Phineas Prouty Explained

Phineas Prouty (November 8, 1827 – July 2, 1891) was a wealthy American merchant from Geneva, New York.

Early life

Prouty was born on November 8, 1827, in Geneva, New York. He was the youngest of four children of Phineas Prouty (1788–1862) and Margaret Matilda (Van Vranken) Prouty (1795–1830).^[1] His father had been born in New Hampshire but grew up in Newport, Vermont, before moving to Schenectady, where his older brother had a hardware business, serving in the War of 1812, and settling in Geneva by 1815, opening a copper, tin, and sheet iron factory.^[2] One sister, Harriet Prouty, was the wife of New York State Comptroller Thomas Hillhouse,^[3] and another, Sarah Augusta Prouty, was the wife of banker Alexander Lafayette Chew.^[4]

Prouty was trained in law and admitted to the bar, but never practiced.

Career

In the 1850s, Prouty took over his father's hardware business although he did not enjoy the merchant business.^[5] In April 1864, after his father's death, Prouty and his brother-in-law Chew sold the hardware business to Underhill & Bellows while Prouty retained his family's Seneca Street building. He used his inheritance to invest in several companies, including the First National Bank of Geneva, the Geneva Saving Bank, the Geneva Optical Company, the Geneva and Ithaca Railroad, Geneva Water Works Co., Phillips and Clark Stove Co., and the Geneva Preserving Company.^{[6] [7]}

In 1881, Prouty was a founding trustee of the Metropolitan Trust Company in New York City which was organized by his brother-in-law Gen. Thomas Hillhouse,^[8] who had just resigned as the Assistant Treasurer of the United States in New York City (following eleven years in that position after being appointed by President Ulysses S. Grant in 1870.^[9] Hillhouse served as president until his death in July 1897 when he was succeeded by Brayton Ives.^[10]

Personal life

On September 18, 1855, Prouty was married to Adelaide "Kit" Cobleigh (1835–1900), a daughter of Andrew Mattison Cobleigh and Wealthy Ann (Bartlett) Cobleigh.^[5] Together, they were the parents of:^[1]

• Margaret Matilda Prouty (1856–1931) who married Augustus M. Swift in 1884.^[11] After his death she married the Rev. Richard Davenport Harlan, eldest son of John Marshall Harlan, an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States and Malvina French Shanklin.^[1]
• Adelaide Alexander Prouty (1858–) who married Dr. Walter Chrystie of Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, in 1887.^{[1] [12]}
• Harriet Prouty (1863–1884), who died young.^[1]
• Anna Madison Prouty (1864–1943),^[13] who married Edward Kirkpatrick Beddall, an insurance man in New York City, in 1891.^{[1] [14]}
• Phineas Prouty (1875–1926), who married Frances Sheldon Jerome in 1897.^{[1] [15]}

Prouty died of asthma on July 2, 1891.^[1]

External links

• Phineas Prouty at the Vail Photograph Collection

Notes and References

1. Book: Prouty (Proute) Genealogy . 1910 . C. H. Pope . 978-0-598-99860-6 . 75–76, 124–126, 171. 14 April 2022 . en.
2. Web site: Phineas Prouty Sr and His Family Legacy Part I . historicgeneva.org . Historic Geneva . 18 April 2022 . en . 2 July 2021.
3. Book: Hillhouse . Margaret Prouty . Historical and Genealogical Collections Relating to the Descendants of Rev. James Hillhouse . 1924 . T. A. Wright . 223, 298 . 26 October 2021 . en.
4. Book: Stone . Desmond . Alec Wilder in Spite of Himself: A Life of the Composer . 25 April 1996 . . 978-0-19-535728-8 . 18 April 2022 . en.
5. Web site: Phin and Kit: The Prouty Family Legacy Part II . historicgeneva.org . Historic Geneva . 18 April 2022 . en . 8 October 2021.
6. Web site: The Next Generation: The Prouty Family Legacy Part III . historicgeneva.org . Historic Geneva . 18 April 2022 . en . 26 December 2021.
7. Book: Aldrich . Lewis Cass . Conover . George Stillwell . History of Ontario County, New York . 1893 . D. Mason & Company . 38, 272–275, 280, 330 . 18 April 2022 . en.
8. News: THE NEW TRUST COMPANY.; BUSINESS TO BEGIN TO-MORROW--DEPOSITS ALREADY RECEIVED. . 26 October 2021 . . 27 November 1881.
9. News: GEN. HILLHOUSE RETIRES . 26 October 2021 . . November 19, 1881.
10. News: CORPORATION ELECTIONS.; Brayton Ives Now President of the Metropolitan Trust Company. . 26 October 2021 . . 13 January 1898.
11. Book: Hamersly . Lewis Randolph . Leonard . John W. . Mohr . William Frederick . Holmes . Frank R. . Knox . Herman Warren . Downs . Winfield Scott . Who's who in New York City and State . 1924 . L.R. Hamersly Company . 571 . 18 April 2022 . en.
12. Web site: Farrow . Barbara Alyce . The History of Bryn Mawr, 1683-1900 . . 18 April 2022 . 1962.
13. News: MRS. ANNA M. BEDDALL . 18 April 2022 . . 2 November 1943.
14. News: UPHOLDS MRS. BEDDALL.; Court Refuses to Dismiss Her Suit for Separation. . 18 April 2022 . . 25 June 1919.
15. Book: Dunn . Harriet Nancy . Dunn . Eveline Guthrie . Records of the Guthrie Family, of Pennsylvania, Connecticut, and Virginia: With Ancestry of Those who Have Intermarried with the Family . 1898 . H. N. and S. L. Dunn . 106 . 18 April 2022 . en.