Dr. Thomas Jefferson Griffith was born in Clinton County Indiana near Frankfort on April 2, 1837. He was the son of Thornton and Mary A. (Hall) Griffith. Thornton was born in Chester County, Pennsylvania and Mary in South Carolina. Both came to Montgomery County when young. Three children were born to Thornton and Mary; Thomas J., Joanna M., and Nancy E. Joanna died in 1865 at age twenty-five. Nancy became Mrs. Joseph Binford of Crawfordsville. Thomas J. Griffith was reared on a farm and lived with his parents. He attended a seminary at Crawfordsville, and then entered a store and clerked for one and a half years for William Bowers. In 1863 he enlisted in the One Hundred and Thirty-fifth Regiment, Indiana Volunteers, and soon after was promoted to be Commissary Sergeant and was located at Lexington, Kentucky. He served through Tennessee and Alabama for four months, and was discharged in the fall of 1864. At this time he entered the office of Dr. James S. McClellan, 1865-66, and attended lectures at Ann Arbor, Michigan, continuing his studies until he graduated in the class of 1867 at the Miami Medical College at Cincinnati. In 1867 Dr. Griffith opened an office at Darlington, where he practiced medicine for twenty-one years. In the fall of 1889 he went to Crawfordsville, and had a general practice there. Through the county and state he has been very active in medical matters and has given special attention to the treatment of diphtheria by what is known as "the ice treatment." He read details of such treatment before the societies, and has written treatises upon it in various medical journals. His theory was that the diphtheritic membrane requires heat above the normal condition of the body in order to develop, and the use of ice reduces that heat and prevents the membranous growth. In support of the efficacy of his treatment in twenty-five years of practice Dr. Griffith lost but one patient from diphtheria. He applied the same theory to scarlatina when any throat trouble existed. Dr. Griffith was married October 4, 1871, to Miss Martha E. Hutchings, M. D. He was a man of genial disposition, much given to independence of thought and habits of study and investigation. The bent of his mind was toward Spiritualism, although he held Unitarian views. In his political belief he was a Prohibitionist and was often found on the stump in the interest of the cause of temperance. His social nature brought him into connection with the Masonic fraternity and the Grand Army of the Republic post. Dr. Griffith was a member of the Indiana State Medical Society.
Dr. Thomas Jefferson Griffith was born in Clinton County Indiana near Frankfort on April 2, 1837. He was the son of Thornton and Mary A. (Hall) Griffith. Thornton was born in Chester County, Pennsylvania and Mary in South Carolina. Both came to Montgomery County when young. Three children were born to Thornton and Mary; Thomas J., Joanna M., and Nancy E. Joanna died in 1865 at age twenty-five. Nancy became Mrs. Joseph Binford of Crawfordsville. Thomas J. Griffith was reared on a farm and lived with his parents. He attended a seminary at Crawfordsville, and then entered a store and clerked for one and a half years for William Bowers. In 1863 he enlisted in the One Hundred and Thirty-fifth Regiment, Indiana Volunteers, and soon after was promoted to be Commissary Sergeant and was located at Lexington, Kentucky. He served through Tennessee and Alabama for four months, and was discharged in the fall of 1864. At this time he entered the office of Dr. James S. McClellan, 1865-66, and attended lectures at Ann Arbor, Michigan, continuing his studies until he graduated in the class of 1867 at the Miami Medical College at Cincinnati. In 1867 Dr. Griffith opened an office at Darlington, where he practiced medicine for twenty-one years. In the fall of 1889 he went to Crawfordsville, and had a general practice there. Through the county and state he has been very active in medical matters and has given special attention to the treatment of diphtheria by what is known as "the ice treatment." He read details of such treatment before the societies, and has written treatises upon it in various medical journals. His theory was that the diphtheritic membrane requires heat above the normal condition of the body in order to develop, and the use of ice reduces that heat and prevents the membranous growth. In support of the efficacy of his treatment in twenty-five years of practice Dr. Griffith lost but one patient from diphtheria. He applied the same theory to scarlatina when any throat trouble existed. Dr. Griffith was married October 4, 1871, to Miss Martha E. Hutchings, M. D. He was a man of genial disposition, much given to independence of thought and habits of study and investigation. The bent of his mind was toward Spiritualism, although he held Unitarian views. In his political belief he was a Prohibitionist and was often found on the stump in the interest of the cause of temperance. His social nature brought him into connection with the Masonic fraternity and the Grand Army of the Republic post. Dr. Griffith was a member of the Indiana State Medical Society.
Family Members
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
Records on Ancestry
Advertisement
