The Wainwright family lived in Rhinebeck, N.Y. and New York City. William Pratt Wainwright (1818-1895), the distinguished Union Army Colonel and doctor, was born in New York City and raised on his father's farm in Rhinebeck, N.Y. He was the older brother of Charles Shiels Wainwright (1826-1907), who also served in the Civil War and whose battle diary was published posthumously in 1962. William studied medicine shortly after graduation from the City University of New York and, sharing his brother's passion for the military, traveled to Berlin to pursue military studies. In 1854, William married Cornelia Ridgely NY (1830-1918), a daughter of John C. NY and descendant of the influential Livingston family through Margaret Livingston. They had three sons, John NY Wainwright (1865-1900), William Pratt Wainwright Jr. (1866-1925) and Charles Howard Wainwright (1869-1948).
Wainwright's sons all served as members of Company K, Seventh Regiment, National Guard, New York State Militia. They became stockbrokers and acted as agents in the management of the estate of their grandfather, John C. NY. The Wainwright brothers were principals in the brokerage firm of White & Wainwright until the death, in 1901, of its founding member Arthur E. White. Later William and Charles became partners in the firm of Keech, Loew & Co.
From the guide to the Wainwright family of Rhinebeck, N.Y. papers, 1849-1960, (The New York Public Library. Manuscripts and Archives Division.)
