George was the only son of Zadock Pratt and his wife Abigail Watson. When he was only 4, his mother died in childbirth. He and his sister Julia were raised by their mother's sister, Mary Elizabeth, who became their father's 4th wife.
George led a privileged early life which included private tutors and European travels in 1848-1850. Like his father and several uncles, he became a tanner. Leather had been a very rewarding industry for members of the Pratt and Watson families. In 1853 George established a partnership in NYC with Israel Corse, who had previously been an associate of George's father and his maternal uncle John Watson.
In 1855 George married Anna Atwood Tibbits of Albany and they were soon a family of 4. Little might they have realized how their lives would change in the next few years.
