Robert Bowne Minturn Jr. (1836-1889)
Shipping Merchant, of Grinnell, Minturn & Co., New York City
He was born in New York City and graduated in Arts from Columbia University in 1856. He was an erudite Greek scholar who was later (1861) instrumental in producing the original Greek version of The Acharnians by Aristopanes at the Academy of Music. After graduating, he became a partner in his father's shipping firm, Grinnell, Minturn & Co. In 1858, he published an account of his travels for six-months in 1856 while working for the family business: New York to Delhi: By Way of Rio de Janeiro, Australia & China. The first edition was published in London by Longman, Brown & Co. to coincide with England's particular interest in India following the Mutiny in 1857. The Boston Journal wrote: "The literary execution of Mr. Minturn's book is of a high order, and, altogether, we consider it a timely and important contribution to our stock of meritorious works". London's Athenaeum remarked that he, "is one of the few writers on India whose notices of places would be a real help to the compiler of a guide book." Tablet concluded that his book, "is the best introduction to India with which we are acquainted."
Although his writing was highly praised and some hoped for another book, he stuck to the family business of building ships and sending them off around the world. He was later President of the American Free Trade League (of which his brother-in-law, Mahlon Day Sands, served as permanent secretary); Treasurer of the Association for Improving the Condition of the Poor; Regent (1879-89) of the New York University; Member of the American Geographical Society of New York; and, Vice-President of the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad that founded the town of Minturn, Colorado - named for him.
In 1861, he married Susanna, sister of Civil War hero Colonel Robert Gould Shaw, and they were the parents of seven children (listed), six whom lived to adulthood and were well-known. They lived for a time at "Stadcona" (see images), Susanna's childhood home off Bard Avenue in New Brighton, Staten Island. Minturn died at their townhouse in Manhattan, 27 West 33rd Street, when they also kept a summer residence at Far Rockaway overlooking Long Island. In 1895, his widow was the first American to build a villa on the riverbank near Murray Bay in Quebec, establishing a small but notable American colony.
Although his writing was highly praised and some hoped for another book, he stuck to the family business of building ships and sending them off around the world. He was later President of the American Free Trade League (of which his brother-in-law, Mahlon Day Sands, served as permanent secretary); Treasurer of the Association for Improving the Condition of the Poor; Regent (1879-89) of the New York University; Member of the American Geographical Society of New York; and, Vice-President of the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad that founded the town of Minturn, Colorado - named for him.
In 1861, he married Susanna, sister of Civil War hero Colonel Robert Gould Shaw, and they were the parents of seven children (listed), six whom lived to adulthood and were well-known. They lived for a time at "Stadcona" (see images), Susanna's childhood home off Bard Avenue in New Brighton, Staten Island. Minturn died at their townhouse in Manhattan, 27 West 33rd Street, when they also kept a summer residence at Far Rockaway overlooking Long Island. In 1895, his widow was the first American to build a villa on the riverbank near Murray Bay in Quebec, establishing a small but notable American colony.
