Le Gage Pratt
Quick Facts
Biography
Le Gage Pratt (December 14, 1852 – March 9, 1911) was a U.S. Representative from New Jersey.
Biography
Born in Sterling, Massachusetts, Pratt was educated in the common schools. In 1869 entered upon a commercial career in Boston. He subsequently moved with his parents to Chicago, Illinois. He engaged in newspaper work in Chicago 1884-1886. He was employed for several years in the life insurance business in Texas. He was subsequently transferred to Illinois and Minnesota and continued in this business. In 1897 tendered his resignation and moved to East Orange, New Jersey, and in 1903 accepted a position with the Mutual Benefit Life Insurance Company at Newark, New Jersey, being elected vice president, which office he held until elected to Congress.
Pratt was elected as a Democrat to the Sixtieth Congress (March 4, 1907 – March 3, 1909). While in office, he investigated allegations of kickbacks during the construction of the Panama Canal. He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1908 to the Sixty-first Congress. He resumed the insurance business and became connected with the Puritan Life Insurance Co., of Providence, Rhode Island. He died in Newark, New Jersey, March 9, 1911.
He was interred in Fairmount Cemetery in Newark.