Thomas Griffin

Thomas Griffin (1773 – October 7, 1837) was an eighteenth and nineteenth century politician, planter, lawyer and judge from Virginia. Early and family life Born in Yorktown, Virginia to Dr. Corbin Griffin and his wife. His father was a prominent local patriot during the American Revolutionary War: as a member of the York County Committee of Safety (1775-1776), and then as surgeon in the Virginia line. Meanwhile, young Thomas remained in the Hampton Roads area and received a private education suitable to his class, then studied law. He married his cousin Mary, daughter of prominent lawyer and patriot, then U.S. District Judge Cyrus Griffin. Career After being admitted to the Virginia bar, Griffin practiced law, as well as operated a plantation using enslaved labor. In the last census before his death, he owned 29 enslaved people, and his household also included a free Black woman of between 24 and 35 years old. Voters in York County first elected Griffin as one of their two representatives in the Virginia House of Delegates in 1793, and he won re-election each year until 1800.