This collection contains letters, debt notices, promissory notes, court summons, receipts, indentures, a will, deeds, and loans dated 1759-1919 from the Griffith and Pugh families located in Northampton, Virginia. It also contains Oyster Ground Surveys from 1904 and 1905, and a genealogical record connecting the Elliot, Griffith, and Pugh families (though there is little of the Griffith family in the genealogical record). 

Moses Griffith was born circa 1775 in Northampton, Virginia. He married Nancy Costin and they had several children between the years 1802 and 1820. One of their children, Benjamin Griffith, is heavily highlighted in the collection.

Benjamin was born circa 1806 in Northampton, Virginia.[1] He remained in Northampton County, working as a farmer.[2] He married Sally Travis in 1832 and they had 5 children - Alexander Griffith (b. 1834), Thomas E. Griffith (b. 1836), Lydia F. Griffith (b. 1839), Mary A. Griffith (b. 1841), and Moses Griffith (b. 1846). He was summoned to court on several occasions between the years 1839 and 1866 to answer pleas of debt. He was also a party in numerous indentures, wrote several promissory notes between the years 1835 and 1840, and kept records of many purchases he made throughout his life. He died in 1868 from the disease dropsy (now called edema, it is swelling caused by fluid in the body's tissues.)

Thomas E. Griffith, Benjamin’s son, married Georgia Anna Rolley and they had 3 children, Orion, Orelia, and Lulie. Oriela married Charles Williams, the grandson of William W. Elliot and Harriet Rolley. A letter addressed to Georgia is in the collection.

Samuel C. Pugh, born circa 1880 in Mathews County, Virginia, married Viola Elliott. It is unknown the number of children they had. Pugh's records, mainly from Capeville, Virginia, include his business on trains and with the Oyster Grounds. 

[1]              Patricia Ann Scherzinger, 1987, Bowie, MD: Heritage Books, Inc, http://espl-genealogy.org/milesfiles/site/p482.htm#i48121

[2]              "United States Census, 1860,” Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d., https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GBS6-6ZK?i=1&cc=1473181&personaUrl=%2Fark%3A%2F61903%2F1%3A1%3AM41K-NNG

This collection contains letters, debt notices, promissory notes, court summons, receipts, indentures, deeds, and loans dated 1759-1919 from the Griffith and Pugh families of Northampton, Virginia. The majority of the financial notices and court summons were from Moses and Benjamin Griffith. The will of Moses Griffith is also included in the collection. Additionally, there are Oyster Ground Surveys from 1904 and 1905, railroad and freight receipts from Samuel Pugh, and genealogical information provided by Viola Elliott Pugh, wife of Samuel Pugh, connecting the Elliot, Griffith, and Pugh families. A 1912 commencement ceremony program for Capeville High School can also be found in this collection. The site of Capeville High School was abandoned following the murders of the principal and school clerk inside the building in 1980. [1]  

1. Salisbury Times, April 1980, https://www.newspapers.com/clip/10510198/from-the-salisbury-times-18-april-1980/