Allen R. Griggs was born a slave ca1850 in Hancock Co., Georgia, the son of slaves Elbert and Brailla Griggs.   He was brought to Texas at the age of 9 where he was emancipated on June 19, 1869.  He joined the Baptist Church in 1869 and was ordained as a missionary in 1874.  In  1870 Griggs married Emma Hodge.  He and his wife had eight children, one of whom was Sutton Elbert Griggs, noted minister and novelist.  

Griggs first pastorate in the early 1875 was the New Hope Baptist Church, located on Hall Street in Dallas, a position he held for nearly ten years.  He later served as pastor at Mount Gilead Baptist Church in Fort Worth. and First Baptist Church in Chattanooga, Tennessee.   In 1873 he was made a member of the World's Parliament of Religions, held in Chicago.

Aside from his church duties, Griggs was devoted to the education of black Texans.  He helped raise funds to establish Bishop College and served as trustee of the institution .  He also was co-founder of North Texas Baptist College in Denison which opened October 21, 1921 and several other institutions; Hopewell was the "college church".  He is credited with with establishing the first black high school in Texas by 1878, "Colored Baptist High School", and Texas' first black newspaper in 1878.  

In 1891 the State University of Kentucky awarded Mr. Griggs an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree.  

In 1905 Mr. Griggs was selected as a delegate from Texas to the Pan-Baptists Congress which met in London.  He spent years as corresponding secretary of the National Baptist Educational Board and chief organizer and President of the Texas Negro Biographical and Historical Society.  For twenty years he was moderator of the Northwestern Baptist Association and was also moderator of the State Missionary and Superintendent of Missions for Texas for twenty-eight years.  

He also served as editor of several newspapers including The Baptist Journal, Baptist Preacher, Centennial Dollar Reporter, Dallas Christian Leaflet, National Baptist Bulletin, and the Western Star.

At the time of his death in 1922 he was Dean of the North Texas Baptist College.  He was buried in Dallas.

In 1924 at the City Federation of Negro Women's Clubs, the Dallas Park Board dedicated the park that bears the name of Griggs Park in honor of his life's work.  As of 2013 the city of Dallas has begun work on Griggs Park, a historic eight-acre park located in Upper Dallas which includes a memorial to Allen R. Griggs as well as the State Thomas and Freedman's community that preceded Uptown.  The park commemorates Rev. Allen R. Griggs, the 1870s pastor of New Hope Baptist Church

Sources :
"Griggs, Allan R." Handbook of Texas Online
"Griggs Park".  Uptown Dallas