THE
VALLEY OF HEART's DELIGHT
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P R WIGHTMAN
Bio-Sawyers
Surnames: SISSON, CLAY,
SHEPARD, HENDY
P. R. WIGHTMAN.—One of the foremost figures in the
business and public life of Sunnyvale
is P. R. Wightman, a successful merchant, who is also serving as mayor
of the town, and in both connections he is making a most creditable
record, holding to high standards of manhood and citizenship. He was
born in Lockport, Ill.,
six miles north of Joliet,
March 15, 1873, a son of Hon. George Wightman, who served in the
Illinois Legislature and was also a prosperous farmer and stockman. The
mother, Mrs. Susan (Sisson) Wightman, was a daughter of Captain Sisson,
an early pioneer of Illinois, who
aided in building the old blockhouse at Fort
Dearborn, in Cook County, to protect the white
settlers from Indian attacks, also engaging in warfare against the
Redskins.
When P. R. Wightman was a lad of fourteen his father
died and his mother then sold the farm and removed to Plainfield, Ill.,
where he attended the public schools, later entering a business college
at Valparaiso, Ind.,
where he spent a year in study. He next went to Newton, Kans., and for
a year was employed in the store of his brother, Frank Wightman, at
that place, after which he made his way to Sayre, Okla., where for
seven years he had charge of the general mercantile establishment owned
by his father-in-law, J. D. Clay. In 1907 he left that state for California, first locating at Glen Ellen, where
he engaged in merchandising for a year, going from there to Cloverdale,
in Sonoma
County,
where for three years he was similarly occupied, and while residing in
that place was elected a member of the board of trustees. He became
proprietor of a large general store at Sunnyvale,
which he conducted most successfully, having a thorough knowledge of
the business and ever recognizing the fact that satisfied patrons are
the best advertisement. In the early fall of 1921 Mr. Wightman sold out
his store, and on November 1, 1921, with C. W. Shepard as partner, he
started the Sunnyvale Supply Company, dealers in all kinds of lumber
and building materials, fuel and feed. This was accomplished by buying
out two Sunnyvale
business concerns, The Sunnyvale Fuel and Feed Company and the Minton
Lumber Company. His many friends are glad to know that the Sunnyvale
Supply Company is meeting with merited success.
In
Oklahoma, in 1900, Mr. Wightman was
married to Miss Myrtle Clay, a native of Texas
and a daughter of J. D. Clay, a prominent merchant of Sayre, Okla.
To this union has been born a son, George Clay. Fraternally Mr.
Wightman is identified with the Woodmen of the World and the Knights of
Pythias and the Elks Lodge at Elk
City, Okla.,
being a charter member of the last named organization. In April 1921,
Mr. Wightman was elected chairman of the city board of trustees. He had
previously served on the board for a short time, being chosen to fill
the vacancy caused by the death of John Hendy, of
the Hendy Iron Works.
Mr. Wightman is providing a capable executive, giving to the town a
businesslike and progressive administration, characterized by needed
reforms and improvements. A broadminded, public-spirited citizen, he
takes a deep interest in everything relating to the welfare of the
district in which he lives, and has been most earnest in his support of
those projects which are a matter of civic virtue and civic pride.