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Phineas Pratt (1747 - 1813)

Dea. Phineas Pratt
Born in Old Saybrook, Connecticutmap
Ancestors ancestors
Husband of — married [date unknown] [location unknown]
Descendants descendants
Died at age 65 in Old Saybrook, Middlesex, Connecticut, United Statesmap
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Profile last modified | Created 8 Jul 2015
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Contents

Biography

1776 Project
Private Phineas Pratt served with 7th Regiment, Connecticut Militia during the American Revolution.
Daughters of the American Revolution
Phineas Pratt is a DAR Patriot Ancestor, A092615.

Phinea(s) Pratt (1747 - 1813) was an inventor living in coastal Saybrook, Connecticut. He developed a clockwork mechanism to control the detonation of a torpedo to be released by the "Turtle" -- a Revolutionary War submarine.[1] He subsequently invented a machine for milling of ivory.[2] This invention was to make the town of Deep River in the Saybrook area the center of American ivory manufacturing.

Birth

Phineas was born in 1747 in Saybrook, Middlesex County, Connecticut, the son of Azariah Pratt (1710–1787) and Agnes Beebe (1711–1789).[3][4]

Education

Phinias attended Yale University.[5]

Marriage

A 19th century family genealogical history states that Phineas married "Hepsibah Pratt, the daughter of Nathan Pratt" on 17 Feb. 1771. [6]

The same source states that they had 11 children. Inserted into the following list are the best sources documenting each child:

  1. Nathan Pratt (1772–1842)
  2. Phebe Pratt (1773–1820)
  3. Abel Pratt (1775–1864)
  4. Hepzibah Pratt (1777–1860)
  5. Submit Pratt (1779–1784)
  6. Cynthia Pratt (1782–1856)
  7. Deacon Phineas Pratt (1784–1875)
  8. Submit Pratt (1786–1835)
  9. Harriet Pratt (1789–1832)
  10. Julius Pratt (1791–1869)
  11. Philo Pratt (1795– )

Revolutionary war

Phineas served as a soldier in the Revolutionary War in the company of Captain Daniel Platts of the 7th Connecticut regiment commanded by William Worthington.[7][8]

He was solicited by David Bushnell Bushnell-1061, also living in Saybrook and a Yale classmate of Phineas, to invent a timing device for the torpedos for the "American Turtle." [9][10]

A post-war invention transformed the local economy

In 1798 Phineas Pratt invented a device that allowed for the mechanical cutting of ivory to make combs.[11] With advances in manufacturing and a focus on ivory veneers (for piano keys), Deep River became the center of the ivory processing industry in the country. At the height of production, 90 percent of the ivory imported into the United States was processed in Deep River and adjacent Ivoryton CT.[12]

Death

Phineas died in 1813 in Essex, Middlesex, Connecticut.[13]

Notes

He was also Deacon of the Second Church in Saybrook, Connecticut.

From findagrave. From the Connecticut River Museum in Essex CT, comes the following information: David Bushnell's 1776 invention, the American Turtle. The first submarine ever to be used in combat was actually constructed as an afterthought. Bushnell and fellow Yale University intellectual, Phineas Pratt, had conceived of the underwater bomb with a time delayed flintlock detonator. The one-man, hand-propelled submarine was designed simply to transport the bomb to the enemy vessel. The American Turtle was successfully launched in the dark of night on September 6/7, 1776 against the British flagship, HMS Eagle, a 64 gun frigate moored in New York harbor off of the island now occupied by the Statue of Liberty. The American Turtle had undergone extensive test trials in the safe colonial waters of the Connecticut River off Old Saybrook, Ct., piloted by the inventor's brother Ezra Bushnell. Unfortunately, on the eve of the submarine's first combat mission, Ezra Bushnell died. With a freshly recruited, but less practiced pilot, Ezra Lee of Old Lyme, Ct., the American Turtle made its way underwater to the rudder of the Eagle's hull. Unfortunately, Lee first struck metal rather than wood with the screw intended to attach the bomb to the enemy's hull. After a second failed attempt, Lee propelled the American Turtle away, only to be observed and chased. The bomb was released into the water and resulted in a frightening explosion. While the American Turtle failed to destroy its target, the British recognized the threat and moved the fleet. Weather problems, and other operating difficulties prevented a successful attack by the submarine before it was scuttled by the British while being transported.

Sources

  1. David Bushnell and his Revolutionary Submarine ( https://connecticuthistory.org/david-bushnell-and-his-revolutionary-submarine/ )
  2. Ivory Cutting: The Rise and Decline of a Connecticut Industry (https://connecticuthistory.org/ivory-cutting-the-rise-and-decline-of-a-connecticut-industry/)
  3. "Connecticut Births and Christenings, 1649-1906", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F746-FJB : 7 January 2020), Phineas Pratt, 1747.
  4. "Connecticut, Vital Records, Prior to 1850," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QP3V-B3X2 : 21 September 2019), Phineas Pratt, ; citing Birth, , Compiled by Lucius A. and Lucius B. Barbour, housed at State Library, Hartford, Connecticut; FHL microfilm 007833263.
  5. Who's who in Naval History: From 1550 to the Present Alastair Wilson & Joseph Callo, 2004 ( https://books.google.com/books?id=0oLpTXHQ3rkC&pg=PA49#v=onepage&q&f=false )
  6. The Pratt family: or, The descendants of Lieut. William Pratt, one of the first settlers of Hartford and SayBrook, with genealogical notes of John Pratt, of Hartford; Peter Pratt, of Lyme; John Pratt (Taylor) of Say-Brook. By Chapman, F. W. (Frederick William), 1864. Page 80 (image 104 ( https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=wu.89066245127&view=2up&seq=104&skin=2021&size=175 )
  7. Collections of the Connecticut Historical Society, Volume VIII, 1901. In the payroll of Captain Plattes' company on page 178 "Phinis Pratt" is listed as a private. ( https://books.google.com/books?id=DhQzAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA178&lpg=PA178#v=onepage&q&f=false )
  8. Order of the Founders and Patriots of America By Order of the Founders and Patriots of America ( https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=loc.ark:/13960/t13n2jc96&view=2up&seq=304&skin=2021)
  9. Order of the Founders and Patriots of America By Order of the Founders and Patriots of America ( https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=loc.ark:/13960/t13n2jc96&view=2up&seq=304&skin=2021)
  10. David Bushnell and his Revolutionary Submarine ( https://connecticuthistory.org/david-bushnell-and-his-revolutionary-submarine/ )
  11. Ivory Cutting: The Rise and Decline of a Connecticut Industry (https://connecticuthistory.org/ivory-cutting-the-rise-and-decline-of-a-connecticut-industry/)
  12. Phineas Pratt’s Machine for Making Combs – Today in History: April 12 (https://connecticuthistory.org/phineas-pratts-machine-for-making-combs-today-in-history-april-12/)
  13. Findagrave memorial ID 70324551 (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/70324551/phineas-pratt)
  • "United States Census, 1790," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XHKK-WHY : accessed 26 June 2018), Phinehas Pratt, Saybrook, Middlesex, Connecticut, United States; citing p. 453, NARA microfilm publication M637, (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 1; FHL microfilm 568,141.
  • "United States Census, 1810," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XH2G-369 : accessed 26 June 2018), Phineas Pratt, Saybrook, Middlesex, Connecticut, United States; citing p. 354, NARA microfilm publication M252 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 2; FHL microfilm 281,230.
  • Bohan, Peter. Early Connecticut Silver, 1700–1840 (Wesleyan University Press, Middletown, Connecticut, 1970) Page 248




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