Dear Subscribers to the Greenup County, Kentucky Mailing List, I am searching for the departure date of Lot(t) Pratt (1767-1850), from Vermont. I am seeking evidence that Lot(t) Pratt was still in Vermont in 1812. Lot(t) Pratt's sons John Pratt and Lott Pratt became residents of Greenup County, Kentucky as young men and lived the remainder of their lives in Greenup County. Nina Mitchell Biggs wrote about John Pratt and Lott Pratt, Jr. In order to answer the question of Lot(t) Pratt's (1767-1850) movements, it is important to research the life of Captain Edward Culver Sumner (ca.1764-1821). Edward C. Sumner was said to be "of Peacham, Vermont", when he migrated from New England to Scioto County, Ohio. The year that he arrived in Scioto County has been recorded in documents as 1811, 1812 and 1813. Therefore, I do not know the exact year. There was a Pratt who accompanied Captain Sumner in the migration to Scioto County, Ohio. Please note the following passage from ~History of the Lower Scioto Valley, Ohio~, page 110: "The adventurous Samuel Hunt was the cause of bringing a good many people here (to Scioto County, Ohio) from New Hampshire and the contiguous part of Vermont. From Vermont came the Kimballs, Haleys, Campfield, Kellogg, Lamb, ~PRATT~ and a quite prominent person in Captain Sumner. ... Sumner bought and settled on the two French Grant Lot Numbers Eight and Nine, where Joshua Oaks lives (in 1884)." The question is: WHO was the Mr. Pratt who came from Vermont at the same time as Captain Edward C. Sumner? It is implied from the text that the Mr. Pratt in question settled in Scioto County, Ohio. Of course, he might not have remained there, but from the passage we can assume that the first residence in the Ohio River Valley of the Mr. Pratt from Vermont was in Scioto County, Ohio. Some of the residents of the French Grant, Scioto County, Ohio crossed the Ohio River and settled in Greenup County, Kentucky. The Dupuys and the Van Bibbers are prime examples. If this Vermont Mr. Pratt were John Pratt, he was a youth of about twelve years old at the time of the migration, because he was born in 1800 in Peacham, Vermont. Instead, was the Mr. Pratt Lot(t) Pratt (1767-1850)? If so, he moved from Kentucky up to Newark, New Jersey. Lot(t) Pratt became a highly successful shoe manufacturer in what is now downtown Newark, New Jersey. I consulted the 1820 Census of Scioto County, Ohio, to see if any representatives of the Pratt surname were enumerated. I found Edward C. Sumner listed in Porter Township, Scioto County, page 122. I have found one Pratt in Scioto County, Ohio in 1820, on page 116 of Portsmouth. He was Foster Pratt, who was 45 years of age or older and was the sole member of his household, in Portsmouth, Ohio, next door to David Gharky. A young, single Mr. Pratt might not have been enumerated at all (by name) in 1820, if he were living in someone's home. In 1820, John Pratt was about twenty years old and single. John Pratt married Eliza Bellow on February 20, 1822 in Greenup County, Kentucky. Edward C. Sumner died September 20, 1821 and his wife Abigail died October 19, 1821. If John Pratt had been making his home with Edward and Abigail Sumner, he would likely have had to find a new home after the death of the Sumners. In addition, there was a period of sickness in Scioto County, Ohio which came to be known as "the sickly years" or "the sickly season". I think that the primary cause of the sickness was the Ohio River's low water table in this period of time. This period was from 1822 through 1824, but I suspect that it might have begun in 1821, due to the deaths in 1821 that I have found. Fever and ague and all other kinds of fevers prevailed to a great extent. Business activity became exceedingly dull. The business of the grave giggers, however, was very prosperous. My source for this information is HLSVO, page 449. I read in another source that some of the New Englanders who moved into southern Ohio on the Ohio River RETURNED to New England in response to the "sickly season". Was one of those families a COOPER family? If so, my third-great grandfather William Cooper MIGHT have been born in New England AFTER his parents had migrated to Ohio, then returned to New England! To add to this point, there was a woman by the name of Jane Cooper living in Portsmouth, Scioto County, Ohio in 1830 whom I have not identified. I must try to identify her late husband. I suspect that the deaths of Mr. and Mrs. Sumner in the fall of 1821 and/or the period of sickness in Scioto County caused John Pratt to move across the Ohio River into Greenup County, Kentucky. John Pratt's marriage to Eliza Bellow might have been a prime factor, as well, if the marriage were arranged or the courtship had begun while he was in Scioto County, Ohio. I have read that John and/or Lott Pratt lived for a time in the French Grant, Scioto County, Ohio before their appearance in Greenup County, Kentucky. I do not know exactly what period of time, with whom or where in the French Grant. All I know is that for John Pratt, I suppose it was BEFORE February 20, 1822 (his marriage), unless he married Eliza Bellow in Greenup County, Kentucky, then took up residence as a married man in Scioto County, Ohio and moved to Greenup County some time later. His marriage in Greenup County does not prove that he was LIVING in Greenup County. Usually, the groom went to the home area of the bride for the wedding ceremony, not the other way around. Sincerely, Randal W. Cooper