Page:One of a thousand.djvu/504

 49° PRATT. PRESBREY. His educational training was received in the public schools of his native place and at Phillips Academy, Andover. He at first learned the shoemaker's trade and subsequently evinced a strong desire to follow the sea. His first voyage to the Grand Hanks, where he was for four months out of sight of land, cured him of this propen- sity. He then learned the newspaper business in the " Gazette " office, Middle- borough. In 1S59 he established the "Marlbor- ough Mirror ; " became proprietor of the " Middleborough Gazette " on the death of his father in 1862 ; and soon after established weekly papers in Bridgewater, East Bridgewater, and Wareham. During the war for the Union he was in the provost-marshal's office of the 1st Massachusetts district at New Bedford. In 1 868 he sold the " Middleborough Gazette " and purchased the " Randolph Register," removing his residence to that town. In 1869 he established in Boston the " American Workman," a reform journal for the discussion of the labor problem. For two years he was the candidate of the Labor Reform party for secretary of the Commonwealth. In 1871 here-purchased the " Marlborough Mirror" and returned to that town, and soon after established the " Framingham Gazette." During the following fifteen years he purchased or founded over forty weekly papers in New Hampshire, Connecticut and Massachu- setts. Seven of them were on the South Shore, his summer home for several years. In 1S89 he sold his newspaper business to his sons, and has turned his attention to the development of electrical mechanics. Mr. Pratt was married in Middleborough, 1S56, to Ellen Myrick, daughter of William Whittemore and Hannah (Foster) Goss. Of this union were eleven children : Elea- nor Morton (Mrs. W. C. Hanson, Marl- borough), Arabella Frances (Mrs. George L. Stevens, Marlborough), Ransom Dick- inson, William Walter, Stillman Foster, Eugene Lincoln, Elra Sinclair (deceased), Lily Maude, Herbert Emerson, Charles Brigham (deceased), and Elmer Campbell Pratt. Mr. Pratt was one of the pioneers in in- troducing the order of the Knights of Pythias, in the East, having founded many lodges in Massachusetts. In 1861 he was made a Mason. He has been a prominent Son of Temperance, Good Templar and Knight of Honor ; was a non-commis- sioned officer in the New Bedford cavalry; has been a member of the Congregational church since 1S56, and for twenty-five years a Sunday-school teacher ; a leader in many literary and reformatory organiza- tions. He has published various books, notably the " History and Directory of Plymouth County; " has been always inter- ested in heredity and genealogy, as well as in local antiquities ; has long been a mem- ber of the New England Historic Genea- logical Society ; is a member of the Subur- ban Newspaper Association, Massachusetts Press Association, and the National Edi- torial Association, having served two years on the executive committee of the latter organization. Mr. Pratt has made three pleasure trips to Europe, has broadened his horizon by study and travel, and as an all-round editor and newspaper publisher, has long been noted for his close attention to busi- ness. No reformatory cause or needy individual ever appealed to his heart in vain. PRESBREY, Silas Dean, son of Mil- lings Troop and Clarissa Burt (Dean) Pres- brey, was born in Taunton, Bristol county, October 19, 1838. He passed the usual time in the public schools ; was prepared for college in Taun- ton high school ; entered Harvard College, and was graduated therefrom in the class of 1S60. Immediately after graduation he commenced the study of medicine, and having already accomplished a good part of the first year's course, he accepted the position of principal of Taunton high school, serving from December, i860, to July, 1863, when he received his degree of A. M. from Harvard. He then resumed his medical studies, entering Harvard med- ical school, from which he was graduated M. I)., March 8, 1865. He at once en- tered upon the practice of medicine and surgery, in which he is now engaged. He has attained an enviable position in the profession, and is acknowledged as a lead- ing physician in Bristol county. Dr. Presbrey was married in Taunton, October 1, 1863, to Sarah Williams, daugh- ter of Artemas and Susan Shaw (Williams) Briggs. Of this union were three chil- dren : Clara Briggs, Florence Nathalie, and I. aura Edith Presbrey. Dr. Presbrey is a member of the Massa- chusetts Medical Society, American Medical Association, American Academy of Medi- cine ; has been president of the Massachu- setts Medico-Legal Society ; and an hon- orary member of the Medico-Legal Society of New York. He has been medical exam- iner of the second division, Bristol county,