serviceyears death_date children allegiance nationality birth_date alt signature birthname term_end restingplace state_senate commands death_place battles term_start spouse rank image name occupation predecessor restingplacecoordinates birth_place party state district successor religion article_title
1814 ; 1826 & ndash ; 1815 , 1819 & ndash 5 april 1871 george watson pratt julia harriet pratt abigail watson pratt united states 1912 american 30 october 1790 an engraving of zadock pratt . zadock pratt signature.svg zadock pratt jr. . march 3 , 1839 march 3 , 1845 prattsville , new york new york 5th york militia regiment new york state artillery 116th regiment new jersey city , new jersey war of 1812 march 4 , 1837 march 4 , 1843 beda esther dickerman -lrb- m. 1823 , d. 1824 -rrb- abigail dickerman p. watson -lrb- m. 1827 , d. 1834 -rrb- mary -lrb- watson -lrb- m. 1835 , d. 1868 -rrb- susie a. m. grimm -lrb- m. 1869 -rrb- 1818 , d. 1819 -rrb- 20px 1822 & ndash ; 1826 captain 1820 & ndash ; 1822 20px colonel zadock pratt clean.jpg zadock pratt tanner , banker , soldier aaron vanderpoel aaron vanderpoel 42 19 14 n 74 26 7 w inline stephentown , new york democrat new york new york 8th 11th archibald l. linn john f. collin methodist episcopal zadock pratt

zadock pratt

zadock pratt jr. -lrb- october 30 , 1790 -- april 5 , 1871 -rrb- was a tanner , banker , soldier , and member of the united states house of representatives .
pratt served in the new york militia from 1819 -- 1826 , and was colonel of the 116th regiment from 1822 until his resignation from the militia on september 4 , 1826 .
in the catskill mountains , pratt built the largest tannery in the world at its time , and built of the town of prattsville to accommodate the labor force necessary for the tannery , raising the town 's population from around 500 to over 2000 .
pratt was elected to the united states house of representatives in 1836 and 1842 .
during his second term , in 1845 he first proposed the transcontinental railroad .
in 1848 , pratt tried but failed to receive the democrat/hunker nomination for the 1848 new york state gubernatorial election .
he was a delegate to the 1852 democratic national convention .
in 1843 , pratt established the prattsville bank with , which printed its own bills that were kept on par with the us dollar , but he closed the bank nine years later in 1852 .
pratt financed multiple smaller tanneries in the catskills , and also one in pennsylvania as a joint venture with jay gould .
in 1860 he retired from active business pursuits , and died in 1871 .
