William Charles Griggs

Born on March 14, 1867, William Charles Griggs was an American doctor, writer, and folklorist. Records connected with his missionary correspondence place him in the American Baptist mission world, and later library and audiobook sources describe him as working in Bhamo, Burma, in the early 1900s.

Griggs is best remembered for books such as Shan Folk Lore Stories from the Hill and Water Country and Odds and Ends from Pagoda Land. These works draw on stories, customs, and everyday observations from Burma, especially Shan traditions, and they helped preserve material that had largely been passed along by word of mouth.

He died on February 2, 1919. Though not widely known today, his writing remains valuable for readers interested in folklore, travel writing, and cross-cultural encounters from that period.