Herbert L. Pratt
Herbert Lee Pratt | |
|---|---|
| Born | Template:Birth date Brooklyn, New York, U.S. |
| Died | February 3, 1945 (aged 73) Manhattan, New York City, U.S. |
| Occupation(s) | Entrepreneur, petroleum industry executive, art collector, benefactor |
| Years active | 1895–1935 |
| Known for | President of Standard Oil Company of New York; chairman of Socony-Vacuum Corporation; art collector and benefactor |
Herbert Lee Pratt (November 21, 1871 – February 3, 1945) was a prominent American entrepreneur and influential leader within the U.S. petroleum sector. In 1923, he assumed the presidency of Standard Oil of New York. His father, Charles Pratt, established Astral Oil Works, which was subsequently absorbed into Standard Oil. Herbert's primary base of operations was New York City, and he possessed notable properties including The Braes in Glen Cove, Long Island and Good Hope Plantation located in Ridgeland, South Carolina. Additionally, he gained recognition as a collector of fine art and a benefactor.
Early life
Pratt was born in Brooklyn, New York as the fourth child among six siblings to industrialist Charles Pratt of Standard Oil and Mary Helen (née Richardson) Pratt. His brothers and sisters included Frederic B. Pratt, George Dupont Pratt, Helen Pratt, John Teele Pratt—who was married to Ruth Baker Pratt, the first woman elected to Congress from New York—and Harold I. Pratt. From his father’s earlier marriage to Lydia Richardson, Herbert had older half-siblings: Charles Millard Pratt and Lydia Richardson Pratt.
He completed a Bachelor of Arts degree at Amherst College in 1895, where he studied alongside future U.S. president Calvin Coolidge.
Career
Following his graduation from Amherst, Pratt started his professional journey as a clerk at Bergen Point Chemical Works. He progressed to become assistant manager at the Pratt Works in Brooklyn and eventually oversaw operations at the Kings County and Long Island facilities.
Continuing his father’s pioneering role in the independent oil business, Pratt emerged as a significant figure in the American oil industry. On June 1, 1923, he succeeded Henry Clay Folger as president of the Standard Oil Company of New York (Socony), which later evolved into Mobil. He was featured on the cover of Time on June 11, 1923. In 1928, leadership transitioned to Charles F. Meyer as president of Standard Oil of New York while Pratt took on the role of chairman of the board.
When Socony merged with the Vacuum Oil Company in 1931, Pratt was appointed chairman of the newly formed Socony-Vacuum Corporation, which had capital valued at $1 billion. After dedicating forty years to the company, he stepped down as chairman on June 1, 1935. Beyond this role, Pratt served on several corporate boards including those of Bankers Trust Company (1917–1938), Asia Banking Corporation, American Can Company, Stone & Webster, and Charles Pratt and Company.
Personal life
On April 28, 1897, Herbert L. Pratt married Florence Balsdon Gibb (1873–1935), daughter of merchant John Gibb who led Loeser & Co.. Florence graduated from the Packer Collegiate Institute and made history in 1927 as the first woman elected to the New York State Board of Regents. The couple had five children:
- Edith Gibb Pratt (1898–1956), who wed Allan McLane Jr. in 1919; following their divorce in 1934, she remarried Howard W. Maxwell Jr. in 1946.
- Herbert Lee Pratt Jr. (1900–1974), married Hope Gordon Winchester in 1926.
- Harriet Balsdon Pratt (1901–1978), married Lawrence Bell Van Ingen in 1923; after divorcing in 1938, she later married Donald Fairfax Bush.
- Florence Gibb Pratt (1905–1965), married Francis Edward Powell Jr., whose family represented Standard Oil internationally.
- Frederic Richardson Pratt (1907–1966), married Pauline Dixon Dodge; upon his passing, she remarried landscape architect Richard K. Webel.
Florence passed away on January 2, 1935, at their Fifth Avenue residence in New York City. Herbert L. Pratt died on February 3, 1945, at his Manhattan home located at 834 Fifth Avenue. His funeral was held at St. James' Episcopal Church before interment took place at the family cemetery in Lattingtown, New York.
Residences
Originally from Clinton Hill, Brooklyn, Pratt constructed his residence at 213 Clinton Avenue in 1908. By 1914, he had moved to 640 Park Avenue, a prestigious Manhattan building crafted by architect J. E. R. Carpenter. Two years later, in 1916, Pratt leased the largest apartment at 907 Fifth Avenue—also designed by Carpenter—a sprawling 25-room unit occupying the entire top floor, with an annual rent of $30,000. This building was notable as the first to replace the mansions that once lined Central Park.
Subsequently, Pratt relocated to a Beaux-Arts mansion measuring 40 feet in width at 1027 Fifth Avenue, situated at the corner of 84th Street and Fifth Avenue. This residence neighbored that of Florence Adele Vanderbilt Twombly. Following his wife’s passing in 1936, Pratt sold this property to the Marymount School of New York, which integrated it with neighboring buildings while retaining significant architectural features.
Pratt’s country estate named "The Braes," located in Glen Cove on Long Island and constructed between 1912 and 1914 in the neo-Jacobean style by James Brite, was the largest among six Pratt family mansions in the area and currently serves as part of the Webb Institute campus. Additionally, he commissioned two homes in Lattingtown—"Homewood" and "Preference"—for his daughters Edith and Harriet, both designed by Carrère and Hastings.
In 1910, Pratt purchased the Good Hope plantation and hunting lodge near Ridgeland, South Carolina, encompassing approximately 9,000 acres. The family also leased Yester Castle in East Lothian, Scotland for seasonal hunting activities. Summers were typically spent at Pine Tree Point on Upper St. Regis Lake in the Adirondacks—a Japanese-style camp acquired from Frederick William Vanderbilt—and at the Caughnawana Fishing and Hunting Club located in Quebec, Canada.
Philanthropy
Pratt was a dedicated art collector, with a particular interest in portraits and miniatures. In 1937, he became a trustee of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. When Rotherwas Court in Herefordshire, England was dismantled in 1913, Pratt acquired its dining room to incorporate into his neo-Jacobean estate "The Braes" at Glen Cove. His legacy to Amherst College included the Rotherwas Room along with more than eighty American portraits and miniatures and an extensive collection of decorative arts. The Rotherwas Room was installed within Amherst’s Mead Art Museum in 1949.
The Webb Institute obtained "The Braes" estate in 1945 to establish its campus. Following renovations, academic sessions commenced there in 1947, with later expansions adding a library and model-building facilities.
Legacy
A steamship bearing Herbert L. Pratt’s name struck a mine near Delaware on June 3, 1918; however, it was successfully salvaged and brought safely to port.
External links
- Herbert Pratt Estate Collection at New York Heritage
- Herbert L. Pratt portrait at the Brooklyn Public Library