Dot Pruett, Founder

Dorothy “Dot” Pruett

Dorothy Sturgis Pruett was the founder of the Thrasher Family Association. She was a longtime resident of Montgomery, Alabama.

Dot, as she was called, was born in Pensacola, Florida on November 29, 1916, to Aubrey Elbert Sturgis and Evelyn Brooks (Thrasher) Sturgis. She attended public schools in Atlanta, Georgia, graduating from Girls’ High School and the Draughon School of Commerce.  She was employed by companies in Atlanta and Montgomery and by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, where she was secretary to the Special Agent in charge of the Atlanta Office.  On September 25, 1963, she married Joel Fleming Pruett at First United Methodist Church in Montgomery.  She and Joe lived in Macon, Georgia, but she returned to Montgomery after his death in January 1987.

Dot’s special interest was family history, and she was author of several family genealogies.  Our Thrasher Heritage was published in 1986 and included material from her Cousins by the Dozens, published in 1975, and a supplement published in 1978.  She also published Pruett Past and Present, The Reverend Daniel Sturgis Story, and The Diary of Ann Browder.  She was a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR), Colonial Dames, and Magna Charta Dames.

While researching and compiling Cousins By The Dozens, Dot and her husband Joe invited several Thrasher contact members to their home for a “get acquainted” meeting and to discuss the possibility of holding a Thrasher reunion. That first meeting was held in September of 1974 and the first Thrasher reunion was held the following year.  Annual reunions followed, usually held in Georgia or Florida and hosted by various cousins in their hometowns.  Dues were $5.00 to cover the costs of the printed updates that Dot had begun sending to interested parties. She published the first official Thrasher Newsletter in June 1983, and the 1984 dues were raised to $15.00 to cover costs and administrative expenses.  The Association elected a president and vice president at its 1988 reunion, but Dot continued to publish the newsletter until 1995.  Both the Association and the newsletter have continued to the present day without interruption.

Thrasher Family Association owes a debt of gratitude to Dorothy Sturgis Pruett who died in 2013, at age 96, after a short illness.