Moses H. Grinnell

Moses H. Grinnell
Grinnell as Collector of the Port of New York in 1869.
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New York's 3rd district
In office March 4, 1839 – March 3, 1841
Preceded by	Churchill C. Cambreleng
Succeeded by	Charles G. Ferris
Personal details
Born	March 3, 1803 New Bedford, Massachusetts
Died	November 24, 1877 (aged 74) New York City
Political party	Whig

Moses Hicks Grinnell (March 3, 1803 – November 24, 1877) was a United States Congressman representing New York, and a Commissioner of New York City's Central Park.

Biography

Grinnell was born in New Bedford, Massachusetts. After attending public schools, he took his first paying job at the age of 15, working in a "counting room" in New York City. He became a successful merchant and shipper and was subsequently appointed as president of the New York Chamber of Commerce. However, unlike his brother Joseph Grinnell, who represented Massachusetts for four terms, Moses was not by disposition a political animal. He was first a Democrat, then became a Whig in the 1830s, and then a member of the newly founded Republican Party, for which he served as a presidential elector in 1856.^[1]

In February 1860, president-elect Abraham Lincoln, on his way to Washington, D.C., visited the Manhattan home of Grinnell's daughter, whose father had invited many of New York City's most prominent businessmen to meet the first Republican president. Grinnell subsequently wrote Lincoln with introductions for others, becoming something of a conduit of political power, if not a wielder of such himself.^[1]

Grinnell was Collector of the Port of New York from March 1869 to July 1870, and the Port's Naval Officer of Customs from July 1870 to April 1871.

Perhaps best remembered for his work as Central Park Commissioner during the early years of the urban park's design and construction, Moses Grinnell died in Manhattan on November 24, 1877. His funeral service was at the Unitarian Church of All Souls and he was buried in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, Sleepy Hollow, New York.^[1][2]

References

1. "Moses Hicks Grinnell". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved 2011-05-01. ... a Representative from New York; born in New Bedford, Mass., March 3, 1803; pursued an academic course; entered a countingroom in New York City in 1818; subsequently engaged in mercantile pursuits; elected as a Whig to the Twenty-sixth Congress (March 4, 1839-March 3, 1841); unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1840 to the Twenty-seventh Congress; presidential elector on the Republican ticket in 1856; president of the chamber of commerce and of the Merchants Clerks’ Savings Bank; commissioner of charities and corrections; Central Park commissioner; one of the Union defense committee; collector of the port of New York from March 1869 to July 1870; appointed naval officer of customs and served from July 1870 to April 1871; died in New York City November 24, 1877; interment in Sleepy Hollow Burying Ground, Tarrytown, N.Y.
2. "The Late Moses H. Grinnell". New York Times. November 26, 1877. Retrieved 2011-05-01. The arrangements for the funeral of the late Moses H. Grinnell were made yesterday. The funeral services will take place at 10 o'clock to-morrow morning in the Church of All Souls, at the corner of Fourth-avenue and Twentieth-street, the Pastor, Rev. Dr. Henry W. Bellows, officiating. Mr. Grinnell and Dr. Bellows were friends for many years, and it was by the aid of Mr. Grinnell's liberality that

Further reading

• "Moses H. Grinnell (1803-1877)". Abraham Lincoln and New York. The Lincoln Institute. Retrieved 2009-10-09. External link in |publisher= (help)

• Sheldon, George W. (February 1892). "Old Shipping Merchants of New York". Harper's magazine 84: 457–471, 463, 464.

• Wilson, George (1890). Portrait gallery of the Chamber of Commerce of the state of New-York. New York: Press of the Chamber of Commerce. pp. 44–47. OCLC 2747994.