Colonel Zadock Pratt of Prattsville BACKGROUND Ancestors came from England in the 1630s and settled in Connecticut. Born October 30, 1790 in Stephentown, Rensselaer County, New York Served two terms in the US Congress: 1837-1839 & 1843-1845 Married five times Died April 5, 1871 in Bergen, NJ (The Grimm House) from a fever contracted after a fall. Buried in cemetery he gave to the town next to Abigail and infant daughter. YOUTH Moved with his father to the Windham area (Jewett) when he was twelve; learned the art of tanning from his father. Apprenticed to a saddle maker in Durham; saved his money and opened a store on his father�s tannery property.

ADULT

• Participated in the War of 1812 in the quartermaster corps (supplies).
• Came to Schoharie Kill (now Prattsville) in 1824 at age 34 with $14,000 from the sale of his interest in the family tannery in Jewett; examined properties in Delaware, Schoharie and Ulster counties before selecting Schoharie Kill.
• Viewed with suspicion by residents, he said, �I have come to live with you, not on you.� He overcame the bad reputation of tanners by helping the town and staying there the remainder of his life.
• Started the tannery in 1824, by 1825 the world�s largest tannery. The next 20 years he managed the tannery and employed a total of 30,000 employees. The tannery provided an opportunity for people to make money before moving on to the great West. The tannery closed in 1846. 
• Cleared land of hemlocks then invited people to settle in vacant area and farm.
• Ran a model farm, across from Pratt Rock Park which was written up in several agricultural publications.
• Was honored by the residents in 1833 when the village was named Prattsville upon its separation from Windham.

TOWN 

• Pratt planned the town and constructed a new, straight road away from the creek to avoid flooding and used both sides of the street for building about 100 houses. He surveyed the lots. He also planted over 1,000 trees, maple, elm and beech.
• Zadock owned 10 acres of land in the Museum block; a 365-acre farm opposite the Barrier Dam -- one acre for every day of the year, a little Pratt humor

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HOUSE

• Pratt built the homestead in 1828 of a design that represents the country home of an aspiring entrepreneur. He also maintained an apartment on 5th Avenue, north of Washington Square in NYC.
• Architecture is �Five Bay Federal Block House�, four windows and a central front door. Originally it had a porch on the second floor. Ornamental gingerbread bracketry was added later.
• Home was sold by the Ingersolls in the 1920s. One later owner divided the building into five apartments.
• 1950s - Hilda Moseman and Brayton Tompkins started the Museum in the back of the Town Hall, location of the Prattsville Academy built in 1842. Brayton gathered and preserved artifacts. Hilda provided financial resources.
• 1963 - NYS Attorney General chartered the museum for cultural and historical education
• 1976 - Museum was restored to the original rooms.

FAMILY LIFE  Married two pairs of sisters and a city tanning employee (BEAMS) Beda Dickerman, sister of Esther, who died seven months later of consumption Esther Dickerman who died after two years and seven months of consumption Abigail Watson, sister of Mary, the mother of his two children; she died from complications of childbirth with the third child, who also died. Mary Watson, raised the two children; a community-spirited woman and patron of the arts, spearheaded efforts to build Grace Episcopal Church. Ann Stephens, famous novelist of the 19th century dedicated one of her books, �The Old Homestead� to Mary Pratt. Some scholars believe that parts of this book may be set in Prattsville. Susie A. Grimm, 27 years old when she married Zadock at 74. She was still alive in 1926 in Bergen, NJ (now Jersey City).

CHILDREN

• Son: George mastered many languages, including Swedish, and collected, with his father, a library of over 7,000 volumes which was considered to be the best source of Eastern literature in the country. He was a Col. of the 20th NYS Militia. In 1857 he was elected to the New York Senate. He was wounded in the Second Battle of Manassas during the Civil War. He died later in Albany and was buried in Albany Rural Cemetery. He left a wife and two children. His only son, George Waton Pratt, died when 10 years old and is buried in the same cemetery. 
• Daughter: Julia married Colin Macrae Ingersoll who was a US Senator and later became Charge d� Affairs to Russia. Julia is buried in CT. They had five children: Mary Elisee, Julia Grace, Colin Macrae, Jr., George Pratt and Maud Mary.
• A great, great-granddaughter of Zadock Pratt lives in France. Said to be a countess who lives in a chateau in south France, she visited the Museum in 1983.
• George Pratt Ingersoll served as Ambassador to Siam in 1917 under President Woodrow Wilson.
• Coline Ingersoll Woodworth (1895 - Jan 6, 1978) requested money be given to the Museum on her death. This money was put in a special fund and an herb garden was planted in her memory. 

In 1853 the poet Ann Sophia Stephens praised Pratt in a long poem titled The Tanner and the Hemlock.  She wrote: So the Tanner loves that stout old tree, With its great trunk looming there, And its light leaves dancing joyously, As they sing in the mountain air .... For well he knows that the hemlock bough Will weep o'er his honored tomb.

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