Griswold family

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This article is about the American political family. For the fictional Griswold family in film comedy, see National Lampoon's Vacation (film series).

Griswold Family
Current regionUnited States, England
Place of originSolihull, England, United Kingdom
MembersMatthew Griswold, Roger Griswold, John Augustus Griswold
Connected familiesWolcott, Forbes, Bradford, Gardiner
Estate(s)Malvern Hall, Griswold Point, John N. A. Griswold House

The Griswold family (/ˈɡrɪzwɔːld, -wəld/)[1] is an American political family from Connecticut and New York of English descent. The family's fortune originates from the 19th Century industrial and merchant pursuits. They tend to be Republican but a few of them support the Democratic Party.

Family origins[edit]

John Constable - Malvern Hall, Warwickshire - Google Art Project
Malvern Hall – Seat of the English Griswold Family

The Griswold family originates from Solihull, England, where they lived for centuries as greyhound breeders, which were a favorite of King Edward I of England.[2][3][4]

The first members of the family to arrive in America were the Puritans half-brothers Edward and Matthew Griswold, landing initially at Dorchester, Massachusetts in 1639 and continuing on as part of the group of colonists settling Windsor, Connecticut.[3] In 1646, Matthew married Anna Wolcott and moved to Old Saybrook, Connecticut and was later Deputy and Commissioner of Lyme, Connecticut, quickly amassing thousands of acres of land and become one of the richest men in the colony.[5] Edward Griswold remained in Windsor and played pivotal roles in the early politics of the colony. Many of his descendants moved west to New York following the American Revolution and founded the New York branch of the family, from whom Congressman John Augustus Griswold is descended.

Legacy and accumulation of wealth[edit]

Politics[edit]

Many members of the family were influential in state and national politics. During the colonial era, the Griswolds were one of a roughly half-dozen families which governed Connecticut state politics. In 1801, the Hartford Courant called "Griswold" one of the most "revered and ancient families" of Connecticut.[6]

Industry[edit]

John Augustus Griswold of the New York branch of the family made a considerable fortune in the iron and steel industry, forming the Albany and Rensselaer Iron and Steel Works of Troy, New York. During the American Civil War, Griswold financed at his personal expense the USS Monitor and later engaged his iron business in the production of other Monitor class ironclad ships.[7] Griswold later become president of the Troy and Lansingburgh Railroad, of the Troy and Cohoes Railroad and of the New Orleans, Mobile and Texas Railroad.

Matthew Griswold VII, grandson of governor Roger Griswold, founded the Griswold Manufacturing Company of Erie, Pennsylvania, manufacturers of the Griswold cast-iron products.

Samuel Griswold, a descendant of settler Edward Griswold, moved to Georgia and was notable for producing weapons for the Confederate Army.

China trade and shipping[edit]

N. L. and G. Griswold donated the service of George Griswold which left New York for Liverpool in January 1863 with a cargo for the relief of Lancashire working men. The cargo donated by the International Relief Committee and the New York Produce Exchange.[8]
The clipper ship "Challenge" of the N.L. & G. Griswold fleet

Members of the Connecticut branch of the family moved to New York City in 1796 and engaged in trade. Brothers Nathaniel Lynde Griswold and George Griswold founded the N.L & G. Griswold Company to import sugar and rum from the Caribbean on clipper ships.[9] They expanded to the China Trade, capturing a large share of the 19th century tea market. It was noted that "I do not suppose that there is a country store, however insignificant, in the entire United States that has not seen a large or small package of tea marked 'N.L & G.G.' [10] George Griswold Jr operated clipper ships to China and amassed a great fortune; setting up residence on Fifth Avenue.[11] John Griswold, brother of George Jr., was responsible for building the John N. A. Griswold House in Newport, Rhode Island.[11]

Another member of the family, John Griswold, founded the Black X Line of packet clippers that shipped supplies between the United States and Great Britain. Robert Harper Griswold, a man whom Herman Melville called "a man of much reading .. elegant manner and great personal beauty," greatly expanded the line and amassed his own wealth.[12] His wealth enabled him to buy what is now the home that now houses the Florence Griswold Museum, named after his daughter.

Notable family members[edit]

Noted as business-people[edit]

Noted as politicians and activists[edit]

Many Griswold family members were influential in politics in the states of Connecticut and New York.

Art and culture[edit]

Science and Academia[edit]

Griswold family tree[edit]

For an alphabetical list of people with the surname Griswold, see Griswold (surname).
Griswold family members
  • Matthew Griswold jr (1652-1716)
  • Daniel Griswold (1656–1728) m. Mindwell Bissell (1663–1728)
    • Daniel Griswold (1684–1772) m. Sarah White (1694–1738)
      • Seth Griswold (1723–1810) m. Susanna Shurtleff (1732–1757)
        • Simeon Griswold (1752–1843) m. Ann Hutchinson (1755–1836)
          • Justin Griswold (1779–1841)
          • Chester Griswold (1781–1860) m. Abby Moulton
  • Matthew Griswold (1652–c. 1716) m. (1) 1683: Phebe Hyde (1663–1704); m. (2) 1705: Mary DeWolf (c. 1656–1724)
    • John Griswold (1690–1764) m. 1713: Hannah Lee (1694–1773)
      • Matthew Griswold (1714–1799) m. 1743: Ursula Wolcott (1724–1788)
      • Phebe Griswold (1716–1770) m. 1731: Jonathan Parsons (1705–1776)
      • Thomas Griswold (1718–1770) m. 1741: Susannah Lynde (1721–1768)
      • Hannah Griswold (1723–1772) m. Benajah Bushnell
      • Lucy Griswold (1726–1795) m. 1753: Elijah Backus (1726–1798)
      • Sarah Griswold (1729–1777) m. William Hillhouse (1728–1816)[13]
        • John Griswold Hillhouse (1751–1806) m. Elizabeth Mason
          • Harriet Hillhouse (1792–1866) m. David Buel (1784–1860)
        • James Hillhouse (1754–1832)[14]
        • Thomas Griswold Hillhouse (1766–1835)
          • Thomas Hillhouse (1817–1897) m. Harriet Prouty (1823–1903)
            • Thomas Griswold Hillhouse (1848–1910)
      • Clarissa Griswold (1735–1811) m. Nathan Elliott (1725–1798)
      • Deborah Griswold (1735–1811) m. 1756 Nathan Jewett Jr. (1734–1802)
    • George Griswold (1692–1761) m. Hannah Lynde (1698–1734)
      • George Griswold (1726–1816) m. Elizabeth Lee (1735–1797)
        • George Griswold (1777–1859) m. (1) Eliza Woodhull (1784–1810); m. (2) Maria Matilda Cumming (1792–1880)
          • Maria Griswold (1804–1866) m. George Winthrop Gray (1799–1863)
          • Cornelia Woodhull Griswold (1807–1888) m. Joseph Woodward Haven (1803–1872)
            • George Griswold Haven Sr. (1837–1908) m. Emma Walton Martin (1840–1873)
              • George Griswold Haven Jr. (1866–1925) m. (1) Elizabeth Shaw Ingersoll (1860–1923); m. (2) Dorothy James
                • Leila Ingersoll Haven (1890–1974) m. Gilbert Edward Jones Jr. (1888–1925)
                • George Griswold Haven III (1892–1944) m. Elizabeth George (1896–1990)
                • Alice Haven (1895–1946) m. (1) George Schieffelin Trevor (1892–1951); (2) William Otis Waters (1889–1940)
              • Cornelia Haven (1860–1926) m. Stephen Peabody
              • Alice Griswold Haven (1863–1959) m. John Nelson Borland (1859–1929)
                • Alice "Ella" Borland (1887–1987) m. Orme Wilson Jr. (1885–1966)
                  • Orme Wilson III (1920–1991) m. Julie Brown Colt
              • Joseph Woodward Haven (1864–1945) m. Henrietta Katherine Cram (1863–1934)
                • Katherine Sergeant Haven (1898–1974) m. (1) Johnston Livingston Redmond (1888–1933) (brother of Roland L. Redmond); m. (2) William Henry Osborn II (1895–1971) (grandson of William H. Osborn)
          • Sarah Helen Griswold (1815–1893) m. John Cleve Green (1800–1875)
          • Matilda Elizabeth Griswold (1817–1889) m. Frederick Theodore Frelinghuysen (1817–1885)
          • George Griswold Jr. (1820–1884) m. Lydia Alley (1826–1908)
            • Mariana Griswold (1851–1934) m. Schuyler Van Rensselaer (1845–1884)
              • George Griswold Van Rensselaer (1875–1894)
            • Frank Gray Griswold (1854–1937) m. Josephine Houghteling Canfield (1864–1937) (mother of Cass Canfield)
            • George Griswold III (1857–1917) m. Emily Oliver Post (1860–1905)[23]
              • George Griswold IV (1896–1964) m. Isabelle Batelle Bridgman (1896–1977)
          • John Noble Alsop Griswold (1822–1909) m. Jane Louisa Emmet (1832–1909)
            • Minnie Griswold (1861–1954) m. John Murray Forbes Jr. (1844–1921)
            • Richard Alsop Griswold (1863–1864)
            • John Noble "Jack" Griswold (1865–1895)
            • Florence Temple Griswold (1867–1937) m. Horatio Robert Odo Cross (1846–1915)
              • Graham Griswold Odo Cross (1898–1963)
            • George Griswold II (1870–1902)

Places[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Griswold". Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary.
  2. ^ Griswold, Wick (2014). Griswold Point: History From the Mouth of the Connecticut River. Charleston: The History Press. p. 16. ISBN 978-1-62619-571-4.
  3. ^ a b Salisbury, Edward (1892). The Griswold Family of Connecticut. New Haven: Tuttle, Morehouse & Taylor.
  4. ^ French, Esther Griswold & Robert Lewis (1990). The Griswold Family: The First Five Generations in America. The Griswold Family Association.
  5. ^ Salisbury, Edward (1892). The Griswold Family of Connecticut. New Haven: Tuttle, Morehouse & Taylor. p. 132.
  6. ^ "The Standing Order: Connecticut's Ruling Aristocracy, 1639–1818". Connecticut Explored. Connecticut Explored. Retrieved May 7, 2019.
  7. ^ "John A. Griswold Papers, 1848–1894". New York State Library web site. New York State Library. Retrieved October 7, 2014.
  8. ^ Henderson, William Otto (1934). The Lancashire Cotton Famine 1861–65. Manchester University Press. p. 84. Retrieved September 5, 2019.
  9. ^ 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.
  10. ^ Barrett, Walter (1885). The Old Merchants of New York City. New York: Thomas R. Knox & Co.
  11. ^ a b Major, Judith (2013). Mariana Griswold Van Rensselaer: A Landscape Critic in the Gilded Age. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press.
  12. ^ Griswold, Wick (2014). Griswold Point: History From the Mouth of the Connecticut River. Charleston: The History Press. pp. 73–74. ISBN 978-1-62619-571-4.
  13. ^ HILLHOUSE, William – Biographical Information. Bioguide.congress.gov. Retrieved on October 19, 2011.
  14. ^ HILLHOUSE, James – Biographical Information. Bioguide.congress.gov. Retrieved on October 19, 2011.
  15. ^ "Frederick Frelinghuysen. Ex-President of Mutual Benefit Life Insurance Company Dies". New York Times. January 2, 1924. Retrieved May 30, 2007. Frelinghuysen was President of the Benefit Life Insurance Company in Newark for ... to become President of the Mutual Benefit Life Insurance Company. ...
  16. ^ "Frederick Frelinghuysen's Engagement". The New York Times. July 7, 1902. Retrieved January 30, 2018.
  17. ^ "Roselyne deViry Frelinghuysen". The Berkshire Eagle. March 12, 2014. Retrieved July 2, 2019.
  18. ^ "OBTAINS DECREE IN RENO; Former Anne de Smolianinof Divorces G. G. Frelinghuysen" (PDF). The New York Times. June 7, 1938. Retrieved July 2, 2019.
  19. ^ "G.G. FRELINGHUYSEN DIES AT AGE OF 84; Son of Arthur's Secretary Of State Was Lawyer Here for Half century. KIN OF NOTED GENERAL Parent, Great-Uncle, Cousin All Served New Jersey in the United States Senate" (PDF). The New York Times. April 22, 1936. Retrieved January 30, 2018.
  20. ^ "G.G. Frelinghuysen Dies. Son of Arthur's Secretary Of State Was Lawyer". New York Times. April 22, 1936.
  21. ^ "MRS. S.H. M'CAWLEY, WASHINGTON HOSTESS; Grandmother of Senator Lodge Dies in Home at Capital". The New York Times. February 20, 1939. Retrieved January 30, 2018.
  22. ^ "Beatrice Lodge, '56 Debutante, To Wed in July; Daughter of Envoy to Spain Is Betrothed to Antonio de Oyarzabal" (PDF). The New York Times. December 9, 1960. Retrieved May 18, 2019.
  23. ^ "Mrs. George Griswold, Jr. (ca. 1860–1905)". www.nyhistory.org/. New-York Historical Society. Retrieved July 2, 2019.
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