Oliver Prince Buel (January 22, 1838 – April 7, 1899) was an American lawyer and banker.

Early life

Buel was born on January 22, 1838, in

Troy Troy (/; ; ) or Ilion (; ) was an ancient city located in present-day Hisarlik, Turkey. It is best known as the setting for the Greek mythology, Greek myth of the Trojan War. The archaeological site is open to the public as a tourist destina ...

Rensselaer County, New York Rensselaer County is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 161,130. Its county seat is Troy, New York, Troy. The county is named ...

. He was the youngest of eight children of Judge David Buel (1784–1860) and Harriet ( Hillhouse) Buel (1792–1866). His father, originally from

Litchfield County, Connecticut Litchfield County is a County (United States), county in northwestern Connecticut, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 185,186. The county was named after Lichfield, in England. Litchfield Count ...

, was a Judge of the Court of Common Pleas. Among his siblings were elder brothers, the Rev. Samuel Buel (father of Lt.-Col. David Hillhouse Buel), the Rev. David Hillhouse Buel, John Griswold Buel, Col. Clarence Buel, and Hambden Buel. His paternal grandparents were David Buel and Rachel ( McNiel) Buel, and his maternal grandparents were John Griswold Hillhouse (brother 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 ...

James Hillhouse James Hillhouse (October 20, 1754 – December 29, 1832) was an American lawyer, real estate developer, and politician from New Haven, Connecticut. He represented the state in both chambers of the US Congress. From February to March 1801, Hill ...

) and Elizabeth ( Mason) Hillhouse of

Montville, Connecticut Montville is a town in New London County, Connecticut, United States. The town is part of the Southeastern Connecticut Planning Region. The population was 18,387 at the 2020 census. The villages of Chesterfield, Mohegan, Oakdale, and Uncasvi ...

. He graduated from

Williams College Williams College is a Private college, private liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Williamstown, Massachusetts, United States. It was established as a men's college in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim ...

in 1859.

Career

After being admitted to the bar in Troy, Buel practiced law in Troy from 1865 to 1870 before moving to New York City and forming his own law firm with Joel B. Erhardt later known as Buel, Erhardt & Blackwell. He was afterwards associated with W. A. Ogden Hegeman and, later, Buel, Toucey and Whiting (later known as Patterson, Buel, Touchey & Whiting). In 1881, Buel was a founding trustee of the

Metropolitan Trust Company The Metropolitan Trust Company of the City of New York was a trust company located in New York City that was founded in 1881. The trust company merged with the Chatham and Phenix National Bank in 1925 under the name of the Chatham Phenix Nationa ...

which was organized by his cousin, Gen. Thomas Hillhouse, who had just resigned as the Assistant

Treasurer of the United States The treasurer of the United States is an officer in the United States Department of the Treasury who serves as the custodian and trustee of the federal government's collateral assets and the supervisor of the department's currency and coinage pr ...

in New York City (following eleven years in that position after being appointed by President

Ulysses S. Grant Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was the 18th president of the United States, serving from 1869 to 1877. In 1865, as Commanding General of the United States Army, commanding general, Grant led the Uni ...

in 1870. Hillhouse served as president until his death in July 1897 when he was succeeded by

Brayton Ives Brayton Ives (August 23, 1840 – October 22, 1914) was president of Northern Pacific Railway from 1893 to 1896 and was president of the New York Stock Exchange and the Western National Bank of New York. He also served as an officer in the Union ...

Personal life

On December 28, 1875, Buel was married to Josephine Maria ( McDougall) Buel, in

Jefferson Barracks, Missouri The Jefferson Barracks Military Post is located on the Mississippi River at Lemay, Missouri, south of St. Louis. It was an important and active U.S. Army installation from 1826 through 1946. It is the oldest operating U.S. military installatio ...

. Originally from

Indianapolis Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

, Josephine was the widow of Lt.-Col. David Hillhouse Buel, who was actually Buel's nephew. Oliver became stepfather to her son, David Hillhouse Buel, a

Yale Yale University is a private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, and one of the nine colonial colleges ch ...

graduate who became ordained as a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

priest in 1898 and the 34th President of Georgetown University in 1905 (he later left the Jesuit order to marry, and subsequently became an Episcopal priest). Josephine's other child was Josephine Maria Buel, although she later changed her name to Violet McDougal, she married critic George Merriam Hyde. Buel died at his home, 1037

Fifth Avenue Fifth Avenue is a major thoroughfare in the borough (New York City), borough of Manhattan in New York City. The avenue runs south from 143rd Street (Manhattan), West 143rd Street in Harlem to Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village. The se ...

(corner of Fifth Avenue and

85th Street 85th Street is a westbound-running street, running from East End Avenue to Riverside Drive in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, United States. At Fifth Avenue, the street feeds into the 86th Street transverse, which runs east–west ...

), in New York on April 7, 1899. He was buried at Oakwood Cemetery in Troy.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Buel, Oliver Prince 1838 births 1899 deaths Burials at Oakwood Cemetery (Troy, New York) Businesspeople from Troy, New York American bankers Williams College alumni Lawyers from New York City