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Dictionary of Miramichi Biography

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PRATT, GEORGE DUPONT (1869-1935)

PRATT, GEORGE DUPONT, non-resident lodge owner and sportsman; b. Brooklyn, N.Y., 16 Aug 1869, s/o Charles Pratt and Helen Richardson; m. 1st, 1897, Helen D. Sherman, and 2nd, Vera Hale, of Sherbrooke, Que.; d. New York, 20 Jan 1935.

George D. Pratt's father was an oil company executive, a well-known philanthropist, and the founder of the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, N.Y.

Pratt was educated at Amherst College (BA 1893) and worked for some years with the Long Island Railroad. He was later the conservation commissioner for the state of New York. In 1923 he was elected president of the American Forestry Association.

Pratt first came to the Miramichi as a sportsman in 1896, and he was an annual visitor after that, being outfitted in Fredericton and guided around the headwaters of the Little Southwest by Henry Braithwaite.

In 1906 a New York stockbroker, Arthur Robinson, erected an expensive hunting and fishing lodge on Holmes Lake, at the head of the Little Southwest. In 1909 he installed a sawmill, with a planer, molder, and matcher, to supply his own lumber needs and those of Pratt, who had decided to build on the other side of the lake. The two men hired John Robinson (no kin) of Newcastle as their local manager. In February 1909, in preparation for the summer's activity, Robinson had thirty-five teams of horses trucking supplies to 'the Lakes' from Newcastle, a distance of sixty miles.

A crew of forty men worked for Pratt in the summer of 1909, and several buildings were erected under the supervision of New York architect T. L. Ackerman. The Union Advocate reported in 1910 that Pratt's main camp was a massive structure with fireplaces which could burn eight-foot logs. It had five bathrooms and every other conceivable convenience and luxury. Afterwards, a boathouse, tennis court, and other facilities were added. In later years, at least, the complex had its own electrical plant, for which an engineer was engaged each summer. A telephone line linked the site to the Joseph Dennis home at Halcomb, about forty miles to the eastward. An airplane equipped with pontoons stood at the ready for convenience, or for use in an emergency. To help protect the premises from fire the Pratts helped pay the cost of installing a government lookout tower on Martins Bluff.

The Pratt camps at the Lakes were used for both sporting purposes and family holidays. Pratt and his first wife, Helen Sherman, and their children were the original occupants. His first wife died in 1923 and he in 1935, survived by his second wife, Vera Hale, a daughter, and three sons. Until his own death in 1964 his son Sherman Pratt spent part of almost every summer at the Lakes. Over the years hundreds of Miramichi residents worked for the Pratts, as portagers, guides, caretakers, attendants, and laborers. The property remained in the family until about 1990, when it was sold.

Sources

[b/m] Who Was Who in America [d] Encycl. Amer. / Advocate 11 Jul 1906, 25 Jul 1906, 24 Feb 1909, 13 Oct 1909, 28 Jun 1910, 30 Jan 1935, 18 May 1938; Commercial World 3 Feb 1949; Leader 3 Feb 1911, 4 Dec 1959, 24 Sep 1964


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