Charles Millard Pratt

Charles Millard Pratt (November 2, 1855 – November 27, 1935) was an American oil industrialist, Pratt was the eldest son of Charles Pratt and Lydia A. Richardson. Prior to 1923, he was a trustee of the Atlantic Mutual Insurance Company, According to the report, the condition manifested in December 1922.

Philanthropy He was president of the Pratt Institute's board of trustees, as well for a time of the Adelphi Academy. Pratt House at Vassar, a residence for the warden (a variegated administrative role encompassing student affairs duties), was completed in 1915 by architects York and Sawyer. Pratt also contributed to the endowment and the building of structures at the Pratt Institute. In 1910, he and his five brothers and a sister gave $1,750,000 to the institute.

Personal life He was married to Mary Seamoor Morris Pratt, Charles Pratt was survived by his widow, his sons Richardson and Theodore Pratt, a daughter Katherine Eugenia (Mrs. Burton Parker Twitchell), and three brothers and a sister.

Legacy and honors In 1903, Pratt was awarded an honorary degree from Yale University.

Upon his death, his estate left $150,000 to educational and religious institutions. His will granted much of his estate to his widow and three children, with funds also to Pratt Institute, Vassar College, Amherst College, Emmanuel Baptist Church of Brooklyn, and the Brooklyn Bureau of Charities. Funds also went to the International Committee of the Young Men's Christian Association, as well as Pomona College, and the Presbyterian Church of Glen Cove, L.I.

A June 1938 report filed with Kings County valued the C. M. Pratt estate at a net value of $20,004,812. Gross estate was $22,181,006. His widow and children were to share in the property, which was primarily in stocks and bonds. A state tax of $3,305,062 was levied against the property, with the Federal tax more.

His widow died on October 24, 1947, at their home of Seamoor in Glen Cove.

Estates

Pratt had a number of estates and mansions designed. William Tubby designed the Charles Millard Pratt House at 241 Clinton Avenue, Clinton Hill, Brooklyn in 1893. Located in the Clinton Hill Historic District, In 2014 an enormous renovation and restoration effort was undertaken and Brazilian American artist Sergio Rossetti Morosini was commissioned to build new staircases in stone, restore the endangered brownstone architectural artwork, including ornaments, the critically worn façade and its decayed limestone walls.

Pratt had a winter home, also known as the Charles M. Pratt House, which was designed by Greene and Greene in Ojai, California and completed in 1909. The winter bungalow was on a 54-acre estate as of 2001. Architectural Digest described it as an “American masterpiece.”

Beginning circa 1890, he also maintained Seamoor (nominally a summer estate) in Glen Cove, New York. In 1903, a barn on the property burned down, killing 12 horses. Pratt said the losses were covered by insurance. By October 1930, the property's assessed valuation was around $7 million. The Pratt estate also included the homes of nine members of the family: Representative Ruth Baker Pratt, Harold I. Pratt, Herbert L. Pratt, Charles Pratt, Frederic B. Pratt, George D. Pratt, F. L. Babbett and Helen P. Emmetto.

The large estate was later broken up. In the late 20th century, a portion of the property was donated to the City of Glen Cove for use as a public park. It has been developed for a golf course, tennis courts, a restaurant and related facilities.