Jane Norton Grew (September 30, 1868 – August 14, 1925), known upon her marriage as Mrs. J. P. Morgan Jr., was an American socialite, art collector, and dilettante horticulturalist. Born in Boston to an affluent family, she married J. P. Morgan Jr., son of American financier J. P. Morgan, in 1890 and became prominent in both London and New York society, playing host to royalty including The Duke of Connaught and Strathearn. Grew curated and managed the Morgan library and art collection, and became involved in horticulture on her Long Island estate in Glen Cove.
Early life and family
Jane Norton Grew was born in Boston on September 30, 1868.[1] She was the daughter of Henry Sturgis Grew, a prominent Boston banker and mill owner, and Jane Norton Wigglesworth.[1][2] She grew up at her family home on Beacon Street.[2]
In 1898, the family moved to London, where Grew was presented to Queen Victoria.[7] During their time in the United Kingdom, she sat for the portraitist John Singer Sargent between 1904 and 1905, having a portrait completed in 1906 after sitting for him thirteen times.[8] She wrote in her scrapbook about the experience, saying "[Sargent] thinks it is the best work he has done this year. He arranged a mirror so that I could watch him paint. It was thrilling to see him work."[8]
The family later returned to New York in 1905, residing at Glen Cove on Long Island, where Grew took interest in horticulture on the Morgan's estate.[1] They also owned a brownstone in New York City located at 229 Madison Avenue, where they commissioned a major renovation.[9][10] Grew managed and curated the family's collection of books, manuscripts, and works of art.[1] After the death of her father-in-law in 1913, Morgan continued to employ Belle da Costa Greene as the Morgan's librarian, expanding the collection with items in which she and her husband were personally interested.[11][12][13][14]
^Schaer, Sidney C. (March 14, 1989). "Morgan Daughter Dies; Last surviving child was 92". Newsday. Archived from the original on July 25, 2012. Retrieved October 30, 2009. Mrs. Pennoyer, the mother of six, a grandmother of 28 and a great-grandmother of 31, lived in the English-Norman styled home on an estate called "Round Bush" in Locust Valley. Born into a family whose name was synonymous with international banking, immense wealth and philanthropy, she nevertheless lived a private life...
^Chernow, Ron (1990). The House of Morgan: An American Banking Dynasty and the Rise of Modern Finance. New York: Atlantic Monthly Press. ISBN0-87113-338-5.