Robert Van Valkenburgh

In 1872 under President Lincoln, he went to Elmira, NY and recruited volunteers for the 107th New York volunteers and led them into battle with the rank of Colonel.  All of this was leading up to how a farm boy, born and raised in Prattsburgh, could become a national leader.  His upbringing and recruiting and leading of volunteers made him the right person at the right time and place.

Robert B. Van Valkenburgh was the first ambassador to Japan.  His time in Japan was marked by a few adventures.  The biggest one was when the US made a deal to sell an ironclad ship-Stonewall to Japan.  Since Japan had always had a dual government, when the Stonewall was delivered, the government that ordered it was not in control so money was not available to pay the balance.  Robert B Van Valkenburgh took it upon himself not to let Japan have the ship.  By doing this he saved many lives.  If Japan had control of the Stonewall; none of the wooden ships used to patrol the seas would be safe.  Secretary of State Seaward said what he had done was very irregular, but President Johnson approved his decision.  Japan at this time did not have friendly feelings toward foreigners.  These words proved to be correct just seventy-three years later at Pearl Harbor.  At the time of Robert B Van Valkenburgh’s death, he was Associate Justice of Supreme Court of Florida.  Although he was married twice, he remained Childless.

Captain Joel Pratt came from Columbia County to Prattsburgh in the early 1800′s. The first actual settlers in 1801 came here when it was a part of Pulteney. It was Jared Pratt and his wife. They cleared land and built a log cabin on the land where David Snyderwine now lives. This home was the site of the first church service in Prattsburgh. The next one to come was Israel Van Housen who built a cabin on the property of Putnam farm (to see what the early settlers lived in, see the picture to the right).

Captain Joel Pratt brought his family by four-ox team and carts filled with supplies. The area was heavily forest and no roads, just a path that the others had made. he purchased land from Sir William Putleney estate and organized the town in 1813 which was named after him. He brought with him five sons and one daughter. He had many families coming here and sold land to them at $2.50-$3.50 an acre. Being a religious and scholarly man he got Rev. John Niles to come here to start a church. He setup a rule that anyone buying land had to pay 15 cents an acre to go to church.

Also at this time Robert Porter came to Prattsburgh and purchased 35 acres. Some of the land he sold to the school and the Presbyterian Church and he donated the green for children to have a place to play. On the right side of Mechanic Street many factories were setup. This made Prattsburgh nearly self-supporting in the early days.