Joseph Edwin Proffit (March 24, 1876 – February 27, 1958) was an American politician from Virginia. He served in the

Virginia House of Delegates The Virginia House of Delegates is one of the two houses of the Virginia General Assembly, the other being the Senate of Virginia. It has 100 members elected for terms of two years; unlike most states, these elections take place during odd-numbe ...

from 1944 to 1956.

Early life

Joseph Edwin Proffit was born on March 24, 1876, in

Floyd, Virginia Floyd is a town in Floyd County, Virginia, United States. The population was 448 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is the county seat of Floyd County. The Town of Floyd was originally named Jacksonville as the surrounding county w ...

. He was educated in public schools there. He graduated from Danville Military Institute,

College of William & Mary The College of William & Mary (abbreviated as W&M) is a public university, public research university in Williamsburg, Virginia, United States. Founded in 1693 under a royal charter issued by King William III of England, William III and Queen ...

and

Yale Law School Yale Law School (YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824. The 2020–21 acceptance rate was 4%, the lowest of any law school in the United ...

Career

Proffit was an American consul in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

from 1902 to 1909. He practiced law in Floyd for 48 years. He practiced law with Kyle M. Weeks. Proffit was a Republican. He served in the

, representing Floyd and Carroll counties, from 1944 to 1956. He also served as chairman of the Republican committee in Floyd County. Proffit was president of the Bank of Floyd. In 1945, Proffit was named alongside his law partner Weeks for aiding and abetting William Reeves Gardner in misapplying funds of Farmers and Merchants Bank of Fredericksburg. In April 1947, he was found guilty of one of two counts in the indictment and sentenced to three months of imprisonment and a fine of . In January 1948, he was acquitted in the case. His law partner Weeks was fined for his involvement.

Personal life

Proffit married Anne Simmons, daughter of George Simmons. Proffit died on February 27, 1958, at a hospital in Roanoke. He was buried in Jacksonville Cemetery.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Proffit, Joseph E. 1876 births 1958 deaths People from Floyd, Virginia College of William & Mary alumni Yale Law School alumni Virginia lawyers American bank presidents Republican Party members of the Virginia House of Delegates 20th-century American diplomats 20th-century American lawyers 20th-century members of the Virginia General Assembly