Lyman C. Pettit (October 1868 in Northumberland, New York – March 8, 1950 in Lockport, New York)"Death of Lyman C. Pettit", Brooklyn Eagle (March 10, 1950):13, https://www.ancestry.com/mediaui-viewer/collection/1030/tree/72425289/person/48260317709/media/83a899ef-d41a-4fb2-8776-675f20896863?_phsrc=JhJ15414&usePUBJs=true was the founder and first president of the Pentecostal Collegiate Institute (now Eastern Nazarene College); the founding pastor of both the Congregational Methodist Church of Saratoga Springs, and the First People's Church of Brooklyn, New York; and an ordained clergyman who was the pastor of churches in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the Association of Pentecostal Churches of America (a forerunner to the Church of the Nazarene), and the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America.
Biographical summary Family and early years Lyman Clayton Pettit was born in Northumberland, New York in October 1868,For sourced details, see https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/72425289/person/48260317709/facts the oldest child of Orville Daniel Pettit (born October 1832 in Saratoga, New York; died 25 May 1905 in Northumberland, New York),"Death of O. D. Pettit", The Daily Saratogian (May 27, 1905):7, https://www.ancestry.com/mediaui-viewer/collection/1030/tree/72425289/person/48260317600/media/a276ca12-720a-416a-bdb5-6631bd07efc4?_phsrc=JhJ15412&usePUBJs=true. Orville was (re)buried at the Gansevoort Cemetery on 25 May 1939. See http://www.townofnorthumberland.org/Northumberland_PDFs/Cemeteries.pdf, p.16. a retail grocer;Nathaniel Bartlett Sylvester, History of Saratoga County, New York (1878), Chapter 41: "HISTORY OF THE VILLAGES AND TOWNS OF SARATOGA COUNTY: NORTHUMBERLAND", http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~nysarato/Sylvester/chap41.html. and Sarah Frances Robinson Pettit (born 8 July 1849 in Northumberland, New York; died 27 April 1922 in Buffalo, New York,https://www.ancestry.com/mediaui-viewer/collection/1030/tree/72425289/person/48260317599/media/146278e7-20ac-43b7-9c4c-80bac199e3f0?_phsrc=JhJ15415&usePUBJs=true Sarah is buried at the Gansevoort Cemetery at Gansevoort, New York. Her name is listed as Sarah Francies Pettit. See "TOWN OF NORTHUMBERLAND CEMETERIES", http://www.townofnorthumberland.org/Northumberland_PDFs/Cemeteries.pdf, p5. who had married on 6 September 1866 at the Reformed Protestant Dutch Church of Gansevoort, New York."REFORMED PROTESTANT DUTCH CHURCH OF GANSEVOORT: Marriages", see http://saratoganygenweb.com/gansbmd.htm After the birth of their oldest child, Orville and Sarah had four more children: Charles Warren Pettit (born 10 May 1869 in Northumberland, New York; died 20 November 1931 in Middleport, New York).1870 US Federal Census. Charles married Ida Bennett (born 28 January 1865 in Rochester, New York; died 10 May 1944 in Perry, New York) (see https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/72425289/person/48260317711/facts) about 1896 and they had seven children, one dying in infancy. They had five daughters before having their only son, Charles Gilbert Warren Pettit (born 17 October 1908). See https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/72425289/person/48260317716/facts. By 1899 Charles W. Pettit was serving as a pastor at the Immanuel Pentecostal Church (APCA) in Glens Falls, New York. See Glens Falls Directory (1899-1900):164; and 1900 US Federal Census, where the family was living in Glens Falls, New York. By 1907 he was the pastor of an APCA church in Somerville, Massachusetts. See The Nazarene Messenger 12 (1907); and 1910 US Federal Census. The APCA merged with the Church of the Nazarene in Chicago in October 1907 to become the Pentecostal Church of the Nazarene. However, by 1920 Charles (as C. Warren Pettit) was the pastor of a Methodist Episcopal church in Buffalo, New York. At the time of his death on November 20, 1931, he had been the pastor of the Middleport Methodist Episcopal church for a few weeks. He died of a stroke while preaching at the Calvary Presbyterian Church in Lockport. See "Stroke Fatal to Middleport Pastor. Stricken on November 20 While Preaching in Lockport", The Niagara Falls Gazette (November 30, 1931):2, https://www.ancestry.com/mediaui-viewer/collection/1030/tree/72425289/person/48260317711/media/8daf9431-3b8b-4d30-bd34-f4e131540ee0?_phsrc=JhJ15416&usePUBJs=true Mira A. Pettit (born Oct 1870 in Northumberland, New York; died 6 Oct 1915 in Northumberland, New York);Ancestry.com and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 1880 United States Federal Census. Census Place: Northumberland, Saratoga, New York; Roll: 928; Family History Film: 1254928; Page: 327D; Enumeration District: 80; Image: 0655.Ancestry.com and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. New York Death Index, 1852-1956. Year: 1915; Page: 880; Image 895. Orville Bertrum "Bertie" Pettit (born 7 October 1873 in Northumberland, New York; died 21 March 1941 in Niagara Falls, New York);See https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/72425289/person/48260317699/facts; "Orville B. Pettit", The Leader-Republican (Gloversville and Johnstown, N.Y.) (24 March 1941):3, https://www.ancestry.com/mediaui-viewer/collection/1030/tree/72425289/person/48260317699/media/bb8f7582-f516-45a9-b5a6-83673b40a39f?_phsrc=JhJ15417&usePUBJs=true; By 1918 he was married to Rebecca Sally Kline, was a farmer, and lived at 2 Schuylerville, Northumberland, New York. See World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918: Registration Location: Saratoga County, New York; Roll 1818818; Draft Board: 2. Orville B. Pettit was buried at Gansevoort Cemetery on 21 March 1941, see http://www.townofnorthumberland.org/Northumberland_PDFs/Cemeteries.pdf, p.17 and Alvadore "Allie" Franklin Pettit (born 10 August 1878 in Northumberland, New York; died 13 September 1956 in Glens Falls, New York).https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/72425289/person/48260317505/facts; World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918: Registration Location: Saratoga County, New York; Roll 1818818; Draft Board: 2. By 1918 Allie was a construction worker at the Victory Mills, at Saratoga, NY. He and his wife, Hazel, lived at Schuylerville, Northumberland, New York. "Rites Held", Schenectady Gazette (Schenectady, NY) (September 18, 1956):4, https://www.ancestry.com/mediaui-viewer/collection/1030/tree/72425289/person/48260317505/media/5db161e0-aa50-4b39-8a52-fe6901a42368?_phsrc=JhJ15418&usePUBJs=true
By July 1870, Pettit was living with his parents, and younger brother, Charles, in Northumberland, New York, where his father was employed as a retail grocer, and who was also Town Clerk of Northumberland in 1869 and 1873;Nathaniel Bartlett Sylvester, History of Saratoga County, New York (1878), Chapter 41: "HISTORY OF THE VILLAGES AND TOWNS OF SARATOGA COUNTY: NORTHUMBERLAND", http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~nysarato/Sylvester/chap41.html; 1870 US Federal Census: Census Place: Northumberland, Saratoga, New York; Roll M593_1088; Page: 365B; Image: 737; Family History Library Film: 552587. By June 1880 Pettit was living with his grandfather, Lyman Robinson (born about 1830 in New York), a farmer; his grandmother, Almira Robinson (born about 1832 in New York); and one of his younger brothers, Bertie, on the Robinson farm in Northumberland, New York.1880 US Federal Census. Pettit's father, Orville D. Pettit, was now a school teacher, who also lived in Northumberland, with his wife, Sarah, and three of their children: Charles, Mira, and Allie.See 1880 US Federal Census: Census Place: Northumberland, Saratoga, New York; Roll T9_928; Family History Film: 1254928; Page: 327.4000; Enumeration District: 80; Image: 0655.
About 1888 Pettit married Minnie Hettrich (born January 1869 in New York), the youngest child of Prussian immigrants,See 1880 US Federal Census. Census Place: Saratoga Springs, Saratoga, New York; Roll: 929; Family History Film: 1254929; Page: 424C; Enumeration District: 85; Image: 0012. John P. Hettrich (born about 1823 in Hamburg, Prussia), a tailor, whose store was then at 463 Broadway Avenue in Saratoga Springs;See Saratoga Springs, NY, 1888. Saratoga Springs, New York Directory (Saratoga Springs, NY: William H. Kirwin, 1888). and Louisa Hettrich (born about 1832 in Hamburg, Prussia).See 1880 US Federal Census (Saratoga Springs). Minnie had five siblings: Isabella (born about 1858), Henry (born about 1859), Elizabeth "Lizzie" (born about 1861); Nellie (born about 1863); and Augustus (born about 1864). Pettit and his wife had only one child, a son: Lyman Hettrich Pettit (born 10 May 1889 in Hyndsville, New York; died 19 February 1922 in Newark, New Jersey).https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/72425289/person/48260317635/facts; "Pettit", New York Tribune (February 21, 1922):9, https://www.ancestry.com/mediaui-viewer/collection/1030/tree/72425289/person/48260317635/media/d84496c2-bb3f-4e48-8c03-b6d770c9d976?_phsrc=JhJ15419&usePUBJs=true; One source indicates he was born on 10 May 1890 in Hyndsville, New York. See World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918, FHL Roll Number: 1754229, Draft Board: 31, Brooklyn, New York, Draft Card P. However, The 1900 US Federal Census clearly indicates he was born in May 1889, which coincides better with the Pettit pastorate at Hyndsville. See 1900 US Federal Census, Saratoga Springs; "Pettit Family Tree", https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/72425289/person/48260317635/facts; Lyman H. Pettit is buried at Greenridge Cemetery. See http://saratoganygenweb.com/BxbGRC-P.htm and https://www.ancestry.com/mediaui-viewer/collection/1030/tree/72425289/person/48260317635/media/24af6c27-3b35-46b4-9a0d-6072facdd6a0?_phsrc=JhJ15420&usePUBJs=true.
Education and honors Pettit was educated at the Methodist-sponsored Central New York Conference Seminary"Fundamentalists Win Contest Name People's Church Pastor", The Bridgeport Telegraph (10 January 1927):2. (now Cazenovia College), at Cazenovia, New York, "the second Methodist seminary to be established in the United States","History of the College", http://www.cazenovia.edu/about/history-cazenovia-college and from its inception in 1824 one of the first co-educational schools in the nation. After completion of his pre-college studies, Pettit completed four years at the Syracuse College seminary in Syracuse, New York.Cameron, 19; "Fundamentalists Win Contest Name People's Church Pastor", The Bridgeport Telegraph (10 January 1927):2. By 1914 Pettit was listed as having a Ph.D.,Minutes: United Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A., Vol. 14 (1914):730, 1018. however from 1921 he was listed as having received a Doctor of Divinity (D.D.) degree.See 11 April 1921. A 1925 source indicates Pettit had a Doctor of Sacred Theology (S.T.D.).Minutes of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, Part 1 (Presbyterian Board of Publication, 1925):1088.
Personal Pettit was "an impressive person, with a commanding personality and a natural gift for oratory."Cameron, 19.
Ministry Methodist Episcopal Church (1887–1895) Gansevoort Methodist Episcopal Church (1887–1889)