Thomas George Pratt | |
|---|---|
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| United States Senator fromMaryland | |
| In office January 12, 1850 – March 3, 1857 | |
| Preceded by | David Stewart |
| Succeeded by | Anthony Kennedy |
| 27th Governor of Maryland | |
| In office January 6, 1845 – January 3, 1848 | |
| Preceded by | Francis Thomas |
| Succeeded by | Philip F. Thomas |
| Member of theMaryland House of Delegates | |
| In office 1832-1835 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1804-02-18)February 18, 1804 |
| Died | November 9, 1869(1869-11-09) (aged 65) |
| Political party | Whig,Democrat |
| Spouse | Adelaide MacKubin Kent |
| Alma mater | Georgetown University |
| Profession | Politician, lawyer |
Thomas George Pratt (February 18, 1804 – November 9, 1869) was a lawyer and politician fromAnnapolis, Maryland. He was the27th governor of Maryland from 1845 to 1848 and aU.S. senator from 1850 to 1857.
Pratt was born inGeorgetown, Maryland (now a part of Washington, D.C.), completed preparatory studies, and attendedGeorgetown University. He is believed to have attended the College of New Jersey (nowPrinceton University) at some point, but this has yet to be proven. He studied law, was admitted to the bar, and commenced practice inUpper Marlboro, Maryland, in 1823. Pratt married and had five children with Adeline MacKubin Kent, daughter of Maryland governorJoseph Kent, on September 1, 1835.
Pratt served as a member of theMaryland House of Delegates from 1832 to 1835, and as apresidential elector on theWhig ticket forWilliam Henry Harrison in1836. He was appointed president of the Governor's Council in 1836, serving until the position was abolished the following year. Pratt was elected a member of theMaryland State Senate, the first directly elected senator fromPrince George's County, Maryland, and served from 1838 to 1843. In 1844, Pratt was nominated as a candidate for governor representing the Whig party. He campaigned with the promise of resolving the serious state debt, and defeated his opponent,James Carroll, by a margin of a mere 548 votes.
Pratt immediately announced several long-term objectives, namely the immediate payment of the serious debt of the state. To raise state funds, Pratt put into effect direct taxes on the population by the government, an unpopular decision at the time, which nevertheless repopulated the state's treasury and allowed the repayment of the debt.
The most serious problems of Pratt's administration came with relations to the northern neighbor state ofPennsylvania, which refused to comply with theFugitive Slave Law. In 1847, when Maryland requested the return of several escaped slaves, Pennsylvania's governor bluntly refused, and, with the support of his attorney-general, went as far as to declare certain acts issued by theMaryland General Assembly to be unconstitutional. Two more incidents of this nature occurred during Pratt's tenure as governor, one involving the death of a slaveholder who was ambushed in Pennsylvania by abolitionists as he and his party returned to Maryland with their re-captured slaves. It was during this time that Pratt began to move away from the Whig party and more towards the Democratic Party.
In terms of transportation, Pratt favored the extension of theBaltimore and Ohio Railroad into Ohio, rather than supportingcanals. Pratt also strongly encouraged peaceful and speedy resolution over the dispute between Great Britain and the United States regarding theOregon Territory, stating that "no part of the Union would, in the event of war, be more exposed than Maryland".
Pratt's term as governor expired in 1848, and he briefly returned to practicing law inAnnapolis, Maryland. The state legislature, however, nominated him in 1850 to assume the U.S. Senate seat left vacated byReverdy Johnson, who had resigned to becomeAttorney General of the United States in the cabinet of PresidentZachary Taylor, and which had been temporarily filled byDavid Stewart. Pratt was reelected in 1851 and served from January 12, 1850, to March 3, 1857. As senator, Pratt supported DemocratJames Buchanan in the1856 presidential election, following the dissolution of the Whig party. The Silver Gray or Old Line faction of the Whigs, and theAmerican Party, however, supported former PresidentMillard Fillmore, who won in Maryland,[1] and the American candidate,Anthony Kennedy, succeeded Pratt as senator.
When theAmerican Civil War began, Pratt was eyed suspiciously by Maryland authorities, as he was staunchly pro-slavery, but mostly pro-South, and even gave a son to theConfederate Army. In 1863, Pratt tried to vote in the November election. He was not allowed to vote because he would not take a loyalty oath. Pratt and his secretary Col. Nicholson were arrested because of the refusal on November 21, 1863. He was imprisoned atFort Monroe,[2] but was later released. He moved toBaltimore, Maryland, in 1864, resuming the practice of law. The same year, Pratt served as a delegate to theDemocratic National Convention. In 1866, he attended theNational Union Convention in Philadelphia. Pratt was one of the attorneys forJefferson Davis during his trial at Fortress Monroe.[3] He was an unsuccessful candidate for election to the United States Senate in 1867, and died in Baltimore in 1869. He is interred in St. Anne’s Cemetery of Annapolis.
| Party political offices | ||
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| Preceded by | Whig nominee forGovernor of Maryland 1844 | Succeeded by William Tilghman Goldsborough |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Governor of Maryland January 6, 1845 – January 3, 1848 | Succeeded by |
| U.S. Senate | ||
| Preceded by | U.S. senator (Class 1) from Maryland January 12, 1850 – March 3, 1857 Served alongside:James A. Pearce | Succeeded by |
| Class 1 |  | |
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| Class 3 | ||
| International | |
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| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
