John Prout (politician)

John Prout was born in Salisbury, Vermont on November 21, 1815,[1] the son of John C. Prout (1795–1877) and Phebe (or Phoebe) Holman (1793–1836).[2] He was educated in Salisbury, and then apprenticed as a printer.[1] After working in the printing business for several years, Prout studied law with Ebenezer N. Briggs.[1] He attained admission to the bar in 1837, and began to practice in partnership with Briggs.[1] originally a member of the Whig Party,[3] Prout represented Salisbury in the Vermont House of Representatives in 1847 and 1848.[1] From 1848 to 1851 Prout served as State's Attorney of Addison County.[1]

In 1854, Prout moved to the village of Rutland in Rutland Town, where he continued to practice law.[1] He had different partners at different times, and among them were Walter C. Dunton, Charles Linsley and Aldace F. Walker.[1] By now a Republican, he represented Rutland in the Vermont House in 1865 and 1866, and Rutland County in the Vermont Senate in 1867.[1] In 1867, Prout succeeded Loyal C. Kellogg as an associate justice of the Vermont Supreme Court,[4] and he served until 1869, when he was replaced by Hoyt H. Wheeler.[5]

After leaving the court, Prout continued to practice law until he retired in 1886.[1]

Prout died in Rutland on August 28, 1890.[1][6] He was buried at Evergreen Cemetery in Rutland.[2]

In 1840, Prout married Louisa M. Cook (1823–1848).[2] After his second wife's death, in 1849 Prout married Sarah P. Smith, who died in 1877.[2] His third wife, whom he married in 1878, was Ellen Sophia Ellsworth (1824–1897), the widow of George Washington Strong (1818–1858), and a descendant of Oliver Ellsworth.[2]

Prout was the father of three children.[2] With his first wife, he had a son Edward J. (1847–1888),[2] and a daughter Cornelia Seward (called Emelia) (1847–1920).[2] With his second wife, he had a daughter, Mary S. (1859–1934).[2] In 1883, Cornelia Prout married Samuel Howard Field (1842–1892).[2] In 1890, Mary married Charles H. West, who worked in the banking industry in Rutland, and later served as Rutland's postmaster.[7][8]