PRATT FAMILY REUNION
Held in Honor of Two Eminent Pioneers.
THREE HUNDRED PRESENT
Permanent Organization Effected, of which Parley P. Pratt of Salt Lake is President – Programme Rendered in the Fourteenth Ward Schoolhouse – Picnic at Liberty Park Attended by Four Hundred of the Pratts and their Friends – Wore a Special Jubilee Badge.
Three hundred members of the Pratt families, their relatives and friends enjoyed a reunion and celebration last week in honor of Parley P. and Orson Pratt, two of the best known members of the Pioneer band. The first day’s celebration was held at the Fourteenth ward assembly hall, and the following programme was rendered under the direction of Capt. F. M. Bishop.
Opening prayer by Pioneer George B. Wallace.
Song by Miss Cora M. Pratt
Address of welcome by Parley P. Pratt, read by Nephi Pratt
Recitation by Miss Ruth Eldredge
Solo by Mrs. Viola Pratt Gillett
Tenor solo by Mr. Fred C. Graham
Historical address, “Flag of Liberty,” by Nephi Pratt.
Poem in beautiful ornamental scrollwork, composed and written for the occasion by Valton M. Pratt, read by Miss Ruth Eldredge.
Song by Miss Hermione P. Tyler
Violin solo by Prof. Willard E. Weihe
Pioneer Jubilee address by Moroni W. Pratt
Baritone solo by Ernest L. Pratt
Reading, “My Fiftieth Year,” Parley P. Pratt, and “Response,” John Taylor, by Capt. F.M. Bishop.
Remarks by Zina D. H. Young and Pioneer George Whitaker.
Permanent organization.
Singing of “Auld Lang Syne” by assembly.
Benediction by A.M. Musser.
The hall was decorated with life-size portraits of the late Parley P. and Orson Pratt, painted by Lorus Pratt, son of the latter, and a portrait of Charles Pratt, First Earl of Camden, a member of the English Parliament, and in 1761 Chief Justice of the English Court of Common Pleas. Another feature of the decorations interesting from a historical point of view was a quaint old flag made to represent the flag described in the autobiography of Parley P. Pratt, when he made his escape from prison in Columbia, Mo. July 4, 1829.
The address of welcome by Parley P. Pratt of this city was interesting and pathetic. He wrote from his sick bed expressing his sorrow at being unable to attend. He told in a graphic and vivid style of the trip across the plains, which he made in the summer and fall of 1847, as a boy of 10 years of age, and spoke with much fondness of his father and the experiences he had had as a missionary and a preacher of the doctrines of the Mormon church.
The second day’s programme included a picnic at Liberty park, at which about 400 were in attendance. During Jubilee week the members of the Pratt family wore a special badge in Jubilee colors upon which was inscribed the old English Pratt, coat-of-arms and the words “July 21, 1847, Pratt Family Pioneer Jubilee Reunion, July 21, 1897.” The officers of the permanent organization, which was effected during the reunion, are Parley P. Pratt, president, Nephi Pratt, vice-president; Milando Pratt, secretary; Mathoni W. Pratt, assistant secretary and treasurer. The three latter were named to act as the executive committee.
A committee of three was also elected on Temple work, consisting of Laron Pratt, chairman; Jane Elizabeth Kesler and Cornelia Pratt Driggs.
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[Transcribed by Erin T. McAllister and DeeAnn Pratt, Apr. 2012]