Jefferson D. Griffith was born in Saluda County, the son of Richard Coleman and Mary Alcum Campbell Griffith. He graduated from Zoar Academy and received a B.A. from Wofford College in 1910. He taught school in Paxville for two years and then graduated from the University of South Carolina Law School in 1915 with an LL.B. degree. He won the debating medal of the Clariosophic Society in 1914.
He practiced law in Saluda for more than fifty years, first with Eugene Able, then with his brother, Joe; and then with Billy Coleman. He established the firm of Griffith, Coleman and Griffith with his son in 1953. He was, for many years, a leading lawyer in the Eleventh Judicial Circuit.
He was a State Senator from Saluda County for four years and the Saluda Courthouse was built during his term. He served as Solicitor of the Eleventh Judicial Circuit from 1936 until 1952. He was Chairman of the Saluda County Democratic Party and the Saluda Bar Association, President of the Saluda Lions Club and a member of the Travis Masonic Lodge. He served as a Sunday School teacher and as Chairman of the Board of St. Paul’s United Methodist Church.
He was married to Bettie Grigsby and they had two children, Jefferson, Jr., and Mary G. Hutchinson.
He was a devoted family man, a devout Christian, and a superb advocate. One of the great trial lawyers of his time.