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John N. A. Griswold

Summary

John Noble Alsop Griswold (May 29, 1822 – September 18, 1909)[1] was an American China trade merchant, industrialist, and diplomat.

John N. A. Griswold
Griswold c. 1900
President of the Illinois Central Railroad
In office
1855–1855
Preceded byWilliam P. Burrall
Succeeded byWilliam H. Osborn
United States Consul at Shanghai
In office
1847–1854
Preceded byRobert C. Murphy
Succeeded byHenry G. Wolcott
Personal details
Born
John Noble Alsop Griswold

(1822-05-29)May 29, 1822
New York City, New York, U.S.
DiedSeptember 18, 1909(1909-09-18) (aged 87)
Newport, Rhode Island, U.S.
Spouse
Jane Louisa Emmet
​
​
(m. 1860; died 1909)​
RelationsSee Griswold family
Children5
Parent(s)George Griswold
Maria Matilda Cumming Griswold
Residence76 Bellevue Avenue

Early life edit

Griswold was born in New York City on May 29, 1822. He was the son of George Griswold (1777–1859), who invested heavily in land speculation, and his second wife, Maria Matilda (née Cumming) Griswold (1792–1880).[2] Among his siblings was brother George Griswold Jr. (father of Frank Gray Griswold and Mariana Griswold Van Rensselaer), and four sisters, Maria Griswold (who married George Winthrop Gray), Sarah Helen Griswold (who married Russell & Co. partner John Cleve Green), Cornelia Woodhull Griswold (who married Joseph Woodward Haven, grandfather of George G. Haven Jr.),[3] and Matilda Elizabeth Griswold (who married Frederick Theodore Frelinghuysen, a U.S. Senator who became the Secretary of State).[4]

His paternal grandfather was Nathaniel Griswold, a member of the Connecticut branch of the Griswold family who moved to New York City in 1796. His paternal aunt, Catherine Anne Griswold, was married to Pierre Lorillard III, making Pierre Lorillard IV, Catherine Lorillard Kernochan, Mary Lorillard Barbey, George Lyndes Lorillard, and Eva Lorillard Kip his first cousins.[5]

Career edit

 
The clipper ship "Challenge" of the N.L. & G. Griswold fleet.
 
House flag of N. L. & G. Griswold

His father and uncle, Nathaniel Lynde Griswold, founded the N.L. & G. Griswold Company to import sugar and rum from the Caribbean on clipper ships.[6] Eventually, they expanded to the China Trade, capturing a large share of the 19th century tea market.[5] The firm was referred to as "the great New York mercantile house of N.L. & G. Griswold, known to their rivals as "No Loss and Great Gain Griswold," importers of rum, sugar, and tea."[7]

In 1847, Griswold traveled to the Far East and, within a year, was appointed United States consul at Shanghai, serving in that role until 1854.[8][9]

Upon his return to America, he helped develop several prominent railroads, serving as president of the Illinois Central Railroad and chairman of the board of directors of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad.[1] He was a Vice President in China of the Medical Missionary Society.[10]

After moving to Newport, Griswold used his influence to encourage local development of land and businesses including the Newport and Wickford Steamboat and Railroad Company, and the Newport Casino.[1] He acquired commercial wharves, large holdings on Coggeshall and Bellevue Avenues, and the Berkeley Block.[8]

Personal life edit

 
The John N. A. Griswold House, 1933.

On February 29, 1860, Griswold was married to Jane Louisa Emmet (1832–1909)[11] at St. Mark's Church in New York City. Jane, who grew up at Morea in Charlottesville, Virginia, was the daughter of Mary Byrd (née Tucker) Emmet and John Patten Emmet, the first professor of natural history at the University of Virginia who was a son of Thomas Addis Emmet and nephew of Robert Emmet, the advocate for Irish independence.[12] Her brother was Dr. Thomas Addis Emmet, a prominent gynecological surgeon and author,[13] and William Jenkins Emmet, father of painter Lydia Field Emmet. Together, they were the parents of:[14]

  • Minnie Griswold (1861–), who married John Murray Forbes Jr. (1844–1921),[15] brother of Francis Blackwell Forbes, in 1882.[16][17]
  • Richard Alsop Griswold (1863–1864), who died young.
  • John Noble "Jack" Griswold (1865–1895), a well known clubman who died in Colorado Springs.[18]
  • Florence Temple Griswold (1867–1937), who married Major Horatio Robert Odo Cross, a surgeon in the British Grenadier Guards, on April 30, 1892.[19]
  • George Griswold II (1870–1902),[a] a Harvard lawyer who committed suicide in 1902.[20]

In 1863, the Griswold's moved to Newport, Rhode Island where he commissioned what is today known as the John N. A. Griswold House, located at 76 Bellevue Avenue. It has served as the home of the Newport Art Museum since the early 1960s.[21] Griswold had purchased the lot from Rowland R. Hazard Jr. and Margaret E. Hazard of Newport on November 25, 1862. While the home was being built, they lived at Kingscote (the home's owner, George Noble Jones, went south during the U.S. Civil War).[8] The Griswold home was designed by Richard Morris Hunt and is one of the earliest American Stick style buildings.[22]

His wife died at 129 West 59th Street, their New York residence, on January 19, 1909.[11] Griswold died several months later at his home in Newport on September 18, 1909.[1] He was buried at Island Cemetery in Newport. His estate was reportedly valued in excess of $25,000,000.[23]

Descendants edit

Through his eldest daughter, he was the grandfather of Gordon Forbes (b. 1883), John Griswold Forbes (1885–1887), Janet Forbes (b. 1888), Howell Forbes (b. 1891), and John Murray Forbes (b. 1893).[24][25]

References edit

Notes
  1. ^ His youngest son was born Addis McEvers Griswold but changed his name to George Griswold in 1890.[14]
Sources
  1. ^ a b c d Times, Special to The New York (14 September 1909). "JOHN N.A. GRISWOLD DEAD.; Ex-President of Illinois Central and Prominent Citizen of Newport" (PDF). The New York Times. Retrieved 24 June 2019.
  2. ^ Scoville, Joseph Alfred (1863). The Old Merchants of New York City. Carleton. pp. 163-170. Retrieved 24 June 2019.
  3. ^ "NEWPORT ESTATE SOLD.; Mrs. Frances Ogden Sells Property to George G. Haven" (PDF). The New York Times. 21 January 1898. Retrieved 24 June 2019.
  4. ^ "MRS. F. T. FRELINGHUYSEN". The New York Times. 4 February 1889. Retrieved 30 January 2018.
  5. ^ a b Barrett, Walter (1885). The Old Merchants of New York City. New York: Thomas R. Knox & Co.
  6. ^ Griswold, Wyck (2014). Griswold Point: History From the Mouth of the Connecticut River. Charleston: The History Press. p. 65. ISBN 978-1-62619-571-4.
  7. ^ Hutto, Richard Jay (2005). The Jekyll Island Club Members. Indigo Custom Publishing. p. 100. ISBN 9780977091225. Retrieved 17 November 2017.
  8. ^ a b c "GRISWOLD, JOHN N.A., HOUSE". npgallery.nps.gov. United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service. Retrieved 24 June 2019.
  9. ^ Barrett, Walter (1864). The Old Merchants of New York City. Books on Demand. p. 160. ISBN 9780598379467. Retrieved 24 June 2019.
  10. ^ Medical Missionary Society in China. The New York Times, May 19, 1853, from the China Mail, Mar. 3, 1853.
  11. ^ a b "Died" (PDF). The New York Times. 21 January 1909. Retrieved 24 June 2019.
  12. ^ Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission Staff (March 1988). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Morea" (PDF). Virginia Department of Historic Resources. and Accompanying photo
  13. ^ Miller, Tom (August 4, 2010). "A Roof Garden and "Swimming Plunge" - The 1912 Terra Cotta Emmet Building". Daytonian in Manhattan.
  14. ^ a b Emmet, Thomas Addis (1898). A Memoir of John Patten Emmet, M. D.: Formerly Professor of Chemistry and Materia Medica in the University of Virginia, with a Brief Outline of the Emmet Family History. Bradstreet Press. p. 79. Retrieved 24 June 2019.
  15. ^ "Died" (PDF). The New York Times. 2 May 1921. Retrieved 24 June 2019.
  16. ^ "Minnie Griswold Forbes". www.newportalri.org. Newport Art Museum. Retrieved 24 June 2019.
  17. ^ Wong, John D. (2016). Global Trade in the Nineteenth Century: The House of Houqua and the Canton System. Cambridge University Press. p. 199. ISBN 9781316720967. Retrieved 24 June 2019.
  18. ^ "DIED". The New York Times. 24 July 1895. Retrieved 24 June 2019.
  19. ^ "Florence Temple Griswold (1867-after 1924)". www.nyhistory.org. New-York Historical Society. Retrieved 24 June 2019.
  20. ^ "GEORGE GRISWOLD'S DEATH; Decapitated Body Found After a Freight Train Passed. Mental Disturbance Had Compelled Retirement at Pelham Manor -- Indications of Suicide -- Nurse Slept" (PDF). The New York Times. 24 December 1902. Retrieved 24 June 2019.
  21. ^ Major, Judith (2013). Mariana Griswold Van Rensselaer: A Landscape Critic in the Gilded Age. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press.
  22. ^ Morris, Edward (2012). Rogues and Heroes of Newport's Gilded Age. Arcadia Publishing. p. 63. ISBN 9781614236665. Retrieved 24 June 2019.
  23. ^ Times, Special to The New York (24 September 1909). "WILL CUTS OFF CONTESTANTS.; Penalty Provided in Instrument Which Divides J.N.A. Griswold's $25,000,000" (PDF). The New York Times. Retrieved 24 June 2019.
  24. ^ Howell, Frances (1897). The Book of John Howell & His Descendants: With Supplementary Accounts of the Families Related to Them by Marriage. F. Howell. p. 589. ISBN 9780598992475. Retrieved 24 June 2019.
  25. ^ "Forbes Family Papers, 1732-1931". www.masshist.org. Massachusetts Historical Society. Retrieved 24 June 2019.

External links edit

John N. A. Griswold at Find a Grave

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