Genealogy of Patty Rose
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| Notes for Benjamin PRATT | ||||||||||
| - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Benjamin Pratt4, b. 13 Mar. 1710/11 (Hingham 1:155) [ref 30:195] - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Benjamin Pratt Married: Dec 30, 1749 Boston, Suffolk Co., MA Isabella Auchmuty [ref 23:0818093-0818095] (children abt 1750-62: Isabella, Ezekiel, Benjamin, George, Frederick) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Benjamin,3 b. in Hingham, March 13, 1710; m. Isabella, daughter of Robert Auchmuty, of Boston. His will is dated Dec. 29, 1762, and he d. Jan. 6, 1763. He was Chief Justice of New York under the Crown. [ref 40:66] Member of the Massachusetts Legislature, "His Majesty's Advocate General of the Province of Massachusetts," and afterwards Colonial Chief Justice of New York, under the King. He was born in that part of Hingham then known as Conohasset District, March 13, 1709-10. Hingham was settled about 1635, and Cohasset was set off from Hingham about 1670. It originally belonged to the inhabitants of that town as "undivided or common lands:" these were finally divided among the early proprietors. As late as 1714, however, all the inhabitants of both of these towns were considered to be members of the First Parish in Hingham. July 13, 1721, Nehemiah Hobart, who married Elizabeth Pratt, an elder sister of Benjamin, came to preach to them of Cohasset, the Cohasset church not yet having been formed; Hingham had refused to let them leave their place of worship till 1715, when the General Court gave them liberty to form a separate parish. December 13, 1721, the church was finally organized, and Hobart became their first minister, dying in 1640, in the forty-third year of his age. In early youth Benjamin was apprenticed to a mechanic. When about nineteen years of age he fell from a tree and injured his leg severely. He received the best medical services attainable, and most assiduous care; notwithstanding which his limb continued to grow worse. After suffering a long time with increasing indications of a near termination of his life, his limb was amputated near the hip. For a considerable time after this he continued in a precarious condition, so much so as to lead his father Aaron, who made his will in 1730, to anticipate Benjamin's early decease,--a contingency which he provided for in that instrument. Benjamin however gradually recovered strength, but he endured through his remaining years many periods of great physical pain and suffering. Whether he had any taste for literary pursuits previous to his illness is not now known. The presumption is, however, that the accident in his youth in a great measure influenced his subsequent career. At this period the frailer boys in the family were selected for sedentary pursuits, rather than the stronger, since the latter were supposed to be better able to assist the father on the farm, and to be his successors in that occupation, or to become stronger and better mechanics. There were then few or no lawyers in New England, and a large portion of the medical practice was intrusted to women. While colleges were considered by the intelligent as admirably calculated to improve the mind, and education was highly valued, yet in the general estimation the chief object of these institutions was to provide the churches with clergymen, who were then the leading oracles of the people. Under the tuition and direction of the Rev. Nehemiah Hobart, who as we have seen had married his half-sister Elizabeth Pratt, Benjamin was prepared to enter the Junior class in Harvard College in 1735, where he graduated in 1737, in a class of thirty-four members. Previous to the American Revolution, instead of adopting the alphabetical order, which is now the universal custom in this country for catalogues of graduates, the plan was to arrange the list according to the political or social standing, the wealth or prominence of the parents, without any regard to the age, moral, or intellectual condition of their sons. Benjamin Pratt's name was accordingly placed at the foot of the list, where it now stands. In the early Triennials and the Quinquennial Catalogues of later days, it is customary to affix to the names of graduates such honorary degrees and titles as they from time to time have acquired; by reference to the last Catalogue printed by Harvard University, it appears that Benjamin Pratt attained during his life higher distinction, in some respects, than any of his thirty-three classmates, his being the only name of his class which has been printed in small capitals. [ref 40:71] After graduating from college he devoted some time to the occupation of a teacher among the Indians in the neighborhood of Boston, but the compensation allowed him by the Colony was inadequate to his support. After this he studied law in Boston, with Gridley or Auchmuty, or with both of them,--then the most distinguished lawyers of that town. He is represented as being a remarkably diligent student, although frequently suffering the most intense bodily pain, which could not divert him from his books, and we are told that often "the perspiration in a very profuse manner indicated the intensity of his anguish and his unbounded zeal for the acquisition of knowledge." He rapidly acquired fame for his learning and eloquence, and became one of the most distinguished men of his time in America. His Law Office in Boston, was on the westerly side of Washington Street, near King (now State) Street, between State and Brattle Streets, on the site occupied more recently by Crocker & Brewster, booksellers. He received more cases than any other counsellor in New England, and many of these were of the most complicated and important character. While a resident of Boston he was an attendant at King's Chapel, and after the present buildings g was completed he became (in 1754) the owner of the pew then and now numbered 35, which is a wall pew on the south side of the chapel as one faces the chancel, and looks out on the third window from the south-easterly corner; it still retains its ancient form. This he held until he removed from Boston, selling it in 1762. When the famous organ was set up in the gallery of that Church in 1756, he contributed five guineas towards its purchase. During the year 1761 he was appointed Chief Justice of New York, probably through the influence of Governor Pownall, of Massachusetts, who was his close personal friend. On leaving Boston for New York he received from his professional brethren in the former city a Valedictory letter, written in the most complimentary manner, and expressing their appreciation of his profound learning and great ability, his incorruptible integrity, and his general demeanor as a citizen and man. His reply to the letter was dignified, courteous, and grateful, and won for him additional respect and esteem for its nobility. [ref 40:75] Ex-President John Adams gives an interesting account of his personal appearance in a letter to a friend. Referring to the time when American Independence was born, and describing the Court Chamber in the Old State House in Boston, which stands at the head of King Street, he says it "was more respectable in proportion to the numbers of its eminent actors within, than the House of Lords or House of Commons, in Great Britain, or that in Philadelphia in which the Declaration of Independence was signed in 1776," and then writes:-- "Near the fire were seated five Judges with Lieut. Hutchinson at their head as Chief, all in their new Robes of Scarlet English Cloth, with their broad bands and immense Judicial wigs. At a long table sat all the barristers of Boston, and its neighboring County of Middlesex, in their gowns, bands and tye wigs. Conspicuous among these," he continues, "was Benjamin Pratt, who had recently retired from the bar to accept the office of Chief Justice of New York, now an interested spectator of the proceedings, hanging upon his crutches and covered by his great coat, attentively listening to the arguments, --himself an embodiment of wit, sense, imagination, genius, pathos, reason, prudence, eloquence, learning, science and immense reading." [ref 40:76] The following notice appears in the Boston News Letter, June 4, 1761: "We have advice by Letters from London, That Benjamin Pratt, Esq., His Majesty's Advocate General of this Province, is appointed to be Chief Justice of New York and one of the Honorable, His Majesty's Council of that Province. (The foregoing advices were brought by the Ship Prince George which arrived here yesterday.)" When he assumed his office in New York it occasioned much displeasure among the lawyers there, for they did not wish to have a Massachusetts man, a stranger to the most of the citizens of that region, supersede them. A case of considerable perplexity, which for a long time had baffled the Courts, was purposely selected for his ruling, in the hope of confusing him with the technicalities involved. As the case was new to him, and he had not been previously perplexed with the subtleties which had engrossed and confused his predecessors, he was enabled to view it in a new, clearer and more comprehensive light, and gave a decision which for legal acumen, justice and judgment, astonished and greatly delighted those who had endeavored to entrap him in its complicated and bewildering meshes. He at once became as famous a jurist in New York as he had been at home. His impaired health, which was becoming daily more serious, probably prompted him to seek another sphere, and change of climate. He soon after received the appointment from the British Government as Governor of one of the West India Islands. He did not live long enough after this to remove from New York, although he was making preparations to depart and assume the office. He died in the City of New York, January 5-6, 1763, and was there interred in Trinity Church Yard. He left a widow and four children. [ref 40:77] His old homestead, which he purchased in 1755, consisted of one hundred and fifty acres of land, and was on the south-west slope of Milton Hill, near Boston. The residence of J. W. Brooks, Esq., includes a portion of the premises. He married Isabella, the daughter of Judge Robert Auchmuty, of the Court of Admiralty in Boston, with whom he had studied his profession, and whose residence was at Roxbury. She was a lady of marked accomplishments and refinement. The date of his marriage I have not found, but judging from the will of his wife's father, it must have been after March 15, 1741. [ref 40:78] He was termed an ardent Whig, and was the warm personal friend of Governor Pownall, who also favored the same principles. At the time of Mr. Pratt's death the causes which brought on the American Revolution had not progressed so far in opposition to the British Crown as to enable us now to judge what advanced views he might have entertained in relation to the proceedings which ultimately terminated in establishing the Independence of the Colonies. We know that Oxenbridge Thatcher was one of his most intimate and respected friends, and was one of his executors. After Mr. Pratt's decease that gentleman became one of the most zealous and influential actors in New England in the support of the patriots and their measures. Judge Pratt's will is dated December 29, 1762, a few days before his death at New York, January 6, 1763. It is said by his kinsmen, that he had intended to spend the evening of his days at Milton, Mass., where he had purchased a considerable estate as already mentioned. Among the "Live Stock and Farm Utensils" mentioned in the inventory of his estate were the following items: -- One negro Male Slave valued at o13, 6 shillings gs, 8 pence; one negro Female Slave valued at o30. [ref 40:80] Holmes's "Annals" says that "He was conspicuous for learning and eloquence.... He was a bold and ardent friend to Freedom." February 2, 1790. In a sketch of the proceedings of the General Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, on the subject of the "Bar Call" printed in the "Herald of Freedom," it is said:-- "Mr. Gardiner, of Pownalborough, [Me.] addressed the Legislature. He said that he studied law for three years in the office of the late Mr. Pratt, who afterwards died Chief Justice of New York, from the latter part of the year 1755 to the middle of the year 1758. No such monster as the 'Bar Call' was known in this country. There were then seven Professors of the Law in this town: -- Mr. Pratt, whose utmost gains never exceeded �750 a year, Mr. Gridley, Mr. Otis, Mr. Thacher, as honest a man as ever breathed the breath of life, Mr. Auchmuty, Mr. Swift and Mr. Kent, the last of whom was the chimney-sweep of the bar, into whose black dock entered every dirty action." [ref 40:82] - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - (Boston News Letter of January 27, 1763) "The last post brought an account of the death of Benjamin Pratt, Esq., late of this town, which happened at New York the 6th instant. He was Chief Justice, and a member of the Council for that Province, to which honorable and important offices his merit and abilities had raised him. The following lines dedicated to his memory please insert in your paper. With ardent love for ancient wisdom fired And with a genius Heaven alone inspired, He rifled Rome of all its mighty store And still athirst to Athens went for more. Both now exhausted, from the modern page Fraught with the sense of each preceding age, He seized its treasures, made them all his own, And midst the sons of Science greatly shone. In him, though Science did its rays unite, And shed around him its distinguished light, 'Twas but a second merit. Virtue more Adorned the man than all his learning's store. To Heaven now fled, beyond all mortal ken, He rivals Angels as he rivaled men." - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - His illness prevented him from attending the Commencement of the College, for the public reception of his degree: "Hon.d Tutor Please accept my transmission of that Duty and Regard which I owe, and which my unhappiness will not suffer me to pay in person. I presume on your goodness that you will not forget one of your Pupils, or Deny a protection to his cause on the Account of his Misfortune. I beseech that my deplorable Circumstances may not debar me from any Accademic privilages, And that I may-nt be excluded because I am unfortunate. I am not a Judge of my Qualifications. But this I think I may venture to say, That my Deficiencies are not my Faults,--But the Effects of a Ruinous constitution and Want of Advantages. For I presume there is no man that loves his Learning better, or that more freely could spend his Life in the pursuit of it, than I. But I must study how to Live, and how to bear the miseries of a Wretched Life. I have here (pursuant to your order) sent my imperfect Thoughts on a Subject, The importance of which will excuse me (as I hope) in Deviating from the usual methods of Young Students Viz: Common placing on the Obvious Parts of learning--Selecting other Thoughts and Inventions and intruding their Crambas-recortas on their Superiors. Tho' my Tenet may for aught I know be new, Yet I am far from dreaming that I shall afford any new Speculation in the matter. My only intention was to present my reasons to your Examination & tho' I dare not be so presumptious as to desire the Honour of being informed of my Sophisms, Yet I would beg your Judicious & Candid examination of them. I am sensible of my inequality to so great and difficult a Task as I have attempted -- And what is an addition, the Difficulty is 'tis next to impossible for me to Express my Thoughts, Words being Prodigiously ambiguous and equivical. Our Language is imperfect and ill adapted to communicate our Ideas. And were I to write to a less man than yourself I should fear Prepossession & preimbibed notions would plead against me. To Conclude I wish my letter may serve to communicate my Thoughts: That what is amiss may be pardoned: That all Imaginable Happiness may attend you, Hon'd Sir, and that I may have the Honor to be called your Humble Pupil B. PRATT. To the Rev. Mr. Nathan Prince, Q. D. C." - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - | ||||||||||
| Notes for Isabella AUCHMUTY | ||||||||||
| - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - daughter of Judge Robert AUCHMUTY and Julianne TREILLARD - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - | ||||||||||
| Last Modified 10 Aug 2004 | Created 4 Jan 2005 |