Addison Pratt

Wikipedia Biographical Summary:

"...Addison Pratt (1802-02-21 – 1872-10-14) was an early Latter-day Saint convert and missionary. Pratt preached in French Polynesia from 1844 to 1848 and from 1850 to 1852, and is recognized by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as the first Mormon missionary to preach in a language other than English..."

"...Pratt was born in Winchester, New Hampshire. Raised a farmer, he was employed as a whaler in New England for more than a decade. He married Louisa Barnes, born in Warwick, Massachusetts, early feminist, an early contributor to the Women's Exponent and author of her own famous memoirs and sister to Caroline Barnes Crosby, another influential early frontier woman writer and feminist..."

After being taught by Caroline Barnes Crosby and Jonathan Crosby, early Mormon converts, the Pratts converted to Mormonism and joined the Latter Day Saints in Indiana, Missouri and then in Nauvoo, Illinois. Years later, the Pratts persuaded the Crosbys to join them in missionary work in the Pacific Islands..."

"...While working aboard a whaling ship, Pratt jumped ship in Hawaii and spent several months living near the village of Honolulu; he was one of the first men of European descent to live in the Hawaiian islands. During that time, he learned the Hawaiian language..."

"...Years later, in October 1843, Pratt recommended to Joseph Smith, Jr. missionary work among the Polynesians, whom he expected to be receptive. Smith sent Pratt and three others as the first foreign language speaking missionaries, to create a mission in the Pacific Islands; one of the men died en route. Pratt disembarked at Tubuai in the Society Islands on 1844-04-30 and began teaching in the local dialect of the Tahitian. He noted the similarity of Tahitian to the Hawaiian language. He later preached in Tahiti and other nearby islands and atolls. Pratt returned to the United States in 1848 to assist his family's emigration to San Bernardino, California. Pratt and his family returned to Tubuai in 1850. In May 1852, the French government restricted the preaching of Mormonism in the islands, and Pratt and his family were held under house arrest, until eventually returning to California..."

"...Pratt declined Mormon leaders and his wife Eliza's entreaty to follow the practice of plural marriage. As a result, Pratt and his wife were separated and estranged for much of his later life. Pratt died in Anaheim, California and is buried there..."

"...Pratt was present at the discovery of gold in California, working on Sutter's Mill at the time of discovery. He worked in the gold fields in 1848..."

"...Pratt's journals are an important source for historians, vividly illustrating the life of a whaler and seaman in the 19th century, being one of only a few primary sources on the discovery of Gold and the Donner Party, and are otherwise important as a resource for California history, Polynesian history and Mormon history..."

SOURCE: Wikipedia contributors, 'Addison Pratt', Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 13 November 2010, 10:40 UTC, <http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Addison_Pratt&oldid=39648...> [accessed 26 April 2011]
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From FindAGrave.com:

Birth: Feb. 21, 1802, Winchester, Cheshire County, New Hampshire, USA

Death: Oct. 14, 1872. Anaheim, Orange County California, USA. Place of burial unknown.

Son of Henry Pratt, a famous New England organ builder, and Rebekah Jewell

Married Lois Barnes, 3 Apr 1831, who then married to her sister, Louisa. There is some conflicting data on dates.

Children of Louisa and Addison: Ellen Saphronia Pratt, Lois Barnes Pratt, Ann Louisa Pratt, Frances Stevens Pratt

History - Addison, the fourth of twelve children, at an early age determined to follow the sea, and when he was nineteen years old he left home and went to sea. Visits home between whaling cruises led him to become acquainted with his sister's close friend, Louisa Barnes. They were married and established themselves at farming at Ripley, New York where Addison had the occasional opportunity to captain a shipping boat on Lake Erie near their home. The Pratts had three children while living in Ripley.

Louisa's sister, Caroline and husband Jonathan Crosby, had joined the Mormons and upon Louisa's invitation went and taught the Pratts. Soon the Pratts became members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and according to expectations sold their farm and moved to Missouri with the rest of the members of their new faith. Later, after persecution of the Mormons in Missouri, the Pratts emigrated to Nauvoo, Illinois. While in Nauvoo, Addison mentioned to the Prophet Joseph Smith that he had been a whaler and had visited the Hawaiian islands. He told Joseph Smith that he believed the natives would be interested in the Book of Mormon.

Soon, Addison Pratt was called with three other missionaries to go on a Latter-day Saint mission to Hawaii. Pratt's mission focused on the Society Islands in the South Pacific and he would later return to the area three more times. After the Saints reached the Great Salt Lake, his wife and children joined Pratt at Tubuai in 1850.

Pratt, Addison, one of the Elders who introduced the fulness of the gospel on the islands of the South Pacific Ocean. Together with Noah Rogers, Benjamin F. Grouard and Knowlton Hanks, Addison Pratt was called on a mission to the Pacific Islands. He was ordained a Seventy by Brigham Young May 23, 1843, and leaving Nauvoo June 1, 1843, he traveled, together with his missionary companions, to the Atlantic coast, preaching the gospel on the way, till they arrived at New Bedford, Mass. Here, being unable to find a ship going to the Sandwich Islands, they engaged their passage on the whalingship "Timoleon" and sailed from New Bedford Oct. 9, 1843. Elder Hanks, who was suffering severely from consumption, died at sea Nov. 3, 1843, being the first Latter-day Saint missionary who was assigned to a watery grave.

Elders Pratt, Rogers and Grouard landed on the island of Tubuai April 30, 1844, and while his two missionary companions proceeded to Tahiti, Elder Pratt commenced a most successful missionary labor on Tuhuai where he soon raised up the first branch of the Church organized on the islands of the Pacific Ocean. Subsequently Bro. Pratt assisted Elder Grouard in his missionary labors on the Tuamotu group, where a number of branches of the Church were raised up. For many months the Elders heard nothing from their families in America and they met with much opposition on the part of the missionaries sent out by the London Missionary Society. Noah Rogers soon returned to America, but Elders Pratt and Grouard continued their labors.

In May, 1847, Elder Pratt sailed for America, leaving Elder Grouard in charge of the mission on the Society Islands. On his arrival in California Brother Pratt met a number of the saints from the Eastern States who had doubled Cape Horn in the ship "Brooklyn" and landed where San Francisco now stands. He also met members of the Mormon Battalion and was appointed by Samuel Brannan to preside over the San Francisco branch of the Church.

In 1848 he crossed the Sierra Nevada mountains and the deserts in what is now the State of Nevada and arrived in Great Salt Lake City Sept. 28, 1848. Here he met his family who had arrived in the Valley a few days before his own arrival. Elder Pratt reported his mission on the Pacific Islands to the president of the Church and now spent about one year with his family at the headquarters of the Church.

During the winter of 1848–1849 he taught a school in the Tahitian language in his own house. He was soon called on another mission to the Society Islands, but before starting he was taken by his brethren onto the top of Ensign Peak July 21, 1849, and given his endowment.

Together with other missionaries he left the Valley on his second mission to the Islands, Oct. 8, 1849, and traveled the southern route to California, whence he embarked for Papeete, Tahiti, where he arrived May 24, 1850. His wife and four daughters followed with a company of Elders six months later. Bro. Pratt now resumed his missionary labors on the islands, but met with much opposition on the part of the French authorities, the islands, through diplomatic negotiations between Great Britain and France, having become a French colony. As "Mormonism" was not known or tolerated in France, the French officials on the Society Islands decided that it could not be recognized in a French colony; hence all the American Elders were banished from the Islands in 1852.

Elder Pratt and his family sailed from Papeete May 16, 1852, and reached San Francisco in safety July 1, 1852. The Pratts' moved to the Mormon settlement of San Bernardino, California after returning to the United States. Soon after his arrival in America Bro. Pratt became disaffected and never made his home in Utah after that. He was won over by the Spiritualists and after spending the remainder of his days in California. He died at Anaheim, Orange, California, seventy years and eight months old.

Addison was called on four missions all together. He served a few months in Tahiti before the mission closed due to French control. At the start of the Utah War, Brigham Young called saints on the coast to return to Utah. The Pratt family divided: Addison and Fay stayed in California while Louisa, Ann Louise, and Ephraim returned to Beaver, Utah. Lois and family and Ellen and family stayed with Louisa at different times. Although they corresponded, the Pratt family never reunited.

His wife, Louisa Barnes, was born Nov. 10, 1802, in Franklin, Massachusetts, and died in Beaver, Utah, in 1879. His daughter Ellen Sophronia married William McGarry and died at Anaheim, California, Aug. 9, 1885. His daughter Frances Stevens married James Dyer and died in California. His daughter Lois Barnes married John Hunt and died in Snowflake, Arizona, March 9, 1885. His daughter Ann Louisa married Thomas Tilman Willis and lived in Idaho several years ago.

See Addison Pratt Family Papers

Spouse:

Louisa Barnes Pratt 1802 - 1880

Children:

Ellen Saphronia Pratt McGary 1832 - 1895

Lois Barnes Pratt Hunt 1837 - 1885

Created by: SMSmith Record added: Aug 22, 2007 Find A Grave Memorial# 21079041

Find a Grave

Birth: Feb. 21, 1802 Winchester Cheshire County New Hampshire, USA

Death: Oct. 14, 1872 Anaheim Orange County California, USA

Son of Henry Pratt, a famous New England organ builder, and Rebekah Jewell

Married Lois Barnes, 3 Apr 1831, who then married to her sister, Louisa. There is some conflicting data on dates.

Children of Louisa and Addison: Ellen Saphronia Pratt, Lois Barnes Pratt, Ann Louisa Pratt, Frances Stevens Pratt

History - Addison, the fourth of twelve children, at an early age determined to follow the sea, and when he was nineteen years old he left home and went to sea. Visits home between whaling cruises led him to become acquainted with his sister's close friend, Louisa Barnes. They were married and established themselves at farming at Ripley, New York where Addison had the occasional opportunity to captain a shipping boat on Lake Erie near their home. The Pratts had three children while living in Ripley.

Louisa's sister, Caroline and husband Jonathan Crosby, had joined the Mormons and upon Louisa's invitation went and taught the Pratts. Soon the Pratts became members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and according to expectations sold their farm and moved to Missouri with the rest of the members of their new faith. Later, after persecution of the Mormons in Missouri, the Pratts emigrated to Nauvoo, Illinois. While in Nauvoo, Addison mentioned to the Prophet Joseph Smith that he had been a whaler and had visited the Hawaiian islands. He told Joseph Smith that he believed the natives would be interested in the Book of Mormon.

Soon, Addison Pratt was called with three other missionaries to go on a Latter-day Saint mission to Hawaii. Pratt's mission focused on the Society Islands in the South Pacific and he would later return to the area three more times. After the Saints reached the Great Salt Lake, his wife and children joined Pratt at Tubuai in 1850.

Pratt, Addison, one of the Elders who introduced the fulness of the gospel on the islands of the South Pacific Ocean. Together with Noah Rogers, Benjamin F. Grouard and Knowlton Hanks, Addison Pratt was called on a mission to the Pacific Islands. He was ordained a Seventy by Brigham Young May 23, 1843, and leaving Nauvoo June 1, 1843, he traveled, together with his missionary companions, to the Atlantic coast, preaching the gospel on the way, till they arrived at New Bedford, Mass. Here, being unable to find a ship going to the Sandwich Islands, they engaged their passage on the whalingship "Timoleon" and sailed from New Bedford Oct. 9, 1843. Elder Hanks, who was suffering severely from consumption, died at sea Nov. 3, 1843, being the first Latter-day Saint missionary who was assigned to a watery grave.

Elders Pratt, Rogers and Grouard landed on the island of Tubuai April 30, 1844, and while his two missionary companions proceeded to Tahiti, Elder Pratt commenced a most successful missionary labor on Tuhuai where he soon raised up the first branch of the Church organized on the islands of the Pacific Ocean. Subsequently Bro. Pratt assisted Elder Grouard in his missionary labors on the Tuamotu group, where a number of branches of the Church were raised up. For many months the Elders heard nothing from their families in America and they met with much opposition on the part of the missionaries sent out by the London Missionary Society. Noah Rogers soon returned to America, but Elders Pratt and Grouard continued their labors.

In May, 1847, Elder Pratt sailed for America, leaving Elder Grouard in charge of the mission on the Society Islands. On his arrival in California Brother Pratt met a number of the saints from the Eastern States who had doubled Cape Horn in the ship "Brooklyn" and landed where San Francisco now stands. He also met members of the Mormon Battalion and was appointed by Samuel Brannan to preside over the San Francisco branch of the Church.

In 1848 he crossed the Sierra Nevada mountains and the deserts in what is now the State of Nevada and arrived in Great Salt Lake City Sept. 28, 1848. Here he met his family who had arrived in the Valley a few days before his own arrival. Elder Pratt reported his mission on the Pacific Islands to the president of the Church and now spent about one year with his family at the headquarters of the Church.

During the winter of 1848–1849 he taught a school in the Tahitian language in his own house. He was soon called on another mission to the Society Islands, but before starting he was taken by his brethren onto the top of Ensign Peak July 21, 1849, and given his endowment.

Together with other missionaries he left the Valley on his second mission to the Islands, Oct. 8, 1849, and traveled the southern route to California, whence he embarked for Papeete, Tahiti, where he arrived May 24, 1850. His wife and four daughters followed with a company of Elders six months later. Bro. Pratt now resumed his missionary labors on the islands, but met with much opposition on the part of the French authorities, the islands, through diplomatic negotiations between Great Britain and France, having become a French colony. As "Mormonism" was not known or tolerated in France, the French officials on the Society Islands decided that it could not be recognized in a French colony; hence all the American Elders were banished from the Islands in 1852.

Elder Pratt and his family sailed from Papeete May 16, 1852, and reached San Francisco in safety July 1, 1852. The Pratts' moved to the Mormon settlement of San Bernardino, California after returning to the United States. Soon after his arrival in America Bro. Pratt became disaffected and never made his home in Utah after that. He was won over by the Spiritualists and after spending the remainder of his days in California. He died at Anaheim, Orange, California, seventy years and eight months old.

Addison was called on four missions all together. He served a few months in Tahiti before the mission closed due to French control. At the start of the Utah War, Brigham Young called saints on the coast to return to Utah. The Pratt family divided: Addison and Fay stayed in California while Louisa, Ann Louise, and Ephraim returned to Beaver, Utah. Lois and family and Ellen and family stayed with Louisa at different times. Although they corresponded, the Pratt family never reunited.

His wife, Louisa Barnes, was born Nov. 10, 1802, in Franklin, Massachusetts, and died in Beaver, Utah, in 1879. His daughter Ellen Sophronia married William McGarry and died at Anaheim, California, Aug. 9, 1885. His daughter Frances Stevens married James Dyer and died in California. His daughter Lois Barnes married John Hunt and died in Snowflake, Arizona, March 9, 1885. His daughter Ann Louisa married Thomas Tilman Willis and lived in Idaho several years ago.

See Addison Pratt Family Papers

Family links:

Spouse:

• Louisa Barnes Pratt (1802 - 1880)

Children:

*Ellen Sophronia Pratt McGary (1832 - 1895)*

• Lois Barnes Pratt Hunt (1837 - 1885)*

Burial: Anaheim Cemetery Anaheim Orange County California, USA Plot: OC-19-5

Created by: SMS Record added: Aug 22, 2007 Find A Grave Memorial# 21079041