Revolutionary Soldiers

Zachariah Griffis

While proof exists that Zachariah Griffis died in Allen County, Indiana, we have no information as to his personal life or his military service.

His will dated November 12, 1831, and probated April 23, 1832, in Allen County, Indiana, stated:

I give and bequeath to the first male child which shall be born to my son, Thomas Griffis, and which child will be called Zachariah after me three hundred acres of land situated and lying in the Virginia Line No. 36 which was granted me by Congress for my services in the Revolutionary War. . .

It is known that the family lived in Ross County, Ohio, because the son, Thomas, referred to in the will, married Aurilla Stratton in that county on February 20, 1828. Apparently Zachariah accompanied the newlyweds when they came to Allen County, Indiana, late in 1829. Thomas Griffis purchased land on the DeRome reservation in St. Joseh Township and started a small tannery. However, Mrs. Griffis did not long withstand the hardships of life on the frontier, and Thomas was plagued by business worries. He was forced to give up his tract of land because the Federal Government ruled that any sales of the DeRome land had been illegal due to its having been conveyed originally to minor children. Having lost his wife, his father and his livelihood, Thomas moved to Koskiusko County, Indiana, and descendants of Zachariah Griffis, through Thomas, are still living there today. Zachariah himself was buried on a farm three miles north of Fort Wayne along the St. Joseph River in Allen County having died sometime before April 16, 1832.

References:
Daughters of the American Revolution. Mary Penrose Wayne Chapter. Will records of Allen County, Indiana, 1831 to 1869. Fort Wayne, Indiana, 1936.
Griswold, Bert J. The pictorial history of Fort Wayne, Indiana, Chicago: Robert O. Law Co., 1917.

O�Bryne, Mrs. Roscoe C., comp. & ed. Roster of soldiers and patriots of the American Revolution buried in Indiana. n.p., Indiana Daughters of the American Revolution, 1938.

Ross County, Ohio, Marriage Records (microfilm).

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