Nicholas Diller Fratt (January 25, 1825November 12, 1910) was an American businessman, Democratic politician, and

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

pioneer. He was president of the Racine County Bank for fifty years. He also served two years in the

Wisconsin Senate The Wisconsin Senate is the upper house of the Wisconsin State Legislature. Together with the Wisconsin State Assembly they constitute the legislative branch of the state of Wisconsin. The powers of the Wisconsin Senate are modeled after those ...

(

1859 Events January–March * January 21 – José Mariano Salas (1797–1867) becomes Conservative interim President of Mexico. * January 24 ( O. S.) – Under the rule of Alexandru Ioan Cuza, the provinces of Wallachia and Moldavia are uni ...

1860 Events January * January 2 – The astronomer Urbain Le Verrier announces the discovery of a hypothetical planet Vulcan (hypothetical planet), Vulcan at a meeting of the French Academy of Sciences in Paris, France. * January 10 &ndas ...

) and was an unsuccessful candidate for the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

and

Governor of Wisconsin The governor of Wisconsin is the head of government of Wisconsin and the commander-in-chief of the state's Wisconsin Army National Guard, army and Wisconsin Air National Guard, air forces. The governor has a duty to enforce state laws, and the ...

. He is the namesake of Fratt Elementary School in

Racine, Wisconsin Racine ( ) is a city in Racine County, Wisconsin, United States, and its county seat. It is located on the shore of Lake Michigan at the mouth of the Root River (Wisconsin), Root River, south of Milwaukee and north of Chicago. It is the List ...

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 Jean-Baptiste Racine ( , ; ; 22 December 1639 – 21 April 1699) was a French dramatist, one of the three great playwrights of 17th-century France, along with Molière and Corneille, as well as an important literary figure in the Western tra ...

, in the

Wisconsin Territory The Territory of Wisconsin was an organized and incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 3, 1836, until May 29, 1848, when an eastern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Wisconsin. Belm ...

, 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 Bank One Corporation was an American bank founded in 1968 and at its peak the sixth-largest bank in the United States. It traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the stock symbol ONE. The company merged with JPMorgan Chase & Co. on July 1, ...

. 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 Twelfth can mean: *The Twelfth Amendment to the United States Constitution *The Twelfth, a Protestant celebration originating in Ireland In mathematics: * 12th, an ordinal number; as in the item in an order twelve places from the beginning, follo ...

and

13th In music or music theory, a thirteenth is the Musical note, note thirteen scale degrees from the root (chord), root of a chord (music), chord and also the interval (music), interval between the root and the thirteenth. The thirteenth is m ...

sessions of the Wisconsin Legislature (1859 and 1860). In 1874, he was the Democratic candidate for the

for

Wisconsin's 1st congressional district Wisconsin's 1st congressional district is a congressional district of the United States House of Representatives in southeastern Wisconsin, covering Kenosha County, Wisconsin, Kenosha County, Racine County, Wisconsin, Racine County, and most of ...

, losing to incumbent Charles G. Williams. Fratt ran for

twice, in 1881 and 1884. In both elections he was defeated by Republican

Jeremiah McLain Rusk Jeremiah McLain Rusk (June 17, 1830November 21, 1893) was an American Republican politician. He was the second United States secretary of agriculture (1889–1893) and the 15th governor of Wisconsin (1882–1889), and served three terms ...

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

Redlands, California Redlands ( ) is a city in San Bernardino County, California, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 73,168, up from 68,747 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. The city is located a ...

Personal life

Nicholas Diller Fratt was one of seven children born to Catherine (' 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 A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the type of political region or polity, a ''governor'' ma ...

and chairman of the

Nevada Republican Party The Nevada Republican Party is the affiliate of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party in Nevada. The organization has a history that goes back to 1864. The party currently controls Nevada's Governor of Nevada, governorship, Nevad ...

. Nicholas Fratt married Elsie Duffes in Racine on January 14, 1846. Duffes had been born near

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

, and immigrated with her parents, in 1835, first to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

, then to

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

, 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 Racine Unified School District (RUSD) is a school district serving the eastern portion of Racine County, Wisconsin. It encompasses a area, and serves the city of Racine and six other towns and villages, which had a combined population of 139, ...

Electoral history

U.S. House of Representatives (1874)

, colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election, November 3, 1874

Wisconsin Governor (1881, 1884)

, colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election, November 8, 1881 , colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election, November 4, 1884

References

External links

Nicholas D. Fratt
at Find a Grave
Fratt Elementary School
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fratt, Nicholas D. 1825 births 1910 deaths People from Watervliet, New York Politicians from Racine, Wisconsin Businesspeople from Racine, Wisconsin People from Redlands, California Democratic Party Wisconsin state senators American bank presidents Wisconsin pioneers 19th-century American businesspeople Burials at Mound Cemetery (Racine, Wisconsin) 19th-century members of the Wisconsin Legislature