Biography of Henry F. Pettis
Nicollet and LeSueur Counties, Volume II (biographies), William Gresham, 1916
HENRY F. PETTIS
Henry F. Pettis, successful farmer, and a citizen prominent in the
business and official life of Kasota township, LeSueur county, Minnesota,
was born in Pike county, Illinois, on June 9, 1852, a son of Charles and
Sarah (Hosford) Pettis, natives of Vermont and Connecticut, respectively.
Charles Pettis was a son of Stephen Pettis and wife, the former a veteran
and a colonel of the War of 1812, who moved from Vermont to Ohio and then
to Pike county, Illinois, where he spent his last days. Stephen Pettis
was four times married.
After spending his early days and receiving his education in the public
schools of Vermont, Charles Pettis moved to the state of Ohio with his
father. Here Mr. Pettis lived until after his marriage, when he moved to
Pike county, Illinois, he there engaging in farming and in his early trade
as a carpenter until 1853, when, together with his eldest daughter and
eldest son and other relatives, he came to Minnesota, and located on
eighty acres of land on the banks of Lake Emily, in LeSueur county. On
this land he lived as a "squatter," until his death in 1856, after which
the land was pre-empted by the administrator of the estate of Mr. Pettis.
Later the widow of Charles Pettis pre-empted some adjoining land on Lake
Emily, living on her ninety-seven acres of land for some time and then
selling it shortly before her death in 1889.
Charles and Sarah Pettis were the parents of nine children: Stephen W.,
Catherine, John, Eliza, Olive, Melissa, Emily, Charles, who was a veteran
of the Civil War, and Henry F.
Henry F. Pettis received a common school education after which he remained
on the home farm in LeSueur county, until the death of his mother and then
moved to a farm of twenty acres in Kasota township, which he had purchased
some years previously. Later, Mr. Pettis moved to the farm which was
originally the property of his eldest brother, Stephen, and on this place,
which now contains one hundred eighteen acres, he lives as a general
farmer and as a raiser of high grade Shorthorn cattle and Norman horses.
Mr. Pettis also is owner of one hundred and seventy acres of land in
Kasota township, this county, the first twenty acres of which he purchased
in 1872.
In addition to his general agricultural pursuits, Henry F. Pettis takes an
active place in the business life of this community, being a director of
the Pettis Elevator Company, an office which Mr. Pettis has occupied since
the organization of the company in 1908.
On February 25, 1873, Henry F. Pettis was married to Mary Randolph, who
was born in Whiteside county, Illinois, a daughter of James Randolph and
wife. On July 2, 1911, Mr. Pettis was married, secondly, to Mrs. Harriet
(Handly) Pettis, widow of Stephen Pettis, a brother to Henry F. Pettis.
By her former marriage Mrs. Pettis is the mother of two children, Dora and
Cecil.
Mr. Pettis has taken a place of note in the official life of Kasota
township and of LeSueur county. For ten years he served on the township
board; during four years was a county commissioner, and for twelve years a
member of the school board. Fraternally, Mr. Pettis is a member often
Independent Order of Odd Fellows and is a member of the Knights of
Pythias, in this county. Mr. Pettis is one of the highly respected and
esteemed citizens of Kasota township and LeSueur county, being a man who
has taken no small part in the present development of this community.
(pages 205-206)
Contributed by Doug Peterson