History of Dakota Territory, volume V, Part 140

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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ISAAC MARION BURNSIDE, M. D.

Dr. Isaac Marion Burnside, actively engaged in the practice of medicine at Highmore, was born in Jasper county, Illinois, November 27, 1872, a son of John Thornton and Mary E. (Mahany) Burnside, who were natives of Jackson county, Ohio, and of Virginia respec- tively. The father, who always followed the occupation of farming, removed westward to Illinois prior to the Civil war, settling in Jasper county, where he still makes his home. He hecame a landowner there and has since engaged in farming and also in stock-raising to some extent. He served for practically three years in the Union army as a private of Company I, Ninety-eighth Illinois Regiment, which was attached to General Wilder's brigade of mounted infantry, and although he was frequently in the thickest of the fight, he was never wounded nor confined in a hospital.

Dr. Burnside was the second in a family of five children. He attended school in Jasper county, Illinois, and then, having determined upon the practice of medicine as a life work, entered the Marion Sims Medical College at St. Louis, from which he was gradu- ated with the class of 1899. He has since taken post-graduate work at different times and by reading, study and investigation is continually promoting his knowledge and efficiency in practice. He is now president of the Fourth District Medical Society, is a member of the South Dakota State Medical Society, the meetings of which he frequently attends, and of the American Medical Association. His preparation for medical practice did not im- mediately follow his public-school course. While living at home he taught three terms of school, beginning when ahout twenty years of age. In 1895 he left home, going to Olney, Illinois, where he resided for five years save for the period which he spent as a student in medical college. On completing his course he opened an office in Olney, where he practiced for a year. When he entered college he had a cash capital of nine dollars and his other possessions were two ponies and a huggy. Earnest and persevering, however, he made gradual advancement. On coming to South Dakota be settled at Highmore, where he has

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since engaged in practice. In February, 1911, he was joined by Dr. G. H. Langsdale, who has since assisted him in his professional work and they are now accorded a very extensive and gratifying practice. Dr. Burnside is keenly interested in anything which tends to bring to man the key to the complex mystery which we call life and his reading has been broad and thorough, keeping him in touch with the advanced thought of the profession. He is likewise president of the Hyde County Telephone Company and is one of the landowners of his part of the state.

On the 10th of January, 1905, Dr. Burnside was married to Miss Jessie May McDonald, who was born near Davenport, Iowa, a daughter of Duncan aud Ann McDonald. The father was a farmer by occupation but also learned the mason's trade in early life. Both he and his wife were born in Scotland and their wedding trip consisted of the voyage to the new world. They settled in Iowa at an early period in the development of that state and arrived in Hyde county, South Dakota, about the year 1884, settling five miles from High- more. The father then devoted his energies to general agricultural pursuits until death called him in the year 1903. His widow survives and lives with Dr. and Mrs. Burnside. Two children have been born of this marriage: John Marion, born December 28, 1910; and Jessie Mildred, August 12, 1912.

Dr. Burnside belongs to the Masonic lodge at Highmore and the Odd Fellows lodge and is also a member of the Baptist church. In politics he is a socialist and twice he has been the candidate on the socialist ticket for the office of lieutenant governor of the state. He is chairman of the state central committee of his party and at the present writing he is filling the offices of president of the board of education and superintendent of the county board of health. He is devoted to the best interests of the community, is unselfish in his efforts for the general good and along professional lines is recognized as a most conscientious and able practitioner whose ability and fidelity have brought him to a prominent place in professional circles.

GEORGE BROWN.

George Brown is president of the Brown-McCaig Company, wholesale liquor dealers of Yankton. He was born in Boone county, Kentucky, March 26, 1848, a son of Simon and Mary (Gearhardt) Brown. The father was a Frenchman, who was born in Alsace-Lorraine, while his wife was distinctively German. They came to America in 1847, establishing their home in Boone county, Kentucky, and the father engaged in the pork packing business after removing to Cincinnati at an early day. He became a member of the firm of Brown-Cassard & Company and was thus closely identified with one of the early productive industries of the city until his death in 1855. His widow survived him for many years, passing away in Cincinnati in 1912, at the remarkable old age of ninety years. In their family were five children, four of whom yet survive.

The third member of the family is George Brown of this review, who became a pupil in the public schools of Cincinnati and also attended parochial schools there until fifteen years of age. He began his business life upon the river, becoming an apprentice to the cook, and from time to time he was promoted until he became chief cook. In 1863 he made his way on a steamer to Pittsburg Landing on the Tennessee river, arriving there the second day after the battle of Shiloh. He later joined the cavalry forces in order to guard Covington, Kentucky, being mustered in for ninety days and serving as an orderly under General Lew Wallace. After being mustered out he went to Nashville, Tennessee, where he had charge of a government mess house, remaining in that city until the close of the war in 1865.

Mr. Brown next removed to St. Louis and later made his way to Leavenworth, Kansas, and to Weston, Missouri. In 1866-7 he was steward on a line of packets and also acted as pilot between St. Joseph and Omaha. In 1868 he left St. Louis on the steamer Benton for Fort Benton, Montana, filling the position of steward and general storekeeper on board the boat. He afterward returned to Sioux City, later again making the trip to Fort Benton. On that trip, however, they were canght in the ice on the 14th of November, 1868, and the vessel was solidly frozen in at Pocahontas Island, twenty-five miles above the

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town of Wheeler. Mr. Brown and a colored cabin boy were left alone to look after the sup- plies and stores. This was a trying experience, for the Indians were encamped on all sides, but as time went on he formed their acquaintance, won their friendship and then had a most enjoyable time. He remained aboard the boat until the latter part of 1868, when he returned to St. Louis, and in the spring of 1869 the ship on which he had had these many remarkable experiences sank between St. Joseph and Omaha, Mr. Brown losing all he had by this misfortune. Soon afterward he secured a position on the steamer Ida Reese and in 1870 he joined the steamer Charles H. Durfee at Pittsburgh. This was a new boat, which made its way down the Ohio and afterward sailed from St. Louis down the Mississippi to New Orleans, where she burned. In the fall of 1870 he became connected with the steamer Sucker State, running between St. Paul and Dubuque, and in the spring of 1871 he was on the steamer Rock Island on the same run. In the winter of that year he became connected with the steamer City of Alton, running between Memphis and St. Louis, and in the spring of 1872 he left St. Louis on the steamer Sioux City for Fort Benton, Montana. That fall the boat was frozen in the ice above Fort Pierre and was lost at the time of the breaking up of the ice in the spring. In the succeeding fall Mr. Brown came to Yankton and made his way on to Sioux City. He accepted the position of steward on the famous Nellie Peck, plying between Sioux City and Fort Benton and various nearer points, spending five years in that connection.

On the 3d of December, 1877, Mr. Brown took up his abode in Yankton, where he pur- chased a saloon and conducted it with profit for a number of years. In 1913 he organized the Brown-McCaig Company and has since engaged in the wholesale liquor business. From 1896 until 1901 he was the landlord of the Pierce Hotel and from 1901 until 1903 conducted a hotel at Pender, Nebraska. In the latter year he became proprietor of the Oxford Hotel at Sioux City, which he conducted for a year, hut in 1904 returned to Yankton, where he established his present business and still continues.

In 1877 Mr. Brown was united in marriage to Miss Lilly Deware, of Boston, Massa- chusetts, who died in 1891. In 1897 he married Ollie Adams. His political support has always been given the democratic party and his fraternal relations are with the Elks lodge, No. 994. His experiences in the northwest have been of a most varied and ofttimes of a most interesting and thrilling character. He has seen almost the entire development of this part of the country, witnessing the many marvelous changes which have brought about present day conditions. During the summer of 1872, while coming down the river from Fort Benton, he saw on each side of the river millions of buffalo. Indians were almost as numerous as the white settlers and the district through which he traveled was largely undeveloped and unimproved. He has lived to see many remarkable changes and he is proud of what has been accomplished in the northwest.

D. H. LAMBERT.

Nature seems to have intended that man shall enjoy a period of rest in the evening of life. In young manhood he is full of energy, determination and ambition and to these as the years pass he adds persistency of purpose and discriminating judgment. Possessing these qualities, substantial results accrue from his labors and he becomes the possessor of a competence that should be sufficient to enable him to retire in the evening of life. Such has been the record of D. H. Lambert, who is a well known and valued resident of Minnehaha county. A native of Canada, he was born on the 1st of September, 1844, and was reared in Wisconsin, to which state he was taken by his parents, Gersham and Nancy E. L. Lambert. Wisconsin was still largely a frontier district when the family took up their abode within its borders. They afterward removed to Iowa, where the father and mother lived for forty years, but both have now passed away.

D. H. Lambert, whose name introduces this record, was a public-school pupil and after his textbooks were put aside concentrated his efforts upon farm work, in which he was engaged until he entered the army. In 1864, when in his twentieth year, he joined the Union forces as a private and was on active duty for four months. Upon his return home he worked at the cooper's trade for a time, continuing his residence in Iowa until 1875, when he came to South Dakota and located on a homestead on section 8, Lyons township,

D. H. LAMBERT AND FAMILY

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Minnehaha county. He still owns the original farm, although at the present time he is not actively engaged in its cultivation. For an extended period he carefully tilled the soil and engaged in the production of those crops which are best adapted to elimatic conditions. The result of his labors was soon manifest in the appearance of his fields and in the financial return which came to him for his labor. He worked on diligently and untiringly year after year until he had acquired a comfortable competence and then put aside further business cares save the supervision of his investments. He is now living practically retired upon his farm, but he is a stockholder in the Farmers State Bank and in a grain elevator.

In May, 1882, Mr. Lambert was united in marriage to Miss Kate Northrop, a daughter of Edwin Northrop, and they have a daughter, Grace E., now Mrs. A. Hamre. The family are of the Protestant faith. Mr. Lambert is a home man, desiring to spend his leisure at his own fireside. For an extended period he has been a witness of the growth and develop- ment of the county. He lived here through the period when there were many hardships to be endured by the pioneer settlers and he has lived to see frontier conditions give way before an advanceing civilization, while the county has become thickly populated and the work of improvement has been carried forward along many lines. He has played well his part in the development of the state, giving his time to many public measures and generously sup- porting projects which have been of value in bringing about the present prosperous condition of the county.

CHARLES L. NICHOLSON.

With the organization of the Norbeek-Nicholson Company at Redfield in September, 1901, Charles L. Nicholson became the secretary and treasurer and has sinee so continued, being thus actively engaged in the sinking of artesian wells throughout the northwest. He also has other important business connections and investments, being now president of the Interstate Surety Company, president of the Northville (S. D.) State Bank and president of the Redfield Town Lot Company. He possesses a spirit of enterprise and progress which has ever characterized this section of the country, a spirit with which he early became imbued, for he has been a resident of South Dakota from his early boyhood days, arriving here in the spring of 1883, when a lad of but nine years.

Mr. Nicholson was born in Chicago, Illinois, December 25, 1873, and is a son of B. P. and Matilda (Carlson) Niebolson, both of whom were natives of Sweden, but in early life eame to the new world. During his residence in Chicago the father was for thirteen years book . keeper and manager for the W. T. B. Rieol Ice Company, doing business at the corner of Chicago and Western avenues. He was in Chicago at the time of the great fire, which oceurred in October, 1871, and aided in earrying water to help extinguish the flames. His wife before her marriage, was also an employe of the Ricol Ice Company. They were married in 1870 and in the spring of 1883 arrived with their family in South Dakota. Mr. Nicholson filed on a homestead in Blendon township, Davison county, of one hundred and sixty acres. This he developed and improved, converting it into one of the best farms in that locality, and as his financial resources increased he extended the boundaries of his place until it comprised four hundred acres, thus becoming one of the well-to-do farmers of his part of the state. He and his wife now reside in Mount Vernon, South Dakota. They have reared five children and have lost two in infancy. Those who still survive are: Anna M., at home; Charles L .; Oscar W., vice president of the Norbeck-Nicholson Company; Eda L., living in Chicago: and George A., an artesian well contraetor.

Charles L. Nicholson began his education in the public schools of Chicago and continued his studies in South Dakota following the removal of the family to this state. After leaving school he assisted his parents upon the home farm until he reached the age of twenty-two years, after which he entered into partnership with Peter Norbeck under the firm style of the Norbeck-Nicholson Company at Redfield. He had previously been engaged in a similar business for a year. When the firm was incorporated he was elected secretary and treasurer and bas since aeted in the dual capacity. In this connection he bends his energies to admin- istrative direction and executive control and his efforts have been an important element in the substantial growth and development of the business, which is today one of the important Vol. V-51

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industrial enterprises of the state. A force of three hundred workmen is employed in putting down artesian wells and their contracts call them to many sections of the northwest. The value of their work can scarcely be overestimated as an element in the substantial develop- ment of the country. Mr. Nicholson is also the president of the Interstate Surety Company and president of the Redfield Town Lot Company. He also figures in financial circles as president of the Northville State Bank.

Mr. Nicholson is recognized as a man of prominence and influence in political circles. He stands with the progressive element of the republican party and was a delegate to the national progressive convention held in Chicago in 1912, He was nominated as a state committeeman and has held some local offices, serving for four years as alderman of Red- field, during which time he exercised his official prerogatives in support of many measures which have been of direct benefit to the city. He has at all times stood fearlessly for what he believes to be right and has labored untiringly for public progress. For several years he was chairman of the No License League of Redfield and during the first few years of his activities in that connection the city and county voted to no longer license the liquor traffic, thus introducing a foree for temperance which has proven to be a boon of untold value for the distriet.

In January, 1906, Mr. Nicholson was married, in Redfield, to Miss Laura D. Bastion, a daughter of August and Charlotte Bastion. Her father, a retired farmer, came to this state in an early day from Illinois. The family is of German lineage. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Nicholson were born four children, one of whom died in infaney, the others being: Marlan W., five years of age: Clayton C., aged four; and Lorene E., three years of age.

Mr. Nicholson is prominent in fraternal circles. Ile is a Commandery Mason and he belongs to the Elks Lodge No. 1046, at Aberdeen, South Dakota. He likewise has mem- bership with the Odd Fellows, the United Workmen and the Modern Woodmen of America, all at Redfield. He has been a close and discriminating student of the signs of the times and one can hardly over-estimate the importance and value of his labors in connection with the material development, the politieal activity and the civic progress of the city. He stands today among the more successful residents of South Dakota and this is due in no small degree to the fact that he has recognized and utilized opportunities which others have passed heedlessly by.

THOMAS HARDIMON.

Thomas Hardimon, filling the office of city commissioner, is one who regards a public office as a public trust and it is characteristic of him that no trust reposed in him is ever betrayed in the slightest degree. He performs his duties promptly, capably and con- seientiously and in all is actuated by a public-spirited desire that Sioux Falls shall have a clean and progressive government and one that shall constitute the foundation for her later growth and development. In business circles too Mr. Hardimon is well known, having for a number of years been a grading contractor. He was born in Negaunee, Michigan, December 2, 1857, and is a son of Patrick and Ellen (Lynch) Hardimon, both of whom were natives of Ireland. They were married in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. The father, who was born in the year 1818, came to America at the age of twenty-six years and his death occurred in Fond du Lac county, Wisconsin, in 1888, following a long residence in the middle west. The mother survived until 1895 and also passed away in Fond du Lac county. They had a family of five sons and four daughters, but three of the sons are now deceased.

In the acquirement of his education Thomas Hardimon attended the schools of Collins- ville and Greenwood, Michigan, pursuing his studies to the age of seventeen years, after which he worked on a farm in Fond du Lac county, Wisconsin, to which place his parents removed in 1865. His attention was devoted to general agricultural pursuits there until 1876, when he went to upper Michigan and was employed in the lumber woods until 1879. In the spring of the latter year he arrived in Sioux Falls, to which city his brother, F. C. Hardimon, had come in 1878, here opening a quarry. Thomas Hardimon became interested in the business but retained his connection therewith for only a year. He afterward spent two years as a watchman in the Queen Bee flour mill and for the last fifteen years has been

THOMAS HARDIMON

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a grading contractor. He also spent three years as foreman of stone and bridge work for the Great Northern, Rock Island and Illinois Central Railroad companies. Important con- tracts were awarded him for grading and the promptness and dispatch with which he met his business obligations constituted factors in his growing success. He has progressed beyond mediocrity in business affairs and has won substantial success as the reward of his intelligently directed efforts.

On the 6th of October, 1886, in Minnehaha county. South Dakota, Mr. Hardimon was united in marriage to Miss Minnie M. Jones and they have one son. Thomas Hardimon, born June 17, 1897. The family attended the Catholic church. Mr. Hardimon gives his political allegiance to the republican party and in 1912 was elected to the office of city commissioner, in which position he is now serving with credit to himself and satisfaction to his constituents. He is one of the pioneers of Sioux Falls, having witnessed its growth since it was a tiny village upon the western prairies. He has lived to see remarkable changes and has ever borne his part in the work of development.

WILLIAM HARRISON HOBBS.

William Harrison Hobbs, an enterprising young agriculturist of Benton township, Minne- haha county, is busily engaged in the operation of a farm which is generally conceded to be one of the most attractive and best improved in that part of the state. His birth occurred in Jackson county, Iowa, on the 3d of June, 1889, his parents being G. W. and Liza Hobbs, who came to South Dakota in 1902 and took up their abode in Benton town- ship, Minnehaha county, where they still reside. The father purchased a tract of two hundred and forty aeres and continued its cultivation successfully until he was obliged to retire as an invalid, since which time the place has been under the able management of our subject.

William H. Ilobby acquired his education in the mmiblic schools of lowa and also pur- sued a commercial course in the Sioux Falls Business College after coming to this state. After putting aside his textbooks he assisted his father in the operation of the home farm and also purchased eighty acres of his own. For a short time he held a position in the city of Sioux Falls, As ahove stated, he has managed his father's farm of two hundred and forty acres since the latter's retirement and its splendid appearance gives ample evidence of his wise and careful supervision. He feeds sixty head of cattle, a number of hogs and ten head of horses, meeting with excellent success in both his farming and live-stock interests.

Mr. Hobbs was married in the fall of 1913. He gives his political allegiance to the republican party and in religions faith is a Methodist. In his home community he is well known and highly esteemed as a progressive farmer and a young man whose npright. hon- orable principles are manifest in every relation of life.

GILBERT THORESON.

Gilbert Thoreson, deceased, was one of the most prominent and influential citizens of Minnehaha county, taking a leading part in public affairs. He was born in Goodhue county, Minnesota, March 28, 1869, and was a son of Mr. and Mrs. Lorentz Thoreson. of Dell Rapids, South Dakota. In the state of his nativity he passed the days of his boyhood and youth, Attending public schools and later the Red Wing Seminary at Red Wing. Minnesota, and completing his education at the Normal School at Sioux Falls. Being reared to agricultural pursuits. he was well fitted to take charge of a farm on completing his education and at once turned his attention to farm work. In 1886 he accompanied his parents on their removal to Minnehaha county. South Dakota, and subsequently secured a homestead on the Sisseton reservation in Roberts county. Success attended his efforts and at the time of his death he was the owner of four and a half sections of very valuable land in this state. In connection with general farming he was quite extensively engaged in the stock business and upon his farm could be found good grades of cattle and hogs. The place is still stocked

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with forty head of cattle and one hundred and seventy-five hogs. Mr. Thoreson was a very progressive farmer and in the operation of his land used the most modern and up-to- date machinery. He was a stockholder in elevator and creamery companies in both Baltic and Dell Rapids.

In 1894 Mr. Thoreson was united in marriage to Miss Annie Thompson, a daughter of Gunder and Annie Martha Thompson, who were early settlers of this state. Mr. and Mrs. Thoreson became the parents of seven children, namely, Godfred, Alice, Arthur, George, Lester, Palmer and Walter. The family still reside on the farm and Mrs. Thoreson now superintends its management and is aided in the work by her sons.

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History of Dakota Territory, volume V, Part 140

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