Azel Pratt

PRATT, GURNEY, HERSEY, HOWARD

Posted By: Patricia Bollozos (email)
Date: 8/6/2020 at 18:15:50

Azel Pratt Biography

The Pratt family has been part of American history for nearly four hundred years. Phineas (c1593-1680)and Joshua Pratt (c1599-1656) were early settlers from England to the Plymouth Colony. Phineas sailed on the ship 'Sparrow' in 1622 and Joshua followed in 1623 on the ship 'Anne'.

The Pratt brothers were assigned two acres of land in Plymouth during the year of 1623.

Azel Pratt is the direct descendant of Joshua Pratt and his wife Bathsheba.

Azel Pratt was born on September 3, 1810 in Hebron, Oxford County, Maine. He died on February 18, 1881 in Allamakee County, Iowa. Azel was the son of Deacon Josiah Pratt (1783-unknown) and Sybil Gurney - Pratt (1785-1847).

Azel was married to Mary Hersey (1814-1881) on April 21 1833, in Dover-Foxcroft, Maine. She was the daughter of Noah Hersey (1785-1833) and Phebe Howard - Hersey (1791-1881).

Azel Pratt and his brother Lemuel Pratt with their families set out from Maine to Iowa in the fall of 1850.

The group traveled by rail and covered wagons to reach their new destination in Iowa. The Pratt
brothers built a log cabin in Makee before the township was organized in 1852. Azel became the
Deacon of the First Baptist Church of Waukon that he helped organize in 1854.

Azel was a carpenter by trade and built many of the structures in Waukon, Allamakee County, Iowa.

Azel and Mary both died of Typhoid Fever in 1881. They are buried in the Oakland Cemetery, located in Waukon, Allamakee County, Iowa.

Azel Pratt’s grandfathers were Patriots during the American Revolutionary War. Private Thaddeus Pratt(1755-1843), served under Captains Joshua Jacobs, Josiah Hayden and Colonel John Bailey, Continental Line. Lieutenant Zachariah Gurney (1729-1813), served under Captain Josiah Hayden’s Company of Minute Men part of Colonel Bailey’s regiment.

Four of Azel’s sons served during the Civil War:
Noah Pratt (1834-1918) served 1861-1865. Promoted to 2nd Lieutenant in 1864.

Marcellus Pratt (1836-1902) served 1863-1864. Wounded in Tupelo, Mississippi. Slight head wound.

Richmond Pratt (1839-1900) served 1863-1865. Member of the GAR.

Emery Pratt (1843-1935) served 1861-1865. Promoted to 1st Lieutenant. Wounded twice during war.
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References: Plymouth Colony, Its History and People, 1620-1691, by Eugene Aubrey Stratton, History of North Bridgewater, Family Register pg.623, Maine Birth Records, The Great Migration Begins, pg. 1510, Plymouth Plantation, Family search, Genealogy of Pratt Family, by Francis Pratt, Jr. Wikipedia, Find A Grave, Ancestry.com, Allamakee co. IAGenWeb project, DAR.