George Herbert Prouty (March 4, 1862August 18, 1918) of Newport, Vermont, was a

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

member of the

Vermont House of Representatives The Vermont House of Representatives is the lower house of the Vermont General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Vermont. The House comprises 150 members, with each member representing around 4,100 citizens. Representatives ar ...

from 1896 to 1897; a member of

Vermont State Senate The Vermont Senate is the upper house of the Vermont General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Vermont. The senate consists of 30 members. Senate districting divides the 30 members into three single-member districts, six two-m ...

from 1904 to 1906; the 46th lieutenant governor of Vermont from 1906 to 1908; the 52nd governor of Vermont from 1908 to 1910; and Delegate to the

1916 Republican National Convention Events Below, the events of the First World War have the "WWI" prefix. January * January 1 – The British Royal Army Medical Corps carries out the first successful blood transfusion, using blood that had been stored and cooled. * J ...

Biography

Born in Newport on March 4, 1862, Prouty was the son of John Azro Prouty and Hannah Barker Lamb Prouty. Besides his brother Charles, his siblings included brother Harley Hall Prouty and sister Nellie Barker Prouty, and two half-brothers, Edgar John Prouty and Willard Robert Prouty. Willard Robert Prouty was the father of Winston L. Prouty. Educated in the public schools of Newport, Prouty attended

St. Johnsbury Academy St. Johnsbury Academy (SJA) is an independent, private, coeducational, non-profit boarding and day school located in St. Johnsbury, Vermont, in the United States. The academy enrolls students in grades 9-12. It was founded by Thaddeus Fairbanks ...

, graduated from Boston's Bryant & Stratton Commercial College, and was employed in the family business, Prouty and Miller, a

sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes (dimensi ...

and building supply

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. He married Henrietta "Nettie" Allen of

Rockville, Connecticut Rockville is a census-designated place and a village of the town of Vernon in Tolland County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 7,474 at the 2010 census. Incorporated as a city in 1889, it has been consolidated with the town of Vernon ...

, on December 1, 1890. He was the uncle of

United States Senator The United States Senate is the Upper house, upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives being the Lower house, lower chamber. Together they compose the national Bica ...

Winston Prouty, and the brother of Charles A. Prouty, Chairman of the

Interstate Commerce Commission The Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) was a regulatory agency in the United States created by the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887. The agency's original purpose was to regulate railroads (and later trucking) to ensure fair rates, to eliminat ...

and the Progressive candidate for US Senator from Vermont in 1914.

Career

Active in the Republican party, he served in the

from 1896 to 1898. From 1904 to 1906 he was a member of the

and served as

Senate President President of the Senate is a title often given to the presiding officer of a senate. It corresponds to the speaker in some other assemblies. The senate president often ranks high in a jurisdiction's succession for its top executive office: for ex ...

. Prouty served as Lieutenant Governor from 1906 to 1908. Prouty was

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on the Republican ticket

Governor of Vermont The governor of Vermont is the head of government of Vermont. The officeholder is elected in even-numbered years by direct voting for a term of 2 years. Vermont and bordering New Hampshire are the only states to hold gubernatorial elections every ...

in 1908 and served from October 8, 1908, to October 5, 1910. He favored employers' liability law, and during his administration, the state legislature adopted his suggestion to put the

Vermont Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...

Railroad Commission under a Public Service Commission designed to supervise all public service corporations. In addition, a State

Board of Education A board of education, school committee or school board is the board of directors or board of trustees of a school, local school district or an equivalent institution. The elected council determines the educational policy in a small regional are ...

and a State Library Commission were founded. In July 1909, Prouty made news when he posted

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for his

chauffeur A chauffeur is a person employed to drive a passenger motor vehicle, especially a luxury vehicle such as a large sedan or limousine. Originally, such drivers were often personal employees of the vehicle owner, but this has changed to speciali ...

, who had been accused of striking and killing a St. Hyacinthe, Quebec, man in

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during celebrations for the Lake Champlain Tercentenary. During Prouty's governorship his Secretary of Civil and Military Affairs (chief assistant) was

Aaron H. Grout Aaron Hinman Grout (January 18, 1879 – December 29, 1966) was an American judge and political figure who served as Secretary of State of Vermont. Early life Grout was born in Rock Island, Illinois, on January 18, 1879. He was the son of Govern ...

. Aaron Grout was the son of former Governor

Josiah Grout Josiah Grout Jr. (May 28, 1841July 19, 1925) was an American lawyer and politician in the US state of Vermont. Born in the British Canadian Province of Lower Canada to Vermonter parents, he served in the American Civil War as a Union Army offic ...

Death and legacy

Prouty was killed in

Waterville, Quebec Waterville is a city of 1,800 people in southeastern Quebec, Canada, in the Coaticook Regional County Municipality. Prior to January 1, 2002, it was in La Région-Sherbrookoise Regional County Municipality, and was the only member of that RCM ...

, on August 8, 1918, when his chauffeur driven

car A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people instead of goods. The year 1886 is regarded as ...

was hit by a

train In rail transport, a train (from Old French , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles that run along a railway track and Passenger train, transport people or Rail freight transport, freight. Trains are typically pul ...

as he traveled from Newport to

Lennoxville, Quebec Lennoxville is an ''arrondissement'', or borough, of the city of Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada. Lennoxville is located at the confluence of the St. Francis and Massawippi Rivers approximately five kilometres south of downtown Sherbrooke. Lennoxvi ...

, to board a train he was going to take to a business meeting in

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and north ...

. He is interred at East Main Street Cemetery, Newport, Vermont. George Prouty's home was commercially developed and operated for many years as the Governor Prouty Inn, and later turned into senior citizen housing called the Governor Prouty Apartments.Lisa Soderberg, National Park Service
Community Preservation Synopsis, 1977, page 8

References

External links

*
Encyclopedia, Vermont Biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Prouty, George H. 1862 births 1918 deaths Republican Party governors of Vermont Republican Party Vermont state senators Presidents pro tempore of the Vermont Senate Republican Party members of the Vermont House of Representatives Lieutenant Governors of Vermont People from Newport (city), Vermont Railway accident deaths in Canada Road incident deaths in Canada Accidental deaths in Quebec Burials in Vermont 19th-century American politicians Bryant and Stratton College alumni