Bio of PRAY, Otis Arkwright, Hennepin Co., MN
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EXTRACTED FROM: History of Minneapolis, Gateway to the Northwest; 
Chicago-Minneapolis, The S J Clarke Publishing Co, 1923; Edited by: Rev. 
Marion Daniel Shutter, D.D., LL.D.; Volume I - Shutter (Historical); 
volume II - Biographical; volume III - Biographical
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Vol III, pg 797-798
OTIS ARKWRIGHT PRAY
Otis Arkwright Pray was born in the State of Maine and after such education as
boys usually obtained in the first half of the nineteenth century he learned the
trade of a millwright under the direction of his father. In young manhood he
came west and settled in St. Cloud, Minnesota, where he established business on
his own account as a millwright, but in 1856 he became identified with the then
little village of Minneap­olis, where he opened a shop. From the beginning his
business here grew and ex­panded, for not only was he an expert at his trade but
was also a practical business man, capable of undertaking any contract in his
line. So it came about that his name is to be forever associated with the
pioneer movement in the great milling industry of Minneapolis. First he built
some small mills, including the Eastman mill and the Cataract mill. These were
the first mills built not only in Minneapolis but in the state of Minnesota, and
Mr. Pray not only executed the contracts for these mills but also furnished the
milling machinery for their first equipment. Later he supplied all the driving
machinery for the Pillsbury A and B mills and he became the most prominent mill
builder in the Northwest and did a larger business in furnishing milling
machinery and erecting mills than any other man. On his advice C. A. Pillsbury
changed his mills, substituting the roller process for the old stone process,
and it was Mr. Pray who installed the first roller mills in the Northwest. In
addition to the large amount of work he did for the Pillsbury interests he
executed large contracts of similar char­acter for Washburn. who had been his
schoolmate in boyhood days in Maine. Alto­gether the milling business in
Minneapolis owes its early impetus and growth to Mr. Pray, who at all times was
actuated by a most progressive spirit and utilized every modern device for the
improvement of the milling business. In addition to his work in the building of
mills he also constructed dams and water mills. In connection with Mr. C. C.
Washburn and Mr. C. A. Pillsbury he was one of the strong men in develop­ing the
water power and also in developing the middlings purifier and other mill
machinery which made the present method of milling possible. He stood out most
prominently in his day in connection with three lines of activity closely allied
to the life and growth of Minneapolis outside of his work as builder of mills.
These were the waterworks, street lighting and sewer construction and also the
erection of the Exposition building. In connection with the last named his
splendid ability to estimate and execute work will never be forgotten in
Minneapolis. The building had to be up in ninety days. No one thought it could
done, but the question was put up to Mr. Pray and he said that it could be
accomplished. Mr. Pray and B. F. Nelson undertook the execution of the contract,
Mr. Nelson erecting the building, while Mr. Pray put in the machinery and
installed the heating and lighting. So vigorously was the work pushed that the
building was ready for occupancy in eighty-nine days.
Mr. Pray was a builder in every sense of the word and was intensely interested
in every movement for the betterment and improvement of this city or the state
at large. For example, he was a prominent factor in the development of the state
fairs and his opinions came to be so valued that he was consulted about almost
every public enterprise undertaken by the city or state. One of the old-time
residents said of him: "He was the pioneer in the mechanical part of the milling
industry in Minnesota." Another who knew him well said that "He had a truly
remarkable faculty for handling men and getting work done easily and
successfully. He was beloved by his men."
In his day there was no man in the community stronger in the Church of the
Redeemer than Mr. Pray. He was strong in building the first church down on Fifth
street, and then when the Church of the Redeemer was built, he was the chairman
of the committee to build it, and when it was finished it was the last word in
church construction in this city. He had as fine a mechanical eye as is found.
His conception of beauty in architecture was naturally very pronounced. There
was considerable dis­cussion about the tower of the Church of the Redeemer
before the church was erected. Mr. Pray objected to certain heights, and
symmetry was the one point which he had in mind. He finally had his way and it
was known in those early days that there was nothing in this town which had a
spire so symmetrical to an artistic eye as that of the Church of the Redeemer,
and when the church burned he then was in charge of reconstructing it and
devoted an enormous amount of time to it. He was one of the most loyal
supporters of that church, together with his wife, that the church had, for
there were no people in this community more devoted to their church and their
religion, theoretically and practically, than Mr. and Mrs. O. A. Pray.
Mr. Pray married Frances A. Fenderson and A. F. Pray is their only surviving
child. Death called Mr. Pray in 1890 and there passed from the scene of earthly
activities one whose life had been a connecting link between the pioneer past
and the progressive present-one who had utilized the opportunities that had been
presented not only for the upbuilding of his own fortunes but for the upbuilding
of the city and the commonwealth in which he lived.---