Individual Details
Lorenzo D Prouty
(22 Mar 1824 - 1 Jan 1891)
Lorenzo D. Prouty was a skillful mechanic, poet, and a musician. When a boy of seven his head was injured by being run over by a loaded wagon. At fourteen his head was again injured by a heavy weight falling from a great beam in the barn; at twenty one a pair of horses ran away with him, his head striking a post, and the concussion tearing his scalp nearly off. This injury required trepanning. The rest of his life was hampered by these accidents. He loved to song the acrostic and many other pieces of inspirational music of his own composition, always fine but never twice alike. He seemed to lose himself in these periods of ecstasy, and when the religious dances were in order executed them to the amazement of his brethren, singing all the while in tones of sweetest melody. He was a very sweet tempered man.
Events
| Birth | 22 Mar 1824 | Spencer, Worcester, Massachusetts, United States |  | ||
| Census | 1850 | Shirley, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States |  | ||
| Census | 4 Jun 1860 | Shirley, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States | | | |
| Death | 1 Jan 1891 | Shirley, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States | |
Families
| Father | Asaph Prouty (1793 - 1861) |
| Mother | Martha Goodnow ( - 1833) |
| Sibling | Nathan Converse Prouty (1826 - 1896) |
| Sibling | Lucy C. Prouty (1828 - ) |
Notes
Census
CENSUS YR: 1850 STATE: MA COUNTY: Middlesex DIVISION: Shirley REEL NO: M432-323 PAGE NO: 13a9, 195, Prouty, Asaph, 57 M, Farmer Mass Shaker Community
10, 195, Prouty, Lorenzo, 25 M, Farmer Mass Shaker Community
11, 195, Prouty, Charles, 23 M, Farmer Mass Shaker Community
24, 195, Prouty, Rebecca, 64 F, Mass Shaker Community
29, 195, Prouty, Harriet, 39 F, Mass Shaker Community
CENSUS YR: 1850 STATE: MA COUNTY: Middlesex DIVISION: Shirley REEL NO: M432-323 PAGE NO: 13b
5, 196, Prouty, Lucy A., 21 F, Mass
6, 197, Prouty, Abigail, 32 F, Mass Shaker Community
22, 199, Prouty, Nathan, 23 M, Farmer Mass Shaker Community
Census
United Society in Shirley called Shakers67, 62, William K Westhusten 44 M, Farmer, 20,000, 2000, MA
(List of members including:)
Aseph Prouty, 67 M, Farm laborer, MA
Lorenzo Prouty, 35 M, Carpenter, MA
69
Becca Prouty, 73 F, Invalid, MA
72
Abigail Prouty, 41 F, Governess, MA
74
Harriet A Prouty, 48 F, Trustee, MA
75, 63,
Nathan Prouty, 33 M, Farmer, 4000, 1000, MA
Endnotes
1. Draper, James., History of Spencer, Massachusetts, from its earliest settlement to the year 1860 : including a brief sketch of Leicester, to the year 1753. (Worcester: Printed by H.J. Howland, 1860?, 279 pgs.), p. 238.
2. U.S. Census images. Heritage Quest Online. Subscription database through the Sonoma County Public Library. (ProQuest LLC, 2009.), 1860 > MASSACHUSETTS > MIDDLESEX > SHIRLEY Series: M653 Roll: 511 Page: 9-10.
3. Henry Mendell Tower, Historical sketches relating to Spencer, Mass, Volume 2 (Spencer, MA: W.J. Hefferman--Spencer Leader Print, 1902), 68; digital images, Google Books (http://books.google.com : accessed 24 November 2009.