Francis Pettygrove - Other Interests, Legacy

Other Interests, Legacy

Pettygrove married Sophia Roland in 1842. By 1845 they had two children, the first of whom had been born in the Sandwich Islands (Hawaiian Islands), where they stopped on the way to Oregon. The second child, named Benjamin Stark Pettygrove, was the first boy of European descent born in Portland.

Pettygrove was a member of the Pioneer Lyceum and Literary Club in Oregon City. In May 1850, he was the jury foreman in the Oregon City trial and subsequent hanging of five men from the Cayuse tribe of Native Americans who were accused of murder committed during the Cayuse War.

Lovejoy and Pettygrove used a copper Matron Head penny, dated 1835, in their coin flip to determine Portland's name. Pettygrove bequeathed this penny to the Oregon Historical Society in his will.

Pettygrove Park, an 0.8-acre (0.32 ha) tract in downtown Portland, is named for him. It is one of two nearly adjacent parks developed in the 1960s in an urban renewal area. The same coin that Lovejoy and Pettygrove flipped to decide who should name the city was flipped to decide which park would be Lovejoy and which would be Pettygrove. Lovejoy Fountain Park, which features water cascades, is about 300 yards (270 m) from Pettygrove Park, which features grass mounds, trees, paths, and stonework. Pettygrove Street in northwest Portland is also named for him.