Henry H. Persons

{{Short description|American businessman, banker, and politician from New York}}

{{Infobox officeholder

| name = Henry H Persons

| image =

| caption =

| state_senate = New York State

| district = 31st

| term_start = 1894

| term_end = 1895

| succeeding =

| predecessor = Matthias Endres

| successor = George Chahoon

|birth_date = {{birth date|1851|12|16}}

|birth_place = East Aurora, New York, U.S.

|death_date = {{death date and age|1925|11|10|1851|12|16}}

}}

Henry H. Persons (December 16, 1851 – November 10, 1925) was an American businessman, banker, and politician from New York.

Life

Persons was born on December 16, 1851, in East Aurora, New York, the son of Henry Ziba Persons, an East Aurora businessman, postmaster, and bank president, and Mary White.{{Cite book|last=|first=|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Qs8CAAAAMAAJ|title=Memorial and Family History of Erie County, New York|publisher=The Genealogical Publishing Company|year=1908|isbn=|volume=I|location=|pages=318–319|via=Google Books}}

Persons began attending Cornell University in 1871, but left the school after a year. When he was 22, he began working at his father's store and later received a half interest in the store. In 1882, he became cashier of the Bank of East Aurora. In 1887, he sold the store and focused exclusively on banking. In 1901, he succeeded his father as president of the bank. He was elected vice-president of the Buffalo Commercial Bank in 1898 and later became its president. When the Buffalo Commercial Bank was sold to the Marine National Bank in 1903, he became vice-president of the latter bank until 1904. He was also an organizer, vice-president, director, and president of the Frontier Telephone Company, president of the Hayes Lithograph Company and the J. W. Ruger Manufacturing Company of Buffalo, and a director of the Union Fire Insurance Company.

In 1883, Persons was elected town supervisor.{{Cite book|last=|first=|url=https://archive.org/details/eveningjournalal1895slsn/page/51/mode/1up|title=The Evening Journal 1895 Almanac|publisher=The Weed-Parsons Printing Co.|year=1895|isbn=|editor-last=Mather|editor-first=Frederic G.|editor-link=Frederic Gregory Mather|location=Albany, N.Y.|pages=51|via=Internet Archive}} He was a delegate to the 1892 Republican National Convention.{{Cite book|last1=Rose|first1=Theodore C.|url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.b4146494&view=1up&seq=110|title=Proceedings of the Tenth Republican National Convention Held in the City of Minneapolis, Minn., June 7, 8, 9, and 10, 1892|last2=Burke|first2=James F.|publisher=Harrison & Smith|year=1892|location=Minneapolis, M.N.|pages=104|author-link2=James F. Burke (politician)|via=HathiTrust}} In 1893, he was elected to the New York State Senate as a Republican, representing New York's 31st State Senate district. He served in the Senate in 1894{{Cite book|last=Murlin|first=Edgar L.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8x80AQAAMAAJ|title=The New York Red Book|publisher=James B. Lyon|year=1894|isbn=|location=Albany, N.Y.|pages=98–99|via=Google Books}} and 1895.{{Cite book|last=Murlin|first=Edgar L.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wyI0AQAAMAAJ|title=The New York Red Book|publisher=James B. Lyon|year=1895|isbn=|location=Albany, N.Y.|pages=141|via=Google Books}} In the Senate he was chairman of the Committee on Canals and played a key role in procuring nine million dollars for canal appropriations, and served on a special committee to investigate the murder of Robert Ross. In 1905, Governor Higgins appointed him President of the State Water Supply Commission.

Persons was a trustee of the First Presbyterian Church of East Aurora. In 1876, he married Rebecca Ellen Sandford. Their children were Richard Sandford, James White, Mary Hungerford, Albert H., Henry Z., and Robert H. James attended Cornell and practiced law in Buffalo.

Persons died in East Aurora on November 10, 1925.{{Cite journal|last=|first=|date=6 May 1926|title=Obituary: Henry H. Persons '75|url=https://ecommons.cornell.edu/handle/1813/26803|journal=Cornell Alumni News|location=Ithaca, N.Y.|volume=XXVIII|issue=31|page=368|via=Cornell University Library}} He was buried in East Aurora Cemetery.