Charles Millard Pratt
Encyclopedia
Charles Millard Pratt was an American oil industrialist and philanthropist.
, the eldest son of Charles Pratt
and Lydia Ann Richardson.
He was the elder half-brother to Frederic B. Pratt
, George Dupont Pratt
, Herbert L. Pratt
, John Teele Pratt
and Harold I. Pratt
.
He graduated from Amherst College
in the class of 1879.
in 1879 and was later Company Secretary. He was a trustee of Amherst College and Vassar College. He was president of the board of trustees, Pratt Institute
, Brooklyn. He was a director of the Long Island Rail Road
, Brooklyn City Railroad
, American Express
and other corporations.
on May 8, 1884 and they had five children:
designed the Charles Millard Pratt House at 241 Clinton Avenue, Clinton Hill, Brooklyn
in 1893. Located in Brooklyn’s Clinton Hill Historic District
it is one of the city’s finest examples of Romanesque revival architecture
, and is now the home of the Roman Catholic Bishop of Brooklyn
.
Pratt's large estate, Seamoor, at Glen Cove
, Long Island
was designed by the New York firm of Lamb & Rich.
Pratt had a winter home (also known as Charles Millard Pratt House) designed by architects Greene and Greene
in Nordhoff (Ojai), California
from 1908–11.
Pratt was a trustee of Vassar College
, his wife's alma mater, from 1896–1920. Pratt House, a residence for the Warden, was completed in 1915 by architects York and Sawyer
.
Pratt was also responsible for the enormous Pratt Dormitory on Pratt Quad at Amherst College. This five-story building was designed by Charles Alonzo Rich in 1911, in memory of their son Morris Pratt who died at Amherst while an undergraduate student.
Early life
Pratt was born and raised in Clinton Hill, BrooklynClinton Hill, Brooklyn
Clinton Hill is a neighborhood in the north-central portion of the borough of Brooklyn in New York City. It is bordered on the east by Bedford-Stuyvesant, on the west by Fort Greene, on the north by Wallabout Bay and on the south by Prospect Heights...
, the eldest son of Charles Pratt
Charles Pratt
Charles Pratt was a United States capitalist, businessman and philanthropist.Pratt was a pioneer of the U.S. petroleum industry, and established his kerosene refinery Astral Oil Works in Brooklyn, New York. An advertising slogan was "The holy lamps of Tibet are primed with Astral Oil." He...
and Lydia Ann Richardson.
He was the elder half-brother to Frederic B. Pratt
Frederic B. Pratt
Frederic Bayley Pratt was the president of Brooklyn's Pratt Institute for 44 years, from 1893-1937.-Early life:He was born in Brooklyn NY, the son of Standard Oil magnate Charles Pratt and Mary Helen Richardson....
, George Dupont Pratt
George Dupont Pratt
George Dupont Pratt was an American conservationist, philanthropist, Boy Scout sponsor, big-game hunter and collector of ancient antiquities.-Early life:...
, Herbert L. Pratt
Herbert L. Pratt
Herbert Lee Pratt was an American businessman and a leading figure in the United States oil industry.- Early life :...
, John Teele Pratt
John Teele Pratt
John Teele Pratt was an American corporate attorney, philanthropist, music impresario, and financier.- Early life :...
and Harold I. Pratt
Harold I. Pratt
Harold Irving Pratt was an American oil industrialist and philanthropist. A director of Standard Oil of New Jersey, he also served on the Council of Foreign Relations from 1923-1939.- Early life :...
.
He graduated from Amherst College
Amherst College
Amherst College is a private liberal arts college located in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. Amherst is an exclusively undergraduate four-year institution and enrolled 1,744 students in the fall of 2009...
in the class of 1879.
Career
Pratt joined Standard OilStandard Oil
Standard Oil was a predominant American integrated oil producing, transporting, refining, and marketing company. Established in 1870 as a corporation in Ohio, it was the largest oil refiner in the world and operated as a major company trust and was one of the world's first and largest multinational...
in 1879 and was later Company Secretary. He was a trustee of Amherst College and Vassar College. He was president of the board of trustees, Pratt Institute
Pratt Institute
Pratt Institute is a private art college in New York City located in Brooklyn, New York, with satellite campuses in Manhattan and Utica. Pratt is one of the leading undergraduate art schools in the United States and offers programs in Architecture, Graphic Design, History of Art and Design,...
, Brooklyn. He was a director of the Long Island Rail Road
Long Island Rail Road
The Long Island Rail Road or LIRR is a commuter rail system serving the length of Long Island, New York. It is the busiest commuter railroad in North America, serving about 81.5 million passengers each year. Established in 1834 and having operated continuously since then, it is the oldest US...
, Brooklyn City Railroad
Brooklyn City Railroad
The Brooklyn City Railroad was the oldest and one of the largest operators of streetcars in the City of Brooklyn, New York, continuing in that role when Brooklyn became a borough of New York City in 1898....
, American Express
American Express
American Express Company or AmEx, is an American multinational financial services corporation headquartered in Three World Financial Center, Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States. Founded in 1850, it is one of the 30 components of the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The company is best...
and other corporations.
Personal life
Pratt married Mary Seymour Morris, daughter of Governor of Connecticut Luzon B. MorrisLuzon B. Morris
Luzon Buritt Morris was an American Democratic politician and Governor of Connecticut.-Biography:Morris was born in Newtown, Connecticut. He graduated from Yale University in 1854, where he was a member of Skull and Bones...
on May 8, 1884 and they had five children:
- Morris Pratt (November 29, 1885 – July 15, 1910)
- Theodore Pratt (May 21, 1887 – June 1977) married Laura Merrick on June 2, 1910. They had three children, Gwendolyn Pratt (October 27, 1917 – October 31, 1917), Theodore Pratt, Jr.(June 16, 1920 – January 15, 1998), and Merrick Pratt (born June 4, 1922).
- Margaret Richardson Pratt (July 19, 1889 – January 20, 1919) married Frank J Frost. They had two children, Morris Pratt Frost (November 19, 1916 – July 11, 1990) and Margaret Frost (January 18, 1919 – January 19, 1919)
- Katherine Eugenia Pratt (May 28, 1891 – April 20, 1981) married Burton Parker Twichell, son of Rev. Joseph TwichellJoseph TwichellReverend Joseph Hopkins Twichell , writer and pastor, was Mark Twain's closest friend for over forty years, and appears in A Tramp Abroad as "Harris." They met at a church social after the Civil War when Twichell was pastor of Asylum Hill Congregational Church in Hartford, his only pastorate for...
. They had four children, David Cushman Twitchell (born April 16, 1918), Margaret Frost Twitchell (born August 13, 1919), Harmony Twitchell (September 9, 1921 – February 20, 1993), and Charles Pratt Twitchell (February 27, 1924 – April 3, 2004). - Richardson Pratt (June 16, 1894 – August 16, 1959) married Laura Cecelia Parsons. They had two children, Mary Marselis Pratt (born September 26, 1920) and Richardson Pratt, Jr. (March 25, 1923 – May 1, 2001).
Architectural legacy
William TubbyWilliam Tubby
William Bunker Tubby was an American architect, particularly in New York City.Tubby was born in Des Moines, Iowa and graduated from Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute in 1875. He worked in the architectural offices of Ebenezer L. Roberts until beginning his own firm in 1883...
designed the Charles Millard Pratt House at 241 Clinton Avenue, Clinton Hill, Brooklyn
Clinton Hill, Brooklyn
Clinton Hill is a neighborhood in the north-central portion of the borough of Brooklyn in New York City. It is bordered on the east by Bedford-Stuyvesant, on the west by Fort Greene, on the north by Wallabout Bay and on the south by Prospect Heights...
in 1893. Located in Brooklyn’s Clinton Hill Historic District
Clinton Hill, Brooklyn
Clinton Hill is a neighborhood in the north-central portion of the borough of Brooklyn in New York City. It is bordered on the east by Bedford-Stuyvesant, on the west by Fort Greene, on the north by Wallabout Bay and on the south by Prospect Heights...
it is one of the city’s finest examples of Romanesque revival architecture
Romanesque architecture
Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of Medieval Europe characterised by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the beginning date of the Romanesque architecture, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the 10th century. It developed in the 12th century into the Gothic style,...
, and is now the home of the Roman Catholic Bishop of Brooklyn
Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn, which includes territory that was previously part of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York, was established as a separate diocese in 1853 when the City of Brooklyn was separate from New York City....
.
Pratt's large estate, Seamoor, at Glen Cove
Glen Cove, New York
Glen Cove is a city in Nassau County, New York on the North Shore of Long Island. As of the United States 2010 Census, the city population was 26,964....
, Long Island
Long Island
Long Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...
was designed by the New York firm of Lamb & Rich.
Pratt had a winter home (also known as Charles Millard Pratt House) designed by architects Greene and Greene
Greene and Greene
Greene and Greene was an architectural firm established by brothers Charles Sumner Greene and Henry Mather Greene , influential early 20th Century American architects...
in Nordhoff (Ojai), California
Ojai, California
Ojai is a city in Ventura County, California, USA. It is situated in the Ojai Valley , surrounded by hills and mountains. The population was 7,461 at the 2010 census, down from 7,862 at the 2000 census.-History:Chumash Indians were the early inhabitants of the valley...
from 1908–11.
Pratt was a trustee of Vassar College
Vassar College
Vassar College is a private, coeducational liberal arts college in the town of Poughkeepsie, New York, in the United States. The Vassar campus comprises over and more than 100 buildings, including four National Historic Landmarks, ranging in style from Collegiate Gothic to International,...
, his wife's alma mater, from 1896–1920. Pratt House, a residence for the Warden, was completed in 1915 by architects York and Sawyer
York and Sawyer
The architectural firm of York and Sawyer produced many outstanding structures, exemplary of Beaux-Arts architecture as it was practiced in the United States. The partners Edward York and Philip Sawyer had both trained in the office of McKim, Mead, and White...
.
Amherst College legacy
He was the first alumnus to donate a building to Amherst College—the Pratt Gymnasium was erected in 1883, and was reconstructed as the Pratt Museum in 1942. Following further rebuilding, it reopened in August 2007 as the Charles M. Pratt Dormitory, housing 118 freshmen students.Pratt was also responsible for the enormous Pratt Dormitory on Pratt Quad at Amherst College. This five-story building was designed by Charles Alonzo Rich in 1911, in memory of their son Morris Pratt who died at Amherst while an undergraduate student.