She was the daughter of John Lansing Wendell, a prominent attorney in Albany, New York, and reported to have been involved with Grinnell, Minturn & Co. though Robert joined the firm before his marriage.

[4] Robert Minturn received an English education, but he was forced by the death of his father to leave school; at the age of fourteen, he began work in a counting-house.

That company was already established in the transatlantic packet trade, but it grew tremendously as Irish fleeing famine led many thousands to emigrate to North America yearly, particularly from 1845 to 1855.

In May 1848, an overworked Robert Minturn and his wife, sister-in-law, and six children (with servants) took an extended "grand tour" of Europe and parts of the Middle East.

"[5] The Minturns took an eighteen-month tour of England, France, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Jerusalem and Egypt that was said to have inspired plans that led to the creation of New York's Central Park.

[9] Minturn reportedly once noted that the $5 million spent on ship fares in 1847, "substantially reduced the cost of carrying freight" and helped the economy by lowering the price of American cotton and grain for English buyers.

The priest wanted to remain singularly focused on helping people stop drinking alcohol and was criticized for not speaking out against slavery and foregoing the abolitionist cause.

[10] In 1848, Minturn provided evidence before Parliament that teetotalism was encouraged by American shipowners as underwriters offered "a return of 10% off the premium on voyages performed without the consumption of spirits.

Donated lands of the family estate in Hastings, New York, were instrumental in the development of an 184-acre retreat, children's home and school in the 1890s that no longer exists.

[16] Robert Bowne Minturn's granddaughters were immortalized in an 1899 miniature oil painting held by the New-York Historical Society.