History of Dakota Territory, volume V, Part 24

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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Mr. Doolittle's parents, Lucius and Eleanor (Ayres) Doolittle, removed to Upper San- dusky, Ohio, in 1859 and there the son attended the public schools to the age of fourteen years. The father was well-to-do and had planned a good education for his son, but when the Pittsburg, Fort Wayne & Chicago Railroad, the second line constructed in Ohio, was built through Sandusky William T. Doolittle was so much impressed that he decided to be a railroad man and, much against the wishes of his parents, abandoned the schoolroom to take up railroad work. He went to Fort Wayne, Indiana, where the new shops of the road were opened, and there served an apprenticeship of three years. When a youth of seven- teen he went upon the road as a fireman and after serving two years in that capacity was promoted to the position of engineer of a freight train. A year later he was given a passenger run, which he held for two years and when the engineers of the line went upon a strike he removed westward to Sioux City, Iowa, in March, 1873. At that date he entered the employ of the Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha Railroad, with which he con- tinued on the run from Sioux City to St. James, Minnesota, until 1878. In that year was built the first road that ever entered Sioux Falls and Mr. Doolittle ran the first train into the city. With the exception of one year, when he was instructor for the road, he has remained upon this rnn continuously since, covering a period of thirty-seven years, but has been with the company for abont forty-three years. Mr. Doolittle is a member of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, an organization with seventy-two thousand mem- bers. He organized the first division of the order in the northwest at Sioux City in 1876. The grand international division of the order with headquarters at Cleveland, Ohio, pre- sented him on the 16th of August, 1913, with a medal in appreciation of his forty years of faithful service for the order and made him an honorary member of the grand lodge for life. Of the seven thousand employes of the Omaha road he has the honor of being No. 1 on their lists. In fact, there is no other one of the seven thousand employes on the two thousand miles of road who was with the company when Mr. Doolittle joined it. This road has a Veterans Association and Mr. Doolittle is one of the one hundred and sixty-two who have been with the company for more than thirty years and is thus entitled to member- ship in and is a member of the association.

Mr. Doolittle has been in only one railroad wreck and that was when they were run- ning a double header through a blinding snow storm, the front engine breaking down and leaving the rails and pulling him with it. He was pinned under the engine for an hour and a half with the thermometer thirty degrees below zero yet escaped with only a broken jaw and lacerated face. In 1879 he figured in an incident which brought to him a thirty days' vacation. R. F. Pettigrew, a Sioux Falls attorney, boarded the train in Minneapolis with a deed that would clear up the title to what is now the town site of Sioux Falls. The title heretofore had been clouded as the only title was on Indian seript. Mr. Pettigrew saw the Minneapolis attorney board the same train and knew that he had a quitclaim deed to this property. If he reached the courthouse in Sioux Falls first and recorded the deed it would give him the title to the property on which the Sioux Falls people had built their homes. If Mr. Pettigrew recorded his deed first the homes of the people would be saved

WILLIAM T. DOOLITTLE

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HISTORY OF SOUTH DAKOTA

to them. He stepped into a telegraph office on the way only to learn that the other attorney had wired first for a cah to meet him at the train. Greatly worried, he walked up to the engine on which was his friend, William T. Doolittle, and told him of the situation. Mr. Doolittle then instructed Mr. Pettigrew to come and get on the engine at the first station out of Sioux Falls, which he did, not saying a word to the conductor or anyone. A few miles out of Sioux Falls Mr. Doolittle stopped his train, uncoupled his engine and made the run in, getting Mr. Pettigrew there first to record the deed and thereby saving the homes of the people. He was called into the office of one of the railroad officials, who told him that the attorney had started suit against the railroad for fifty thousand dollars and that his dismissal was demanded. He replied: "If my dismissal will appease the wrath of this gentleman it is of small matter," and he explained the situation to the superintendent, who instead of dismissing him gave him a thirty-days' lay-off with full pay.

Mr. Doolittle has ever had the interests of Sioux Falls at heart and a recognition of this fact has led to his selection for various positions of public trust. He was elected alder- man of the first ward in 1896 and was reelected in 1898, acting as president of the city council in 1897. He was on the committee with C. A. Jewett and J. W. Tuthill to build the new waterworks plant for the city of Sioux Falls and the work was completed at a figure less than the estimated cost. This was one job entirely free from any suspicion of graft. On the 21st of April, 1908, Mr. Doolittle was elected mayor and it is generally admitted without argument that he gave the city the cleanest administration that it has ever had. The opposition tried to unearth some skeleton in his private or public life that would be to his discredit, but the only thing that they could find was the story that he did not obey the orders of the railroad company when he uncoupled his engine and brought Mr. Pettigrew to Sioux Falls-an act which won for him the gratitude of the residents of the town. As the chief executive of the city he stood constantly for reform and progress, working untir- ingly for the interests of the people.

On the 26th of December, 1873, Mr. Doolittle was married to Miss Catherine Stroch and they became the parents of three children: Jessie, who died at the age of three years; Walter S .; and Grace. Walter S., now an engineer on the Omaha road, wedded Marie Freeble, of Sioux Falls, and they have five children, Eden K., Eunice, Norman, Theodore Frederick and Richard, the eldest of whom is now attending high school in Sioux Falls. Walter S. Doolittle served in the Spanish-American war, going out as a private in Company B, hut at the end of the war had risen to the rank of first lieutenant. The daughter Grace is the wife of Neil D. Graham, a commercial traveler living in Sioux Falls, and they have one child, Janet Catherine.

The family are Episcopalians in religious faith and Mr. Doolittle is a very prominent and influential Mason. He has taken the degrees of the York and Scottish Rites and was potentate of El Riad Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., for four years and grand commander of the Grand Commandery of Knights Templar of South Dakota. He has also been president of the Masonic Temple Association from its beginning and has ever taken the keenest and most helpful interest in the work of the craft. The life record of no man in public office has been more fearless in conduct and stainless in reputation and over his life history there falls no shadow of wrong nor suspicion of evil.

NILS F. NELSON.

Nils F. Nelson, who is engaged in the drug business in Milbank, and who is also a manufacturer of cigars, is a native of Sweden, born March 15, 1873, a son of Nils F. Nelson, who was born in 1833 and died in 1911. having spent his entire life in the land of his nativity. In his early life he engaged in the lumber business there, but later turned his attention to farming and became very successful. He had lived retired, however, for five years prior to his demise. In his family were four children: Mrs. Christina Swanson, who resides in Stockholm, South Dakota; Anna Charlotte, the wife of John Olson, and a resident of Minneapolis: Augusta, the wife of Fred Lofquist, a farmer living near La Bolt, this state; and Nils F. The father of this family was a devout member of the Lutheran church and was an active worker in church and educational circles.

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HISTORY OF SOUTH DAKOTA

Nils F. Nelson was reared under the parental roof to the age of fifteen years and during that period attended the public schools. Foreseeing that there was no future for him in his native land and having heard and read a great deal about the freedom and opportunity for advancement in this country, he decided to leave home and accordingly in 1888 set sail for the United States, his sisters having preceded him to this country. He made his way at once to South Dakota, where lived two of his sisters. He lived with his sister, Mrs. Swanson, and for a short time attended school. He then spent four months with a gang of workmen on the railroad. He next engaged in work in the harvest fields and later spent one winter in the lumber camps of Wisconsin. He then went to Eau Claire, that state, and worked for a time in a grist mill and later was employed in a sawmill in Minneapolis. After spending some time in the harvest fields of the north, he engaged as clerk in a drug store in Milbank, working for F. W. Poppe there for three years. He was then engaged in a similar capacity in Minneapolis for four years. During all this time he had carefully saved his earnings in the hope of some day engaging in business on his own account, and to this end, in 1898, he embarked in the drug business in Milbank. He began in a small way, but success attended him from the beginning. In 1906 he also opened a cigar factory and now manufactures over five hundred thousand cigars per year, this output being disposed of to the local trade. He gives his entire attention to his varied business interests and this has constituted the secret of his snecess.

He is a member of the National Guards and at one time was first lientenant of the organization. He gives his political support to the republican party. He has attained high rank in Masonry, being a member of the Mystic Shrine at Aberdeen. He also holds mem- bership with the Odd Fellows and the Knights of Pythias and in these organizations has passed through all of the chairs, while of the Fraternal Order of Eagles he is also a mem- ber. He has made the best possible use of the opportunities that have been presented and today stands among the successful and enterprising young business men of his section of the state.

WILLIAM A. NEVIN.

William A. Nevin, of Custer, who is treasurer of Custer county and is also engaged in ranching and mining in that county in partnership with his father, was born at Center Point, Iowa, on the 22d of September, 1876, a son of William and Elizabeth (Daugherty) Nevin, both natives of Piekaway county, Ohio, the father born on the 19th of April, 1833, and the mother on the 27th of December of that year. In 1842 William Nevin accompanied his parents to Iowa and in his young manhood became a general merchant in Center Point, that state. However, late in the '50s he went to California and there engaged in ranching and mining for some time. Upon his return to Center Point he again gave his attention to mercantile pursuits but in 1879 came to the Black Hills and located at Four Mile, a min- ing settlement west of Custer. He still lives in that locality and is engaged in ranching and mining. To him and his wife have been born three children.

William A. Nevin, the youngest, attended school at Center Point, Iowa, and when sixteen years of age became a clerk in a general store at that place. After spending four years in commercial life he removed to the Black Hills, arriving there in 1896. He went to his father's ranch and for seven years taught sehool. He and his father are partners in business. They are interested in both ranehing and mining and as they are experienced in those occupations and are energetic and display excellent judgment their resources are increasing from year to year. William A. Nevin, however, has other interests that demand the greater part of his time, as he is serving his second term as county treasurer and allows nothing to interfere with the faithful discharge of his duties in that office.

Mr. Nevin was married on the 25th of October, 1895, Miss Rilla Mae Willis, a native of Rochester, New York, becoming his wife. Her parents, George M. and Ida (Wilcox) Willis, were both natives of the state of New York and the father was by occupation a traveling salesman, handling mercantile lines. To their union were born five children, of whom Mrs. Nevin is the eldest. She has a daughter, Elizabeth Ida, whose birth occurred on the 27th of June, 1908.

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HISTORY OF SOUTH DAKOTA

Mr. Nevin is a republican and from 1903 to 1907 was county auditor, while he has been further honored by election as county treasurer, in which office he is serving his second term. Fraternally he is connected with the Knights of Pythias and he is at present chancellor commander of the local lodge. Since taking up his residence in Custer county he has not only demonstrated his ability and conscientiousness but has also manifested attractive per- sonal characteristics that have won him many warm and loyal friends.

DONALD K. BARRETT.

Donald K. Barrett, an able attorney of Plankinton, was born in Sigourney, Iowa, on the 23d of April, 1890, a son of J. C. and Emma Barrett. In 1903, when he was a youth of thir- tren, the family removed to South Dakota and located upon a farm in Aurora county in the vicinity of Plankinton, where the parents still reside.

D. K. Barrett attended the public schools, was graduated from the Plankinton high school, and later entered the State University of South Dakota at Vermillion, where, after completing a four years' law course, he was graduated with the class of 1913. He returned to Aurora county, took up his residence in Plankinton and began the practice of his pro- fession. Although young in years and also in his profession, he has already demonstrated that he possesses not only a good knowledge of the principles of jurisprudence but also that he is fitted by nature for the practice of law.

Mr. Barrett is a Protestant and in politics supports the republican party. South Dakota tinds him a loyal, public spirited and progressive citizen who can be counted upon to do his part to aid in the accomplishment of a project calculated to advance the public interests.

ORVILLE STEWART.

Among the substantial farmers of Bon Homme county is numbered Orville Stewart, who was born in MeDonough county, Illinois, on the 9th of August, 1876, a son of Samuel and Elizabeth (MeKenzie) Stewart, natives of Indiana and Illinois respectively. He resided in Illinois until 1899, when he removed to Guthrie county. Iowa, and there worked at farm labor for about a year. After that he cultivated rented land until 1903, when he removed to South Dakota. He rented the McNeill farm in Bon Homme county first and later operated other farms in the vicinity of Tyndall until March, 1912, when he purchased his present farm, which comprises the southeast quarter of section 34, Jefferson precinct. The land has excellent natural drainage and as it is fertile and is kept in fine condition it produces good erops annually. The house, which is large and heated by hot water, has a commanding position upon a hill and is protected from the wind hy a fine grove. There are also large barns, granaries and other outbuildings which provide shelter for grain and stock. Mr. Stewart uses the latest machinery in his work and is willing to adopt any method that promises to make his labor more efficient.

Mr. Stewart was married in Guthrie county, Iowa, on the 23d of October, 1901, to Miss Sylvia South, a daughter of Wellington and Linda (McNeill) South, natives of New York and Ohio respectively. In 1882 Mr. South removed to Dakota territory and first rented a farm two miles east of Springfield but afterward took up his residence in Springfield. where he lived retired for two years. He then returned to Guthrie county, Iowa. Two of the chil- dren born to him and his wife are living in Bon Homme county, Mrs. Stewart and Charles, who is farming in Jefferson precinet.

Mr. South had a narrow escape from death by freezing January 12, 1888, when the worst blizzard in the history of the northwest occurred. He started to deliver a sleighload of hogs to .J. H. Sanford. who resided on the edge of Tyndall, and was within a quarter of a mile of his destination when the blizzard broke in its fury and he found himself unable to see owing to the blinding snow. He took the harness off from his horses and started with them to find shelter. Hle ran into an old threshing machine, which provided some protection against the storm for the horses and he himself remained there until three o'clock in the morning, when

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the storm had subsided somewhat and he was enabled to reach the residence of a Mr. Jansen, where he was revived. He supposed that the hogs that he was bringing to Mr. Sanford had perished, but that gentleman had found them in the morning and had taken them and the team to a warm shed and all of the animals survived the storm.

RALPH COWLES.

There is nothing spectacular in the record of a farmer who has devoted his life always to the tilling of the soil, but more than a century ago George Washington said that "agri- culture is the most useful as well as the most honorable occupation of man," and this truth stands today. Among those who are taking advantage of the excellent opportunities for agricultural activity in South Dakota is Ralph Cowles, who owns a farm of three hundred and twenty acres on section 9, Mellette township, Spink county. Thirty-five years have come and gone since he arrived in this state in the spring of 1879. He is today the oldest resident in Spink connty in years of continuous connection therewith and before his arrival in South Dakota he had made his home in the middle west, living in Winona, Minnesota.

. Mr. Cowles was born near Ashtabula, Ohio, on the 4th of March, 1836, and has, therefore, passed the seventy-ninth milestone on life's journey. His parents were Joel G. and Sallie (Hotchkiss) Cowles. The Cowles family is of English origin and the ancestry is traced back to John Cowles who came to the new world on the Mayflower and was among the Puritans who settled in Massachusetts. Ralph Cowles is a direct descendant of the sixth son of John Cowles and is the eighth in the family of eleven children who were born to Joel G. and Sallie (Hotchkiss) Cowles. The father was a native of New England and removed from Connectient to Ohio, becoming one of the early settlers of that state, where he followed farming. In old age he went to Baraboo, Wisconsin, where he died in 1868, at the age of seventy-nine years. His wife survived until 1870, passing away at the age of seventy-five years, and both were interred in a cemetery at Baraboo.

At the usual age Ralph Cowles began his education, entering the public schools of Geneva, Ohio, where he continued his studies until he reached the age of twenty years. He afterward accompanied his parents on their removal to Baraboo, Wisconsin, and started to earn his own living by working as a farm hand. He was ambitious to engage in farming on his own account, however, and soon rented land, but in the spring of 1862 he put aside all business and personal considerations in order to espouse the cause of the Union, enlisting as a member of Company F, Twenty-third Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry. He remained with that regiment until honorably discharged on account of disability in the spring of 1863. His health had become so seriously impaired that for two years thereafter he was under the physician's care and was unable to do any work.

In 1865 Mr. Cowles removed to Martin county. Minnesota, where be secured a homestead claim, which he improved and developed, residing thereon for eleven years. He then returned to Winona county, Minnesota, where he lived until coming to South Dakota in the spring of 1879, at which time he settled upon the traet of land that constitutes his present well improved farm. He was, indeed, a pioneer of this section. Hardly a settlement had been made in all this part of the state. The great broad prairies were just as they had come from the hand of nature, covered with their long grasses, starred with a million wild flowers in the months of June, but in midwinter covered with a dense and unbroken sheet of snow. Far remote from civilization seemed the little home of Ralph Cowles, who found it neces- sary to go clear to Watertown, a distance of eighty-five miles, for his mail, while along the Jim river at that time there lived only three families. Mr. Cowles improved his entire farm, carrying on general agricultural pursnits, and he made a success in his undertakings. He continued active in business until 1900, when he put aside the more arduous work of the farm and retired. He still owns his property of three hundred and twenty acres, situated on section 9, Mellette township, Spink county, and he likewise owns a residence in the town of Mellette and another fine home on the lake in Ashtabula, Ohio.

In 1860 occurred the marriage of Mr. Cowles and Miss Susan A. Chase, who died in May, 1883. Their children were as follows: Ida Luella, deceased; Howard H., who has passed away and was laid to rest in Martin county, Minnesota; Bertha, the wife of D. C.

RALPH COWLES

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HISTORY OF SOUTH DAKOTA

Baker, a farmer residing at Chance, South Dakota; Arthur B., deceased; Leona, the wife of Z. Knapp, living at Dawson, North Dakota; Clarence, a resident farmer of Rondell township, Brown county, with land also in Mellette township, Spink county; Charles R., who died and was buried in Winona county, Minnesota; Elmer, who is farming the old homestead; Walter G., a farmer of Mellette township, Spink county; and Susan M., who at her death was laid to rest in Rondell township, Brown county. After the death of his first wife Mr. Cowles was again married, his second union being in 1884 with Mrs. Bassinger of Baraboo, Wisconsin, whose maiden name was Julia A. Kellog. She died and was buried in the Ron- dell cemetery. For his third wife Mr. Cowles in 1896 chose Mrs. Eliza A. Crawford, who departed this life on the 16th of August, 1913, and was buried at Northville, South Dakota.

In politics Mr. Cowles has always been a stalwart republican since the organization of the party and was the second county commissioner of the state. He holds membership with the Grand Army of the Republic and his belief in the teachings of the Congregational church, of which he has long been a devoted member, has been a guiding element in his life. There is no man better qualified to speak with authority concerning early events in the history of Spink county and this part of the state than Ralph Cowles, who for thirty- six years has here resided, witnessing all the changes which have occurred and taking part in many plans for the upbuilding and development of the community. Drifting Goose and his tribe still made their camp at the place now known as "The Island" or "Armourdale," which is near Mr. Cowles homestead. This chief and his squaw frequently ate with Mr. Cowles in the latter's dugout, and all the Indians were friendly with him. Now there is no indication of this having been the habitation of the red men because the entire district is settled up by a prosperous and contented people. Work-earnest, persistent work-has been the basis upon which he has built his success, enabling him now to live retired.

His son Elmer E. Cowles, now occupying and operating the old homestead, married Miss Margaret Bruns, a daughter of Henry and Helen (Frels) Bruns, and they have two daughters and a son, Bernice H., Verna M. and Ralph H. Elmer E. Cowles built an elevator for his father at Mellette for his own use. Like his father, he has led a busy and useful life and ranks with the leading agriculturists of his part of the state.

CARL D. JOHNSON.

Carl D. Johnson is the junior partner in the law firm of MeFarland & Johnson. attorneys at Watertown, and while one of the younger representatives of the profession has already attained a position which many an older practitioner might well envy. He was born in Raymond, South Dakota, February 11, 1886, a son of Alexander C. and Ida R. Johnson, who in the year 1879 came to what was then Dakota territory. The father secured a homestead and tree claim but later disposed of that property and is now in the employ of the North- western Railroad Company at Chicago as passenger traffic manager.

Carl D. Johnson spent his youthful days under the parental roof, mastering the branches of learning taught in the public schools and afferward attending the Shattuck Military Academy at Farihault, Minnesota, where he pursued a preparatory course. Subsequently he entered the University of Wisconsin, in which he continued for a year, and afterward became a student in the University of South Dakota, where he pursued a law course and was grad- uated with the class of 1910. The following year he went to Yale, where he continued his law studies and was graduated within the classic walls of that old institution in 1911.

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History of Dakota Territory, volume V, Part 24

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