Description

Peter Praught (1796 – June 1876) was a resident of Pownal. He married Mary Keoughan in April 1817 and they had 11 children together. Census records list him as a farmer, ship owner and innkeeper. He is listed as owning the Rising Sun Inn. An 1834 newspaper article lists him as a tavern owner and a liquor license holder, indicating he operated a bar at the Inn. Another article in a 1841 newspaper notes that a meeting of nearly 150 people relating to elections was held at this residence, indicating that he was a very prominent member of the area.

Peter Praught: Born in Lot 50 in 1816, Peter Praught lived in the Pownal area with his family and had lived there well into his later years as a farmer, we can assume only based off of the number of acres of quality land owned by his family. What is strikingly difficult to decipher is that the only Peter Praught that fits the age description of the 1876 survey lives in Lot 14, the opposite end of the Island, by 1881. Based off of the handwriting it looks as if Praught was born in 1816, which places him at 65 by the time of the 1881 census. Records show his residency in Lot 14, unless he was visiting a friend or relative at that time. Closest to this age is a Peter Praught aged 57, 8 years younger than proposed in the 1876 survey, who lives in Lot 49 at the time of the 1881 census.