Edward Renehan, Biographer of Jay Gould and John Burroughs, to Speak at the Zadock Pratt Museum

The Zadock Pratt Museum hosted a lecture by Edward Renehan, author of Dark Genius of Wall Street: The Misunderstood Life of Jay Gould, King of the Robber Barons (2006), and John Burroughs: An American Naturalist (1992) on Saturday, May 27, 2023. In his lecture, Renehan explored the tangled and calamitous tale of Gould’s first large business venture of the 1850s, a venture transacted in league with Prattsville’s founder, the inimitable Zadock Pratt.

Pratt (1790 – 1871) was by far one of the most fascinating, egocentric, and innovative men to make his home in the Catskills. A master businessman, he made a fortune in the tannery trade – establishing numerous tanneries, including what was in his time the largest tannery in the world at Prattsville. Pratt was also a soldier in the War of 1812, a prominent banker and did a stint serving as a Democrat in the U.S. House of Representatives.