John Griffin and Anna were the grandparents of Abigail Wilson, who married Benedict Alford on January 12, 1714. They are our ancestors. John married Anna Bancroft on May 13, 1647, in Windsor, Connecticut. She was the daughter of John Bancroft and Jane Bonython, born in Swarkston, Derbyshire, England, in 1627. Anna came to New England with her parents in 1632 on the James and settled in Lynn, Massachusetts.

John Griffin first appeared in Windsor sometime before 1643 as a partner of Michael Humphrey and established a business by making pine tar from pitch pine trees. If you have ever seen the sticky substance that oozes from sawed or broken limbs on a pine tree, you will understand the source of the pine tar. Pitch pine was essential to the colonialists, and they called it candlewood and burned the pine knots for light when candles were unavailable. The pine tar and pine pitch were indispensable to the shipping industry, which used them to seal the hulls of ships and protect the rigging.

Sometime in late 1645 or early 1646, an old native man named Manahannoose set fire to John Griffin's tar works, including a large amount of processed tar, destroying the property. In return for the damages, the local natives deeded Massaco, which later became Simsbury, to John Griffin.

The story of John Griffin and the land that became Simsbury is a long and interesting one. Click on the icon on the left to read about John and Anna Griffin and the founding of Simsbury.