- John Lee Pratt
John Lee Pratt (1879 – 1975) was an American businessman. He was born in
King George County, Virginia , received acivil engineering degree from theUniversity of Virginia , entered the ranks of American business executives in two major U.S.corporation s, and later purchased and helped preserve historicChatham Manor inStafford County, Virginia which, upon his death, he gave to theNational Park Service .Education and employment
Pratt was a farm boy who was adept at fixing things. He matriculated at the University of Virginia and received a Civil Engineering Degree in 1902. After beginning his business career with the DuPont Company and, particularly serving with note during
World War I in its Washington State plant, Pratt was selected in 1919 byPierre S. du Pont to work in a corporation newly created by du Pont and other significant, wealthy businessmen—General Motors Corporation ("GM"). Pratt was, in effect, DuPont's man on the inside, initially solely looking out for DuPont's interests.Pratt rose to became a member of the corporation's executive committee and, from the 1920's until 1968, served on GM's
Board of Directors . He was later a companyVice President and is credited with supporting the idea of purchasing what became theFrigidaire Division of GM and given credit for overseeing the development of the coolant,Freon .In 1932, he bought "Chatham Manor", an expansive Georgian, Colonial
mansion on theRappahannock River in Stafford County, opposite Fredericksburg as his futureretirement home. He paid $150,000 in cash for the property, roughly the equivalent of $2.6 Million in 2007. By moving to "Chatham", he was -- in effect --moving back to his hometown.War Resources Board
Prior to the Second World War, Pratt was appointed by
President of the United States Franklin D. Roosevelt to serve on the War Resources Board. He later continued his public service as a member of the Lend-Lease Administration, in which capacity he came into contact with important leaders of his day, includingUnited States Secretary of State George C. Marshall who visited Chatham to goduck hunting . Pratt met General (and later president)Dwight D. Eisenhower who also may have been a guest at Chatham.Personal life
Pratt and his wife, Lillian, continued the restoration of the historic property throughout much of their lives. She died in 1947 and he became tired of the constant flow of visitors arriving to tour the property which, in the Colonial era, entertained
George Washington and, during theAmerican Civil War ,Abraham Lincoln . The extensivegarden s, installed by the estate's earlier owners during the 1920's, were such a draw for curious visitors that he actually had them dug up and reinstalled in a more subdued design.Mr. and Mrs. Pratt were extensively involved in the
local community in their later years and were quietphilanthropist s supporting University programs in Virginia and college educations for worthwhile community young people who had been identified for their potential by other religious and community leaders. In no endeavor did they seek publicity or recognition.After his wife died, Pratt continued to socialize with his former
childhood friends in Fredericksburg, walking regularly into the city even though he could have afforded achauffeur and any car in the GM fleet. His rumpled appearance belied his comfortable station in life while he continued his life-long associations and played in weekly penny-antepoker games with his friends.Lillian Pratt died in
1947 and willed her extensivejewelry collection to the then-newVirginia Museum of Fine Arts inRichmond, Virginia . Since the 1920s, encouraged by a family acquaintance, the businessmanArmand Hammer , she had accumulated a large collection ofPeter Carl Fabergé jewelry, including fiveFabergé egg s; the "Revolving Miniatures", "Pelican", "Peter the Great", "Czarevich", "Red Cross with Imperial Portraits" examples, as well as pins andbracelet s which were being sold by the then-new government of theSoviet Union to raise capital for theSoviet state. This collection, at the time the largest private collection of such items, had been initially acquired through purchases on herLord & Taylor Department Store charge account. The "Lillian Pratt Collection" at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts is a key part of that institution's exhibits. Lillian Pratt is buried inTacoma, Washington .Death
Upon his death in 1975, "Chatham Manor" and 30 surrounding acres were given to the National Park Service which now uses the estate for its headquarters facility in the
Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park as well as amuseum open to the public along with the grounds and gardens. Pratt also willed a portion of the Chatham estate to the local community to be used as apark and, further, gave land for the initial establishment of a localYMCA .The remainder of his estate was auctioned with the proceeds donated to the University of Virginia (his alma mater), Virginia Tech, and
Johns Hopkins University .His cremated remains rest in Oak Hill Cemetery in Fredericksburg, Virginia.
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