Joseph Earl Sheffield (June 19, 1793 – February 16 , 1882) was an American railroad magnate and philanthropist. Sheffield was born in Southport, Connecticut, the son of Paul King Sheffield, a shipowner, and his wife Mabel (née Thorpe). He attended public schools, and moved south to enter the cotton trade. He was a clerk in a drygoods store in New Bern, North Carolina, from 1807 to 1812, and moved to Mobile, Alabama, in 1813, where he became a very successful shipper of cotton. He married Maria St. John of Walton, New York, in 1822 and relocated to New Haven, Connecticut, in 1835. He became owner of the Farmington Canal, a charter member  of the New York and New Haven Railroad company, and president of the New Haven and Northampton Company.
Joseph Earle Sheffield (June 19, 1793 – February 17 , 1882) was an American railroad magnate and philanthropist. Sheffield was born in Southport, Connecticut, the son of Paul King Sheffield, a shipowner, and his wife Mabel (née Thorpe). He attended public schools, and moved south to enter the cotton trade. He was a clerk in a drygoods store in New Bern, North Carolina, from 1807 to 1812, and moved to Mobile, Alabama, in 1813, where he became a very successful shipper of cotton. He married Maria St. John of Walton, New York, in 1822 and relocated to New Haven, Connecticut, in 1835. He became owner of the Farmington Canal, a charter member and a chief projector of the New York and New Haven Railroad company, and president of the New Haven and Northampton Company.
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and a chief projector