George Griswold

  Noted events in his life were:

• Background Information: ²⁰⁰
There was a deposition made by Captain George Griswold that his great grandfather's name was George Griswold, and had three sons named Edward, Matthew and Thomas. Unfortunatley the Kenilworth parish records prior to 1630 were destroyed during the wars of the Commonwealth. There are facts enough, however, to make the connection between the Griswolds, of Windsor, Connecticut and the Greswold heraldic family of Kenilworth and Solihull, Warwickshire, at least possible if not probable according to Henry DeWitt Gridwold and Minnie Griswold Space in their work titled The Ancestors and Descendants of Edward Griswold of New York. The same assertion is made in The History of the Buell family in England and in America, on page 26. This work was published in New York, 1881, and authored by Albert Well.

There also is no possiblity that George, the father of Edward, Matthew and Thomas of the Americas was the George Greswold, son of Henry Greswold and Dorothy James. Their son, George, died in 1615, and was most likely unmarred since there are no records of a wife or any children. All of his property went to his brother Humphrey after George's death.

• Background Information: ⁵⁴⁸
The documented evidence shows that Edward Griswold and his brother Matthew came from Kenilworth, England, about 1639, and settled first in Windsor, Connecticut. In the Magazine of American History , Vol. XI, pg. 121-122 where the affidavits of Edward and Matthew are quoted under the date of 1684.

The George Greswold who was their father is still unclear, but from a deposition made by Captain George Griswold that his grandfather's name was George Griswold, who had three sons, Edward, Matthew and Thomas. (see Magazine of American History, Vol XI, 122-123), we know that Matthew and Edward's father was named George.

In the records of Solihull from the rector of the Solihull church, the alternate spellings of the names Griswold are Griswoolde, Gryswoolde, Fresolde, Grissolde, Greywolde, Grisolde, Gryswoolde, Gryssold, Griswolde, Gressolde, Greswolde, Greswoolde, Grewsold, Gryswold, Creswold, Griswold, Griswoold and Griswold.

George Griswold of Kenilworth, England is the person that generally begins the Griswold ancestry. The youngest son, Thomas remained in Kenilworth. Nothing is known about him beyond the name and the fact that he was the brother of Edward and Matthew.

The position that both Edward and Matthew took in the Colonial Councils as superior persons who bore the title of "Mr." instead of "Goodman," indicated that they held a respectable social position in England. The name Griswold died out in England, and it was Matthew, Edward, and a third Greswold (named Michael, who may or may not be related to Matthew and Edward), who kept the family name alive in the Americas.
~The Ancestors and Descendants of Edward Griswold of New York, pp. 4-5