10 Facts About Henry Grinnell

Henry Grinnell was an American merchant and philanthropist.

Henry Grinnell was the son of Cornelius Grinnell and Sylvia Grinnell.

Henry Grinnell's siblings included Joseph Grinnell and Moses Hicks Grinnell.

Henry Grinnell became one of the strongest and best known mercantile houses in New York City.

Henry Grinnell retired in 1850, around the time that he became very interested in the fate of the lost Franklin Polar Expedition.

In 1856, Henry Grinnell was instrumental in having the recently salvaged HMS Resolute restored at the expense of the United States government, and returned to Great Britain as a good-will gesture.

On later occasions, Henry Grinnell manifested his unabated interest in polar exploration by contributing to the voyage of Isaac Israel Hayes in 1860, and the three expeditions of Charles Francis Hall between 1860 and 1870.

Henry Grinnell was a regular correspondent with the writer and unsuccessful explorer William Parker Snow.

Henry Grinnell was one of the founders, and the first president, of the American Geographical and Statistical Society.

Henry Grinnell died on June 30,1874, and was buried at Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York.