History of Dakota Territory, volume V, Part 134

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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Henry W. Smith pursued his early education in the public schools but put aside his text- hooks in order to enter the army at the age of eighteen years. He joined Company H, Seventy-seventh Illinois Infantry, in the fall of 1862 and continued with that command until the war was over, serving as a noncommissioned officer. He was taken prisoner and was confined at Camp Fort, Texas, for thirteen months and a half, during which he suffered many hardships incident to life in the southern prisons. He was wounded at Vicksburg. He participated in all of the engagements of the Vicksburg campaign, also in the famous Red river expedition under General Banks, and was taken prisoner at Sabine Crossroads, in Louisiana. He received his honorable discharge in 1865 and with a most creditable military record returned to his home.

It was not long after this that Mr. Smith was married, the lady of his choice being Miss Catherine Weisenmiller, a daughter of Jacob Weisenmiller, the ceremony taking place on the 14th of February, 1867. They became the parents of thirteen children, and the wife and mother passed away in 1887. In 1890 Mr. Smith was married again, his second union being with Ada Wadsworth, by whom he had seven children. She died in the year 1900.

Following his first marriage Mr. Smith engaged in farming in Illinois until the spring of 1872, when he came to South Dakota and homesteaded in Wayne township, Minnehaha county, acquiring a quarter section where the old packing house now stands. He met all of the hardships of pioneer life in a district where the work of civilization had advanced to so slight a degree that the early settlers had to depend almost entirely upon their own efforts for everything which they secured. It was also an arduous task to break the sod and till the fields upon prairies which had hitherto never known the plow. His oldest son now lives on the old homestead while he resides at his suburban home at West Sioux Falls.

HENRY W. SMITH

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Ilowever, with the assistance of his two younger sons he still engages in farming and stockraising to some extent.

Mr. Smith maintains pleasant relations with his old army comrades through his mem- bership in the Grand Army of the Republic. He was a member of the territorial legislature in 1885, elected npon the republican ticket, and in 1898 was chosen county auditor of Minne- haha county on the peoples party ticket, which position he filled for two terms of two years each. He was also the candidate of the peoples party for congressman to fill the vacancy caused by the death of John R. Gamble. He has always been deeply interested in all movements looking to the betterment of farming and farm life and was for a time president of the State Farmers Alliance. He belongs to the Baptist church and the moral forces of his life have made his an honorable and honored career.

EDWARD J. MANNIX, JR.

By Roy M. Mayham.

Edward J. Mannix, Jr., of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, editor and publisher of the Com- mercial News, Mannix National Trade Regulator, a monthly magazine of national importance and high reputation among retail merchants in every line of business, as well as among men prominent in manufacturing, jobbing and wholesale branches of trade, was born at Malone, Franklin county, New York, Jume 4, 1860. In the intervening years he has been a railroad telegrapher, a fruit jobber, a traveling salesman, an editor and a leeturer, and continues to combine the latter two avocations in a field that his own endeavors have made of inereas- ingly greater importance in the mercantile world.

Educated in the Franklin Academy at Malone, New York, before he had attained his majority "Ed" Mannix had started for the west and begun his upward climb in fortunes in the state of Illinois, May 1, 1880, as a telegrapher for the Chicago & Alton Railway. Another and better opportunity was offered in September of the same year when he removed to Sioux Falls as manager for the Northwestern Telegraph Company, afterwards the Western Union Telegraph Company. He remained with that company for nine years and even today the sound of an instrument tapping out the Morse code makes a furtive appeal to his hand and ear.

For a time after his employment with the Western Union he engaged in the wholesale fruit business. Ending his service in that line of work, he took a step that has since shown itself to have been perhaps the most important in his career. He became a commercial traveler. For fifteen years he put his whole heart into his work, from the beginning as a typewriter salesman through the advancing steps that brought an increasing valuation on his services as the representative of a vinegar manufacturer, to a traveler for some of the best known clothing firms in the country. Every day of his experience as a commercial traveler brought him in close touch with and to a deeper knowledge and insight into the problems of the small town merchant that afterward became of the utmost value to him. Information that he obtained during his years "on the road" helped to formulate a big idea which had gradually taken shape in his mind. As early as 1895, he began to notice the encroachments of the mail order houses over the country and even at that time foresaw what their growth would mean to the small town merchant.

In 1897 Mr. Mannix started the publication of the Commercial News to promulgate his ideas. He continued as a traveler for seven years longer, while, as a side venture in which he was fast becoming the more interested, he issued the lively new monthly magazine that soon found a battle awaiting it when, on the side of the small town retail merchant, he took up the hig stick against the mail order houses. The test came in an injunction suit brought against him by Montgomery Ward & Company of Chicago that was thrown out of the federal district court when it came there to the attention of Judge John Carland, then sitting in the district of South Dakota.

From this on, the business of publishing the Commercial News, now national in its scope and importance, grew slowly, steadily, surely, and Editor Mannix quit the road to give his whole attention to the cause in which he had entered. Getting old is, in the opinion

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of "E. J.," a bad habit. He does not believe in retiring from business, nor in being driven out, else the mail order houses would long ago have overcome him. He believes that men have softening of the brain only because they refuse to use their gray matter. And, cer- tainly, he has proven his theories.

One of his big ambitions is to keep the small towns on the map. About 1914, Editor Mannix, through the medium of his magazine, made his first definite move in that direc- tion, in an attempt to form a closer fraternity between merchants and farmers. By the middle of 1915 he had so far achieved the initial steps of his plan, growing out of the organization of more than fifty Farmers' and Merchants' Clubs in four different states, that he had perfected the groundwork for a national federation of such clubs, with headquarters at Sioux Falls. For two years he was secretary of the South Dakota Retail Merchants' Association.

Mr. Mannix was married on the 3d of October, 1883, in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, to Miss Claudia E. Broker, and they have two children, a son and daughter, hoth of whom are grown. Mr. Mannix has not taken a very active part in politics and has held no political office except that of alderman of Sioux Falls for one year. For nearly ten years he was secretary-treasurer of Sioux Falls Council, No. 100, United Commercial Travelers. He is very loyal to home institutions and gives his best work to community building.

NELSON P. BROMLEY.

Nelson P. Bromley is the nestor of the Redfield har, having been engaged in active practice there since 1882. He now has offices in the Law building and is accorded a large and distinctively representative clientage. Vermont claims him as a native son. He was horn in Danby, Rutland county, on the 21st of April, 1855, his parents being Hiram and Eliza (Paddock) Bromley. The father followed farming in the Green Mountain state, but both he and his wife are now deceased, their remains being interred at Dorset, Bennington county, Vermont. The paternal grandfather, Captain Joshua Bromley, served in the Revo- Intionary war in defense of the colonies and afterward aided in organizing the state govern- ment. The ancestors of the Bromley family, coming from England, aided in establishing the second colony of New England.

Nelson P. Bromley pursued his education in the Fort Edward Collegiate Institute of Washington county, New York, and won his degree at Union College. He completed the classical course and the law course in 1876, thereby receiving the B. A. and LL. B. degrees. He then removed to Kasson, Dodge county, Minnesota, where he practiced until he came to Redfield. For a third of a century he has followed his profession in Spink county and his ability has won for him a liberal and well deserved elientage. He conducts his law business in a most capable manner and has ever recognized the fact that thorough preparation of cases is one of the strongest elements of success. He is also interested in farming, owning four farm properties which total fourteen hundred acres. He is likewise a director of the German American National Bank and is financially connected with other corporations. He has improved several farms in addition to those which he now owns and he has at different times been identified with stock-raising.

In February, 1878, at Ripon, Wisconsin, Mr. Bromley was married to Miss Addie Dodge, a daughter of C. F. and Phebe Dodge. Her father was the first carriage manufacturer of Ripon, where both he and his wife remained until called to their final rest. Mr. and Mrs. Bromley became parents of a son, George, now a resident of Chicago. The wife and mother passed away in January, 1912, at the age of fifty-two years and was laid to rest in Redfield, her death being deeply regretted hy an extensive circle of warm friends as well as by her immediate family.

Upon arriving in Redfield Mr. Bromley fonnd a small town containing but few buildings and with the development and growth of the city he has since been prominently identified. In polities he is a republican and has served his distriet in the state legislature. He was the first states attorney for Spink county and has served twice in that capacity, and has been connected with the municipal government, as he has been on the city council and has been mayor. In Masonie circles he is well known, holding membership in lodge, chapter

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and commandery and exemplifying in his life the teachings and tenets of the order. His life has been one of intense and well directed activity, for at the early age of ten years he started out to make his own way in the world. He is a man of nervons energy and of physical endurance and idleness and indolence have ever been utterly foreign to his nature. Through his intelligently directed labors in the field of his profession and his wise invest- ments he has been one of the largest taxpayers of liis county. Moreover, he has proven a valuable and important factor in public affairs, having assisted in organizing city, county and state and at all times furthering movements along lines leading to the present prosperity and advanced condition of South Dakota.

GEORGE M. TOWNSEND.

George M. Townsend, assistant cashier of the Murdo State Bank, is well known as one of the successful and representative citizens of Murdo and Lyman county. He was born in Ashton, Iowa, February 24, 1884, a son of James E. and Emma C. (Jones) Townsend, both of whom are natives of Michigan. They took up their abode among the pioneer residents of Iowa in 1872 and still make their home at Ashton, that state.

George M. Townsend, one of twin brothers, was the fourth in order of birth in a family of six children. He obtained his education in the public schools of Ashton and Sibley, Iowa, and also took a commercial course at Des Moines. Leaving the Hawkeye state, he made his way to North Dakota and for one year held the position of assistant cashier in the Security State Bank at Wolford. In 1907 he came to Murdo, South Dakota, took up a homestead claim and joined his brother Elethan in the real-estate business. In 1909 he took over the Murdo State Bank in association with his father and brother and has since acted as assistant cashier of the institution. He is also a part owner of the Murdo Anto Company and the Murdo Elevator Company and his varions business interests are bringing to him a gratifying and well merited measure of prosperity.

On the 22d of December, 1906, Mr. Townsend was united in marriage to Miss Freda G. Gilkinson, a daughter of Alexander and Helen (Thornton) Gilkinson, of Osceola county, Iowa. They have one child, Margaret Mae.

Politically Mr. Townsend is a republican and served as mayor of Murdo during the term of 1913-1914, giving to the town a highly beneficial administration characterized by many measures of reform and improvement. He has also been school treasurer and at the present time holds the office of United States commissioner. He is a worthy exemplar of the Masonic fraternity and finds rest and recreation in hunting and motoring. His irreproachable public and private character has gained him the respect and esteem of his fellow citizens. Snecess has come to him in business, as well as in public life, and both have been won through intel- ligently directed effort, supplemented by a high conception of and faithful performance of duty.

HANS. L. OTTERBY.

Hans L. Otterby, the period of whose residence in South Dakota covers abont four decades, is the owner of one of the highly improved farms of Minnehaha county, com- prising three hundred and twenty acres, and makes his home on section 2, Lyons township. His birth occurred in Norway on the 17th of May, 1852, his parents being Lars and Aaste (Ustrud) Otterby, who spent their entire lives in the land of the midnight sun. In 1873, when a young man of twenty-one years, he crossed the Atlantic to the United States and located in Dane county, Wisconsin. Two years later, in 1875, he came to Minnehaha county, South Dakota, and preempted one hundred and sixty acres on section 3, Lyons township, lying just across the road from his present home, which he homesteaded after proving up on his preemption. He still owns the three hundred and twenty acres and in 1905 erected a commodions farm residence. His barns and outbuildings are also modern and his place is one of the attractive and well improved properties of the county. As the years have passed

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he has won prosperity in his farming operations, the well tilled fields annually yielding golden harvests in return for the care and labor bestowed upon them.

In 1888 Mr. Otterby was joined in wedlock to Miss Mary Fersdal, a daughter of Henrik Fersdal and a sister of Thomas Fersdal, a sketch of whom appears on another page of this work. Our subject and his wife have three children: Henry L., Alfred C. and Josephi M., all at home.

Mr. Otterby is a republican in politics and known as a stanch champion of the cause of education, having for the past twelve years ably served as treasurer of the school board. His religious faith is indicated by his membership in the Lutheran synod, to which his wife and children also belong. Seeking the advantage of the new world as a young man, Mr. Otterby eagerly availed himself of the opportunities which presented themselves and, wisely directing his energies, has won prosperity and high regard in the country of his adoption.

REV. W. J. CONNAUGHTON.

Rev. W. J. Connaughton, pastor of the Sacred Heart church at Burke, was born in August, 1880, at Rochester, New York, a son of Peter and Mary Connaughton. The father has passed away, but the mother is now living at Rochester, New York. The son pursued his early education in the parochial schools of Rochester and, having determined to become a representative of the priesthood, continued his education in the College of The Fathers of the Holy Cross at Montreal, where he pursued his philosophical and theological studies and was then ordained, taking holy orders in December, 1912. His first mission was at Hot Springs, South Dakota, and later he was transferred to Lead as assistant priest, there con- tinuing until October, 1913, when he was appointed to the Sacred Heart church at Burke. He also has charge of the Catholic congregations at Herrick, Paxton and Carlock, numbering altogether about seventy-five families.

Rev. Connaughton holds membership with the Black Hills Council of the Knights of Columbus. He enjoys outdoor exercise and finds in this needed recreation after his arduous work in behalf of the church. He is devoted to the interests of his congregation and has promoted its spiritual and material growth to a marked degree since his transferral to Burke.

MRS. CHRISTINA BARNESS.

Mrs. Christina Barness, the widow of Martin P. Barness, resides upon an excellent farm of three hundred and twenty acres on section 34, Lincoln township, Spink county. She was horn in Norway on the 28th of September, 1847, a daughter of Hans and Gunhild Marie Hanson, the former of whom passed away in 1863 and the latter in 1881, in their native land, where their remains are interred.

Mrs. Barness was educated in Norway but when fifteen years of age left school and for about twelve years worked for others. She then came to the United States and for two and a half years worked in Chicago, after which she removed to Yankton and was there married to Martin P. Barness. He was likewise a native of Norway, born June 4, 1846, of the marriage of Peter and Marie Barness. Both his father and mother are buried in Nor- way, the former having died in 1880 and the latter ten years earlier.

Mr. Barness left school when fifteen years of age and assisted his father for three years. At the end of that time he became a sailor and followed that occupation for seven years. He then made his way to the United States and upon reaching Chicago obtained a position as first mate on a Lake Michigan boat. He served in that capacity until he removed to Yankton, where he remained two years, and after his marriage took up his homestead in Spink county. He later increased his holdings to four hundred and eighty acres, but a quarter section thereof has since heen sold. He was a republican in politics and took a commendable interest in public affairs. After a useful and well spent life he passed away on the 28th of March, 1909, and was laid to rest in the cemetery at Hitchcock, Beadle county.

To Mr. and Mrs. Barness were born three children, namely: Peter, who is engaged in

MARTIN P. BARNESS

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farming in Spink county, this state; Harold, who is assisting his mother in the operation of the home farm; and Mollie, the wife of Henry Harms, a farmer of Spink county.

After the death of her husband Mrs. Barness assumed charge of the farm and in addition to raising grain keeps about thirteen head of horses, fifty head of cattle, forty swine and some sheep and is quite extensively engaged in poultry raising. She is not only a woman of excellent business ability, but also possesses those fine womanly traits of character which command respect and esteem. She is always willing to cooperate in any good cause and her life has been one that has made the community richer and better. She is a member of the Evangelical church and takes an active part in its work.

E. G. BRENDE.

E. G. Brende, who is now living retired on his farm of three hundred and twenty acres in Sverdrup township, Minnehaha county, was successfully identified with general agricultural pursuits throughout his active business career and enjoys an enviable reputation as a substantial and esteemed citizen of his community. He was born on the North sea on the 5th of May, 1867, a son of Gudmund and Lisbet Brende. The father, a pioneer agriculturist of South Dakota who settled in the state in 1870, owned six and one-half quarter sections of land at the time of his demise in 1902.

E. G. Brende, who was but three years of age when brought to this state by his parents, attended the public schools in the acquirement of an education and afterward turned his attention to farming, being continuously engaged in the work of the fields throughout his entire business career. He retired in 1913 but still resides on his farm, which comprises three hundred and twenty acres of valuable land in Sverdrup township. Prosperity attended his efforts as an agriculturist, and he has long heen numbered among the successful and representative citizens of his county.

Mr. Brende exercises his right of franchise in support of the men and measures of the republican party and has ably served as clerk of the school board. His religious faith is that of the Evangelical church, in which he acted as trustee for three years. He has resided in Minnehaha county for a period of forty-five years, or throughout nearly his entire life, and has witnessed the development of that section of the state as primitive conditions have been conquered hy sturdy pioneers and evidences of a modern civilization hecame everywhere manifest.

HON. FRANK WESLEY COOLIDGE.

Hon. Frank Wesley Coolidge, judge of the probate court of Redfield, was called to this office in 1899 and served for eight years. Again, on the 1st of January, 1911, he was named for the position, which he has since acceptably filled. He is familiar with all matters and forms of probate law and as judge of this court his decisions have been strictly fair and impartial. He came to South Dakota from Dane county, Wisconsin, in 1880. His birth occurred in the town of Windsor, Dane county, March 9, 1858, his parents being Aaron and Anna (Eliott) Coolidge, the former a native of the state of New York and the latter of England, whence she was brought to America when nine years old. The father was a farmer and one of the early settlers of Dane county, where both he and his wife remained until called to their final rest.

Frank W. Coolidge acquired his primary education in the district schools and afterward pursued a course in a commercial college and in the State Normal School of Wisconsin. He was a young man of twenty-two years when he arrived in South Dakota and took up a homestead of prairie land eight miles from Redfield, which he improved and developed, selling it after about twelve years. He removed to Redfield ahout 1885 and entered a law office as a student, also giving assistance in the work of the office. In 1892 he was admitted to the bar and about that time became bookkeeper and manager of the North- western Mortgage & Trust Company, of which he was made the secretary in 1895. He remained in that connection until the business was closed out, but ere that time he had

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been called to the office of county judge in 1899. The excellent record which he made in that position led to his being again called to the office on the 1st of January, 1911. He is likewise the president of the Redfield Building, Loan & Savings Association.

On the 5th of October, 1897, occurred the marriage of Judge Coolidge and Miss Mabel Williams, of Redfield. They have become parents of four children, Jessamine, Medora, J. Wesley and Frank H., all attending school. Judge Coolidge erected the residence which he and his family occupy and he is interested in the Law Building Company, of which he is the secretary. He stands loyally in support of all enterprises and projects for the upbuilding and betterment of city and county and cooperates in many movements that have been directly resultant along those lines. In politics he is a republican and served as police justice before being called to his present position. Fraternally he is connected with the Masons, holding membership in the chapter and commandery, and he also belongs to the Elks and the Knights of Pythias lodges and to the Improved Order of Red Men. He has never regretted his determination to seek and improve the opportunities of the northwest and, although he had to endure various hardships and privations during pioneer times, he has ever rejoiced that he has been a factor in the growth and upbuilding of his section of the state, where he is now known as a valued citizen and as a worthy public official.

REV. FRANCIS J. GUESSEN.

The Rev. Francis J. Guessen, pastor of St. Joseph's Catholic church at Gregory, was born at Heidelberg, Rural Route No. 2, New Prague, Minnesota, August 21, 1872, a son of Peter J. and Anna Sophia (Karl) Guessen. The father devoted his life to the work of the farm until called to his final rest and is survived by his wife.

Their son, Francis J. Guessen, was educated in the district and parochial schools, in St. John's University of Minnesota and in St. Thomas' College, St. Paul. Then because of illness he finished his philosophical course at Kendrick's Seminary, St. Louis, and com- pleted his theological course in St. Meinrad's Seminary at St. Meinrad, Indiana. Having thus prepared for holy orders he was ordained to the priesthood on the 8th of May, 1904, by Bishop Stariha and was assigned to duty as first assistant at Lead, where he remained for sixteen months. Later he was rector at the Sacred Heart Indian church, south of Burke, for three years, and in 1907 he built the church and parsonage at Gregory. When he took up his abode there the district was nothing but prairie. There is now a beautiful parish house and church edifice and also a Sister's residence. He bought the old city high school and made it the parochial high school, which is in charge of four Sisters of the Benedictine Order, of Sturgis, with eighty children in attendance.

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History of Dakota Territory, volume V, Part 134

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