Pearl Wallace Petty

1894-1961

Pearl Wallace Petty, was the son of Soloman Jackson Petty, grandson of Joseph Perry Petty, great grandson of Harbin Petty, GG Grandson of Francis Moore Petty, GGG grandson of Thomas Petty (1706). His mother was Sarah Ann Montgomery. He was born and raised in Rutledge and around Boone County, Missouri. He had siblings: Arthur Tolbert, Soloman Perry, Winnie Tryphena, and Lavina Francis.In 1915 after a family argument, His father Soloman Jackson, shot and killed himself. My grandfather Pearl Wallace, was the one who found him. Around 1920 he moved to Iowa, Fort Dodge, where he met and married his first wife Lela Clark. They lived with his mother and Lela and Sarah did not get along with one another, so Lela left, pregnant with their first child.His first daughter Zenta Yvonne was born 13 Jun 1921 in Rutledge, Missouri where her mother had fled too. He was never allowed to see his daughter until she was 20 years old. After his mother Sarah died in 1927 he migrated to southern Missouri. Prior to his leaving north Missouri he happened to get involved with someone with a Quija board. They played this game and it spelled out that he would marry a woman by the name of Laura Smith. He bought a farm in the southern Missouri town of Winona. It was a farm of 57 acres and a three room house. Not long afterwards he met my grandmother Laura Smith. He told my mother when he met her and found out her name, he knew she was the one the Quija board told him he would marry, so he proposed. On Christmas eve in 1929 they married.

Grandfather was a farmer who worked his farm for a living and cutting timber when he could. He owned very little material possessions. One of his most cherished was a model T car and also an old fiddle that he had learned to play. He was a poor man but he always said he was a lucky man.

In 1930 Laura and Pearl had their first daughter, and named her Laura Frances. She was born premature, as she had no fingernails, nor eyelashes yet formed. She was very small and fragile, but she survived and is my mother. Second to be born was her brother Wilfred Eugene Petty, born in 1936. He was a big strapping boy, very healthy.

My grandparents went to church regularly. My grandmother was a preacher and grandpa seemed to be as devoted. He never talked much about his family. He was a rather quiet person and very soft spoken. He would get visits from family members several times a year.

Soloman Perry married Daisy Dunn and they had four daughters and a son. Doris Margaret married William Lingenfelter and lived in Kansas City, Missouri. She would bring her son and visit when possible.

Arthur Tolbert married Urbane Tague. They had four daughters and a son. I never met any of them nor can I ever remember them visiting my grandparents.

Lavina Francis married Henry Epperson and had two sons and a daughter. Ralph and Miles, her sons would visit Pearl yearly. Lavina died when her children were very young. Their Epperson grandparents then raised them.

Winnie Tryphena died at age 8 after her kidneys failed. She had a kidney disease that eventually caused kidney failure.

Written by: Anita Campbell-Seybold 4/6/2000