Another Old Fifth Avenue House — Former Residence of the Late Robert B. Minturn
Prior to the Civil War, the principal merchants and bankers were among the most prominent men in the city. The multimillionaire had not then appeared. The ships of Howland & Aspinwall, N. L. & G. Griswold, A. A. Low & Brother, and Grinnell, Minturn & Co. carried the flag to the farthest quarters of the globe, where their owners’ credit stood second to none. For speed the American clipper was unsurpassed. These “vessels performed wonderful feats—as when the Flying Cloud ran from New York to San Francisco, making 433¼ statute miles in a single day; or the Sovereign of the Seas sailed for ten thousand miles without tacking or wearing; or the Dreadnought made the passage from Sandy Hook to Queenstown in nine days and seventeen hours.”17
Mr. Minturn was a philanthropist and one of the best citizens the town ever had.
The house is now the residence of Thomas F. Ryan.