The Pratt Family.
A Genealogical Record of Mathew Pratt of Weymouth, Mass. and his
American Descendants.
1623-1889
by Francis G. Pratt, Jr.
Member of The New England Historic Genealogical Society
Boston, Mass, 1890

[accessed on-line through google books]
[excerpts of...]
[note, this copy is very difficult to read, especially numbers]

p.7
Introduction

There are known to have been at least 10 persons by the name of Pratt
who settled in New England between 1621 and 1650. Some of those
individuals were doubtless members of the same family, perhaps
brothers, or of other relationship near or remote; but from what
places in England they came, or who were their immediate ancestors,
or in what ship each arrived, is very much a matter of tradition.
There are to-day, doubtless, in the mother country, legal records,
and town or family genealogies, which, if examined, would clear up
much of the obscurity which surrounds the early history of the Pratt
families. It is to be hoped that at some time, not far distant, some
one will make the necessary thorough investigations.
The name of Pratt, from a very remote period, has been common in
England, especially in the more southern counties. The family is of
Norman descent (the name frequently occurs in the Norman records) and
had many distinguished representatives even before the Conquest. Much
valuable information relating to the various branches of the Pratt
families of England may be found in Chapman's Genealogy of the Pratt
Families of Connecticut, who were descendants of Lieutenant William
Pratt of Saybrook.
-------------

p.8
........
An attempt has been made in these pages to follow out with a good
degree of accuracy the genealogy of the Pratt family, especially as
connected with Mathew of Weymouth. He was probably related to Joshua
Pratt, who settled at Plymouth in 1621, coming over in the second
vessel, and to Phineas Pratt, who came over in 1622 and settled at
Weymouth, but afterwards at Plymouth and Charlestown. These three,
who were pilgrims, are spoken of by the historians as probably
brothers, though the relationship cannot be positively established.
besides these there was John of Dorchester, who came over later, but
was contemporaneous with them.
They were all the heads of large families, patriarchs of their
households; and their earliest descendants, sons and daughters,
settled in Plymouth, Weymouth, Middleboro, Bridgewater, Easton,
Taunton, Quincy, Charlestown and in many other towns and cities in
eastern and central Massachusetts, where to-day many branches of
their families may be found, while others of the same descent,
thousands in number, are scattered through the whole land.
The sources of information from which the facts in this book have
been derived are various, but they are such as cannot be questioned.
Town and city registers, historical memorials, private family
journals handed down from generation to generation and religiously
preserved, registers of probate in many cities and counties, early
recorded wills, ancient church records, and monumental tablets in old
burial places, have all contributed to the information contained in
these pages. This large field of research has been

p.9
patiently explored by Mr. Ernest B. Pratt, to whom much credit is due
for his long and enthusiastic effort.
In these investigations many individuals have freely given their
counsel and co-operation, to whom it is both a duty and a pleasure to
refer with special acknowledgments: To Judge E. Granville Pratt, of
Quincy, for the use of his very ample and accurate manuscripts,
relating more particularly to the Pratts of Weymouth, Quincy and
Braintree, who are chiefly in the line of Mathew; to Eleazer Pratt,
of Boston, long noted for his genealogical studies; to Rev. W. L.
Chafflin of North Easton, who has furnished important matter in
relation to the Pratts of his vicinity; to Isaac Pratt, of Boston,
and to Gerard C. Tobey of Wareham, for manuscripts loaned; to William
Pratt and to Rev. Francis G. Pratt of Middleboro, for information
relating to the Pratts of Bridgewater and Middleboro; and to Hon.
Gilbert Nash, of Weymouth. Important aid has also been obtained from
the different libraries, especially the Historical and Genealogical
Library of Boston.
---------------------

p.11
The Pratts of Weymouth
by Hon. Gilbert Nash
Historian of the Town of Weymouth

The name of Pratt occurs upon the records of Weymouth more
frequently than that of any other name, and the family has had from
the early settlement a larger membership than any other family, and
at the present day it counts its numbers among the largest.
The original planter Mathew, whose name is sometimes spelled upon
the records Macute, Macuth, Micath, and Micareth, but evidently the
same individual, was undoubtedly among the earliest settlers of the
town, and came, possibly, or rather probably, with the Gorges
Company, although there is no positive evidence of the fact. Yet the
fact that his name appears upon no subsequent list, and his is found
among the list of land-owners in about 1643, the first recorded list,
and recognized as "an old resident" makes the probability almost a
certainty.
He may have been a near relative of Phinehas Pratt, who was a member
of the Weston Colony of 1622, yet the connection does not appear upon
any records, nor is any connection traced between him and Aaron Pratt
of Cohasset, except by marriage, or any of the many families of the
name who were among the earliest settlers of New England. Like many
another family of the old town of Weymouth, whose permanent
settlement by the Gorges Company dates about the beginning of August,
1623, next after Plymouth in the Massachusetts Bay territory, its
origin is lost with the records of that Company.

p.12
In the record of "possessions" which dates about 1643, is a
description of his property, consisting of 20 acres in "the mill
field" and 18 acres "on Mill river" which would locate it centrally
in the present village of East Weymouth; and it might be possible
with care to indicate very nearly the identical property. In this
list his name is spelled Mathew; and since this spelling follows
through many successive generations, it was probably his true name.
The records of the first three generations taken from the town and
county books (there are no early church records to be found) are
quite full and complete, more so than those of almost any other
family in the town, the planter Mathew leaving a will now upon
record. His eldest son, Sergeant Thomas, killed by the Indians April
19, 1676, has records in Suffolk Probate Court identifying his
family. His second son Matthew also left a will which is recorded,
naming his children, who, with his wife Sarah Hunt, were deaf and
dumb, as noticed by Cotton Mather. The third son, John, a cooper,
left no children, but is identified by his will. His fourth son,
Samuel, a carpenter, married a daughter of John Rogers, and had 8
children, whose names are recorded in his will (names of the sons).
The will of Joseph, the 5th son, names 4 sons and son-in-law Aaron
Pratt.
Of the grandchildren, several of them removed to other towns. A
Matthew is on record as of Braintree, John in Bridgewater; Joseph was
undoubtedly son of William 3 (Matthew 2, Mathew 1) brother of Joshua
of Bridgewater and James of Easton, and their descendants are
scattered in large numbers - for they have been a prolific race - all
over the country, and are so numerous that their different records
are very difficult to trace, and even a comparatively good genealogy
of them is a work of immense labor and care.
In colonizing other and often distant places they did not thereby
show any symptoms of diminution at home, for there the family, until
the present century, has easily held its station at the head of all
the families in town in point of numbers. "Old Spain" the original
home, "Back River" (North and East Weymouth) "Mutton Lane" (Lovell's
Corner) and South Weymouth are still the residences of large numbers
of the family, and what is true of few if any of the families of
other

p.13
names in the town, nearly if not quite all of the names of the living
there are descendants of Mathew, the original planter and his wife
Elizabeth.
.....

p.14
Genealogical Researches
by Judge E. Granville Pratt

The record of that portion of the Pratt family originating in
Weymouth
affords a wide and unusually difficult field of research, several
times carefully and patiently attempted, and as often abandoned, by
the genealogist.
Its difficulties spring not only from the apparent mist that
surrounds the common ancestor, but also from popular errors and
falsely preconceived opinions regarding such origin, as well as from
the unusual numbers of the family, and more particularly from the
frequent recurrence of single and familiar names, common in the
various lines diverging rapidly from the parent stock.
With the idea of bringing some "order out of chaos" and thereby
doing some service to the family and the public, I began to gather
such materials and glean such facts as could be found from all public
and private sources at my command; and, with this end in view, made a
thorough compilation of all the births, marriages, intentions of
marriage, and deaths, from the earliest records (then kept in Boston)
and also from those of the towns of Weymouth and Braintree, to the
present day.
An exhaustive research was made of the Probate Records of Suffolk
and Norfolk counties, and the earlier records of Plymouth county; and
also a minute examination of the Records of Deeds of the first two
counties; also from all accessible private records, memoranda, and
instruments. Even the almost illegible, moss-grown tombstones of
Weymouth were forced to yield their unwilling testimony.

p.15
All this information was carefully tabulated after a work of five
years. Then the usual errors of record became obvious on comparison
with authentic private records and documents, and they were corrected
in accordance with established facts. All these data were carefully
arranged and indexed, as became absolutely indispensable from the
frequent repetition of names.
But the crowning difficulty was to arrange and classify these names
under their proper branch of the family, which could only be done by
the most careful and patient comparison of each record with all the
others, and more particularly with private wills and memoranda.
It is a matter of serious doubt whether the same could have been
done in all cases with more than approximate accuracy but for the
timely and valuable services made in this direction by my aunt, Mrs.
Eliza T. Loud, of South Weymouth, now in the eighty-sixth year of her
age, a member of the family, a native of Weymouth, always resident
there, and who, from age, acquaintance, and ability, was peculiarly
fitted for this most difficult task. She has spared no pains in this
work, and her success is well worthy of public recognition.
With her manuscript cheerfully placed in my hands it was possible to
complete the family classification to my own satisfaction, and I
believe, with accuracy.
I am also under obligations to Samuel A. Bates, town clerk of
Braintree, for like services regarding those families settled in
Braintree; as also to various members of the Weymouth Historical
Society.
That minor errors have crept into the work is highly probable; but
in any case where a doubt arose, the matter was at once carefully and
patiently traced to its source.
I did not escape the popular error that our common ancestor was
Phinehas Pratt, of the Weston Colony, and later of Plymouth; but a
serious doubt quite soon arose as to the truth of this theory, -- a
doubt which grew stronger under careful investigation, until the
theory held so long was fully abandoned, and I became convinced that
the original ancestor was Mathew Pratt, also known under other given
names, which were doubtless corruptions of his own. To deny this
conclusion now would require the falsification of all the public
records

p.16
and private wills and documents at our command bearing on this
subject.
......

p.18
Genealogical Memoir
of
Matthew Pratt
(Earliest Settler of the Name in Weymouth, Massachusetts)
and his
American Descendants.
1888.

p.19
Mathew Pratt
--------------
Mathew was the ancestor of nearly all the Pratts of Weymouth, and
many of the name in Bridgewater, Middleboro, Taunton, Mansfield,
Stoughton, Norton, Easton, Abington, Braintree, Quincy, Randolph,
Holbrook and adjacent towns. His descendants can be found in other
localities in Massachusetts, and in almost every state of the United
States. He is referred to by Cotton Mather in his "Magnalia," as a
very religious man (see quotation under his son Matthew). The
reference to the early education of his son, coupled with the fact
that he married in Weymouth and had a son born before 1628, places
him among the earliest settlers, probably with the Gorges Colony, as
his land is located with the "old residents".
In the first records of Weymouth he is frequently referred to as
Macute Pratt and Mathew Pratt, the names being interchangeable in the
same records; but his signature to the will is spelled Mathew.
The will of Mathew Pratt was recently found on file in the Suffolk
County Probate Office at Boston. It is dated March 23, 1672, probated
April 30, 1673, recorded May 20, 1673, and is as follows: --

Mathew Pratt of Weymouth, being in health of body and having a
competent use of his understanding and memory does make this to be
his last will and Testament as followe and saith ---
First, I doe and bequeath my Soul to God that gave it, & after my
decease my body to be decently buried and all my Debts honestly
paide, and then all my wordly goods I dispose of thus --
I doe give to my loving wife Elizabeth Pratt all my whole Estate
reall and personall, which is hereafter exprest, that is for her
natural life.
I doe give to my Son Thomas Pratt after my wives decease, these
parcells of land as folloe, four acres of land that did belong to
Shaw's house & my share of land that I bought of James Nash &

p.20
that fifteen acres I bought of Deacon John Rogers & I doe give her
that little Island in the fresh pond. I doe give him ten acres in the
Cedar Swamp plaine which was a part of my great lott; Ad I doe give
him my share in the two acres & half of Salt Marsh at Hollie, upon
the condition hee shall pay to my Daughter Chard at my wives decease
four pounds.
I doe give to my son Matthew Pratt at my wives decease these
parcells of house & land as follow my now dwelling house with all my
houseing and all my Orchard & my land adjoining twenty acres bee it
more or less. Ad I doe give him ten acres in the Cedar Swamp plaine
which is also a part of my great lott provided hee pay to my Daughter
Chard or her assignees three pounds at my wives decease.
I doe give to my son John Pratt an ewe and lamb.
I doe give to my Son Samuel Pratt twelve acres of land neere his
house. Four acres of it was William Brandems & eight acres of it was
John Gurney's & when hee hath fenct it out as far as it is pasture
hee shall have it and not before. & I doe give him one acre of Salt
Marsh by John Pratt's house at my decease. And I doe give him that
part of my common lott laide out to me at Smell Brooke: Ad I doe give
him my two acres of Swamp lot where it is in the woods. Ad hee shall
have one Cow instead of that spot I thought hee should have in my
Orchards.
I doe give to my son Joseph Pratt that lott that was first Edward
Bennetts at the pond twenty acres bee it more or less.
I doe give to my Daughter Chard seven pound sterling in good pay at
my wives decease, which is to bee paide by Thomas Pratt & Mathew
Pratt as above is expressed: Ad I doe give to her Daughter Johannah
Chard my best bed & Coverlid at my wives decease.
I doe give to my Daughter White after my wives decease all that
parcell of land that I have in land which is of Marsh & upland about
three or four acres which is all except that which is above given to
my son Thomas Pratt & I doe give her two Ewes at my decease --
I doe give to my Son Thomas Pratt's Daughter Sarah five pounds at my
wives decease.
I doe give to Thomas Pratt's son William Pratt that halfe mare and
her increase that is between Thomas Pratt & myself to be decided at
my decease.
I doe appoint my loving wife to bee my Sole Executrix to fulfill

p.21
all this my last will & to have full power improve my whole Estate
for her life & at her decease to give what she leaves to my Children
& their Children as she shall then please.
I doe desire that Reverend Pastor Mr. Samuell Torrey & my Kinsman
Elder Edward Bate & my Son Thomas Pratt to bee the OverSeers to see
that this my will bee in all points fulfilled ; I doe also comit full
power into the hands of these OverSeers to sell or dispose of any
thing that I have left to my wife: if she shall have need of it for
her comfortable livelihood; but not otherwise to dispose of any land
but as above expressed, and hereunto I have set my hand & Seal the
twenty-fifth of March 1672.
Mathew Pratt Seal

Signed Sealed in the presence of us
Edward Bate
Thomas Dyer --

An Inventory of the Estate of Mathew Pratt who deceased August 29,
1672 & appraised by us who were called thereunto the 12th of the 10th
month 1672 &c. &c.

Here follows a long Inventory amounting in all to L 315 5s Od
Some of the items are:

Twelve acres near Sam. Pratt's house 24 0 0

In the possession of Samll Pratt before the decease of his father
Mathew Pratt ten year or upward, given in marriage -- more ten acres
of wood land at Smell Brook 5 0 0

& two acres of Swamp purchased by Samuell Pratt of his father Mathew
Pratt about 5 year before the sd Mathew's death --
01 0 0

20 acres above mentioned was halfe of it paide for before the decease
of the sd Mathew Pratt by Joseph Pratt his Sonne in [?] & the whole
20 acres was possest by the saide Joseph Pratt about seven years
before the saide Mathew's decease. 28 10 0

the reason why the saide Mathew Pratt mentioned these lands in his
will was because hee gave them noe deeds of gift of the aforesaid
lands.--

p.22
Some of the Weymouth records are as follows:

At " A General Court holden at Boston the 7th day of 10th month,
December, A. D. 1636, :land was granted to Mathew Pratt as follows:
"Twenty acres in the Mill field, twelve of them first given to Edward
Bate, and eight acres to himself, all of it bounded on the east with
the land of John Gill, on the west with the land of Richard Waling,
on the north with the Rocky Hill, on the south with the land of
Richard Addamce and Thomas Baly. Also eighteen ackers of upland,
first given to Edward Bennett, now in the possession of Mathew Pratt,
bounded on the east withe Mill River, on the west with John
Whitemarsh's lot, on the north with the Mill ground, on the south
with the Pond."

Joseph Pratt, borne June 10, 1637, son of Mathew.

In February, 648, he was a "townsman" (selectman) Lot granted to
Mathew Pratt on the east side o f Fresh Pond, February 3, 161.
"January 11, 1657. -- At a meeting of the Townsmen it did appear
that upon account that Mathew Pratt, and his son Thomas Pratt, had
entered 22,000 of boards, the Father 15,00 and son 7000, due to the
Town, L1 9s 6d." Land granted to Mathew Pratt, 1658, 1660, 1663, etc.
Dec. 19, 1659, an Island in the Fresh Pond above the mill, and swamp
land granted to Mathew Pratt.

May, 1660 -- "The Towne is indebted to several person for service in
and upon account as follows: To Mathew Pratt for a Wolfe and
Woodpecker, paid in boards, L1, s6, d8."

Joseph Pratt, the youngest son, lived with his father until his
marriage, 1662.

Dec. 20, 1700. --- "Mathew Pratt and son-in-law, William Chard.

Mathew was frequently a Townsman or Selectman, and appears to have
been one of the most prominent men of the Colony.

In Mathew's will, recorded in the Probate Court at Boston, are found
the names of all his children and two of his grandchildren. Also the
will or administration papers of each of his sons, in which they
refer to each other as brothers.

In the records of marriages appears "John, son of Mathew Pratt, and
Mary, daughter of Ensign Whitman." In John's will he refers to

p.23
"My nephew, Lieut. John Pratt," "My nephew, Deacon Thomas Pratt," "My
nephew, Ebenezer Pratt. In the records is also found "Lieut. John,
son of Samuel and Hannah Pratt, died Feb. 8, 1743; "and "Samuel, son
of Mathew Pratt," states, "My brother, Joseph Pratt."
The Weymouth Records state: "Information was given against Joseph
Pratt and Samuel Pratt for cutting wood on the Towne's Common, and
transported it contrary to Towne order, were fined fower shillings
apiece."
Thus will be seen : -
John , "son of Mathew"
Lieut. John, son of Samuel and nephew of John.
Deacon Thomas, son of Thomas and nephew of John,
Ebenezer, son of Samuel and nephew of John,
Joseph, brother of Samuel,

and hence it will be seen that Joseph the first of Weymouth was the
son of Mathew Pratt.

Note - As there is only one Joseph mentioned in the Weymouth Records
up to the time Joseph marries Sarah Judkins, 16?? (and he "borne June
10, 1637, son of Mathew Pratt"), and after that as he is referred to
as Joseph, Senior, until 1719, there can be no question that the
first Joseph of Weymouth remained there until his death. Joseph, Jr.,
moved away from Weymouth to Bridgewater with his cousin William, in
1705. Hence the statement made by the historian Mitchell, in his
history, and repeated by others, that Joseph, the first, of Weymouth,
was the son of Phinehas Pratt, is without the slightest foundation.
There is no mention of Phinehas Pratt or his family in the Weymouth
Town Records, but only of Mathew and his sons and their children,
until after the year 1700. As it is absolutely known that Sarah,
daughter of Joseph Pratt of Weymouth, married Aaron Pratt, son of
Phinehas Pratt, it is not possible that this Joseph could be the son
of Phinehas. Other proofs can be found in the Records, but these are
given to show the error into which many have been led by those who
have not taken pains to thoroughly examine them.

p.24
Explanation

In the accompanying Genealogy paternal names are printed in Roman
Capitals, the prefix to each, in parentheses, denoting the number of
the generation of the individual. Two columns of figures will be
found in the left hand margin of each page. To trace succeeding
generations in any family line, note the number in the first or left-
hand column opposite the name of a son, and then look forward until
you find the same number in its regular order in the second column.
To trace preceding generations, note the number in the first column,
opposite the generation number, and go back until it is found in its
regular order in the second column. Only those lines that are
numbered have been carried down, and generally only those descendants
that bear the family name are recorded.
The following abbreviations are used: b. born ; d. died; m. married
; dau. daughter ; (P.) published ; (1). (2) first and second
marriages.

p.25
Genealogy
-----------------

I. MATHEW PRATT, b. ___ ; d. Aug. 29, 1672.
(m. Elizabeth Bate?)

Children:
9 - 1 - 1 Thomas, b. before 1628; d. April 19, 1676
51 - 2 - 2 Matthew, b. 1628; d. Jan. 12, 1713.
50 - 2[1] - 3 John, b. ___ ; d. Oct. 3, 1716.
- 3 - 4 Samuel, b. __ ; d.___ , 1678.
- 4 - 5 Joseph, b. June 10, 1637; d. Dec. 24, 1720.
7 - 5 - 6 Elizabeth, b. __; d. Feb. 26, 1720.
8 - 6 - 7 Mary, b. __ ; d. __

-----------------
5 7 (II.) ELIZABETH PRATT, of Weymouth (dau. of I. Mathew); b. ___ ;
d. Feb. 26, 1726; m. Nov.22, 165?6?, William Chard, Town Clerk of
Weymouth. Elizabeth was his second wife. Grace, his first, d. Jan.23,
1655. He was a schoolmaster.
Children:
1. Thomas, b. Sept. 27, 1657.
2. Child, b. March 22, 1659.
3. Caleb, b. Oct. 19, 1660.
4. Mary, b. Apr. 8, 1663.
5. Samuel, b. Oct. 1, 1665.
6. Joanna, b. Aug. 17, 1667.
7. Patience, b. Apr. 20, 1671.
8. Hugh, b. Jan.4, 1674.

-----------------
6 8 (II.) MARY PRATT (dau. of I. Mathew), b. ___; m. Thomas White, of
Braintree, son of Thomas, of Weymouth. He was freeman, 1681 ; d. Apr.
11, 1706?.

Children:
1. Thomas, m. (1) Mehitable Adams; m. (2) Mary Bowditch.
2. Mary, m. Thomas Holbrook.
3. Samuel, b. Sept. 19, 1676; m. (1) Deborah Penniman; m. (2) Sarah
Torrey.
4. Joseph, m. Sarah Bayley.
5. Ebenezer, b. 1683; m. Lydia.

p.26

1 9 (II.) THOMAS PRATT, of Weymouth (son of I. Mathew), b. before
1628; m. Mary ___.
He was styled "Sergent Pratt" and was killed in the "Sudbury Fight"
by the Indians, April 19, 1676. He was a large land-owner at
Weymouth; held the office of Selectman several years, and occupied
many positions of trust in the town. Rev. William Pratt (III.) in his
Diary, states "My father was slaine by the Indians the 19th day of
April, in the year 1676." Henry Axtell was slain by the Indians
between Sudbury and Marlboro, April 19, 1676" This establishes the
date of the great "Sudbury Fight."
Thomas left no will, but his "brother John Pratt and brother-in-law
White" (who married Mary, daughter of Mathew) were appointed
guardians of his children, not then of age.
Children:
12 10 1 William, b. Mar. 6, 1659; d. Jan. 13, 1713.
15 11 2 Thomas, b. ___
3. Sarah, b. ___ "an impotent, helpless child"
4. Hepzebah, b. ___ m. Ephraim Frost.
5. Abigail, b. May 15, 1662; m. Wm. Tirrell, son of Wm. and Rebecca
Tirrell.