Orville C. Pratt

Orville Charles Pratt (April 24, 1819 – October 1891) was an American jurist and attorney. He served as the 2nd Associate Justice of the Oregon Supreme Court serving from 1848 to 1852. He wrote the lone dissenting opinion in the controversy over the Oregon Territory’s capital between Oregon City and Salem.

Early life Pratt was born on April 24, 1819, in Rushville, Ontario County, New York. In New York he attended the Army Academy at West Point from 1837 to 1839.

Oregon In 1849, Pratt moved to Oregon to assume the position of judge on the Oregon Supreme Court. Pratt was appointed to the position by President Polk. Then in 1852 when Franklin Pierce became President Pratt was removed as judge, and when he was nominated to become chief justice of the Oregon court Stephen A. Douglas opposed the nomination and Pratt lost the nomination to George Henry Williams. He was known for traveling outside of the territory for his own personal gain, and took every opportunity to advance his personal, business, and political goals. Pratt then tried to get the money from the Ewing Young estate, but ultimately the Oregon Territorial Legislature and the Oregon Supreme Court denied the payment of the funds. While in that office, he ruled in favor of Charlotte L. Brown in her lawsuit against a San Francisco streetcar company after she was ejected for being African-American, helping to end what he termed the "barbaric practice" of racial segregation. He was divorced in 1877, losing $750,000 ($15.5 million as measured in 2014 dollars) in the divorce settlement. His wife had discovered Pratt was having an affair, and in order to avoid prosecution for adultery he agreed to the large divorce settlement. He then married his former mistress, Eugenia Elizabeth Greene. Later in New York he was involved in a gambling issue where he refused to testify due to self incrimination issues. In 1886, the University of Oregon granted Pratt an honorary doctor of laws degree. Orville C. Pratt died in San Francisco in October 1891.