The following is taken from, "The Albert Petty Family, A Genealogical and Historical Story of a Sturdy Pioneer Family of the West. Based on Records of the Past and Knowledge of the Present." It was written by Charles B. Petty, Grandson of Albert and was published by Deseret News Press, Salt Lake City, Utah. (I have left out some history of the name, included in the first chapter, as belonging to individuals not directly related to Albert and his decendents.)
CHAPTER I
The Name of Petty
"The name PETTY is strictly of English origin. Families bearing this name were seated at early dates in the English Counties of York, Kent, Hampshire, Oxford and London, as well as in parts of Ireland. Of the various names, Petit, Petti, Pettie, Pitty, Pittee, Pettee, Pettey and PETTY, the last is the only one to be found in the English dictionary as having a meaning. It was usually used as a nickname, meaning "small in stature." The name PETTY was found by the author in considerable numbers in the telephone directories of London, Liverpool, Manchester, Southampton, Portsmouth and other cities while visiting England at the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953.
"In an effort to trace the Albert Petty family lineage back as far as possible we secured the services of an experienced genealogical worker of Salt Lake City who went to Washington D. C., Virginia, and Kentucky and se-
cured valuable information for us. Dr. William F. Edwards, a descendant of Albert Petty who was residing in New York gave freely of his time and furnished new information.
"We next employed the services of the Latter-day Saints Genealogical Society, Salt Lake City, Utah, who with a competent staff furnished us a twelve page typewritten report of the Petty family which has also been microfilmed, and is being preserved in the church archives. It is available free of charge to anyone. From these sources of information we are able to start our story with certainty, thus leaving an opportunity for some other member of the family to continue the work of extending our line far back through the generations of the past. (Please note carefully the spelling of the family name from generation to generation.) *Media Research Bureau, Washington, D. C.
"FAMILY: THE NAME OF "PETTY”
"Ebenezer Petty, son of John Petty and perhaps Margaret his wife, was born in the year 1737, probably in Sussex County, New Jersey. He died the 4th of March, 1814, probably in Kentucky. His wife Elizabeth C. Petty was born in 1745 and died the 30th day of March, 1930 in Bourbon County, Kentucky, thirty miles below Cincinnati, Ohio.
"Ebenezer lived his seventy-seven year life span during an important era of our early American history, enduring hardships of frontier life which to him was always a fascinating challenge, and a new adventure. The Pettys moved several hundred miles westward over the Appalachian Mountains into the beautiful Ohio Valley, Monongalia County, Virginia, (now West Virginia). He watched the small struggling colonies grow from the grass roots, for he was a grown man when Boston, New York, and Philadelphia, whose present population exceeds twelve million then had a combined population of only sixty thousand persons, much less than the small city of Ogden, Utah.
"The entire thirteen colonies extending twelve hundred miles from Maine to Florida, and from the Atlantic on the east, to the western border of civilization on the west, contained fewer people than the city of Detroit or Los Angeles! Ebenezer was five years younger than George Washington, and six years older than Thomas Jefferson, and was thirty nine years of age when the Declaration of Independence was signed and war declared against England July 4, 1776!
"Inspired by hope from heaven, the colonists. placed their lives and all upon the altar of freedom and fought a seven year long suffering war to establish their claim. . . 'That all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are' life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.'
In the year 1782 he was listed in the census or tax list of Monongalia County, Virginia (now West Virginia) with nine persons in his family. , (Census of Virginia 1790) He took part in the Revolution from that county, for in a 'Revolutionary List of Public Claims, Monongalia County, West Virginia, copied by Anne Waller Reddy, Sec.,' appears the names:
EBENEZER PETTY
JOHN PETTY
JOHN MCCLURE
JOHN WILLIAM PETTY JR.
JOHN WILLIAM PETTY SR.
"He next appears among the early inhabitants of Kentucky. In 1787 it was proposed to make Kentucky into a state. A petition of "sundry inhabitants of the District of Kentucky" Objecting to this action signed, among many others
EBENEZER PETTY
JOHN MCCLURE
JAMES MCCLURE
THOMAs MCCLURE
JOHN PETTY (PETTEY)
ALEXANDER MCCLURE
SAMUEL MCCLURE
Petitions of the Earliest Inhabitants of Kentucky (Ky. Pub. Bp. No. 27, p. 58)
"By reason of Ebenezer's services in the Revolutionary War, all of his male descendants are eligible for membership in that patriotic society known as the "Sons of the American Revolution and all of his female descendants are eligible for membership In the "Daughters of the American Revolution." What a thrill to enjoy this distinction!
"On page 62 of 'West Virginia War Records' we find the following names listed as having taken part in the Revolutionary War: 'John Petty, Sr., Ebenezer Petty and John Petty, Jr.'
"They were all of Monongalia County, which leads one to believe they were related - probably John Petty Sr. and his two sons.
"Pioneers were sturdy people. On page 1009 Vol. c, History of Monongalia County we read: 'To make a wilderness a fit place for human habitation requires men and women of strong will power, as well as great physical endurance, who do not fear the hardest toil, for the felling of trees and the breaking of tough sod formed by nature through the ages.'
"FORGOTTEN BUILDERS
They anchored firm foundations here,
With bases broad and deep,
And left their valued work unsigned,
Before they fell asleep.
They went away with tombs unmarked,
No signature or scroll;
And lodged no claims to share in part,
Earth's product as a whole.
One shaped a sword and one a beam,
Another shaped a bow;
Another made a plow or cart,
Another formed a hoe,
One fashioned blocks of wood or stone,
One learned to lock an Arch;
They lived and conquered this and that,
In time's great forward march."
-Alex. C. D. Noe
"According to the records of the index cards in the Temple Index Bureau the children of Ebenezer and his wife Elizabeth C. were:
i. MAY, b. 3 Jan. 1764.
ii. JOHN, b. 27 Sep. 1765.
iii. RALPH, b. 20 Dec. 1767.
iv. MARY ANN, b. 29 Mar. 1769.
v. EUNICE, b. 15 May 1774.
vi. EBENEZER, b. 3 Jan. 1777.
vii. HENRY b. 15 Feb. 1779.
viii. JOSEPH, b. 1781.
ix. JOSHUA, b. 1783.
x. EZEKIAL, b. 16 Oct. 1787.
xi. ELIZABETH, b. 16 Oct. 1789."
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