Ruben C. Griffith was born in a log cabin on this lot in 1845. At the age of 17 he enlisted with the Union Army only to be captured one year later & incarcerated in the legendary Andersonville Prison in Georgia.
From his small prison window, he watched a tiny tree grow out of a dry crack in the earth. It gave him hope that he too might survive.
Having seen the dire need for physicians during the war, upon his release he returned home & became a prominent Morgantown physician. In 1894 he tore down the family cabin & built this house to use as his residence & office.
In 1908, the Governor of Indiana commissioned him to return to Andersonville to erect a memorial for the 63- Indiana soldiers who died in Andersonville.
Upon his return he carried with him a Ghinko sapling which he planted in this spot.
Unfortunately, in 1910 while observing fireworks from an upstairs window Dr. Griffith fell to his death.
This house & tree was added to the National Registry in 2006.
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