Henry Francis GRIFFIN

GRIFFIN, CROSBY

Posted By: Sarah Thorson Little (email)
Date: 2/16/2013 at 17:08:35

Henry Francis Griffin, cashier of the Riverside Savings Bank, although a young man, is recognized as a forceful and valued factor in the business life of the community. He was born in Wright county, Iowa, April 27, 1886, and is a son of John R. and Sarah M. (Crosby) Griffin, both of whom were natives of the state of New York where they were reared and married. In 1883 they came to Iowa, settling in Wright county. Henry Griffin, the paternal grandfather of our subject, had acquired extensive land in Wright county in an early day, having purchased it from the government at a dollar and a quarter per acre. For sometime after coming to the middle west; John R. Griffin taught school but later located on the farm where he resided for twelve years. He then removed to Goldfield, where he has in. later years been engaged in the grain business. Both he and his wife now reside in Goldfield at the ages of fifty one and fifty years respectively. Mr. Griffin is a democrat in politics, active in the local ranks of the party, and has capably served as mayor of Goldfield for some years. He has always taken an active interest in educational work and for years served as a member of the school board, his labors in that direction being very effective in furthering the interests of public instruction. He is a member of the Odd Fellows lodge and is one of Goldfield's most prominent, valued and honored citizens. He has twos other children besides our subject, namely: Harold W., who is engaged in the lumber business; and Edna L., attending high school.

Henry Francis Griffin was reared at home and was educated in the public schools and at Capital City College in Des Moines. In 1904, when eighteen years of age, he went to Milford, Iowa, where he entered the Milford Savings Bank, but three months later the bank changed hands and Mr. Griffin returned to Goldfield, there accepting a position in the Citizens State Bank. He remained in that capacity until September 21, 1908, when he resigned to become cashier of the Riverside Savings Bank, in which important position he has since served. He is thoroughly acquainted with the banking business in principle and detail, and his progressive and enterprising spirit are constituting an important element in the successful conduct of the institution with which he is connected.

In his fraternal relations Mr. Griffin is a Mason and in his political views is a democrat. He was holding the office of town treasurer of Goldfield at the time he decided to remove to Riverside, resigning his position in order to carry out his contract with the Riverside bank. He is a representative of the younger generation of financiers in Washington county, imbued with the spirit of modern progress and activity, and it requires no prophetic vision to see that the future holds in store for him still wider opportunities.

History of Washington County, Iowa From the First White Settlement to 1908, Vol II, by Howard A. Burrell, The S. J. Clarke Publishing Co., Chicago, 1909