The name Gribbin (or Gribben or Gribbon or whatever) almost certainly originated in Ulster, but it spread throughout the world, especially during the nineteenth century when the Irish emigrated to Britain, the United States, Australia and beyond. The US census of 1790 gives only three American Gribbins and these are all on the East Coast (Maryland, Philadelphia and Pennsylvania).
In my book, Gribbin: A Family History of Ulster, I have a chapter on those Gribbins who emigrated from Ireland or Britain. Unfortunately, it simply wasn’t feasible for me to do detailed research on the American Gribbins {perhaps someone out there will pick up the gauntlet and do a job on them?); instead, I provide a brief sketch of the subject, with some fascinating vignettes of Gribbins who stand out in one way or another. It’s a rich tapestry! We find prize fighters, Hollywood stars, runaways, Civil War heroes and downright bad’uns!
Image courtesy of Jakayla Toney: Creative Commons
American Gribbin Numbers
In the 1850 US census I found 178 Gribbins, Gribbens and Gribbons. A hundred years later that number had increased almost tenfold to 1,641. The majority of those who weren’t born in the States were born in Ireland. Interestingly, the most common spelling of the name is “Gribbin”, closely followed by “Gribben”, whereas in Britain and Ireland the latter is more common. Bringing things up to date, I did a search on Whitepages (it’s far from accurate, but it looks like it might reflect the general trends), which gives an overall figure of 3,061 (for all spellings). Interestingly, it also records fifty-one “Gribins”; this is the spelling used sometimes by early Gribbins who had just dropped the original “O” from the Gaelic “Ó Gribín”.
American Gribbin Locations
It is evident, browsing through the censuses, that many Gribbins were concentrated in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania during the nineteenth century. This, presumably, reflected the fact that so many arrived from Ireland into ports on the eastern seaboard. We get some sense of how the American Gribbins spread out thereafter by looking at the numbers on the Whitepages site. Here we see that New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania still contain important concentrations of Gribbins, but that these states are closely followed by Florida, Texas and California. However, a fascinating stat thrown up by these records is that Ohio contains the largest number of Gribbens!
American Gribbins in Hollywood
There are certainly some performing genes in the Gribbin family – I was an actor for a few years and my Aunt Lily was an opera singer back in the 1950s. In the British and Irish records we find a number of Gribbin musicians and actors mentioned, but in the USA at least two Gribbins hit the big time. These were Harry and Eddie Gribbon. They began in vaudeville and spent most of their careers in Hollywood, working with household names such as Mack Sennett, Buster Keaton, Ben Turpin, Charlie Chaplin and Mabel Normand. Harry specialised in classic comedy movies, whereas Eddie made dozens of westerns. Between them, they made over 300 films. They both died in California in the 1960s.
American Gribbins in the Ring
At least one Gribbin made it in the States as a prize fighter and that was Harry Gribben. He was born in Ireland, but made his name in the second half of the nineteenth century as both a fighter and a fight organizer. In April 1854 he was to fight Jim Parker in Buffalo, New York, for a prize of $1000. “The mill will come off between 12 and 3 o’clock, and the greatest excitement exists among the Fancy in New York and elsewhere” runs the report, using language reminiscent of Damon Runyon in his “Broadway” stories. Like many boxers, however, his fortunes eventually waned and he got into trouble with the police for his part in organizing a fight which resulted in the death of Andy Kelly.
A Civil War Hero and a Desperado
There’s light and dark in all families and the Gribbin Family are no exception. On the one hand we find Corporal F. Gribben of the Union Army being mentioned in dispatches after a cavalry expedition against the “rebels” near Fredericksburg, Virginia, in 1862. On the other hand, in 1873 the New York Times reported on the conviction of “a fourth ward desperado” called John Gribben, bartender in a “low oyster saloon” on Pearl Street, Brooklyn. Apparently, Gribben struck a customer with an iron bar and when the man re-entered the bar to complain he struck him again, this time with an axe!
Gribbin: An Ulster Family History
My book contains stories of some other American Gribbins. One particularly interesting one is the tale of a DNA match of mine whose ancestor arrived in America during the eighteenth century. He married a Cherokee woman and his son witnessed the struggle between native Americans and settlers for land in Georgia. He eventually found himself in the stockades, waiting to be removed to the West.
The book was published and launched on 15th November 2023. Contact me if you’re interested in buying a copy.