Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 08.djvu/421

 PRATT

PRATT

PRATT, Daniel Darwin, senator, was born in Palermo, Maine, Oct. 26, 1813. His parents removed to New York state during his childhood, and he was graduated from Hamilton college in 1831. He taught school in Indiana, 1833 ; was employed in the office of the secretary of state at Indianapolis ; studied law, 1834-36, and practised in Logansport, Ind. He was a member of the state legislature in 1851 and 1853 ; a delegate to the Republican national convention of 1860, where he acted as chief secretary, and was elected a Republican representative from the eighth Indiana district to the 41st congress, but before the congress met he was elected U.S. senator to succeed Thomas A. Hendricks. He served in the senate, 1869-75, and was commissioner of internal revenue, 1875-76, resigning, July, 1876. He received the honorary degree LL.D. from Hamilton college in 1872. He died at Logans- port, Ind., June 17, 1877.

PRATT, Enoch, philanthropist, was born in North Middleborough, Mass., Sept. 10, 1808; son of Isaac and Naomi (Keith) Pratt, and a descend- ant of Phinehas Pratt, who was born in England, 1590 ; came to this country in the ship Sparrow, landing at Plymouth, Mass., 1631, and died in Charlestown, Mass., April 19, 1680. Enoch Pratt was graduated at Bridge- water academy in 1823 ; entered busi- ness in Boston, and in 1831 removed to Baltimore, Md., where he engaged first as a commission merchant and sub- sequently in the iron business. He was married, Aug. 1,1837, to Maria Louisa Hyde of Baltimore. He was president of the Farmers' and Planters' bank, Baltimore, Md., for many years, and through his wholesale iron business and other enterprises he acquired an estate of about $5,000,000. He gave a farm of 750 acres at Cheltenham, Md., as a site for a house of reformation and instruction for colored children and endowed an academy at Mid- dleborough, Mass., with $30,000. He served as finance commissioner of Baltimore, and as pre- sident of the board of directors of the Maryland School for the Deaf, at Frederick city. Besides many other generous gifts, he gave Baltimore a central public library building, and an endow- ment of $833,333.33 for the maintenance of the Enoch Pratt Free Library of the City of Balti- more. The building and endowment, costing the

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donor in all $1,148,000 were conveyed to the city, July 2, 1883, the library being formally opened to the public, Jan. 4, 1886. Mr. Pratt bequeathed $100,000 to Meadville (Pa.) Theological school; $10,000 to the Boys' Home in Baltimore, and on condition of its adopting the name " Sheppard and Enoch Pratt Hospital," he left his residuary estate to the Slieppard asylum, Baltimore. He was a prominent member of the Unitarian church. He died at Tivoli, Md., Sept. 17, 1896.

PRATT, John, educator, was born in Thomp- son, Conn., Oct. 13, 1800. He was brought up on a farm, worked in a mill and fitted himself for a school teacher. He was prepared for college at Amherst (Mass.) academy, 1830-21 ; spent over three years at Columbia college, Washington, D.C., 1831-34, and was graduated from Brown university. A.B., 1837, A.M., 1830. He was a student at Newton Theological institution for twenty months, 1837-31 ; was an instructor in languages at Transylvania college, Kentucky, 1838-29 ; was ordained to the Baptist ministry, May 12, 1830, and was pastor of First church. New Haven, Conn., 1829-30; principal of the academy at South Reading, Mass., for six months, 1830-31, and in 1831 was elected president of the Granville (Ohio) Literary and Theological in- stitute, incorporated in 1833 as Denison university. He rescued the school from bankruptcy and was its president, 1831-37, meantime serving as pro- fessor of theology, 1835-37. On resigning the presidency in 1837, he accepted the chair of Greek and Latin and resigned that chair in 1859. He received the degree D.D. from Denison university, Ohio, in 1878. He was married first, in 1830, to Mary Glover Cory of Rhode Island, and secondly, in 1855, to Susan C. Wheeler of Licking county, Ohio. He died on his farm near Granville, Ohio, Jan. 4, 1882.

PRATT, Orson, Mormon leader, was born in Hartford, N.Y., Sept. 19, 1811 ; son of Jared and Charity (Dickinson) Pratt ; grandson of Obadiah and Jemima (Tolls) Pratt, and a descendant of Lieut. William Pratt, the immigrant. He was liberally educated ; joined the Mormon church. Sept. 19, 1830 ; was ordained elder by Joseph Smith in the same month, and high priest in 1832. He traveled in the United States, Canada and Great Britain, and was chosen one of the twelve apostles of the church in 1835. being tenth in order of the quorum. He was married, July 4, 1836, to Sarah Marinda, daughter of Cyrus Bates of Henderson, N.Y. He preceded the main body of pioneers into Salt Lake "Valley in 1847, and was president of all the churches of the Latter- day Saints in Great Britain and the adjacent countries, 1848-50, the number of churcli mem- bers being increased from 18.000 to 36.000 during Iiis administration. He edited The Millenial Star