The James G. Griffin Family

By Mary Phillips Griffin

James G. Griffin and Malissa Griffin came to Jacksonville from Pine Hill Community of Rusk County, Texas, in 1915. Their three sons, all having reached the age of 21 years, were Willie L. Griffin, Jimmie Griffin and Julius Griffin.

James G. Griffin opened a retail grocery store that year and his son, Willie L., was manager. The firm, J. G. Griffin and Son, was located at 302 East Lincoln Street. James G. Griffin, in addition to operating a grocery business, was a farmer, dealer in oil and gas leases, and an insurance agent. He was a member of the Church of God, and had great influence as a civic worker.

Mr. and Mrs. J. G. Griffin built a home at 304 East Lincoln, but it was destroyed by fire. Their second home was constructed in 1929 at 568 North Ragsdale Street. After the death of J. G. Griffin in 1935 and Malissa Griffin in 1942, this home became a tenant dwelling.

At his father's death, Willie L. Griffin became the owner of the business established in 1915, which had been moved to 578 North Ragsdale and enlarged in 1926. In addition to being a retail merchant, he, too, was a dealer in oil and gas leases and a respected civic leader. He was a member of the Church of God, the Masonic Lodge, a stockholder in the Jacksonville Farmers' Market and Jacksonville Industrial Foundation.

On January 11, 1927, Willie L. Griffin married Mary M. Phillips, head of the music department and elementary instructor on the faculty of Fred Douglass School. She had come to Jacksonville for the 1922-23 school year to serve as a musician for Fred Douglass School. She taught at Mt. Haven school in the Mt. Haven Community for two years, returning to Fred Douglass in 1925. She remained on the faculty until 1937, resigning to become bookkeeper for W. L. Griffin Grocery & Market.

The W. L. Griffins adopted a daughter, Bobbie Jean, in 1942. She graduated from Fred Douglass High School in 1949 and received an A.B. degree from Prairie View College in 1956. Married and presently living in Los Angeles, she is employed as an assorting mail clerk for the United States and foreign countries.

W. L. Griffin died in August, 1965. The business was sold to James V. Hightower, a Fred Douglass graduate, who continues in the tradition of the Griffin family—helping Jacksonville have a progressive growth.

Mrs. W. L. Griffin is an active member of Benson Memorial C.M.E. Church and an ardent civic worker. She is the only surviving member of the Griffin family, is retired except to oversee rental property, and still lives in the W. L. Griffin home, built at 562 North Ragsdale in 1927.

Mr. & Mrs. James Griffin, parents of Willie.

Willie Griffin in a familiar pose, 1938.

Mrs. Mary Phillips Griffin, wife of W. L., teacher and musician.