Moss K. Platt

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Moss Kent Platt (May 3, 1809 – March 1, 1876) was an American merchant and politician from New York. Born in Plattsburgh, he was the son of William Pitt Platt and Hannah Kent, sister of Chancellor James Kent. He married Elizabeth S. Freligh in 1830; they had four daughters and a son, John Freligh Platt, who died young in 1858. In 1847 he started iron manufacturing near the Saranac River, using ore from west of Plattsburgh. He built plank roads to connect the iron works with the city and with Clinton State Prison, and employed prison inmates in his plant. In 1852 he built a railroad from Plattsburgh to the Canada–US border, linking the city to Montréal. After Elizabeth’s death, he married her half-sister Margaret Anne Freligh in 1858.

A Republican, Platt served in the New York State Senate for the 16th District in 1866 and 1867. He was a presidential elector candidate in 1868 for Ulysses S. Grant, though New York voted for Horatio Seymour. In 1873 he was elected Inspector of State Prisons and served from 1874 until his death in 1876, dying in office at age 66.