Daniel Pratt Cemetery - Prattville, AL
Posted by: 
xptwo
N 32° 27.556 W 086° 28.729
16S E 548981 N 3591463
This two-sided marker is by the Pratt family cemetery not far from the factories that Daniel Pratt established in the 1800s.
Waymark Code: WMFYT8
Location: Alabama, United States
Date Posted: 12/19/2012
Views: 13
Although the coordinates are close to Bridge Street, one actually reaches the road to the cemetery and marker from Gin Shop Hill Road as the site is located up the hill from Bridge Street. The site has been restored by the community. As the road into the cemetery area was closed to auto traffic the day I visited, I parked outside and took the short walk to find the marker.
The text of the marker reads:
Daniel Pratt Cemetery
Final resting place of early Alabama industrialist Daniel Pratt, 1799-1873, and wife Esther Ticknor Pratt, 1803-1875. He was from New Hampshire and she, Connecticut. Married 1827 at Fortville, Jones County, Georgia.
The former carpenter's apprentice practiced his craft in Milledgeville, Ga. where he gained skill in building and design. In 1832 Pratt came to Alabama to build cotton gins. Ester encouraged Pratt to remain in Alabama in order for him to establish a manufacturing complex and the village of Prattville, founded 1839.
In 1847 Pratt was the recipient of the University of Alabama's first honorary degree. His design strongly influenced the 1851 rebuilding of the State Capitol. Pratt served as a legislator during the Civil War period.
Daniel Pratt Historic District
Listed on the National Register 1984. Marker placed by Historic Prattville Redevelopment Authority and Autauga County Heritage Association for the City of Prattville.
(continued on other side)
George Cooke
(Continued from other side)
Southern itinerant painter was born in Maryland in 1793; married Maria Heath of Virginia in 1815. His wide range of work included landscapes, portraits, and religious and historical subjects. Many of his works, including "Interior of St. Peter's - Rome," are owned by the University of Georgia.
CCooke studied in Europe, 1826 - 1831, where he met poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, a lifelong friend. Cooke’s patron, Daniel Pratt, displayed a collection of his paintings in the art gallery at the Pratt mansion. After Cooke’s 1849 death in New Orleans, he was buried here near the Pratt gallery which had displayed his art as a tribute to his life and work.
Listed on the National Register 1984. Marker placed by Historic Prattville Redevelopment Authority and Autauga County Heritage Association for the City of Prattville.
Alabama Historical Association
1994
Marker Name: Daniel Pratt Cemetery / George Cooke
Marker Type: Urban
Addtional Information::
The coordinates by the entrance where I parked are N32° 27.560 W86° 28.778.
Date Dedicated / Placed: 1994
Marker Number: None
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Visit Instructions:
Please post a photo of you OR your GPS at the marker location. Also if you know of any additional links not already mentioned about this bit of Alabama history please include that in your log.