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Gc 978.3 C83W v. 3 1920 1478505
M. L.
GENEALOGY COLLECTION
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01066 6920
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WHO'S WHO IN SOUTH DAKOTA
VOLUME III
By O. W. Coursey
AUTHOR OF
HISTORY AND GEOGRAPHY OF THE P. I. VOL. I WHO'S WHO IN SOUTH DAKOTA VOL. II WHO'S WHO IN SOUTH DAKOTA BIOGRAPHY OF SENATOR KITTREDGE THE WOMAN WITH A STONE HEART BIOGRAPHY OF GENERAL BEADLE THE PHILIPPINES AND FILIPINOS LITERATURE OF SOUTH DAKOTA SCHOOL LAW DIGEST WINNING ORATIONS JUST A FRIEND
PUBLISHED AND FOR SALE BY THE EDUCATOR SUPPLY COMPANY MITCHELL, SOUTH DAKOTA 9626
COPYRIGHTED 1920 BY O. W. COURSEY
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DEDICATED TO MY PERSONAL FRIEND AND LIFE-LONG BENEFACTOR EDITOR CHARLES M. DAY
PREFACE
A book that deals with human beings - those who walk around among us during our daily life - those who, through their own individual exertion, have gained positions of prominence and leadership - is always in demand.
Volume I, "Who's Who in South Dakota," containing fifty biographies of genuine, living, vibratory human beings, published in 1912, was soon sold out in its entirety. Vol- ume II, containing thirty-three biographies, which appeared in 1916, met with equal suc- cess. It is hoped that Volume III will be as well received.
After those whose life sketches appear in these books have passed into the Great Be- yond, these books will become doubly valu- able, for it will be found that they contain
PREFACE - (Continued)
the concrete history of our state, woven around the men and women who have made it.
A competent Committee selected the names of those who appear in this volume. They have, therefore, been sorted out with great care, upon merit only.
THE PUBLISHERS.
ALPHABETICAL INDEX
A
Ashley, Edward 9
B
Bonham, W. H.
18
Burnside, George W.
26
C
Christopherson, Charles
33
Cory, F. J.
44
D
Dowdell, Robert E. 55
E
64
Gandy, Harry
77
Gardner, A. K. .
87
H
Hazle, W. A. 103
Hedrick, Harry S.
116
Hill, Mr. and Mrs. W. S.
131
Hirning, John .
141
J
Johnson, Royal . 149
Joseph, Mother Mary
. 157
K
Kutnewsky, J. K.
· 166
L
Lusk, W. C.
. 174
Englesby, Charles H.
G
INDEX - (Continued)
M
Mattison, James A.
184
McCauley, A. C.
. 198
McKeever, John
209
McMaster, W. H.
219
N
Norbeck, Peter .
. 228
Notson, G. T.
. 245
P
Peabody, Helen .
. 257
Pyle, Mrs. J. L.
. 266
R
Ray, Fred .
. 275
Rewman, Mrs. Mabel
. 284
Ringsrud, A. O.
. 293
S
Schermerhorn, W. D.
· 301
Schlosser, A. R.
316
Sessions, A. B. .
327
Shade, M. L.
343
Squire. Guy P.
359
Stanley, J. A.
370
T
Thoms, Craig S.
. 381
Tschetter, Jacob
. 391
W
Wales, Boyd
399
Woodburn, E. C.
. 413
Woodworth, R. E. .
. 422
Z
Ziebach, Francis
. 429
WHO'S WHO IN SOUTH DAKOTA
EAST AND WEST
"Men look to the East for the dawn- ing things, For the light of the rising sun; But they look to the West, to the crimson West, For a view of the things that are done.
"For the Eastward sun is a newborn hope
From the dark of the night dis- tilled, But the Westward sun is the sunset sun, The sun of a hope fulfilled.
"For there in the East we dreamed the dream Of the things we hoped to do, But here in the West, the crimson West, The dreams of the East come true."
REVEREND EDWARD ASHLEY MISSIONARY TO THE INDIANS
Milton, in "Paradise Lost," might well have put into the mouth of the Rev. Edward Ashley, Episcopal Missionary to the Dakota Indians and one of the most highly revered men of the state, this prayer :
"What in me is dark Illumine, what is low raise and support; That, to the height of this great argument I may assert Eternal Providence And justify the ways of God to men."
On May 9, 1874, when three-fifths of the people now living in South Dakota had not as yet been born, when the prairies were as yet covered with buffalo and while brave Custer was still alive, when Indian pow- wows and conflicts between them and the Whites were of common occurrence, the old stage coach that plied between Yankton and Bismarck, via White Swan, stopped at Greenwood on the Yankton agency in what is now Charles Mix County.
REV. EDWARD ASHLEY
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EDWARD ASHLEY
A young Episcopal Missionary stepped out and began to look around. His name was Edward Ashley. He had just come from England, via Michigan where he had stopped for a brief period.
"What sought (he) thus afar? Bright jewels of the mine? The wealth of seas? The spoils of war? (He) sought a faith's pure shrine.
"Ay, eall it holy ground - The soil where first (he) trod; (He) has left unstained what there (he) found, - Freedom to worship God."
MRS. HEMANS
Yes - he had left Europe and had come to America to spread learning and the Gospel truth among the strange Redmen whom Columbus had first discovered on Salvador. Truly - with Julia Ward Howe, he had caught the vision :
"Mine eyes have seen the glory Of the coming of the Lord; He is trampling out the vintage Where the grapes of wrath are stored He has loosed the fateful lightning Of His terrible swift sword, - Our God is marching on!"
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WHO'S WHO IN SOUTH DAKOTA
For three months he carefully watched and studied missionary developments among the Indians. In September he was sent to Crow Creek, twenty-eight miles north of the pres- ent city of Chamberlain, to teach one of the first day schools among the Indians. On Sunday, he conducted religious services in the Episcopal faith; and it is largely from such humble beginnings that many of the Indians in Dakota have adopted the Episco- pal form of worship.
The work went slow at first. Neither party could understand the other. Ashley figured he alone could learn the Indian tongue much more rapidly than they in general could learn English, and so he set himself to the task of learning the Sioux language. He soon mastered it, and then learned to write it as well. This brought a common understanding between him and his bene- ficiaries. An abiding friendship was begun. Ashley became the Indians' idol.
He continued at Crow Creek until the fall of 1878. In November, 1877, he had been ordained Deacon. It was his ambition to enter into the full ministry of his church.
13
EDWARD ASHLEY
And so he spent the winters of 1879-81 in Seabury Divinity School, Faribault, Minne- sota, studying Theology. He completed a three-years course in two, graduating in the spring of 1881, with the degree of B. D.
On July 4, 1881, he was ordained Priest and immediately sent to the Sisseton Agency in Roberts County, Dakota Territory, to es- tablish the work of the Episcopal church in that field. He remained in the Sisseton field for eight years, during which time he estab- lished four Indian congregations, with auxil- iary societies.
At the request of Bishop Hare he took charge of the Cheyenne River Mission west of the Missouri River, July 1, 1889. His headquarters were at Fort Bennett, forty miles north of Pierre. Inside of the old Cheyenne reservation are now the organized counties of Zieback and Dewey, and Arm- strong County - unorganized. Rev. Dr. Ashley is still in charge of the work in this field - at the end of thirty-one years. Won- derful record! His work on this reservation has progressed from five to twelve congrega-
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WHO'S WHO IN SOUTH DAKOTA
tions, with eight Indian lay-workers and four native ordained ministers.
In 1885 Bishop Hare appointed him Rural Dean for special work in the Indian field in addition to his other duties. Later when Bishop Biller became Bishop of South Dako- ta, he was selected as General Missionary. In the fall of 1917 Bishop Burleson made him Archdeacon of Niobrara (this latter name being the title of Bishop Hare's original jur- isdiction) thus giving him general super- vision of all the work of the Episcopal church on all the reservations in South Dakota, with headquarters in Aberdeen.
"His preaching much, but more his practice wrought - (A living sermon of the truths he taught - ) For this by rules severe his life he squar'd, That all might see the doctrine which they heard." DRYDEN
During the years of his long faithful min- istry among the Sioux Indians, Rev. Dr. Ash- ley became wonderfully proficient in speak- ing and in writing their language. He edited an Indian church paper - Anpaokin (mean- ing "Daybreak"), and translated into the Sioux tongue many educational books, with
1 1 1
15
EDWARD ASHLEY
helps for studying the Bible. He co-edited and composed several hymnals for them, and more recently aided in compiling a Dakota- English Service book to meet the larger needs of the church work of the present day. Of the twenty-nine native ministers ordained in the Episcopal church, he has had much to do with their instruction, examination, and ordination.
In 1910, the University of South Dakota recognized his splendid Christian work by conferring upon him the degree of LL. D., and subsequently his theological Alma Mater granted him his D. D.
HIS CAREER
Reverend Dr. Ashley was born in England in 1854. He spent his boyhood days working in cloth mills and at the carpenter trade. In his nineteenth year he migrated to America, landing at New York, September 1, 1873. His father and mother had preceded him to America and resided in Michigan. So he stopped with them until May, 1874, when he struck out for Dakota.
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WHO'S WHO IN SOUTH DAKOTA
His early education was acquired in the common schools of England, finishing with the rudiments of Greek and Latin.
In 1877, he returned to England, and on October 4, was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth Ann Martin, returning to America promptly with his bride. Mrs. Ashley died in 1915, and two years later Dr. Ashley mar- ried Mrs. H. E. Goodbody, of Ireland.
He belongs to all Masonic bodies and takes an active part in them. He was Master of a Blue Lodge for four years, and is now Grand Chaplain of the Grand Lodge and of the Grand Chapter, and Grand Prelate of the Grand Commandery of South Dakota. He is an Honorary 33rd degree of the A. A. S. Rite, and Deputy of the Supreme Council in South Dakota.
MISSIONARY EXPERIENCES
During his missionary work among the Indians, he crossed swollen streams, traveled through storms and experienced trials with the gumbo.
While the Ghost Dances were on among the Sioux, during the Messiah craze, he trav- eled extensively among them at the request
17
EDWARD ASHLEY
of Bishop Hare, talking to them in their own language and advising them against the un- wisdom of taking sides with the leaders of the uprising. Later, when remnants of Big Foot's band came back to the Cheyenne Agency, from whence they had gone to the Pine Ridge Agency to take part in the Ghost Dances, he ministered to their needs, for they were in a sad condition.
Dr. Ashley might well be termed the William Penn of the West, for he never had any trouble with the Indians. They always respected him, did as he asked them to, and never raised a hand to harm him. He ex- plains his phenomenal success among them on the theory that he early learned to con- verse with them in their own language in- stead of by signs, and the fact that in all of his dealings with them he always applied the Golden Rule.
Of him the Indians would say with Shakes- peare :
"His words are bonds, his oaths are oracles; His love sincere, his thoughts immaculate; His tears, pure messengers sent from his heart; His heart as far from fraud as heaven from earth."
W. H. BONHAM
EDITOR WILLIS H. BONHAM
IN THE DAYS OF ADVENTURE
The massacre of brave Custer and his heroic soldiers by the Indians in the vicinity of the Black Hills in 1876 did not deter im- migration to that region; in fact, it helped to stimulate it by advertising the place.
The moment it was learned that gold had been discovered along the gravel beds of the shallow, crystal, babbling streams of the Hills, people began to flock to the territory by the thousands, from every direction, re- gardless of dangers and of hardships.
These people had to be fed and clothed and sheltered. Shrewd merchants soon saw the opportunity to open up a pack-train freighter from the nearest commercial points to the new Eldorado. One of these men was the proprietor of the old "Black Hills Outfitters" store at Cheyenne, Wyoming. He traded his homestead, nine miles from Cheyenne, for
20
WHO'S WHO IN SOUTH DAKOTA
130 Mexican burros, preparatory to taking up this line of work.
A train of burros, heavily laden - mostly with stamps for stamping gold - was finally equipped and started. It was in 1877. A young painter and paper hanger, from Den- ver, who had drifted over to Cheyenne in the fall of 1876, and who had been working in the old Outfitters store during the winter, was selected as foreman of the train.
He was strong, lithe, cool-headed and ad- venturesome, - just the kind of a man need- ed to make the initial trip. Be it said to his credit that he got the entire train through - across plains, over mountains and through deep gorges and precipitous canyons - without the loss of a single burro or of a pack. He made the trip - picking his way as he went - in eighteen days; and on July 17, 1877, this young adventurer - Willis H. Bonham, today editor and proprietor of the Pioneer-Times - landed at Deadwood, Dako- ta Territory, where he has since made his home.
When he arrived he found Deadwood a city of 15,000 people, living in log houses,
1
21
W. H. BONHAM
tents, caves, everywhere, anywhere, spread out over the Hills roundabout in all direc- tions. People had fairly gone "gold crazy."
In "Henry IV," Shakespeare breaks forth and declares :
"How quickly nature falls into revolt When gold becomes her object! For this the foolish over-careful fathers Have broke their sleep with thoughts, their brains with care, Their bones with industry."
And then, in "Cymbeline," again he vents his rage :
"'Tis gold
Which buys admittance; oft it doth yea, and makes Diana's rangers false themselves, yield up Their deer to the stand o' the stealer; and 'tis gold Which makes the true man kill'd, and saves the thief; Nay, sometime hangs both thief and true man: What can it not do, and undo?"
But he leaves it to the celebrated Dr. John- son, in "Irene," to condemn the whole set :
"The lust of gold succeeds the rage of conquest : The lust of gold, unfeeling and remorseless! The last corruption of degenerate man."
And yet, with all due respect to these classical gentlemen of a by-gone age, let it be
22:
WHO'S WHO IN SOUTH DAKOTA
recorded that out of this motley array of gold-seekers came much of the sturdy citi- zenry of our state. True - the rough char- acters of frontier days were there also. When Bonham arrived at Deadwood, Wild Bill (Hickok) had already been slain; but Calamity Jane was in evidence. So also were Tendie Brown, the famous gambler; "Doc" Baggs, the confidence man who operated a lottery; "Dirty-Shirt" Brown, who never washed his clothes; "Socks," a street fakir ; "Shirt-Collar" Jewett, who wore a big white collar and operated a restaurant; and old Jim Levy, the gunman, who had slain a num- ber of people.
Today, they are all off the stage of action and gone. Calamity Jane and Wild Bill sleep in calm repose side-by-side, midway up the grassy slope of the peaceful hill that fronts Deadwood from the east. But Willis Bonham is with us still. A man of quiet de- meanor, aged seventy-three, standing at his post of duty, serving his generation to the last - with a spicy, well-balanced, morning newspaper, built up through his own indus-
23
W. H. BONHAM
try from humble origin to one of the leading dailies of the state.
EARLY CAREER
Common to most men who have won dis- tinction in our state through their own heroic endeavor and sticktoitiveness, Willis Bonham was born on a farm, and remained there until he had reached his majority. He came into being in Jasper County, Illinois, on January 13, 1847. He attended rural
school and spent one year at Abingdon Col- lege. This constituted his scholastic prep- aration for life. The remainder of his edu- cation was acquired through systematic reading and in the hard but vital school of experience.
In 1873, he went to Denver where he worked for three years as a painter and paper hanger, - a trade he had learned, after he was of age, in Illinois.
While in Colorado, he got his first expe- rience in politics. That state was seeking admission to the Union in 1876. The Re- publicans and the Democrats were each struggling to control it. Young Bonham was an officer in the Grand Lodge of Good Tem-
24
WHO'S WHO IN SOUTH DAKOTA
plars. The Republicans sent him to visit every lodge of this organization in the state.
From Denver he went to Cheyenne and thence to Deadwood.
After arriving in Deadwood, he worked for two years at his trade. Then, he worked for three years on the Deadwood Times, learning the printing business. In 1883, he purchased the Deadwood Pioneer, and in 1897 he acquired the Times, and consolidated them under the head of the Deadwood Pioneer-Times, which name the paper bears to this day. Under his direction, the paper has been a power in the political and in the social life of Lawrence County and of the Black Hills.
In the early days, Editor Bonham was ac- tive in amusements. He organized the South Deadwood Hose Co .; helped to organize the city's fire department and was its chief en- gineer. He also served as City Clerk of Deadwood for six years under three different mayors. Governor Mellette appointed him a Trustee of the State School of Mines at Rapid City, under the old law, and President
:
- ----
25
W. H. BONHAM
Roosevelt appointed him Postmaster at Deadwood.
The flood of years are upon him. In calm contentment he can say with James G. Clark :
"I hear the muffled tramp of years Come stealing up the slope of time; They bear a train of smiles and tears, Of burning hopes and dreams sublime."
GEORGE W. BURNSIDE
GEORGE W. BURNSIDE MAYOR OF SIOUX FALLS
To be elected Alderman of the largest city in South Dakota for eleven years, and then to serve as Mayor of the same city for seventeen years more - making a total of twenty-eight years in the public service of one community - is a record of achievement and an expression of public confidence that bespeaks the gift of leadership in any man. And yet this is the exact record to date of Mayor George W. Burnside of Sioux Falls.
He is a big man in every way - not only in the grasp of civic affairs, but in his physical makeup as well. He stands six feet and three inches tall and weighs 235 pounds. As one looks at his massive frame and is in- spired by it, he cannot help but recall the words of Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes :
"Look in upon (his) wondrous frame - Eternal vision still the same."
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WHO'S WHO IN SOUTH DAKOTA
Mayor Burnside is decisively a man of ac- tion - fearless, aggressive and painstaking When he decides that a certain thing is best for Sioux Falls, he simply puts all of his en- ergy behind it, brings it to pass, and then looks for some new undertaking.
"The force of his own merit makes his way, A gift that heaven gives for him, which buys A place next to the king."
SHAKESPEARE
When he first became mayor, Sioux Falls still had board sidewalks. He got the first cement sidewalk constructed in 1900 - un- der protest. Today the city would consider a block of new board sidewalk a novelty.
He asked for a paid Fire Department for Sioux Falls to replace the old Volunteers, and he got it. Then he asked for modern equip- ment for it, with motor driven power. It came. Today the city has two splendid fire stations, admirably equipped with the latest fire-fighting apparatus of all kinds, valued at $100,000.
Again, he was instrumental in securing for Sioux Falls a street-lighting plant - one of the best in the west.
29
GEORGE W. BURNSIDE
He also took up the fight for a municipal water plant, and won - after three years of litigation. Judge Carland, who was on the Federal bench at the time, decided against the city. The Mayor carried the case to the United States Circuit Court of Appeals - and won. This was one of the first decisions on municipal ownership ever secured. The water rate in Sioux Falls is now only one- half of what it used to be. Revolutionary ? Yes - but sensible !
Sioux Falls, with a population of 25,000, has twenty-three miles of paved streets, or an average, approximately, of one mile of paving for each 1,000 people. This is up to the average of any western city, and it, too, was stimulated and pushed through by Mayor Burnside.
In addition to all this, he encouraged the city to install a Carnegie Library, and he fathered the movement which resulted in the purchase of five large city parks with a valu- ation of $250,000.
CHILDHOOD AND MANHOOD
Mayor Burnside, like most boys who have gained distinction in life through their own
30
WHO'S WHO IN SOUTH DAKOTA
individual exertion, was born on a farm. His birthplace was in Delaware County, New York, near the village of Deposit. He came into existence November 3, 1858. His early years were spent on the farm where he did all kinds of heavy outdoor labor. This helped to develop his big muscular body.
When George was thirteen years of age, the Burnside family went west and settled on another farm in Linn County, Iowa, near Cedar Rapids. Here the boy worked very hard, clearing stumps, digging rocks, and breaking new fields for a period of three years.
However, in 1876, he started out in life for himself. First, he went to Cedar Rapids and learned the masons' trade. He toiled diligent- ly at this line of heavy manual labor until 1883 when he struck out for Dakota and settled at Sioux Falls. Here again he worked at the masons' trade for three years. Fol- lowing this experience, he served for two years as Chief of Police. Finally, in the spring of 1888,'he went into the livery and transfer business, following this line of work for eighteen years.
31
GEORGE W. BURNSIDE
During the time he was Chief of Police, and while in the transfer business, he was continually familiarizing himself with Sioux Falls and studying the needs of the city. People began to feel that this knowledge, gained first-hand, might be put to use to their advantage; and so, in 1899, they elected him
alderman and kept him in the city council for eleven years. Then, in 1900, they pro- moted him to mayor. At the end of six years, he dropped out for three years. But in 1909, he was again called to the mayor's chair, filling the position with credit to date.
He is, in the language of Roscommon :
"In joys, in grief, in triumphs, in retreat, Great always, without aiming to be great."
The Mayor is a modest man. He says : "Sioux Falls is the greatest little city in the United States;" but he never boasts of any part he has taken in its development. Per- haps with Fielding in "Tom Thumb," he would say :
"When I'm not thanked at all, I'm thanked enough : I've done my duty, and I've done no more."
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WHO'S WHO IN SOUTH DAKOTA
Mayor Burnside's education was limited to a few short terms in the rural schools of New York and of Iowa, plus three months at a business college in Vinton, Iowa. He is, in the truest sense of the phrase, a self-made man.
On November 17, 1881, about eighteen months before he started for Dakota to work out his own destiny, he was united in mar- r'age at Vinton to Miss Anna Reed. One son ard two daughters put in their appearance at the Burnside home and added to the pleasure thereof.
The Mayor is a Free Mason-being Grand Commander of South Dakota, and Potentate of El Riad Temple -, an Elk, a Workman, a Woodman, a Maccabee, and a Moose. He worships at the Episcopalian church.
HON. C. A. CHRISTOPHERSON
CONGRESSMAN, FIRST DISTRICT, SOUTH DAKOTA
The legislature of 1915 was in session. Hon. C. A. Christopherson, of Minnehaha
34
WHO'S WHO IN SOUTH DAKOTA
County, who was serving his second term in the House, had been elected Speaker. The session was nearing its close. Perfect har- mony had prevailed and Mr. Christopherson was looked upon as an ideal presiding officer.
All of a sudden, the House got away from him. Hon. E. H. Withee, of Turner County, and Hon. James McFarland, of Codington County, became engaged in a hostile and spirited debate. Speaker Christopherson rapped for order. The debaters ignored him and started to come together for a fistic en- counter. The Sergeant at Arms failed to act. The Speaker, excited and angered, then left his chair and started to descend to the floor to separate the two irate legislators. As he approached them, Mr. McFarland turned suddenly around and in a rich, melo- dious voice began to recite the poem, "If I Had to Do It Again."
It was then that Speaker Christopherson discovered what had happened. He had been trapped. The House had gotten away from him - sure ! With beads of perspiration standing out on his brow, he went back and sank into his chair, while the eloquent Mc-
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CHARLES CHRISTOPHERSON
Farland recounted the events of the session and presented "Mr. Speaker" with a beauti- ful trophy emblematic of the good wishes of the entire membership.
We think of the jovial words of Jay in "Fables" :
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"Those who in quarrels interpose Must often wipe a bloody nose."
Christopherson escaped this style of pun- ishment, while the House looked on and must have thought of the musings of Butler in "Hudibras":
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