| Notes |
- Note from Find a Grave
"The Fithian Hardware Company, of which Mr. Gritten is president and treasurer, has long been recognized as one of the substantial business houses of Vermilion County. Mr. Gritten has ranked among the highly successful business men of Fithian for a number of years and is a member of one of the oldest families of this section. He was born in Pilot Township, May 4, 1884, the son of Thomas L. and Martha (Shank) Gritten.
Thomas L. Gritten was born on a farm in Pilot Township, the son of Labon E. Gritten, who came to Vermilion County during the early days and settled on a farm southeast of Penfield. The Gritten homestead was government land and was purchased at twenty-five cents per acre. Thomas L. Gritten became a substantial citizen of Bixby, where he owned and operated a blacksmith shop for many years. In 1890 he began the operation of a sawmill and thresher at Collison, Illinois, which he owned unitl 1904. He then rented a farm near Hope, Illinois, where he remained until the time of his death in 1906. His widow later married John Watson, and now lives near Danville, Illinois. To Mr. and Mrs. Gritten the following children were born: Earl, the subject of this sketch; Maude, married Henry Baatz, lives at Bennington, Indiana; Ollie married William Pate, lives at Catlin, Illinois; Samuel, lives at Bismark, Illinois; Thomas A., lives at Danville; Myrtle, married Fay Wilson, lives in Chicago, Illinois; and Orville, lives at Fithian.
Earl Gritten received his educaiton in the public schools of Bixby and Collison. He worked in his father's sawmill and early in life became an expert in threshing work. He owned and operated threshers at Hope, Illinois, until 1922, at which time he removed to Fithian. He had served as justice of the peace at Hope from 1912 until 122 and as highway commissioner of Pilot Township for one term. On January 10, 1924, Mr. Gritten became associated with the Price-Plotner Hardware Company, Fithian, as manager. This business was later incorporated as the Fithian Hardware Company and Mr. Gritten became president and treasurer. His daughter, H. Lorraine Plotner, is vice president and bookkeeper.
The Fithian Hardware Company are dealers in hardware, furniture, radios, plumbing and heating fixtures, and are also widely known dealers in farm implements. During the seaon of 1929, the firm sold twenty-one McCormick-Deering threshers, which represented a total of eleven carloads. Mr. Gritten was secretary and treasurer of the Illinois Brotherhood of Threshermen for five years. One of his responsiblities was the publication of "The Illinois Thresherman", a fine monthly paper devoted to their interests. The son of a thresherman, Mr. Gritten has operated engines and threshers for years; consequently his trade appreciates the sound, practical help, advice and service he is able to render through the Fithian Hardware Company, under which name he conducts a constantly growing business.
In 1904 Mr. Gritten was united in marriage with Miss Minnie Vinson, of Newtown, Illinois, the daughter of William and Hulda (McHenry) Vinson. Mr. Vinson died May 27, 1925, and his wife died July 7, 1909. Both are buried at Emberry, Illinois. To Mr. and Mrs. Gritten three children were born: (1) H. Lorraine, a graduate of Joliet Township High School, married in 1926 to Cleo Keith Plotner, lives at Fithian; (2) Vinson, a graduate of Oakwood Township High School, married to Wintress Douglas September 21, 1929, associated in business with his father; and (3) Mervin, a student at Oakwood Township High School.
Mr. Gritten is a Republican and held the office of mayor of Fithian during 1925 and 1926. He is a member of the Methodist Church and is affiliated with Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, Collison Lodge No. 713, Danville Consistory, and Modern Woodmen of America.
"Gritten's Grit", a monthly publication, sponsored by Mr. Gritten, is a further example of his unceasing interest in the local merchant and farmer." - History of Vermilion County, Illinois, Volume 2, 1930, Pages 963-965
[3]
|
1884 - 1940 (56 years)
[1, 2, 3] 
: Address
: Location
: City/Town
: County/Shire
: State/Province
: Country
: Not Set