Sutter-Yuba County Biographies


This file is part of the California Genealogy & History Archives
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cagha/index.htm



LOUIS FRANKLIN PIERATT
 
            For a man to reach success in life solely through his own efforts, 
with help from no one and no advantageous start up the ladder of life, he must 
have native ability and powers of perseverance and industry.  Louis Franklin 
Pieratt, prominent stockman of Marysville, can be said to be such a man, for he 
has all the self-reliant characteristics and the broad outlook on life that go 
with a self-made man.  Born at Ezel, Morgan County, Ky., August 5, 1872, he is a 
son of James F. and Zelpha (Dennis) Pieratt, both natives of Morgan County, Ky.  
The Pieratt family trace their lineage back to France, whence Great-grandfather 
Pieratt came to the United States with General Lafayette to take part in the 
Revolutionary War and aid the American colonies to gain their independence.  
Grandfather John Pieratt was a planter in Morgan County, Ky., where James F. 
Pieratt was reared and educated and, as was perfectly natural, joined the 
Confederate Army and served through the Civil War.  After the war he became a 
successful farmer, carrying on his operations there until 1896, when he sold his 
holdings and he and his wife came to California, taking up their residence at 
Browns Valley, where he resided until his death on May 30, 1901.  His wife had 
preceded him only twenty-six days previously, passing away on May 4 of that 
year.  This worthy couple had six children:  Jefferson Davis, who was a stockman 
and a hotel man at Marysville until his death on December 26, 1916; Anna, Mrs. 
Elmer Hays, of Marysville; John S., who passed away in Kentucky; Maggie, the 
wife of W. C. Berry, of Butler, Mo.; Louis F., or our review; and Sarah, now 
Mrs. Frank Kupser, of Marysville.
            Louis F. Pieratt was reared on a farm in the blue-grass region of 
Kentucky, attending the local schools during short periods only, because from a 
lad he made himself useful on the home farm, where he learned the rudiments of 
farming as done in that part of Kentucky.  When but a lad of seventeen, he 
decided that the West held out more prospect for his success; so with his 
brother Jefferson Davis he came to Sacramento, Cal., in 1889.  He worked for 
wages in Sacramento and afterward at Shingle Springs, Eldorado County, where he 
also rented and farmed a foot-hill ranch for two years.  Later on he worked the 
harvest fields, baling hay and doing the hardest kind of ranch work.  In 1892 he 
leased a ranch at Spenceville, Nevada County, and engaged in ranching and 
stock-raising.  During this time, finding some spare time in between crops, he 
attended school at Spenceville, his teacher being Ella Austin, now 
superintendent of schools in Nevada County.
            On October 15, 1895, Mr. Pieratt came to Yuba County and ran a hotel 
at Browns Valley, also engaging in stock-raising.  He gradually acquired large 
land holdings, and still owns ranch property there, and stock.  Starting with 
nothing, he now owns a one-half interest in 500 acres of land north of 
Marysville, thirty acres of which is within the city limits; and besides this 
ranch property he is the possessor of other valuable lands and Marysville real 
estate, which includes the corner of Third and E Streets.  Since locating in 
Marysville in 1902, he has helped to build up the city, and has bought and sold 
property and kept in touch with the city�s civic progress.
            The marriage of Mr. Pieratt occurred in Marysville on May 27, 1896, 
uniting him with Miss Della Walker, a native of Spenceville, Nevada County, and 
a daughter of a pioneer family of California.  Her father, W. O. Walker, was a 
pioneer miner and farmer in this State.  He was born near Eddyville, Wapello 
County, Iowa; and there, in 1874, he married Elizabeth McDole, also a native of 
that State, and, as the name indicates, of Scotch descent.  In 1875 they came to 
California and located at Spenceville, where he followed mining and farming 
until they located in Marysville, and there Mrs. Walker passed on in 1919, 
leaving a husband and six children to mourn her loss.  The union of Mr. and Mrs. 
Pieratt has been blessed with two children.  James W. graduated from Marysville 
High School, after which he attended the University of California until the 
United States entered the World War, when he enlisted in the United States Naval 
Reserve Force, serving until after the armistice, since which time he has been 
associated with his father in the stock business.  He married Miss Irene Powell 
Carpenter, of Yuba City, a daughter of W. R. Carpenter, whose father was one of 
the earliest settlers of Sutter County.  Louis J., the other son, is a graduate 
of Marysville High School and Armstrong�s School at Berkeley, and is also 
associated with his father in the stock business.  Fraternally, Mr. Pieratt 
belongs to Marysville Lodge, No. 783, B.P.O.E., and Oriental Lodge, No. 45, 
I.O.O.F., while his son James W. is a York Rite Mason and his son Louis J. is an 
Elk.  Mr. Pieratt has always been interested in civic matters, standing for 
progress and the upbuilding of the community.  He is a member of the Chamber of 
Commerce, the California Cattlemen�s Association, and the Northern California 
Wool Growers� Association, and has always been enthusiastic in his support of 
projects that have for their aim the building up of this favored region and the 
enhancing of the comfort and happiness of the people.
 
History of Yuba and Sutter Counties, Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, 1924
p. 706-709