The Newtown bee., 1904-05-27

at Stepney for the HOuSaGOn1c fa1lrOaQ, and he has continued to fill that po- sition up to the present time with credit to himself and universal satis- On June 3, 1893, during Cleveland's second term, he was again appointed postmaster, this time by Postmaster General Bissell, and has since served under presidents Mex finley and Roose- welt. Mr French has in him the ele- ments Of thrift and good management shown by the entire family, and by his careful, conservative business methods he has become one of the well-tO-dO men of his town, where he is highly thought of in business, public and social circles. That his felloWc citizens have the utmost confidence in his in- tegrity and good judgement is shown by the fact that he has been called upon to act as trustee in the settle ment of different estates, and his con- tinuo9s service for IA years as first ana second selectman of Monroe, to which office he was elected and reelected from 1872 to 1886. He has always taken an active and patriotic interest in pub lie matters, especially of a local na- ture, and has rendered many services to his town. During the building of the Zoar bridge across the Housatonic river, MT French, as first selectman of Monroe township, acted as chairman of the building committed for the town. In 1858 MT French was united in marriage with Miss Caroline BriscOe, daughter of James and Harriet (Clark) Briscoe, of Stepney; the mother was from Bedford, N. Y. MT and Mrs French have no children. They are prominent members of St Peters Episcopal church, of Monroe, of which Mir French has been an official for some time, and he takes strong in- terest in it's work. He is g member of of Monroe, and Jerusalem Chapter No 13, of Bridgeport. He is member of Jerusalem Council, No l6, R. & s. M., of Bridgeport, and also of Hamilton Commandery No 5, of the same place. THE DONOR OF THE BEAUTIFUL MASON IC MEMORIAL.
 George Griffin, the donor of the beautiful Masonic hall, was reared in Newtown and there educated. He at tended the NeWtOwn Academy for 8
 time. In 1861, at the age of 21, he be. came associated with his father in the
 manufacture of buttons, under the
 firm name of J. & G. Grimm. The
 father some years before his death re
 tired from business, and his son,
 George, and son-in-law, Marshall H.
 Sears, continued it for six Years; then
 MT Sears withdrew and the business
 was carried on for eight years by c.
 Griffin, who in the meantime made
 valuable inventions (which he patent
 ed) that revolutionized the button in
 dustry. In 1889 he took Bruce N.
 Griffin into partnership. and in 1890
 bought of the Ousatonic Water Go. a
 factory, formerly occupied by the
 Shelton Brass Hardware Co., have
 several times enlarged their plant, and
 now have a business employing from 75 to 100 hands.
 MT Griffin was man of pleasing personality, and retained an affection ate interest in the town of his nativity For generations the Griffin family have lived in Newtown. The remains of David w. Griffin and his wife, Mar gary, rest in the old graveyard in
 Huntingtown district, not far from the button factory operated for yeart by their son, the late John Griffin, and his sons, George and Bruce N. Griffin David w. Griffin died October 30, 1849 aged 65 years, and Margary on May 13 1864, aged 78 yeafs. She was formerly
 Margary Nichols, daughter of Pete1 Nichols.
 John Griffin, the father of George