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
Malvern Hall – Seat of the English Griswold Family
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
Politics
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
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.
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
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.
Marian Griswold (1750–1829) m. (1) 1769: Charles Church Chandler (1747–1787); m. (2) 1793: Ebenezer Lane (1747–1808); m. (3) 1809: Justin Ely (1739–1817)
Dorothy Church Chandler (1770–1847) m. James Backus (1764–1816)
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)
^
abMajor, Judith (2013). Mariana Griswold Van Rensselaer: A Landscape Critic in the Gilded Age. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press.
^Griswold, Wick (2014). Griswold Point: History From the Mouth of the Connecticut River. Charleston: The History Press. pp. 73–74.
ISBN978-1-62619-571-4.