WILLIAM G. PETTINGELL.
 


	When William G. Pettingell, the well known merchant whose tobacco
store and barber shop are located on Scarth street, Regina, first came
to this city forty years ago he possessed the modest capital of five hundred
dollars.  With this sum he purchased a stock of drugs in the east and
opened a drug store that was the first of a number of financial enterprises
in this city and vicinity with which he has been connected. By dint of
his energy, perseverance and industry the young druggist of pioneer days
has become one of the substantial citizens of Regina, possessed of a com-
fortable fortune, and a leader in civic affairs.
	William G. Pettingell was born in Wellington, Ontario, on the 13th of
March, 1858, the son of Samuel and Charlotte (Greer) Pettingell, both
of whom were born in the state of Pennsylvania, United States of America,
and came of Dutch stock. They were earnest members of the Methodist
church and prominent in the affairs of the local congregation. The father
participated in local politics to the extent of serving as school trustee and
councilor, and in federal politics adhered to the Liberal party. He was a
farmer by occupation and was actively engaged in agricultural pursuits
until about eight years before his death, when he sold his farm and settled
in Wellington to enjoy the fruits of a well-spent life. William G. Pettingell
is one of two children. His brother, Randall, lives in Oakland, California,
where he is engaged in the telephone business.
	William G. Pettingell obtained his education in the public schools of
Picton, Ontario. When he had finished his schooling he went to work in a
drug store to learn the business and remained there until he came to
Regina in 1883.  Mr. Pettingell was twenty-five years old when he set
out to try his fortunes in the west. By his careful saving during the years
he was learning the druggist's business he had accumulated a capital of
five hundred dollars, which he invested in a stock of drugs in Montreal.
Arriving in Regina in 1883, he opened a little drug store that grew along
with the population of the town and had become one of the leading estab-
lishments of its kind in the city when it was sold in 1903. After he had
disposed of his store Mr. Pettingell joined with Robert Martin, Pete La-
mont and Charles Beacon in founding the Canada Drug & Book Company.
In this connection he had a store at Revelstoke and Nelson, British Co-
lumbia.  He remained in that province for a year before returning to
Regina and a few years later, in 1908, he sold His interests in the concern.
In looking about for a new business connection in Regina, Mr. Pettingell's
attention was attracted to a tobacco store, which he subsequently pur-
chased and managed, running a barber shop in connection with it. He
now is the proprietor of a large tobacco store and barber shop on Scarth
street that is well known to all the masculine population of the 
city.
	In 1883, when Mr. Pettingell first beheld Regina, it more nearly re-
sembled a tent colony than a city and numbered less than three hundred
inhabitants. Perhaps he did not foresee the splendid city that has grown
up in the past forty years, but he did anticipate a steady and rapid growth
in this region that was bound to make Regina an important commercial
center. His faith in the future was tangibly expressed in the purchase
of real estate in Regina that has enormously increased in value with the
passing of the years, at present being highly desirable city property. He
also owns a farm in the good agricultural section of the 
province.
	Mr. Pettingell was married in 1900, to Miss Mary Ethel Thompson of
Kingston, Ontario.  Mrs. Pettingell is the daughter of J. D. Thompson,
registrar of the County of Frontenac, Ontario. She was educated in King-
ston and Ottawa, Ontario and Cleveland, Ohio, United States of America,
and before her marriage was a kindergarten teacher and taught in the
third school of the kind ever held in Regina. Mr. and Mrs. Pettingell have
three children: William G., Jr., who has a drug store on Hamilton street;
Mary Greer, who is employed in the office of the Imperial Oil Company
of Regina; and Florence Stewart, a student in the Collegiate Institute. The
family attends the Knox Presbyterian church, in which Mr. Pettingell is one
of the prominent laymen. During the erection of the church edifice he
served on the building committee.  Fraternally he is affiliated with the
Canadian Order of Foresters and the Ancient Order of United Workmen.
	For years Mr. Pettingell has been a leader in civic affairs and an
active supporter of all those things that advance the social and business
life of the city.  He is a member and former president of the Regina
Board of Trade, has served on the Regina Hospital Board and also on the
board of the Agricultural Society.  No little credit for the development
of the city school system is due to Mr. Pettingell's loyal and effective work
during the eight years he was a member of the board of education. In
politics he is a Conservative. He has been a good party worker, in that
he has been an effective helper on many of the committees of the local
organization.  At no time has he entertained ambitions for a political
career nor sought offices apart from those directly connected with the de-
velopment of his community. In 1886, not long after he came to Regina,
Mr. Pettingell joined the other druggists of the region in forming the
first pharmaceutical society of Saskatchewan, of which he was the first
registrar. Socially he is identified with the Assiniboia Club, of which he
has been president. He was at one time president of the Turf Club and
did much to create an interest in the exhibition and racing of fine horses
in the province.



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