If you're a fan of Titus County history, you may not know it, but you owe a debt of gratitude to W. B. Praytor and his family. We have far less information about Mr. Praytor, his family, or his business than for many other early Mt. Pleasant businesses, but cannot over-emphasize the value of his work. Therefore, we wanted to honor him with his own web page.
William Bluford Praytor was born on June 2, 1861. At age 30, he established Praytor's Studio on the south side of Mt. Pleasant's square. Praytor's was Mt. Pleasant's first and longest-operating commercial photography studio. Details of his early days in the photography business are scant, but it appears he may have had a partner in the early days, and may have also had a photographic studio in Mt. Vernon, Texas. An early Praytor photo is embossed with the logo "Praytor & Heringer, Mt. Pleasant - Mt. Vernon."
In the normal course of business, at one time or another over a period of decades Mr. Praytor and his family captured photos of most of Mt. Pleasant's important people, thousands of its common people, and many buildings and other sites and activities that would later become treasured historical photographs. When Mr. Praytor started his business, there were no automobiles and downtown Mt. Pleasant streets were made of dirt.
When the City of Mt. Pleasant bought its first motorized fire truck in 1915, it was W. B. Praytor that the City called to document the historic event. For his services, they paid Mr. Praytor 50c.
For many years, Praytor Studios was located in the front rooms of the Praytor's large residence at 917 West First Street. The house, which sat on the south side of West First and west of Miller Street, was demolished long ago and replaced by a metal building that once was home to Mt. Pleasant's cable television utility.
As was the norm in the early days, Praytor studios used a very large camera with an oak body. The lens moved in and out on a bellows, and the photographer stood behind the camera with his head covered by a black cloth attached to the camera as he looked through the viewfinder to align the shot. While huge and hard to move, these cameras produced excellent quality photos because they used 8" x 10" sheet film, which gives a 1:1 resolution when printed into 8" x 10" prints.
W. B. Praytor passed away on December 20, 1942, and is buried in Mt. Pleasant's Masonic Cemetery. After his death, his daughter, Mrs. Edith Praytor Buford, and his grandson, William "Bill" Buford, continued to operate the business for many years.
Edith Laura Praytor Buford passed away on January 13, 1985 at the age of 79. At the time, she was one of the oldest members of the First Presbyterian Church. She, along with her son, are also buried in Mt. Pleasant's Masonic Cemetery.
