Charles Nelson Pray (April 6, 1868 – September 12, 1963) was a

United States representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

from

Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columb ...

and a

United States district judge The United States district courts are the trial courts of the U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each federal judicial district, which each cover one U.S. state or, in some cases, a portion of a state. Each district cou ...

of the United States District Court for the District of Montana.

Education and career

Born on April 6, 1868, in

Potsdam Potsdam () is the capital and, with around 183,000 inhabitants, largest city of the German state of Brandenburg. It is part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. Potsdam sits on the River Havel, a tributary of the Elbe, downstream o ...

, St. Lawrence County, New York, Pray attended the public schools of

Salisbury Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath. Salisbury is in the southeast of ...

and Middlebury,

Vermont Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...

, and graduated from Middlebury Union High School. He attended Middlebury College and received a

Bachelor of Laws Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Ch ...

in 1891 from the Chicago College of Law (now the

Chicago-Kent College of Law Chicago-Kent College of Law is the law school affiliated with the Illinois Institute of Technology. It is the second oldest law school in the state of Illinois. It is ranked 91st among U.S. law schools, and its trial advocacy program is ranked in ...

). He was admitted to the bar in 1892 and entered private practice in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...

from 1893 to 1895. He continued private practice in Fort Benton,

from 1896 to 1906. He was an assistant prosecutor for the Twelfth Judicial District in Chouteau County, Montana from 1897 to 1898, and Prosecutor for the same district from 1899 to 1906, being elected to that post in 1898, 1900, 1902 and 1904.

Congressional service

Pray was elected as a

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

to the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

of the 60th, 61st and

62nd United States Congress The 62nd United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from March 4, 1911, to M ...

es, serving from March 4, 1907, to March 3, 1913. He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1912 to the 63rd United States Congress. He resumed the practice of law in Great Falls, Cascade County, Montana starting January 1, 1914. He was an unsuccessful candidate for election to the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

in 1916.

Federal judicial service

Pray was nominated by President Calvin Coolidge on January 21, 1924, to the United States District Court for the District of Montana, to a new seat authorized by 42 Stat. 837. He was confirmed by the

on February 8, 1924, and received his commission the same day. He served as Chief Judge from 1948 to 1957. He assumed

senior status Senior status is a form of semi- retirement for United States federal judges. To qualify, a judge in the federal court system must be at least 65 years old, and the sum of the judge's age and years of service as a federal judge must be at leas ...

on April 10, 1957. His service terminated on September 12, 1963, due to his death in Great Falls, Montana. He was interred in Hillcrest Lawn Memorial Cemetery.

Papers

Pray's papers 1878–1963, including diaries and correspondence, are lodged at the

University of Montana The University of Montana (UM) is a public research university in Missoula, Montana. UM is a flagship institution of the Montana University System and its second largest campus. UM reported 10,962 undergraduate and graduate students in the fa ...

Missoula Missoula ( ; fla, label=Salish language, Séliš, Nłʔay, lit=Place of the Small Bull Trout, script=Latn; kut, Tuhuⱡnana, script=Latn) is a city in the U.S. state of Montana; it is the county seat of Missoula County, Montana, Missoula Cou ...

Honor

The town of

Pray Prayer is an invocation or act that seeks to activate a rapport with an object of worship through deliberate communication. In the narrow sense, the term refers to an act of supplication or intercession directed towards a deity or a deified a ...

, Montana is named for Pray.Whithorn, Doris (2001) ''Images of America: Paradise Valley on the Yellowstone'', p. 92. Mount Pleasant, SC: Arcadia Publishing,

References

Sources

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pray, Charles Nelson 1868 births 1963 deaths Politicians from Great Falls, Montana Judges of the United States District Court for the District of Montana United States district court judges appointed by Calvin Coolidge 20th-century American judges Middlebury College alumni People from Potsdam, New York Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Montana People from Fort Benton, Montana