USA > Massachusetts > Hampden County > Hampden county, 1636-1936, Volume III > Part 51
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In 1897 Dr. Ballantine came to Spring- field, Massachusetts, as professor of Bible at the International Young Men's Christian Association College and during the interven- ing years has made his home in this city. He continued his duties at the International Young Men's Christian Association College until 1920, when he retired after an active career of forty-six years devoted to educa- tion. Exactly half of this period was spent in Springfield.
Dr. Ballantine's reputation as a Bible scholar is wide and was enhanced by his notable translation of the New Testament, published as the "Riverside New Testa- ment" in 1923. He is also the author of the following volumes: "Inductive Logic," 1896; "The Young Man from Jerusalem," 1921; "Understanding the Bible," 1925; "Discovering Jesus," 1927; "The Logic of Science," 1933; and "Peggy in the Park," 1933.
Dr. Ballantine is an Independent Republi- can in politics, a member of The Club in Springfield and the South Congregational Church of this city. He is affiliated with the Phi Delta Theta Fraternity and the honor scholastic society, Phi Beta Kappa. In 1885 Marietta College honored him with the de-
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gree of Doctor of Divinity. In 1891, in rec- ognition of his distinguished career, the hon- orary degree of Doctor of Laws was con- ferred upon him by Western Reserve Uni- versity.
On August 17, 1875, at Waupun, Wiscon- sin, Dr. Ballantine married Emma Frances Atwood, daughter of Almon and Lovina Maria (Wheeler) Atwood. They became the parents of four children: Henry Win- throp, born October 12, 1880; Arthur At- wood, born August 3, 1883; Edward, born August 6, 1886; and Mary Frances (Mrs. Horace E. Allen), born November 30, 1892.
RABBI SAMUEL PRICE-For almost a quarter of a century Rabbi Samuel Price has served the Congregation Beth El, in Springfield. During this period he has also become a well-known figure in Springfield's civic life and in many Jewish movements, both local and of wider scope.
Rabbi Price was born on November 21, 1886, in Kroze, Russia (now Lithuania), a son of Joseph and Rebecca (Wilensky) Preiss. His father was a Hebrew teacher and synagogue official. His own choice of a career was made at an early age and in preparation for his life work he attended a number of Yeshivahs, among them the Tal- mud Academy of Telzh. From that institu- tion he went on to the University of Koe- nigsberg, in Prussia, from which he was graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. Subsequently he took the degree of Master of Arts at the University of Berlin, Germany, and in 1907 was graduated from the Berlin Rabbinical Seminary. In the same year he came, as a young rabbi, to the United States of America, where he has since made his home. In 1910 he was ap- pointed religious director of the Baron de Hirsch Agricultural School at Woodbine, New Jersey, and in 1911 became rabbi of Con- gregation Thoras Emmes, at Newark, New
Jersey, where he served for two years. On September 1, 1913 he came to the Congre- gation Beth El in Springfield, Massachu- setts, of which he has since been rabbi. In addition to his many interests and duties in behalf of his own congregation, Rabbi Price has been prominent in all branches of Jew- ish activity-religious, social, educational and charitable; has coëperated with all Christian denominations in matters pertain- ing to civic welfare at Springfield and has worked, together with other clergymen and communal leaders, for good-will and inter- denominational amity. During the World
War he became a United States "dollar-a- year" man ; served as chaplain of the United States Veterans' Hospital at Northampton, Massachusetts, an office he still retains; and was president of the Western Massachu- setts District of the Jewish Welfare Board of the United States Army and Navy, in which capacity he had important administra- tive responsibilities and spoke extensively throughout New England in behalf of the United War Chest. At Springfield, there is no phase of social service and community progress which has not benefited through his active leadership or sympathetic support, while many of his interests have extended his influence to wider circles.
Rabbi Price is now a member of the board of directors of the Hampden County Chap- ter, American Red Cross; the Springfield Goodwill Industries, the Junior Achieve- ment Foundation, the Jewish Social Service Bureau, the Springfield Community Council of Religious Education and the Foreign Policy Association. He was one of the or- ganizers of the Jewish Social Service Bu- reau and the Springfield Community Coun- cil of Religious Education, and also of the Forest Park Hebrew School, the American Youth Council, the Beth El Sisterhood and the Beth El Brotherhood. In addition to these connections, Rabbi Price is a member
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of the Order of B'nai B'rith, the Zionist Or- ganization of America, the Rabbinical As- sembly of America, the United Synagogue of America, the Springfield Ministers' Associa- tion; a member and vice-president of the Springfield City Club ; and a member of the Springfield Rotary Club. He has been very much interested in and prominently identi- fied with the Zionist movement, which aims toward the establishment of a Jewish na -. tional homeland in Palestine.
Rabbi Price is well known as a public speaker and has frequently been called upon to address public gatherings. In this con- nection he served as orator at the Springfield celebration of the Massachusetts Tercenten- ary. He has also been a frequent lecturer in the colleges of Springfield and the vicinity. His interest in international affairs has kept him in close touch with developments abroad, and in 1935 he traveled through all the countries of Europe and of the Orient, observing conditions in each Nation.
On February 20, 1912, at Newark, New Jersey, Rabbi Price married Fanny Hail- perin, daughter of Rabbi Baer Hailperin and Sarah (Gutkind) Hailperin. They are the parents of two daughters: Lillian I., born December 23, 1913, in Springfield, who was graduated from Brown University with the degree of Bachelor of Arts and from Rad- cliffe College with the degree of Master of Arts; Miriam F., born March 5, 1916, in Springfield, now a student at Smith College.
GEORGE DWIGHT PRATT-The dis- tinguished career of George Dwight Pratt in the city of Springfield can be character- ized for its generous, able and useful public service. A loyal son of Springfield whose family for five generations have lived on Maple Street, he early acquired the gift of leadership in the social life of his native place. Few cities have enjoyed the efforts of a man so altruistic in motive, so able in
execution and so beneficent in purpose. His cheerful and engaging personality, alert mind, with a ready and understanding sym- pathy, have made for him many lasting friendships. For over forty years he has devoted his abounding enthusiasm, good judgment, and his tireless energies to the benefit and welfare of this community and the fruits of his labors have not only en- riched his surroundings but brought him just and merited recognition as one of the first citizens. Home of his forebears, scene of his own busy and successful activities, his attachment is rooted in deep sentimental ties and his pride rests in the unusual devel- opment he has been privileged to witness here. In attaining a status of leadership among his fellow-citizens Mr. Pratt is carry- ing on the illustrious traditions of his fore- bears, whose achievements in this section of the country are recorded in the earliest pages of American history.
Mr. Pratt, of English ancestry, traces his paternal lineage in that country back to the year 1200. Prior to that time there are rec- ords which indicate that the family is of Norman origin.
(I) John Pratt, listed as the first member of his family to come to America, is re- corded to have been in Cambridge, Massa- chusetts, as early as 1633. He was baptized at Stevenage, near Hertforshire, England, November 9, 1620, at which time he was probably an adult. He removed to the plan- tation of New Haven, Connecticut, with the Rev. Thomas Hooker, and shortly thereafter settled in Hartford, Connecticut, where he was a landed proprietor and was elected rep- resentative January 14, 1640. He married Elizabeth Spencer and they were the par- ents of John.
(II) John Pratt, son of John and Eliza- beth (Spencer) Pratt, born in Hartford, Con- necticut, about 1638, made a freeman Feb- ruary 26, 1656, served in various public
George Weight Tra.
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INDIVIDUAL AND FAMILY RECORDS
offices and died November 23, 1689. He married (first) Hannah Boosey, born in 1641, the daughter of Lieutenant James and Alice Boosey; (second) Hepsibah Wyatt, daugh- ter of John Wyatt. By the second marriage he was the father of John, of whom further.
(III) John Pratt, son of John and Hep- sibah (Wyatt) Pratt, born in Hartford, Con- necticut, May 17, 1661, married Hannah Sanford, daughter of Robert Sanford, and they were the parents of William.
(IV) William Pratt, son of John and Hannah (Sanford) Pratt, born in 1691, mar- ried (first) Mary (surname thought to be Caldwell); (second) Amy Pinney, born Oc- tober 6, 1704. By his first marriage he was the father of Zachariah. Mr. and Mrs. Pratt lived in front of the State House Square in Hartford, and Pratt Street was named for hin1. William Pratt was buried in "Center Churchyard" January 19, 1753.
(V) Zachariah Pratt, son of William and Mary Pratt, baptized February 25, 1726, died October 1, 1805. Commissioned ensign in the Ist Company of the train band of Hartford, Connecticut. He married Abigail Cook, daughter of John and Elizabeth (Marsh) Cook, and they were the parents of James.
(VI) James Pratt, son of Zachariah and Abigail (Cook) Pratt, born in Hartford, Connecticut, October 12, 1753, died Janu- ary 3, 1820. He fought in the American Revolution and in 1771, married Mary Burr, daughter of Thomas, Jr. and Sarah (King) Burr. They were the parents of Harry, of whom further.
(VII) Harry Pratt, son of James and Mary (Burr) Pratt, born in Hartford, Con- necticut, June 9, 1778, died December 31, 1853, at Rochester, New York. He was a successful merchant. Harry Pratt married Susan Cleveland, born in Norwich, Connect- icut, September 26, 1784, the daughter of the Rev. Aaron and Abiah (Hyde) Cleve-
land. They were the parents of thirteen children, the fifth being Henry Zachariah.
(VIII) Henry Zachariah Pratt, son of Harry and Susan (Cleveland) Pratt, born March 6, 1813, in Hartford, Connecticut, and died there August 31, 1863. Was associated with Harper Brothers in the book publish- ing business and served as a vice-president of the Aetna Insurance Company. On Au- gust 18, 1853, in Hartford, he married Lucy Elizabeth Brace, born July 5, 1814, died Feb- ruary 1, 1866. She was the daughter of the Hon. Thomas Kimberly and Lucy Mather (Lee) Brace. Hon. Thomas Kimberly Brace was born in Hartford October 16, 1779 and died there June 14, 1860. A graduate of Yale in 1801, he was the founder and first president of the Aetna Insurance Company 1819-57, Connecticut Legislature 1831-32, mayor of Hartford 1840-43 (his father, Jona- than Brace, born November 12, 1754, a grad- uate of Yale, 1779, married Mrs. Ann White Kimberly April 15, 1778; he was the third mayor of Hartford, 1815-24, died September 26, 1837). Lucy Mather (Lee) Brace was a direct descendant of Rev. Richard Mather, American Colonial Divine. Mr. and Mrs. Henry Zachariah Pratt were the parents of nine children, the third being George Walter.
(IX) George Walter Pratt, son of Henry Zachariah and Lucy E. (Brace) Pratt, was born in Brooklyn, New York, February 13, 1840, and died in Rochester, New York, No- vember 1, 1867. He engaged in the paper business and though his business headquar- ters were in New York he made his home in the city of Springfield. On June 4, 1862, he married Lucinda Howard Orne, born in Springfield October 8, 1840 and died there December 29, 1895. She was the daughter of William Wetmore and Lucy Gassett (Dwight) Orne and a descendant of old Colonial stock on both sides. William Wet- more Orne, born June 27, 1811, died April 29, 1852. His wife, Lucy Gassett (Dwight)
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Orne, born January 20, 1817, died April 17, 1887. Lucinda Howard Orne was born in the fine old Orne mansion on Maple Street, which stood on the present site of the Colony Club. Samuel Orne, Esq., was the original owner of this house which was built for him in 1818, and was the most perfect ex- ample of later Colonial style in this city. Samuel Orne, Esq., was born in Salem, Massachusetts, January 30, 1786, and died in Springfield July 28, 1830. He was graduated from Harvard in 1804. On May 4, 1809, he married Lucinda Dwight Howard, born Au- gust 27, 1786, and died October 17, 1828. Mrs. Orne was the daughter of Rev. Dr. Bezaleal Howard. About the time of the building of the Samuel Orne house Mr. Orne became one of the fifty-four petition- ers to the Legislature for the granting of an act of incorporation for the second soci- ety (Unitarian) of the first parish of Spring- field, and a year later was one of the thirty- eight subscribers to the fund for the perma- nent support of a minister to the society, subscribing $2,500. He was elected the first treasurer of the Unitarian Society in 1819 and served in that capacity for several years. Mr. Orne owned the largest private library in the town and besides his mental attain- ments he possessed a magnificent physique and dignified poise and was one of the most popular figures on the streets during the early life of the town. A lawyer by profes- sion, he brought many important citizens to his house which early acquired the repu- tation of being one of the most hospitable homes in Springfield. He died on July 28, 1830, at the age of forty-four years, a cul- tivated and highly esteemed citizen and delightful companion. The father of Sam- uel Orne was Captain William Orne of Salem, Massachusetts, born February 4, 1752 and died October 14, 1815. On March 23, 1780, he married Abigail, daughter of Judge Nathaniel Ropes of Salem. She was
born January II, 1761, and died May 20, 1813. He lived in one of Salem's old his- toric houses on Chestnut Street, a man of abundant means, who had extensive inter- est in ships, many of them seized by the French in the days of the Revolutionary War and became a part of the French Spoliation Claims. Although the French Government have settled in full all these claims, the United States Government still holds back the money and except for the payment of $4,000,000 during the Grover Cleveland administration, has never settled these claims with the descendants of the early New England ship owners. Captain William Orne was of the sixth generation in descent from the admirable old deacon John Orne, 1629-84.
ORNE MEMORANDA.
The Orne family descended from the admirable old Deacon John Orne.
Ist Generation-Deacon John Orne, born in 1629, died in 1684.
2nd Generation-Joseph Orne.
3rd -Joseph Orne.
4th -Josiah Orne.
5th
-Jonathan Orne.
6th -Captain William Orne, born Feb-
ruary 4, 1752, died October 14, 1815.
7th -Samuel Orne, Esq., born January
30, 1786, died July 28, 1830.
8th -William Wetmore Orne, born June 27, 1811, died April 29, 1852.
9th -Lucinda Howard (Orne) Pratt, born October 8, 1840, died Decem- ber 29, 1895.
Ioth
-George Dwight Pratt, born Octo- ber I, 1864.
IIth -Carolyn (Pratt) Hopkins, born September 28, 1900.
12th
-Richard Orne Hopkins, born Octo- ber 21, 1934.
(X) George Dwight Pratt was born in the city of Springfield, Massachusetts, Oc- tober I, 1864, the son of George Walter and Lucinda Howard (Orne) Pratt. He com- pleted a general education in the public
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INDIVIDUAL AND FAMILY RECORDS
schools of Springfield in 1882. His first position was with the Holyoke and West- field Railroad Company in Holyoke where he was employed for about a year. At the expiration of this period he entered the offices of the Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company in Springfield as cash- ier, and continued in this position until his retirement in 1901.
The public services of Mr. Pratt are such as to make him long remembered for his civic pride and devotion to the interests of the city of Springfield. He is a member of the board of directors of the Third National Bank of Springfield, and oldest trustee in point of service for the Springfield Institu- tion for Savings. For over twenty years he has been a director of the Holyoke Water Power Company, the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad Company and the Phoenix Mutual Life Insurance Com- pany. He assisted in the organization of the Hampden County Chapter of the Amer- ican Red Cross, which he headed as chair- man for thirteen years. He was a trustee of the Union Relief Association. He was also treasurer of the Hampden County Musical Association for a period of many years. In addition he serves on the board of trustees of Mount Holyoke College, of Miss Hall's School at Pittsfield, Massachusetts, and the Springfield Young Men's Christian Asso- ciation College, the Springfield Hospital and the City Library Association.
Through the united efforts of the late Samuel Bowles, Newrie D. Winter and Mr. Pratt, a sum of $100,000 was collected and presented to the city of Springfield at the time of the celebration of its fiftieth anni- versary as a city. This sum was given on condition that the city of Springfield sub- scribe a like sum and the whole amount be used for the extension of Court Square to the river.
Under Mr. Pratt's leadership for ten years as president of the board of trustees of the Springfield Hospital it grew from an institu- tion caring for four hundred patients a year to one treating nearly three thousand pa- tients annually. Mr. Pratt is credited with the plan for erecting a building as a memo- rial to Dr. Frederick Wilcox Chapin, Spring- field's leading physician, and for which he personally raised the sum of seventy-five thousand dollars. In 1905, during Mr. Pratt's administration of the Springfield Hospital, the first home for nurses was built to which he contributed $5,000 in memory of his mother, Lucinda Howard (Orne) Pratt. On April 16, 1906 a one-night's benefit perfor- mance was given at the Poli Theatre, when, without a single dollar for expenses, the entire proceeds of the entertainment amount- ing to $25,431.20 were secured with which to build a central heating plant for the Springfield Hospital. Mr. Pratt secured eleven gifts of $1,000 each and nine of $500 each for this gala red-letter evening.
Perhaps one of his greatest contributions to the civic and social welfare of Spring- field is to be found in the work he accom- plished as chairman of the Municipal build- ing commission, a body responsible for the erection at the City Civic Center of a group of municipal buildings, which stand as a model of monumental structures of their type. In recognition of the work he accom- plished as head of this body, Mr. Pratt was invited to appear before the city council on December 29, 1913, and presented a hand- somely engrossed set of resolutions which read in part as follows :
WHEREAS, The completion of the new Municipal buildings of the city of Springfield was publicly and formally signalized, on the evening of Monday, the eighth day of December, 1913, by the delivery of the Grand Master Key to His Honor, the Mayor, and by his acceptance thereof and
Hampden-23
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INDIVIDUAL AND FAMILY RECORDS
WHEREAS, The chairman of said commission, Mr. George Dwight Pratt, has, by common acknowledg- ment, borne the brunt of the labor involved in the execution of the task of the said commission :-
Now, Therefore, Be It Resolved, That the Board of Aldermen and the Common Council of the city of Springfield do hereby tender to the said Municipal Building Commission, and to its successive members, all and several, the thanks of the Municipality for their most worthy and valuable services; and be it further
Resolved, That the Board of Aldermen and the Common Council of the city of Springfield do hereby tender to the chairman of the said commission, Mr. George Dwight Pratt, the special thanks of the Mu- nicipality, for the seven years of time, for the seven years' fidelity, for the seven years of enthusiastic devotion which, without compensation, he has given to the service of the city. Acknowledgment is hereby made of the magnitude and of the manifold difficulties of the great work which has been brought to so impos- ing, notable and happy a completion. And, further, acknowledgment is hereby made that Mr. Pratt pos- sesses qualities of mind and of personality and facul- ties, executive and artistic, that have made his an ideal guiding hand; and be it further
Resolved, That to do honor to one who has so abun- dantly earned it, and publicly to recognize the worth of an unusual citizen, these resolutions be suitably engrossed, signed by the Board of Aldermen and the Common Council of the city of Springfield for 1913, presented to Mr. Pratt, and spread upon the records of both branches of the City Council.
Mr. Pratt was instrumental in saving the D. B. Wesson house on Maple Street from being demolished. He secured an option from the heirs of Mr. Wesson for sixty days to purchase the property for $51,000 and, with a small group of friends, organized the present Colony Club for men and women, acting as its first president but declining re- election after a period of three years. One of the first of the many brilliant companies to be gathered in the Colony Club was a musical given by Mr. and Mrs. Pratt for several hundred friends when the popular Kneisel Quartet were the entertainers and were enthusiastically received in a memora- ble evening of delightful music.
At the time when Mrs. Appleton Hillyer of Hartford, Connecticut, the daughter of Dr. Horace Bushnell was making plans for the Bushnell Memorial Building she hon- ored Mr. Pratt by going to him for advice in choosing an architect. Mr. Pratt strongly recommended Harvey Wiley Corbett who was the moving spirit in designing the Springfield Municipal Group and on his rec- ommendation Mr. Corbett was invited to make the plan for the beautiful Bushnell Memorial which Mrs. Hillyer's great gener- osity provided for Hartford. Mr. Pratt was invited to act as umpire and cast the decid- ing vote in the choice of a site for the loca- tion in Westfield, Massachusetts, of the his- toric General William Shepherd monument which stands on Westfield's central square.
At the end of September, 1928, and soon after the merger of the Chicopee National Bank with the Third National Bank and Trust Company had been completed, a week- end party was given by Mr. Pratt at "Tree- tops" and "Inverbay" in Falmouth and Woodshole, Massachusetts, to which the twenty-four directors of the new consoli- dated bank were invited. This "get-to- gether" week-end party of four days turned out most happily, increasing the esteem of the directors for each other, and proving in many ways a splendid thing for the future of the bank as well as a delightful and memorable outing on the shores of Cape Cod.
In 1915 the first year of the award of the William Pynchon medal, "for distinguished service" presented by the Springfield Pub- licity Club, Mr. Pratt was selected as one of the five original recipients.
For a full score of years one of the impor- tant features of the society life in Spring- field was the series of assemblies. These dances were first instituted by Frederick Harris and George A. Morton about 1875.
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INDIVIDUAL AND FAMILY RECORDS
After they had managed them for ten years they turned them over to George Dwight Pratt and Henry G. Chapin and the dances continued the most anticipated events of the winter season. During the ten years of the management under Messrs. Pratt and Chapin these Springfield assemblies gained in size and popularity. When Harvard and Yale played their annual football game at Springfield, the night before assembly of- fered Springfield an opportunity to show her hospitalities to the football guests. At these Harvard-Yale assemblies a selected group of upper classmen from each college and many prominent society people from New York and New England were invited to be present and either the Yale or Hai- vard Glee clubs gave a short concert during the evening. On the evening of November . 23, 1894, over a thousand people attended the last Harvard-Yale assembly given in Springfield. The ball was held in the City Hall which was beautifully decorated and lighted and the affair was acknowledged a very brilliant and notable success equalling the promenades at the universities and brought .many congratulations to the man- agers who had planned this occasion for social enjoyment.
As a young man Mr. Pratt was always active in affairs at the Church of the Unity, serving as head usher there for ten years and as one of the original members of the Unity Dramatic Club, taking part in many of the plays presented by the group of local amateurs. When Rev. James Gordon Gil- key accepted the call to Springfield Mr. Pratt agreed to become treasurer of the South Church upon condition that the pews be made free and the church establish an every member canvass as a means of raising the annual budget. Mr. Pratt continued to act as treasurer during the first ten years of Mr. Gilkey's very successful pastorate, during which time a large amount of money
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