Hello KathMc,
Griffith Griffiths father was Griffith Griffiths!! You would think there was a shortage of names in Wales.Seriously though the Griffith Griffiths in question was born in 1700 and died in Oct.1760,and was a Baptist by religion.His father was Griffith John Griffith[b.1669,baptised April 1674,d.1711],mother was Margaret Jones,the daughter of Coedmor farm in Llanddewi-Brefi.I don't know any details regarding her other than the date of her wedding to Griffith which was 1695.
As to the altercation with the Vicar,there was more to this than meets the eye.All the brothers were Non-Conformists[2 were Baptists and 1 was a Quaker]and the incident happened when the brothers went to pay the Tithe[payment was in the form of bags of wool] due to the Church.The Vicar made a remark concerning either the brothers' Non-Conformity or perhaps the correctness of the tithe.The result was that the Vicar threw one or more of the bags at Griffith and he promptly struck the Vicar in retaliation.Of course at the time this would have constituted a hanging offense,so the brothers decided to flee the country for Pennsylvania.Apparently they were more scared of their Uncle's wrath[they lived with him following their parents' demise] than they were with the power of the Law!At least that's what is remembered.
As you say they faced an uncertain future,which would have seemed even more daunting given that Griffith for example was only 16 or 17 at the time.Also they left the bosom of a fairly well-to-do family.
As you can see a very intriguing history of which there is much more, and for me personally it throws up loads of conundrums.
All for now,
Regards,brawdhoudini
