History of Dakota Territory, volume V, Part 116

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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Charles A. Chamberlin was the second in order of birth in their family of eight children.

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five sons and three daughters. He pursued his education in the district schools of Dodge county and afterward taught school for two years. In 1877 he came to Dakota territory and was among the early homesteaders of Moody county, where he also availed himself of the tree claim and preemption privileges. To his holding he has added until he is the owner of nearly two thousand acres in Moody county, including some of the most valuable farm land of South Dakota, and in addition he has other real-estate interests in other sections of the state. For many years he has been a large breeder of horses, cattle and hogs and he was one of the first of the progressive farmers of South Dakota to abandon wheat raising in favor of forage crops suitable for stock-growing purposes. His breeding and feeding enter- prises are carried on according to the most scientific methods and splendid results reward his efforts. Moreover, he has demonstrated what can be accomplished along this line and has set a standard and furnished an example which others have profitably followed. He is one of the organizers and a stockholder of the Farmers Elevator Company and of the Flandreau Creamery Company of Flandreau and thus his business interests are of wide extent and importance.

On the 14th of December, 1878, Mr. Chamberlin was joined in wedlock to Miss Mary Antoinette Coleman, whose birth occurred in Orange county, New York, May 18, 1855, her parents being Ferdinand and Phebe (Doty) Coleman. They were Wisconsin pioneers and subsequently came to reside in Moody county, South Dakota, where the mother, who was born in 1827, passed away in 1896. Ferdinand Coleman, who was born in 1829, is still an honored resident of Moody county, living in the home of our subject. Mr. and Mrs. Cham- berlin have five children, as follows: Guy F., who wedded Miss Nina Rowe, by whom he has two children; Clarence W., who married Miss Belle Hook and has one child; Mary A., the wife of Hugh Stokes, by whom she has three children; Thomas R., who married Miss Hazel Moon; and Davis C., who wedded Hannah Tregloan.

A republican in his political views, Mr. Chamberlin has served on the school and town boards almost continuously through many years and in 1893 was elected to represent his district in the state legislature, where he made so creditable a record that in 1895 he was chosen by popular suffrage a member of the state senate. He studied closely the measures up for enactment by the general assembly and left the impress of his individuality upon laws that found place on the statute books of the state. He attends and is a liberal supporter of the Methodist Episcopal church. He maintains a progressive stand in everything relating to the development of the county and commonwealth and is an ardent advocate of good public highways and of improved schools. In a word, his influence is always on the side of progress, advancement and improvement. His success is attributable to industry. good business judg- ment, adoption of efficient methods and an abiding faith in the future of South Dakota which has prompted him to invest his surplus in lands wherever opportunity has offered, his judg- ment in this regard heing amply justified by the fact that aside from the profit of operation his investments have paid uniformly ten per cent per annum in increasing land values. Mr. Chamberlin may justly be accounted one of Moody county's most stable, highly respected and prosperous citizens.

CAPTAIN HARVARD P. SMITH.

Capt. Harvard P. Smith is a pioneer settler of Lake county, thirty-eight years having eome and gone since he arrived within its borders. Great have been the changes which have since occurred and none have been more interested in the work of progress than Captain Smith, who has contributed in large measure to the agricultural advancement of his seetion of the state. Working diligently and with unfaltering determination to win success, recognizing the fact that industry is the basis of all honorable advancement, he progressed step by step, added to his holdings as his financial resources increased and became one of the large landowners of the county. He followed farming until recent years and then retired, putting aside active business cares to enjoy the fruits of his former toil. At the present writing he occupies a beautiful home in Madison and is surrounded by all of the comforts and some of the luxuries of life.

Captain Smith has passed the seventy-eighth milestone on life's journey, his birth having oppurred at Hudson, New Hampshire, on the Sth of August, 1837. It was there that his

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father, Jefferson Smith. was born in 1801. The family lived in the valley of the Merrimac before the establishment and development of the now thriving and growing manufacturing centers of Nashua, Lowell and Manchester. The paternal grandfather, Page Smith, was one of the early settlers of that section of New Hampshire, living there in colonial days. When the colonies attempted to throw off the yoke of British oppression he joined the Ticonderoga volunteers of 1777. His son Jefferson Smith, long a resident of the old Granite state, spent the last years of his life in Red Wing, Minnesota, where he passed away at the advanced age of eighty-two. He married Sarah Gibson, also a native of New Hampshire and a grand- daughter of James Gibson, who was the first of the family born on American soil. He was serving in the office of representative at the time of the outbreak of the American revolution. He was a member of the committee of safety and was among the first to sign the oath of allegiance to the new government. For three years he did active service in framing and shaping the policy of the new republic, becoming a member of the constitutional convention in New Hampshire in 1791. His wife was a grandnieee of Dr. Isaac Watts, writer of the famous saered hymns. On the maternal side she traced her ancestry back to Benjamin Butterfield, who arrived in the Bay colony of Massachusetts in 1638, and upon the family record appears the name of Hannah Duston, the famous Indian scalper, and the names of various members who were active participants in the war for independence.

It will thus be seen that Captain H. P. Smith is descended from good old Revolutionary stock and the family characteristic of loyalty to country has ever been manifest in his career. He is the fourth son and seventh child in order of birth in a family of ten children, of whom mine reached adult age. His youthful days were spent in New Hampshire and when a youth of nineteen years he left New England for what was then the far west, arriving at Red Wing, Minnesota, in the spring of 1857. He taught in the first public schoolhouse built in that city and was also identified with other pioneer events. He did some survey work and helped and laid out many roads in Goodhue county, Minnesota. His work was. indeed, of notable to lay out many towns in the county. He was for several years deputy county surveyor value in the development and improvement of that section and in addition to his service of a publie nature he was for a time employed by his brother as a elerk in a general store, In 1858 he made a trip to St. Louis and from that point proceeded up the Missouri river to where stood a single loghouse at Yankton townsite. He afterward returned to Red Wing, Minnesota, driving an ox team from Sioux City, Iowa, across the country to Red Wing. There he onee more engaged in teaching school, being thus identified with the educational develop- ment of the county for a year. In 1861, however, he returned to his native state and, settling at Hudson, began the study of medicine, to which he devoted his time and efforts until after the outbreak of the Civil war.

Following the inauguration of hostilities between the north and south Mr. Smith enlisted in Company G. "Berdan's" United States Sharpshooters, with which he served for a little more than three years. He participated in nearly all of the important battles of the Army of the Potomac and was promoted to the captainey of his company soon after the second battle of Bull Run. In that engagement he was severely wounded and taken prisoner, but returned to his eommand in time to participate in the engagements at Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg and a score of others of minor importance that oeeurred prior to the Battle of the Wilderness, in which Captain Smith was again wounded. Later, being disabled for active duty in the field, he was detailed for special duty at Washington, where he remained until mustered out of the service in December. 1864.

Captain Smith then returned to his old home in New England, but early in the following year brought his wife to the middle west, settling in Red Wing, Minnesota. where he began dealing in lime and stone, devoting his attention to that business until 1869. when he removed to Hardin county, Iowa. He next conducted a lumber yard at that point for nine years and at the same time carried on a successful business in buying land and dealing in live stock. The year 1878 witnessed his arrival in Lake county, Dakota, where he secured a homestead and tree claim in the northwestern part of the county. There were, indeed, few settlements within the borders of the county at that period. It was a frontier region, in which the work of progress and development seemed scarcely begun. Mr. Smith hauled his lumber from Sionx Falls and built a little dwelling, which continued to be his home for fifteen years, or until 1893, when he took up his abode in Madison, erecting there a commodious residence, which remains as one of the finest homes in the city. In the meantime he has added to his original

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farm property and is now one of the extensive owners of farm lands in Lake county, having with his son about sixteen hundred acres, which is well stocked and improved and is situated about sixteen miles from Madison. He has won a very substantial measure of success in his carefully and intelligently directed farming and stock-raising interests.

On the 28th of January, 1864, Captain Smith was married to Miss Mary J. Andrews, the only daughter of Gilman and Sophia J. (Senter) Andrews, who were natives of New Hamp- shire. She was born in Hudson, New Hampshire, April 25, 1839, and spent her girlhood days there. Three children have been born unto Mr. and Mrs. Smith, namely: Fred A., who is with the Collier Publishing Company of New York city; Angie F., deceased; and George G., at home.

Politically Mr. Smith is independent and has long been an active worker in public matters. In 1889, he was elected to represent his district in the state senate, in which he served for one term. He also held the office of county commissioner of Lake county for three years, acting as its chairman for one year. Fraternally he is connected with the Sons of the American Revolution and with the Grand Army of the Republic, thus maintaining pleasant relations with the boys in blue with whom he tramped over the battlefields of the south. In recent years he has given much time to furthering local interests and promoting public progress. He has done most active and valuable work in support of the Chautauqua move- ment, making the annual assemblies of great worth and interest to the public, bringing to the platform many renowned speakers, lecturers, musicians and entertainers. For a number of years he was president of the association and in 1913 was succeeded by his son. Althoughi now seventy-eight years old, he is still as active as many men at fifty, notwithstanding that he served throughout the Civil war and was wounded several times. He came to South Dakota first in 1858, and has since been greatly interested in the growth, settlement and substantial improvement of the state. He is a splendid type of the pioneer citizen-a man of high character and genuine personal worth, respected and beloved by all who know him.

WILLIS C. COOK.

Willis C. Cook in various ways has left and is leaving the impress of his individuality upon the history of the state. He has been identified with law practice, with newspaper publication and with various official duties and is a recognized leader in the ranks of the republican party of the state. He was born October 5, 1874, at Gratiot, Lafayette county, Wisconsin, a son of Alfred and Sarah (Cole) Cook. In the paternal line he is descended from English ancestry. William Cook, who was born in England and was educated at Eton College, came to the United States in 1838 and settled in Pennsylvania, whence he went to Wisconsin. He had married in England and of his children, Alfred married Sarah Cole, a daughter of Samual and Jane (Connery) Cole, the former a son of Samual Cole, Sr., who was a minuteman at the battle of Lexington. The Cole family came to America early in the seventeenth century, settling first in Massachusetts, while later generations of the family went to Vermont. The death of Alfred occurred in 1905, while his wife, who still survives, is now living in Sioux Falls. They were the parents of hut two children and the daughter is now deceased.

The son, Willis C. Cook, acquired a public-school education in Wisconsin and afterward attended the Wisconsin State University, from which he was graduated in 1895 with the LL. B. degree. He then entered upon the practice of law, remaining in Wisconsin until 1899 when he came to South Dakota, settling first at Plankinton, where he practiced his profession until 1908, in which year he removed to Sioux Falls. In 1907 he became associ- ated with C. L. Dotson in the ownership of the Sioux Falls Daily Press, with which paper he was connected until 1910, when he sold his interest therein. At different times he has heen connected with public office. In 1901 he was elected county judge of Aurora county and served upon the bench for two years. In 1905 he was elected state senator for a two years' term and discharged his duties so creditably that he was reelected for a second term. He was one of the leaders of the senate and was connected with much important constructive legislation and his influence was always on the side of advancement, progress and improve- ment. In 1906 he was chosen chairman of the republican state central committee of South

WILLIS C. COOK

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Dakota and was reelected to that position in 1908 and again in 1910. In the latter year he was appointed by President Taft collector of internal revenue for the district compris- ing North and South Dakota, and, making his headquarters at Aberdeen, he continued in that position until 1913.

In Chicago, in 1899, Mr. Cook was united in marriage to Miss Mary Butler Miller, by whom he has one son, Alfred Leaming. Mr. Cook holds membership in the Minnehaha Country Club, the Dacotah Club and the Sons of the American Revolution. He is always interested in those public questions which are, to the man of affairs, of deepest significance and value and at all times he keeps abreast with modern progress and improvement.

ELMER A. SCOTT.

Elmer A. Scott, a representative and successful agriculturist of Minnehaha county, South Dakota, owns and operates a farm of one hundred and sixty acres comprising the southeast quarter of section 24, Split Roek township. His birth occurred in Illinois on the 19th of August, 1879, his parents being Jolin A. and Mary M. (Addy) Scott, natives of Ohio. Their marriage was celebrated in Illinois, where the father engaged in farming until 1881, when he came with his family to South Dakota, locating in Valley Springs township, Minnehaha county. Here he has remained continuously since, or for about a third of a century, and has long been numbered among the substantial agriculturists and esteemed citizens of the community.

Elmer A. Scott, who was but two years of age when brought to South Dakota by his parents, was reared and educated in this state, receiving his early instruction under his father. After attaining his majority he was married and in the following spring started out as an agriculturist on his own account, cultivating rented land in Lyon county, Iowa, for one year. On the expiration of that period he purchased one hundred and thirty-seven aeres of land in Valley Springs township, Minnehaha county, South Dakota, on which traet he made his home and carried on general agricultural pursuits for eight years. In the spring of 1910 he bought his present place of one hundred and sixty acres comprising the southeast quarter of section 24, Split Rock township, where he has been engaged in general farming continuously since with excellent results. The well tilled fields yield golden har- vests as a reward for the care and labor which he bestows upon them, and the neat and attractive appearance of the property bespeaks his careful supervision and practical methods.

On the 12th of January, 1901, Mr. Scott was joined in wedlock to Miss Mary Etta Allen, of Valley Springs township, her father being Frank Allen, who came to this state from Winneshiek county, Iowa, in 1888. Our subjeet and his wife have five children, namely: Robert, Warren, Ray. Frank and Leila. Mr. Scott gives his political allegiance to the republican party, loyally supporting its men and measures at the polls. Fraternally he is identified with the Modern Woodmen of America, while his religious faith is indicated by his membership in the Methodist church, to which his wife also belongs. His life has been upright and honorable in all relations and he well deserves representation among the enterprising and progressive citizens of his adopted state.

SAMUEL J. WOOD.

Samuel J. Wood, who entered upon a two years' term as register of deeds in Hughes county in January. 1913, has throughout his life displayed a spirit of devotion to the public good that is both commendable and exemplary. A native son of Illinois, he was born in Macoupin county, February 7, 1875, a son of Alfred C. and Fanny (Little) Wood, the former now a resident of Stanley county, South Dakota. The paternal grandfather, David Wood, was a native of Kentucky and became an early settler in southern Illinois, where he married Miss Mary Clanton, a representative of an old Virginian family. He made farming his life work and died in the year 1894 at the very venerable age of ninety-four years. One of his sons, Samuel Wood, was with General Pike on a pioneer exploring expedition into Colorado.

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In the country schools of his native county Samuel J. Wood of this review pursued his early education and afterwards attended the South Dakota College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts. In 1894 he went to St. Louis, Missouri, where he established a wholesale tea and coffee house on a small scale. After two years he sold out. The venture was prov- ing successful, but illness forced his retirement and he returned to Brookings county, South Dakota, where he attended college. In 1897 he became engineer at the college, there remain- ing until 1905. In that year he removed to Pierre, where he embarked in the real-estate business in which he still continues and through the intervening period he has negotiated many important property transfers. In January, 1913, he entered upon the duties of register of deeds of Hughes connty, to which position he had been elected in the previous November.

On the 4th of June, 1905, at Yankton, South Dakota, Mr. Wood was united in marriage to Miss Belle Kjos, a daughter of Andrew Kjos and to them have been born four children: Eva, Lymon Oscar. Ethel Belle and Wilford S.

The parents are members of the Christian church and are interested in all that pertains to the moral progress and improvement of the community as well as to its material uphuild- ing. Mr. Wood likewise holds membership in the Pierre Commercial Club and in politics he has always been a stalwart republican, doing everything in his power to promote the growth and insure the success of the party along legitimate lines. His has been an active and well spent life and the qualities of upright manhood and progressive citizenship are among his chief characteristics.

REV. ALBERT C. MCCAULEY.

Rev. Albert C. McCauley is pastor of the Presbyterian churches at Bridgewater and Can- astota and in the interests of his denomination has done effective work leading to moral progress in the districts in which he has labored. He was born near Altoona. Pennsylvania, on the 24th of February, 1858, and is a son of Thomas and Ann (Ramey) McCauley. His father was a lumberman and was engaged in the operation of sawmills and the manufacture as well as the sale of Inmber. Both he and his wife have passed away.

Albert C. MeCanley, pursued his preliminary edneation in the public schools of Altoona, Pennsylvania, and afterward took a two years' classical course at the Chambersburg (Pa.) Academy. He next spent four years in mastering the classical conrse in LaFayette College at Easton, Pennsylvania, from which he was graduated in 1881. Later he devoted three years to study in the Union Theological Seminary of New York in preparation for the ministry and was graduated from that institution, after which he came to the west npon a visit. He then returned and devoted another year to study in the theological seminary.

His first work in the ministry was in connection with a small church in New Jersey. In 1885, however, he came to South Dakota, arriving at Bridgewater on the 5th of September of that year. There was little here save land and sky. The town was small and the farmers of the surrounding country were poor. His people however, gave him a hearty welcome and the hond of love and sympathy has drawn them closer together in all the thirty years of his pastorate, in which he has labored among his people with nnremitting zeal and devotion. Opportunities have been offered him to accept more remunerative charges but he has elected to remain with the people of Bridgewater. He has tried to retire from his pastorate, but his parishioners will not hear of this, demanding that he give them his service in the pulpit and as a pastor. Three years after coming to Bridgewater he succeeded in building the parsonage, which he continues to ocenpy with his sister as his housekeeper. His life has been actuated by the most exalted principles and has been filled with noble deeds-the expression of a kindly spirit.

In politics Mr. McCanley is a progressive republican and keeps informed upon the questions and issues of the day, believing it to be the duty as well as the privilege of every true American citizen to exercise his right of franchise. He is one of those exceptional characters found in the ministry. loved not only by his own people but by the entire com- munity for his upright Christian life, which finds expression in every relation with his fellow- men. He is the oldest member of the headquarters committee of the Anti-Saloon League, is a trustee of Huron College, is chairman of home missions of the Presbyterian Synod of South

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Dakota and was elected by the synod as a member of the Home Missions Council of America. He has been a student not only of theology but of life and it has ever been his belief that religion, to be of value, must have to do with the everyday experiences and acts of men. It has never been his habit to enter into attacks upon those holding different views; to build up rather than to destroy has ever been his broad policy and his methods of teaching have been along constructive lines. He believes in holding before man high ideals that will encourage and inspire him and his own life has been the expression of a Christian faith that has had much to do with shaping the lives of those around him.

HON. JOHN BAUER, SR.

Hon. John Bauer, Sr., of Java, has represented his district in the state legislature and is prominent in public affairs. He is also an important factor in the commercial life of his community as lie is engaged in merchandising and the success which he has gained is doubly creditable in that he is a self-made man. He was born in Russia on the 29th of November, 1855, a son of Frederich and Mary (Hager) Bauer, both likewise natives of Russia, who passed their entire lives in that country. His paternal grandfather, George Bauer, was a native of Wiirtemberg, Germany, and moved to Russia in 1807. The maternal grandfather also removed from Würtemberg to Russia.

John Bauer was reared and educated in his native land and continued to reside there until 1884, when he came to America and made his way to Yankton, South Dakota, where he remained for a short time. In 1886 he took up a homestead in Campbell county, this state, and after living there for two years removed to MePherson county, where he acquired title to land. on which he lived until 1909. In that year he removed to Java and is now engaged in merchandising there in partnership with his two sons, Fred and John. They carry a well selected stock and the high quality of their goods and the reasonableness of their prices have enabled them to build up a large and lucrative trade.

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History of Dakota Territory, volume V, Part 116

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