NameJohn Bridge PRATT 315
Birth Date1833
Death Date1870
Burial PlaceSleepy Hollow Cemetery, Concord, Middlesex Co., MA, USA
Misc. Notes
John was the basis for the character John Brook in Little Women.”5381
Spouses
Birth Date16 Mar 1831
Birth PlaceGermantown, Philadelphia Co., PA, USA
Birth Memoafter 36 hours of labor
Death Date13 Jul 1893 Age: 62
Death PlaceConcord, Middlesex Co., MA, USA
Burial PlaceSleepy Hollow Cemetery, Concord, Middlesex Co., MA, USA
FatherAmos “Bronson” ALCOTT (1799-1888)
MotherAbby MAY (1800-1877)
Misc. Notes
Anna was the elder sister of novelist Lousia May Alcott . She was the basis for the character Margaret "Meg" of Little Women (1868), her sister's classic, semi-autobiographical novel. Anna is remembered as a dutiful, self-sacrificing and loving sister, wife and mother who conformed the the mold of Victorian womanhood more easily than did her sisters. To her family members, she served as an emotional shelter.

Homeschooled by her parents from an early age, Anna was "stage-struck" and secretly longed "to shine before the world as a great actress or prima dinna." In her youth she and her sister Louisa created romantic melodramas which they performed for friends.

In 1858, the year they moved to Orchard House, Louisa and Anna helped form the Concord Dramatic Union. Another member of the group was John Bridge Pratt. He and Anna fell in love while playing opposite each other in a play called "The Loan of a Lover."

Anna is Meg in Little Women and the description of Meg's wedding in the book is an actual description of Anna’s wedding. Anna and John were married in the parlor of Orchard House on May 23, 1860.

John Pratt died in 1870, leaving Anna with their two young sons. In 1877, with Louisa's help, Anna purchased the Thoreau-Alcott House on Main Street in Concord, where their mother died just a few days after moving in.

Over the next 16 years, Anna raised her sons and helped Louisa care for their niece "Lulu," who came to them after her mother, May, the youngest Alcott sister, died following childbirth. Anna lived another five years after the deaths of her father and sister Louisa in 1888.
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Beautiful and ladylike, she is the model for Margaret "Meg" in "Little Women," penned by her sister Louisa.

Early in life, Anna became involved with familial theatrics with her sister Louisa. Together, they formed the Concord Dramatic Union. During one of the productions, "The Loan of a Lover," Anna fell in love with fellow actor John Bridge Pratt. They married on her parents' anniversary, May 23, 1860. Unfortunately, John died and left Anna to care for their two sons, Frederick and John. A

nna lived a quiet, domestic life, but sometimes aided Louisa in editing her stories. In 1877, Anna purchased the Thoreau House with the aid of Louisa and cared for her ailing father. Anna spent the last years of her life quietly caring for those she loved.315
Family ID10922
Marr Date23 May 18605380
Marr Memoin the parlor of Orchard House on Anna’a parent’s anniversary
ChildrenFrederick
Last Modified 17 Jan 2011Created 17 May 2017 Rick Gleason - ricksgenealogy@gmail.com