Joseph Grinnell (New Bedford, MA)

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Joseph Grinnell, US Congressmen, president of the Marine Bank and the First National Bank of New Bedford, and founder of Wamsutta Mill.

Joseph Grinnell (November 17, 1788 – February 2, 1885)

Biography

  • Name: Joseph Grinnell
  • Birth: November 17, 1788 New Bedford, Bristol County, Massachusetts
  • Death: February 2, 1885 New Bedford, Massachusetts

Early life and family

Joseph Grinnell was born in New Bedford on November 17, 1788, son of Cornelius and Sylvia Howland Grinnell. His mother was Sylvia Howland to whose lovely character and steady discharge of duty her children were largely indebted for the success and honor to which they arrived. His father had, in the American Revolution, rendered loyal service on land and sea. After several years spent in the merchant service, Cornelius established himself in New Bedford. He was a vessel owner and commander and built a number of ships, one of which, the Euphrates, built in 1803, was famous in her day. She had a long history and was destroyed by the Shenandoah in the Pacific in 1864. For the entire sixty years of her use she was in the hands of the Grinnell family. He was an original incorporator of the New Bedford Institution for Savings in 1825.[1] Cornelius Grinnell died in 1850.

Joseph Grinnell commenced his mercantile life as clerk to his father and uncle on Central Wharf, New Bedford. At twenty years of age he was appointed deputy collector and surveyor of its port. In 1810 he commenced business in New York, in company with his uncle, John H. Howland, under the firm name of Howland & Grinnell. Their business was very successful until the War of 1812, when nearly all their vessels were captured or confiscated. In 1815 he formed a co-partnership with his cousin, Capt. Preserved Fish. The firm name was Fish & Grinnell. Captain Fish continued as partner until 1825. On his retiring, Mr. Grinnell admitted his brothers, Henry and Moses H., as co-partners under the style of Fish, Grinnell & Co. Robert B. Minturn, a brother-in-law of Henry Grinnell, was admitted as a partner under the style of Grinnell, Minturn & Co.

On May 14, 1812, in New Bedford, Joseph Grinnell married Sarah Russell. She was the daughter of Abraham and Sarah (Schumacher) Russell.

On September 19, 1865, Joseph Grinnell married Rebecca Chase in Lynn, Middlesex County, Massachusetts. Rebecca was the daughter of Abijah Chase and Mary (Abbott) Chase. She first married Nathaniel Kinsman on 9 July 1835 in Salem. They had four children: William Low, Rebecca R., Nathaniel Jr, and Abbott. Nathaniel died in 1847 in Macao, China while working as a partner of Wm. Wetmore & Co. of Canton.

Banking career

Joseph Grinnell was president of the Marine Bank and its successor, the First National Bank from 1832 to 1878 and remained a director until the end of his life.

Other career highlights

In 1810 he moved to New York City and founded Fish, Grinnell and Company with his cousin, Captain Preserved Fish. This was the predecessor to Grinnell, Minturn & Co. The trading company prospered and Grinnell returned to New Bedford in 1825. Captain Fish went on to become president of the Tradesmen's Bank of New York City.[2]

Mr. Grinnell was president of the New Bedford & Taunton Railroad from 1838 until its reorganization around 1873. He was a member of the Governor's council from 1839-1841 and was a candidate for the Massachusetts Senate in 1840.[3] He was elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1843 as a Whig to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Barker Burnell. That year ex-president John Quincy Adams visited New Bedford and stayed at his home. He occupied a leading position in Congress where he pushed bills through to reduce letter postage to five cents and to compel ships to provide for ventilation and carry life-boats. It was during his government service in 1846 that Grinnell was instrumental in founding New Bedford's first cotton cloth manufacturing complex, the Wamsutta Mill. The mills were conceived by Thomas Bennett Jr. of nearby Fairhaven, who would serve as its secretary. Grinnell was its president from its inception until his death in 1885, Hon. Andrew G. Pierce succeeding him.[4] New Bedford textile mills would number around 70 during its peak in 1920. The Grinnell Manufacturing Company was named for him. He was a director in the Boston & Providence Railroad from 1840 to 1863 and was president from 1841 to 1846. He was a director in many other business corporations in New Bedford. In 1846, his adopted daughter, Cornelia Grinnell, married the poet and publisher of the Home Journal, Nathaniel Parker Willis. A friend of Longfellow, Holmes, and Lowell, Willis accompanied Joseph Grinnell on many of his trips to the Caribbean, the West, and to Europe.

In 1850, Hon. Joseph Grinnell declined to be a candidate for renomination so he could resume his former business activities. He served from December 7, 1843, to March 3, 1851. In announcing his decision, he said, "As your Representative it has been my wish and endeavor to carry into effect, as far as possible, the principles which distinguish the Whig Party, believing as I do, that if they were fully carried into operation, we should be more prosperous than we now are, under the existing free trade Tariff, which was adopted in 1846 through the recommendation and influence of the late President Polk and his Cabinet. The famine in Europe in 1847, the discovery of gold in California in 1848 and the large sales of United States stocks and other American securities in Europe the last two years have thus far prevented its legitimate effects being fully developed; but the evil day (pay day) will surely come when the effect of the excessive importations of foreign manufactures now being made (about $50 million per annum over our exports) will be disastrously felt as certain as effect follows cause. That odious and impolitic feature of this Tariff, assessing a lower duty on many manufactured articles than upon the raw material of which they are made is so manifestly opposed to the interest of our citizens that its paternity is declined by all who were instrumental in the passage of the law."[5]

Later life and death

On February 7, 1885, Hon. Joseph Grinnell died of old age at 96 years, 3 months, and 21 days. He was a lifelong member of the Society of Friends and was prominently identified with many benevolent organizations.[6] Interment was in Oak Grove Cemetery.

One of the most historically significant homes in New Bedford is the Joseph Grinnell Mansion at 379 County Street. The architect, Russell Warren, built the home in 1830. The simplicity of the house with its symmetrical plan and simple proportions hark back to the earlier Federal period. Yet the Doric columns place it with the Classical Revival buildings of Warren and others. A solarium, now missing, once graced the south side and a Grinnell heir added the third floor in 1893. The outer sheathing of rusticated granite was cut from the same Quincy quarry as Boston's Bunker Hill Monument.

Bank Officer Summary

During his banking career, Joseph Grinnell was involved with the following bank(s):

Original Series $5 bank note with pen signatures of John P. Barker, Cashier and Joseph Grinnell, President. Courtesy of Heritage Auctions, www.ha.com


Sources

  1. ↑ New Bedford, MA, Its History, Industries, Institutions and Attractions, The Board of Trade, publisher, New Bedford, 1889, pp 245-6.
  2. ↑ The Evening Post, New York, NY, Tue., July 7, 1840.
  3. ↑ Boston Post, Boston, MA, Fri., Oct. 2, 1840.
  4. ↑ Boston Evening Transcript, Boston, MA, Thu., Mar. 12, 1885.
  5. ↑ New-York Tribune, New York, NY, Mon., Sep. 30, 1850.
  6. ↑ The Boston Globe, Boston, MA, Sat., Feb. 7, 1885.
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