Charles Pratt
Charles Pratt (October 2, 1830 – May 4, 1891) was an American businessman. Pratt was a pioneer of the U.S. petroleum industry, and he established his kerosene refinery Astral Oil Works in Brooklyn, New York. He then lived with his growing family in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn. He recruited Henry H. Rogers into his business, forming Charles Pratt and Company in 1867. Seven years later, Pratt and Rogers agreed to join John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil.
Charles Pratt | |
|---|---|
| Born | October 2, 1830 Wilbraham, Massachusetts, US |
| Died | May 4, 1891 (aged 60) New York City, US |
| Resting place | Pratt Cemetery, Glen Cove, New York, US |
| Occupation | Businessman |
| Known for | Founded Pratt Institute |
| Spouses | Lydia Ann Richardson
(m. 1854; died 1861)Mary Helen Richardson
(m. 1863) |
| Children | Charles Millard Pratt Lydia Richardson Pratt Helen Pratt Frederic B. Pratt George Dupont Pratt Herbert L. Pratt John Teele Pratt Harold I. Pratt |
An advocate of education, Pratt founded and endowed the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, now a renowned art college. He and his children built country estates in Glen Cove, New York, which became known as the Gold Coast in the 1920s on the North Shore of Long Island. In 1916, Standard Oil had a steamship tanker, the first of its class, built at Newport News, Virginia, and it was named in honor of Pratt.