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Enoch Pratt Bicentenial

Enoch Pratt Bicentennial Events 2008

Enoch Pratt Birthday Celebration, 10:30 am - 4 pm, Wednesday, September 10.  (Concurrently at the First Unitarian Church, corner of Charles and Franklin Streets, the Enoch Pratt Free Library, Main Building on Cathedral Street, and the Maryland Historical Society on Monument Street.)  A birthday cake and proclamation by Mayor Sheila Dixon at the library begin the day-long celebration of Enoch Pratt's birth on September 10, 1808.  Exhibits and tours at all locations.  (First Unitarian was Pratt's religious home for 65 years; he was very involved at the church, serving for decades as first its Treasurer and then President.  During that time he gave many substantial gifts to the church.  Enoch Pratt's home on Monument Street is one of the Maryland Historical Society's buildings and it will be open that day.)

Enoch Pratt Parish Hall Dedication Ceremony, 1 pm, Sunday, September 21,  514 N. Charles Street.  The event begins at the 11 am Worship Service in the sanctuary with a sermon on "Becoming Enoch Pratt" by local historian and Affiliate Minister at First Unitarian, Dr. Michael Franch.  The Dedication Ceremony of Enoch Pratt Parish Hall follows at 1 pm.  Enoch Pratt Parish Hall was a gift of Enoch Pratt to First Unitarian; it was built with the salvaged bricks of the row homes on Mulberry Street that were razed to make space for the building of the first Enoch Pratt Library on Cathedral Street.

"American Minimalism" Concert by Peabody students at First Unitarian, 1:30 pm, Sunday, October 5 (Sanctuary - 1 W. Franklin Street - corner of Charles and Franklin Streets).  Enoch Pratt was a friend of George Peabody, a fellow Unitarian, and was asked by Peabody to serve as the Peabody Conservatory's first Treasurer.  A special relationship between First Unitarian and Peabody Conservatory has remained throughout the years.  This concert of contemporary compositions performed by Peabody students is part of the Pratt Bicentennial celebration.

Annual Meeting of the Baltimore City Historical Society, 1-4 pm, Saturday, November 8, Enoch Pratt Parish Hall (514 N. Charles Street).  Annual Meeting of the Baltimore City Historical Society will focus, in part, on Enoch Pratt's legacy. 

Organ Concert on the Henry Niemann Organ, TBA, Sanctuary, First Unitarian Church at the corner of Charles and Franklin Streets.  Henry Niemann, one of the finest organ builders in U.S. history was based in Baltimore in the 19th century.  Enoch Pratt purchased one of his organs for the sanctuary at First Unitarian.  Still in use today, this magnificent organ will be played during a Pratt Tribute Concert by First Unitarian's Music Director, James R. Houston.  Mr. Houston has been Music Director at First Unitarian for forty years and has developed an expertise in maintaining the organ, which has been in place since 1893.

Enoch Pratt and The First Unitarian Church of Baltimore

Though always Unitarian, the First Unitarian Church of Baltimore was named “The First Independent Church of Baltimore” throughout the nineteenth century; the name was not changed to the present one until 1912.  The following information regarding Enoch Pratt and First Unitarian is cited from A Heritage to Hold in Fee 1817-1917, the history of First Unitarian’s first 100 years.

“Soon after his arrival in Baltimore, Mr. Pratt united with the First Independent Church.  In spite of the fact that the Church was unpopular and burdened with debt, he had no hesitancy about becoming a member.  He was a loyal and faithful member during the remainder of his life.  He was seldom missing from his accustomed pew on Sundays.  Even when living at his country home, “Tivoli,” in Govanstown, he made the trip by horse car which required more than one hour each way.  His own horses were always given a Sunday rest.

“At first Mr. Pratt lived in a boarding house on Pleasant Street, next door to Mr. Samuel Hyde, one of the founding members of the Church.  There he met Miss Maria Louisa Hyde and they were married August 1, 1839.  Mr. and Mrs. Pratt rented a house on Pleasant Street until 1848, when he built a home to his own specifications at Monument Street and Park Avenue, now occupied by the Maryland Historical Society.

“Mr. Pratt served the Church as Trustee from 1848 to 1893, and was Treasurer from 1848 to 1860.  As Treasurer he was able to report after his first year that the finances were in good condition.  He had brought the accounts of the pew holders up to date.  Those who were in arrears in the payment of taxes on their pews, either paid the taxes or the pews were advertised in the newspapers and sold at public auction.  Mr. Pratt was for many years Chairman of the Board of Trustees.  The meetings of the Board were often held in Mr. Pratt’s “counting house” on the second floor of his hardware shop.  He endeavored to keep the mortgage debt from increasing by contributing to the deficit which occurred annually, and insisting that others who were able do the same.  In a characteristic letter dated April    14, 1886, he told Mr. Cleaveland P. Manning that he would increase his subscription by $100 provided the Eatons were solicited for the same amount.  Despite his efforts the debt increased nearly 40% from 1858 to 1879.  Realizing that one of the causes of the deficit was the maintenance of the Church Cemetery, Mr. Pratt in 1876, offered to purchase and cancel all the debt certificates outstanding, if the Church would deed to him the Cemetery lot.  Mr. Pratt’s offer was accepted, and he was given a deed to the old buying ground on North Gay Street.  The former Cemetery was laid out in building lots which sold at an excellent profit.  The Church also benefited, since it was not for the first time in its history free from a burdensome debt.” [N.B. Because of the freedom from debt, the Church was in a position to grow and expand.  There followed a period of forty years during which the Parish Hall was built, the sanctuary was completely renovated, a new organ purchased and ambitious projects such as the Industrial Schools for Boys and Girls and the Settlement House were begun.]

Enoch and Maria Louisa Pratt were stalwart and generous members of First Unitarian throughout their lives.  They were also involved in the broader Unitarian movement, attending several Unitarian conventions as delegates and giving generously to the Meadville Seminary, the Unitarian seminary now called Meadville Lombard.

View historic photos of the church.
 

Enoch Pratt (1808-1896)
 

Enoch Pratt was born in North Middleborough, Massachusetts on September 10, 1808.  He learned the trade of making iron nails at home from his father who was in the hardware business.  When he completed his studies at Bridgewater Academy in 1823, he moved to Boston and became a clerk in a wholesale hardware business.  In January, 1831, he moved to Baltimore and opened his own hardware business, E. Pratt & Brother.  At the time, Baltimore was the second largest and most important city in the young United States and the future was bright for its continued commercial growth.  Many of the men who were later to control the city’s industry and finance were young merchants, gaining a start in rapidly changing and expanding markets.

Upon his arrival in Baltimore, Pratt joined The First Independent Church (later renamed the First Unitarian Church of Baltimore).  He met and married his wife, Maria Louisa Hyde, a daughter of one of the Church’s founders.  The Church was to serve as a focal point of their lives; he served on its Board of Trustees from 1848-1893, and gave a number of substantial gifts, including the Parish Hall and the Henry Niemann organ.  Many of his professional and philanthropic connections were formed and fostered through the Church.

Pratt was a staunch abolitionist who admired Abraham Lincoln intensely.  During the Civil War, Pratt aided the government with supplies and transportation and invested a considerable amount of his personal fortune in U.S. Government Bonds.

Enoch Pratt became one of the most successful businessmen the City has ever produced, amassing a tremendous fortune through a business empire which included the original hardware business, transportation (railroads and steamships), insurance, and banking.  He was President of the Farmer’s and Planter’s National Bank for 36 years, President of the Baltimore Clearing House and the Maryland Bankers Association, and founded the Safe Deposit and Trust Co. and the Mercantile Trust and Deposit (later merged).  After the Civil War, Mercantile played an important role in financing the reconstruction of the South, serving as underwriters of bonds issued by southern cities and raising capital to finance infrastructure.  In 1877, Pratt was appointed the Municipal Finance Commissioner, a service he rendered to the City pro bono for many years.

Enoch Pratt was involved in philanthropy for over five decades.  In a very real sense, his vision of service to his fellow man, regardless of race, creed or financial standing, through the creation of institutions for their betterment has shaped the City of Baltimore as we know it and created the model of American philanthropic giving.  Particularly striking is Pratt’s generosity of funding and time, for he was actively involved with all the institutions that he founded or to which he contributed, often serving for years on their Boards. 

The public is now most aware of his magnanimous gifts in founding the public library system for Baltimore, the Enoch Pratt Free Library (originally with a main and four branch libraries) and the major bequest that enabled the refinancing and restructuring of the Sheppard and Enoch Pratt Hospital.  Notable among his additional philanthropic projects are the following: Maryland Institute for the Promotion of the Mechanic Arts [now Maryland Institute College of Art]; Spring Grove Asylum; Peabody Institute; Maryland Asylum for the Deaf and Dumb [now Maryland School for the Deaf in Fredrick]; Workingman’s Institute and Library in Canton; Baltimore Home for Incurables [now Keswick Home for Incurables]; Maryland Academy of Sciences [now Maryland Science Center in the Inner Harbor]; Meadville Theological School [a Unitarian Seminary now called Meadville Lombard]; and Boys’ Home Society of Baltimore.  In addition, he was a founder of the Maryland SPCA and donated his farm of 752 acres in Prince George’s County, Cheltenham, for the House of Reformation and Instruction for Colored Children, many of whom he hired after they had left the institution.

We may gain an understanding of the vision which inspired and the methodology which governed his philanthropy in the following words, spoken at the opening of the Enoch Pratt Free Library. Of his purpose he said, “For fifteen years I have studied the library question, and wondered what I could do with my money so that it could do the most good…I soon made up my mind that I would not found a college—for a few rich.  My library shall be for all, rich and poor without distinction of race or color, who, when properly accredited, can take out the books if they will handle them carefully and return them.”  He remained actively involved in the library – erected two blocks from his home and from his church – for the rest of his life.

Click here for: Enoch Pratt Chronology

For more information regarding Enoch Pratt, please see

Enoch Pratt:  The Story of a Plain Main by Richard H. Hart, first published by the Enoch Pratt Free Library in 1935 as part of the library’s 50th anniversary celebration.  It is being republished in 2008 as part of the Enoch Pratt Bicentennial Celebration. 

A Heritage to Hold in Fee 1817-1917:  First Unitarian Church of Baltimore (Universalist and Unitarian, by Rebecca Funk, Church Historian with the Historical Committee of the Church. Baltimore:  Garamond Press, 1962.

No Mean City:  An Inquiry into Civic Greatness by Theodore R. McKeldin, Governor of Maryland 1951-1959 and Mayor of Baltimore 1943-1947 and 1963-1967.  Published by the author in cooperation with the Maryland Historical Society,  1964.

 Compiled by Catherine Evans, President, First Unitarian Church of Baltimore