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Below is a family biography included in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Pulaski County, Arkansas published by Goodspeed Publishing Company in 1889.  These biographies are valuable for genealogy research in discovering missing ancestors or filling in the details of a family tree. Family biographies often include far more information than can be found in a census record or obituary.  Details will vary with each biography but will often include the date and place of birth, parent names including mothers' maiden name, name of wife including maiden name, her parents' names, name of children (including spouses if married), former places of residence, occupation details, military service, church and social organization affiliations, and more.  There are often ancestry details included that cannot be found in any other type of genealogical record.

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Joseph Griffith, of the firm of Griffith & Brisbin, insurance agents at Little Rock, is a native of that city, his birth occurring on Main Street between Fifth and Sixth, July 5, 1845. His father, Henry Griffith, was born of English parents on board a ship from England to America. The elder Griffith was reared at Harper’s Ferry, Va., with four other brothers, and learned the gunsmith’s trade in his youth. From there he went to Louisville, Ky., and in 1839 came to Little Rock, Ark., where he resided up to the time of his death, in 1868. He carried on his adopted avocation with great success at Little Rock for a number of years, but his health failing after the war, forced him to retire from active life. In politics he was an old line Whig, and held the office of city constable for sixteen successive years, his opponents finding it impossible to defeat him at any election, and in secret societies he was a prominent member of the Odd Fellows. He made his way through the world in a manner that found him many friends and rapidly pushed him to the front, his high sense of honor, tact and ability making him well known and respected. Mr. Griffith was married at Louisville, Ky., to Miss Mary Boyd, by whom he had nine children, six sons and three daughters, and six yet living: Sarah J. (wife of John M. Frazier, of Engstrom & Frazier, merchant tailors), Mary E. (widow of M. H. McGann), Annie E. (wife of John W. Earland, a prominent trunk merchant), Joseph (the principal of this sketch), William R. (deputy State treasurer of Arkansas) and Thomas E. The mother is still living at a good age and in splendid health. Joseph Griffith was reared in the city of Little Rock and passed an uneventful life until his fifteenth year, when the Civil War commenced and all his youthful ardor was fired to become a soldier. In February, 1862, he enlisted in William E. Woodruff’s battery, and served as an artillery man for six or eight months, being assisted to the ordnance department at Tyler, Tex., where he remained for about three years. After the war was over, he returned to Little Rock, and entered into the employ of Thomas Scott, city collector, but remained with him only a short time, when he accepted a position as clerk in the old Anthony House. He subsequently kept a store on the Fort Smith & Little Rock Railroad, ten miles northwest of the city, and later on was constable of Big Rock Township from 1876 to 1878. In the latter year, he was elected county treasurer of Pulaski County on the Democratic ticket, filling that office with great credit for ten years, and after being relieved of his position in 1888, retired from politics altogether. On January 1, 1889, Mr. Griffith entered into the insurance business with Mr. John M. Brisbin, and the firm is now one of the strongest in that line at Little Rock. In secret societies he is a member of Little Rock Lodge No. 452, Knights of Honor, and Baynard Lodge of the Knights of Pythias. He has also been a member of the Pat Claiborne Fire Company for twenty-two years, and is at present treasurer of that company, as well as secretary of the Arkansas Nursery Company. Mr. Griffith was married on May 15, 1872, to Miss Clarlie O. Hite, a daughter of William H. Hite, an old resident of Little Rock. Eight children have been born to this marriage, of whom seven are yet living: Daisy, Nellie, Mamie, Richy, Annie, Ed and Florence. The one deceased was named John.

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This family biography is one of 156 biographies included in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Pulaski County, Arkansas published in 1889.  For the complete description, click here: Pulaski County, Arkansas History, Genealogy, and Maps

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