Julius Eugene Petty (1911–1956)

England (Lonoke County) native Julius Petty was an internationally known trap shooting champion from the 1920s until 1955. He won numerous shooting titles before his death in an automobile accident in 1956.

Julius Eugene Petty was born in England on June 1, 1911. He was one of three children of John Bethel Petty and Ellie Good Petty.

Petty developed his skills as a shooter at an early age. At age sixteen, he won his first Amateur Trapshooting Association Grand American trophy in the men’s doubles. By 1929, he had won at least four additional shooting titles at various events across the United States. That same year, Petty graduated from England High School and enrolled at Ouachita Baptist College (now Ouachita Baptist University). He spent only one year at the college before leaving to work with his father in the buying and selling of cotton and furs and to pursue his shooting career.

In 1935, Petty married Myrtle Effie Venable. The couple had three children and later divorced. In 1946, he married Stella Maxine Gossom Powell.

Petty developed into one of the greatest professional trap shooters in the United States, winning numerous titles. In one competition, he hit 543 consecutive targets. In 1942, he received the first of his eleven All American designations from the Amateur Trapshooting Association (ATA). He won several Grand American competitions held by the ATA. The prestigious Sports Afield magazine named him All American eight times. In 1945 and 1948, he won the World Open shooting competition. In 1952, he teamed up with his wife Stella, who was also a champion shooter, to win a husband-wife national championship. In 1954, he was the North American Clay Target champion. He also won a total of twenty-five Arkansas state shooting titles over the course of his career.

Petty’s competitive shooting career was cut short when he suffered a heart attack in 1955.

The next year, Petty and his thirteen-year-old son Joe were killed in a car accident near Donnellson, Iowa. (The Arkansas Gazette erroneously gave the son’s age as twelve.) The accident occurred on December 21, 1956, when a semi-truck attempted to pass an oil truck. Petty’s car was approaching the two trucks when he applied his brakes and slid broadside into the path of the oil truck. The semi then crashed into the rear of the oil truck. Petty and his son were being removed from his burning car when a fourth vehicle hit the semi. Petty was killed instantly, and his son died at a local hospital less than an hour later. Petty and his son are buried in Lone Tree Cemetery in Stuttgart (Arkansas County). Petty had moved with his family to Stuttgart sometime around 1950.

In 1964, the Ozark Gun Club in Gassville (Baxter County) initiated the Julius E. Petty Memorial Shoot to honor the marksman. Petty was inducted into the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame in 1964 and the national Trapshooting Hall of Fame in 1975.

For additional information:
Bailey, Jim. “Hall of Fame Picks Five from Sports.” Arkansas Gazette, December 15, 1963, pp. 1B, 6B.

“Julius Petty.” Trapshooting Hall of Fame. https://traphof.org/inductees/details/1/132-petty-julius (accessed December 11, 2024).

“Julius Petty, Son, 12, Killed in Car Pileup.” Arkansas Gazette, December 22, 1956, pp. 1A, 2A.

“Julius Petty Killed.” Blytheville Courier, December 22, 1956, p. 10.

“Julius Petty and Son Killed.” Camden News, December 22, 1956, p. 1.

“Three Killed in Crash.” [Mason City, Iowa] Globe-Gazette, December 21, 1956, p. 1.

Mike Polston
CALS Encyclopedia of Arkansas