Author: Sproat, P. W.
Biography:
SPROAT, P. W. (c. 1771-1832: ancestry.com)
His first name was Peter; he was probably born in New York City, certainly in New York State, but the names of his parents are not known. In the 1810 Census he is recorded as resident in Genesee County NY but by 1822, when his writings began to be published, he was living in Philadelphia, where eventually he died. He published a number of patriotic works in the 1820s: a song, "The Star of the West"; an anthology of nationalistic documents including the Constitution and Declaration of Independence (Mental Treasures, 1828); a pamphlet on the powers of Congress (1828). In 1822, besides the small collection of poems that was not repeated, he published an odd novel, The Savage Beauty by "a Wild American," which he further described as "satirical and allegorical." In 1826 he became an official agent of the War Dept. (In the 1829 and 1831 Philadelphia business directories he is included as responsible for the Military and Naval Intelligence Office on Spruce St.) At the time of his death on 22 Apr. 1832, he was 51 years old. He appears to have married and to have had at least one child: his wife is probably the Basheba Sproat, wife of P. W. Sproat, who died in 1841 and is buried in a cemetery in Bethany, Genesee Co. NY. (ancestry.com 18 Oct. 2020; findmypast.com 18 Oct. 2020; Daily Chronicle [Philadelphia] 24 Apr. 1832; Report of the Secretary of War [1835] 201) HJ