Caleb S. Pratt

Caleb S. Pratt was a primary person involved in Bleeding Kansas. He testified before the Committee of Elections regarding the Troubles in Kansas, 1856 specific to voting irregularities in the Election of March 30, 1855 Lawrence, Kansas.[1]

Caleb S. Pratt
Photograph by Black, Boston, Mass.
Born	1832
Died	August 10, 1861
Allegiance	United States Union
Service/branch	Union Army United States Army
Years of service	1861
Rank	Second Lieutenant
Unit	Company D Kansas 1st Infantry Regiment
Battle of Wilson's Creek	Battle of Wilson's Creek

On August 10, 1861, he was killed at the Battle of Wilson's Creek.

Pratt County, Kansas and the town of Pratt, Kansas are named in his honor.

Biography

Caleb S. Pratt was born 1832, Boston, Suffolk, MA. He arrived in Lawrence Kansas in 1853 and engaged in the real estate business. From 1858 until his death he held the office of county clerk. He also served as city clerk for several years. Captain Frank B. Swift, James C. Horton, Edward D. Thompson, and Caleb S. Pratt, led a large company from Lawrence to the Bickerton farm, where "Old Sacramento" - a cannon captured by Colonel Doniphan at the battle of Sacramento, brought by the Border-Ruffians into Kansas, and from them captured by the Free-State men-was buried. They dug up this cannon and carried it to Lawrence, where it was fired all night in honor of the admission of Kansas.

Mr. Pratt was a member of the second New England Emigrant Aid Company party that left from Boston in 1854 as an anti-slavery immigration to the new territory.[2]

He was a founding member of The Stubbs, a militia company that was organized on April 16, 1855 to protect Lawrence and the people of Kansas Territory.[3]

On the breaking out of the Civil War, he was clerk of Douglas County, Kansas and also clerk of Kansas City, Kansas.[4]

On February 9, 1861, Caleb S. Pratt, county clerk of Douglas county, administered the oath of office to the state's first governor.[5]

3 Jun 1861 he enlisted and was Commissioned Second Lieutenant of Company D of Kansas 1st Infantry Regiment.

10 Aug 1861 he was killed in action at Wilson's Creek, Greene, Missouri.

On April 10, 2004, there was a ceremony for the Interment for Unknown Union Soldiers in Springfield National Cemetery.

References

1. "List of those giving Testimony before the Committee of Elections regarding the Troubles in Kansas, 1856". by Maureen K. Reed. January 25, 1997. Archived from the original on 2012-05-30. Retrieved 2010-11-22.
2. "A History of Lawrence". Rev. Richard Cordley. Kansas Collection Books. 2010-11-21. Archived from the original on 2002-11-23.
3. "Stubbs Militia Company Constitution, By-laws, and Charter". Territorial Kansas. 2010-11-21.
4. "A child's history of the United States, Volume 2". John Gilmary Shea. McMenamy, Hess & Co. 2010-11-21.
5. "The Kansas Historical Quarterly Volume XXVII 1961". The Kansas State Historical Society. 2010-11-21.