Frank Allen Pettit, Sr.

PETTIT MOWERS STEARNS

Posted By: Connie Swearingen (email)
Date: 10/13/2010 at 19:47:53

History of Woodbury County, Iowa 1984

Frank Allen Pettit, Sr
By Lani Pettit, granddaughter

Frank Pettit lived in Sioux City most of his life. Born at Burlington, Iowa, on September 24, 1886, he came to Sioux City with his parents, Thomas J Allen and Rosetta A (Mowers) Pettit, in about 1892.

As a young man, Frank worked for some time at Cudahy’s Packing plant and also drove a team for R H Darling in Sioux City. He was later general warehouse superintendent for Tolerton and Warfield, where he was well-known for years. Between 1918 and 1921, Frank served as a Sergeant in Company D, 4th Infantry, of the U S National Guard, Iowa.

On November 13, 1909, Frank married Miss Daisie M Stearns, daughter of Dr Abdellah M and Abigail Jane (Dorrance) Stearns of Essex, Page County, Iowa. The couple had four children: Frank Alan, Jr, who married E Mary Franzen; Alicia, who married John Wood; John Richard, who married Naomi Molden; and Annis, who married E Paul Cooke.

Music has played an important role in the lives of the Pettits throughout the generations. Frank played the organ, and both parents had beautiful voices. Frank, Daisie, and the children had a family orchestra. Frank also took part in the church minstrel shows, playing the rattle bones. Today there are Pettit descendants who have participated in bands, choirs and other musical activities.

Pettits have been active in baseball ever since it was a new sport. In the 1880’s, Frank’s father was treasurer of the baseball club in Clarissa, Minnesota. Frank’s skills as a ball player could have taken him into the professional league, had he not refused to play on the Sabbath. His sons and grandchildren have talent in his and other sports, too.

When Frank was a boy, his family, relatives, and friends often boarded a lumber wagon and went to their cabin at Brown’s Lake. There they enjoyed swimming, fishing (the children hoping to save fish bladders to use as balloons) and often had a prayer service, too. Present-day Pettits, too, love to hunt and fish.

Frank was a kind and gentle man, but like his ancestors, he was big and tough with a strong sense of right and wrong. In those days, ‘we had to fight to keep decent’, said his half-brother, Rev John Beard, who was with Frank during one incident. It seems that two men on a streetcar were swearing loudly, and refused to stop even after the brothers reminded them that there were ‘ladies present’. The ladies continued on home, while the brothers followed the two men off at their stop. The fight that followed surely reminded the men to watch their language in the future!

Few could match the strength of big Frank, whether at work, sports, or on those occasions when two sons had to be ‘escorted’ up the street to apologize for stealing a neighbor’s cherries! Rare was the man strong enough to take him on in a wrestling match.

The Pettits have been active members of the Morningside Presbyterian Church since its formation in 1901, Frank being a charter member. Descendants now make five generations in the church. There has always been Pettit in the choir.

Frank Allen Pettit was greatly loved and admired by those who knew him. He died on June 23, 1950. His descendants today include four children, nine grandchildren, and nine (going on eleven) great grandchildren.