Susan Edith Humphrey was born on 22. Aug. 1856 at Auburn, Sangamon County, Illinois. She married
George Alexander Griggs, son of
Samuel Griggs Jr. and
Charlotte Hamilton, on 9. Oct. 1877 at Auburn, Sangamon County, Illinois; Married by Dr. A. A. Kendrick, President of Shurtleff College. Susan Edith Humphrey was baptized in 1890 at Baptist Church, Normal, McLean County, Illinois. She died on 6. Apr. 1918 at Normal, McLean County, Illinois, at age 61. She was buried on 4. Jun. 1918 at Auburn Cemetery, Auburn, Sangamon County, Illinois. Susan Edith Humphrey was loved by two brothers. George Alexander Griggs seems to have been a personable man but not one who was a 'doer'. One of the jobs he held was selling encyclopedias. Susan and George rented rooms in their house in Normal to students attending the normal school there. They were at times criticized for 'playing cards and chaperoning dances' by other Baptist Church members. They often had several tables of Whist going at a time and their home was a beehive of activity for young people. People later often spoke of the popularity of my mother and sisters, 'the Griggs Girls,' as they were called. After twenty-five years of marriage, Susan 'broke up housekeeping' and spent her time visiting first one child and then another. I remember sitting on the floor playing Rummy with my grandmother. Once she told me that the black lace blouse she was wearing kept her quite warm. I couldn't understand that even though the blouse was lined with net. She was a small woman, not five feet tall. She paid Sarah and Fred so that her three youngest daughters could live there while they went to Normal school to become teachers. She went back to Sarah' when she learned that she didn't have long to live. I remember when she arrived for her last stay. I was home alone when her taxi brought her and her driver helped her up to the house. She became increasingly weak as her heart began to fail. My mother said that at the end of her illness when she had been too weak to hold up her hands, suddenly she sat straight up in bed and called out,'Gresham - my laddie boy', and sank back without any seeming consciousness. Shortly she sat up and called out,'Otis - my brother Otis', and sank back and never awoke. Within an hour the family learned that at the time my grandmother was calling for him, her brother Otis had had a stroke in Springfield, Illinois. He was hospitalized and my father drove my three grand-aunts to Springfield in three hours (an unheard of time as there were no paved roads, nor route signs to help drivers at that time). One of my earliest memories was sitting on the floor playing 'Rummy' with my grandmother. Adah Griggs Stone said of her mother,'Susan Edith Humphrey Griggs was untiring in her efforts to do all in her power for her children. All received higher education due to her labor and sacrifices. She was very bright and very much alert to all events of the day, broadening her won meager schooling by her incessant reading.' Source: Frances Moselle Johnson Richardson' memories of her grandmother and stories told her by her mother, Sarah Griggs Johnson Susan Edith Humphrey was loved by two brothers. George Alexander Griggs seems to have been a personable man but not one who was a 'doer'. One of the jobs he held was selling encyclopedias. Susan and George rented rooms in their house in Normal to students attending the normal school there. They were at times criticized for 'playing cards and chaperoning dances' by other Baptist Church members. They often had several tables of Whist going at a time and their home was a beehive of activity for young people. People later often spoke of the popularity of my mother and sisters, 'the Griggs Girls,' as they were called. After twenty-five years of marriage, Susan 'broke up housekeeping' and spent her time visiting first one child and then another. I remember sitting on the floor playing Rummy with my grandmother. Once she told me that the black lace blouse she was wearing kept her quite warm. I couldn't understand that even though the blouse was lined with net. She was a small woman, not five feet tall. She paid Sarah and Fred so that her three youngest daughters could live there while they went to Normal school to become teachers. She went back to Sarah' when she learned that she didn't have long to live. I remember when she arrived for her last stay. I was home alone when her taxi brought her and her driver helped her up to the house. She became increasingly weak as her heart began to fail. My mother said that at the end of her illness when she had been too weak to hold up her hands, suddenly she sat straight up in bed and called out,'Gresham - my laddie boy', and sank back without any seeming consciousness. Shortly she sat up and called out,'Otis - my brother Otis', and sank back and never awoke. Within an hour the family learned that at the time my grandmother was calling for him, her brother Otis had had a stroke in Springfield, Illinois. He was hospitalized and my father drove my three grand-aunts to Springfield in three hours (an unheard of time as there were no paved roads, nor route signs to help drivers at that time). One of my earliest memories was sitting on the floor playing 'Rummy' with my grandmother. Adah Griggs Stone said of her mother,'Susan Edith Humphrey Griggs was untiring in her efforts to do all in her power for her children. All received higher education due to her labor and sacrifices. She was very bright and very much alert to all events of the day, broadening her won meager schooling by her incessant reading.' Source: Frances Johnson Richardson' memories of her grandmother and stories told her by her mother, Sarah Griggs Johnson Source: Frances Johnson Richardson' memories of her grandmother and stories told her by her mother, Sarah Griggs Johnson.