Holbrook line: Matthew Griffin 1629-1691

I'm not sure that the birth year for Matthew Griffin is correct.  If it is, then he was probably born in Devon, Devonshire, England, according to a Geni entry.  But I've not found documents, and there is some reason to question whether this is the correct man.  The only clue to his identity is that he was called a "dear kinsman" in the will of Richard Griffin of Concord, possibly an uncle.  But Richard's ancestry is not traced, either, that I could find.

In researching him, I found a statement that he was in Saybrook, Connecticut by 1645.  I am not convinced this is the same Matthew Griffin, but if it was, then Matthew would probably have been older than 16, to have been noted as being there.  I'm suspicious of the Saybrook connection because Matthew spent most of his life in Charlestown, Massachusetts Bay Colony,  and there weren't many cases of men traveling from Connecticut and going east to Charlestown.  Most Charlestown residents either went directly to Charlestown, or landed first in Boston.  

So we know virtually nothing of Matthew's early life.  We do know that he married several times, and there is more than a little information about his life in Charlestown.  We must be content with what we have, I suppose.  We know that Matthew's first wife was Jone (Joane, perhaps Jane) but there is no information about her to be found, so far.  We don't know whether the marriage took place in New England or in England, although Torrey lists it as New England.  Jone died before August 29, 1654, when Matthew married Hannah Cutler, the daughter of Richard and Rebecca Cutler, in Charlestown.  Richard was a selectman in Charlestown, and a deacon of the church, so he had some social standing.  

It's confusing, then to consider that I've been unable to locate Matthew as a freeman in Massachusetts Bay Colony.  He owned property, because in 1658 he was granted 14 acres of woods and 2 1/2 acres in the commons in a town distribution, which indicates he likely had a homestead.  Was he not a church member?  There are records for the birth of his children, at least some of them, in the First Church of Charlestown, but I've not located his name there.  

So it's possible that Matthew never had a right to vote in the annual town meetings, despite the fact that his father in law was a selectman, and despite the fact that Matthew paid taxes and served on at least one jury.  He was part of the jury that met in April of 1672, for an inquest into the death of "an Indian named Joseph", who, it was concluded, had frozen to death, "being overtaken in drink", if I am reading the record correctly.  

Matthew and Hannah had ten children together, before Hannah died on December 2, 1676.  It's possible that her death was childbirth related.  The last known child was born in 1674, and Hannah delivered babies about every 18 months to two years.  She was 42 years old when she died.  Matthew next married, by 1678, Deborah Norton Hill, the widow of Zachary Hill, and she outlived him.  

Matthew was taxed 3 shillings on the tax list of November 16, 1658, and is also on the tax list for 1688, when his "estate" was 2-0.  I'm not sure whether that is an estate (property value) or a rate (tax).  The 1688 list includes an estate for the "widow of Matthew Griffin Jr", which brings up an interesting question.  

The other major event of Matthew's life appears to be his participation in King Philip's War.  There are three different records for Matthew Griffin during that time period, none of which specify whether we are talking about Junior, who would have been 20 or so at the time.  John Griffin, who may have been Matthew's son, received land in Narragenset Township in Rhode Island in 1735, as the heir of Matthew, or he may have been a grandson since the wording for some of the other men indicates "son of" rather than "heir".  This land was given to the soldiers (or heirs) who had fought in the "Great Swamp Fight" of December, 1675. 

The inventory I found, which is dated January 16, 1691, is clearly labeled as being that of Matthew Griffin Jr., presumably our Matthew's first son, who was born in 1656. Our Matthew died December 29, 1691, and I show Matthew Jr's date of death as April 23, 1691.  Could this be a case of confusion, that the dates maybe should be 1691/1692?  And could the original record of Matthew Jr's inventory actually have read Senior rather than Junior?  What I have found is clearly not the original document.

For the record, Matthew's inventory was valued at almost 114 pounds, but I won't discuss the list until I'm convinced this belongs to our Matthew.  (If it belonged to the younger Matthew, he was apparently doing better than his father had done.)  

We have a few known facts about Matthew, and many questions.  Why was he not a freeman? Was he a church member?  Was he literate?  What was his occupation?  Whose inventory is it that we have?  And if Matthew Junior died in 1691, why is there a widow of Matthew Jr listed in that 1688 tax list?

The line of descent is

Matthew Griggin-Hannah Cutler

Hannah Griffin-Edward Lloyd

Elizabeth Llody-John Whittemore

John Whittemore-Lydia Clough

Josiah Whittemore-Lucy Snow

Josiah Whittemore-Betsy Foster

Mary Elizabeth Whittemore-Joseph Holbrook

Fremont Holbrook-Phoebe Brown

Loren Holbrook-Etta Stanard

Gladys Holbrook-Richard Allen

Their descendants