Dr. E. A. Pray was born in Valley Creek, Minnesota. His parents were Russell and Lydia (Van Slyke) Pray, who farmed a short distance north of Valley City. There were four children in the family: Edgar (E. A.), Harvey, Bertha and Myrtle.

E. A. Pray received his medical training at the University of Pennsylvania Medical School. He married Frances Peake in 1895. She was the daughter of The Rev. E. Steele Peake, an Episcopal minister, and Mrs. Peake. The Rev. Peake traveled widely, having held pastorates all the way from being a missionary to the Indians at Gull Lake, Minnesota, to the All Saints Episcopal Church at Valley City, to San Jose, California. Frances Peake Pray was born at Gull Lake, Minnesota.

To the Edgar Prays were born seven children: Frances (Mrs. Julian), Wendell, Ralph, Russell, Laurence, Margaret and Dorothy. Ralph and Lawrence became pediatricians. Russell became a radio technician. Frances became a teacher, Margaret, a lieutenant in the Marines, and Dorothy, a dietician. Each married and have a total of ten children. One, Ralph Jr., is a doctor.

Dr. Edgar Pray was a long-time and highly respected physician and surgeon in Valley City for over forty years.

Source: Barnes County History 1976 Page 198