Grigg, John

Born: 1792-XX-XX England, United Kingdom

Died: 1864-08-02 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Flourished: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Grigg learned the book selling trade in Philadelphia, and in 1823, he established his own book store, Grigg & Elliot, which he soon expanded to include national distribution and publishing. In 1836 Grigg began investing heavily in Illinois public lands, becoming one of the largest landowners in the state. In 1839, Grigg and several partners purchased approximately 40,000 acres in southeastern Sangamon County, established Mount Auburn, Illinois, and began selling the land and town lots. In 1849, Grigg sold his publishing business to J. B. Lippincott and put his large fortune to work in private banking.

James G. Wilson and John Fiske, eds., Appletons' Cyclopaedia of American Biography (New York: D. Appleton, 1900), 2:766; Edwin T. Freedley, Philadelphia and its Manufactures (Philadelphia: Edward Young, 1858), 165; Sangamo Journal (Springfield, IL), 13 September 1839, 2:3-4; Illinois Journal (Springfield), 6 January 1848, 3:1; Illinois Daily Journal (Springfield), 28 April 1851, 2:1, 17 September 1851, 2:3-4; Daily Illinois State Journal (Springfield), 9 August 1864, 2:2.