Why are there so many Pratt / Ohlrich descendants that have Pratt on their fraternal (Father’s) side and Ohlrich on the maternal (Mother’s) side?

The quick answer is that in the early 1900's three Pratt Brothers married three Ohlrich sisters.

PRATT                                                         OHLRICH

1. Clarence James (1876WI-1941WA)    Martha Ann Ohlrich (1887DEU-1979WA)

2. John Wallace (1878WI-1961MT)       Augusta Willemena Johanna (1888DEU-1950MT)

3. Thomas Milton (1887WI-1957WA)    Annita Clara (1895WI-1977WA)

The Pratt Family had arrived early in America, at least before 1762, when David Pratt (1762-1844) is reputed to have been born at Fort Ticonderoga, in upstate New York on the southern end of Lake Champlain. Other unproven ties would have this Pratt line coming from England circa 1650. The David Pratt Family line then migrated from New York State to the Canton, Bradford County, Northeastern Pennsylvania area. They then moved to Edinboro, Erie, in Northwestern Pennsylvania, near the southern shores of Lake Erie. The next family move was to the Boscobel, Grant County, in Southwestern Wisconsin.

It is in Marietta, Crawford County, Wisconsin that we find Chester Roberts Pratt (1840-1918) marrying Sarah Jane Wayne (1843-1933) on 30 May 1862. Their family ultimately consisted of five daughters and six sons.

Now the Ohlrich side of the story:

Heinrich William Ohlrich (1862-1939) was born in Papenhagen, Germany on 23 Feb 1862. He married, in Germany, Louise Henrietta Lampe about 1885. She was born in Franzburg, Germany on 09 Dec 1863. They had seven daughters and three sons. They removed from Angerode, Pommern, Germany out of the port of Hamburg on the ship "Dania" on 05 Oct 1890 to New York City, New York, USA. Two of their daughters, born in Germany, Martha Anna (1887-1979) and Augusta Willemenia Johanna (1888-1950) accompanied them on the ship. Their first daughter, Emma Anna, died young in Germany in 1889. They settled in Mifflin, Iowa County, in Southwestern Wisconsin and later moved to nearby Mineral Point, WI. The third daughter of interest, Annita Clara (1895-1977) was born in Livingston a few miles west of Mineral Point in Grant County, Wisconsin. In 1910 the family moved to a homestead about twenty-five miles north of Baker, Montana.

By:

Gerald L. & Susan E. Pratt Bolles

Descendant of Thomas Milton & Annita Clara Ohlrich Pratt

6814 W Burchwood Ave Nine Mile Falls, WA 99026