William Morton Grinnell

William Morton Grinnell (February 28, 1857 – February 9, 1906)[1] was a United States diplomat, lawyer, banker and author.

William Morton Grinnell
Third Assistant Secretary of State
In office
February 15, 1892 – April 16, 1893
Preceded byJohn Bassett Moore
Succeeded byEdward Henry Strobel
Personal details
Born(1857-02-28)February 28, 1857
New York City, New York, U.S.
DiedFebruary 9, 1906(1906-02-09) (aged 48)
New York City, New York, U.S.
Spouse
Elizabeth Lee Ernst
​
​
(m. 1898)​
RelationsLevi P. Morton (uncle)
Daniel O. Morton (uncle)
Children2
Parent(s)William F. Grinnell
Mary Morton Grinnell
EducationPhillips Exeter Academy
Harvard College
Alma materColumbia Law School

Early life

William Morton Grinnell was born in New York City on February 28, 1857, the son of William F. Grinnell and Mary (Morton) Grinnell (sister of Levi P. Morton).[2] Another uncle, Daniel Oliver Morton (1815–59), served as the Mayor of Toledo, Ohio from 1849 to 1850.[3]

He was educated in Stuttgart and at Phillips Exeter Academy. He then studied at Harvard College, but left without taking a degree because of health problems, traveling to France, where his father had recently been appointed U.S. Consul at Saint-Étienne. William Morton Grinnell worked for a while for the United States Consulate in Lyon. He then attended Columbia Law School.[1]

Career

After he was admitted to the bar, Grinnell practiced law briefly in New York City. In 1881, he traveled to Paris, becoming Counsel of the U.S. Embassy there, a post he held until 1886. While in France, he received degrees of bachelier ès lettres and bachelier en droit. He returned to the United States and resumed his practice of law there in 1886.[1]

In 1892, President of the United States Benjamin Harrison (whose vice president was Grinnell's uncle Levi P. Morton) appointed Grinnell Third Assistant Secretary of State, with Grinnell holding this office from February 15, 1892 until April 16, 1893.[1]

Grinnell then returned to New York City to practice law. In 1894, he joined the banking house of Morton, Bliss & Co. (run by his mother's family), and remained there following its incorporation into the Morton Trust. His work there was interrupted by the outbreak of the Spanish–American War in 1898, at which time he joined the United States Army with the rank of Major. He returned to banking after the war.[1]

In addition to his work, Grinnell was a director of the Illinois Central Railroad, the Gunly Mountain Coal Company, the Mount Morris Bank, the Rio Grande, Sierra Madre & Pacific Railway, and the Sea Beach Land Company. He also published several books on contemporaneous social and economic questions.[1]

Personal life

On December 8, 1898, Grinnell married Elizabeth Lee Ernst (1871–1944), daughter of Oswald Herbert Ernst, the superintendent of the United States Military Academy.[4] Together, they had two children:[5]

  • Elizabeth Lee Grinnell (1900–1993), who married Henry L. Abbott.[6] She later married second to David Munroe.
  • George Morton Grinnell (1902–1953)[7]

Grinnell died of pneumonia in New York City on February 9, 1906.[1][8]

Works by William Morton Grinnell

References
  1. "WILLIAM MORTON GRINNELL". New-York Tribune. 10 February 1906. p. 7. Retrieved 5 March 2019.
  2. Weeks, Lyman Horace (1897). Prominent families of New York;being an account in biographical form of individuals and families distinguished as representatives of the social, professional and civic life of New York city. New York: Historical Company. Retrieved 5 March 2019.
  3. "Partial Genealogy of the Mortons of New York, Plymouth, and Ohio" (PDF).
  4. "Mrs. Grinnell, 73, Widow of Banker". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. 12 August 1944. p. 5. Retrieved 5 March 2019.
  5. Cutter, William Richard (1913). New England Families, Genealogical and Memorial: A Record of the Achievements of Her People in the Making of Commonwealths and the Founding of a Nation. Lewis historical publishing Company. p. 1950. Retrieved 5 March 2019.
  6. Gabriel, Mary (2018). Ninth Street Women: Lee Krasner, Elaine de Kooning, Grace Hartigan, Joan Mitchell, and Helen Frankenthaler: Five Painters and the Movement That Changed Modern Art. Little, Brown. p. 233. ISBN 9780316226196. Retrieved 5 March 2019.
  7. Grinnell, George James (2010). Death on the Barrens: A True Story of Courage and Tragedy in the Canadian Arctic. North Atlantic Books. p. 16. ISBN 9781556439797. Retrieved 5 March 2019.
  8. of 1880, Harvard College (1780-) Class (1912). Harvard College Class of 1880 Secretary's Report. Plimpton Press. p. 55. Retrieved 5 March 2019.
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