Pascal Paoli Pratt - Table of Contents
Biography - Pascal Paoli Pratt
Reprinted from
Geneological and Family History of
Western New York, ed. by William Richard Cutter, 1912, Vol. I, p. 400-401
(online)
Pascal Paoli's grandparents: Captain Samuel and Esther (Wells) Pratt
Pascal Paoli's parents: Samuel, eldest son of Captain Samuel and Esther (Wells) Pratt, was born at Westminster, Vermont, in 1787. He was seventeen years old when his father emigrated to Buffalo, but he did not immediately accompany the family, being then employed in a store at Townshend, Vermont. Here, in 1806, he married Sophia Fletcher, born in 1788, daughter of General Samuel Fletcher, of Townshend, a distinguished revolutionary soldier, legislator and judge. Samuel followed his father to Buffalo, in 1807, bringing his wife and infant son, Samuel F.
Pascal Paoli's siblings:
- Lucius H.
- Sophia C.
- Samuel F.
Pascal Paoli, born in Buffalo, September 15, 1819. He was educated in the village schools and at Hamilton Academy, now Colgate University, in Madison county, and Amherst Academy, Amherst, Massachusetts.
At sixteen he began work in the hardware store of his brother, Samuel F. Pratt, and upon becoming of age was taken into partnership, the firm becoming, first, S. F. Pratt & Company, and later Pratt & Company. E. P. Beals afterward entered the firm. The business was continued until 1885 unchanged except for the death, in 1872, of S. F. Pratt. Originally limited to retail trade, it extended on wholesale lines until its operations reached beyond the Mississippi.
He was a member of the firm of Pratt & Letchworth, formed by his brother and William P. Letchworth, in 1848, to manufacture saddlery hardware.
In 1857 he formed the Buffalo Iron and Nail Company, building a blast furnace and rolling mill at Black Rock. This company with its allied concerns, the Fletcher Furnace Company and the Tonawanda Furnace Company, employed from five hundred to eight hundred men and was largely instrumental in building up the northern part of the city.
Mr. Pratt believed in manufacturing as a matter of public spirit as well as well as private profit and he believed in Buffalo as a manufacturing center. He was a liberal employer and held the respect of his workmen as well as of his fellow-citizens.
In 1856 he founded the Manufacturers' and Traders' Bank, becoming its vice-president and director. He succeeded to the presidency in 1885 and held that position until 1901, when he retired on account of advancing years, and his place was taken by his son-in-law, Robert L. Fryer.
He was also one of the founders of the Bank of Buffalo, and a director of the Bank of Attica, an original trustee of the Fidelity Trust and Guaranty Company, now the Fidelity Trust Company; a director of the Buffalo Street Railway Company; a director of the Buffalo Gaslight Company, and a director of the Western New York and Pennsylvania Railroad Company.
He was for many years the President of the Buffalo Clearing House Association. He was one of the originators of the Buffalo park system, serving as first president of the park commission from 1869 to 1879. During this time the parks were laid out and the essential work of establishing them was done.
In 1883 he served with Luther R. Marsh, of New York, and Matthew Hale, of Albany, on the commission to appraise the land for the state reservation, at Niagara Falls. The awards amounted to about $1,500,000.
Originally a Whig, he became a Republican upon the foundation of the party, but would never consent to run for public office, except that he was presidential elector in 1872. He was an ardent Union man during the war, contributing liberally for the relief of sick and wounded soldiers.
He became the first president of the Young Men's Christian Association, to which he was a generous contributor.
He was president for twenty years of the Buffalo Seminary and was one of the founders and a life member of the Buffalo Fine Arts Academy. He served as trustee of the Buffalo Orphan Asylum, trustee of Forest Lawn Cemetery, vice-president of the Civil Service Reform Association, president of the board of trustees of the North Presbyterian Church, and vice-president of the Presbyterian Union.
He was a charter member of the Buffalo Club and a member of the Ellicott and Falconwood clubs. In his early years he belonged to Eagle Engine Company No. 2, and was an original member of the Volunteer Firemen's Benevolent Association, and a member of the Buffalo Exempt Volunteer Firemen's Association.
He was a very active member of the Sons of the American Revolution.
He married, September 1, 1845, Phoebe, daughter of Frederick Lorenz, a prominent glass and iron manufacturer, of Pittsburgh.
Children:
- Katherine Lorenz, married John Miller Horton
- Frederick Lorenz, married Jeannie Williams
- Annie Lorenz, married John S. Chittenden
- Melissa Dodge, married Robert L. Fryer.
- Samuel Fletcher [not to be confused with his uncle]
- Emma, married Dr. Charles Sumner Jones
- Edward Pascal, married Annette Perrine
Pascal P. Pratt died June 18, 1905.
