Tulare County Biographies

JOHN M. WITT

Transcribed by Kathy Sedler

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

 
        John M. Witt, veteran plumber and worker in sheet metal in Porterville, 
and proprietor there of the oldest establishment of its sort in continuous 
operation in that city, was born in Porterville and has lived there all his 
life, thus having seen the development of that city from its village days. In 
this development he has done well his part, his contribution to the building of 
the community having been a no inconsiderable one, for he has been connected 
with the plumbing industry since the days of his boyhood and has thus had a part 
in much of the construction work that has gone on there during these years. He 
was born in Porterville, August 22, 1873, and is the fourth in order of birth of 
the nine children born to Henry S. and Anna (Murray) Witt, pioneers of this 
county and both now deceased. The Witts are one of the old American colonial 
families, the progenitor in the United States having been a Huguenot refugee 
from France who came to the American colonies and established himself in 
Virginia, whence the family in later generations became widely distributed over 
the country. Henry S. Witt was born in Arkansas. In 1859 he came to California, 
crossing the plains with a wagon train and by reason of unlooked for setbacks 
and hardships was more than a year in making the crossing. For some time after 
his arrival here he followed mining in Placerville and later settled in Tulare 
county, where he established his home and where he and his wife spent the 
remainder of their lives, his death occurring in 1897 and hers in 1924. As most 
of their nine children lived to maturity and reared families of their own, the 
descendants of this pioneer couple in the present generation form a considerable 
family connection.
        Reared on the home farm in the vicinity of Porterville, John M. Witt 
acquired his education in the Porterville schools and remained on the farm until 
he was twenty years of age, when he became apprenticed to the plumber's and 
sheet metal worker's trade in Porterville. Upon completing his trade he worked 
as a journeyman plumber for some time and then, in 1900, became engaged in the 
plumbing business on his own account, setting up an establishment in Porterville 
which ever since has occupied his attention, and which now, as stated above, is 
the oldest establishment of its kind in the city. In addition to his general 
plumbing work, Mr. Witt also has done much in the sheet metal line, and the 
evidences of his careful handiwork are found in many of the notable bits of 
building construction erected hereabout during the past quarter of a century. He 
now has associated with him in his business his youngest son, Roy Witt, who has 
grown up in the business and who has been a valuable aid in its later 
development.
        On October 10, 1893, in Porterville, John M. Witt was united in marriage 
to Miss Nettie Thompson, who also was born in California, and they have three 
children : Merle, Virgie and Roy, and four grandchildren. Mr. Witt is an 
"independent" in his political views. He is a member of the local lodge of the 
Knights of Pythias and is also affiliated with the Woodmen of the World.
 
Source:  History of Tulare County and Kings County, California � Kathleen 
Edwards Small & J. Larry Smith, Vol. II, Chicago, The S. J. Clarke Publishing 
Company, 1926., p. 269