View source for Thomas S. Pettit

Thomas S. Pettit  was born in Frankfort, Ky., Dec. 21, 1843, the son of Franklin Duane and Elizabeth (Zook) Pettit; father a native of Virginia and mother of Kentucky. He attended Georgetown College, and before he was grown up learned the printer’s art, which came natural and easy to him, and he became an adept. In 1864 he came to Owensboro and purchased the Monitor of Mr. Woodruff, and began the publication of a lively local paper, advocating Democratic principles. Unlike his predecessor, he freely criticized the acts of the Republican party and their conduct of the war, and consequently in a few months (Nov. 17, 1864) he was arrested by order of General Stephen G. Burbridge, imprisoned and banished south, under the general charge of being “notoriously disloyal.” He was hurried away, and was sent under an escort to Memphis, Tenn., where he was transferred across the lines within the Confederacy, in whose territory he traveled until the following May, when he returned and resumed the publication of the Monitor, as already noted. He was the first to establish a successful, paying paper in Owensboro, which he did before he was twenty-five years of age; and he was the first to bring Gordon and power presses to Owensboro. In this paper he published, in several successive numbers, his “Trip to Dixie,” giving his experiences during the whole of the “round trip.” These exciting annals helped the circulation of his paper to a wonderful degree, as already mentioned. In the South he underwent the many hardships and privations incident to a common soldier.

Subsequently he was elected Assistant Clerk of the House of Representatives of the State Legislature, which position he held for six years, when he was appointed Private Secretary to James B. McCreary. This position he afterward resigned, to accept the situation of Reading Clerk of the House of Representatives at Washington, D.C., for which duty he has extraordinarily good voice and articulation. On the death of Hon. John S. McFarland, in 1869, and through the influence and personal popularity of Senator T.C. McCreery, he was appointed by President Johnson Assessor of this Internal Revenue District, the duties of which position he filled with conscientious fidelity to the close of the term.

Mr. Pettit has never been recognized as a true Democrat. He has attended a number of State conventions of his party, and at every one of them he was elected secretary; and at the last National convention, which nominated Hancock and Hendricks, he was one of the secretaries. He is still active in the political field. Last fall (1882) he was a candidate for Congress against James B. Clay, of Henderson, but, after an exciting race, he was defeated in the pivotal county of Union, by less than 150 votes.

With all this political work Mr. Pettit has also engaged heavily in industrial pursuits. (See account of Marble & Pettit’s stave factory and lumber mills in the History of Murray Precinct.) He has been active in many local and philanthropic enterprises too numerous to mention here. He is a Freemason of high degree. Within four years after he entered the State Grand Lodge he was elected Past Grand Master, a distinction never before accorded to a member so young in that body. In December, 1870, he married Miss Margaret Blair, a native of this county, and a daughter of James Harvey Blair, formerly a merchant of Owensboro. Their only child is named Harvey Blair Pettit.<ref>{{1883}}</ref>

Pettit was a prominent business man and politician of Owensboro, and one of the best known and personally popular men in the state, was born in Frankfort, Kentucky, December 21, 1843, and is a son of Duane and Elizabeth (Zook) Pettit. After his primary schooling in Frankfort, he attended Georgetown College and then learned the printing trade, for which he had a fancy and a remarkable aptitude. He became an adept in all of the mechanical work of the printing office while he was yet in his teens, but he was too ambitious to stick to the cases, and in 1864 he went to Owensboro, and purchased the “Monitor” newspaper from a Mr.Woodruff, and began at once to attract attention by publishing a lively local paper and advocating the principles of the Democratic party. Unlike his predecessor, he freely criticized the Republican party and its war policy, and his articles on such topics brought down the wrath of the United States authorities upon his head; and, as a result, on the 17th of November, 1864, he was arrested by order of General Stephen G. Burbridge, imprisoned and “banished to the Southern Confederacy,” under the general charge of being “notoriously disloyal;” and was sent under escort to Memphis and there transferred across the lines.

He spent the following months until May, 1865, traveling within the Confederate lines, and then, the war being over, he returned to Owensboro and resumed the publication of the Monitor, in which he published in several consecutive numbers a detailed and interesting account of his trip through Dixie, giving his experiences and impressions and relating the hardships and privations which he necessarily suffered during his enforced vacation. These articles attracted much attention and had a very wide circulation, bringing the young editor into prominent notice. The Monitor was one of the brightest papers in the state, and Mr. Pettit soon became widely known as one of the most enterprising newspaper men of Kentucky.

He was the first man to establish a successful newspaper in Owensboro—and he did this before he was twenty years of age—and brought the first Gordon and power presses to that section of Kentucky.

In 1868 he was elected assistant clerk of the House of Representatives, which position he held for six years, when he was appointed private secretary of Governor James B. McCreary, which he resigned to accept the position of reading clerk in the national House of Representatives at Washington. During his service in the Legislature and in Congress, he had the distinction of being known as the best reader in the United States. His strong voice and clear and distinct enunciation enabled him to read, not only so as to be heard from all parts of the house, but he had a ready conception and a quick understanding and could read intelligently documents which he had never seen before. His services in the house were cut short by the Republicans gaining the ascendancy.

To go back to the ‘6o’s again: On the death of John S. McFarland in 1869, through the influence and personal popularity of Senator Thomas C. McCreery, President Johnson appointed Mr. Pettit assessor of internal revenue for the Second District, the duties of which he performed with ability and fidelity until the close of Mr. Johnson’s administration.

In the fall of 1882 Mr. Pettit was a candidate for Congress against J. B. Clay of Henderson and was defeated, after an exciting race, by less than one hundred and fifty votes. In that contest Union was the pivotal county, and the friends of Clay looked after it in such a way as to secure the majority for their candidate. Mr. Pettit has attended more State Conventions than any man in Kentucky and has been elected secretary of all of them, and in this capacity has rendered the Democratic party valuable services, which have been appreciated and highly complimented. He was one of the secretaries in the Democratic National Convention which nominated and elected Cleveland, and was called to serve in the same position four years thereafter and selected as one of the notification committee to inform Cleveland and Thurman of their selection for President and Vice-President.

Mr. Pettit’s political views have not been strictly in harmony with the Democratic party for some years and he has been one of the ablest leaders of the People’s party, having been a candidate of that party for governor in 1895.

He served with ability and distinction as a delegate to the last Constitutional Convention of Kentucky, and advocated such reforms as the secret official ballot, the taxing of corporations like individuals and the two-thirds verdict of juries in civil cases. He was afterwards chosen by a large majority as one of the representatives of Daviess County in the General Assembly, so as to put into practical operation the provisions of the new constitution, and his election in this instance followed one of the bitterest contests ever known in the state.

He is still actively interested in politics, not for revenue or for honor, but from principle. Having strong convictions upon topics of national import, he has the courage to stand up for them and does not wait to count the noses of those who are ready to stand by him before expressing his sentiments. He has for many years been engaged in industrial or manufacturing enterprises in Owensboro —too numerous to mention in this brief sketch—and his success, which has been uniformly good, has brought him a fair share of this world’s goods. Popular with all classes, industrious, enterprising, generous and philanthropic, he is easily one of the best citizens of Owensboro. He has always been ready to participate in public enterprises, and, in questions of public interest, has always been found on the right side and in the front.<ref>{{BiographicalCyclopedia}}</ref>

== References ==
[[Category:People]]
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