Pratt, David (1819-1904)

PRATT

Posted By: Karon Velau (email)
Date: 12/9/2016 at 00:47:14

The Advocate-Tribune newspaper, Indianola, Iowa, Thursday, December 30, 1886, p.6

A GATHERING OF THE PATRIARCHS
Mine host, A. P. Keeney, of the Madison House, the oldest landlord in Indianola, had a remarkable gathering at this popular hostelry on Christmas day. He invited all the prominent old widowers of this vicinity to eat a Christmas dinner with him. The patriarchal flock that answered the summons were a most interesting group of time-worn veterans.

DAVID PRATT has also accepted the kind invitation to dine with the time-worn relics of bygone days, and the others really supposed he was one of them. He gave his birth place as Madison county, New York. He declined to give the year of his birth, but said he was 53 on the third day of last September, whereat he nearly lost cast in the venerable assembly. They regarded him as entirely too much of a boy to be a fit associate on such an occasion. Still, as he attended the dinner he is entitled to his portion of this article. He moved to Indianola in 1860, and was then left off the list of men liable to military duty, because he reported himself too old. Since then, time has dealt very gently with him. He has followed teaming, or freighting during the 26 years he has live in Indianola, and in that time has done more straight hard work then the majority of people do in a life time. At times he has displayed a most enterprising spirit. Many of our citizens will remember when he established a line of freight teams between here and Des Moines, and actually forced the Rock Island road to reduce its freight rates. Indianola has no more industrious citizen. He works away at all seasons and in all kinds of weather, stopping for nothing. When he shall be called on to pass in his checks he will probably die with his boots on.
[Note: David as actually 67, not 53, in the article above. He was born Sep 3, 1819 and died Feb 28, 1904 in Colby, Thomas County, Kansas, buried in Beulah Cemetery there... see listing on Find A Grave.]