Edward Prime (December 10, 1801 – August 21, 1883)[1] was an American banker who served as president of the New York Stock Exchange.
Early life
Prime was born on December 10, 1801, at 54 Wall Street in New York City. He was the eldest son of Nathaniel Prime (1768–1840) and Cornelia (née Sands) Prime (1773–1852), who married in 1797. Among his sisters was Cornelia Prime (wife of Robert Ray, a brother-in-law of New York Gov. John Alsop King), Emily Prime (wife of U.S. Navy Capt. William Seton and son of Elizabeth Ann Seton), Matilda Prime (wife of Gerard Holsman Coster), and Laura Prime (wife of John Clarkson Jay, a son of Peter A. Jay and grandson of John Jay).[2]
His maternal grandparents were Comfort Sands, the merchant, banker and Continental Congressman, and Elizabeth (née Cornell) Sands.[2] His paternal grandparents were Joshua Prime and Bridget (née Hammond) Prime.[2]
Prime was educated at McCulluck's boarding school in Morristown, New Jersey, where his father and other family members were educated.[3]
In 1826, Prime entered the firm and was made a partner of Prime, Ward & Co. upon his father's retirement in 1832.[8] His father, in ill health, committed suicide on November 26, 1840, by cutting his throat.[9] The firm collapsed in 1847,[10][11][12] and Prime established the firm of Prime & Co., which consisted of him and his four sons, where he worked until his retirement in 1867,[3][13] at which point his sons also retired.[1]
Philanthropy
Prime was one of the founders of the New York Eye and Ear Dispensary. He was also a vestryman in St. Philip's Church in Manhattan and a warden of Christ Church in Riverdale.[1]
Personal life
On September 18, 1827, he was married to Anne Bard (1804–1834). Anne was the daughter of William Bard, a lawyer who founded the New York Life Insurance and Trust Company. Anne's younger sister, Susan Bard, was the wife of Edward's first cousin, Ferdinand Sands, both being grandsons of Comfort Sands.[14] Before his first wife's death in 1834, they were the parents of four children:[14]
Cornelia Prime (1829–1869), who married German-born August Ahrens (1818–1869) in 1850.[14]
An avid sportsman, he was said to have been the first to bring a pack of fox hounds to the United States, where he used to "hunt the fox in the woods of Long Island".[1]
^Strong, George Templeton (1952). Nevins, Allan; Thomas, Milton Halsey (eds.). The Diary of George Templeton Strong. Vol. I. The Macmillan Company. p. 152.
^ abcdLawrence, Ruth (1930). Colonial Families of America(PDF). New York: National Americana Society. Archived from the original(PDF) on 11 March 2018. Retrieved 10 March 2018.