Trumbull Cary (August 11, 1787

Mansfield, Connecticut Mansfield is a town in Tolland County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 25,892 at the 2020 census. Pequot and Mohegan people lived in this region for centuries before the arrival of English settler-immigrants in the late 17th cen ...

– June 20, 1869 Batavia, New York) was an American banker, lawyer, and politician from New York.

Early life

Trumbull Cary was born in

on August 11, 1787. He was the son of Ebenezer Cary (1732–1816) and Sarah Cary ( née Trumbull) (1741–1830). In 1805, aged 18, he moved to Batavia, New York with his parents. In 1808, his father was one of two merchants operating in Batavia at the time.

Career

After moving to Batavia, Cary served as the Postmaster of the town for more than twenty years. In 1822, Cary, along with two other citizens, petitioned New York State to incorporate the village of Batavia. The measure failed, but they tried again the following year, and the State approved the incorporation of the village of Batavia on April 23, 1823.

Government service

He was a member of the New York State Assembly (Genesee Co.) in

1828 Events January–March * January 4 – Jean Baptiste Gay, vicomte de Martignac succeeds the Comte de Villèle, as Prime Minister of France. * January 8 – The Democratic Party of the United States is organized. * January 22 – Arth ...

. From 1831 to 1834, he was a member of the New York State Senate (8th D.), sitting in the 54th (serving alongside future

U.S. President The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States ...

Millard Fillmore Millard Fillmore (January 7, 1800March 8, 1874) was the 13th president of the United States, serving from 1850 to 1853; he was the last to be a member of the Whig Party while in the White House. A former member of the U.S. House of Represen ...

), 55th, 56th and 57th New York State Legislatures. At the time, the Eighth District consisted of Allegany, Cattaraugus,

Chautauqua Chautauqua ( ) was an adult education and social movement in the United States, highly popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Chautauqua assemblies expanded and spread throughout rural America until the mid-1920s. The Chautauqua br ...

Erie Erie (; ) is a city on the south shore of Lake Erie and the county seat of Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. Erie is the fifth largest city in Pennsylvania and the largest city in Northwestern Pennsylvania with a population of 94,831 a ...

Genesee Genesee, derived from the Seneca word for "pleasant valley", may refer to: Geographic features Canada *Genesee, Alberta, an unincorporated community United States *Genesee, California *Genesee, Colorado *Genesee County, Michigan *Genesee Co ...

, Livingston, Monroe, Niagara and Orleans counties. While serving in the Senate, he met

William H. Seward William Henry Seward (May 16, 1801 – October 10, 1872) was an American politician who served as United States Secretary of State from 1861 to 1869, and earlier served as governor of New York and as a United States Senator. A determined oppon ...

, who later became the Governor of New York, a

United States Senator The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and powe ...

, and the

U.S. Secretary of State The United States secretary of state is a member of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States and the head of the U.S. Department of State. The office holder is one of the highest ranking members of the president's Ca ...

from 1861 to 1869. Seward and Cary maintained a close personal and political friendship for the rest of Cary's life. In 1840, Cary became the New York State Bank Commissioner, a role in which he served until 1843.

Bank of Genesee

In the early 19th century, Batavia was the headquarters of the

Holland Land Company The Holland Land Company was an unincorporated syndicate of thirteen Dutch investors from Amsterdam who in 1792 and 1793 purchased the western two-thirds of the Phelps and Gorham Purchase, an area that afterward was known as the Holland Purchas ...

, owners of the

Holland Purchase The Phelps and Gorham Purchase was the purchase in 1788 of of land in what is now western New York State from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts for $1,000,000 ( £300,000), to be paid in three annual installments, and the pre-emptive right to th ...

that became

Western New York Western New York (WNY) is the westernmost region of the U.S. state of New York. The eastern boundary of the region is not consistently defined by state agencies or those who call themselves "Western New Yorkers". Almost all sources agree WNY i ...

. As the largest settlement in the region at the time, it was an ideal place for a bank, and thus the Bank of Genesee was established in the city in 1829, with Cary as one of the incorporators and its first president. For the bank's first year, it operated out of his mansion in Batavia.''See also:'' Cary served as president of the bank for over twenty years, and was a director of the bank until his death in 1869.

Personal life

In 1817, he erected the Cary Mansion in Batavia, a 24-room

Greek revival The Greek Revival was an architectural movement which began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe and the United States and Canada, but a ...

structure. It was said that the home was erected as a condition for his eventual bride, Margaret Elinor Brisbane, to marry Cary. Brisbane was the sister of

utopian socialist Utopian socialism is the term often used to describe the first current of modern socialism and socialist thought as exemplified by the work of Henri de Saint-Simon, Charles Fourier, Étienne Cabet, and Robert Owen. Utopian socialism is often de ...

Albert Brisbane Albert Brisbane (August 22, 1809 – May 1, 1890) was an American utopian socialist and is remembered as the chief popularizer of the theories of Charles Fourier in the United States. Brisbane was the author of several books, notably ''Social D ...

and the aunt of

Arthur Brisbane Arthur Brisbane (December 12, 1864 – December 25, 1936) was one of the best known American newspaper editors of the 20th century as well as a real estate investor. He was also a speech writer, orator, and public relations professional who coach ...

, one of the best known newspaper editors of the 20th century. Trumbull married Margaret on June 2, 1817. Together they had one son: * Dr. Walter Cary (1818–1881), who married Julia Love (niece of Brig.-Gen. George Maltby Love); parents of seven, including architect George Cary (who married Allithea Birge) and polo-player Seward Cary (whose eldest daughter Phoebe married

in 1912). For nearly 50 years, he was a vestryman at St. James Church in Batavia. Cary died on June 20, 1869 in Batavia, New York and was interred at Batavia Cemetery.

References

External links

*Portrait, and a picture of his house, i
''Batavia Revisited''
by Larry D. Barnes (''Images of America'' series; Arcadia Publishing, Charleston SC, 2011; ; pg. 119) *Bronze relief of Dr. Walter Cary, by

Augustus Saint-Gaudens Augustus Saint-Gaudens (; March 1, 1848 – August 3, 1907) was an American sculptor of the Beaux-Arts generation who embodied the ideals of the American Renaissance. From a French-Irish family, Saint-Gaudens was raised in New York City, he trav ...

, i
''The Work of Augustus Saint-Gaudens''
by John H. Dryfhout (University Press of New England, reprinted 2008; ; pg. 96)
''The New York Civil List''
compiled by Franklin Benjamin Hough (pages 39, 129f, 139, 206 and 263; Weed, Parsons and Co., 1858) ives surname as "Carey", except pg. 39 {{DEFAULTSORT:Cary, Trumbull 1787 births 1869 deaths People from Mansfield, Connecticut People from Batavia, New York New York (state) state senators Anti-Masonic Party politicians from New York (state) 19th-century American politicians Members of the New York State Assembly American bankers 19th-century American businesspeople