supreme court, December 16, 1897, in place of Associate Justice Field, retired, Governor Griggs was appointed as McKenna's successor in President McKinley's cabinet. The nomination was confirmed by the United States senate January 25, 1898, and he resigned as governor of New Jersey, January 31, 1898, and took the oath of office of attorney-general of the United States the same day. He served in the cabinets of President McKinley up to April 9, 1901, when he resigned the portfolio and was succeeded by Philander Chase Knox. He resumed the practice of law in Paterson and New York city. Upon the organization of the Permanent International Court of Arbitration provided for by the International Arbitration Treaty and adopted by the Universal Peace Conference of 1899, ex-Attorney-General Griggs was appointed with Chief Justice Fuller, Judge George Gray of the United States circuit court, and ex-President Harrison, a member of the Permanent Hague Court on the part of the United States. He received the honorary degree of LL.D. from Princeton university in 1896, from Rutgers college and from Yale university in 1899. While in college he was elected a member of the Theta Delta Chi fraternity. He has also served as vice-president of the Union League club of New York city.
He was married October 7, 1874, to Caroline W. Brandt, daughter of William and Susan (Leavitt) Brandt. She died January 21, 1891, and he was married again, April 15, 1893, to Laura Elizabeth, daughter of Warwick and Rosalie (Farmer) Price of Cleveland, Ohio. Five of the six children born to him by his first wife were living in 1905.
He has found his out-of-door recreation in fishing, shooting and playing golf, of which game he is very fond. The reading which he has found most profitable to himself, and which he recommends to young Americans, includes the Bible, Shakespeare, Blackstone's Commentaries, American political and biographical history, and all branches of classical English literature. He presents to young men the example of a New Jersey farmer's son of Puritan ancestry, stimulated by the commendable ambition of his parents to make his mark in the line of his chosen profession. To this end they gave him every advantage to acquire a liberal education. He was drawn into political life by the exercise of the very attributes that had made him a successful lawyer, and when twenty-six years old he was elected by his party to the state assembly where he served two terms. He was
