History of Dakota Territory, volume V, Part 23

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 A. Martens was married in October, 1893, to Miss Agatha Baxter, of Minneapolis, and their two children are: James, ten years of age; and Henry, a child of five years. Both Cornelius W. and Henry A. Martens are democrats in politics, belong to the Knights of Columbus and hold membership in the Roman Catholic church. They are much interested in everything that relates to the development of their community and cooperate in all move- ments which seek to promote the expansion and growth of Milbank. Both possess excellent business ability and the success which they have achieved is the result of their own energy, initiative and good management.

FRANK A. LITTLE.

Frank A. Little, an energetic and successful young lawyer of Hot Springs, is a native of South Dakota, born in Custer county, August 4, 1889. His parents, H. C. and Elvira J. (Loehr) Little, were both born near Elkhart, Indiana, the father in 1862 and the mother two years later. In early manhood Mr. Little, who was a wood worker, was employed in factories in northern Indiana. In 1888 he removed to South Dakota and located in Custer county, settling northeast of Buffalo Gap. After a short time he went to Hot Springs, where he is still residing and where he is engaged in the painting and decorating business. His wife is also living. Three of their six children are living: Frank A .; Howard, who is attending a technical school at Oakland, California; and Mary, who is a student in the Hot Springs high school.

Frank A. Little was the third child born to his parents and at the usual age entered

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the public schools of Hot Springs, continuing therein until graduated from the high school. He subsequently attended the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor and graduated from the law department of that institution with the class of 1910. He has always displayed great industry and energy and when but twelve years of age, although residing at home, he worked for others when not in school, thus earning sufficient money to purchase his books and clothing. He continued to work outside of school hours and when, at the age of seventeen years, he entered law school, he had money in the bank. Upon his graduation therefrom he was but twenty years of age, although he had accomplished at that time more than many a man several years his senior. He went to San Diego, California, where he practiced his profession for a few months, after which he returned to Hot Springs, where he has since resided. He has won a large elieutage and has not only gained an enviable reputation as a trial lawyer but his advice is often sought in settling legal questions that do not come before the courts. He has practiced alone and the snecess that he has gained has been due entirely to his own ability and initiative. He is also a stockholder in the Stockman's Bank of Hot Springs.

Mr. Little is a democrat and is chairman of the democratic county central committee, is states attorney and is also city attorney, serving his fourth term in that eapacity. Fraternally he belongs to the blue lodge and chapter of the Masonic order and has held office in those bodies, having served as secretary and as senior deacon of the lodge and is now junior warden, while of the chapter he is treasurer. He is also connected with the Yeomen, in which he is foreman, and the Woodmen of the World, in which he is elerk. He has achieved much for his years and is not only popular socially but is also respected professionally hy his brother attorneys and by the general public.

FRANCIS M. CRAIN, M. D.

In the thirty-three years of his practice of medicine and surgery in Spink county Dr. Francis M. Crain has hecome well established as one of the leading physicians of Redfield and his section of the state. Throughout the entire period he has kept in touch with the trend of modern thought and progress in connection with the science of medicine and his work has been fruitful of excellent results. A native of Indiana, he was born in the town of Angola, June 5, 1857, and is a son of Ahram D. and Harriett (Perry) Crain. The father was a pioneer settler of Indiana, to which state he went with his parents from New York. He was a native, however, of Canada, and the family is of Seotch lineage. In both the paternal and. maternal lines Dr. Crain represents old families that have been established on the American continent since the colonial period in the history of this country. Both his father and mother are now deceased and their remains were interred at Angola, Indiana. The latter was a cousin of Commodore Perry, the famous naval commander.

After completing a course of study in the Angola high school Dr. Crain entered the Fort Wayne Medical College of Indiana, from which he was graduated with the class of 1882. The following year he came to South Dakota and entered upon the active practice of his profession in Doland. In 1891 he matriculated in the Rush Medical College of Chicago and was graduated therefrom in the spring of 1892. In 1899 he took post-graduate work in New York city. Throughout the period of his residence here he has heen a close student of the profession along all those lines where seience has brought to light new truths concerning the origin and treatment of disease. He is accorded an extensive and well merited practice, which is indicative of his success in professional work. He is a director of the Redfield National Bank and in connection with his brother, who is president of that bank, he owns about eighteen hundred aeres of South Dakota land.

On the 4th of November, 1885, in Doland, Dr. Crain was united in marriage to Miss Mildred J. Moore, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Ezra Moore, who were farming people of New York state and now lie buried at Potsdam, New York. Dr. and Mrs. Crain have become parents of four children: Castle, who is a graduate of the Northwestern University at Evanston, Illinois, and is now deputy county treasurer of Spink county; Cleveland C., who graduated in 1915 from the South Dakota University; Carroll F., who is now a medical student in the State University; and Crystal, a high-school student in Redfield.

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In his political views Dr. Crain is a democrat and is an ardent admirer of the principles of the party. He is a Royal Arch and Knight Templar Mason, a member of the Modern Woodmen of America and the Ancient Order of United Workmen. He is likewise a member of the Sonth Dakota State Medical Society, of which he is now first vice president, and of the American Medical Association. He has ever been conscientious in the treatment of his patients and unfaltering in his attention to the duties of the profession. Thus he has gradually advanced in his chosen calling and for a long period has maintained a foremost position among leading physicians and surgeons of Spink county.

EARLE R. SLIFER.

Earle R. Slifer, the popular and able young states attorney of Chamberlain, Brule county, is a native of Oregon, Illinois, born on the 17th of March, 1888, of the marriage of J. L. and Elizabeth Slifer. The father is engaged in the loan business in Kimball, this state, the family having removed to South Dakota in 1906.

Earle R. Slifer was educated in the public and high schools of Oregon, Illinois, and in the University of Michigan, graduating from the law department thereof with the class of 1909. Upon completing his course he took the bar examination in Illinois and was admitted to practice in that state. In February, 1911, he settled in Chamberlain, South Dakota, and opened an office. He has already achieved a large measure of success for one of his years, and in the fall of 1914 was elected states attorney. He has a mind that is naturally keen in insight and accurate in reasoning, and his natural ability, combined with his thorough training in the principles of law, make him an able representative of the legal profession. He has the respect not only of the community but also of his colleagnes.

Mr. Slifer is a Protestant in religion; gives his political allegiance to the republican party; and fraternally is connected with the Masonic order. He is also a member of the City Library Board and the Commercial Club, and is heartily in sympathy with all its projects for the business expansion of Chamberlain. He has thoroughly identified himself with the community of which he is a resident and manifests a commendable public spirit. He has youth, prosperity and the prospect of achieving still greater success in the years to come.

HON. JOHN WALLACE PECKHAM.

Hon. John Wallace Peckham is proprietor of the Parkston Advance, with which paper he has been continuously connected since 1904. At the same time he is a recognized leader in republican polities in his part of the state and is now representing his district in the South Dakota senate. He was born in Portage, Wisconsin, on the 10th of March, 1873, and is a son of John E. and Elmira (Staves) Peckham. The family came to South Dakota in 1878, settling first in Hanson county a mile west of Emery, where the father homesteaded the southwest quarter of section 26, township 101, range 57. There he engaged in farming, breaking the sod and converting a tract of wild land into rich and productive fields. He continued the cultivation of the place until 1889, in which year he removed to Alexandria, where he engaged in the draying business. Still later he became connected with the hard- ware trade there and when he sold out he removed to Charles City. He was deputy oil inspector under his son, John W., who served as state oil inspector from the 1st of July, 1909, until April, 1913. At a later date Mr. Peckham was elected county auditor of Hanson county but died on the 26th of February, 1913, just after entering upon the duties of his position. The mother still survives.

John W. Peckham pursued his education in the public schools and was graduated from the high school of Alexandria, South Dakota. Later he studied at Yankton College and then turned his attention to newspaper publication at Alexandria, being owner and editor of the Alexandria Journal from 1896 until 1902. He then sold out and in 1904 came to Parkston, where he purchased the Parkston Advance, which he has since owned and published, making it a very readable and popular journal. His patronage is steadily increasing as the country

HON. JOHN W. PECKHAM

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develops and the paper has become an excellent advertising medium. It is published in the interest of the republican party, of which Mr. Peckham has ever been a stalwart advocate, and his editorials, terse and trenchant, set forth clearly the attitude of the party and the reasons for giving it support. In November, 1914, he was elected on the republican ticket to the office of state senator from the seventh district and his friends and champions, who are many, feel certain that he will make as creditable a record as one of the lawmakers of the state as he has done in the other offices which he has filled. As previously stated, he was oil inspector for South Dakota for four years and he was city auditor for six years. He has also been active in shaping the policy of the republican party and has been state committeeman from his county.

Mr. Peckham is a well known Mason and is a member of the consistory at Yankton. He belongs also to the Woodmen and to the Workmen. His cooperation has been given to many plans and projects for the upbuilding of South Dakota and aside from newspaper publication he is interested in the canning factory at Parkston as one of its stockholders. In his life there has been an even balance between his business activity and his efforts in behalf of the public welfare, no duty being neglected in either connection, while his efforts have at all times been effective and resultant.

HON. ADOLPH KOCH.

Hon. Adolph Koch, one of the leading citizens of eastern Minnehaha county, owns and operates a farm of one hundred and sixty acres on section 32, Highland township, which is one of the best improved properties in the county. He has also represented his district in the state legislature for one term, being elected in 1911. His birth occurred in Scott county, lowa, on the 18th of September, 1870, and he is a son of John H. and Dora (Hanneman) Koch, who were born, reared and married in Germany, in which country two of their children were born. About 1844 they emigrated to the United States, locat - ing in Davenport, Iowa, where John H. Koch found employment in the works of the John Deere Plow Company and was connected with that concern for two years. Subsequently he conducted a blacksmith shop for some years, having learned the trade of a blacksmith in Germany. Some time in the '50s he turned his attention to general agricultural pur- suits, operating a farm in Scott county, Iowa, until within a short time prior to his death. His last days were spent in Davenport, where his demise occurred in September, 1912, when he had attained the venerable age of ninety-three years.

Adolph Koch was reared under the parental roof and attended the common schools in the acquirement of an education. He remained at home until twenty-three years of age, and in 1893 started out as an agriculturist on his own account, cultivating rented land in Scott county, Iowa, for one year. On the expiration of that period he took up his abode in Rock county, Minnesota, one mile from the South Dakota line, and there contin- ued farming as a renter. In 1903 he removed to his present South Dakota farm, which he had purchased about two years before and on which he has resided continuously during the past twelve years. The place comprises one hundred and sixty acres and has been developed into one of the most highly improved farms in Minnehaha county. Mr. Koch has replaced all the old buildings with modern and commodious structures, including a handsome residence, substantial barn and outbuildings. He follows general farming in accordance with scientific principles and his efforts have been attended with a most grati- fying measure of success. He is a stockholder and a member of the board of directors of the Farmers Elevator Company of Sherman, and also acts as vice president of the Farmers Savings Bank of Sherman.

In 1893 Mr. Koch was united in marriage to Miss Amelia Damman, of Eldridge, Iowa, hy whom he has a son, Richard, who was born on the 15th of January, 1894, and has been educated in the common schools and at Brookings College. Mr. Koch gives his political allegiance to the republican party and for the past six years has ably discharged the duties devolving upon him in the capacity of township supervisor. In 1911 he was elected to represent his district in the state legislature and in that important body served with honor to himself and satisfaction to his constituents. His fraternal relations are with the

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Modern Woodmen of America. He possesses many qualities that have commended him to the friendship and kindly regard of all with whom he has come in contact, and he deserves to be classed with the representative residents of South Dakota.

REV. NICHOLAS STOLTZ.

Rev. Nicholas Stoltz, pastor of St. Maurice church, near Florence, entered upon the active work of the priesthood in 1886. He was born in Luxembourg, December 11, 1859, a son of Peter and Margaret Stoltz. He was educated at Louvain University and in St. Francis' Seminary at Milwaukee, Wisconsin. After pursuing the required literary, theo- logical and philosophical courses he was ordained to the priesthood hy Archbishop Heiss in 1886 for the Omaha diocese, including Nebraska, North and South Dakota and Wyoming. In these then wild countries Father Stoltz labored as a pioneer and endured many hard- ships and privations incident to work upon the frontier, making his visits on horseback, riding long distances across the country before the days of railroad building, visiting isolated Catholic families and ministering to the needs of the people of the faith wherever he could. For the past twenty years his labors have been confined to South Dakota, and in 1898 he went to the Black Hills, where he remained until 1907, when he came to Florence.

Father Stoltz holds membership in Black Hills Council, No. 703, K. C., at Deadwood, having been a charter member of that Council. He is devoted to the spiritual upbuilding and development of the state and is an ardent churchman, doing all in his power to pro- mote the interests of Catholicism in South Dakota. His work has had farreaching effects and the churches under his care have grown numerically and spiritually.

WILLIAM TARRANT.

William Tarrant has been engaged in mining during practically his entire active life and has an interest in many excellent mining properties. He is a native of Berkshire, Eng- land, horn on the 27th of Jannary, 1849, and is the youngest of six children, whose parents, George and Mary Ann (Chandler) Tarrant were both born in England. The father was private secretary to an English nobleman but in the year 1850 he removed with his family to the United States, locating in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Subsequently they went to Janes- ville, that state, where he purchased ten acres of land and started a nursery. He was an expert horticulturist and proved very successful in his undertaking. In 1852 he passed away but was survived by his widow until 1896. Two of his brothers became state representatives, one being sent to the legislature from Pepin county, Wisconsin, and the other from Rock county, Wisconsin.

William Tarrant attended school in Janesville, Wisconsin, and was also under the private instruction of Professor Hodge of that place and was a schoolmate of Frances Willard. He likewise attended school in Rock county, Wisconsin, and a private academy at Durand. When ahout sixteen years of age he went to work for others as a hired hand, but after spending eight months in that way went to Waverly, Iowa, where he was employed in a grain ware- honse for a short time. He then became grain buyer for a firm and continued in that capac- ity for four and a half years. He next went to Montana, going np the Missouri river to Helena, in the vicinity of which city he prospected and mined upon his own claims for five years. At the end of that time he returned east, settling at Independence, Iowa, where he engaged in buying grain for two years. He was there married and in March, 1876, came with his wife to Sonth Dakota, arriving at Buffalo Gap on the 11th of that month. He purchased a mining claim at the mouth of Gold Run on the Whitewood and also bought a claim on Bobtail Gulch. He sold the Whitewood claim for three hundred dollars, but worked the other claim for a time, although he subsequently sold it also. He then entered into partnership with Mr. Hatch and they went through all the camps on Iron creek without purchasing any property. While on that trip they met a man who told them of the massacre of Custer on Little Big Horn river. After returning to Whitewood they learned of a herd of milch cows

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which were being driven in from Bismarck, North Dakota, and, seeing a good business oppor- tunity, purchased the herd and started a dairy. In the following fall they found that they did not have enough feed for the cattle upon the ranch and moved them to Cleghorn Springs, just above the site of Rapid City. Leaving Mr. Hatch in charge of the cattle and providing a herder to care for them, Mr. Tarrant drove to Yankton and was the first man to drive a team across the ice at Pierre. . He drove from Yankton to Webster City and later continued his way to Independence, where his wife was still residing. In February, 1877, he returned to Yankton, arriving on the day that McCall was hung for the murder of Wild Bill. After unloading his team at Yankton Mr. Tarrant drove back to Rapid City by way of Pierre and upon arriving at his destination learned that the Indians had made a raid and driven off his milch cows and also his horses. He had turned the horses which he was driving out and they were also taken by the Indians. He held his ranch only by squatter's right and was eventually compelled to give it up. He subsequently prospected for a short time but then returned to the Deadwood district and went to work for Myers & Belding on a ditch which was to furnish water for the first mill at Lead. In the early part of the winter he went into the Badlands hunting deer and sold the venison. The latter part of the winter he and another man drove a tunnel on a claim which they had taken and in the spring they removed to Hill City, where they located a paying placer mine, which they worked until June. They then organized a local company to dig a drain ditch to facilitate working a rich placer min- ing claim. Eighteen men were engaged in this work, but after it was completed it was found to be of no value, although fifty pounds of gold had been taken from the stream lead- ing into it. In the meantime Mrs. Tarrant had joined her husband and they established their home in the Hills. Mr. Tarrant next took charge of the day shift on a hydraulic project below Hill City and continued there until winter. While there he met John Spargo, master mechanic of the great Homestake Mining Company. During the winter Mr. Tarrant found good diggings on French creek near Custer and the following spring removed with his fam- ily to Custer. During the summer he mined on French creek but in the fall he again went hunting, selling the meat at Deadwood. In the winter he returned to Custer and engaged in developing claims near that city until Christmas. He then formed a partnership with M. H. Kendig and located a ranch near Buffalo Gap. Mr. Kendig gave his time to freighting. while Mr. Tarrant managed the ranch. After about two years the latter sold out his inter- est in the ranch and returned to Iowa with his family. They remained at Independence, but he went to Chicago and began speculating in grain. After a short time, however, the Coeur d'Alene excitement attracted him to Idaho and he prospected near the British line. He also built two houses in Murray, Idaho. Upon returning to the Black Hills he located a copper mine at French creek and spent the winter there. He filed upon a homestead near Fairburn and, sending for his wife and family, established his home there. He resided there for ten years and during that time engaged in mining and also operated his ranch. Upon leaving that place he again went to Custer and gave his undivided attention to mining. After he sold the ranch his family joined him in Custer, which is still their home. He concentrates his time and energy upon his mining interests and owns a number of gold and tin prospects. He has mined in many places in the Black Hills, in British Columbia, in Alaska and in Cobalt, Ontario. He has gained much valuable knowledge of various parts of the country and has met with many interesting experiences, all of which have developed in him a splendid self-reliance and coolness in time of danger. For ten years he has resided in Custer and is well known and highly esteemed in that city and its vicinity.

On the 2d of December, 1875, Mr. Tarrant married Miss Anna Fuhrman, who was born in Hungary, just three miles from the Austrian line and only a few miles from Vienna. Her parents, Martin and Anna (Tatchenger) Fuhrman, were also born in that place, the father in November, 1811, and the mother on the 26th of July, 1830. Mr. Fuhrman was a farmer by occupation and in 1857 emigrated with his family to this country, settling in Indiana twenty-five miles from Chicago. After residing there for eight years, or in the spring of 1865, they removed to a farm near Independence, Iowa, where they lived for a decade. They then removed to the Black Hills and located upon a ranch three miles from Fairburn, Custer county, where both passed away, the father in 1900 and the mother in 1908. They were the parents of eleven children, of whom Mrs. Tarrant is the eldest. Mr. and Mrs. Tarrant have three children: William K., who is engaged in business in Buffalo, Wyoming, married Miss Evelyn Durst and they have three children. Paul C., Clifford B. and Bertram R .; Roy C.,

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residing at Sheridan, Wyoming, who is engaged in the automobile business and is also an oil operator, married Miss Helen Walters, of Omaha, and has an adopted son, Roy C. Angela is the wife of William Barnwell and the mother of a son, Roy.

Mr. Tarrant is a republican but has never desired public office. His life has been one of intense activity and the success which he has gained is solely the result of his energy, initiative and knowledge of mining, to which he has devoted practically his entire life.

WILLIAM THEODORE DOOLITTLE.

Sioux Falls has a valued citizen in William Theodore Doolittle, who is a veteran rail- road man and a prominent Mason. Moreover, he enjoys the distinction of being the best mayor that the city has ever had and his devotion to the public good stands as an unques- tioned fact in his career, whether occupying office or out of it. He was born March 30, 1849, in Loudonville, Ohio, and the ancestry of the family can be traced back to the sixteenth century.

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History of Dakota Territory, volume V, Part 23

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