Note 279 — Chapter II

Cyrus Griffin was educated in England; was a member of the first Legislature of Virginia after the Declaration of Independence; was a delegate to the Continental Congress in 1778-81, and again in 1787-88, and was President of that body during the last year of his service. He was made President of the Supreme Court of Admiralty, and held that office until the court was abolished. When the Constitution was adopted, and Washington elected President, one of his first acts, after the passage of the Ellsworth Judiciary Law, was to appoint Judge Griffin to the newly created office of Judge of the United States Court for the District of Virginia. It is thus evident that Jefferson's statement was not accurate.