Clement Acton Griscom by artist Fedor Encke

Clement Acton Griscom (March 15, 1841 – November 10, 1912) was an American shipping magnate and financier. Griscom was "without question, the key figure in American transatlantic shipping" by 1900.

Biography

Griscom was born in 1841 to a long-established and prominent

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

family.Navin, Thomas R., and Marian V. Sears. “A Study in Merger: Formation of the International Mercantile Marine Company.” The Business History Review, vol. 28, no. 4, 1954, pp. 291–328. His father was Dr John D Griscom, a well-known local physician, and his mother was Margaret Acton Lloyd, a direct descendant of Thomas Lloyd.State And Regional: A Biographical Album Of Prominent Pennsylvanians Non Multa, Sed Multum Add to My Folder Vol. 3. Philadelphia : The American Biographical Publishing Company, 1888. 481 pp. He attended local Quaker schools, as well as Central High School.Wright, Edward Needles. “THE STORY OF PETER WRIGHT & SONS PHILADELPHIA QUAKER SHIPPING FIRM 1818-1911.” Quaker History, vol. 56, no. 2, 1967, pp. 67–89. In 1857, aged 16, he went to work as a clerk at Peter Wright and Sons, a Quaker shipping firm in Philadelphia. He became a partner in the business in 1863. In 1872 he became vice-president of the International Navigation Co., which operated three ships.Philadelphia Inquirer, 11 Nov 1912 Eventually the

Red Star Line The Red Star Line was a shipping line founded in 1871 as a joint venture between the International Navigation Company of Philadelphia, which also ran the American Line, and the Société Anonyme de Navigation Belgo-Américaine of Antwerp, Belg ...

was absorbed into the business. In 1888 he was promoted to president of the International Navigation Co. Griscom was "without question, the key figure in American transatlantic shipping" by 1900. By 1901 he was described in the press as a millionaire. In 1902, with financing from J. Pierpont Morgan, the companies were merged into the

International Mercantile Marine The International Mercantile Marine Company, originally the International Navigation Company, was a trust formed in the early twentieth century as an attempt by J.P. Morgan to monopolize the shipping trade. IMM was founded by shipping magnates ...

shipping

trust company A trust company is a corporation that acts as a fiduciary, trustee or agent of trusts and agencies. A professional trust company may be independently owned or owned by, for example, a bank or a law firm, and which specializes in being a trust ...

, which operated 136 vessels over five transatlantic lines. Griscom served as president of IMM from 1902 until 1904, when he retired due to ill health.Daily Telegraph. "Resignation of Mr. C. A. Griscom." New York Herald uropean Edition 25 Feb. 1904 He remained as chairman, but was succeeded as president by J Bruce Ismay, who immediately removed headquarters to New York and reduced staffing levels. Griscom also served on the board of directors of the Pennsylvania Railroad and

United States Steel United States Steel Corporation, more commonly known as U.S. Steel, is an American integrated steel producer headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with production operations primarily in the United States of America and in several countries ...

. Dolobran (1881), his country house in

Haverford, Pennsylvania Haverford is an unincorporated community located in both Haverford Township in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States, and Lower Merion Township in Montgomery County, approximately west of Philadelphia. The Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) ope ...

, is one of architect Frank Furness's most significant houses. Furness also designed interiors for two of Griscom's American Line steamships, the S.S. ''St. Louis'' (1894–95) and the S.S. ''St. Paul'' (1894–95). Griscom established and owned a private hunting plantation north of

Tallahassee, Florida Tallahassee ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat and only incorporated municipality in Leon County. Tallahassee became the capital of Florida, then the Florida Territory, in 1824. In 2020, the populatio ...

called

Horseshoe Plantation Horseshoe Plantation is an cotton plantation located in northern Leon County, Florida and established around 1840 by Dr. Edward Bradford, a planter from Enfield, North Carolina. It is currently owned and maintained by Frederic C. Hamilton. M ...

Death and legacy

Griscom died of a stroke at the age of 71. In 1914 his widow erected a fountain in his memory in the Watch Hill section of

Westerly, Rhode Island Westerly is a town on the southwestern shoreline of Washington County, Rhode Island, first settled by English colonists in 1661 and incorporated as a municipality in 1669. It is a beachfront community on the south shore of the state with a popula ...

. It featured a bronze statue of the

Niantic Niantic may refer to: * Niantic people, tribe of American Indians * Niantic, Inc., mobile app developer known for the mobile games ''Ingress'' and ''Pokémon Go'' Ships * ''Niantic'' (whaling vessel), relic of San Francisco Gold Rush *USS ''Ni ...

chief Ninigret by the sculptor Enid Yandell#Ninagret, Enid Yandell.

Family

Griscom married Frances Canby Biddle (1840-1923), from a prominent Philadelphia Quaker family, in 1862, and they had six children: *John Acton Griscom (1863-1865). *Helen Biddle Griscom (1866-1950), married (1889) Samuel Bettle. *Clement Acton Griscom Jr. (1868-1918), shipping executive, married (1889) Genevieve Sprigg Ludlow. Their children were Ludlow Griscom, Ludlow, Joyce, and Acton. *Rodman Ellison Griscom (1870-1944), stockbroker, married (1897) Anne Starr. *Lloyd Carpenter Griscom (1872-1959), diplomat, married (1901) Elizabeth Duer Bronson. *Frances C. Griscom, Frances C. "Pansy" Griscom (1879-1974), champion golfer.

Gallery

File:Clement A Griscom.jpg, Clement Griscom, 1890s. File:Mother and Daughter Cecilia Beaux 1898 PAFA.jpg, ''Mother and Daughter'' (Mrs. Clement Griscom and Frances C. Griscom) (1898) by Cecilia Beaux. File:Helen Biddle Griscom by Cecilia Beaux 1893.jpeg, ''Helen Biddle Griscom'' (1893) by Cecilia Beaux. File:Dolobran Montco PA 03.JPG, Dolobran,

(1881), Frank Furness, architect. File:Horseshoe Plantation rc19240.jpg, "

," Leon County, Florida.

References

External links

New York Times obituary, November 11, 1912New York Tribune obituary, November 11, 1912Norway Heritage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Griscom, Clement American businesspeople in shipping Businesspeople from Philadelphia American Quakers 1841 births 1912 deaths People from Lower Merion Township, Pennsylvania Members of the Philadelphia Club Central High School (Philadelphia) alumni 19th-century American businesspeople