Battell was a fortunate man, with supportive family and loyal friends. His uncle Robbins Battell was a successful manufacturer of church bells and a breeder of Morgan horses. His uncle Joseph Battell (his namesake), was a wealthy iron merchant and bachelor, and at his death in 1874, established a trust fund that netted his nephew $19,000 annually (equivalent to $400,000 today). The first instilled his love for the Morgan breed, the second enabled him to fund his passions, including his purchase of mountains. His friend Ezra Brainerd introduced him to Ripton and kept his Alma Mater close to mind, and John Houston, Bread Loaf Farm Manager, and Thomas Boyce, tutor and personal secretary, faithfully served him throughout his life.
Battell was an author, hotelier, farmer, photographer, newspaper man, breeder of champion Morgan horses, Vermont representative and senator, Middlebury College trustee, environmentalist, and philanthropist. Among many gifts to Vermont, he donated 400 acres in Weybridge to establish the US Government Morgan Horse Farm, and 1200 acres and the summit of what would be Camel’s Hump State Park in 1911. Over half the cost of the stone bridge in downtown Middlebury, completed December 1893, was donated by Joseph and his father, Philip.
He considered himself a progressive Republican, was a member of the Congregational Church, and a generous philanthropist to individuals and both Middlebury college and town. Battell spent every summer at the Inn, the repeat guests being some of his closest friends and, like his namesake, he would remain a bachelor. In February 1915, en route to Vermont from Florida, he suffered complications from a kidney ailment and died at Georgetown Hospital at the age of 75. His tutor and personal secretary, Thomas Boyce, was with him.