James William Elwell

Fabre Line brochure.

On July 15, 1847, his father died while on board the bark Nautilus, at the foot of Wall Street, when he was struck on the head by the main boom. Elwell died five days later from injuries incurred in the accident.[6][7][8] After the accidental death of John Elwell in 1847, James took over the business alone and renamed the firm James W. Elwell & Co., which would remain in operation well into the twentieth century. His brother, Charles Elwell rejoined the firm in 1852 and stayed until 1885. The firm entered the shipping trade, controlling lines of vessels to the East and West Indies, South America, and European ports. In 1838, James Elwell became a member of the New York Produce Exchange, which served a network of produce and commodities dealers across the United States. He served on its arbitration committee for five terms. He was elected a member of the Chamber of Commerce in 1855.[1][5]

In 1867, The pilot-boat James W. Elwell, No. 7, was named in honor of Elwell. On her trial trip from New York City, on April 2, 1867, James W. Elwell was on board along with a delegation of other prominent men.[9]

In 1886, the firm became the agent for the Fabre Line of freight and passenger steamers between Mediterranean ports and New York. The business grew and became the most important Line out of New York to the Mediterranean.[10][11]

Home of James W. and Lucy S. Elwell House at 70 Lefferts Place, Brooklyn, New York.

Elwell lived at 70 Lefferts Place, Brooklyn, New York, for over forty years and had a conservatory for his garden and flowers on his property. He took the Wall Street Ferry to work. He loved flowers and was known as "Bouquet Elwell."[11]

In 1854, Elwell and his wife Lucy built the wood-framed Italianate villa that is in the national historic district in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn in the Clinton Hill South Historic District. The house is one of the two oldest houses on Lefferts Place. The house became a designated individual landmark by the Landmarks Preservation Commission on December 12, 2006, and is called the James W. and Lucy S. Elwell House.[8][12][13]

He was the fourth oldest member of the New York Chamber of Commerce becoming a member in 1845, which he held up to his death. He was a director and trustee of several insurance and railroad companies and banks, including: the Ship Owners' Association of New York, the Marine Bank, the Union Mutual Insurance Association, the Mariners' Savings Institution, the Niagara Fire Insurance Company, the Great Western Insurance Company, the Galena and Chicago Railroad Company, the Great Eastern Railroad Company, Chicago and Indiana Railroad Company and Atlantic and Pacific Railroad company.[11]

Elwell was known as a philanthropist, being a director and trustee of several charitable undertakings in the New York district. He gave $3,000,000 to charity over his lifetime. He helped fund some of Brooklyn's best institutions, including Graham Institute, member of the advisory board of the Brooklyn Orphan Asylum and the Industrial Home for Children. For twenty years he was a trustee of the American Congregational Union; vice president and trustee of the Seamen's Friend Society of the City of New York; Mission and Track Society of Brooklyn; Brooklyn Dispensary; New York Port Society; founder of the Helping Hand Night Mission, which he helped organize; the Home for Friendless Woman and Children of Brooklyn; trustee of Clinton Avenue Congregational Church; founder of the Fresh Air Fund now the Seaside Home; president of the board of council of the Mariners' Family Asylum of Staten Island and trustee of the Children's Aid Society and Industrial School of Brooklyn.[11]