The subject of this biography, was a descendant in the fifth generation from the original purchaser of the Mashamoquet tract. He was the son of Doctor Robert Grosvenor, and was born in Killingly, Conn., April 30th, 1810. He attended the best academies of his native state, and his father, needing his early assistance in the practice of his profession, sent him first to the Chemical Laboratory of Yale College, and afterward to Philadelphia, where, for three years, he had special advantages in connection with the hospitals of the city, and attended the lectures of the Jefferson Medical School, at which he received the degree of Doctor of Medicine in 1830. He immediately became associated with his father in medical practice, and in this connection he continued for four years, when he moved to Providence, and there he spent the ,remainder of his life.
The event which occasioned this change of residence, and thus gave a new direction to the whole course of his life, was his marriage to Miss Rosa Anne Mason, daughter of the Hon. James Brown Mason, of Providence. Her parents had died in her childhood, and Miss Mason was the ward of her uncle, Mr. Amasa Mason, of this city. Doctor Grosvenor came to Providence with the intention of continuing the practice of his profession, but finding himself in the midst of associations and interests connected with business, he soon abandoned his purpose, and engaged in business as a wholesale druggist, with Mr. Edward Chace, the copartnership bearing the name of Grosvenor & Chace. At the end of five years the copartnership was dissolved. He then embarked in the business of ” stocking ” calico printers with the cloth which they used, and in this business he continued till 1860. In 1848 he had been appointed to act in the place of Mr. Amasa Mason, who had become disabled by ill health, in the management of the mills at Masonville, in Thompson, Conn., and on the death of Mr. Mason in 18.52 he was made the administrator of his estate, of which one-fourth part became the property of Mrs. Grosvenor. He also succeeded to the entire management of the manufacturing property of the Masonville Company, of which Mr. William H. Mason then owned one-half, the other half being the property of his wife and her sister, Mrs. Eaton.
He thus entered upon his career as a cotton manufacturer, a career which he pursued to the end of his life, with rare judgment, with singular assiduity, and with brilliant success. His earlier enterprises of business, especially that connected with printing cloths, had been successful, and with the capital thus acquired he soon purchased all the shares of the Masonville Mills, except those belonging to Mrs. Grosvenor. These latter were, in 1868, bought by his two sons. An interest of one-sixteenth was also sold, in 1860, to Mr. Lucius Briggs, the resident manager of the mills, which he retained till 1883. The plant was soon greatly enlarged, old mills were brought together by new connections, new mills were erected, the water power more fully developed, and the productive capacity of the whole was greatly increased. In 1864 Doctor Grosvenor bought what was known as the “Fisherville Property,” and certain adjoining lands to the north of it, extending to Wilsonville, for the prospective advantages which they offered. In 1866 the Masonville Company changed its name to Grosvenor Dale Company, its village being from that time known as Grosvenor Dale, and the Fisherville Company took the name of North Grosvenor Dale Company, with a corresponding change in the name of its village. Two years later the two companies were united, and now bear the common name of Grosvenor Dale Company. New mills have been built and great changes have been made in the condition of both these properties. Additional water power has been acquired and steam power has been superadded. A large reservoir has been created, with dykes and embankments of great solidity and strength, and tenements have been constructed for the operatives employed by the company. The entire property now bearing its name extends over a tract 