Cyrus Griffin


Cyrus Griffin was the final President of the Congress of the Confederation and a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Virginia.

Education and career

Born on July 16, 1748, in Farnham Parish, Colony of Virginia, British America, Griffin was sent to England to be educated. He studied law at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland and at the Middle Temple in London. He entered private practice in Lancaster, Colony of Virginia from 1774 to 1777. He was a member of the Virginia House of Delegates from 1777 to 1778, and from 1786 to 1787. He was a delegate to the Second Continental Congress from 1778 to 1780. He was a Judge of the Court of Appeals in Cases of Capture from 1780 to 1787. He was a delegate to the Ninth Congress of the Confederation from 1787 to 1788, serving as the final President of the Congress of the Confederation under the Articles of Confederation in 1788. He was United States Commissioner to the Creek Nation in 1789.

Federal judicial service

Griffin received a recess appointment from President George Washington on November 28, 1789, to the United States District Court for the District of Virginia, to a new seat authorized by. He was nominated to the same position by President Washington on February 8, 1790. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on February 10, 1790, and received his commission the same day. His service terminated on December 14, 1810, due to his death in Yorktown, Virginia. He was interred in Bruton Parish Church in Williamsburg, Virginia.

Family

Griffin was the son of Leroy Griffin and his wife Mary Ann Bertrand. He married Christina Stewart, oldest daughter of John Stewart, the sixth Earl of Traquair.