History of Dakota Territory, volume V, Part 111

Author: Kingsbury, George Washington, 1837-; Smith, George Martin, 1847-1920
Publication date: 1915
Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : S.J. Clarke Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 1262

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of Odd Fellows, the Ancient Order of United Workmen and the Modern Woodmen of America, He gives his political allegiance to the republican party and in matters of citizen- ship is progressive and public-spirited, giving his aid and cooperation to many movements of advancement and reform. In 1894 he was elected treasurer of Minnehaha county and served for two years, refusing renomination at the end of that time. In 1913 he was elected city commissioner of Sioux Falls and was assigned to the financial department and in 1914 was elected as commissioner of waterworks and sewerage, in which capacity he is doing capable and farsighted work in the public service. He is well known in Sioux, Falls as a man of tried integrity and worth, and he and his family stand high in the estimation of the community.

SEWARD Q. PAYNE.

Seward Q. Payne has since 1883 occupied his present home farm in Sanborn county and gives his undivided attention to its further development and improvement. He was born in Grinnell, Iowa, November 8, 1871, and is a son of S. O. and Sarah (Chatterson) Payne. The father served as a soldier in the Union army.

The son, reared in his native state to the age of twelve years, there pursued his public- school education. He has lived in Dakota since 1883 and since taking up his present home- stead farm as a claim from the government has given his time and energies to its development and improvement, converting it into a valuable property. His wife owns three hun- dred and twenty acres in Blaine township, Sanborn county, and to both tracts he gives his supervision, thus leading an active and useful life.

On the 29th of April, 1897, Mr. Payne was united in marriage to Miss Edna M. Wright, a daughter of C. C. Wright, and they have become parents of five children: Marion J., Harland W., Charles Q., Alger Dudley and Diantha. Mrs. Payne is a graduate of the Mitchell high school and is a cultured lady, highly esteemed in the community in which she lives. She holds membership with the Royal Neighbors and is deeply interested in the suffrage movement, doing all in her power to bring about equal franchise. Both Mr. and Mrs. Payne are well known in Sanborn county and they enjoy the goodwill and high regard of all with whom they have been associated.

FRED G. SIERTH.

Fred G. Sierth is interested in mining properties in the Black Hills and is also engaged in the farming and live-stock business, having seven hundred and forty acres near Hermosa and three hundred acres at Hayworth. He was born in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, Sep- tember 25, 1837, and is a son of John and Eliza (Veola) Sierth. who remained residents of Germany to the time when they were called to their final rest. The father was a brickmaker by trade.

Fred G. Sierth attended school in his native town and when but seven years of age began working for others in the fatherland. He served for eighteen months in the regular army, thus complying with the laws of the country in regard to military service, and in 1863, when twenty-six years of age, came to the United States, landing at New York. He thence made his way direct to Douglas county, Illinois, at which time he was totally unfa- miliar with the English language. He afterward removed to Cass county, Nebraska, where he rented a grist mill for two years. after which he removed to Omaha, where he engaged in railroad work for two years, being connected with the bridge gang at Laramie and Cheyenne, Wyoming. On the expiration of that period he returned to Cass county, Nebraska, where he again engaged in the milling business, residing there until 1876, when he made his way by team to Cnster, reaching his destination on the 16th of December, 1876. This was dur- ing the period of pioneer development in the Black Hills country and he embarked in the saw- mill business at Keystone, where he remained until the fall of 1877. He was then connected with the operation of a quartz mill at Hayworth for about six months but the venture did not

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prove profitable, although he is still the owner of the mill. He next engaged in placer and quartz mining in that vicinity and has devoted considerable attention to the business to the present time, having mines at Keystone and at Hayworth. He is also engaged in farming and the live-stock business, having a ranch of seven hundred and forty acres near Hermosa and three hundred acres at Hayworth. He operates his land as stock ranches and raises alfalfa and corn. He keeps on hand an average of one hundred head of graded Durhams and is one of the prominent stockmen of his section of the state, devoting the greater part of his time to the live-stock business, although he is also a stockholder in the Hermosa Tele- phone Company, of which he at one time served as a director.

In November, 1872, Mr. Sierth was married to Miss Georgia Jennings, who was horn in Pennsylvania, a daughter of George and Anna Jennings, both of whom were natives of Philadelphia. They went to Nebraska in 1855 and settled near Bellevue, where the father engaged in the milling business and also practiced law, for he was an attorney. Neither he nor his wife ever came to South Dakota to reside and both are now deceased, while their daughter. Mrs. Sierth, passed away in 1892. There were three children born to Mr. and Mrs. Sierth but all are now deceased. John, born in 1873, died in 1883; Anna, born in 1874, died in 1883; and Dale died in that year at the age of six months, diphtheria being the fatal disease which carried them off.

Mr. Sierth is a very prominent Mason, belonging to the lodge, chapter, commandery and the Scottish Rite, in which he has attained the thirty-second degree. He has been senior warden and treasurer of his lodge and he also belongs to the Eastern Star chapter at Key- stone. He has never had occasion to regret his determination to come to the new world, for here he has found the opportunities which he sought and has gradually worked his way upward in a land where ability and talent are unhampered by caste or class. His persistency of purpose has enabled him to overcome many difficulties and obstacles and step by step he has advanced until be is numbered among the substantial and valued residents of Custer county and the Black Hills country.

JOHN GEORGE HUMMEL.

John George Hummel, clerk of the court in Fall River county and a resident of Hot Springs, was born at Red Cloud, Nebraska, March 20, 1876. a son of Fred D. and Bertha (Osborn) Hummel, the former a native of Iowa and the latter of New Jersey. The father became a carpenter and eventually engaged in contracting and building on his own account. He removed from the east to Iowa and afterward to Nebraska, becoming one of the pioneer settlers of Red Cloud. He took up his abode upon a farm near that place and there resided until 1888, when he removed with his family to Hot Springs, where he continued to engage in the contracting and building business. He still makes his home at Hot Springs although he is now living practically retired. enjoying the rest which he has truly earned and richly deserves. He has been a prominent and influential resident of Fall River county and has taken an active part in molding the public welfare. He has served on the board of educa- tion and for sixteen years was a member of the city council, exercising his official prerogatives in support of various plans and measures for the general good. He is a property bolder in the city and his investments bring to him a substantial financial income.

John G. Hummel attended school at Red Cloud, Nebraska, and afterward became a pupil in a select school in Hot Springs. His textbooks were put aside when he was seven- teen years of age and he then entered the employ of W. J. McGowan in the feed and grain business, with which he was connected for three years. He was next employed by the Hot Springs Transfer, Feed & Fuel Company for sixteen years and seven months and in that connection was promoted from time to time until he became head bookkeeper and eventually manager of the business. In 1909 he took up a homestead in Fall River county, on which he resided until 1911, when he assumed the duties of his present office, that of clerk of the courts. He has been associated with other local enterprises and is a landowner in Fall River and Custer counties and likewise has property in Hot Springs. His political allegiance has been given to the republican party since age conferred upon him the right of franchise. He served for one term as a member of the city council of Hot Springs and following the

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fall election of 1910 entered upon the duties of the office of clerk of the courts in January, 1911. He made such an excellent record during his first term's service, covering four years, that he was reelected, entering upon his second term in January, 1915.

On the 29th of August, 1895, Mr. Hummel was united in marriage to Miss Ida L. Cable, who was born in Illinois, a daughter of Jacob Cable, who removed with his family to Fair- mont, Nebraska, where they lived for a number of years and then went to Hot Springs in 1892. The father engaged in farming hut both he and his wife have now passed away, the latter having died in 1894, while the death of Mr. Cable occurred in April, 1914. He was a soldier of the Civil war and rendered valiant aid to the country in defense of the Union. Mr. and Mrs. Hummel have three children, Irene, Harold and Engene, all attending school.

Mr. Hummel has been a member of the Modern Woodmen of America from the age of nineteen years and upon attaining his majority joined the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He has passed through all of the chairs in the three branches of Odd Fellowship and is a past captain of the canton. He has ever recognized the value of industry and determination, and these qualities find expression in his service as clerk of the courts as well as in the management of his business interests.

GUSTAV OBERG.

Gustav Oberg, mill foreman with the Homestake Company and a resident of Central City, was born in central Sweden on the 5th of January, 1841, a son of John Oberg, who was a manufacturer of that country, in which he spent his entire life. The son attended the elementary and grammar schools of Sweden and at the age of sixteen years started out in the business world on his own account by securing a position in a grocery store in his native town, in which he remained for three years. He came to the United States in 1865 and for a brief period lived in Chicago, after which he removed westward to Kansas City, Kansas, and still later lived in Junction City, that state, where he engaged in clerking in grocery stores until 1876. In that year he came to South Dakota, arriving in Deadwood on the 9th of August, having walked from Cheyenne. He then clerked in the mercantile establishment of Gardner & Thompson. The party with which he came to South Dakota had some difficulty with the Indians in the Cheyenne river canyon as they were attacked at night, one man being wounded and their horses being stolen. Mr. Oberg continued to clerk until April 1, 1877, when he began prospecting and was thus engaged until the spring of 1878. He then secured a position as bookkeeper with a transportation company in Dead- wood, remaining in that connection for about five months, after which he removed to Roch- ford, twenty-five miles south of Deadwood, where he engaged in the grocery business for two years. In 1880 he began working in quartz mills, being employed at Blacktail until the spring of 1881 and afterward in the Lancaster mills for two years. In 1885 he entered the employ of the Homestake Company, with which he has since continued, covering a period of about thirty years, and in this connection he has worked his way steadily upward until he is now serving for the eleventh year as mill foreman-a most responsible and onerous position, the duties of which he ably discharges. He is also a stockholder in the Rochford Oil Company and in the Homestake and various prospects.

On the 24th of August, 1872, Mr. Oherg was married to Miss Hannah Osterland, who was born in the southern part of Sweden. They have become parents of four children: Alma, the wife of Austin P. Holway, who is in the employ of the Homestake Company and resides at Lead; Julia, the wife of Jacob A. Tetrow, a locomotive engineer on the Chicago & North- western Railroad now living at Chadron, Nebraska; Gustav, a resident of Central City, who is employed as an amalgamator in the Homestake mill; and Albert, who resides at San Francisco Springs.

Mr. Oberg is a member of the Masonie fraternity, being connected with the lodge. com- mandery and the Mystic Shrine. His religions faith is that of the Lutheran church and in polities he is a stalwart republican. While he has not filled political offices, he is now serv- ing as a member of the Central City school board and has been chairman of the board of trustees. Coming to America in early manhood. he has never had occasion to regret his deter- mination to try his fortune in the new world, for here he has found the opportunities which

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he sought and with the passing years has gained for himself a creditable name and place in business circles and has borne an active and helpful part in the development of the northwest.

WILLIS TALBOTT McCONNELL.

Willis Talbott McConnell, president of the First National Bank of Wessington Springs and well known as an able and resourceful banker and financier, was born at Geneseo, Henry county, Illinois, September 13, 1866. His father Joseph A. McConnell, born April 26, 1824, was a native of Belmont county, Ohio, and a son of Robert and Rebecca (Talbott) McConnell and a grandson of James and Jennie (Cunningham) McConnell. Robert McConnell was born in 1790 and his wife in 1796, and they passed away in 1878 and 1891 respectively. Joseph A. McConnell moved with his parents when about nine years of age to Morgan county, Ohio, the family settling near McConnellsville, which city was founded by members of the family. There he resided until 1854, when he moved from Ohio to Illinois, where he engaged in teaching for a time and later turned his attention to the wholesale harness and saddlery business at Rock Island. He afterward removed to Geneseo, Illinois, where he had milling, mercantile and various other interests, remaining a valued resident of that place for a quarter of a century. He then removed to Guthrie County, Iowa, where he had previously purchased several hundred acres of land, which he developed into one of the finest farm properties, becoming one of the foremost agriculturists of Iowa. His place is still known as McConnell's farm and his activities set the standard for agricultural development among his neighbors. He died in Des Moines, Iowa, October 10, 1899, when in the seventy-fifth year of his age.

Joseph A. McConnell married Sarah, a daughter of Absalom and Nancy Fouts, on the 4th day of May, 1854, at the Fouts homestead near McConnellsville, Ohio. She survives and now makes her home in Wessington Springs. They were the parents of nine children: Ella, who was born in 1855 and died the following year; Millard, who was born in 1857 and died in 1859; Robert A., who was born in 1860 and died two years later; Edmund, who was born in 1862 and died in 1888; William Grant, who was born 1864 and passed away in 1865; Nellie H. and Willis T., twins, born in 1866; Arthur R., born in 1871; and Ina Belle, who was born in 1873 and is the wife of William T. George, who is associated with W. T. Mc- Connell, being cashier of the First National Bank of Wessington Springs. The daughter Nellie became the wife of Emmor B. Maris, who was connected with the establishment of the First National Bank of Wessington Springs, of which he was the first cashier, and is still one of the directors. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Maris are: Willis Leslie, who died at the age of thirteen months; Cecil W .; Laura Belle; and George Joseph.

Willis T. McConnell was educated in the common schools of Guthrie county and the high school of Panora, Iowa, and in Simpson College at Indianola. After leaving school he engaged in the grain business at Bayard and also operated elevators in neighboring towns for three years. During the succeeding year he was connected with a Milwaukee grain commission company and then removed to Omaha, Nebraska, where he became identified with the oil business as president of the American Lubricator Company, developing that industry into one of recognized importance, with traveling representatives in thirteen states. The com- pany's headquarters were removed to Des Moines, lowa, in 1898 and the properties of the Rockford Lubricating Company of Rockford. Illinois, were absorbed, as were the properties of the Standard Tinware Company of Omaha, the latter corporation being merged with the American Can Company in 1901.

. In the same year Mr. McConnell came to Wessington Springs, where he had numerous investments, and shortly afterward he organized the First National Bank, of which he became the president, still retaining that position. This is the largest and is the only national bank in Jerauld county. From 1909 until 1912 he was cashier of the Western National Bank of Mitchell, of which he remains a stockholder and director, and he is also a director of the Woonsocket State Bank and president of the Bank of Alpena, the Virgil State Bank, the Draper State Bank and the First State Bank of Murdo. He is also a director of the Fidelity Life Insurance Company of Iowa. His financial interests are thus large and important, bringing him into active connection with many of the leading banking

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enterprises of his part of the state. Moreover, he is interested in many other local business concerns, including the Standard Mercantile Company, one of the largest hardware and machinery houses in central South Dakota. He has extensive land interests, having holdings in six or seven counties, and he is also extensively engaged in stock-raising and in farm development work along the latest approved modern methods. He stands for all that is progressive in connection with the agricultural development of South Dakota and his labors have set a standard which many others have followed.

On the 25th of September, 1890, Mr. McConnell was united in marriage to Miss Alice M. Dillenbeck, who died in November, 1899, a daughter of Willard and Mary (Gee) Dillen- beck. Her parents were natives of Illinois, living in Geneseo, where the father engaged in business as a grain dealer and also had valuable land holdings in northwestern Iowa and Minnesota. He and his family were quite prominent in their town; both he and his wife have now passed away. On the 14th of February, 1901, Mr. McConnell wedded Anna Laura Miller, a daughter of Washington and Laura J. (Close) Miller, of Central City, Nebraska, and later of Norwalk, Iowa. Mrs. McConnell is a talented musician, receiving her musical education at Oberlin College at Oberlin, Ohio. She is now a recognized leader in the city's musical and literary circles. By her marriage she has become the mother of four children: Willis T., Jr., Nellie Lucille, Paul Fouts and Florence Laura.

Mr. McConnell turns for recreation to motoring and driving. He always keeps some high- bred horses and his interests outside of his hanking business are in blooded stock and scientific farming. His political indorsement is given to the republican party and in Masonry he has attained the thirty-second degree in the Scottish Rite, the Knight Templar degree of the York Rite and is also a member of the Mystic Shrine. He likewise belongs to the Methodist Episcopal church, in which he is serving as a trustee and to which he makes liberal con- tribution for its support. He also takes an especially active interest in the work of the Young Men's Christian Association, heartily indorsing this organized movement to aid in the physical, mental and moral development of young men. His success has its foundation in integrity, industry, close application and the faculty for concentrating his efforts upon the specific work in hand. He has, moreover, an unusual capacity for selecting business associates and assistants who prove not only capable in the discharge of their duties but most loyal. His interests, however, have not been so centered upon business as to exclude his interest in the other affairs of life and he possesses, moreover, decided literary taste, having a well selected library of standard authors and all that is best in current literature. With both he is familiar and no subject of general interest is broached upon which he cannot express an intelligent opinion, indicating his broad reading.

HARRY HARDMAN.

Harry Hardman, who is a successful attorney practicing in Lake Andes, was born in Minden, Nebraska, August 1, 1884, a son of R. M. and Sarah A. (Blackburn) Hardman, who in 1903 came to South Dakota and located at Brookings. They are now living in Texas, where the father, who is an Episcopal clergyman, is in charge of a church. The mother is also still living.

Harry Hardman attended the public schools and was subsequently a student in the Kearney Military Academy, from which he was graduated with the class of 1902. He then served an apprenticeship in the B. & M. machine shop, where he remained for two years. At the end of that time he entered the law college of the University of Nebraska at Lincoln and remained there for two years. He next removed to Brookings, South Dakota, and was for a time in the office of Philo Hall, then attorney-general of South Dakota. Subsequently Senator A. B. Kittridge appointed Mr. Hardman as financial clerk of the Yankton Indian Agency and he held that position for two and a half years. In 1906 he was admitted to the bar of South Dakota and two years later took up his residence in Lake Andes, where he engaged in the real-estate business for some time, after which he held the position of cashier of the Lakeside State Bank for two years. At the expiration of that period he entered upon the active practice of his profession, in which he has since heen engaged, win- ning a fair measure of success. He was his party's candidate for county judge but was

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defeated. His practice requires the greater part of his time and attention, but he also looks after his landed interests, which comprise South Dakota farm lands.

Mr. Hardman was married January 24, 1907, to Miss Lillian Vandal, a daughter of Moses N. Vandal, and they have a son, Benedict E. Mr. Hardman has served as school treasurer and as city clerk and city attorney, making a creditable record in those offices. His religions faith is that of the Episcopal church, but his wife is a communicant of the Roman Catholic church. Fraternally he is connected with the Masonic order, being a Master Mason. The Commercial Club finds in him a stanch supporter of its plans for the develop- ment of Lake Andes and his recognized publie spirit has added to the respect and esteem in which he is generally held.

PROFESSOR J. ELDEN BECKLER.

Professor J. Elden Beckler is identified with educational interests of South Dakota as superintendent of the Fort Pierre public schools, in which capacity he has ably served during the past seven years. His birth ocenrred in Albany, Maine, on the 23d of July, 1864, his parents being Isaac P. and Sarah C. (Frye) Beckler, both descendants of early New England families. William Beckler, the great-grandfather of our subject, was a native of Germany, emigrated to the United States about 1760 and participated in the Revolutionary war.

J. Elden Beckler, the sixth in order of birth in a family of seven children, hegan his education in the public schools of his native town and subsequently attended the graded and high schools of Sparta, Wisconsin, where his parents had established their home. Fol- lowing his graduation from the Sparta high school be entered the State Normal School at Oshkosh and was graduated from that institution in 1891. The succeeding fifteen years were devoted to teaching in various publie schools of Wisconsin, and he won a merited reputa- tion as a successful and efficient instructor. In 1907 he came to South Dakota to take the position of principal of the schools of Blunt, acting in that capacity for one year, at the end of which time he was appointed superintendent of schools at Fort Pierre. In this con- nection he has remained continuously since and under his able supervision the schools have made rapid strides in the scope and thoronghiness of their work.

Mr. Beckler exercises his right of franchise in support of the men and measures of the republican party but otherwise takes no active part in politics. He is interested in outdoor sports and athletics and thus finds needed recreation.

WILLIAM HENRY MCMASTER.

William Henry McMaster, prominent in political and banking circles and widely known as one of the leading financiers of the state, makes his home in Yankton and from that city controls his various interests and investments. He was born in Ticonie, Iowa, May 10, 1877, his parents being Samnel and Sarah J. (Woodson) MeMaster, both of whom were natives of Maine and became pioneer settlers of Iowa. They went to California by way of the Panama route in 1849, attracted hy the discovery of gold on the Pacific slope, but returned to Maine and in 1870 established their home in Iowa. Both are now deceased.

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History of Dakota Territory, volume V, Part 111

Author: Kingsbury, George Washington, 1837-; Smith, George Martin, 1847-1920 Publication date: 1915 Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : S.J. Clarke Publishing Company Number of Pages: 1262

Author: Kingsbury, George Washington, 1837-; Smith, George Martin, 1847-1920
Publication date: 1915
Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : S.J. Clarke Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 1262