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An interview with Sunny Griffitts 
Edwin Snively Griffitts (1873-1942) |
Life in Santa Rosa Family | Religion Christine: Edwin had a concession, he owned a butcher shop, how did that work? Sunny: It was in a grocery store and they rented the space. C: The grocery store was located where? S: It was located in the old part of Santa Rosa. Downtown. C: Do you remember the name of the grocery store? S: Well, it could be Rossi. It was an Italian grocery store and they used to cook in the back and the owners used to drive father and son nuts because it was so good. C: So they'd make pasta? S: And soups. C: And they were looking at the uncooked stuff in the counter! |
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C: Why did Edwin S. choose to live in Santa Rosa?
S: He had lived in Santa Rosa with his young family. And so was familiar with the area and then because he had worked in a slaughterhouse at that time when he was young, he decided to go into the butcher business. He knew the animals and all the parts of the animals as well and so he felt could develop a good business. C: Earlier you mentioned someone helped him get some land because he was newly married and had this young family. Who was that person that helped him get a piece of land and get started? S: I think it was a brother. I don't remember which one that helped him but owned some of that land and sold him a piece of it. And I think it had a small house that he lived in. C: Where they lived, was that close to the downtown area? S: Yes it was they could walk to town. It was near the railroad tracks. C: Did they have any other means of transportation? S: They had a horse and a buggy. |
Ursula, Genevieve, Vincent Edwin Jr. (Eddie) and Evelyn. December, 1912, Santa Rosa, CA. |
C: Who lived in Santa Rosa with Edwin S.? It sounds like his life was in two segments. The first segment was when he lived with his family and the second part of his life was when he separated from his wife. In the first earlier part of their marriage when they lived in Santa Rosa who was in the household? S: He and his wife and their five children. C: His wife Jane... S: And there was Vince, Ursula, Genevieve, Evelyn and Edwin Jr. C: When they separated and he was out of the household then where did he live? Did he live near the butcher store? Did he rent a place? S: He didn't have a butcher store then. I think he might have gone to Alaska. He went to Alaska twice and that might have been the time when he went. C: When he separated from his wife, he made a trip to Alaska? S: To fish on a boat. Return to top |
Isaac Yokum Griffitts (1832-1911) |
C: What were his religious beliefs? You have a good story about that. S: Well, I don't think he really had any religious feelings. Starting with his father who was once asked by a woman carrying a Bible if he was saved and his reply was, "I'm a bare-assed savage". C: And the person that said that was Isaac. S: Yes. C: And I think that has been passed down. S: Right. C: So he was a chip off the old block. S: Right. C: Now his wife however was quite religious. S: She was Catholic. The children were educated in Catholic schools. C: He wasn't of any particular religious persuasion? S: No. He took after his father. Return to top Page Two | Sitemap | Webmaster |