Josiah Bushnell Grinnell

Biography

Josiah Bushnell Grinnell, born in 1821 in New York, answered a higher calling when he moved to the Iowa frontier to assist settlers and to preach the ideals of human dignity. He founded the town that bears his name, led its earliest institutions, and used his pulpit and pen to call for the end of slavery and the opening of the West to hopeful families.

Grinnell brought that same zeal to Congress, serving during the Civil War years, then later giving generously to education and civic life, including the fledgling college he helped nurture. He is laid to rest at Hazelwood Cemetery, the town he helped envision as a refuge for freedom and learning.