Well, OK, it's not a ballad, more of a confused family tale, but it sounded so much more interesting this way... There are certainly lots of folks around Chesterfield with branches of the Griggs family on their trees, and a good number of them are descendants of John and Fannie Griggs of Anson/Chesterfield counties. Personally, I can count Clement in my direct line. In the scheme of things, this family is fairly well researched, and there's a pretty decent amount known. But a lot of what is 'known' may or may not be accurate, so how about a look at what we know, what we think we know, what we're only guessing at, and a hefty dose of my interpretation <G>.... He is supposed to be buried next to his wife, Fannie/Frances (Rushing?) Griggs. There is certainly a large headstone was placed in the family cemetery by Elisha Griggs in 1927 with the proceeds from the sale of the family property. According to some relatives, there is some question of whether or not Elisha had the right to sell it. The middle name "Wesley" may have just been fantasy on the part of Elisha, or of John's wife, Fannie. Fannie was a devout Methodist and passed that trait on to several generations of Griggs children. There is some information that exists to indicate that the "Wesley" on the tombstone may have just been the idea of Fannie after John died, in some misguided attempt to save his soul. It should be noted that none of the records found from that period ever show a middle name or initial for John. John and Fannie are thought to have been members of the Long Pine Methodist Church. Annie Bowman states there are no church records that go that far back. After the original church burned down, the new church was built further down the road so that the church grounds could accommodate a cemetery. The original site had been too close to the local well to allow a cemetery at that location. The original land deed for the church is in the Methodist Church Archives in Charlotte, NC. The land for the original church was donated by Thomas Tarleton. In the search for where John Griggs served his time in the American Revolutionary Army, at least four researchers have come up with at least three different armies and locations. None of these assorted John Griggs can be pinpointed as this John Griggs. What we know about John is this: John has a headstone that calls him John Wesley Griggs, on a spot where he supposedly lived. It is likely that most of the information on the tombstone is inaccurate. Elisha, John's grandson by John Wesley Griggs Jr., recalled in a letter how his grandmother told him that when John came home from the Revolutionary War, he rested for a bit. and then went over to a Rushing house nearby and shot the man for leaving the army in time of need. This is a good story, but on closer inspection, probably doesn't hold water. Even if our John Griggs served until the end of the war, he would have been home by about 1786, which is several years before the birth of his first recorded child, and so probably several years before his marriage to Fannie. If Fannie is a Rushing, as is believed, it seems unlikely that Fannie would have been allowed to marry John if he had a tendency to shoot her family members. John bought land in Anson County, NC in 1804. It was pointed out in the bill of sale John was a resident of Chesterfield County, SC. The land he bought was within a mile of the state line. At that time, the land was on what was called the North Fork of Thompson's Creek. Later it was called Dead Fall Creek. The name on the "Bill of Sale" was John Grigg. The 1800 US Census shows his name in Chesterfield County, SC as John Greggs. John had 6 sons and 4 daughters by Fannie. These are spelled out in his will in the Anson County Courthouse. They are listed as William, John, Lemuel, Samuel, Cleamand (Clement), Lewis, Ophur Tempy, Nancy, Alea, and Angeliley. According to the tombstone and family legend, John was born in 1757 in Ireland and died in 1820 in Anson County, NC. There's no reason to believe any of the information is accurate. His will was probated in 1811, and there seems to be no proof of any sort that this was done before his death. One Grigg researcher claims that when John had been away for a while, a son from a prior marriage came to Anson county and tried to have his father declared dead, and that the legal papers are supposedly to be found in either Anson County, NC or Chesterfield County, SC. There are several problems with this story. First, there is no reason to believe there was a prior marriage or other children. His will very specifically lists his family members. Second, there is no logic to the story. If John had a prior family that had been cut out of his will, there is no reason that those children would try to have him declared dead and his estate settled. There would be no benefit. Last, there is no indication in any of the probate records that the estate was settled because of a court order, which is what would be required to declare John dead if he was "missing." There's been no sign of the mysterious court papers from the phantom son, as well. There are also apparently family stories to the effect that John was still alive after 1820. I don't believe there is any validity to this story, either. I believe it is more likely that, with all the sons and grandsons named for him, that records mentioning these descendants have been confused with him. His land was divided on his death between his sons, who then sold it in 1830 to William Griggs, the eldest brother. I think it is likely that William, the oldest son, had probably been effectively the owner for the entire period since John's death in 1811. The younger boys, Samuel and Clement, would have been only a year or two old when John died. The sale in 1830 probably occurred after Samuel reached the age of majority and the land could actually be disposed of. The census records indicate that 3 of the sons remained in the area--William, John and Cleamand [Clement]. Lemuel, Lewis and Samuel left after the property sale for Alabama, Florida, and Mississippi. There are later censuses from 1850/1860 that mention people named Lemuel and Lewis, but these don't appear to be John's sons, and are possibly from another family altogether. There is no proof that this line is related; at least one researcher has traced them back to a Virginia Griggs, but I feel it is a possibility that should be considered. There is no proof that John Griggs was born in Ireland, other than stories told years later. It seems to be stretching coincidence that there could be a second Griggs line in the same general geographic area, also repeatedly using the names Clement, Lemuel, Lewis, etc, without there being some connection between the families. Doris Griggs Alexander recalls that when she first started genealogy on John, she saw a Naturalization Application in the Carolina Room of the Charlotte Public Library. According to the state archive, all naturalizations were done on a county level and the records were kept in the county. There was a gentleman some years back that made an attempt to inventory these scattered records and he did make an index of some but John Griggs is not among them. A check in Charlotte of the old court records in the Carolina Room proved worthless. The document is reported to have John's ancestory on it for at least a couple of generations. The only problem is that it would be unlikely to be a naturalization application for our John Griggs, unless many of the other family stories are totally off base. If John were in the Colonies early enough to have fought in the Revolution, he wouldn't have been naturalized. That process was only necessary for later immigrants. There are several stories concerning John's possible origins, as well as his purported Revolutionary War service. The first story stated John came from Ireland in the late 1700's and fought in the North Carolina Continental Line. No unit was named, and that story was based on an entry in the "Army Accounts of North Carolina". If you look up that record, all it says is "J. Greggs" and gives an amount. This story was told by a relative desiring admission to the NSDAR. At the time, this was accepted as proof for that particular organization (it would not be today), but there is no backing for the story that this is our John Griggs. The second story stated John Griggs served his military time in several different groups of the Virginia Branch of the Army. This was based on the fact that if you go to the National Archives and look in the Index for Revolutionary Soldiers, you will find a fair quantity of entries. Most of the John Griggs entries are for a man that live in Virginia and came from a branch of the Griggs Family that hails from England, either directly or by way of New England. That line is rather well documented. There is no known family tie to this man. This version was put forth by another relative. Again, there is certainly proof of a John Griggs that served extensively, but no way of connecting him to the John Griggs of Anson county. In the 1920's, a man named Walter Griggs wrote a book called "The Genealogy of the Griggs Family". He was from the Virginia Griggs line, which has its roots in at least three people coming direct from England and one coming from England via New England. He makes the statement that most, if not all, the Griggs Families found in the Southeast are decended from the Virginia Griggs Line. This includes all those in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida and Texas. This could well be true, but he provides no proof for his thesis. Despite the numerous family stories insisting that John was Irish, it is a connection that should not be overlooked. Our John Griggs apparently claimed that he was born in Ireland. His grandson Elisha wrote about this in 1927, having been told this by Fannie Rushing Griggs. While Fannie might have known, I'm not sure this story constitutes any sort of proof. Indeed, Fannie could only have known what John chose to tell her. A large number of the Griggs family in the Carolinas, Georgia and Florida certainly are descended from John Griggs. Family legend is that he had at least one brother, who also had many children, which would account for a good portion of the other Griggs descendants. (Of course, grandson Elisha stated that this brother settled in Texas when they emigrated to the U.S. Neat trick, since Texas didn't actually exist at the time.) But none of this would rule out the Virginia line as being connected to the family. Story three. On 4 October 1772 a ship named Lord Dunluce left Larne, Ireland, filled with a Presbyterian minister and his congregation. These people were mostly Scots-Irish who had fled from their homes in Scotland to new homes in Northern Ireland, only to eventually be forced out by rising rents and British and Irish hate. One of the persons on that ship was John Greg. He was a man born in Ireland from a father that had been run out of Scotland. The family name, before they left Scotland, was MacGregor. That name was less than popular in Scotland due to a small misunderstanding with the Crown. Like many of his clan, his father had changed his name. John arrived in Charlestown on 20 December 1772. He was given land at the Royal Governors Council on 6 January 1773, but his name was spelled by the Governors' staff as John Gregg in the Council Journal. He lived in the Camden District of SC. That area borders the NC counties where many Griggs descendants are still living. John went to war during the American Revolution but in the South Carolina Army. Whether our John Griggs is the same, or related to, this man is unknown. Four likely candidates for John Griggs are: John Gray Gregg Sr., the son of a merchant (Edward Gregg who was also one of those MacGregors from Scotland), that came to the new world from Northern Ireland. There were Gregg children living in Chesterfield County at the same time as John was. Some of those same Gregg children moved at the same time as Lewis (John's son), to within a stone's throw of him in Lowndes County, Alabama. The 1800 Census put John Greggs in Chesterfield County, the North Carolina property deed put John in Chesterfield in 1804, the 1800 Census put another male (25-45) in John's household in South Carolina. (This perhaps indicates a previous marriage. It is believed by some to be Charles Gregg.) A John Dawson witnessed on the Lewis Griggs property sale in North Carolina, and there are Dawson ladies in the Lewis Griggs Bible. A witness named Dunn shows on the Edward Gregg documents, and there is Dunn in the Lewis Griggs Bible. There is also a man named Dismukes showing up on the documents in Anson County and that family name popping up again in a very small church, in the same county with Lewis Griggs in Alabama. Lew, Lemuel and Samuel Griggs all married ladies named Bryan or Bryant. All the ladies were from Georgia, and all were married in Lowndes County, the ladies all being members of the same small church with Lewis. (Lemuel and Samuel did not show in the church records but the marriages did.) This church only had twenty male members and twenty-six female members. All these things taken separately don't amount to much, but taken togather they represent a good reason to believe that John could have been a Gregg Family member as well as Lemuel, Samuel, Elisha, Daniel, Henry and Lydia. John could of been a member of the Gregg Family from Marion County, South Carolina. This is the family of Rev. Alexander Gregg who wrote the book on The History of Old Cheraws. There is no evidence for or against this possibility. John could of been a member of the John Greg Family that arrived on the Lord Dunluce in 1772. Most of this family was in Camden District, Fairfield County. This is a possible candidate. John could of been a member of the Grigg Family from Virginia/North Carolina. Again, there is no proof either way. There also is a fifth possibility. In 1755, there was a John Griggs in Anson County, North Carolina. He had the first entry in the Grantee Index in the county seat. There was a land grant of Grassy Island Wagon Ford and the sale of it in 1755, but then he disappears. His connection to our John Griggs, if any, is unknown. There was also a Daniel Griggs in the county about the same time. This was probably Daniel Gregg, son of John Gray Gregg Sr. who we know lived in Chesterfield County, SC over the border. (This is one of the men who moved to Alabama in December of 1830). Some of the Gregg children and grandchildren move to Lowndes County, Alabama. One of John Griggs' known sons (assuming the Lewis Griggs in Lowndes County, Alabama is the Lewis that John sired) just happened to already live in Lowndes County. Also in Lowndes County, you have four of those Gregg children, which are definitely Gregg: Elisha Gregg, Daniel Gregg, Henry Gregg and Lydia Gregg. (They are renamed on the 1850 Census as Griggs. Lewis is named a Grigg on the 1840 Census.) Lydia Griggs gets married in Lowndes County, Alabama on 21 Jan 1836 by J.F. Pruitt (JP). Daniel Gregg aquired his first land in Lowndes on 16 Jan 1831. This is the same month that Lewis shows up in Lowndes County. The Rushing Line may supply proof of John's birth name. John's wife, Fannie, is believed to have been a Rushing and there was some documentation on the Rushing family. ("Rushing around the South," by Barbara Miller Hire Crumpton ) The will of John Gregg Sr. in Fairfield County, South Carolina has John Gregg Senior calling his sons "GRIGG" and one of the executors is William Reynolds. (One of John's daughters married a Reynolds.) The only names in the Lewis Griggs Bible that the family can't seem to find ties for have been William Dunn, born June 12, 1832 in Lowndes County, Alabama and two Dawson ladies. The witness on a document that Edward Gregg signed that would make Edward the executor of the James Grigg estate was a man named Benjamin Dunn. The witness to Lewis Griggs selling the property in Anson County, NC was John Dawson. As an added biblical touch, the Methodist Archives in Montgomery , AL shows that the church officer for the church that Lewis belonged to in Alabama was a man named Dismukes. The clerk that witnessed the Lewis Griggs property sale in North Carolina was a Dismukes. (They were not the same man but as circumstantial evidence goes this just added to associated family list.) State records show that one of the Fairfield County Regulators was John Grigg. Council Journal 37, Page 15, Meeting of January 6th, 1773, Lord Charles Greville Montagu, Governor shows that John Gregg was awarded 150 acres in Fairfield District on the border of Camden District. This may not be related but it could be of value in late searches. In Combahee and Cheraw Districts of South Carolina, the Tax Collector for 1786 was John Griggs. This may have been a member of the Gregg Line stemming from Jannet and her clan in Marion County. Angie