The musical Pettiford family came to Minneapolis from Oklahoma in 1929.

• Harry “Doc” Pettiford was born in Ohio in 1888. He had been a veterinarian played drums. He died
  in about 1942.
• Leontine Pettiford was born in 1892, reportedly of Choctaw extraction. She played piano.

Their children were:

• Lenontine, born 1911
• Harry, Jr., born 1912 – sax
• Cecelia, born 1914
• Ira, born 1916 – trumpet and later bass
• Marjorie, born 1917
• Alonzo F., born 1920 – banjo, trumpet. Alonzo died on May 20, 1947 at age 26
• Oscar, born 1922 – violin, piano and later bass. Oscar left Minneapolis in 1942 when Charlie Barnet hired him to play bass duets with his bass player, Chubby Jackson. In 1947 he was with Duke Ellington.
• Rosa/Rose Mae, born 1925
• Ellen/Helen, born 1927
• Alice, born 1932

The sisters played either sax or clarinet.