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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

Excellent action shot.

What a happy couple!

wonder if they were on their way to Jekyll Island

Hi, I'm an admin for a group called 1910s Fashion, and we'd love to have this added to the group!

Laura Spelman Rockefeller's head is huge in this photo. It does look like a head/hat was edited onto that body, especially when viewed close up. I downloaded the image, saw a blurry section above her head, and a white section around the right side of her face, and saw that his face and coat had been hand-outlined also. Possibly she had a blurred face, and the newspaper wanted a clear shot of her to publish? I did find another image online of this same train trip. She has on the same or a very similar dress coat. TITLE:John Davison Rockefeller, 1839-1937 CALL NUMBER:BIOG FILE - Rockefeller, John Davison, 1839-1937 [item] [P&P] REPRODUCTION NUMBER:LC-USZ62-55926 (b&w film copy neg.) SUMMARY:1/2 length, standing, facing left, and wife; railroad? conductor behind them. MEDIUM:1 photographic print. CREATED/PUBLISHED:c1911 July 13. NOTES: J157560 U.S. Copyright Office This record contains unverified, old data from caption card. Caption card tracings: PI; Shelf. Sources checked: www. R-, Laura C. Spelman, d. 1915. REPOSITORY:Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA DIGITAL ID:(b&w film copy neg.) cph 3b03804 CONTROL #:2004679693 popartmachine.com/item/pop_art/LOC+1082712/JOHN-DAVISON-R....

Boeing Model 40-Y NC381 c/n 1095 The sole 40-Y was a custom conversion of a 40-B airframe built for the Standard Oil Company of California. It had a cabin for two passengers and two open cockpits with dual controls. Powerplant was a 525 hp Pratt & Whitney Hornet radial engine, it had a balanced rudder and a tail-wheel. NC381 was turned over to the customer on December 9, 1928, and made its first flight the following day.