John Griscom

{{Use American English|date=March 2026}} {{Use mdy dates|date=July 2020}} {{Infobox person | name = John Griscom | image = John Griscom.png | alt = | caption = | birth_name = | birth_date = {{Birth date|1774|09|27}} | birth_place = Hancock's Bridge, New Jersey | death_date = {{Death date and age|1852|02|26|1774|09|27}} | death_place = Burlington, New Jersey | resting_place = | occupation = Educator | employer = {{Plainlist| * Queens College * Columbia College }} | spouse = | children = John H. Griscom | relatives = | awards = | education = | party = | signature = Signature of John Griscom (1774–1852).png }}

'''John Griscom''' (September 27, 1774 – February 26, 1852) was an early American lecturer and educator, and one of the first American educators to teach chemistry.

He was the father of John H. Griscom, (1809–1874), a leading physician.

==Biography== John Griscom was born on September 27, 1774, in the Hancock's Bridge section of Lower Alloways Creek Township, New Jersey.<ref name=Cyclopaedia>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tt4DAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA510 |title=The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography |volume=X |publisher=J. T. White Company |pages=510–511 |year=1900 |access-date=2020-07-25 |via=Google Books}}</ref><ref>* Griscom, John Hoskins. ''Memoir of John Griscom, LL. D., Late Professor of Chemistry and Natural Philosophy: With an Account of the New York High School; Society for the Prevention of Pauperism; the House of Refuge; and Other Institutions'' (R. Carter and brothers, 1859). [https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=_dwyAAAAYAAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PA9&dq=%22John+Hoskins+Griscom%22&ots=2Y_LKaNKaL&sig=iVSf26NneA1vbLQ-4sISaXqf7L0 online]</ref>

He was active as an Evangelical Quaker, which led to his leadership of the movement to reform penitentiaries.<ref>Christopher Adamson, "Evangelical Quakerism and the Early American Penitentiary Revisited: The Contributions of Thomas Eddy, Roberts Vaux, John Griscom, Stephen Grellet, Elisha Bates, and Isaac Hopper." ''Quaker history'' 90.2 (2001): 35-58.</ref>

He taught at Queens College (now Rutgers University) from 1812 to 1828, and at Columbia College. He founded New York's first anti-poverty organization, the New York Society for the Prevention of Pauperism.<ref>{{Cite web|title = archives.nypl.org -- John Griscom correspondence|url = http://archives.nypl.org/mss/1251|website = archives.nypl.org|accessdate = 2015-12-04}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|title = A Poverty of Empathy|url = http://inthesetimes.com/article/14034/a_poverty_of_empathy|newspaper = In These Times|date = 2012-10-16|access-date = 2015-12-04|issn = 0160-5992|language = en-US|first = Maggie|last = Garb}}</ref> He also opened the New York High School in 1825, the first monitorial system school in New York.<ref name="ref1">[https://books.google.com/books?id=g5sLAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA2 Appletons' Cyclopaedia of American Biography, Volume 3], p. 2 (1888)</ref><ref name="nypl">[http://archives.nypl.org/mss/1251 John Griscom correspondence 1804-1851], nypl.org, Retrieved 12 November 2013</ref><ref name="hs1">Gifford, Walter John. [https://books.google.com/books?id=mr-gAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA25 Historical Development of the New York State High School System], p. 22-24 (1922)</ref> In 1836, he was elected as a member to the American Philosophical Society.<ref>{{Cite web|title=APS Member History|url=https://search.amphilsoc.org/memhist/search?creator=&title=&subject=&subdiv=&mem=&year=1836&year-max=1836&dead=&keyword=&smode=advanced|access-date=2021-04-08|website=search.amphilsoc.org}}</ref>

He died in Burlington, New Jersey, on February 26, 1852.<ref name=Cyclopaedia/>

==References== {{reflist}}

==Further reading==

* Griscom, John Hoskins. ''Memoir of John Griscom, LL. D., Late Professor of Chemistry and Natural Philosophy: With an Account of the New York High School; Society for the Prevention of Pauperism; the House of Refuge; and Other Institutions'' (R. Carter and brothers, 1859). [https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=_dwyAAAAYAAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PA9&dq=%22John+Hoskins+Griscom%22&ots=2Y_LKaNKaL&sig=iVSf26NneA1vbLQ-4sISaXqf7L0 online]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Griscom, John}} Category:19th-century American chemists Category:Educators from New Jersey Category:People from Lower Alloways Creek Township, New Jersey Category:Rutgers University faculty Category:Columbia University faculty Category:1774 births Category:1852 deaths