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Prathers Covered Bridge Located
north of Toccoa, GA.
The first Prather Bridge was a swinging bridge built in 1804 by James Jeremiah Prather. The first bridge was washed away during a freshet (an overflow caused by heavy rain). A more substantial bridge was built in 1850, but was burned in 1863 during the Civil War to keep the enemy from crossing. James Jeremiah and his son, James Devereaux rebuilt the bridge in 1868. This bridge was also washed away in 1918 and was rebuilt in 1920 by James D. Prather. It was replaced by a concrete bridge, but was kept as a landmark until burned by vandals in 1978. The pillars still stand, made from rock quarried by Mr. Prather from a nearby hillside. <1>click picture for an enlarged view Gary
Benton Prather’s Account of Visiting the Prather Plantation Near the
Prather’s Covered Bridge
“Prather Bridge stood about 1/2 mile north of the Prather plantation called "Riverside Plantation" which was built in 1810 and still stands and is owned by the same family for all these years. Joseph and Ruby Prather were living there when I visited the plantation back in the 1970's. Joseph's daughter (by his first marriage) built a new house just down from the old plantation house and she will most likely inherit the place.Robert Tombs, Sec. of State of the Confederacy, was hidden there
and smuggled out of the country by the Prathers.
He is the only high office Confederate person who did not sign the
surrender documents.
The
story goes:
They kept a horse saddled and ready for Robert Tombs, day and night, as he stayed at the Prather plantation. Tombs plantation was located about 50 or so miles south and the Union Soldiers almost caught him there. But he escaped and came to the Prather plantation for protection. Robert Tombs was settingon
the porch when he heard the Union Army horses coming across the old
Prather Bridge down the road. He
put a pistol in each hand and hid in the closet of his bedroom (The
Prather plantation home was the first in the region to have closets.)
When the Union Soldiers came into the house one entered each
bedroom. They thought that
the door to the closet led into the next bedroom and did not open the it.
When they left they were very upset not to find Robert Tombs.
They knew he had been there because of his horse and saddle.
They thought that the Prathers had supplied him a fresh horse for
his escape. After the
Soldiers left the Prathers smuggled him to the coast and put him on a ship
to Cuba and then to France. Robert
Tombs never surrendered. (this
story was told to me by Joseph Prather).
The plantation house still had some of the old furnishings, including a desk which was a gift from the first Gov. of NC. This desk had several Confederate documents including the list of slaves that were freed at the end of the war, and many of the "house slaves" used the last name "Prather". (these were the more educated slaves.... (per Joseph Prather).Joseph Prather has since passed away but the last time I was there (re; 2001) Ruby was still alive.”For other stories of the area, see: http://sciway3.net/scgenweb/oconee-county/archived-txt/history/h-28.txt
Homer Silsby Prather's Bible Found April 15, 2010 The bible of my 2nd-great grandfather (HERE in the DB), Homer Silsby Prather, has been found in the Estate of Virginia Hartford Saharov in Warsaw, VA and sent to me by Sandy Weir! He died in 1905 in IL. The bible is not in the best of shape, but is a great piece for my collection and even has his signature (though unproven that he wrote it) in a couple places. I love the metal catch used to hold it shut. The bible is dated 1870 in Roman Numerals and all chapter numbers are in RN.
Read the interesting Will and family accounts of Henry Pawling Prather and wife Martha Watson of PA/MD ca. 1800's... click HERE
"FINDING AID" for Lillard-Bonner Genealogical Collection: developed by Richard A. Stowe...will soon be placed on the Kentucky Historical Society library website - Get details by clicking: NEWS
VOL I sold out 1/15/00: by John W. Prather, Jr. See "Book I" and other books above for details.
See ... Video clips of Nunney Castle and vicinity... click on the Nunney Castle picture below to get to the video clip selection button!
*...including the surnames PRATER / PRATHER / PRAYTHER / PRATOR / PRAYTOR / PRAYTER
Since December, 1996 this page has been accessed this many times:
Last Updated: May
2010
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Now Available - Praters in Wiltshire 1480-1670 Volume 1 Reprint Revision 1 - 2010 ! May 19, 2010Good news! John W. Prather, Jr. has authorized the reprint of his 1987 Volume I which has been out of print and unavailable for years!! He asked me to spread the word to fellow researchers. For details and order options, click on the upper-left-corner link [BOOK I & II INFO].This "Revision 1" includes updates and corrections, as well as information for accessing John’s works in the Maryland Archives.See ordering instructions for email, CD, and/or soft-bound.H Martin Prather Jr
Massive Prather/Prater Database is Now Available Here!! April 13, 2010 Dear Cousins, I want to inform you that my database on the Prather / Prater / Prator / Praytor, etc., family genealogy is now available here... a database that has taken me 46-48 years to collect........... some 120,000 people. It has been a work of love for our family and my need to share information with those in need. This database is a collection of the work of many people. There is no way that I could personally research and prove the collected data on 120,000 people. I have done a great deal of research during all of these years and have added that to this database, including what I have found while living in England, Australia and the USA. I have also included my findings on the family while researching in a few other countries such as New Zealand, Mexico, Canada, etc. Some information came from the 41 Prater / Prather / Praytor family reunions of which I was a guest speaker and collected information that those families had gathered. Through these years many others have also supplied me information that I added to the database... so as I stated before, this is a collective work of many. PLEASE consider this database as a GUIDELINE to doing your own research. I have not personally proven all data that was collected and given to me by others. There ARE mistakes in this database, which one could only expect in such as large collection. I continue to update my database as mistakes are found and correct data has been documented and proven. I expect to provide an updated database at least once a year to be posted on our family website. A number of years ago H. Martin "Marty" Prather contacted me, asking for help with his family genealogy...since then Marty has been a great help to all of us........ creating and managing a Prater / Prather family website since 1996, first with information I sent him, and later to be a website where many others contributed to. It has grown and grown until the website became too small to hold the graphics and data that was coming in from so many members of the family wanting to contribute. So, www.Martin.Prather.net has been replaced by a NEW WEBSITE: http://PratherGenealogy.com ...where you are NOW! With the new Prater / Prather family website there is space to put my complete database (900+ mb in html format). Due to the exposure the website has had over the years we have been able to reach more members of our family who are interested in our families genealogy than any other website.........So, THANKS EVERYBODY WHO CONTRIBUTED ! Go take a look and enjoy; click Your Texas/Oklahoma Cuz, Gary Benton Prather PS Be sure to read the disclaimer on the opening page
Prather Coat of Arms - Embroidery - STUNNING! January 24, 2010 Some months back I received a solicitation from a company who does hand embroidery of emblems, patches, and the like. I emailed them a graphic of the coat of arms created by Jennifer Prater, not expecting much in return, and last week I received the following 4" embroidery in the mail:
Really Neat!! H Martin Prather Jr PS I have lost contact with Jennifer from Galveston...if she is out there still, please have her email me.
Author John W. Prather, Jr. Moved to Care Facility July 29, 2009 John's health has been deteriorating in recent months and has moved out of his apartment to the medical center at the same Carolina Village complex in NC. I called him today and generally he is in good spirits. He turned 92 on his last birthday. It would be really grand if we could flood him with get well cards to show him our appreciation for the genealogy work he has done for our benefit over the years! His current address is: Carolina Village Medical Facility John W. Prather, Jr. 600 Carolina Village Rd, #137 Hendersonville, NC 28792 Regards, H Martin Prather, Jr.
John W. Prather, Jr.'s Books Vol I-III Materials Now at the Maryland Archives "Special Collections" June 2008 (Updated April 2010) Hello Cousins and Prather/Prater researchers, John's 22 boxes of research materials related to his 2 published books (vols I & II) and the unfinished work on vol III are now at the Maryland Archives for checkout (so I am told). In a letter to John from the archives Special Collections Director, Robert W. Schoeberlein, Ph.D. states "A request slip for MSA SC 5764, with an appropriate stack location for a certain box (or boxes), given directly to a member of our References Services Department should (present) no problem for retrieval." An inventory of the materials is available by clicking the link HERE. The Archives requires a user name and pw to access the materials and gave me permission to share it, as long as users abide by the Archives copyright rules: user name aaco, pw aaco# See a sample of the Box inventory you can view from the MD Archives by clicking HERE (in PDF format). Beyond this, you need to submit a request of visit in person. Please note, the Archives have changed the ID of John's Special Collection from 5097 to 5764, so the former number no longer applies. For those unable to go to the archives personally, the Maryland Archives offers a list of researchers who may be willing to take on specific tasks on a pay basis. John is eager to hear what successes you may have in reviewing these materials, so please email me and I will pass on your constructive thoughts! I live on Oregon, so will be a while before I can make it to MD to check it out. H Martin Prather, Jr.
John W. Prather, Jr.'s Addendum to Vol I & II Available for Download
John W. Prather, Jr.'s Volume II Sold Out For NEWS on John W. Prather, Jr.'s Volume III and Addendum to Volumes I & II... click on the BOOK III Info link at the upper left!
Other Interesting Tid-bits:
Exciting NEWS!! Jennifer Prater; the one who created the C-O-A depiction used on this site since 1996 and "borrowed" by many others, has sent me an update that I have incorporated here....enjoy!
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