John Gribbel
John Gribbel | |
|---|---|
| Born | Error: Invalid birth date for calculating age Hudson City, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Died | 25 August 1936 (aged 78) |
| Occupation(s) | Entrepreneur, industrial leader, philanthropist |
| Known for | Gifting the Glenriddell Manuscripts to the National Library of Scotland |
John Gribbel (March 29, 1858 – August 25, 1936) was a prominent American entrepreneur, industrial leader, and philanthropist, renowned for gifting the Glenriddell Manuscripts to the National Library of Scotland.
Early life and education
Gribbel was born in Hudson City (present-day Jersey City), New Jersey, to James Gribbel, a manufacturer of mining equipment, and Anna West Simmons, both originally from Cornwall, England. He pursued his studies at the College of the City of New York until 1876 before beginning his career at the Importers' and Traders' National Bank and subsequently at the Leather Manufacturers' Bank in New York. In 1883, he relocated to Philadelphia to serve as an agent for Harris, Griffin & Company, producers of gas meters. The company restructured in 1890 as John J. Griffin & Company with Gribbel becoming a junior partner. Following Griffin’s death in 1892, Gribbel assumed full ownership and steered the enterprise toward significant growth.
Gas, electricity and other business interests
Gribbel broadened his business ventures beyond gas meter manufacturing to encompass a nationwide network of utilities involving gas, electricity, and street railways. He held the position of vice-president at Brooklyn Borough Gas Company and was president of Royal Electrotype Company. His board memberships extended to Girard National Bank, Real Estate Trust Company, Pennsylvania Sugar Company, and National Properties Company—which controlled Wilmington and Chester railways as well as the American Railways System. From 1907 until its merger into a larger entity, he served as president of Fairmount Savings Trust Company. Moreover, he was a director at United Gas and Electric Corporation (New York) and headed several regional utility companies including Tampa Gas Company (Florida), Helena Gas and Electric Company (Arkansas), Corpus Christi Electric Company (Texas), and Athens Gas Company (Georgia). Gribbel was actively involved with professional organizations such as the American Gas Institute and the Association of Illuminating Engineers.
Residences
Among Gribbel’s homes was St. Austel Hall located in Wyncote, Pennsylvania, an estate designed by architect Horace Trumbauer and constructed between 1899 and 1900 by George F. Payne and Company for $74,000. The manor drew inspiration from Kelmscott House in England—once owned by William Morris—and was named after St Austell, Cornwall, where his mother originated. The property featured amenities including a library, billiard room, and an integrated pipe organ on a 42-acre site. The mansion was demolished during the 1950s to make way for residential development; only the gardener’s cottage remains today.
Gribbel also maintained a summer residence known as "Weatherend" situated on Deadman Point in Rockport, Maine.
Litigation
In the cases Gribbel v. Brown (1900) and Harris v. Brown (1900), which were adjudicated concurrently, the court ruled against Gribbel based on champerty—the practice of supporting litigation by a third party in return for a portion of the proceeds—resulting in dismissal.
Publishing
Gribbel maintained a long-term business association with Philadelphia’s Curtis Publishing Company, serving as a director and collaborating with Cyrus H. K. Curtis to acquire the Public Ledger late in 1912. He stepped down as vice-president in September 1914, leaving operational control to Curtis.
Politics
Gribbel, an independent member of the Republican Party, was elected president of the Union League in December 1914 and held the position for three consecutive terms. His affiliations extended to numerous clubs such as New York's Lotos Club and several Philadelphia organizations including the University Club, Art Club, City Club, Five O'Clock Club, and Bachelors' Barge Club. He contributed to the Historical Society of Pennsylvania as a council member and served as a trustee for Wesleyan University, which honored him with a Master of Arts degree. Additionally, he was a trustee of Hackettstown Collegiate Institute in New Jersey and received an honorary LL.D. from Temple University.
In 1915, Gribbel delivered a notable speech on Abraham Lincoln at the Union League's annual banquet, which was subsequently published by the organization.
History and the Glenriddell Manuscripts
Outside his commercial pursuits, Gribbel had a strong interest in American Colonial historical artifacts as well as seventeenth-century English literature and engravings. He frequently gave lectures on these subjects, including a distinguished presentation about Robert Burns before the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.
In December 1913, Gribbel acquired the invaluable Glenriddell Manuscripts of Robert Burns and returned them to Scotland by deeding them back. These two calf-bound volumes hold the most extensive collection of Burns’s manuscripts, featuring letters and selected poems composed for his patron, Robert Riddell of Glenriddell, in 1791. After changing ownership several times over decades, the manuscripts were sold by trustees of the Liverpool Athenaeum Library to an unidentified dealer in 1913. Later that year, Gribbel purchased them in Philadelphia with the purpose of restoring them to Scotland.
He entrusted the manuscripts in perpetuity to be alternately held for five-year periods by Edinburgh and Glasgow. Gribbel also possessed Robert Burns’s Interleaved Scots Musical Museum, created for Captain Robert Riddell.
Marriage
On January 8, 1880, Gribbel married Elizabeth Bancker (1860–1934), daughter of Arnold and Sarah Louise (Reynolds) Wood. They had four children: Wakeman Griffin (who passed away in 1946), Idella L., John Bancker (1916–1997), and Elizabeth.
Elizabeth contributed several recipes to The Philadelphia New Century Club Book of Recipes (1915), demonstrating involvement in social activities beyond their business endeavors.
On January 17, 1929, Maj. W. Griffin Gribbel—recently treated for shell shock related to World War I—fatally shot Police Inspector John W. Blackburn. Griffin sustained four gunshot wounds but survived the incident. He faced first-degree murder charges but was acquitted in 1930 due to insanity.
Previously, in 1905, Griffin encountered legal difficulties following an event involving an alleged suicide attempt while he was an engineering student at the University of Pennsylvania.
John Gribbel passed away on August 25, 1936, and was laid to rest at West Laurel Hill Cemetery in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania.