James William Elwell (August 27, 1820 – September 2, 1899) was a 19th-century American businessman and philanthropist. He was well known as one of the oldest shipping merchants in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

having lived in Brooklyn for over forty years. Elwell was the owner of ''James W. Elwell & Co.,'' a shipping firm at 57 South Street,

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

. He was one of the oldest members of the

New York Chamber of Commerce The New York Chamber of Commerce was founded in 1768 by twenty New York City merchants. As the first such commercial organization in the United States, it attracted the participation of a number of New York's most influential business leaders, in ...

. He was known as a

philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the Public good (economics), public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private goo ...

who helped to found some of Brooklyn's best institutions. Elwell and his wife built the James W. and Lucy S. Elwell House in the national

historic district A historic district or heritage district is a section of a city which contains older buildings considered valuable for historical or architectural reasons. In some countries or jurisdictions, historic districts receive legal protection from c ...

Clinton Hill, Brooklyn Clinton Hill is a neighborhood in north-central Brooklyn, a borough of New York City. It is bordered by the Brooklyn Navy Yard and the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway to the north, Williamsburg to the northeast, Classon Avenue and Bedford–Stuyves ...

. The pilot boat ''James W. Elwell'' was named in his honor.

Early life

James W. Elwell was born the shipbuilding city of

Bath, Maine Bath is a city in Sagadahoc County, Maine, in the United States. The population was 8,766 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Sagadahoc County, which includes one city and 10 towns. The city is popular with tourists, many drawn by its ...

, on August 27, 1820. He was the son of John Elwell (1790–1847). The Elwell ancestors landed in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

in 1636. His mother was Mary L. Sprague (1794–1857) comes from the Sprague ancestors that landed at

Plymouth, Massachusetts Plymouth (; historically known as Plimouth and Plimoth) is a town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States. Located in Greater Boston, the town holds a place of great prominence in American history, folklore, and culture, and is known as ...

in 1628. James Elwell went to the Bath High School. Elwell married Olivia Peterson Robinson on July 16, 1844, in Bath, Maine, and had three children. Olivia died in 1851 at age 32. He married his second wife, Lucy E. R. Stinson, on May 6, 1852, in Bath, Maine, and had three more children.

Career

The family firm, John Elwell & Co., was founded in 1821 in Bath, Maine, by James's father, John Elwell. It imported

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s, dry goods, crockery, hardware, rum, and other products from the

British West Indies The British West Indies (BWI) were colonized British territories in the West Indies: Anguilla, the Cayman Islands, Turks and Caicos Islands, Montserrat, the British Virgin Islands, Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Dominica, Grena ...

. In 1833, his father moved to

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, New York, with his family, to pursue work in the freight and commission business. Soon after his arrival he formed a partnership with James B. Taylor as Elwell & Taylor, at 84 Coffe House Slip, New York City. James W. Elwell worked for James R. Gibson as a clerk in his store where he received $50 () per year. Elwell stayed with Gibson until 1838. On May 1, 1838, James Elwell and his brother Charles Frederick Elwell (1830–1907) joined his father in the family shipping business as a junior clerk. The firm was called John Elwell & Co., which was located at 57 South Street in New York City. The firm established lines of sailing vessels for the ports of Savannah, Charleston, Mobile, and New Orleans.

James W. Elwell and Co.

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. 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 The New York Produce Exchange was a commodities exchange headquartered in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It served a network of produce and commodities dealers across the United States. Founded in 1861 as the New Yo ...

, 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. 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. In 1886, the firm became the agent for the

Fabre Line The Fabre Line or Compagnie Francaise de Navigation a Vapeur Cyprien Fabre & Compagnie was a French shipping line formed in 1881 by Cyprian Fabre. It began operating a small fleet of sailing ships in 1865. Its ports of call included New York, NY; ...

of freight and passenger steamers between

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...

ports and New York. The business grew and became the most important Line out of New York to the Mediterranean.

Lefferts Place

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." In 1854, Elwell and his wife Lucy built the wood-framed

Italianate The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style drew its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italian R ...

villa that is in the national

in the

Clinton Hill South Historic District Clinton Hill South Historic District is a national historic district in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn, in New York City. It consists of 246 largely residential contributing buildings built between the 1850s and 1922. It includes fine examples of Neo- ...

. 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.

Chamber of Commerce and director

He was the fourth oldest member of the

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 The Atlantic and Pacific Railroad was a U.S. railroad that owned or operated two disjointed segments, one connecting St. Louis, Missouri with Tulsa, Oklahoma, and the other connecting Albuquerque, New Mexico with Needles in Southern California ...

company.

Philanthropist

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 The American Congregational Union was formed in 1853 to promote Congregationalism in the United States Congregationalism in the United States consists of Protestant churches in the Reformed tradition that have a congregational form of church go ...

; 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 Children's Aid, formerly the Children's Aid Society, is a private child welfare nonprofit in New York City founded in 1853 by Charles Loring Brace. With an annual budget of over $100 million, 45 citywide sites, and over 1,200 full-time employee ...

and Industrial School of Brooklyn.

Death

At age 79, he died on September 2, 1899, of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severity ...

at his home in

, New York. He had three daughters that survived after his death. His funeral was at his home with Rev. T. B. McLeod conducting the service. His interment was at Chestnut Hill,

Green-Wood Cemetery Green-Wood Cemetery is a cemetery in the western portion of Brooklyn, New York City. The cemetery is located between South Slope/ Greenwood Heights, Park Slope, Windsor Terrace, Borough Park, Kensington, and Sunset Park, and lies several bl ...

Legacy

James's brother Charles continued with the James W. Elwell & Co., until his death in 1907. On December 12, 1917, the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

acquired the USS ''Henlopen'' at New York City from her owner, James W. Elwell & Company of New York City, for use on the

section patrol A Section Patrol Craft was a civilian vessel registered by the United States Navy for potential wartime service before, during, and shortly after World War I. Historical overview The SP/ID registration system In 1916, with World War I raging a ...

as a minesweeper and tug during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. In 1922, the SS ''West Pocasset'' was reactivated and allocated to James W. Elwell & Co. for sailing on its Spanish routes. In 1920, the business was incorporated under the state as James W. Elwell & Co., Inc. Howard E. Jones was elected president, Harvey G. Perine vice-president, Rodrique Joly, treasurer, and Robert W. Swanson, secretary. On December 29, 1954, Robert W. Sawson, then president of James W. Elwell & Co., became chairman of the board and his son, David W. Swanson, became president.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Elwell, James W. People from Bath, Maine 1899 deaths 19th-century American businesspeople 1820 births People from Brooklyn Burials at Green-Wood Cemetery