While family tradition states that the Griffin family was of Irish origin, it is probably of Welsh origin as most people surnamed Griffin come from Wales. The earliest known ancestor was Benjamin Griffin born in 1705 (probably in Virginia) and died in Craven County North Carolina in 1777. He married Mary Bryan in 1739 and they were the parents of eight children. The Bryans had come to North Carolina from Ireland by way of Virginia. Descendants still live in North Carolina as well as other parts of the country.

The most comprehensive state project of its kind, the Dictionary provides information on some 4,000 notable North Carolinians whose accomplishments and occasional misdeeds span four centuries. Much of the bibliographic information found in the six volumes has been compiled for the first time. All of the persons included are deceased. They are native North Carolinians, no matter where they made the contributions for which they are noted, or non-natives whose contributions were made in North Carolina.

John Griffin (1804-1876) was born in England. He married Mary Chapman (1801-1851), and they had six children. They immigrated to the United States in 1845 and settled in Benton Township, Lake County, Illinois. He married Harriet Kirk (1823-1899) in 1852, and they had five children. Descendants and relatives lived in Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, Washington and elsewhere.