Misplaced Pages

Nicholas D. Fratt

Article snapshot taken from Wikipedia with creative commons attribution-sharealike license. Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat. We can research this topic together.
19th century American businessman and politician
Nicholas D. Fratt
Member of the Wisconsin Senate
from the 7th district
In office
January 1, 1859 – January 1, 1861
Preceded byChampion S. Chase
Succeeded byWilliam L. Utley
Personal details
Born(1825-01-25)January 25, 1825
Watervliet, New York, U.S.
DiedNovember 12, 1910(1910-11-12) (aged 85)
Redlands, California, U.S.
Resting placeMound Cemetery, Racine, Wisconsin
Political partyDemocratic
Spouses
  • Elsie Duffes ​ ​(m. 1846; died 1890)​
  • Eva June Jeardeau ​ ​(m. 1893⁠–⁠1910)​
Children
  • Mary J. (Webster)
  • Alfred K. Fratt
  • Gertrude Jane (Mellen)
  • Franklin E. Fratt
  • George N. Fratt
  • Susan Clara (Griffith)
  • Frederick William Fratt
  • Charles Diller Fratt
OccupationBusinessman, banker

Nicholas Diller Fratt (January 25, 1825 – November 12, 1910) was an American businessman, Democratic politician, and Wisconsin pioneer. He was president of the Racine County Bank for fifty years. He also served two years in the Wisconsin Senate (1859, 1860) and was an unsuccessful candidate for the United States House of Representatives and Governor of Wisconsin. He is the namesake of Fratt Elementary School in Racine, Wisconsin.

Biography

Nicholas D. Fratt was born January 25, 1825, in the town of Watervliet, in Albany County, New York. As a young man, he worked for his father in the provision and packing business. At age 18, in 1843, he moved to Racine, in the Wisconsin Territory, and was employed at a packing house. In 1844, he went into business with Charles Herrick and opened a meat market and packing business. Two years later, his brother, Francis, arrived from New York and took the place of Herrick as his partner in the business. The company thrived and was his primary employment for the next fourteen years.

In 1853, Fratt was one of the founders of the Racine County Bank, and would serve as President of the bank from 1859 to 1908. The bank became First National Bank & Trust Co. of Racine, and, in 1988, it was absorbed into Bank One Corporation.

In 1855, Fratt bought a farm west of Racine. The land was later annexed into the city of Racine and became the neighborhood known as "West Racine". Fratt lived on his farm until 1894, when he moved into the city and bought a home on College Avenue.

He was elected to the Wisconsin State Senate in 1858 and served in the 12th and 13th sessions of the Wisconsin Legislature (1859 and 1860).

In 1874, he was the Democratic candidate for the United States House of Representatives for Wisconsin's 1st congressional district, losing to incumbent Charles G. Williams.

Fratt ran for Governor of Wisconsin twice, in 1881 and 1884. In both elections he was defeated by Republican Jeremiah McLain Rusk.

After retiring from the bank, about 1900, he moved west to Redlands, California.

Personal life

Nicholas Diller Fratt was one of seven children born to Catherine (née Miller) and Jacob Fratt. Nicholas's younger sister, Julia, married Enoch Strother, who went on to become a prominent politician in Nevada; he was a one-time Republican nominee for governor of Nevada and chairman of the Nevada Republican Party.

Nicholas Fratt married Elsie Duffes in Racine on January 14, 1846. Duffes had been born near Aberdeen, Scotland, and immigrated with her parents, in 1835, first to Canada, then to Illinois, and, in 1840, to Racine County. Nicholas and Elsie had eight children, but two children died in childhood, leaving three sons and three daughters. His wife, Elsie, died in 1890, leaving Fratt a widower. He remarried on February 23, 1893, to Eva June Jeardeau of Grant County, Wisconsin. There were no children from his second marriage.

Nicholas Fratt died in 1910, at his home in Redlands, California. He bequeathed land from his farm to the school district, on which the first school in West Racine was built. The school opened in 1916 and continues to operate as Fratt Elementary School in the Racine Unified School District.

Electoral history

U.S. House of Representatives (1874)

Wisconsin's 1st Congressional District Election, 1874
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
General Election, November 3, 1874
Republican Charles G. Williams 12,568 56.87% −5.68%
Democratic Nicholas D. Fratt 9,532 43.13%
Total votes 22,100 100.0% -11.76%
Republican hold

Wisconsin Governor (1881, 1884)

Wisconsin Gubernatorial Election, 1881
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
General Election, November 8, 1881
Republican Jeremiah McLain Rusk 81,754 47.57% −5.62%
Democratic Nicholas D. Fratt 69,797 40.61% +0.92%
Prohibition Theodore D. Kanouse 13,225 7.70%
Greenback Edward P. Allis 7,002 4.07% −2.80%
Scattering 78 0.05%
Total votes 171,856 100.0% -9.07%
Republican hold
Wisconsin Gubernatorial Election, 1884
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
General Election, November 4, 1884
Republican Jeremiah McLain Rusk 163,214 51.00% +3.43%
Democratic Nicholas D. Fratt 143,945 44.98% +4.37%
Prohibition Samuel D. Hastings 8,545 2.67% −5.03%
Greenback William L. Utley 4,274 1.34% −2.74%
Scattering 19 0.01%
Total votes 319,997 100.0% +86.20%
Republican hold

References

  1. ^ "Fratt, N. D." Our Campaigns.com. Retrieved 2012-01-11.
  2. ^ Commemorative Biographical Record of Prominent and Representative Men of Racine and Kenosha Counties, Wisconsin. J. H. Beers & Co. 1906. pp. 278–279. Retrieved October 30, 2024.
  3. ^ "What's in a name: N.D. Fratt School". Racine Journal Times. 1997-12-16. Retrieved 2019-03-03.
  4. "Strother Will is Contested". Reno Gazette-Journal. January 27, 1919. p. 5. Retrieved October 30, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. Bashford, R. M., ed. (1876). "Official directory". The legislative manual of the state of Wisconsin (Report). Madison, Wisconsin: State of Wisconsin. p. 446. Retrieved January 19, 2020.
  6. Heg, J. E., ed. (1882). "Election statistics". The Blue Book of the state of Wisconsin (Report). State of Wisconsin. pp. 308–309. Retrieved January 19, 2020.
  7. Heg, James E., ed. (1885). "Part III. Election statistics". The Blue Book of the state of Wisconsin (Report). Madison, Wisconsin: State of Wisconsin. p. 247. Retrieved January 19, 2020.

External links

Party political offices
Preceded byJames Graham Jenkins Democratic nominee for Governor of Wisconsin
1881, 1884 		Succeeded byGilbert M. Woodward
Wisconsin Senate
Preceded byChampion S. Chase Member of the Wisconsin Senate from the 7th district
January 1859 – January 1861 		Succeeded byWilliam L. Utley
Categories: