John Griscom

John Griscom was an early American lecturer and educator, and one of the first American educators to teach chemistry.
He was the father of John H. Griscom,, a leading physician.

Biography

John Griscom was born in Hancock's Bridge, New Jersey on September 27, 1774.
He was active as an Evangelical Quaker, which led to his leadership of the movement to reform penitentiaries..
He taught at Queens College from 1812–28, and at Columbia College. He founded New York's first anti-poverty organization, the New York Society for the Prevention of Pauperism. He also opened the New [York High School] in 1825, the first monitorial system school in New York. In 1836, he was elected as a member to the American Philosophical Society.
He died in Burlington, New Jersey on February 26, 1852.