Staggs Family History

My ancestors in the United States

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    Griffin Gregory (1798-1860)

    BIRTH: 1798, South Carolin, USA
    DEATH: 1860, Winston County, Alabama, USA
    FATHER: Edward Gregory (1773–1860)
    MOTHER: Unknown1
    SPOUSE: Cynthia Haynes (1800–1860)

    When Griffin Gregory was born in 1798 in South Carolina, his father, Edward, was 25. He had seven sons and six daughters with Cynthia Haynes between 1819 and 1844. He died in 1860 in Winston, Alabama, at the age of 62.

    The Life of Griffin Gregory

    A South Carolina‑born pioneer whose family helped carve the frontier of Alabama

    Griffin Gregory entered the world around 1797–1798 in South Carolina, a place where the frontier still pressed against the Blue Ridge foothills and families like the Gregorys lived by the rhythms of the land. He grew up in a region defined by hard work, close‑knit kin networks, and the steady westward pull of new opportunity.

    By the time Griffin reached adulthood, the great migration out of the Carolinas was underway. Soil exhaustion, expanding families, and the lure of cheap land in Georgia and Alabama pushed thousands westward. Griffin was among them.

    On August 2, 1818, he married Cynthia Haynes, a South Carolina woman born in 1800. Their marriage marked the beginning of a partnership that would span more than forty years and produce one of the largest Gregory families of their generation. Between 1819 and 1844, Griffin and Cynthia welcomed thirteen children, each name preserved in a family Bible later copied by descendants:: Emily, John Harrison, Ella, William Harvey, Edward Finley (later known as Edward Pinkney), Temperance, Nancy, Griffin Jr., Cynthia, Hiram, Zelpha, Sheriff, and Waddy S.

    This was a household full of movement and noise — babies crying, older children helping in the fields, Cynthia managing the home, and Griffin working wherever his skills were needed.

    Georgia Years: The 1840 Census and the 1849 Tax Digest

    By 1840, Griffin appears as a head of household in Georgia, with a large family whose ages match the Bible record exactly. This confirms that the Gregorys had left South Carolina by the late 1830s.

    Then, in 1849, a remarkable document places Griffin and two of his adult sons — William H. Gregory and John H. Gregory — in Cherokee County, Georgia, listed together in the Georgia Property Tax Digest. All three men held land in the same district, a clear sign of a father and his grown sons farming side by side.

    This record is one of the strongest pieces of evidence tying Griffin to Georgia just before the family’s final move into Alabama.

    Alabama: A New Frontier (1850–1860)

    By 1850, Griffin and Cynthia had crossed into Alabama. The federal census that year shows them with their younger children — Griffin Jr., Cynthia, Hiram, Zelpha, Sheriff, and Waddy — living in a rural community where land was still being cleared and families relied on one another for survival.

    Their older children, including Edward Finley/Pinkney, had already begun forming households of their own. Edward appears independently in Alabama by 1855, listed as E. P. Gregory in the Alabama State Census — a sign that the Gregory children were establishing themselves across the region.

    By 1860, Griffin and Cynthia were living in Winston County, Alabama, where Griffin was listed as a mechanic — a term that, in the 19th century, meant a skilled craftsman: a wheelwright, carpenter, millwright, or general repairman. Many frontier farmers held dual occupations, and Griffin was no exception. He was a man who could build a wagon, repair a plow, or raise a barn — the kind of practical skill that made him indispensable in a rural community.

    The 1860 Agricultural Schedule confirms that Griffin also operated a working farm. He owned land, livestock, and produced crops — evidence that he balanced both skilled labor and farming to support his large family.

    The Final Years

    Griffin appears for the last time in the 1860 census, age 62, still living with Cynthia and their youngest children. He likely died shortly after 1860, before the Civil War swept through Alabama. Cynthia appears to have died around the same time.

    Their children scattered across Alabama, Georgia, and eventually Texas. His son, Edward Pinkney Gregory, would enlist in the 48th Alabama Infantry in 1862 and later move west, carrying the Gregory name into a new frontier.

    Legacy of Griffin Gregory

    Griffin Gregory’s life was not recorded in newspapers or history books, but it is written in the documents he left behind:

    • A Bible record listing his marriage and children
    • The 1840 census showing a large, growing household
    • The 1849 Cherokee County tax digest placing him with his sons
    • The 1850 and 1860 censuses showing his migration and family structure
    • The 1860 agricultural schedule revealing his work and land
    • The 1855 Alabama census showing his son Edward establishing his own home

    These fragments, when assembled, reveal a man who embodied the American frontier: hardworking, mobile, resilient, and deeply rooted in family. Griffin was not a famous man — but he was a foundational one.

    Parents

    FATHER: Edward Gregory (1773–1860)
    MOTHER: Unknown1

    Marriage

    Cynthia Haynes (1800–1860) on 2 August 1818 in South Carolina, USA

    Children

    • Emily Gregory (1819–?) married Robert Reece (1819-1891)
    • John Gregory (1820–1863) married Christiana Payne (1829-1905)
    • Ella Gregory (1823–?)
    • William Gregory (1825–1862) married Emily Gregory Phillips (1833-1894)
    • Edward Finley (later known as Edward Pinkney) Gregory (1827–1909) married Edna Catherine Martin (1833–1914)
    • Nancy Gregory (1828–1904) married Henry McIntyre
    • Temperance Gregory (1829–1904) married George Washington Payne 91822–1874)
    • Griffin Gregory Jr (1833–?) married Nancy Alford (1837-1912)
    • Cynthia Gregory (1835–?) married William J Perry
    • Hiram Gregory (1837–1873) married Martha —-
    • Zelpha Gregory (1839–?) married Julia Ann Dodd Turner (1844–1934)
    • Sheriff Gregory (1841–1875)
    • Waddy Samuel Gregory (1844–?)

    Documents

    Footnote

    1. Possible Maternal Line of Griffin Gregory: Although no primary document has yet identified the mother of Griffin Gregory (born ca. 1797–1798, South Carolina), naming patterns within his family suggest that her maiden surname may have been Finley or Harrison. Griffin named two of his sons Edward Finley Gregory (1827) and John Harrison Gregory (1820), both of which follow the common Southern practice of using maternal surnames as middle names for children. These names do not appear elsewhere in the paternal Gregory line of the period, strengthening the likelihood that one or both represent maternal family connections. Further research in South Carolina records—particularly Finley and Harrison families living near the Gregorys in the 1790–1810 period—may clarify this relationship.

    Relation of Griffin Gregory to Karen Edgar: 3rd great-grandfather

    Page last updated May 25, 2026

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