George C. Pratt

George Clinton Pratt (November 1811 – January 1, 1895) was an American farmer, Democratic politician, and Wisconsin pioneer. He was a member of the Wisconsin Senate, representing Waukesha County during the 1862 and 1863 sessions.

Biography George C. Pratt was born in Cheshire County, New Hampshire, in November 1811. He was raised on his family's farm, but his father died when George was about 10 years old. In his teen years, he apprenticed as a saddler and harness-maker in Vermont, then worked as a journeyman for two years in Boston, before settling at Woodstock, Vermont, until 1840. and went on to serve in the 1862 and 1863 legislative sessions. Pratt was renominated in 1863, but was defeated in the general election by Republican William Blair.

In 1866, Pratt was one of the founders of the Waukesha County Manufacturing Company, which produced woolen goods at a factory that ran on water power. The same year he was a co-founder of the North Prairie Petroleum Company—an unsuccessful attempt to drill for oil in the area of Genesee, Wisconsin. He died at his home in Waukesha on January 1, 1895.

Personal life and family George C. Pratt was a son of John Pratt Jr. and his wife Nancy ( Knapp), who had come to New Hampshire from Massachusetts in 1805. John Pratt was a prominent farmer and cattle dealer in New Hampshire.

Pratt's younger brother, Alexander Foster Pratt, was one of the earliest American settlers of Waukesha, Wisconsin, and was described in the History of Waukesha County as one of the most influential Democrats in the early years of the state.

George Pratt married Mary A. Smith of New Haven, Vermont, on New Year's Day, 1839. Mary was the only child of New Haven physician Dr. Horatio A. Smith. They had at least four children.