Alpheus Griffin and Minnie F. Walker (couple 7)

[Jen's paternal GGGrandparents]
[Marylou Holt > Terena Elizabeth Griffin > Stephen Griffin > couple 7]

Alpheus C Griffin
BIRTH: 9 Apr 1865, Portland, Cumberland,Maine
DEATH: 1936, Maine, United States

Minnie F Walker
BIRTH: 20 November 1868, Brunswick, ME
DEATH: 04 August 1906, Stoneham, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States

Alpheus Griffin
 Alpheus Griffin was born to David Henry Griffin Jr (1827-1904) and Caroline M Cushing(1828-1906) in 1865.  In 1870, he is the youngest of three brothers George (b. 1860), Theodore (b. 1862), with an older sister Elizabeth (b 1850) who no longer is at home.  David was a fisherman, and owned a $300 house.  

Siblings of Alpheus
1. Elizabeth A (1850-1877) m. William H Andrew (??-1884, poisoned by second wife)
2. George Henry (1860-1930) m 1876 Deborah E Pettingill (1856-1881) m. 1883 Julia Etta Doughty (1864-1850)
3. Theodore Lawrence (1862-1962) m 1885 Ida May Doughty (1867-1959)
4. Alpheus C (1865-1936) m Minnie F Walker (1868-1906) m2. Minnie D (1875-1933) m3. 1933 Viola Ellen McKenney (1883-1949)
Ten years later, just he and his brother Theodore lived at home.  Alpheus was still in school at age 15.  The family had a servant, John O'Brien from Ireland as of 1880.

On the 1900 Census, David is listed as a fisherman, with Caroline having 3 of her 4 children living.  Elizabeth A "Isadora" had passed away at age 27.


Father David lived to be 77 (died when Alpheus was 39), and mother Caroline died at 78 (died when Alpheus was 41).

Minnie Walker
 Minnie was born to Stephen J Walker(1824-1899) and Joanna Lake(1831-1892) in Brunswick, Maine in 1866.  Stephen was a property owner in Brunswick (1870 Census: $1600 real estate, and $850 personal), a worked as a butcher.  In 1870, Minnie was the youngest of 7 kids.

Siblings

1. William Henry Walker (1850-1851) deceased at age 1
2. John Alfred Walker (1851-1859) deceased at age 8
3. William H Walker (1853-1910) m. Amy Trask Irving (1852-1908)
4. Louisa F Walker (1855-1947) m. 1882 Frank W Leonard (1853-1920)
5. Stephen Frank Walker (1857-1872) died at 15y 3m
6. Olive Maria Walker (1859-1881) died at 22
7. Lettice (1861-1878) died at 16y 10m
8. Harriet Jane (1862-1921) m. 1879 Ezra Robinson Groves (1853-1936)
9. Minnie F (1868-1906) m. 1887 Alpheus C Griffin (1865-1936)
10. Lucy A (1871-aft1940) m 1889 John F Small (1870-??)
11. Katherine F (1873-1904) m1 1891 George H Libby, m2 1895 George E Nickerson (1877-??)

By 1880, Stephen and Joanna had added two more children to the family, though onl 5 of the 9 total were still living at home.  Stephen is in the "provisions" business, which may mean he's a shopkeeper.  Two of Minnie's older sisters who are still living at home (Laura and Olive M) "work in a paper box shop."

History of Brunswick, courtesy of Bowdoin College.

Life Together
Minnie F. and Alpheus were married 26 April 1887 in Brunswick, ME.  They had four recorded children:

1. Stephen Harold (1889-1933),  m. 1912 Terena E Dyer (1897-1967)
2. Alice B (b. Aug 1896, d. 1897), died as a 1 year old
3. Sadie (b. Nov 1896 adopted before 1900 Census), and
4. Margaret E (1904) m 1919 Stanley A Cushing (1896-1961)
Minnie F suffered the loss of her daughter Alice B in 1897, as a toddler, and subsequently adopted Sadie, who was the same age as Alice.  Sadie doesn't show up on the 1910 Census, so it's unclear what happened there.

Alpheus's Fish Shack, 1924.  Demolished 1925-26.

Alpheus's father David passed away in 1904 at age 77
Alpheus's mother Caroline passed away in 1906 at age 78 on Cliff Island.

Minnie F died on 4 August, 1906 a resident of Cliff Island, Maine, at Stoneham, Massachusetts, at the New England Sanitarium.  (founded in 1899 along Woodland Road in the Fells as a hospital and charitable asylum.)  She died after 8 days of chronic interstitial nephritis (a type of kidney disorder), though she had been at the hospital for 30 days.

Son Stephen's House and Store, c. 1924, from mainememory.net

Second Marriage
Alpheus remarried Minnie D _______(1875-1933) in 1907, and in 1910, is shown in the census with Harold (20) and Margaret (6).  Alpheus changed his career to work with the city police around this time.  Sadie is not there, perhaps deceased.

The 1920 Census shows Alpheus (54) and Minnie D (45) owned their house on Cliff Island outright.  Alpheus worked as the Foreman for the Portland City Street Department.  They had two boarders.

Minnie D's house in 1924, from mainememory.net  (Church Road, Cliff Island)

Ida M Griffin, Alpheus's brother Theodore's wife lived in this house, 1924, mainememory.net

Viola E Anderson's house, 1924, Beach Road.  Alpheus would marry her in 1933.

Viola's Barn, 1924.

By 1930, Alpheus (65) and Minnie D (56), OWN A $1000 house, and Alpheus is working as a fisherman in Casco Bay., and is listed as a NOT a veteran. Their neighborhood on Cliff Island is full of Griffins.

Third Marriage

Minnie D died in 1933, and at age 68, Alpheus married Viola E McKenney Anderson (49) (1883-1949) on 21 December 1933.  This was third marriage for both of them.  Alpheus is listed as a "Street Commissioner".  They were married by Earl T Smart, Justice of the Peace, at Portsmouth, NH.


Alpheus later died in 1936 at Cliff Island, Maine.