Ben "Wade" Hewett Alternate spelling Hewitt

Birth: He was born in Wisconsin in 1866.  

Family Information: He married Minnie Hewett in New Orleans, Louisiana in 1910.

Father of Allie Belle, Benny Wade, Jr., Irene, Clark, Eugene and Charlotte Hewett.  

Description:  

Pre-Colony History: In 1870 and 1880 he was living with his parents in Wisconsin. He was educated in horticulture by his father while he was still a youngster. The entire family moved to Louisiana before 1899 and with his father and brother he established the Hewett Brothers Nursery near Hammond, Louisiana.

In 1910 he and Minnie were living in Louisiana with his mother and a boarder while Wade worked as a nurseryman running his own business. Beginning in 1910, he moved around the state in various positions, until findally winding up at the co-operative extension service at Louisiana State University. While there, he worked with C.A. Reade of the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture to develop pecan farming in the state.

In 1920 they, along with three children, still lived in Louisiana where he worked as a manager of a Lafayette Pecan Nursery.

He came to the colony in 1924, bringing in the first stock of peach pits which he planted as the foundation of the nursery work in the colony.  

Home in Colony:  

Job in Colony: He was an expert horticulturist; in charge of fruit and ornamental bush and tree growing; Foreman of the Nursery Department.

In April 1928 the orchard crew included Hewett, Atworth, Bergold, Linkletter, Mardfin, Hough and Gregson.

In October 1928 he was reported to be recovered from his "near breakdown and [was] putting on weight"; at the time he was preparing to plant more orange trees from seeds, a wagonload of seed-oranges having been obtained from a plantation about six miles from the Rice Ranch.

In 1930 he was living at the Rice Ranch near Elton, LA in Jefferson Davis Parish and working as the orchardist at that location. In December 1932 he was still listed as one of the Rice Ranch (near Elton, LA) workers.

In 1936, he and Elmer Cayton pruned the pear trees in the Colony orchard.  

Other Info: He was a sportsman - an excellent fisherman and a dead shot; he often found and harvested honey for the colony.

In 1928 he was one of the founding members of the local Conscientious Objectors Union; Theodore Atworth served as the first Secretary-Treasurer with O.E. Enfield serving as the President. The organization was planned to be international, composed of people who refused to go to war as a matter of conscience. Charter members included: Theodore Atworth, Mary H. Atworth, Emily H. Dougherty, I.A. Dougherty, Carl H. Gleeser, S. Weislander, Charlie C. Black, John Hight, Lowell H. Coate, W.A. Shutt, F.O. Jernberg, Reka Jernberg, Anna Tabb, Peter Kemp, F. Rosenburg, B. Wade Hewitt, Hamilton H. McClurg, W.J. Hoag, Theodore F. Landrum, C.N. Butts, Mary Snyder, George Snyder, Anna Garrett, Emma Shutt, M.A. Brattland, Richard P. Condon, Jr., Emily Swenson, W.J. Newman, George T. Pickett, Raymond DeFausell, S.E. Baldwin, Mr. and Mrs. Peter Molenar, Earl L. Bosch, Guy F. Rogers, Ora E. Newman, James J. Miller, Bert Busick, Mabel D. Busick, Ole Synoground, C.C. Mickey, Fred A. Jensen, Katie Mickey, F. Rahn and Isaac H. Keyes.  

Post-Colony History: In 1940 he was divorced and living in Vernon Parish, Louisiana with his partner in a commercial nursery, Elmer Cayton.

Death: He died in 1948 in California.  

Sources: US Census: 1870, 1880, 1910, 1920, 1930, 1940; New Orleans, LA Marriage Records Index; "Llano Colonist": October 29, 1927, November 5, 1927, November 12, 1927, April 21, 1928, May 26, 1928, October 13, 1928, December 22, 1928, August 20, 1932, December 10, 1932, February 29, 1936; FindAGrave.com; Martha Palmer Notes