Menu

The Life of Jonathan Lewis Pettyjohn

Johnathan L. Pettyjohn, head of the farm mortgage company of J. L. Pettyjohn & Co., and president of the First National Bank of Olathe, died there at 10:30 this morning. Death was caused by heart disease. He was 73 years of age.

Mr. Pettyjohn came to Olathe fifty-nine years ago, and established the farm mortgage company which is now the oldest institution of the kind in Kansas, in 1874. From the founding of the company to the day of his death he was in active charge of its affairs. His son, Charles F. Pettyjohn, was associated with him in the business. For the last eighteen years he was the president of the First National Bank of Olathe. Coming from Savannah, Mo., where he was born, Mr. Pettyjohn located in Olathe when it was a mere frontier village. He formed an early friendshiop with the late John St. John, former governor of Kansas and leader in the cause of prohibition. In addition to his business interests in Olathe, Mr. Pettyjohn was the president of four other banks and a director in eight others. He was also president of the Kansas Bankers'' Life Insurance.

 Last fall Mr. Pettyjohn was stricken with influenza and was forced to take a rest from his business cares. However, the last few weeks he had been able to drive about the city and country in his car. While Mr. Pettyjohn did not take an active interest in politics, he was keenly interested in the public welfare of his his state. He was a Democract and held numerous positions of trust on boards and commissions of both Republican and Democratic governors.

As a boy he lived on a farm and started in life as a day laborer. When he established his farm mortgage business he was a farmer, and it is said of him that he never accepted a mortgage on a farm which he could not personally guarantee. Many of the successful farmers of eastern Kansas now trace their business success to the help and encouragement Mr.. Pettyjohn gave them when they started out. Mr. Pettyjohn is survived by his wife and children, Charles F. of Olathe and Mrs. L. W. Rowell of Chicago, and a grandson, Loren J. Rowell of Chicago. (Kansas City Star, May 14, 1920)

Filter Jonathan Lewis Pettyjohn's Timeline by the following Memory Categories

2017.08.09
PETTYJOHN, Johnathan L. Obituary

PETTYJOHN --Johnathan L. Pettyjohn, head of the farm mortgage company of J. L. Pettyjohn & Co., and president of the First National Bank of Olathe, died there at 10:30 this morning. Death was caused by heart disease. He was 73 years of age. Mr. Pettyjohn came to Olathe fifty-nine years ago, and established the farm mortgage company which is now the oldest institution of the kind in Kansas, in 1874. From the founding of the company to the day of his death he was in active charge of its affairs. His son, Charles F. Pettyjohn, was associated with him in the business. For the last eighteen years he was the president of the First National Bank of Olathe. Coming from Savannah, Mo., where he was born, Mr. Pettyjohn located in Olathe when it was a mere frontier village. He formed an early friendshiop with the late John St. John, former governor of Kansas and leader in the cause of prohibition. In addition to his business interests in Olathe, Mr. Pettyjohn was the president of four other banks and a director in eight others. He was also president of the Kansas Bankers' Life Insurance. Last fall Mr. Pettyjohn was stricken with influenza and was forced to take a rest from his business cares. However, the last few weeks he had been able to drive about the city and country in his car. While Mr. Pettyjohn did not take an active interest in politics, he was keenly interested in the public welfare of his his state. He was a Democract and held numerous positions of trust on boards and commissions of both Republican and Democratic governors. As a boy he lived on a farm and started in life as a day laborer. When he established his farm mortgage business he was a farmer, and it is said of him that he never accepted a mortgage on a farm which he could not personally guarantee. Many of the successful farmers of eastern Kansas now trace their business success to the help and encouragement Mr.. Pettyjohn gave them when they started out. Mr. Pettyjohn is survived by his wife and children, Charles F. of Olathe and Mrs. L. W. Rowell of Chicago, and a grandson, Loren J. Rowell of Chicago. (Kansas City Star, May 14, 1920)
Posted by Chris L

Please share your memories of Jonathan.