Edwin Alfred Pettit (British, 1834 – 1924) “Harlech Morning”
Oil on Canvas 30in x 50in
Edwin was orphaned at the age of eight while his parents were living in Nauvoo. He plotted an escape from his guardian so he could join his sister and her husband who were headed west. He was 13 when he made the journey. As an adult Pettit was heavily involved in freighting and in helping immigrants coming to Utah from California, where he had settled in 1851. While assisting others, he crossed the Nevada desert seventeen times by team and three times by rail. He married Maria Pettit Bush, a widow with two sons, and they had one daughter. After her death, he married Rebecca Hood Hill, and they became the parents of fourteen children. Edwin died April 17, 1924, in Salt Lake City, Utah.
