Patrick Griffin, portrait

Description:	Portrait photograph of Patrick Griffin (1831-1917) when an older man. Patrick Griffin was born in Miramichi, New Brunswick, Canada, to Irish immigrants Patrick and Margaret McCarthy Griffin. Patrick was the fourth of seven children. The family moved to Louisville, Kentucky in 1839, and in 1846, both of his parents died leaving Patrick, age 15, and his three younger siblings orphans. (The two oldest siblings were adults by this time, and the third had passed away as a young teen). The four youngest Griffin children were sent to an orphanage in Louisville. Soon, however, the children were befriended by wealthy business man Thomas McGrain, Sr. and his wife, who took the children in and raised them along with their own. In 1849, McGrain traded some of his Louisville commercial real estate for Cedar Glade, the country estate of Jacob Kintner in Corydon, Indiana. At first the McGrains used the property as a summer or vacation home. However, the family quickly grew fond of the quaint little town and its residents, and made it their permanent home by 1855. As a young man, Patrick Griffin traveled to California where his older brother had settled, and the two established a successful trading post business. Patrick returned to Corydon, Indiana in 1865 and partnered with his brother-in-law, Thomas McGrain, Jr., to establish the mercantile store of Griffin & McGrain. In 1871, he married Helen Porter, daughter of esteemed lawyer Judge William A. Porter. The couple resided in Helens childhood home in Corydon and raised seven children. In 1897 at age sixty-six, Patrick Griffin and his children established the firm Maurice Griffin & Co., named after his oldest son, and opened a dry goods store on Beaver Street in Corydon. Centrally located on the block opposite the courthouse square, Griffins store became a prominent landmark business in Corydon, and served the community throughout most of the 20th century. Patrick Griffins children Margaret, Maurice, Mary Jane, Olive, Annis, and Dan all clerked in and managed the family store along side their father. They continued the business after Patricks death in 1917 and throughout their lifetimes. Only one of Patrick Griffins children - Maurice - had children of his own. Maurice married Charlotte Rupp in 1909, and they had three sons: Henry, William Maurice Jr. (Tim), and Frederick Porter Griffin. The youngest, Fred, became the last proprietor of the family store. At the time of its closure in 1983, the Griffin store was the oldest retail business in Corydon, and the Griffin family had a three-generation, 117-year history as Corydon dry goods merchants.
Origin:	ca. 1910
Source:	http://cdm17251.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/p17251coll25/id/45
Collection:	Griffin Family Photos
Rights:	http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/CNE/1.0/
Copyright:	This image may be printed or downloaded by individuals, schools or libraries for study, research or classroom teaching without permission. For other uses contact: genealogy@hcpl.lib.in.us
Geography:	Harrison County, Indiana
Subjects:	men portraits photographs clothing and dress--history--20th century

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