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The Wallis Family
More On The Wallis Children:
Two of his sons were indentured to work for Joseph Griswold and, in return, in 1770, Griswold promised to give 40 acres to Joseph (age 10) and London Jr. (8) “for consideration of certain labor”. And a few years later, London Wallis Sr. also acquired land in this area now just north of the Ice Skating Center on 10/202.
When the Revolutionary War began two of the Wallis sons became soldiers. Sixteen-year-old London Jr. enlisted in 1778 for 3 years serving in the 3rd Regiment of the CT Line and Zebulon was with the CT Militia at the battle of Peekskill in 1777. Zebulon and London Jr. probably received bounty payments and some sources say that London Jr was hired to serve in place of Elnathan Strong.
Several of the children of London and Irana are listed in marriage records. In 1789 Joseph Wallis married Antha Hale, a white woman from Hartland. Hannah, 18, married Hercules Fletcher and Susannah married James Baltimore, as his second wife.
At some point, London Sr. continued to buy and sell land near the Granby Simsbury border. Records indicate that he lived between Rt. 10-202 and Wolcott Road.
London and Irana Wallis and Their Family:
London Negro or London Wallis (Wallace) was the slave of Stephen Griffin of East Granby. He served in the French and Indian War and was given his freedom in the late 1750’s.
He married Irana, described as “a free woman” around 1753. London built a home for his wife and family even though he was still a slave. They registered the birth of five children in the Simsbury Vital Records – Irana 1754, Zebulon 1756, Reuben 1758, Joseph 1760 and London Jr. in 1762.
In 1757, Samuel Griswold sold, for 40 pounds, just under 2 acres to “Lunnon Negro, man servant to Mrs. Mary Griffin, with the approval of his mistress” and to “Irana, Mulatto Woman, wife of Lunnon,” land at the Falls in Tariffville to include “the dwelling house which Lunnon has built and the apple trees which
Lunnon hath planted.” He mortgaged his property in 1762 to get needed cash and in 1766 a deed stated “I, London Negro Alias London Wallis of Simsbury,” release the property to Joseph Griswold. Griswold may have allowed him to stay on as a tenant, because the family stayed in the East Granby/Tariffville area for the next 10 years.
Black Citizens Buried At The Back Of The Cemetery
Carol Laun, Granby archivist, reported that Joseph, the son of London Wallace Jr. and Phebe, is buried at the back of the old section in the Granby Center Cemetery. The stones are impossible to read, but according to Findagrave.com they are in Section O, lot 223. The picture shows that section of the cemetery.