Laron Pratt Compiled & Written by Jodi B. Kinner 2012 Laron (pronounced LARE-on) Pratt was born hearing on April 14, 1847, in Florence, Douglas County, Nebraska. He was a son of the late LDS Apostle Orson Pratt and his first wife (of ten), Sarah Marinda Bates. Plural marriage was a common practice at the time. Around the age of three, Laron contracted a high fever and became deaf. As an adult, he had some spoken language (English). He knew sign languagewell. He also had good speech and lip reading abilities (The Utah Eagle, March 1917). At the age of four, Laron arrived in the Salt Lake Valley with his father s Pioneer Company from Winter Quarters on October 4, 1851 (Anne Leahy, personal communication, June 3, 2011). Apostle Pratt was a member of President Brigham Young's pioneer company called the Vanguard Company. Tenyears later, in October 1861, Laron moved with his family to settle in St. George. In August 1864, he returned to Salt Lake City, where he eventually became the earliest leader of a deaf community that was starting to form there (Doug Stringham, personal communication, June 2, 2011; Anne Leahy, personal Laron Pratt as a young man God Made Me Deaf Accounts from Deaf Latterday Saint, 1836-1916 Likely, as with most deaf persons in Utah between 1850 and1880, they were educated or tutored at home by their parents (Doug Stringham, personal communication, June 2, 2011). 1
Laron was one of them. As an educated man, he wrote and published a few articles for the Deseret News. In 1862, he began his employment at the Deseret News and continued his career for nearly 50 years (Deseret News, Aug. 24, 1908). There, be became a highly regarded compositor (typesetter) (Anne Leahy, personal While employed at the Deseret News, Laron s essay entitled The English of Deaf Mutes was re-printed in the Deseret News from an unknown newspaper exchange source on June 7, 1876 (Anne Leahy, personal communication, June 3, 2011). In 1880, the census shows Laron's household consisted of a hearing wife, Ethelwynne Clarissa Brown, and six children. He employed a young Swiss woman for housekeeping work. He and Ethelwynne married on June 27, 1869 in Salt Lake City, Utah. Their children were: LaronJr, Maude Eudora, Ethelwynne Clarissa, Sarah Marinda, Hermie Estelle, and Pemelia Pearl. Laron s eldest son, LaronJr died at the age of 15 in 1885 (Deseret News, Nov. 18, 1885). Loran Pratt God Made Me Deaf Accounts from Deaf Latter-day Saints, 1836-1916 At the age of 37, Laron published two essays in the Deseret Evening News. He submitted his first essay, the passionate Deaf Mutes: A Good Word in Behalf of the Unfortunates on April 16, 1884. Seven days later, it was printed on page 211. In the essay, he applauded the legislature s provision for education of Deaf children in Utah Territory and gave an insider s view of deaf culture for a hearing audience (Pratt, Deseret Evening News, April 16, 1884; Anne Leahy, personal communication, June 3, 2011. 2
He wrote his second essay entitled, A Kind Word in Behalf of Deaf Mutes, which was submitted and published in the Deseret Evening News p. 379 on June 22, 1884. In his essay, he quoted Marquis L. Brock from a paper at the Convention of American Instructors of the Deaf and Dumb: The whole world of sound is a sealed book [to deaf people]. Laron advocated for religious and moral instruction as well. This hints that he subscribed to the American Annals of the Deaf, where the paper was published (Pratt, Deseret News, June 22, 1884; Anne Leahy, personal On January 24, 1881, Laron personally called on the LDS Prophet Wilford W. Woodruff to express a desire to teach the Deaf (Anne Leahy, personal Eleven years later on January 10, 1892, Laron founded the Deaf Mute Sunday School in the 19th Ward of Salt Lake City, and was installed as assistant superintendent. He became a stake Sunday School missionary, traveling to local and general church meetings to give talks and sign hymns with his daughter as vocalist (The Daily Enquirer, February 11, 1892; Anne Leahy, personal Laron Pratt (central) with Deaf-Mute Sunday School, 1902-1917 God Made Me Deaf Accounts from Deaf Latter-day Saints, 1836-1916 In 1896, the Deaf Mute Sunday School moved to the Ogden 4th Ward, following the relocation of the Utah School for the Deaf. He began his weekly train trips to continue serving as teacher and assistant superintendent until he was set apart as an honorary member of the superintendancy on October 7, 1907 as a reward for his faithful service (Deseret News, November 21, 1896; Anne Leahy, personal 3
In 1904, Laron was mentioned among the list of seventeen most prominent of Orson Pratt s forty-five children in Orson F. Whitney s History of Utah, p. 29 (Anne Leahy, personal Laron passed away on August 22, 1908 in Salt Lake City, Utah. His funeral was hosted by his devoted friends in the Seventeenth Ward chapel where the large number of relatives and friends attended. The students of the Utah School for the Deaf came to the funeral to pay their respects. Many of his associates from the various departments of the Deseret News, where he had worked as a printer, were also present. Many floral were displays in evidence and bore eloquent testimony to the esteem and respect in which Elder Laron Pratt was held in the community (Deseret News, Aug. 24, 1908). Three speakers were at Laron s memorial service. The first speaker was Elder J.M. Sjodahl, an editor the Deseret News. He praised of the noble, honest life of Laron and offered words of sympathy to Loran s family (Deseret News, Aug. 24, 1908). Laron Pratt, Assistant Superintendent God Made Me Deaf Accounts from Deaf Latter-day Saints, 1836-1916 Elder John Henry Smith, who knew Laron from his youth, spoke about his heroic life and how he faced almost insurmountable obstacles made a success of the great battle of life. John also complimented Laron for rearing his honored family, keeping his faith and winning his esteem of all who knew him. John stated Laron s life was truly an exemplary one and he was a worthy son of his distinguished father, Orson Pratt, one of the earliest standard bearers of Mormonism, and a Utah pioneer (Deseret News, Aug. 24, 1908). Lastly, Elder Fred W. Chambers, superintendent of the Deaf Mute Sunday school, Ogden, spoke feelingly of the devotion of Elder Pratt [who lived in Salt Lake City], who went to Ogden every Sabbath for nearly nine years, to teach deaf children the gospel (Deseret News, Aug. 24, 1908). 4
Notes Anne Leahy, e-mail message to Jodi B. Kinner, June 3, 2011. Doug Stringham, e-mail message to Jodi B. Kinner, June 2, 2011. Bibliography "A Brief History of the Sunday School for the Deaf." The Utah Eagle, Vol. 28, No. 6, March 1917. "A Sunday School Organized for the Deaf Mutes." The Daily Enquirer, February 11, 1892. Transcribed and proofread by David Grow, Aug. 2006. http://jared.prattfamily.org/orson_family_histories/laron_pratt_organization.html "Bereaved." Deseret News, November 18, 1885. http://jared.prattfamily.org/orson_family_histories/laron_pratt_son_dies.html For Blind, Deaf, and Dumb. Deseret News, November 21, 1896. Transcribed and proofread by David Grow, Aug. 2006. http://jared.prattfamily.org/orson_family_histories/laron_pratt_organization.html Funeral of Laron Pratt: Veteran Printer Laid to Rest After Impressive Service Attended by Host of Devoted Friends. Deseret News, August 24, 1908. Transcribed and proofread by David Grow, Aug. 2006. http://jared.prattfamily.org/orson_family_histories/laron_pratt_obituary.html Pratt, Laron. "Deaf Mutes: A good word in behalf of the unfortunates." Deseret News, April 16, 1884. Transcribed and proofread by David Grow, Apr. 2006 http://jared.prattfamily.org/orson_family_histories/laron_pratt_good_word.html Pratt, Larson. A Kind Word in Behalf of Deaf Mutes. Deseret News, June 22, 1884. Transcribed and proofread by David Grow, Apr. 2006. (Online). Available HTTP: http://jared.pratt-family.org/orson_family_histories/laron_pratt_kind_word.html 5