Griswold family facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Griswold Family
Current region	United States, England
Place of origin	Solihull, England, United Kingdom
Members	Matthew Griswold, Roger Griswold, John Augustus Griswold
Connected families	Wolcott, Forbes, Bradford, Gardiner
Estate(s)	Malvern Hall, Griswold Point, John N. A. Griswold House

The Griswold family (/ˈɡrɪzwɔːld, -wəld/) 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.

Family origins

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.

The first members of the family to arrive in America were the 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. 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. 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.

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. 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

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.

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. 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.' George Griswold Jr operated clipper ships to China and amassed a great fortune; setting up residence on Fifth Avenue. John Griswold, brother of George Jr., was responsible for building the John N. A. Griswold House in Newport, Rhode Island.

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. 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

Noted as business-people

• Samuel Griswold (1790–1867): American industrialist.
• John Augustus Griswold (1818–1873): U.S. Representative from New York, Industrialist, and builder of the ironclad USS Monitor.
• John N. A. Griswold (1822–1909): China trade merchant and industrialist. Commissioned the John N. A. Griswold House in Newport, Rhode Island.
• William E. S. Griswold (1877-1964): CEO of W. & J. Sloane
• John Sloane Griswold Sr. (1914-2005): Noted industrial design executive
• Anita Griswold (1903-1976); real estate broker, wife of John C. Griswold

Noted as politicians and activists

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

• Edward Griswold: (1607-1690): Founding father of Connecticut, early colonial politician.
• Matthew Griswold (1714–1799): 17th Governor of Connecticut.
• Roger Griswold (1762–1812): 22nd Governor of Connecticut, 6th Lieutenant Governor of Connecticut, and U.S. Representative.
• Gaylord Griswold: U.S. Representative from New York and drafter of the 12th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
• John Augustus Griswold (1818–1873): U.S. Representative from New York, Industrialist, and builder of the ironclad USS Monitor.
• John Ashley Griswold (1822–1902): U.S. Representative from New York.
• George Griswold (1794–1857): Lieutenant Governor of Michigan.
• Simeon Griswold (1752–1843): Five time member of the Massachusetts State Legislature.
• Chester Griswold: Member of the New York State Assembly, Supervisor of Nassau, New York.
• William M. Griswold (1823–1889): Member of the Wisconsin State Assembly and Wisconsin State Senate.
• William A. Griswold (1775–1846): Speaker of the Vermont House of Representatives.
• William N. Griswold (1834–1921): Supervisor of Welfare for New York.
• Matthew Griswold (1833–1919): U.S. Congressman from Pennsylvania.

Art and culture

• Florence Griswold (1850–1937): American artist and founder of the Old Lyme art colony.
• Frank Gray Griswold (1854–1937): American sportsman and society leader of the Gilded Age.
• Mariana Griswold Van Rensselaer (1851–1934): American author and leader in the aesthetic movement.
• William M. Griswold: American art historian and noted director of the Cleveland Museum of Art.

Science and Academia

• John Augustus Griswold, Jr. (1912–1991): American ornithologist, Curator of Birds, Philadelphia Zoological Gardens.
• Alfred Whitney Griswold (1906-1963): American historian and President of Yale University
• Erwin Griswold (1904-1994): Solicitor General of the United States and Dean of Harvard Law School

Griswold family tree

Places

• Griswold, Connecticut: named for Governor Roger Griswold.
• Fort Griswold, Groton, Connecticut: Named for Governor Matthew Griswold.
• Griswoldville, Georgia
• The Griswold Inn, one of the oldest continuously run taverns in the United States.