American merchant, born in New Bedford, MA, on the 13th of February 1799; graduated at the academy in his native place in 1818, and became a clerk in a commission house in New York; in 1825, partner in the firm of Grinnell, Minturn and Company; retired from business in 1852. In 1850 he fitted out two vessels and dispatched them, under the command of Lieutenant de Haven, to search for Sir John Franklin. No trace of Franklin was found, but land in lat. 80° N. was discovered, and named Grinnell Land. A second expedition for the same purpose, under Dr. Kane, was fitted out in 1853, by Grinnell and George Peabody. Mr. Grinnell contributed also to the expedition of Dr. Hayes and to Hall’s Polaris expedition in 1871. He was the first president of the American Geographical Society (1852–53). He died in New York City on the 30th of June 1874.—His brother, Moses Hicks Grinnell, was born in New Bedford, MA, on the 3rd of March 1803; in 1818, entered a New York counting-house; became a member of the firm of Fish and Grinnell in 1825; member of Congress from 1839 to 1841; collector of the port of New York in 1869–70; president of the New York Chamber of Commerce in 1843. He contributed toward Dr. Kane’s Arctic expedition of 1853. He died in New York City on the 24th of November 1877.
