biography
| sex:
| male
|
| lived:
| (1808–96)
|
| biography:
| Iron merchant, capitalist, and philanthropist, born in North Middleborough, Massachusetts, USA. He worked as a clerk in Boston before he moved to Baltimore (1831). He ran a wholesale iron establishment for many years, was a leader of the Maryland Steamboat Co (1872–92), and was also engaged in banking and insurance. During the Civil War he supported the (unpopular) Union cause in Baltimore. He used his wealth to support many causes, including the improvement of conditions of African-Americans, but his most notable benefaction was establishing the Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore. Andrew Carnegie later said he was influenced by Pratt's example of branch libraries. |
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