Origins

My family tree is one of extraordinary interest. I will begin by mentioning this is the family tree on my mothers side. The four sides of the family tree are Downing, McNinch, Griggs and Adair. I have only records of my third great Grandparents who were John Henry Downing and Della Rosella McNinch. I also have records of my third great grandparents on the Griggs and Adair side, Thomas Washington Griggs and Maude May Adair.

On the Downing side there is talk of a great grandparent who fought in the Revolutionary War as a red coat for the British, this has not yet be proven but is acknowledged. The McNinch side of the family came from Scotland from a ship who set sail from Ireland. The lived with the Seneca Indians in upstate New York. There is a history book about the Seneca Indians that speaks about the McNinch family. Shortly thereafter a man named James McNinch was among the first to settle in Consensus, New York. The family later moved to Texas, where they worked at the King Ranch. At this point the McNinch's met the Downing family who was about to go on a cattle drive to Montana. John Henry Downing was a Texas Ranger at this time, he was a big man at either 6' 5" or 6' 6". It is suspected that the Downing's hired the McNinch's to help move cattle. In Montana John Henry Downing married Della Rosella McNinch.

Little is known about this particular issue with the Grigg's except that Thomas Washington Grigg's had Chickasaw Indian in him. He was born in Chickasaw territory in south western Missouri. He later married Maude May Adair in Marlow, Chickasaw Nation, Indian Territory.

I do not have any significant information of the Adair family as of now. That will change however. One basic point that must be understood is that family's in America from early in the 1600's even to the early 1900's followed their families, they did not spread out. They remained a tight-nit social group. Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed this article about the framework of my heritage, there is more to come! Included will be facts, and short life stories. Thanks and God Bless!