Thomas Poynton Ives (April 9, 1769 – April 30, 1835) was an American merchant and banker from Rhode Island.

Early life

Ives was born on April 9, 1769 in Beverly in the

Massachusetts Bay Colony The Massachusetts Bay Colony (1630–1691), more formally the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, was an English settlement on the east coast of North America around the Massachusetts Bay, the northernmost of the several colonies later reorganized as the ...

in what was then

British America British America comprised the colonial territories of the English Empire, which became the British Empire after the 1707 union of the Kingdom of England with the Kingdom of Scotland to form the Kingdom of Great Britain, in the Americas from 16 ...

, and was baptized on June 4, 1769. He was the son of Sarah ( Bray) Ives and Captain Robert Hale Ives, a master-mariner who was one of the original eighteen members of the

Salem Marine Society The Salem Marine Society (est. 1766) is a seafarers charity in Salem, Massachusetts. Around 1836, the group acquired the Franklin Building on Washington Square West and Essex Street as their headquarters, which was eventually rebuilt into the Hawt ...

. When Ives was just four years old, his father died. Ives was raised by relatives in Boston who sent him to public school.

Career

At the age of thirteen, Ives began as a clerk for

Nicholas Brown Sr. Nicholas Brown Sr. (July 26, 1729 – May 29, 1791) was a Providence, Rhode Island slave-trader, merchant, civic leader and co-signer of the charter of the College of Rhode Island in 1763. In 1771, Nicholas Brown Sr. was instrumental in convinci ...

in his mercantile trade firm of Brown & Benson. After Brown's death in 1791, Ives went into partnership with Brown's son, Nicholas Brown II, founding the firm of

Brown & Ives Brown is a color. It can be considered a composite color, but it is mainly a darker shade of orange. In the CMYK color model used in printing or painting, brown is usually made by combining the colors orange and black. In the RGB color model use ...

. Ives also served as president of

Providence Bank FleetBoston Financial was a Boston, Massachusetts-based bank created in 1999 by the merger of Fleet Financial Group and BankBoston. In 2004 it merged with Bank of America; all of its banks and branches were converted to Bank of America. Hi ...

for twenty-four years and president of the Providence Institution for Savings for fifteen years. He also served as a trustee of

Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...

, named in honor of his wife's family, for forty-three years, and in 1829, he presented the college with a philosophical apparatus.

Personal life

On March 5, 1792, Ives was married to Hope Brown (1773–1855), the sister of his partner in Brown & Ives and the only surviving daughter of

and his first wife, Rhoda (née Jenckes) Brown. Together, they were the parents of: * Charlotte Rhoda Ives (1792–1881), who married Professor William Giles Goddard in 1821. *

Moses Brown Ives Moses Brown Ives (July 21, 1794 – August 7, 1857) was a businessman and philanthropist from Providence, Rhode Island who was partner in Brown & Ives and was President of Providence Bank. He also served as a trustee of Brown University, and was ...

(1794–1857), who married Annie Allen Dorr (sister of Thomas Wilson Dorr) in 1833. * Elizabeth Ives (1796–1813), who died unmarried at age 16. * Robert Hale Ives Sr. (1798–1875), who married Harriet Bowen Amory in 1827 and helped establish both the Butler Hospital and Rhode Island Hospital. * Hope Brown Ives (1802–1837), who died unmarried at age 34. * Thomas Poynton Ives Jr. (1804–1804), who died in infancy. Ives died on April 30, 1835 in Providence, Rhode Island.

Descendants

Through his eldest daughter, he was the grandfather of banker, industrialist, U.S. Army officer, state senator and philanthropist

Robert Hale Ives Goddard Robert Hale Ives Goddard (September 21, 1837 – April 22, 1916) was a prominent banker, industrialist, U.S. Army officer, state senator and philanthropist. Early life He was born in Providence, Rhode Island on September 21, 1837. He was a son ...

. Through his son Moses, he was the grandfather of U.S. Civil War Captain Thomas Poynton Ives (1834–1865) and Hope Brown Ives (1839–1909), who married Henry Grinnell Russell, one of the wealthiest men in Rhode Island. Shortly before his early death while at Le Havre, France, his grandson married Elizabeth Cabot Motley, daughter of U.S. Minister to the United Kingdom John Lothrop Motley. After his death, his widow, who inherited his fortune, remarried to British statesman

Sir William Harcourt Sir William George Granville Venables Vernon Harcourt (14 October 1827 – 1 October 1904) was a British lawyer, journalist and Liberal statesman. He served as Member of Parliament for Oxford, Derby then West Monmouthshire and held the offices ...

and became the mother of MP

Robert Harcourt Sir Robert John Rolston Harcourt, JP (1902 – 25 August 1969) was a Northern Irish politician. Robert Harcourt, known as John, became the director of F. E. Harcourt and Company coal merchants. He was High Sheriff of Belfast in 1949, and later ...

Residence

Between 1803 and 1806, Ives hired

Caleb Ormsbee Caleb Ormsbee (1752-1807) was an American master builder and architect of Providence, Rhode Island. Two of his buildings have been designated United States National Historic Landmarks. Life and career Ormsbee was born October 15, 1752, in Reh ...

to build him a family home at 66 Power Street in the College Hill in Providence, Rhode Island. The 3-1/2 story brick house, remained in the hands of the Ives family until 1910. At that time it was sold to Brown University, retaining a lifetime occupancy right for owners. In 1970, the residence was designated a National Historic Landmark. Ives' desk-and-bookcase is currently in a private collection. It was made by the cabinetmaker James Halyburton in Providence.

Awards and honors

Ives was awarded an honorary degree from

in 1864.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ives, Thomas Poynton 1769 births 1835 deaths Brown family Colonial American merchants People of colonial Rhode Island People from Beverly, Massachusetts People of colonial Massachusetts Burials in Rhode Island