Obadiah Henry Platt (March 20, 1806 – 1893) was a pioneer in the settlement of Tampa, Florida.[1][2] The First Congregational Church at 2201 North Florida Avenue was dedicated to him in 1906 after the congregation moved from downtown Tampa.[2]
Platt was born in Galway, New York and studied at Union College. He practised law in New York and helped start the New-York Tribune.[3] He moved to Vermont in 1847 and operated the Vermont Phoenix and later the Vermont Republican newspapers.[4] He then moved to Saint Louis, Missouri and Hyde Park, Chicago before finally settling in Tampa. He named Hyde Park in Tampa after the place in Illinois.[5]
Abraham Lincoln appointed Platt paymaster of the Union Army in 1861.[6][7] Platt wrote to Lincoln in 1864, critical of his conciliatory policy.[8]