This bronze plaque is attached to a large rock, just south of the Civil War Memorial. It is located in the center of town in Saugus, Massachusetts. It is situated inside a large rotary, a keystone shaped roundabout, near city hall.
The plaque reads:
CHARLES FOREST NELSON PRATT
FEB. 4, 1891 - NOV. 5, 1968
DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY OF A MAN
WHO DEVOTED A LIFETIME IN SERVICE
TO HIS COMMUNITY AND THE GREATER
COMMUNITY OF MANKIND; WHOSE GUIDING
PRINCIPLE WAS TRUTH, AND WHOSE FAITH
IN HIS FELLOWMAN NEVER FALTERED.
DEDICATED OCT. 9, 1971
"Charles Forest Nelson Pratt was a Republican politician from Saugus, Massachusetts. He was born on February 4, 1891 in Saugus, Massachusetts. A graduate of Saugus High School, Northeastern University, and Boston University School of Law, During World War I he was a conscientious objector and was working at the A. E. Little shoe company.
Pratt served on the Saugus School Board from 1916 to 1919.
In 1919, Pratt was elected to the Board of Selectmen where he would later serve as chairman. In 1925, he made headlines for his plan to arm 100 hand-picked citizens in order to deter bandits from operating in Saugus. Pratt dropped his proposal for a "vigilance committee" at the next meeting.
In 1926, Pratt was elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives. He defeated Harriet Hart, the first woman ever elected to the Massachusetts General Court.
Pratt served from 1927 to 1935. Shortly after taking office he filed a bill to abolish capital punishment. He would file a similar bill at the beginning of each session he served.
Despite being a Republican, he supported president Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal and represented the National Shoe Workers during their 1933 strike. He was a member of the Banks and Banking and Counties commissions.
Pratt was an Essex County Commissioner from 1939 to 1943 and again from 1944 until his death in 1968. He would be the last Republican to serve as an Essex County Commissioner until Kevin Leach in 1991.
During his first year on the Commission, Pratt fought with fellow commissioners Frederick Butler and James D. Bentley. He felt that Butler kept all of the patronage and made all of the major appointments himself "aided and abetted by his own political appointee, Bentley". In the 1940 election, Pratt supported Butler's opponent for the Republican nomination, Tom Longworth. Butler was reelected, but Bentley lost to J. Fred Manning in the general election. After Manning took office, he voted to make Pratt chairman and sided with him on a number of issues, including making Commission meetings public.
Pratt lost to Bentley in 1942 after a recount. He was elected in 1944 and was seated early after Commissioners Manning and Arthur Thompson appointed fellow Commissioner Bentley to the post of Essex County treasurer. Thompson, whose term was expiring, was then chosen to succeed Bentley on the Commission and Pratt was appointed to Thompson's seat.
In his final years on the Commission, the body was criticized for making nepotistic appointments. Pratt had as many has seven family members employed by the county at one time. To address this, Pratt filed a bill with the state legislature that would have extended civil service to county employees. The legislature turned it down.
Pratt ran four times for Massachusetts's 7th congressional district seat. He lost the nomination in 1937 and the general election in 1934, 1936 and 1941. He also lost the nomination for the 6th congressional district seat to William H. Bates in 1950.
Pratt was a member of the Freemasons and the Odd Fellows.
Pratt was a candidate for reelection to the Essex County Commission in 1968. On Election Day, Pratt felt sick and returned home early from campaigning. He was later rushed to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead. He lost his final election by 2,897 votes." (
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