This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Author: jantrevor Surnames: Classification: queries Message Board URL: http://boards.rootsweb.com/surnames.griffin/6789.1.1/mb.ashx Message Board Post: Our line has been trying to figure out the connection to the Arkansas Griffin lines for a long time. I know that the initial group of Griffin's were removed from ALA to Arkansas before other lines were removed to Oklahoma as reflected on the early rolls. And we know my our line left Texas and went to Arkansas to stay with family during the Civil War. We just don't know who they went to stay with/how the families are connected. My family has recently matched genetically to another family in Arkansas who also described themselves as "Black Irish" which is a euphemism for Indian White, used when it it was not so popular to be Indian. Both families had vague knowledge of Indian ancestry but nothing concrete. I suspect these folks are descendants of the kin our line stayed with with during the Civil war. Our line includes descendants with the name John Wood Griffin....born 1850 and James William Wilburn Wood born 1855. Both went by JW and JWW Griffin respectively. I don't know if these lines are connected to the earlier JW line in the rolls but I suspect they are and that these are family names being passed down generationally. My family ended up in Texas. DNA tests indicate some Native American ancestry between 4-12% which would put it pretty far back...about the colonial period. Our line tracks back to Benjamin Griffin b: 1773 d:13 Mar 1846 and wife(Mary Polly Bird b: abt 1785 d: 11 May 1856 buried Bibb County - Griffin Cemetery) who may have been Cherokee. There is no proof for her, but there is a record of a Polly Bird (poss. her mother and 2 other persons born in Halifax County NC (where they came from before going to GA/ALA) being listed as mulatto (which at that time could mean anything indian or other mixed). (1790 Other Free Persons, Halifax Cty, NC). Our tree ! and research is located here: http://www.visualmediaworx.com/gonetotexas.htm Important Note: The author of this message may not be subscribed to this list. If you would like to reply to them, please click on the Message Board URL link above and respond on the board.