Mamaroneck & the Griffens (John's mother's family)

We've mostly gotten around the country just fine with maps and our GPS system that we've named "Rosie."  She had a little trouble in Wilkes-Barre, as we went around in circles a few times.  Then I put in Greenwich, Conn. for our next stop, but didn't realize she decided it was Greenwich, NJ.  We went 30 miles the wrong way on a toll road before I realized the mistake, and then we couldn't get off the turnpike for another 12 miles!  (You need lots of cash, by the way, driving on all the toll roads or turnpikes!)  So we were a little later getting through NYC area and got stuck in 5:00 pm traffic with all the freeway interchanges, trucks and mess of cars.  Then leaving that area on Thursday, we got stuck again  -- the newspaper today said they had a power outage and the interstate was jammed for hours -- we can vouch for it!  Boy are we glad we don't live in NYC!!!!

Later, as we tried to pull off at a "Service Area" (gas, food, restrooms), we somehow missed the right exit, ended up on another toll road that we had to pay to get off of even though we didn't want to be on it, and spent more time driving around in circles before heading in the right direction again!  Whew!  We drove fewer hours/miles on Thursday than this whole trip, and were more exhausted by the time we stopped than any other day!

But we did have a delightful time in the Mamaroneck area once we got there, staying at a BandB,

and just enjoying the area that John's mother's side of the family (Griffen) settled in in the 1600's.  The first Griffen was an interpreter for a man (Richbell) who bought lots of property from the Indians.  There is much documented history in the library that details the land transactions/deeds with the X signatures of the Native Americans.  (We wondered if the Griffen ancestor interpreted well enough for the Natives to know what they were really doing -- selling their land!)

The Griffens built several homes on what is now Griffen Ave.

One of the early homes is still there, with a plaque on the house dating it to 1711.
No one was home so we didn't get to see the inside, but enjoyed just being on the property and seeing the old stone wall that was mentioned in the Griffen book, which details the ancestors back to that first settler in 1635.  I retyped onto the computer the Griffen Story from the typewritten (sometimes from a 4th carbon copy) that documents well the generations from the 1600s.

The multi-million dollar homes now on Griffen Ave. would be a shock to those original settlers, along with the beautiful golf courses and expensive cars.   The downtown was a fun place to walk, eat lunch, explore.  We had lunch at a Mozart Cafe that serves lunch, dessert, coffee, wine and has evening concerts.  In the women's restroom I saw several cases of DeLoach wine stored there, and when I mentioned to the owner (from Bangladesh) that we lived very near DeLoach Winery and were wine club members, he came and sat down with us for awhile.  No free wine, but we were supposed to go back and get a hat he was going to give John the next day, but by then we were on our way to other areas.

And, of course, more cemetery searches and library research.   Many of the Griffens were Quakers, and the Quaker Meeting House in Purchase is still standing next to the cemetery with many Griffens who are buried there.  The gravestones aren't always easy to read, which was particularly true of another cemetery we went to that had not been maintained at all.  But one of the ancestors who had written many pages in her diary (that I re-copied, misspellings and all --and there were many!) was buried there, so I was glad her gravestone was readable.  

We went to a couple different research/historical libraries, and found many of the old maps and documents of the Griffens.  Another village historian, in her upper 80's, was willing to take us to another research area, but indicated she wasn't feeling well, so unfortunately we had to skip what may have been one of the best resource people who could have given us even more info.

This is our last day to pack up the car and move on to the next place, as today we will arrive at our new "residence."  We will be volunteer hosts for two months in New Windsor, Maryland at a Church of the Brethren Retreat Center.

It's been a great trip getting here!