We recently received a message from Gene Meier from Sycamore, Illinois: “Hello, I am a Watertown, Wisconsin historian living in Sycamore, Illinois. My Old Lutheran ancestors settled in Lebanon, Dodge County, in 1843. Recently, I decided to upload stories from the Watertown, Wisconsin Centennial 1854-1954 to Findagrave.com and chanced upon the story of Peter March, portrait artist, who painted portraits of Timothy Johnson and Reeve Griswold, two of the original settlers of Watertown, Wisconsin. The Chronicling America site reveals that the City of Watertown purchased the two portraits “for no more than $30 each” would have them on public display.” Gene is trying to determine whether either of these portraits still exist.
From Coralee: Reeve is a Michael descendant. He can be found in The 6th & 7th Generation of Michael, pp.249-250 (GFA #876D), with corrections found on p.961 which provides further information on Reeve’s parents. The main contributor to this family was Thomas O. Griswold who was a GFA member but dropped in 2012. In his 1998, correspondence with me, he never mentioned the portrait of Reeve and his research was quite extensive. However, considering that was 27 years ago, it is possible much more information has come to light, certainly our own records over that time have greatly filled in this family.
Reeve Griswold was born on 23 January 1809 in Sheridan, Chatauqua, New York. His parents were Gerard Griswold (1771-1850) and Thankful Fiske (1778-1837). Reeve was married to Lucy Ann Hewett (1831-1886). They had five children: Reeve, Jr. (1853-1905), Charles G. (1854-1905), Jefferson (ca. 1857-1929), Jennette May “Nettie” (1860-after 1940), and Franklin (1864-1892).
A notice was published in Watertown Democrat Personal on February 5, 1874 about Griswold: “The other day, we chanced to meet Mr. Reeve Griswold in the street. He looked venerable and patriarchal, as becomes an original pioneer of a city like Watertown. He is the oldest settler now here, having been a companion of Timothy Johnson when that adventurous explorer first come here in the summer of 1836.”
By 1879, the family had moved to Iowa where Griswold owned 159 acres of land in Fremont, Butler County.
Griswold’s obituary was published in the Jefferson County Union Gazette on June 15, 1883 in Watertown, Wisconsin: “Reeve Griswold, the second settler of Watertown, died in Nashua, Iowa, last January of general debility, in the 75 years of his age. Mr. Griswold lived in Watertown from the time he first settled here up to a few years ago, and at one time was one of the largest land holders in this part of the state. Timothy Johnson, the first settler in this locality, having passed away previous to him, leaves Capt. James Rogan the oldest white man living that set his foot in what is now the city of Watertown, he being the next after Mr. Griswold to make this locality his place of residence.”
The town of Watertown was settled to utilize the power of the Rock River, which falls 20 feet in two miles. The water power was first used for sawmills, and later prompted the construction of two hydroelectric dams. Johnson, Griswold, and Rogan were part of a wave of New England farmers who headed west into what was then the wilds of the Northwest Territory in the early 1800’s. Most of them arrived as a result of the completion of the Erie Canal as well as the end of the Black Hawk War. Upon arrival, there was nothing but dense virgin forest and wild prairie. Early New England settlers were followed by mostly German immigrants in the 1850’s.
Do you happen to have any information about this portrait of Reeve Griswold? If so, please reach out to us at contact@griswoldfamily.org.