Henry Otis PRATT, Congress, IA (1838-1931)

PRATT, Henry Otis, a Representative from Iowa; born in Foxcroft, Piscataquis County, Maine, February 11, 1838; attended the common schools and Foxcroft Academy; was graduated from the law department of Harvard University; moved to Charles City, Iowa, in 1862 and taught school; was admitted to the bar in Mason City, Iowa, in 1862; during the Civil War enlisted in the Union Army in August 1862 and served in Company B, Thirty-second Regiment, Iowa Volunteer Infantry, until March 1863, when he was discharged at Fort Pillow, Tenn.; commenced the practice of law in Charles City, Iowa, in 1864; county superintendent of public schools of Floyd County in 1868 and 1869; member of the State house of representatives 1870-1872; elected as a Republican to the Forty-third and Forty-fourth Congresses (March 4, 1873-March 3, 1877); was not a candidate for renomination in 1876; president of the Republican State convention at Des Moines, Iowa, in 1877; studied for the ministry; was ordained and entered the ministry of the Methodist Episcopal Church in October 1877 and continued his ministerial duties until retired on account of age in October 1918; died in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, May 22, 1931; interment in Oak Hill Cemetery.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present