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Local figure

James H. Pratt

James H. Pratt was a planter on the Eno River in Orange County. In 1850 he and his wife, Malvina, worked about 800 acres with 47 enslaved people. In 1860 he bought the 160-acre Jehu Brown tract from John Burton. His will, probated in 1885, left that land to Lucinda Harris, keeping a promise to provide for the family after her husband, Benton Harris, died in the Civil War.

Source: NC State Historic Preservation Office: National Register file OR0656

Orange County Indexed has not yet linked an indexed work directly to James H. Pratt. The biography and the dated events on this page provide sources about James H. Pratt’s life and work. If you know a useful source, tell us.

Research sources

Life and Orange County connections

Dated events connected with this person, earliest first. See these 3 dated events in the chronology →

  1. The 1850 census records 47 enslaved people on James H. Pratt's farm by the Eno James H. Pratt and his wife Malvina worked a farm of 300 improved and 500 unimproved acres with 47 enslaved people, raising wheat, corn, oats, flax and livestock. People: James H. PrattNC State Historic Preservation Office: Cabe-Pratt-Harris House, National Register nomination (OR0656), p. 12
  2. James H. Pratt buys the Jehu Brown tract and a second share of the Cabe land John Burton, Jamima Cabe's son by her first marriage, sold the 160-acre Jehu Brown tract with the house to Pratt by a deed dated 1860. The same year Pratt bought 130 adjoining acres that had been Nancy Cabe's share of her father's land. People: James H. PrattSearch the index · NC State Historic Preservation Office: Cabe-Pratt-Harris House, National Register nomination (OR0656), p. 12
  3. James H. Pratt's will leaves the Cabe farm to the family of Lucinda Harris Pratt left the 140-acre Cabe tract and the 160-acre Jehu Brown tract to Lucinda Harris for life and then to her daughters Emma and Jane, keeping a promise to provide for the family after her husband Benton Harris died in the Civil War. The Harrises held the farm until 1942. People: James H. PrattSearch the index · NC State Historic Preservation Office: Cabe-Pratt-Harris House, National Register nomination (OR0656), p. 12

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Collections and databases

  • NC LIVE: prepared search for James H. Pratt Library card An advanced search of the state’s shared databases already scoped to Orange County’s places and this subject; edit it freely, and sign in through your North Carolina library to read
  • Ancestry Library Edition In the libraryOrange County Public Library Census, birth, death and marriage records, and more, free on the public computers at OCPL libraries

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