Oregon pioneer from Maine credited with naming Portland, Oregon
Francis Pettygrove
Born
1812
Calais, Maine, U.S.
Died
October 5, 1887 (aged 74–75)
Port Townsend, Washington, U.S.
Resting place
Laurel Grove Cemetery, Port Townsend 48°07′00″N122°47′09″W / 48.11667°N 122.78583°W / 48.11667; -122.78583[1]
Nationality
American
Other names
William Pettygrove
Occupation(s)
Merchant, real-estate investor
Known for
One of the founders of Portland, Oregon, and Port Townsend, Washington
Spouse
Sophia Roland Pettygrove
Francis William Pettygrove (c. 1812 – October 5, 1887) was a pioneer and one of the founders of the cities of Portland, Oregon, and Port Townsend, Washington. Born in Maine, he re-located to the Oregon Country in 1843 to establish a store in Oregon City. Later that year he paid $50 for half of a land claim on which he and Asa Lovejoy laid out a town named Portland after the port city in Pettygrove's home state. Lovejoy preferred Boston, but Pettygrove won a coin toss giving him the right to choose the name.
Teamed with Benjamin Stark, who bought Lovejoy's half-interest in the town site in 1845, Pettygrove engaged in a highly profitable three-cornered trade between Portland, San Francisco, and Hawaii. Making money in his stores and warehouses, in trades of lumber, grain, and salted fish, and in real-estate deals, Pettygrove by 1848 was one of the richest men in the Oregon Territory. When the California Gold Rush drew potential laborers from Oregon and threatened Pettygrove's short-term prospects, he sold his assets in Portland and vicinity. In 1851 he joined with others to start a new town, Port Townsend, on Puget Sound in what became the U.S. state of Washington. He died at the age of 75 and was buried in Port Townsend.
Pettygrove was married to Sophia Roland, with whom he had at least two children, one of whom was named after Benjamin Stark. While living in Oregon, he belonged to the Pioneer Lyceum and Literary Club of Oregon City and served as jury foreman in a trial there related to the Cayuse War. Pettygrove Park in southwest Portland and Pettygrove Street in northwest Portland are named after him.
^"Laurel Grove Cemetery". Geographic Names Information System, United States Geological Survey. September 10, 1979. Retrieved March 18, 2010.
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Francis William Pettygrove (c. 1812 – October 5, 1887) was a pioneer and one of the founders of the cities of Portland, Oregon, and Port Townsend, Washington...
Portland, Oregon, United States. The City of Portland's two founders, FrancisPettygrove from Portland, Maine and Asa Lovejoy from Boston, Massachusetts, both...
Ermatinger House's left parlor that the famous coin toss between FrancisPettygrove and Asa Lovejoy occurred, reputedly during a dinner party held in...
apparatus.[citation needed] In the United States Asa Lovejoy and Francis W. Pettygrove, who each owned the claim to the land that would later become Portland...
The park was named for FrancisPettygrove, one of the early settlers of the Portland townsite. The same coin used by Pettygrove and settler Asa Lovejoy...
and a rear door. The Francis Marion Stokes Fourplex is located at 2253 N.W. Pettygrove St, in the same block as historic Pettygrove House, a Victorian house...
year, the settlement was named by early residents Asa Lovejoy and FrancisPettygrove. Filing a provisional land claim of 640 acres in what later became...
assisted in building the organization. So was Portland co-founder FrancisPettygrove. In addition to debates on government and the creation of a press...
Lovejoy settled elsewhere. Overton soon sold his share to FrancisPettygrove and Lovejoy and Pettygrove held their famous coin toss in 1845 to decide the name...
Country. In 1842, the Fosters and Francis William Pettygrove's family (Foster's wife, Mary Charlotte, was Pettygrove's sister) sailed from New York for...
supercargo (cargo supervisor) of the Toulon, bringing goods for FrancisPettygrove's warehouse. In 1846, he purchased half of Asa Lovejoy's 640 acres...
Clymer SS George R. Holmes SS Gilbert Stuart SS Joel Palmer SS Francis W. Pettygrove SS John A. Johnson SS John B. Kendrick SS John Lind SS Ida M. Tarbell...
2009 next to the Saturday Market Pavilion. This memorial honors William Pettygrove and Asa Lovejoy, who tossed a coin to determine the city's name. Had the...
from the original on April 20, 2023. Retrieved 2022-07-07. Pedersen AL, Pettygrove S, Lu Z, Andrews J, Meaney FJ, Kurzius-Spencer M, et al. (August 2017)...
until June 1946, when she was repaired and returned to service. Francis W. Pettygrove United States World War II: The Liberty ship was torpedoed and...
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