Robert C. Pruyn

Who was Robert C. Pruyn?

Robert Clarence Pruyn, of Albany, New York, was an influential American inventor, banker, businessman, and politician.

The Pruyn family of Albany, New York was one of the oldest and most esteemed Dutch families in New York, and at the time of Robert's birth, had resided in Albany for over two centuries. At an early age, Pruyn traveled with his father, Robert H. Pruyn, to Japan, where he was serving as Minister to Japan. When he returned to the United States in 1865, he entered Rutgers College and graduated in 1869. He was also active in the state militia, rising to the rank of Colonel. In 1871, Pruyn went on to become president of the Embossing Company, one of the major toy manufacturers of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. He was credited for five patents involving puzzles, dominoes, and building blocks. When John A. Dix became Governor of New York in 1873, Pruyn became an aide on the Governor's staff, and was later appointed a member of the New York State Board of Regents. Upon the appointment by President Grover Cleveland of National Commercial Bank of Albany President Daniel Manning as United States Secretary of the Treasury, Pruyn was named the bank's President. His secretaries included Charles E. Adams and Frederick Baldwin Adams. Pruyn and his staff became some of the more successful investors of the early twentieth century.