pratt

I found mention in Aerial Age Weekly of a General Liu Tsching-En of the Chinese Army, director of the Hanyang Arsenal at Hupeh China, visiting the Curtiss factory at Buffalo in 1915...from there, worked out that he's General T. E. Liu, who contracted with Pratt and Whitney to produce prototypes of his rifle design in Connecticut. The "Liu Rifle" is a rarity because much of the initial shipment was lost at sea, and it was never put into production in China. Video here about the Liu Rifle talks about General Liu: www.forgottenweapons.com/bin-shih-and-the-general-liu-rifle

very cool

This information is very cool pennylrichardsca. A fascinating story. Can anyone read the date? Do you think it's Sept. 1914 when Gen. Liu visited the U.S.? Interesting, too, that he is posed with a sword. Thanks so much for your research. We'll add some of the information to the record the next time we update.

the date on the negative is 10/30/14, but it's a formal portrait, so it may be from a different time.

John T. Pratt  (John Teele Pratt) (1873-1927) was a son of Charles Pratt (1830-1891) and his second wife Helen Richardson (Mary Helen Richardson) (1839-1907).  He graduated from Amherst College and Harvard Law School.

He was an industrialist with Standard Oil Co. and a philanthropist. In 1917, perhaps the time this photo was in the news, Mr. Pratt went to Washington and established the National Budget Commission. He urged a national budget system before the House Appropriations Committee who adopted it.
During the later part of 1918, he served as a Major in the American Red Cross at Paris.

He married Ruth Sears Baker (1877-1965). Mrs. Ruth Baker Pratt was the first woman to represent New York City on the Board of Alderman and later the first woman to represent New York in Congress (17th Congressional District 1929-33.)

They had three daughters and two sons: Mrs. Virginia Thayer (1905-1979),  Mrs. Sally Jackson (Sally Sears Pratt) (1908-1973),  Mrs. Phyllis Nitze (1912-1987),  Edwin Baker Pratt (Edwin Howard Baker Pratt) (1913-1975), and John T. Pratt, Jr. (John Teele Pratt, Jr.) (1903-1969)   [1] [2] [3] [4]

                Major John T. Pratt (4th from left) with the staff of the Army and Navy Department, American Red Cross, in front of the Gambetta statue, Paris, Nov. 1918.  LOC

The photographer of John T. Pratt's portrait, Joseph G. Gessford (Joseph Gaylord Gessford) (1866-1942) began his career at age seventeen with the Prince Studios in Washington, DC.  He came to New York in 1892 and established a studio in Union Square, and later moved to Fifth Avenue at Thirty-fifth Street. Gessford photographed New York's elite, and had a branch studio in the Berkshires (Lee, Massachusetts) where he photographed the elite at play. He took well-known photographs of Andrew Carnegie, George Westinghouse, Mark Twain, Buffalo Bill (Cody) and Theodore Roosevelt (view Roosevelt at The Library of Congress here.) There's an interesting back story about Mark Twain not wanting to pay the photographer as, after all, Twain had allowed Gessford to photograph him. (sigh) some things never change ;)   [1] [2]     LOC - add Gessford as creator/contributor?

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Teele_Pratt

Fascinating.