Charles Ezra Sprague (October 9, 1842 – March 21, 1912) was an American accountant, born in Nassau,

Rensselaer County Rensselaer County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 161,130. Its county seat is Troy. The county is named in honor of the family of Kiliaen van Rensselaer, the original Dutch owner of the ...

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 * ...

. He was a proponent of the

constructed language A constructed language (shortened to conlang) is a language whose phonology, grammar, orthography, and vocabulary, instead of having developed natural language, naturally, are consciously devised for some purpose, which may include being devise ...

Volapük Volapük (; , 'Language of the World', or lit. 'World Speak') is a constructed language created in 1879 and 1880 by Johann Martin Schleyer, a Roman Catholic priest in Baden, Germany, who believed that God told him to create an international lang ...

, for which he authored the first major textbook in English, '' Handbook of Volapük'' (1888), as well as an early organizer of the accounting profession. During the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

, Sprague served in the 44th New York Infantry, seeing action at the

Battle of Gettysburg The Battle of Gettysburg () was a three-day battle in the American Civil War, which was fought between the Union and Confederate armies between July 1 and July 3, 1863, in and around Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The battle, won by the Union, ...

, where his unit was instrumental in helping repulse attacks on

Little Round Top Little Round Top is the smaller of two rocky hills south of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania—the companion to the adjacent, taller hill named Big Round Top. It was the site of an unsuccessful assault by Confederate troops against the Union left ...

. The New York State Archives stores a lengthy article Sprague wrote on his military service. He was president of both the New York Institute of Accounts and the Union Dime Savings Bank (which later became the

Dime Savings Bank Dime Savings Bank may refer to: * Dime Savings Bank of Williamsburgh, Brooklyn * Dime Savings Bank of New York The Dime Savings Bank of New York, originally the Dime Savings Bank of Brooklyn, was a bank headquartered in Brooklyn, New York City ...

). Later in life, he was involved in the movement for

reform Reform refers to the improvement or amendment of what is wrong, corrupt, unsatisfactory, etc. The modern usage of the word emerged in the late 18th century and is believed to have originated from Christopher Wyvill's Association movement, which ...

of English spelling as part of the

Simplified Spelling Board The Simplified Spelling Board was an American organization created in 1906 to reform the spelling of the English language, making it simpler and easier to learn, and eliminating many of what were considered to be its inconsistencies. The board ope ...

, of which he was the first treasurer. He was heavily involved in the development of the first state certification of accountants in the United States. In 1953 he was inducted into

Ohio State University The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one ...

Accounting Hall of Fame The Accounting Hall of Fame is an award "recognizing accountants who are making or have made a significant contribution to the advancement of accounting" since the beginning of the 20th century. Inductees are from both accounting academia and pract ...

. Sprague was the maternal grandfather of science fiction author

L. Sprague de Camp Lyon Sprague de Camp (; November 27, 1907 – November 6, 2000) was an American author of science fiction, Fantasy literature, fantasy and non-fiction literature. In a career spanning 60 years, he wrote over 100 books, both novels and works of ...

.De Camp, L. Sprague. "Talking to Ghosts." Article in ''The New York Times'', April 7, 1985, p. SM38.

Notes

References

*Miranti, Paul J.
Birth of a Profession
. ''The CPA Journal''. (1996). On-line version retrieved on 4 January 2008. *Rogers, Rodney K.
Sprague, Charles Ezra [1842-1912
. ''History of Accounting: An International Encyclopedia.'' New York: Garland, 1996. pp. 548–550. On-line version retrieved on 20 July 2011.

External links

* *

Biography at OSU's Accounting Hall of Fame site
1842 births 1912 deaths American bankers People of New York (state) in the American Civil War Union army soldiers People from Rensselaer County, New York Volapük Volapükologists 19th-century American businesspeople {{US-activist-stub