ADDITIONS MADE TO SOURCES – DIANNAH GRIGGS

 

The following furnished by Pat Stricklin ( spstrick@otelco.net )

                      

            Diannah Griggs

            by Patricia Griggs Stricklin

            

            Her name appears in a variety of different spellings.

            

            She was the daughter of Rhodum Griggs & Mildred "Milley/Milly"

            Bagley.            

            DNA test results have proven that Rhodum Griggs was not a son of

            John Griggs. HIS PARENTAGE REMAINS UNKNOWN.

                        NOTE:

            Her father was not Rhodum S. Griggs.

            Rhodum S. Griggs was the son of Lee Griggs & unknown first wife.

            

            Diannah married Isham Thornton in about June 1805. Their children

            were as follows:

            

            1. Harrison Thornton

            2. Rhodum Thornton

            3. Isham Thornton

            4. Robert Thornton

            5. Milly Thornton

            5. Lucy Thornton

            7. Sarah Thornton

            

            NOTE: There were & are some descendants who claimed Diannah Griggs

            married a William Harrison Thornton but this is wrong. This was due

            in part to the research of a descendant named Elvie Lovett back

            before 1940. Elvie failed to find vital records which proved without

            a doubt who she married & who fathered her above named children.

            Elvie then attached Diannah to a man named William Harrison

            Thornton . For some reason she thought Diannah was a widow with young

            children because the William Harrison Thornton died about 1820.

            

            In 1805, Isham Thornton entered the 1805 Ga. Land Lottery of Hancock

            County but he drew a blank.

            

            In 1812, Isham was listed in Capt. Harper's District according to

            the list of taxable property for Hancock County , Ga. as owning 3

            slaves & 132 1/2 acres of land on Island Creek.

            

            Isham also appears on the 1820 census for Hancock County .

            

            In Rhodum's will, which he made on the 21st. of Oct. 1822, he

            mentions his daughter and her children simply as "heirs of my

            daughter Disey Thornton."

            

            Isham left Diannah and lived openly in adultery with another woman

            for a number of years.  Her sister, Sarah Griggs, had married James

            Able Thornton and in 1830 they were all three living in Munroe

            County , Georgia .

            

            Sometime before 1833 Diannah had moved to Troup County , Ga. (Some of

            Diannah's family had also moved to Troup County after the death of

            her father). In 1832 the Court of Troup County, Ga. granted Diannah

            a divorce from Isham Thornton.

            

            On the 7th Jan. 1840 the Legatees (heirs) of Rhodum Griggs sold land

            to Nathaniel Griggs in Hancock County , Georgia . Nathaniel Griggs was

            a son of the deceased Rhodum. The heirs of Isham Thornton were all

            mentioned by name in the Indenture Deed  & most of the heirs of the

            deceased signed their signatures on this document.

            

            Isham Thornton was also mentioned the indenture deed as deceased so

            he had died before the 7th. of Jan. 1840.

            

            Isham Thornton's son, Rhodum Thornton, applied for Letters of

            Administration in the Estate of Isham Thornton in Troup County ,

            Georgia on the 8th Sept. 1841 .

            

            Diannah Griggs then married John Garner Griggs on 22 Jan. 1833 in

            Troup County , Ga. John died in Harris County, Ga. and she married

            her third husband Joseph Heard on the 14 of Sept. 1859 in Troup

            County, Ga.

            

            Diannah & Joseph Heard moved to Tallapoosa County , Al. prior to

            1860.

            

            It is believed that Diannah (Griggs) Thornton Griggs Heard died in

            Meriwether County , Ga. Her unmarked grave was identified by a family

            descendant.

             

            Note:

            Because their is so much confusion as to who Diannah Griggs married

            I thought it was necessary to get this information out there for

            those researching the Griggs & Thornton connection. So many people

            still think & probably believe she was married to William Harrison

            Thornton .

            

            William Harrison Thornton may have been a relative but she wasn't

            married to him.

            

            SOUCRES:

            1805 Ga. Land Lottery by Virginia S. Wood & Ralph V. Wood, p. 347

            

            Some Early Tax Digests of Ga. by Ruth Blair, p. 40; 1820

            

            Last Will & Testament of Rodom Griggs, Hancock County , Georgia Will

            Book L, p. 575-578

            

            Hancock County , Ga. Census, Census p. 95; 1830 Munroe County , Ga.

            Census, Census p. 176

            

            Records of the Superior Court of Troup County , Ga. , March Term 1832

            (Divorce Degree)

            

            The Georgia Black Book, Volume II, by Robert Scott Davis, Jr., p. 21

            (Divorces by the Georgia Legislature)

            

            Indenture Deed of the Legatees of Rhodum Griggs, dated 07 Jan. 1840

            in Hancock County , Ga. Deed Book P, p.p. 277-279

            

             Application of Letters of Administration, Troup County , Ga.

            Troup County , Ga. Court of Ordinary Minutes, Vol. A & B, 1827-1848,

            p. 225

            

            Troup County , Ga. Marriage Book A, p. 59

            

            Troup County , Ga. Marriage Book D, p. 195

            

            Troup County , Ga. Deed Book K, p. 40

            

            Troup County , Ga. Deed Book J, p. 40

            

            Meriwether County , Ga. Cemeteries by Priscilla Turner, p. 8

            

            Thornton Family Notes by Elvie Lovett, before 1940