Dolph Griggs: An FCI Fright Bite!

Lancaster Eagle-Gazette 22 June 1959

Back when SRI members, Brian and Kaysee, joined WVPI for a joint investigation of the Fairfield County Infirmary, they caught a name come over the spirit box loud and clear: Dolph. Dolph isn’t exactly a popular name these days, and barring the possibility that they tuned in briefly to a podcast featuring Simpson’s side characters, I think it’s possible to say that they made contact with a former inmate: Dolph Griggs.

On June 20, 1959, the local rescue squad was dispatched to the Fairfield County Infirmary. There, they found 72 year old Dolph with a 2.5 inch cut across his throat. Dolph was either unable or unwilling to tell anyone what had happened, so first aid was administered and he was taken to the hospital for further treatment. Luckily, the wounds were not serious, and Dolph was released a few days later.

Lancaster Eagle-Gazette 06 June 1959

There never was a public explanation for what happened to Dolph; we can only speculate. It’s possible it was just an accident—perhaps he cut himself shaving. It’s also possible he was attacked, as inmate-on-inmate wasn’t unheard of. However, I think Dolph may have tried to end his own life.

Dolph was originally from the area, but for several years had been living with his wife, Veatress, near Houston, Texas. She was ill for about two years before passing away in Houston hospital. The Lancaster newspapers ran her obituary on June 6, 1959. It stated that she was being brought home to Fairfield County for burial. 

Lancaster Eagle-Gazette 2 April 1962

Two weeks later, Dolph is in the county Infirmary and being taken to the hospital for a mysterious wound. I think that Dolph, accompanying his wife home, found himself either too ill to return to Texas, or with no reason to go back, but nowhere else to go, either.

Death would finally come for Dolph. He died on April 1, 1962 at the Fairfield County Infirmary. His body was interred next to his wife’s at Maple Grove Cemetery in Baltimore, OH. What’s sad is that there is a tombstone marking the couple’s graves….but there was no one around to make sure the dates of death were ever filled out. 

Find-a-Grave by Ann Lodder