Bethuel Boyd Vincent (August 4, 1803 – July 21, 1876) was a prominent businessman and politician in Erie County, Pennsylvania. He was the son of Judge John Vincent.
Erie County is a county located in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. As of the 2010 census, the population was 280,566. Its county seat is Erie. The county was created in 1800 and later organized in 1803.
B. B. Vincent was elected the first clerk and treasurer of the recently established Waterford, Pennsylvania in March 1834 [1] and served as the last Burgess of Erie, Pennsylvania in 1850, after which the city was incorporated and run by a mayor. [2]
Waterford is a borough in Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 1,517 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Erie Metropolitan Statistical Area.
He was one of the organizers of the Erie County Mutual Fire Insurance Company, which was established in Erie on March 26, 1839. [3]
He was a co-owner with William and David Himrod of Vincent, Himrod and Company, which operated an iron works on Mill Creek in Erie in 1840. The works later became the prominent Erie City Iron Works. [4]
Mill Creek is a 19-mile (31 km) long tributary of Lake Erie in Erie County in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. It flows from Millcreek Township through the city of Erie, into Presque Isle Bay.
He was one of several managers of the Erie Canal Company when that entity was charged during the 1842–43 session of the Pennsylvania State Assembly to tend to certain affairs of the Erie Canal. (See Erie Canal#Enlargements and improvements) [5]
The Erie Canal is a canal in New York, United States that is part of the east–west, cross-state route of the New York State Canal System. Originally, it ran 363 miles (584 km) from where Albany meets the Hudson River to where Buffalo meets Lake Erie. It was built to create a navigable water route from New York City and the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes. When completed in 1825, it was the second longest canal in the world and greatly affected the development and economy of New York, New York City, and the United States.
He was among those selected by the city council in early 1846 to plant trees in the town square, which was called The Diamond at the time. An official ceremony was held in June 1846 to celebrate the plantings and to rename the park Perry Square. [6]
Perry Square is one of the series of city squares planned by famed surveyor Andrew Ellicott in downtown Erie, Pennsylvania, USA. The park diverts the flow of 6th Street for two wooded city blocks bisected by State Street, which separates the city's eastern and western halves. The park is bounded by French Street on the east and Peach Street on the west, while Park Row North and Park Row South carry 6th Street traffic around the northern and southern sides of the square. There is a gazebo in the center of the western block, and a fountain in the center of the eastern block.
He was among the first subscribers to the establishment of Erie Cemetery in October 1846. [7]
He was President of the Marine National Bank from its establishment in Erie on March 9, 1865 until January 1867. [8]
His son, Strong Vincent (June 17, 1837 – July 7, 1863), was a lawyer who was mortally wounded at Little Round Top during the American Civil War Battle of Gettysburg. The boy's maternal grandfather, Captain Martin Strong (1770 - May 1823), was a pioneer, territorial surveyor, and prosperous land owner. [9]
