Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 2).djvu/799

Rh GREINER, John, journalist, b. in Phiiadelphia, Pa., 14 Sept., 1810; d. in Toledo, Ohio, 13 May, 1871. He removed to Ohio when a boy, and became distinguished as a temperance orator. He was an enthusiastic Whig, and in the Harrison campaign (1840) attained celebrity by his election songs, "Old Zip Coon," "The Wagoner Boy," and others. He was state librarian of Ohio from 1845 till 1851, when he was appointed Indian agent for New Mexico, and in 1852 became governor of that territory. He was afterward successively local editor of the "Ohio State Journal," and editor and proprietor of the Columbus "Gazette" and the Zanesville "Times." He was receiver in the U. S. land-office in Santa Fe, N. M., in 186l-'2, and sub-treasurer there in 1862-'6.

GRELLET, Stephen, missionary, b. in Limoges, France, 2 Nov., 1773 ; d. in Burlington, N. J., 16 Nov., 1855. He was known in France as Etienne de Grellet de Mabillier. His parents were wealthy and belonged to the nobility. His father, Gabriel Marc Antoine de Grellet, was comptroller of the mint, the friend and counsellor of Louis XVL, and the proprietor of iron-works and of extensive por- celain manufactories. The son was originally a Roman Ciatholic, and was educated at the military college of Lyons. At the age of seventeen he en- tered the body-guard of Louis XVI. During the Revolution his family estates were confiscated, and he and his brothers became prisoners of war and were sentenced to be shot. After the execution of the king he made his escape to Demerara. In 1795 he came to New York, where he shortly afterward joined the Society of Friends. He removed to Philadelphia, and during the prevalence of the yel- low fever in 1798 ministered to the sick and afflict- ed. In 1799 he returned to New York, where he engaged in mercantile pursuits. He afterward made a missionary tour in the southern states as far as Georgia, and in 1801 travelled to New Eng- land and Canada. In 1804 he married Rebecca, the daughter of Isaac Collins, the publisher. He visited the south of France in 1807, travelled in England and Germany in 1812, preached in Hayti in 1816, and during the two following years trav- elled through Norway, Sweden, Russia, Greece, and Italy, and preached before Pope Pius VII., who lis- tened to his exhortations with respect and cour- tesy. He returned to New York in 1820. and made another missionary tour to Europe from 1831 till 1834, when he retired to Burlington. See '" Me- moirs of Stephen Grellet," edited by Benjamin See- bohm (Philadelphia, 1868).

GRENNELL, George, jurist, b. in Greenfield, Mass., 25 Dec, 1786 ; d. there, 20 Nov., 1877. He was graduated at Dartmouth with the highest hon- ors in 1808, studied law, and was admitted to the bar, beginning his practice in Greenfield. He was prosecuting attorney of Franklin countv from 1820 till 1828, and state senator from 1824 till 1827. In 1828 he was elected to congress as a Whig, where he served until 1839. He was a trustee of Amherst from 1838 till 1859. In 1849 he was made probate judge, which office he held until 1853. Subse- quently he was clerk of the Franklin county courts until 1865. He was one of the original corporators of the Troy and Greenfield railroad, and was its first president. During his term in Congress he proposed the recognition of the independence of Hayti. The degree of LL. D. was conferred upon him bv Amherst in 1854.

GRENVILLE, George, English statesman, b. in England, 14 Oct., 1712 ; d. there, 13 Nov., 1770. He was educated at Eton and at Christ Church college, Oxford, where he was distinguished as a mathematician. He was admitted to the bar in 1737, and entered parliament in 1741 as a member for Buckingham, which borough he represented until his death. He was a lord of the admiralty in 1744; lord of the treasury in 1747; treasurer of the navy and privy-councillor in 1754; leader of the house of commons in 1761 ; secretary of state and first lord of the admiralty in 1762 ; and first lord of the treasury and chancellor of the exchequer in 1763-'5. He introduced plans for taxing the colonies, and was the author of the famous " Stamp- Act," which was one of the causes of the American Revolution. He published " Considerations on Commerce and Finances " (1767) and " The Pres- ent State of the Nation " (1769). — His son, Thomas, b. in 1755 ; d. in 1846, was one of the agents em- ployed in negotiating the treaty of peace with the United States in 1782-3.

GRENVILLE, Sir Richard, English navigator, b. in Cornwall, England, in 1540 ; d.at sea in 1591. At the age of sixteen he served in tlie German im- perial army as a volunteer against the Turks. On his return he was appointed to a command in Ire- land, and was made a sheriff of Cork. He repre- sented Cornwall in parliament in 1571, and after- ward was made high sheriff of that country, and knighted by Queen Elizabeth. He entered actively into the colonization schemes of Sir Walter Raleigh, who was his cousin, and on 9 April, 1585, sailed from Plymouth in command of seven vessels bear- ing 108 colonists, which were despatched to Caro- lina by Raleigh. The fleet touched the West In- dies, where it captured two Spanish frigates, and on 20 June reached the mainland of Carolina, or Florida, as it was then called. They encountered a storm, and narrowly escaped being wrecked on the cape, which Grenville named in consequence Cape Fear. They anchored at Wocoken on 26 June, and passing through the Ocracoke inlet made their way to Roanoke island. Grenville and his party explored the country for eight days, and in revenge for the theft of a silver cup burned an In- dian village and destroyed the Indian maize around it. Grenville left the colony under the govern- ment of Robert Lane, and returned to England with his ships, capturing a Spanish galleon on his way. On his second visit to the colony he found it deserted, as the colonists had returned to Eng- land with Sir Francis Drake, owing to trouble with the Indians. In order to keep possession of the country he left fifteen men there and sailed for England. He was made a member of the council that was created in 1588 to devise means of defence against the Spanish armada, and in 1591 he was raised to the rank of vice-admiral and sent in con- junction with Lord Howard to cruise against the Spaniards in the West Indies. He encountered off the Azores a Spanish fleet consisting of fifty-two ships. With only five ships he attacked the ene- my, and fought from 3 p. m. until daybreak. During the action four of the Spanish ships were sunk and a thousand men killed. Grenville was wounded early in the engagement, and was finally shot through" the body and carried into the cabin. Upon this the rest of the crew surrendered. When the vessel was about to sink he was carried on board a Spanish ship, where he died three days afterward. His name is written Grenville, Green- ville, and Granville. Tlie voyage of Sir Richard Grenville in 1585 was related by one of the persons who accompanied him, and an account after their arrival was written probably by Ralph Lane. See Hakluvt's " Voyages."

GRESHAM, WaIter Quinton. jurist, b. near Lonesville, Harrison co., Ind., 17 March, 1832; d.