Prosser, Col. William Farrand.  "A History of the Puget Sound Country, Its
Resources, Its Commerce and its People."  New York and Chicago: Lewis Publishing
Co., 1903.  p. 77-79.

FRANK T. MCNITT

	The city of Centralia contains no more enterprising and successful business
man than Frank T. McNitt.  From a small beginning he has developed his hardware
store until he now owns one of the most complete stocks to be found in any city
of the size in the state.  This gentleman is a descendant of worthy Scotch
forefathers; at an early date in the history of this country four brothers are
said to have come from Scotland to Pennsylvania and founded the family whose
members are now in different parts of the Union.  Thomas Brown McNitt, the
father, was born in Mifflin county, Pennsylvania, and when a young man removed
to Montgomery country, Illinois, where he was one of the early settlers of that
agricultural region; he was one of the founders and was active in promoting the
interests of the Lutheran church, which was founded in behalf of the many German
inhabitants of that locality.  His wife was Sarah Cress, a native of North
Carolina and a daughter of Jacob Cress.  Mr. and Mrs. McNitt were farmers and
resided near Hillsboro, Montgomery county, and he held a number of local offices
and was an influential citizen and an excellent man in every respect.  He died
in 1859, aged fifty-one years, while his wife still resides on the old homestead
and has reached the advanced age of eighty-three.  They had eleven children,
three daughters and one son surviving.
	Frank T. McNitt is the only son and the only member of the family in
Washington, Montgomery county, Illinois, is the place of his nativity, and he
was born January 30, 1845.  The farm of his father and the country schools were
the scenes of his early preparation for life, and he followed farming until he
was twenty-seven, when he engaged in dealing in live-stock and running a livery
stable.  About this time he suffered a bereavement in the loss of his first wife
and he soon removed to Colorado; he first located in Cañon City and then went to
Rosita, where for five years he met with considerable success in conducting a
grocery store.  The next three years were spent in business in Silver Cliff, but
in 1882 he sold out and removed to Los Angeles, California, where he bought an
orange farm and devoted five years to the cultivation of that luscious fruit,
finding it a profitable investment.  After selling his farm he made his first
venture in the hardware line and followed it for two years.  The year 1889 is
the date of his coming to Centralia.  He opened a store in a small building
which he had bought from Woodam and Sprague, and his enterprise proved so
successful and expanded so rapidly that in 1897 he purchased his present
commodious two-story structure, ninety by ninety feet, in which he occupies the
middle store; he has a tin-shop forty by fifty feet, an ell one hundred by
thirty, and other warehouses to provide shelter for his extensive stock; these
buildings are located in the heart of the business district.  He carries
fourteen thousand dollars' worth of stock, including all kinds of shelf and
heavy hardware, farm machinery, wagons and carriages, sashes, doors and all
kinds of housebuilding supplies, and has a large tin-shop and does plumbing.  He
is also an extensive owner of real estate; he has a fine home in the residence
part of the city and four hundred acres of timber land in the country.  Mr.
McNitt's success may be ascribed to his hard work more than any special genius,
for in persistent, intelligent effort is found the key to nearly every portal of
wealth and presperity.
	Before coming to the west Mr McNitt was married, in 1864, to Miss Mary
Moynehan, a native of Nova Scotia, and two children were born, of whom one
survives, Mary, the wife of L. M. Anderson, of Los Angeles, California; Mrs.
McNitt died in 1873.  He married his present wife at Colorado Springs in 1875,
his bride being Miss Lucy A. Pastor, the daughter of Adam Pastor, a Colorado
pioneer from Indiana.  They have three children: Evalene, now Mrs. oscar
Nielson, of Walla Walla; Pearl, at home; and Frank, Jr., who is helping his
father in the mercantile business.  The family are members of the Presbyterian
church, and Mr. McNitt is a trustee and one of its most earnest supporters.  He
is a Knight of Pythias of the uniform rank, and has been master of the exchequer
for the past twelve years; he is also a member of the Ancient Order of United
Workmen.  He is one of Centralia's best known and most respected citizens.


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Transcribed by Jenny Tenlen for the Washington Biographies Project.  Transcriber
has no further information on this individual.