Windham

PRATT, Daniel Stewart

Men of Vermont: Illustrated Biographical History of Vermonters & Sons of 
Vermont. Ullery. Brattleboro: Transcript Publishing Company, 1894, pp 325-326 
(portrait p 325)

Daniel Stewart PRATT, of Brattleboro was born 03 August 1826 in Brattleboro 
[Windham County, Vermont], son of Rufus and Maria (ESTABROOK) PRATT. He is 
of Scotch and English descent. His namesake and maternal great grandfather, 
Col. Daniel STEWART, was a soldier in the Revolutionary army in which he 
served as captain, and after his retirement to private life held many 
important positions. His [maternal] grandfather, Maj. James ESTABROOK, was 
born in 1775 at Warren [Bristol County], Rhode Island, came to Brattleboro 
with his parents when he was four years of age, and was both conspicuous and 
popular in the local militia, in which he obtained the rank of major.

The early boyhood of Daniel Stewart PRATT was spent upon a farm, and his 
education was received in the public schools of Brattleboro. From the age of 
fifteen to the time he attained his majority, he was employed in the market 
establishment by his father in the town. He then entered as a clerk the 
store of Wheeler & Pratt, who did a general dry goods and grocery business, 
and continued in their service until the firm was dissolved in 1850. He then 
became a member of the firm of Pratt, Wheeler & Company, of which he brother, 
Lucius G. [PRATT], was the senior partner. This concern continued to do 
business most successfully for four years, doing a general dry goods, 
millinery and grocery trade, their sales the last years amounting to $100,000. 
At the expiration of the time of partnership, it became evident that a 
radical change must ensue in the manner of conducting their business, as the 
trade demanded that the different lines of goods should be carried in greater 
variety and in separate stocks. His brother, O. J. PRATT, assumed the dry 
goods and millinery department, which he has carried on for nearly thirty-five 
years, while the firm of D. S. Pratt & Company conducted a custom and ready 
made clothing business. In 1860 this partnership was dissolved, and that of 
Pratt, Wright & Company was formed, which continued in the general clothing 
trade until 1873.

In addition to the above lines of business Mr. [Daniel Stewart] PRATT has 
been engaged in farming and the breeding of horses, Shorthorn cattle and 
Southdown sheep, and it is very doubtful if there is a man in the state who 
has received higher prices for his thoroughbred stock. The adjoining country 
has been much benefited by the large number of fine animals which he has 
bred, and while his Shorthorn cattle have been largely sold to go South and 
West, he has even exported a few head to the mother country. He has the 
credit of selling to Robert HALLOWAY of Illinois, the finest cow that ever 
stood in that state, while for one bull, which he owned in connection with 
the Messrs. WINSLOW, he obtained a sum of $9,000. Mr. PRATT was made 
chairman of the board of selectmen in 1879, which was the year of the great 
freshet, when the bridges and roads in the town were nearly all destroyed, 
but under his energetic and skillful management they were repaired and 
rebuilt in the most substantial and satisfactory manner. He has been a 
director for the last thirty years in some bank in town, and at present is 
serving as one of the board of investment of the Vermont Savings Bank, where 
his counsel and advice are influential from his knowledge of the value of 
property in the West, where he has had a wide experience in the handling of 
real estate, both for himself and other people. He became interested with 
others in the Vermont Livestock Company in 1884, and has filled the office of 
vice president and president of this organization.

During the war Mr. PRATT rendered valuable service in recruiting Company B, 
Sixteenth Regiment Vermont Volunteers, several of the enlisted men receiving 
substantial aid from him in obtaining their outfit, while he liberally 
contributed to the support of their families during their absence. He sent a 
paid substitute to the front, and after the close of the struggle was made 
quartermaster of the First Vermont Regiment of the National Guard, in which 
capacity he creditably served until honorably discharged. He has always been 
a stanch Republican, though declining all offers of political preferment, as 
his tastes do not run in that direction. On 14 February 1850 Mr. [Daniel 
Stewart] PRATT was united in marriage to Caroline Pamelia, daughter of Edmund 
and Betsey (WRIGHT) HOAR of Bedford [Middlesex County], Massachusetts. Six 
children have been born to them: Charles Stewart (deceased), Edmund Rufus, 
Mary Alice, Carrie Maria (deceased), Jennie S. (deceased), and Walter Stewart.

Submitted by Cathy Kubly