CLEMENTINA DEFORREST GRIFFIN

 

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES via email from Laura Dove, 3-17-06      Clementina, or Cleme as the family called her, was a sister to my mother's father, Jacque DeForest Griffin. They were the children of George Butler Griffin and his wife, Eva de la Plaza Griffin. The Griffin family was one of the pioneer families in early California. Other children in this family were Eva Griffin Turner, an accomplished painter; Pastora Griffin, aka Phyllis Daniels, mother of Bebe Daniels, the silent movie actress (and wife of Ben Lyon); Helena Griffin Cripps; Georgina Lydia Griffin; Francisca Julia Griffin; Jasper Griffin, aka Jack, who was a newspaperman and an early authority of auto racing; Alma Griffin Stengler, wife of Mack Stengler, cinematographer; Georgia Butler Griffin, author of children's books and "Who's Who in the Movies". My grandfather, J. Deforest, went by Jack (after his brother's death, evidently) or Jesse - he was an architect for the State of California.       Clementina was a teacher for many years and also served as principal at several schools in the Los Angeles area. I have several pictures of her from some of the yearbooks, if you are interested.      I have a newspaper article describing an outdoor school that Clementina and another woman, Ellinor Dewey, founded. It was the Foothill School and classes were held outside. There were also stables. I also have several articles from when Clementina was the president of the Los Angeles branch of the Women's International Association of Aeronautics.       Clementina was directly descended from many notable people: George Griffin, famous attorney from New York; David Curtis DeForest, South American Revolutionary War hero; Col. Zebulon Butler, American Revolutionary War hero. She was very close to Bebe Daniels and Ben Lyon and they inherited the bulk of her estate upon her death - my sisters and I were also remembered.       This is a basic outline of what I have. If anything sounds like something you need, just let me know. Laura

 

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