Thomas L. Griffith was born in Loudon County, Virginia and was educated in Baltimore, Maryland. He attended Wayland Seminary in Washington, D.C. and also studied at the Morgan Park Academy affiliated with the University of Chicago.

He had moved to Iowa by the late 1890s. Griffith married Carrie Thomas of Mount Pleasant in 1896 and his residence was listed as Muchakinock, Iowa. By 1900, Griffith and his family were enumerated in Montgomery County, Virginia in the federal population census.

Griffith returned to Iowa as the January 10, 1902 Iowa State Bystander reported he would be the pastor at Corinthian Baptist Church in Des Moines. It was noted he was looking forward to being back in “the west.” He continued to serve at Corinthian through the mid-1910s and played a role in central Iowa congregations. A 1902 report in the Iowa State Bystander also referenced Griffith as pastor of the Union Valley Baptist Church in Muchakinock, Iowa. He spoke out against the prejudice expressed by speakers at the Des Moines Chautauqua in July 1909. He was reported to give the sermon at the dedication of the Second Baptist Church in Enterprise in 1909. He also is reported to have served as president of the Western Baptist Convention and participated in an integrated board of Baptists in Iowa.

He left Des Moines in 1916 to be pastor of the Second Baptist Church in Topeka, Kansas. Griffith was there through late 1918 until going to France as the Great War (WWI) ended. He returned to Des Moines as the pastor at Union Baptist Church into 1921 until moving to Los Angeles, California to serve the Second Baptist Church. Griffith was listed as its pastor in February 1922 in the California Eagle. He wrote an essay on the new church for the Eagle of January 23, 1925. He remained prominent in the Baptist community there until his death in 1940. He is buried in Evergreen Cemetery .