicious investments as his financial resources have increased.
     Mr. Griswold is a republican in his political views. His religious faith is that of the Congregational church and in his fraternal relations he is a Mason, belonging to Widows Son Lodge, No. 60, A. F. & A. M. He is a cultured gentleman, a man of high standing who enjoys the warm regard and thorough respect of all with whom he has been associated.