MRS. MARGARET LAMSON GRIFFIN is a typical New England woman, of good old English stock, counting among her ancestors William Wood, one of the first settlers of Concord, Mass., author of that very bright book, "New England's Prospects," published in London in 1635; Major Simon Willard, another of the distinguished men of Concord in the early days, and a celebrated Indian fighter; Major Thomas Henchman, of Pawtucket Falls (now Lowell), a distinguished warrior in King Phillip's time; Lieut. James Richardson, who was killed by the Indians in battle, in 1675, and other men of note. Her grandfather, William Lamson, came from Charlestown, Mass., to Keene in 1787, established a successful business which was continued by his son, Charles, father of Mrs. Griffin, and built in 1804 the house where she was born, where she still lives, and where her children were born, her grandchild being of the fifth generation of one family living in the same house. On the first day of January, 1863, in the midst of the dark days of the war, she married Colonel, afterwards Brevet Major General, S. G. Griffin, and they have two sons. Mrs. Griffin is a woman of great executive ability, presides with tact and dignity, has been president of the Ladies' Aid Society in her parish for twenty years, secretary of the Charitable Society of Keene for about forty years, is active in the W. C. T. U., is one of the trustees of the "Mercy Home," at Manchester, and president of the "Woman's Auxiliary" of the diocese of New Hampshire, which she represented at the General Triennial Convention at Minneapolis in 1895. It is said of Mrs. Griffin, by those who know her well, that she presides over one of the most charming homes in that charming little city, Keene. Russell Lamson Griffin.¹

 

¹New Hampshire Women: A Collection of Portraits and Biographical Sketches of Daughters and Residents of the Granite State, Who are Worthy Representatives of their Sex in the Various Walks and Conditions of Life, The New Hampshire Publishing Co., Concord, NH, 1895, page 191