More than one hundred years of family history from the Pratt, Franklin, and Rosamond families were recently donated to the Local History Department at the Columbus-Lowndes Public Library System. They were donated to the archive by historic restoration contractor Joe Beckett.

The five boxes of materials include photographs, letters, books, brochures, newspaper clippings, negatives and more covering the 1890s to the 1980s. They pertain to family life, business dealings, national and international travels, and more.

The family lived at Franklin Square, located at 423 Third Avenue North, in Columbus. The house was originally built in 1835 for Paschal B. Wade, but it was later purchased by Dr. Sidney Smith Franklin. Over six generations of the same family then occupied the home.

Franklin’s son, Thomas Blewett Franklin went on to marry Pricilla Banks “Lilla” Young, granddaughter of George Hampton Young of Waverly Plantation in West Point. Their daughter, Lilla Young Franklin married Henry Merrill Pratt of Prattville, Alabama.

In 1893, Pratt played on the first football team at the University of Alabama. The Pratts lived in Memphis, Tennessee before moving back to Columbus to reside at Franklin Square with their daughters, Merrill and Lilla Franklin around 1915.

Among his many involvements, Henry also worked with Frank Phillips in the founding of the Columbus YMCA. In 1926, Henry and Lilla donated land for the creation of Camp Henry Pratt, and in 1953 they gave land for the building of Sims Scott Park and the once segregated YMCA branch for African Americans.

Lilla Franklin Pratt later married architect William Irby Rosamond and raised two children, William “Bill” and Merrill Rosamond.

The archive already holds various other materials from the Franklin, Pratt, and Rosamond families such as letters, photo albums, CDs, VHS tapes, newspaper clippings, certificates, awards, diaries, genealogies, brochures, wills, magazines, business correspondence, memory books, and more dating between the 1860s and the 1980s.

The collection is currently being processed so that it may be made available to the public.

For more information contact Mona Vance-Ali at (662) 329-5304 or at [email protected].