Jacob W. Prout (1804–1849) was a Liberian politician and physician. He served as the secretary of the 1847 constitutional convention.

Biography

Prout was born free in 1804 in

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; ...

. He immigrated to the

Commonwealth of Liberia The Colony of Liberia, later the Commonwealth of Liberia, was a private colony of the American Colonization Society (ACS) beginning in 1822. It became an independent nation—the Republic of Liberia—after declaring independence in 1847. Early ...

in 1826. In the colonial Liberian government, Prout had been employed as a register of wills. In 1832, Prout returned to Baltimore with favorable accounts of Liberia. On his return on 9 December 1832, 146 Black Marylanders emigrated to Liberia, in part due to his accounts. During the travel, the first officer David C. Landis accused Prout of a number of improprieties. Landis's charges included ignoring the medical needs of passengers, as well as a sexual indecency. Prout served as a physician for the

American Colonization Society The American Colonization Society (ACS), initially the Society for the Colonization of Free People of Color of America until 1837, was an American organization founded in 1816 by Robert Finley to encourage and support the migration of freebo ...

until 1840, when Governor Thomas Buchanan abolished Prout's post to cut the colony's costs. On 5 July 1847, the delegates to Liberia's constitutional convention first convened and elected officers. Prout was elected as secretary of the convention. Most of the papers relating to the convention have been lost, though a surviving account of the convention from Dr.

James W. Lugenbeel James Washington Lugenbeel (1819September 22, 1857) was an American physician, who worked for the American Colonization Society. He served as colonial physician in Liberia as well as an agent for the United States government. Lugenbeel's accoun ...

, the American Colonization Society's white resident physician, criticized Prout's secretarial abilities, though it is unclear if Lugenbeel's negative portrayal of Prout's abilities are accurate. The convention produced the

Liberian Declaration of Independence The Liberian Declaration of Independence is a document adopted by the Liberian Constitutional Convention on 26 July 1847, to announce that the Commonwealth of Liberia, a colony founded and controlled by the private American Colonization Society ...

, as well as the republic's first constitution. Prout's son,

William A. Prout William A. Prout was a Liberian politician. Prout was the son of Jacob W. Prout, who served as secretary of the Liberian Constitutional Convention. Prout served as the first elected governor of Republic of Maryland after the country achieved i ...

, served as governor the

Republic of Maryland The Republic of Maryland (also known variously as the Independent State of Maryland, Maryland-in-Africa, and Maryland in Liberia) was a country in West Africa that existed from 1834 to 1857, when it was merged into what is now Liberia. The area ...

. In 1847, Prout was elected as a member to the

Senate of Liberia The Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislative branch of Liberia, and together with the House of Representatives comprises the Legislature of Liberia. Each of the fifteen counties are equally represented by two senators, elected to se ...

. In 1849, Prout died by drowning in

Monrovia Monrovia () is the capital city of the West African country of Liberia. Founded in 1822, it is located on Cape Mesurado on the Atlantic coast and as of the 2008 census had 1,010,970 residents, home to 29% of Liberia’s total population. As th ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Prout, Jacob W. Date of birth missing Date of death missing 1804 births 1849 deaths Americo-Liberian people American emigrants to Liberia Physicians from Baltimore Politicians from Baltimore Secretaries Members of the Senate of Liberia Deaths by drowning 19th-century Liberian politicians 19th-century Liberian physicians