Franklin Fayette Pratt was born on July 17, 1835, one of nine children of David Pratt and Electa Alexander. David came to Homer from Pomfret, Connecticut and worked several farms over the course of his life, and he was a mason by profession. David and Electa’s children fanned out across the nation, but Franklin stayed behind in Homer where he worked, married, and raised his family.
Franklin received an education at the Cortland Academy, and when he was eighteen, he started teaching school during the winter months and farming during the summer. Life in the United States changed dramatically when on April 12, 1861, Fort Sumter was attacked and the Civil War began. Pratt believed it was his patriotic duty to enlist, but he waited until fall before joining the Union Army. He belonged to Company A, 76th New York Infantry, and he and his comrades fought in battles at Gainesville, Second Bull Run, South Mountain, Antietam, Fredericksburg, and Spottsylvania, to name a few. While Franklin was recuperating from malarial fever, the Battle of Gettysburg occurred, and he was spared from the massacre of that day. However, after the battle, he was assigned to care for the wounded until he was fully recovered himself. He was promoted to corporal on January 8, 1864, and transferred to the U.S. Marine Corps. He reenlisted on February 29, 1864, and served aboard the gunboat Pawtuxet. Later that year, he received a letter from his sister which alerted him to the death of his father in September. He was needed at home to help his widowed mother with the farm because his siblings were not close enough to be of any assistance.
According to family letters and diaries housed in the archives of the Cortland County Historical Society, Pratt received a detailed account of his father’s death from one of his brothers. The family was close, and this letter served to transport Franklin to the deathbed of his father though he was far from home and grieving in solitude.
Some of the leading citizens of Homer drafted and signed a petition to President Abraham Lincoln imploring him to discharge Franklin Pratt so he could assist his mother, and the petition was accompanied by a letter from Homer artist Francis Bicknell Carpenter who had become close to Lincoln after painting The First Reading of the Emancipation Proclamation. President Lincoln immediately gave the order for Pratt’s discharge through the Secretary of the Navy on December 1, but it would be almost a month before he received his discharge and arrived home on December 21. His journey back to Homer found him aboard the steamer Emma Henry which was laden with 500 bales of cotton seized from Rebels attempting to run the blockade. Confederate prisoners were aboard the ship as well, no doubt headed for the Confederate prison in Elmira, or “Hellmira,” as they called it.
Arriving home, Franklin set to work on his parents’ farm and took care of his mother until her death in April of 1866. Later that year, he married widow Sarah Brayton Wilson. Sarah had been married to Ellis Wilson who had lost his life at the Battle of Gravelly Run on March 29, 1865, just days before the end of the War. Ellis had enlisted quite late, and because of this, he was to receive a large bounty of $1,000. As a young married man, he probably enlisted because of the money and the hope that he and Sarah would be able to use it to get ahead in life. Sarah kept his letters to her from both before and after they were married, and one can see that he was very much in love with her. Sarah likely reciprocated his love because she kept his correspondence for the remainder of her life. Sarah was blessed to find love again, and she married Franklin Pratt on October 25, 1866. Together they would raise five children and dedicate themselves to their family.
After his mother’s death, Franklin purchased his parents’ fifty-acre farm, running into heavy debt to do so. He had to purchase all the shares from his siblings. Franklin and Sarah set themselves to the task of eliminating their debt, and after nine years of hard work and thrift, they had nearly paid off the debt. For her part, Sarah was an expert at making butter, and that contributed to their success. In 1875, they exchanged their small farm for a larger one of 125 acres which was located between Homer and Little York on the west side of the valley. This endeavor required them to take on more debt, and it took them twelve years to pay off the new mortgage. This homestead was where they settled for good. Up until 1892, they made butter, but after that year, they began shipping their milk to New York City. Improvements to the farm included a horse barn and a large basement dairy barn with its stable floors made of cement.
Franklin and Sarah seemed happiest surrounded by family, and while Franklin was kind and neighborly, and Sarah was known for her “kindly disposition,” they didn’t really get involved in the community. Franklin was not especially religious, attending church at a variety of places and even sitting in on spiritualist meetings. During a time when it was common for people to belong to a church, Pratt went on record in the Book of Biographies as being independent in his religious views. “He believes in getting his inspiration, not alone from inspired volumes, but also in ‘looking through Nature up to Nature’s God.’” He believed that human souls would not be forever lost and that people overall were becoming “wiser and better.”
After nearly forty-five years of marriage, it was Franklin who died first. He had enjoyed relatively good health, apart from heart trouble near the end of his years. When he fell ill, a professional nurse was called, and his condition appeared to have improved. Later that evening, he wanted to get out of bed and be placed in a chair. As soon as he was placed in the chair, he ceased to breathe. “As weary, worn out winds expire, or night dews fall gently to the ground, so calm his exit,” read his obituary. Franklin passed away on March 13, 1911. Sarah’s health was already declining when Franklin died, though throughout five years of poor health, she never complained. She loved to be in the company of her children and grandchildren and was clearly devoted to her family. Sarah did not die at the family homestead as Franklin had. She was living at the home of Mrs. Harriet Kyes on Clinton Street in the village of Homer when she passed away. Mrs. Kyes had provided care to Sarah for her for the last two and a half years, first at the farm and finally in her own home.
Franklin and Sarah are at rest at Glenwood Cemetery as are many of their family members. Though they were not heavily involved in our community, they left behind a loving family and information for the historical record through the diaries and letters they preserved. In this way, the legacy of Franklin and Sarah Pratt is still rippling out across time. ~Tabitha Scoville, CCHS Director