John Bridge Pratt (June 16, 1833 — November 27, 1870) was the husband of Anna Bronson Alcott Pratt, the elder sister of novelist

Louisa May Alcott Louisa May Alcott (; November 29, 1832March 6, 1888) was an American novelist, short story writer, and poet best known for writing the novel ''Little Women'' (1868) and its sequels ''Good Wives'' (1869), ''Little Men'' (1871), and ''Jo's Boys'' ...

. He inspired the fictional character John Brooke in his sister-in-law Louisa May Alcott's best known novels.

Early life

John Bridge Pratt was born in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

on June 16, 1833, the third child of Minot Pratt and his wife Maria Jones Bridge Pratt. The Pratt family lived at

Brook Farm Brook Farm, also called the Brook Farm Institute of Agriculture and EducationFelton, 124 or the Brook Farm Association for Industry and Education,Rose, 140 was a utopian experiment in communal living in the United States in the 1840s. It was ...

from 1841 to 1845, after which they moved to

Concord, Massachusetts Concord () is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. In the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the town population was 18,491. The United States Census Bureau considers Concord part of Greater Boston. The town center is n ...

Marriage and family

As a member of the Concord Dramatic Union, John Pratt fell in love with Louisa's elder sister Anna Alcott Pratt, reportedly during a production of "The Loan of a Lover". The two were married in the Alcott family home, Orchard House, on May 23, 1860. They had two sons, Frederick Alcott Pratt (1863-1925) and John Sewall Pratt (1865-1923), who were the models for Demi and Daisy Brooke in the ''Little Women'' trilogy.

Death

After a brief illness, John Pratt died on November 27, 1870, in Maplewood (part of

Malden, Massachusetts Malden is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. At the time of the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. Census, the population was 66,263 people. History Malden is a hilly woodland area no ...

), where he and Anna were living.

Connection to Alcott novels

John Bridge Pratt's life became the basis for the character of John Brooke in Alcott's ''

Little Women ''Little Women'' is a coming-of-age novel written by American novelist Louisa May Alcott, originally published in two volumes, in 1868 and 1869. The story follows the lives of the four March sisters— Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy—and details th ...

'' and ''

Little Men Little Men: ''Life at Plumfield with Jo's Boys'', is a children's novel by American author Louisa May Alcott (1832–1888). First published in 1871 by Roberts Brothers, the book reprises characters from Alcott's 1868–69 two-volume novel ''Li ...

'', with both his wedding and early death becoming important events in the story lines. In fact, Pratt's unexpected death in 1870 had prompted Louisa May Alcott, who was staying in Rome at the time, to write ''Little Men'' (published 1871) in order to provide financial security for the widowed Anna and her sons. His younger son, John Sewall Pratt, took Alcott as his surname when he was adopted by his Aunt Louisa near the end of her life. John and Anna's elder son, Frederick Alcott Pratt, married Jessica Cate, with whom he had five children before his death in 1910 in

Chelsea, Massachusetts Chelsea is a city in Suffolk County, Massachusetts Suffolk County ( ) is located in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, in the United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 797,936, making it the fourth-most populous county in ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pratt, John Bridge Alcott family 1833 births 1870 deaths Burials at Sleepy Hollow Cemetery (Concord, Massachusetts)