Henry W. Griffith
{{Short description|American businessman and politician (1897–1956)}}
{{infobox officeholder
|name=Henry W. Griffith
|image=Henry Watson Griffith.jpg
|office=Member of the New York State Senate from the 47th district
|term_start=January 1, 1945
|term_end=December 31, 1950
|predecessor=William Bewley
|successor=George R. Metcalf
|office2=Member of the New York State Senate from the 42nd district
|term_start2=January 1, 1939
|term_end2=December 31, 1944
|predecessor2=Charles J. Hewitt
|successor2=Isaac B. Mitchell
|birth_name=Henry Watson Griffith
|birth_date={{birth date|1897|1|11}}
|birth_place=Palmyra, New York, U.S.
|death_date={{death date and age|1956|7|21|1897|1|11}}
|death_place=Ontario, Canada
|party=Republican
|spouse={{marriage|Agnes Stuart McLouth|1925}}
|children=4
|father=Frederick W. Griffith
|alma_mater=Hamilton College
|occupation=Politician, businessman, newspaper publisher
|allegiance=United States
|branch=United States Army
|rank=Second lieutenant
}}
Henry Watson Griffith (January 11, 1897 – July 21, 1956) was an American businessman, newspaper publisher and politician from New York.
Life
He was born on January 11, 1897, in Palmyra, Wayne County, New York, the son of State Senator Frederick W. Griffith (1858–1928) and Mary (Adams) Griffith.[https://books.google.com/books?id=t2oLAQAAIAAJ&q=henry+watson+griffith New York Red Book] (1947; pg. 67) He graduated from Palmyra High School in 1914, and in absentia from Hamilton College in 1918. During World War I he was a second lieutenant of field artillery of the U.S. Army. In 1925, he married Agnes Stuart McLouth (1899-1986) and built his bride a home at 353 Canandaigua Street in Palmyra, New York. They had four daughters: Mary Adams Griffith (1928-2007); Carolyn McLouth Griffith (1930-1998); Agnes Elizabeth Griffith (1931-2023); and Margaret Malette Griffith (1933-2018). He published the Palmyra Courier–Journal, a weekly newspaper.
Griffith was a member of the New York State Senate from 1939 to 1950, sitting in the 162nd, 163rd, 164th, 165th, 166th and 167th New York State Legislatures. In 1950, he ran for re-nomination, but was defeated in the Republican primary by George R. Metcalf.
He died on July 21, 1956, while on a fishing trip at his lodge on Weslemkoon Lake in Ontario, Canada, of a heart attack.[http://fultonhistory.com/Process%20small/Newspapers/Cato%20NY%20Citizen%201893%20-%201966/Cato%20NY%20Citizen%201955-%201957%20pdf/Newspaper%20Cato%20NY%20Citizen%201955-%201957%20-%200292.pdf Ex-Senator Griffith, 59, Victim of Heart Attack] in The Cato Citizen, of Cato, on July 26, 1956
Sources
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{{succession box | before = Charles J. Hewitt | title = New York State Senate
42nd District | years = 1939–1944 | after = Isaac B. Mitchell}}
{{succession box | before = William Bewley | title = New York State Senate
47th District | years = 1945–1950 | after = George R. Metcalf}}
{{s-end}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Griffith, Henry W.}}
Category:People from Palmyra, New York
Category:Republican Party New York (state) state senators
Category:Hamilton College (New York) alumni
Category:United States Army officers
Category:20th-century members of the New York State Legislature