Stephen H Griffin and Terena E Dyer (son of 7, daughter of 8)

[Jen's paternal GGGrandparents]
[Marylou Holt > Terena E Griffin > son of 7, daughter of 8]

Stephen Harold Griffin
BIRTH: 09 Jun 1889, Portland, Cumberland, Maine
DEATH: 7 OCT 1933, Portland, Maine

Terena Elizabeth Dyer
BIRTH: 22 Apr 1897, Portland, Cumberland, Maine
DEATH: 30 Jan 1967

Stephen H Griffin
Stephen Harold Griffin was born in 1889 to Alpheus C Griffin (1865-1936) and Minnie F Walker (1868-1906) on Cliff Island in Portland.  They lived in a house on Cliff Road five households down from L. Diamond.  His mother died to kidney disease when he was 17, and dad (Alpheus, a fisherman) married a woman named Minnie D. {unkown last name}.  By the time he was 20, he was a fisherman, and his father had gone to work with the Portland City Police department.


Siblings of Stephen H
1. Stephen Harold (1889-1933),  m. 1912 Terena E Dyer (1897-1967)

2. Alice B (b. 1896, d. 1897),
3. Sadie (b. Nov 1896 adopted before 1900 Census-??), and
4. Margaret (1904-??).

Terena E Dyer

Terena Elizabeth Dyer was born in 1897 to John Lemuel Dyer and Harriet A Hammond.  John was a fisherman living on Cliff Island.

Siblings of Terena
1. Inez Almera (Apr 1892-??) m 1908 Myles Leo O'Reilly (1881-??)
2. Christina A (May 1894-1965), died at Brunswick, me
3. Elizabeth Terena (Apr 1897-1967), m 1912 Stephen Harold Griffin (1889-1933) m 1934 Dwinal C Griffin (1890-1968)
4. Harriett J (Sept 1899-1921),
5. John F (1902-??). m Esther M (1908-2000)

Life Together
Stephen (23) married Terena Dyer (15) in 1912 in Portland.

He paid his fisherman licensing fee of $1 in 1914.

When he registered for the draft in four days before his 28th birthday in 1917,  he describes himself as  a self-employed fisherman, and claimed a religious exemption from the draft.  He was tall with a medium build, dark blue eyes, dark brown hair.  Even by the 1920 census, he is still a fisherman, working off his own boat.  They live next door to Alpheus and Minnie D, his parents.

Together they had three known children:

1. Terena Elizabeth (1915-1997) m 1930 William E Holt
2. Stephen A (1917-1930)
3. David F (1927-2007)

Stephen H Griffin, Terena E Dyer, father Alpheus Griffin, and granddaughter Wilma Holt, c 1933.

By 1930 Stephen and "Elizabeth" are renting a house at 6 Monument Street in the East End of Portland for $15 a month.  He no longer works off his own boat, but instead is a fisherman employed by the fish market.  He is listed as a non-veteran.

Their family experienced tragedy in 1930 when their son, Stephen A was in a train accident, wherein his legs were crushed by a freight train in Portland.  While they thought that amputation would save his life, Stephen did not survive the incident.

Stephen died young in 7 October 1933.  To help her raise her young family, Terena remarried the following year, November 1934 to Dwinal C Griffin a first cousin of Sephen (their fathers were brothers, children of grandparents David Henry Griffin and Caroline M Cushing).  At the time of their marriage, Terena was working at a Sea Food shop, and "Diny" was a fisherman.  Both were on their second marriage; Dwinal had been divorced, and Terena is listed as widowed.  They were married by Peter J. Hickey, Justice of the Peace, at Portsmouth, NH.  Incidentally, on that marriage record, John Dyer, Terena's deceased father, is listed as a shipper.  Her mother, Harriett Hammond Dyer is listed as 62, living in Portland.

Terena died in 1967, a resident of Cliff Island.  Dwinal died the following year (1968).