DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say — so let the record show where this story comes from. Now, if you want a family that saw Texas change flags like most folks change their boots, pull up close, because Henry and Amelia Griffith lived through all of it. Henry Griffith was born around 1797, a Pennsylvania boy, son of Joshua and Jemimah Griffith — Jemimah being a Hazelton before she married.
Somewhere around 1819 or 1820, Henry made his way south and west, landing at Johnson's Bayou near Opelousas, Louisiana. And it was there, in that bayou country, that he met a young woman named Amelia Barrow — Milly, they called her — daughter of Reuben and Mary Jane Barrow, the Johnsons on her mother's side. Henry and Milly married in 1824.
Two years later, the two of them packed up and moved again, this time into territory that was still under Mexican rule. Think about that for a moment. They weren't moving into Texas.
There was no Texas yet. They were moving into Mexico. In 1830, the Griffiths received a land grant in the Atascosito District, and that land became the place where they built their life — farming it, raising cattle and horses, and rearing their family.
They put down roots in a place that hadn't quite decided what it was going to be. Then in 1835, Henry sold off 1,047 acres of that land to a man named William Duncan. The deed included the big hill sitting on the property, a rise also known as Barber's Hill, and that deed stated the place would henceforth be called Mont Bellview.
Now, more than fifty years after that transaction, the area had grown enough to warrant its own post office — and that post office was named Mont Belvieu. Same hill, little different spelling, a lot more neighbors. Meanwhile, Henry Griffith kept on witnessing history.
By this point the land had passed from Mexico to the Republic of Texas, from the Republic into the United States, and then — during the war years — under the flag of the Confederate States. When Reconstruction came, the governor at the time, A. J.
Hamilton, appointed Henry Griffith as sheriff in 1865. He served in that office until 1868, one year before his death in 1869. Milly — Amelia — her death date is simply not known.
No gravestone survives for either of them. But oral histories say they are buried near this very site, where their original house once stood, and that at least two other members of the family rest there as well. Four flags.
One land grant. A deed that named a hill. A post office that carried the name forward.
Henry and Amelia Griffith didn't just pass through Texas history — they were standing in the middle of it, the whole time, on land that became a community long after they were gone.
What the marker says
The son of Joshua and Jemimah (Hazelton) Griffith, Pennsylvania native Henry Griffith (c. 1797-1869) moved to Johnson's Bayou near Opelousas, Louisiana, about 1819-20. There he met and married Amelia "Milly" Barrow (c. 1802 -?), daughter of Reuben and Mary Jane (Johnson) Barrow, in 1824. Two years later they moved to this area, which was still under Mexican rule at that time. In 1830, the Griffiths received a land grant in the Atascosito District, where they reared their family, farmed the land, and raised cattle and horses. In 1835, Henry Griffith sold 1,047 acres of his land to William Duncan, including the big hill on the property, also known as Barber's Hill, which the deed stated would hence be called "Mont Bellview." More than 50 years later, the area was settled enough to warrant a post office, which was named Mont Belvieu. In 1865, Reconstruction-era governor A. J. Hamilton appointed Henry Griffith as sheriff, and he served until 1868, one year prior to his death. Amelia's death date is not known, and neither of their gravestones survives. Oral histories indicate that their burials are near this site, where the original Griffith house once stood. At least two other members of the family are known to be buried there. As citizens of Texas under the flags of Mexico, the Republic of Texas, the Confederate States and the United States, Henry and Amelia Griffith bore witness to important events and activities in Texas history. Their significance also lies in their early landholding of the property that became the community of Mont Belvieu. (2001)