Cyrus Pitt Grosvenor | |
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| Born | (1792-10-18)October 18, 1792 Grafton, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Died | February 11, 1879(1879-02-11) (aged 86) Albion, Michigan, U.S. |
| Education | Dartmouth College |
| Occupation(s) | Minister, educator |
| Known for | American Baptist Free Mission Society |
| Spouse | Sarah Warner |
| Parent(s) | Rev. Daniel and Mrs. Deborah Grosvenor |
Cyrus Pitt Grosvenor (October 18, 1792 – February 11, 1879) was anAmerican Baptist minister known for his anti-slavery views. He founded theabolitionist American Baptist Free Mission Society, which did not allow slaveowners to be missionaries, and refused their contributions, prefiguring the split in the Baptist Church in America into Southern and Northern associations. He helped found and served as the first president ofNew York Central College, the first college in the United States to admit both women and Blacks on an equal basis from its first day, and the first college to employ Black professors. He was described as "a reformingsteam engine".[1] In his retirement he worked on a famous mathematics problem and took out a patent to prevent lamp explosions.
Cyrus Pitt Grosvenor was born inGrafton, Massachusetts, the son of Rev. Daniel and Deborah (Hall) Grosvenor. He studied theology with his father inPetersham, Massachusetts. He was at one point principal of the Haverhill Academy inHaverhill, New Hampshire.[2] He graduated fromDartmouth College in 1818[3][4] and studied atPrinceton Theological Seminary in 1821–22. He was a minister for congregations in New Haven, Salem, and Boston (1827–40) from 1825 to 1834. Grosvenor was a leader of the anti-slavery movement in Massachusetts and Connecticut, and an agent of theAmerican Anti-Slavery Society. The first meeting of the Essex County Anti-Slavery Society was held at his house.[5]
Grosvenor andElon Galusha were the two leading Baptist ministers opposing slavery at the time. Grosvenor was "significantly admonished by a Rev. dignitary of his own denomination, ...that abolition ministers would soon be silenced, amid scenes of blood, if they could not otherwise be reduced to quietness."[7]
Grosvenor was a proponent of the anti-slaveryLiberty Party.[8]
In 1840 he attended the firstWorld Anti-Slavery Convention in London, where he was included in the commemorative painting byBenjamin Haydon, although Grosvenor's face is obscured by Galusha and Henry Sterry. There was a delegation from Massachusetts that included Galusha,George Bradburn,Lydia Maria Child, Harriet Martineau,William Lloyd Garrison,Wendell Phillips andMaria Weston Chapman. In the same year, Grosvenor published a book which investigated whether slavery was or was not endorsed by the Bible.[9]
Grosvenor was the founding editor of theBaptist Anti-Slavery Correspondent, which was first published in February 1841 inWorcester, Massachusetts.[10][3]
In 1844, Grosvenor led the formation of an American missionary society. He was disappointed that Baptist church leaders were unwilling to eject people involved with slavery from the church. He decided that a new organization was required to take a stronger moral position.[8] This was the American Baptist Free Mission Society.
In 1849 he was among the founders ofNew-York Central College inMcGraw, New York. He served as its first president.[3]
Grosvenor married Sarah Warner and they had three children. Their son Cyrus Pitt Daniel Grosvenor (1828–1849), born inUtica, New York was a printer. One daughter, Emma P. (1832–1853) also died young. Sarah Caroline Grosvenor (1828–1921) married Baptist Rev. Austin Harman in 1852, and they moved toAllegan County, Michigan, followed by her parents. Grosvenor had retired from the college the year after his daughter married. In 1856, Grosvenor's wife died.[3][11]
During theCivil War Grosvenor went to England, as there was a price on his head.[12]
In 1867, Grosvenor applied for a patent for an idea he had to prevent lamps from exploding by using a reservoir of nitrogen.[13] The following year Grosvenor published a study in mathematics relating to the problem ofsquaring the circle. The problem is an old one and can be stated simply as "Is it possible to construct a square with the same area as a given circle using only a compass and ruler". Grosvenor described a method in a pamphlet titledThe circle squared a method for determining the area of a circle squared that as a result gave a value for π (Pi) that was 3.142135... (Pi is 3.14159...).
Square the diameter of the circle; multiply the square by 2; extract the square root of the product; from the root subtract the diameter of the circle; square the remainder; multiply this square by four fifths; subtract the square from the diameter of the circle.[14]
This gave a small but real error. The success of the method was measured by the error only being 0.000543.[14] It was later proved (in 1882) that there is no precise geometric method of squaring the circle.[15]
In 1867 Grosvenor received an honorary LLD (Doctor of Laws) degree.[from whom?]
Grosvenor died inAlbion, Michigan, in 1879 and was buried at the Riverside Cemetery.[11]
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