Nathaniel Prime (January 30, 1768 – November 26, 1840) was a

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

broker and banker.

Early life

Prime was born in

Rowley, Massachusetts Rowley is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 6,161 at the 2020 census. Part of the town comprises the census-designated place of Rowley. History The area was inhabited by the Agawam people under sachem ...

on January 30, 1768. He was the son of Joshua Prime and Bridget Hammond Prime. In his early years, he was a coachman to Boston merchant William Gray and moved to New York in 1795.Barrett, Walter. ''The Old Merchants of New York City'', New York. Carleton, 1864, p. 11
/ref>

Career

In 1796, Prime organized " Nathaniel Prime, Stock and Commission Broker" at 42

Wall Street Wall Street is a street in the Financial District, Manhattan, Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It runs eight city blocks between Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway in the west and South Street (Manhattan), South Str ...

. He made great wealth buying and selling bank stocks. After opening his own private bank, he allowed customers to deposit money and then loaned it out. In 1808, he brought in Samuel Ward III as a partner and the firm was renamed Prime & Ward. In 1816, Joseph Sands, Prime's brother-in-law, was made a partner and the firm became Prime, Ward & Sands. In 1824, the firm was again reorganized as Prime, Ward, Sands & King when James Gore King became a partner upon his return from England. King, a son of

U.S. Senator The United States Senate is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and House have the authority under Article One of the ...

Rufus King Rufus King (March 24, 1755April 29, 1827) was an American Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father, lawyer, politician, and diplomat. He was a delegate from Massachusetts to the Continental Congress and the Constitutional Convent ...

, had previously been affiliated with the firm of King & Gracie, founded in 1818 in

Liverpool, England Liverpool is a port city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population of (in ), Liverpool is the administrative, c ...

by King and his brother-in-law, Archibald Gracie Jr. (the son of Archibald Gracie). In 1826, after Joseph died the firm became Prime, Ward & King. Nathaniel Prime retired from the firm in 1832 and his son Edward took his place.

Residence

Prime and his family lived in a house on the corner of

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street ** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...

and Battery Place. In 1807, he purchased a house and 130 acres for a country seat at Hell Gate, New York near Yorkville, New York. The building stood on the block between First Avenue and York Avenue and 89th and 90th streets. In 1857, the mansion was purchased by the

Redemptorists The Redemptorists, officially named the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (), abbreviated CSsR, is a Catholic clerical religious congregation of pontifical right for men (priests and brothers). It was founded by Alphonsus Liguori at Scala ...

, who opened St. Joseph's Orphan Asylum. John Frazee did a sculpture of Prime.

Personal life

On June 7, 1797, Prime was married to Cornelia Sands (1773–1852), the daughter of Comfort Sands (d. 1835), the celebrated merchant, banker and

Continental Congress The Continental Congress was a series of legislature, legislative bodies, with some executive function, for the Thirteen Colonies of British America, Great Britain in North America, and the newly declared United States before, during, and after ...

man, and Elizabeth (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Cornell) Sands. Together, they were the parents of: * Cornelia Prime (1800–1874), who married Robert Ray (1794–1879), brother-in-law of New York Gov. John Alsop King. * Edward Prime (1801–1883), a banker with Prime, Ward & King who married Charlotte Wilkins Hoffman (1808–1892). * Emily Prime (1804–1854), who married William Seton (1796–1868), a

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest displacement, at 4.5 million tons in 2021. It has the world's largest aircraft ...

captain and son of

Elizabeth Ann Seton Elizabeth Ann Bayley Seton (August 28, 1774 – January 4, 1821) was an American Catholic Church, Catholic religious and educator, known as a founder of the country's parochial school system. Born in New York and reared as an Episcopalian, she ...

, in 1832. * Frederick Prime (1807–1887), who married Lydia Hare (1815–1883), a daughter of Robert Hare. * Matilda Prime (1810–1849), who married Gerard Holsman Coster (1808–1880), son of John Gerard Coster in 1831. * Laura Prime (1812–1887), who married John Clarkson Jay (1808–1891), the son of Peter A. Jay and grandson of

John Jay John Jay (, 1745 – May 17, 1829) was an American statesman, diplomat, signatory of the Treaty of Paris (1783), Treaty of Paris, and a Founding Father of the United States. He served from 1789 to 1795 as the first chief justice of the United ...

. Prime committed suicide on November 26, 1840, by cutting his throat. William H. Aspinwall served on the coroner's jury, and Edgar Howland informed diarist

George Templeton Strong George Templeton Strong (January 26, 1820 – July 21, 1875) was an American lawyer, musician and diarist. His 2,250-page diary, discovered in the 1930s, provides a striking personal account of life in the 19th century, especially during the eve ...

that:

"Prime went to his room at two o'clock and appears to have taken up and read his prayer book, then went before the glass, cut his throat coolly and steadily from ear to ear, replaced the razor in its case, and then walked into the next room, and there fell. The jury found "insanity." He had been dyspeptic and nervous for some time; he was retired from active life and his mind, I suppose, preyed on itself for want of occupation ..."

Descendants

Through his daughter Cornelia, he was the grandfather of Cornelia Ray (1829–1867), who married Gen.

Schuyler Hamilton Schuyler Hamilton (July 22, 1822 – March 18, 1903) was an American soldier, farmer, engineer, and a grandson of Alexander Hamilton. Early life Hamilton was born on July 22, 1822, in New York City. He was the fifth of 14 children born to John C ...

(1822–1903), a grandson of

Alexander Hamilton Alexander Hamilton (January 11, 1755 or 1757July 12, 1804) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the first U.S. secretary of the treasury from 1789 to 1795 dur ...

; Robert Ray (1832–1860), and Nathalie Elizabeth Ray (1837–1912), who married

Edmund Lincoln Baylies Edmund Lincoln Baylies, Jr. (December 2, 1857 – April 29, 1932) was a New York City lawyer, philanthropist, and member of New York Society during the Gilded Age. Early life Baylies was born in New York on December 2, 1857. He was the eldest ...

(1829–1869), the parents of Edmund L. Baylies Jr. Through his daughter Emily, he was the grandfather of author, novelist and popular science writer William Seton III (1835–1905), Robert Seton (1839–1927), a

monsignor Monsignor (; ) is a form of address or title for certain members of the clergy in the Catholic Church. Monsignor is the apocopic form of the Italian ''monsignore'', meaning "my lord". "Monsignor" can be abbreviated as Mons.... or Msgr. In some ...

in the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

and

titular archbishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox an ...

of Heliopolis. Through his son Edward, he was the grandfather of William Hoffman Prime (1837–1881), who married Annie Rhodes Gilbert in 1879; Mary Catherine Prime (b. 1841), who married James A. Scrimper in 1868; and Henry Prime (b. 1847). William's children included Charlotte Hoffman Prime (1881–1969), who married William Massena Benjamin (1874–1928), the son of Samuel Nicholl Benjamin; and Charlotte Prime (b. 1838), who married Leonard J. Wyeth in 1858.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Prime, Nathaniel 1768 births 1840 deaths People from Yorkville, Manhattan People from Rowley, Massachusetts American stockbrokers Businesspeople from New York City Businesspeople from Massachusetts 18th-century American businesspeople 19th-century American businesspeople American investment bankers Suicides by sharp instrument in the United States Suicides in New York (state) 1840s suicides