Matthew Griswold IV, 2nd Governor of Connecticut, 1784-1786
And a Member of the Sons of Liberty
Third Half-Cousin, nine times Removed
Matthew Griswold (March 25, 1714 – April 28, 1799) was the second Governor of Connecticut from 1784 to 1786. He also served as Lieutenant Governor and Chief Justice of the Superior Court, during the American Revolution (1769–1784). (This material is principally from Wikipedia and http://www.revolutionarywararchives.org/sonschapter.)
He was born in Lyme, Connecticut, the eldest son of John Griswold, politician and landowner, and Hannah (Lee) Griswold. He was the fourth generation of his family to live in Connecticut, the family emigrating there from England in 1639. They were one of the wealthiest and most respected families in Lyme.
Self-educated, Griswold opened a legal practice in Lyme in 1742 and married then Deputy Governor Roger Wolcott's daughter Ursula and had seven children with her. Their son, Roger Griswold, later also became Governor of Connecticut. Griswold was elected to the Connecticut General Assembly in 1748, and from 1751 to 1759. He was then elected to the Council of Assistants, serving from 1759 to 1769.
Griswold and eight other Council-members demonstrated opposition to the Stamp Act of 1765 when Governor Thomas Fitch was required to take an oath to support it. Griswold became a member of the Sons of Liberty, who publicly protested the Stamp Act.
In 1755, some "True Sons of Righteous Liberty" formed a political club in Connecticut to defend religious and personal freedom. It is probable that this group was revived as the Connecticut Sons of Liberty. The Sons of Liberty made their first appearance in late 1765, a secret organization formed in some of the colonies in opposition to the infamous Stamp Act. They were the radicals who led the colonies into open revolt against the British Colonial Government, the Crown, and Parliament.
The Stamp Act was passed by the English Parliament imposing the first direct tax on the American colonies in their 150 year history as British colonies. All printed materials were taxed, including; newspapers, pamphlets, bills, legal documents, licenses, almanacs, dice and playing cards. The colonists united quickly in opposition, led by the lawyers, publishers, land owners, ship builders and merchants, those most affected by the Act.
In the name of "Liberty" the Sons of Liberty were responsible for many acts of violence against supporters of the Crown including tar and feathering, burning British court records and looting the mansion of the Governor of Massachusetts, Thomas Hutchinson.
As the start of the Revolutionary War drew near, from the Sons of Liberty and the Committees of Correspondence in most of the colonies grew the Committees of Safety. Griswold was a strong supporter of the colonists' cause during the American Revolution. He served on many such committees that oversaw troop movements, military appointments, provisions, and defense; he especially focused on defending American ships and the Connecticut shoreline.
Griswold held many important offices before, during and after the Revolution including King’s Attorney for New London County 1743-46, Overseer of the Mohegan Indians 1754-59, Member of the Connecticut General Assembly 1751-59, Chief Judge of the state Superior Court as well as Deputy Governor of the Colony 1769-84, Governor of the State of Connecticut 1784-86, and President of the State Convention to ratify the Federal Constitution, 1788. His leadership at this Convention was critical to the ratification of the U.S. Constitution. Because of his patriotism and service to Connecticut, the citizens asked Griswold to give an address at the welcoming of President George Washington in New Haven in 1789.
During the Revolutionary War he presided over numerous trials of Tories and, as Chief Judge of Superior Court, meted out sentences from execution for treason, to imprisonment to fines. Consequently, he became a target of the British and Americans loyal to them, the Tories. Connecticut shores were vulnerable to attacks by privateers (who usually were Tories) and by the British—a fact that Griswold continued to impress upon the government and citizens of the State.
On one occasion, when British soldiers crossed the fields toward Griswold’s estate, he supposedly hid in a meal chest and was covered with bags. His wife, Ursula, invited the soldiers to search the house but they did not find Griswold. On another occasion he was pursued by soldiers and escaped by hiding under homespun linen that was spread out and being bleached on a neighbor’s lawn. Griswold asked the neighbor’s daughter, Hetty Marvin, not to tell the soldiers he was there. When they asked her if “His Honor” had passed that way, she answered that he had not—which was true because he had not “passed” but stopped.
Before and during the Revolutionary War, he was concerned about education and was a member of a committee to improved teaching at Yale College. Yale awarded him a Doctor of Laws in 1779, in appreciation.
There is a delightful story about how Matthew Griswold came to marry his second cousin, Ursula Wolcott. According to this tale, she flirted shamelessly with the reluctant young Matthew—who had just been spurned in romance. Whenever she would meet him on the street she would say (pretending he had said something), “What did you say, Cousin Matthew?” He would answer, “I did not say anything.”
A few days later upon meeting him again she said, “What did you say, Cousin Matthew?” Again he replied, “I did not say anything.” Finally, upon meeting him on the beach one morning Ursula again said, “What did you say, Cousin Matthew?” He replied, “I did not say anything.” At this point the impatient Ursula replied emphatically, “It is time you did.” They were wed in the not too distant future.
Her marriage to Griswold gave Ursula the singular distinction of being relative to many Governors. These included her father, Gov. Roger Wolcott; her brother, Gov. Oliver Wolcott; her nephew, the second Gov. Oliver Wolcott; her cousin, Gov. William Pitkin; her husband, Gov. Matthew Griswold and her son, Gov. Roger Griswold.
Joyce, Meredith, George, Gwen, Roger, Arthur, Eleanor, Chip, Carolyn, Betsy, Clyde
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Adelaide Lyon Boutelle --- Richard Meredith Bissell
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Mertie Ella Bisbee --- Herbert Hunt Bissell
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Julie Ann Richardson --- John Hatch Bissell
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Mercy Ann Searle --- Benoni Bliss Bissell
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Matthew Griswold, Iron Cookware Mogul Tirzah Pierce --- Solomon Bissell
b. 1833 d. 1919 ]
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Matthew Griswold --- Phebe Hubbard Ely Eunice Olcott --- Noah Bissell
b. 1792 b. 1804 ]
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Gov. Roger Griswold --- Fannie Rogers Benoni Olcott --- Deborah Cooley
b. 1762 b. 1767 ]
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Gov. Matthew Griswold --- Ursula Wolcott Joseph Cooley --- Mary Dorchester
b. 1714 b. 1724 ]
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John Griswold --- Hannah Lee Joseph Cooley --- Mary Griswold
b. 1690 d. 1695 ]
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Matthew Griswold --- Phoebe Hyde George Griswold --- Mary Holcomb
b. 1653 b. 1663 b. 1633 b. 1636
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Matthew Griswold --- Anna Wolcott Edward Griswold --- Margaret
b. 1620 b. 1620 Chr. 26 Jul 1607 d. 1670
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[ George Griswold -------------------- 1st wife Dousabel Leigh: one child, Edward
[ Chr. 6 Nov 1574 d. 1615
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[ George's 2nd wife ------------------ Honora
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