Thomas Pratt (Maryland politician)

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Thomas George Pratt (February 18, 1804 – November 9, 1869) was an American lawyer and politician from Maryland. He served as the 27th governor of Maryland (1845–1848) and as a U.S. senator from Maryland (1850–1857). Pratt also held state offices, including member of the Maryland House of Delegates (1832–1835) and the Maryland State Senate (1838–1843). He practiced law in Upper Marlboro, married Adelaide (Adeline) MacKubin Kent, and had five children.

Born in Georgetown, Maryland, Pratt studied law and built a political career as a Whig, later moving toward the Democratic Party. As governor, he worked to pay Maryland’s debt and used direct taxes to raise funds, a controversial step at the time. His administration faced tensions with Pennsylvania over the Fugitive Slave Law, and he began shifting away from the Whigs toward the Democrats. He favored extending the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad into Ohio rather than building canals and supported a peaceful stance on disputes with Britain over Oregon.

Pratt was appointed to the U.S. Senate in 1850 to fill Reverdy Johnson’s seat and was reelected in 1851, serving until 1857. He supported James Buchanan in the 1856 presidential election as the Whig party dissolved. During the Civil War, Pratt was viewed as pro-slavery and pro-South; he tried to vote in 1863 but refused to take a loyalty oath and was briefly imprisoned at Fort Monroe before being released. He later practiced law in Baltimore, remained active in Democratic politics, and helped defend Jefferson Davis in 1865. Pratt died in Baltimore in 1869 and is buried in Annapolis.