E. T. PETTIT
1888 bio and 1923 bio(below)
Bio-Pen Pictures-1888
SURNAMES:
E. T.
Pettit, residing on the Doyle road, one-half mile south of the Stevens Creek
road owns a fine orchard property of twenty-two acres, which he bought in 1881,
and has improved from a stubble-field. Three-planting was commenced at once,
ten acres being planted the following season in apricots and prunes about
equally divided. The remainder of the orchard was set during the next two
years, principally to prunes and peaches, French prunes leading the whole
orchard. The results which Mr. Pettit obtains from his horticultural interests
clearly show the excellent care which he bestows upon them. In 1887 five acres
of apricots yielded thirty-five tons of fruit, which sold for about $1,000.
After gathering the crop of 1887, Mr. Pettit, in partnership with his sister,
bought twenty acres of fruit land adjoining the town of Colusa, in Colusa
County, and during the present season (1888) has planted it with apricots and
peaches.
The subject
of our sketch was born in Lawrence County, Pennsylvania. When he started in
life for himself, he chose the profession of the teacher. After teaching a few
terms in his native State, he went to Missouri and there entered the State
Normal School at Kirksville, Adair County. He spent the three years following
his graduation, in 1873, in teaching in Missouri, and then came to this State.
Here he took a senior course in the State Normal at San Jose, at which
institution he graduated in 1878. During the years 1880 and 1881 he had charge,
as Principal, of the schools of Sonora, Tuolumne county. The larger part of the
time, however, since his graduation has been spent in teaching in this county.
Since 1885 he has devoted his entire attention to horticulture, in which he has
been very successful. A brother, Cyrus, is in the carriage business at
Stockton. His father, Nathaniel Pettit, resides at the family home in Lawrence
County, Pennsylvania. His grandfather was one of the pioneers of Beaver county,
Pennsylvania, from Virginia. The family is able to refer with pride to a long
line of Virginian ancestry.
Mr. Pettit
is a member of San Jose Grange, No. 10, in 1887 holding the position of
Secretary of that organization. In politics he is a thorough Republican. A
well-educated man, and one of integrity, Mr. Pettit is possessed of the
influence which every man of education and refinement - when combined with
uprightness of character- exerts for good in the community in which he makes his
home. The qualities of thoroughness and faithfulness in the performance of
every duty, which made him a most successful teacher, assure his success as a
horticulturist.
Pen Pictures
From The Garden of the World or Santa Clara County, California, Illustrated.
- Edited by H.S. Foote. - Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1888.p.462
Transcribed by Debbie Combs
E. T. PETTIT
School Principal
Horticulturist
Bio- Sawyers-History of Santa Clara , page 489
Surnames: GRIEB
A pioneer horticulturist who, stimulated by high
principles and guided by clear thinking and sound judgment, has
certainly succeeded, is E. T. Pettit, and by all who know him he is
rated as an aggressively progressive man who has contributed something
definite to the development of California husbandry. Mr. Pettit was born
near Elwood City, Lawrence County, Pa., November 8, 1846, the son of
Nathaniel Pettit, also born in Pennsylvania, and a farmer there. Mr.
Pettit's grandfather, who was of French descent, was one of the pioneers
of Beaver County, Pa., coming from Virginia, and the family is able to
look back with pride to a long line of Virginian ancestry. His mother
was Barbara Grieb, a native of Philadelphia, of German parents, and she
died in Lawrence County. Of their eleven children, E. T. was fourth oldest.
When he started in life for himself he chose the profession of the
teacher. After completing the public schools he attended the State
Normal School at Edinboro, Pa., and after teaching a few terms in his
native state he went to Missouri and there entered the State Normal
School at Kriksville. He spent the three years following his graduation
in 1873 in teaching in Missouri and then came to San Jose, Cal., in
1876, and here took a senior course in the San Jose State Normal, at
which institution he graduated in 1878.
During the years of 1880 and
1881 he was principal of the schools of Sonora, Tuolumne County, after
which he held a similar position in different places in California until
as principal of schools at Willows, Glenn County for two years. He
retired from educational work in 1885 to devote all of his time to
horticulture. As early as 1881 he purchased his present place of
twenty-two acres on Douglas Road and began setting out orchard,
improving it from a stubblefield to an excellent state of production and
of delicious fruit. He set out ten acres to apricots and prunes, and the
remainder of the acreage was set out during the next few seasons to
prunes and peaches and cherries. The results which Mr. Pettit obtains
from his horticultural interests clearly show the excellent care which
he bestows upon them. In 1887 five acres of apricots yielded thirty-five
tons of fruit which sold for $1,000. This same year, Mr. Pettit, in
partnership with his sister, purchased land adjoining the town of
Colusa, in Colusa County and in 1888 planted it to apricots and peaches,
later selling it to advantage. In 1919 Mr. Pettit had a yield of
forty-six tons of apricots on four and a half acres and sold them for
$5,300, showing how values have risen during this period.
In politics, Mr. Pettit is a thorough Republican. He is a man of
sterling integrity, possessed of the influence which every man of
education and refinement, when combined with uprightness of character,
exerts for good in the community in which he makes his home. The
qualities of thoroughness and faithfulness in the performance of every
duty, which made him a most successful teacher, has made him a success
as a horticulturist. Mr. Pettit was an early member of the San Jose
Grange No. 10, holding the position of secretary of that organization in
1887 and afterwards as master for several terms, and for four years was
master of the State Grange. Thus for thirty years he has attended the
annual meeting of the State Grange, in which he is welcome because of
his years of experience as well as his fluency as a speaker. He was one
of the organizers and directors and later served as secretary of the
West Side Fruit Growers' Association, a cooperative drying and packing
concern, and is the only one of the original directors still serving. He
is also a member of California Prune and Apricot Association.
Transcribed by Joseph Kral, from Eugene T. Sawyers' History of Santa Clara County,California, published by Historic Record Co. , 1922. page 489
SANTA CLARA COUNTY BIOGRAPHY PROJECT
SANTA CLARA COUNTY The Valley of Heart's Delight