Clifford L. Pratt - Veteran of World War I

   Clifford L. Pratt was born 20 April 1892 in West Brookfield, Massachusetts.  He was the fourth child born to James H. Pratt and his wife Martha "Mattie" Emma Potter.

  Clifford served in Yankee Div., Co. H. 104th Infantry during World War I,  and was cited for his bravery at Chateau Thierry in France.  He was gassed at Argonne-Meuse receiving burns on his legs.

   Mary Cora Boutin became his wife at St. John's Church in East Brookfield, MA on 19 August in 1919.  A daughter Evelyn Doris was born in 1920, and a son Leon was born in 1924.

   Clifford was a Charter Member of American Legion Post 244 in West Brookfield, and its first Associate Commander.  He was Post Commander in the 1930's.  (This American Legion became the Adams-Coney-Frew Post #244 after World War II.) 

   He died suddenly at the home of Douglas Lyman in West Brookfield on 2 January 1958.  Burial was in Sacred Heart Cemetery after a requiem mass at Sacred Heart Church on the fourth of January.

Sources:

 1. Massachusetts Vital Records, 1841-1910, online image,  Copyright 2001-2005, New England Historic Genealogical Society; http://wwwancestry.com

 2. Massachusetts State Vital Records, 1841 - 1920, online image, http://www.familysearch.org

 3. Spencer Leader, Clifford L. Pratt, 9 January 1958, p. 10, copy from microfilm, Boston Public Library

 4. Springfield Daily Republican; Location: Springfield, Massachusetts; Etta M. C. Boutin and Clifford L. Pratt Marriage Announcement Date: 12 August 1919, online image, http://www.genealogybank.com

 5. State Library of Massachusetts, World War I Soldier Photograph Collection, online images, http://archives.lib.state.ma.us/handle/2452/124230



Photos of West Brookfield World War I Veterans Found- Update

I have done further research and confirmed that the men below were indeed soldiers from West Brookfield.  I will be posting more information about each in the future.


Thanks to Donna Seger's blog post "Some Came Back" on her blog streetsofsalem, I was introduced to a potentially valuable resource.


State Library of Massachusetts has a collection of  World War I soldiers' photographs searchable by name. I found a few photos of interest, though I cannot positively identify them as West Brookfield soldiers.  These photos are of men with names the same as known soldiers from town.  I would appreciate feedback from anyone who knows if these photos are indeed of West Brookfield men.
Clifford L. Pratt
Alfred R. Allen
W. E. Gilinsky

Austin Wellington Pratt -AKA Hobo Kelly

One of the six known children of James M. and Ruth (Chickering) Pratt was Austin Wellington Pratt, a tramp known as "Hobo Kelly." He traveled across the county by rail and was arrested many times for vagrancy and/or intoxication.  He was sometimes considered to be insane and was committed to state hospitals in Northampton and Bridgewater a number of times. He claimed to have traveled in other countries throughout the world, and to have made the acquaintance of many powerful political figures, An article published on page 4 of the Springfield Daily Republican of December 2 , 1925  after an arrest at Union Station,  describes this character as possessing a "colorful flow of oratory" and an adeptness at clog dancing.

Austin Wellington Pratt, was born May 4, 1861 in West Brookfield, MA.  He married Elizabeth McArdell in Ware, MA in 1881 and the couple had a son James who died before his fifth birthday, and a daughter Mary Elizabeth, who grew up to marry Walter Potter.  Records also show that a second wife Lizzie Hickie died in 1889 on the same day she gave birth to a stillborn daughter. It is likely that Austin is the Austin W. Pratt who died in Bridgewater in 1934 according to the Massachusetts Death Index, 1901-1980 found on Ancestry.com

Walter Potter and Mary Elizabeth Pratt - Married August 5, 1904

Walter Herbert Potter, son of Augustus N. and Mary (Sampson) Potter, and Mary Elizabeth Pratt, daughter of Austin W. and Elizabeth (McArdell) Pratt, were married at the home of the groom's parents, in West Brookfield, on August 5, 1904 by Rev. Leonard L. Beeman.  The marriage was announced in the August 8, 1904 edition of the Springfield Daily Republican.

Walter worked for the Standard Fishing Rod Company at the time of the marriage and Mary was "at home." [probably with her grandmother Ruth Pratt]  A son Herman was born in 1909. 

Walter was a foreman in a toy factory by the time of the 1910 census and was still doing that work in 1920.  The 1930 census gives his occupation as a painter of buildings, and his 1942 World War II Draft Registration gives his employer as Mc Laurin Jones Company of Brookfield.  He conducted his own business as an interior decorator for 30 years and was a member of the West Brookfield Fire Department, according to his obituary published in 1968.

Mary died in January of 1982 according to the Massachusetts Death Index.  I have been unable to find an obituary.

A possible note of interest  - Mary's father, Austin Wellington Pratt, was also known as "Hobo Kelly."  Newspaper articles from the 1920's describe him as a colorful character and story teller who rode the rails across country and back, and was occasionally jailed or committed to state hospitals.