USA > South Dakota > History of Dakota Territory, volume V > Part 39
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Arthur Rolland Schlosser received a high school education and at the time of the Spanish-American war enlisted in the First South Dakota Volunteer Infantry and for a year and a half followed the colors in the Philippines, assisting in putting down the insurrection of the natives. He held the rank of first sergeant of Company B and proved a valiant soldier. Upon his return to the States he worked at various things until 1901, when he came to the South Dakota Training School in the capacity of assistant superintendent. He applied himself diligently mastering the duties of his new position and proved so efficient that in April, 1911, he was elected superintendent, succeeding Mr. Young. He has a good intellectual grasp of the problems that confront the school and is expert in devising methods to meet its particular needs, while his understanding of the children for whom the school is con- ducted is a large factor in his success as superintendent. However, the discipline of the
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school is excellent and does much toward developing a real respect for law and order. Mr. Schlosser has the sincere regard and hearty cooperation of the other officials of the insti- tution who number twenty-one. There are five teachers in the school of letters and music alone. The children are required to attend school as long as they are in the institution and are given the benefits of an excellent common and high school course. The girls, of whom there are thirty-two, are also taught vocal and instrumental music, are trained in every phase of housekeeping and are likewise taught sewing. It is hoped that a vocational depart- ment can soon be provided, in which they can also learn a trade. There are ninety-two boys and they are employed in operating the eight hundred acre farm and in raising live stock. As soon as possible trade departments will be established and the boys given an opportunity to learn another occupation as well as farming. The school supports a first class band, has a moving picture machine and provides other amusements for the children, realizing the value of wholesome recreation in their development. The boys and girls are committed to the care of the institution by the courts of the state and remain in the school until twenty-one years of age unless sooner discharged by proper authority. By a ruling of the Board of Charities and Corrections they are required to remain at the institution for one year before an application for a parole or release will be passed upon, and then it is necessary that their conduct while in the institution should have been satisfactory and that proper arrangements be made for their future care, training and employment. The children leaving the institution before twenty-one are under the care of the state parole officer until given their final discharge. The institution has fully justified itself by its results and there are many men and women in all walks of life who are useful and honored citizens of their communities who have succeeded primarily because of the training that they received at the school of which Mr. Schlosser is now superintendent. It is located on eight hundred acres of the best Aurora connty land and was established by the territorial legislature of 1885. The first building was completed in 1887 and on the 10th of November, 1888, the first child was admitted. In 1899 the girls' building was erected. Since its estab- lishment the institution has cared for seven hundred and seventy boys and two hundred and two girls and its present enrollment of ninety boys and thirty-two girls is the largest in its history.
Mr. Schlosser was married on the 3d of March, 1902, to Miss Edna MeGarraugh, a daughter of J. T. and Nancy (Howard) Medarrangh. To Mr. and Mrs. Schlosser have been horn a son and daughter, George and Margaret. Mr. Schlosser is a republican in politics, in religion is a member of the Congregational church and fraternally is identified with the Masonic order, being a thirty-second degree Scottish Rite Mason and a member of the Mystic Shrine at Sioux Falls. He takes the greatest interest in his duties as superintendent of the South Dakota Training School, is always seeking to make its work more effective along some line, and at all times places the welfare of the school above all other interests.
LEW E. FOSS.
L. E. Foss, cashier of the Citizens State Bank at Henry, is one of the prosperous busi- ness men of the town. He was born in Sogndal, Sogn, Norway, September 23, 1872, a son of Eriek and Mary Foss, both of whom passed away in the land of the midnight sun. He was reared at home, attended the publie schools in his pursuit of an education, and was also a student in a college located in his home town. When not attending to school duties, he was working for his father on the farm so that he early learned the duties and tasks of the farmer. In 1890, when but eighteen years of age, he left Norway and come to the United States, joining his brother who was living at Vienna, Clark county, South Dakota. He went to work on the section, being so engaged in the summer and attending school during the winter months. In this way he learned the English language and so fitted himself for a successful career in this country. Subsequently he attended business college in Watertown, as he wished to familiarize himself with business procedure here, and after completing the course he secured a position as clerk in a store in Vienna. Subsequently he worked in his brother's store in Clark, but about 1899 left there and went to Henry, South Dakota, in order to learn the lumber business. For the next five years he was employed in yards of the
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Hays-Lucas Lumber Company, but in 1905, seeing that another bank was needed in Henry, he organized the Citizens State Bank and on the 12th of September of that year the new institution opened its doors to the public. He was made cashier of the bank and has since continued in that capacity, proving an able financier and displaying excellent judgment in the investment of the bank's funds and in the placing of credit.
Mr. Foss was married to Miss Gertrude Kvam, a native of Norway, and to this union two children have been born, of whom one, Noel, whose natal day was September 14, 1905, survives. The father is a republican in politics and fraternally is a member of the Odd Fellows, Knights of Pythias, and of the Modern Woodmen of America. He and his wife are both members of the Lutheran church and exemplify in their lives the teachings of that historie faith. Mr. Foss has thoroughly identified himself with the institutions of his adopted country and has proven himself a valuable citizen of South Dakota. He is very appreciative of the opportunities in America and thinks that what he has done can be duplicated by any one if lie is determined to succeed. He has many friends in Codington and Clark counties, where he is recognized not only as an efficient business man, but as a man of attractive personality and sterling qualities of character.
JOHN FRIDRICH.
John Fridrich, a well known and successful farmer of Cleveland precinct, Bon Homme county, was born in the village of Zamnel, Cech, a son of John and Anna (Novotne) Frid- rich, the latter of whom died in Cech. The former came to America in his old age and filed on a homestead west of Tabor, which, however, he was not permitted to enjoy long, as he died a few years after coming to the United States.
John Fridrich of this review remained in his native village attending school and learn- ing the blacksmith trade until he was nineteen years of age and then embarked at Bremen for the new world, taking passage in a full rigged sailing vessel. After a stormy voyage of seven weeks he landed at New York, but almost immediately made his way across the country to Iowa, where for two years he was employed at blacksmithing in a German colony at Homestead, Iowa county. He then came to Dakota territory and secured a quarter sec- tion of land three miles west of Tabor, this state. He bought additional land from time to time and after residing upon that farm for eighteen years sold and purchased his present home on section 11, Cleveland precinct, Bon Homme county, to which he has added until his holdings aggregate almost eleven hundred acres. His land is naturally fertile and is kept in a higli state of cultivation so that it is but natural that his crops are excellent. In 1893 he erected a large brick house and the other buildings on the farm are also substantial and commodious. He has one of the largest and hest basement barns in his part of the state and numerous cribs, granaries and other outbuildings. On each quarter section he has planted lines of trees which now furnish fuel for the household and make a grateful shade in summer.
Mr. Fridrich was married in Bon Homme county to Miss Annie Dvoracek, and they have eight sons and four daughters, August, John, Clarence, Edward, Henry, Joseph, Leo, Arthur, Bessie, Mollie, Hettie and Emma. Mr. Fridrich was reared in the Catholic church, is a member of the C. S. P. S. and in politics supports the democratic party. He will never forget his experience in the blizzard on the 12th of January, 1888. He had witnessed a similar, hut less severe, storm early in March, 1870, and when in 1888 the cloud of frozen mist moved down upon the country he knew what to expect. Hurrying out, accompanied by a faithful dog, he drove his cattle and horses to the barnyard, leaving them there to find shelter for themselves. He then went with the wind to the southeast corner of his farm where the district school was situated and warned the teacher to keep the children in the schoolhouse through the night, promising to return if possible with food. On the way back to the bouse he became bewildered and wandered around for quite a while before be heard the wind whipping the trees of the grove and followed the sound, finding to his joy that it was his own grove. He then felt his way along fences to the barnyard, saw that his stock was housed and fed and then went to the house and waited for his wife to prepare an abundant luncheon for the teacher and school children. Without telling her of having been
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lost, knowing that if he did so that she would object to his going out again, he started for the schoolhouse. Again he drifted with the wind and reached the schoolhouse in safety. However, feeding the children was not the only problem, as they must be kept awake, which was something of a task, as the cold was intense and benumbing. All during the night he kept a roaring fire, while the teacher kept the children interested in games and all passed through the night safely and reached their homes in the morning. There were many experiences in pioneer days that tried the mettle of men and women, but the courage and determination of the early settlers were equal to all emergencies and as a result of those early years of struggle foundations for a great state were laid and the present development of South Dakota made possible.
CHARLES K. HOWARD.
Charles K. Howard, of Rapid City, was one of the early settlers of South Dakota as in 1863 he was appointed trader of the United States military post known as Fort Dakota. Previous to that time he had been identified with the northwest as he was in the employ of the American Fur Company of Sioux City, Iowa, which traded to Fort Pierre, and he therefore knows practically all of the history of the settlement and development of the great state of South Dakota. After abandoning trading he turned his attention to ranch- ing and became one of the important cattle men of the state, owning six or seven thousand acres of land and many thousand head of cattle. In 1910, however, he disposed of his inter- ests in that connection and is now residing in Rapid City. Although he has reached the age of eighty years he is still enjoying excellent health and has the vigor and energy of a man many years his junior. As he could not be content without some occupation he engages in the real-estate business to some extent.
Mr. Howard was born in Red Hook on the Hudson, on the 17th of May, 1835, and is a son of Hiram H. and Louisa (Kent) Howard. His father, who was also a native of the Empire state, was in his early manhood engaged in lumbering in Canada but later returned to his native state and devoted the remainder of his life to keeping a hotel. He passed away in 1879. C. K. Howard has three sisters, one of whom, Mrs. W. D. Stites, is a resident of Sioux Falls.
Mr. Howard received a public school education and also attended Hamilton College for one year. He left home when about fourteen years of age and for about six years worked as a farm hand in his native state. In 1855, when twenty years of age, be emigrated west- ward and after reaching Dubuque continued his journey across the state of Iowa by stage. From Kanesville, now Council Bluffs, he went to Sioux City, where he entered the employ of the American Fur Company, trading to Fort Pierre. He remained with them for about two years and then engaged in the steamboating service between Sioux City and Covington and subsequently was connected with the drug business in partnership with a cousin, Charles Kent. About 1863 a military post, known as Fort Dakota, was established in Dakota terri- tory and he was appointed post trader. Subsequently be removed to what became Sioux Falls and there built the first house and later the first brick building, which was known as the Howard & Taylor block. He continued as a trader until 1883 and as by that time the state was becoming fairly well settled and as the trading business was not so profitable as it had been in the earlier days he turned his attention to cattle ranching, owning large tracts of land on the Cheyenne river about one hundred and twenty miles from Fort Pierre. He continued in that business until 1910 and became widely known as a cattle man. He made and lost several fortunes but is now one of the wealthy men of his part of the state. On retiring from ranching in 1910 be disposed of six or seven thousand acres of land and is now living in Rapid City. He is eighty years of age and has remarkable vigor and endurance for his years, a fact which he attributes largely to his open-air life. He still takes a keen inter- est in all public affairs and in all events of general interest, living in the present rather than in the past.
In 1861 Mr. Howard was married to Miss Jeanette Rickets, who passed away in 1864, leaving a daughter, Mrs. Mary Pender, who resides in Minnesota. In 1870 Mr. Howard was married at Eureka Springs, Missouri, to Miss Catherine Franklin, who passed away in 1913.
CHARLES K. HOWARD
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Mr. Howard is a demoerat in polities and has taken quite an active part in public affairs. For fourteen consecutive years he was treasurer of Minnehaha county, his continued reelection proving beyond a doubt the satisfactoriness of his services. Fraternally he belongs to the Elks and the Masons, being a member of the blue lodge and royal arch chapter in the lat- ter order. During the early days in this state when white settlers were few and far between he had many thrilling experiences with the Indians and became thoroughly acquainted with all phases of life on the remote frontier. As the state has developed he has adapted himself to the changing conditions and has been an important factor in the progress of the sections with which he has been connected. His high standing as a eattle rancher is indicated by the fact that he is ex-president of the Western South Dakota Stockmen's Association. He has manifested not only the hardy spirit, the courage and the endurance of the pioneer but also the foresight, the ability to see things in large and the sound judgment of the man who suc- cessfully directs extensive business interests. He receives the honor and respect to which he is entitled as one of those who have been forces in the making of the present state of South Dakota with its wonderful material development and its equally great progress along lines of civic and moral advancement, and the record of his life is one which should inspire others to greater achievement.
CHARLES J. KOCH.
Charles J. Koch, a well known farmer of Grant county, has also given considerable time to his work as treasurer of the Evangelical Insurance Company, a mutual coneern doing an extensive business in North and South Dakota. He was born in Manitowoc county, Wiseonsin, January 5, 1866, and is a son of Frederick and Albertina (Trapp) Koch. The paternal grandfather, Ludwig Koch, died in Wisconsin and the maternal grandfather, Leopold Trapp, who was a farmer by occupation, also passed away in that state. Both were natives of Germany, as were the parents of our subjeet. Frederick Koch was born in 1831 and died June 1, 1912, while his wife, who still survives, was born in 1845. He became a resident of Wisconsin at the age of sixteen years and she at the age of ten. There they grew to maturity and there their marriage occurred. He followed farming in the Badger state until 1883, when he removed to Minnesota. He gained a competence and was one of the respected residents of his locality. His political allegiance was given to the republican party and his religious belief was that of the Evangelical church, in the work of which he took an active and helpful part. To him and his wife were born seven children: Charles J .; Fred W., a sketch of whom appears elsewhere in this work; George H., an agriculturist of Grant county; John and Ed., who are farming in Minnesota: Jennie, the wife of Fred Koehn- topp, who is farming in Minnesota; and Arthur, who resides upon the old homestead in that state.
Charles J. Koch was educated in Wisconsin and Minnesota and early in life began assist- ing with the work of the home farm. He has continued to follow agricultural pursuits and is a progressive and representative farmer. While living in Minnesota he also dealt in land to some extent. In 1909 he removed to Grant county, South Dakota, purchasing six hundred and eighty acres of good land which he has so improved that it is now one of the finest and hest developed farms in the county. He raises chiefly small grains and hogs and derives a handsome income from his agricultural pursuits. He is a director and the treasurer of the Evangelical Insurance Company, a state mutual company and one of the largest in Dakota. They have at present about eighteen million dollars insurance in force and their policy-holders are largely wealthy farmers of the Dakotas. The company started as a small church insurance company but its policy has always been based upon sound business prin- eiples and it has grown steadily and rapidly, becoming one of the leading concerns of the kind in the northwest. Mr. Koch gives a great deal of time to his duties as treasurer of this organization and is proving a very capable official.
Mr. Koch was married in 1890 to Miss Emma Lenz, who was born near Red Wing, Minnesota, and they had two children: Sadie, who married Henry Lind, a farmer of Grant county; and Grace, at home. The wife and mother passed away in 1905 and in 1907 Mr. Koch married Miss Emma Liebing, a native of Grant county and a daughter of Henry Liebing, Vol. V-15
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one of the first settlers of that county. To this union two children have been born: Verna, who is attending school; and Floyd.
Mr. Koeh is a republican and has held various local offices, including that of town treasurer, which he has filled since his removal to the county. He is also a member of the school board. He is very active in the affairs of the Evangelical church, of which he is an influential member, and is always ready to cooperate in movements seeking the moral welfare of his community. He is a man of great mental vigor and energy and of excellent judgment and he has carried forward to successful completion all that he has undertaken.
AMZI BEARDEMPHL.
Amzi Beardemphl is busily engaged in the cultivation of a farm of three hundred and twenty acres, situated in Jefferson township, Spink county. He is a young man of marked enterprise and determination, not afraid of work and eager at all times to improve his opportunities. South Dakota numbers him among her native sons and he was born May 25, 1890, his parents being Charles and Lydia (Ward) Beardemphl. The father was one of the first settlers of Spink county, casting in his lot there when the distriet was an almost unbroken wilderness. He took up a homestead, broke the sod, began to plant the fields and eultivate his erops and in due time as the result of the success which he had already achieved he was able to increase bis holdings and add to his farm until within its bound- aries were comprised six hundred and forty acres. For a considerable period he continu- ously and successfully operated his land and then retired, taking up his abode at Des Moines, Washington. The family name indicates that they are of German lineage.
Spending his youthful days under the parental roof, Amzi Beardemphl attended the country schools and afterward continued his education in Ashton, but put aside his textbooks when he reached the age of fourteen and concentrated his efforts upon farm work, assisting his parents until his father's retirement from active business. He then went with his parents to the state of Washington but returned to South Dakota within a year and began to eultivate rented land. He has since carried on general agricultural pursuits and is now busily engaged in cultivating a farm of three hundred and twenty acres in Jefferson town- ship, not far from Ashton. Success has erowned his efforts and annually he gathers good harvests as a reward for the eare and labor which he bestows upon his fields.
On the 5th of April, 1913, at Redfield, Mr. Beardemphl was married to Miss Edith Bymers, a daughter of Peter and Flora (Spoolstra) Bymers, the former a farmer of Spink county. They have one child, Lydia, and in 1915 lost one, Edith May, at the age of six weeks. Mr. Beardemphl is yet a young man, his life record covering only a quarter of a century. He has made a ereditable name and place for himself and the future will undoubtedly bring to him larger success, for he is industrious and ambitious.
JOSEPH SCHULTE.
Joseph Schulte is an undertaker residing at Deadwood and also conduets a pieture store and picture-framing establishment. He was born in the province of Westphalia, Germany, in August, 1859, a son of Wunibald and Regina (Bitter) Schulte, both natives of that locality. Both have passed to their reward. The father was a farmer by oceupation and Mr. Schulte was reared upon the home farm. He attended the public schools until he reached the age of seventeen years and was then apprenticed for three years to a cabinet- maker. At the end of that time he began to follow his trade independently and was so engaged until he was a young man of twenty-three years. During that time he traveled throughout Germany, supporting himself by working as a eabinetmaker.
In 1882 he came to the United States and located in Detroit, Michigan, where he was employed by the Pullman Company and by the cabinetmaking department of a large furni- ture store. He remained there for two years, after which he went to Dayton, Ohio, and entered the employ of Barney & Smith, car builders, remaining with them for two years.
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He next worked for Burke & Jay, of Grand Rapids, Michigan, being so engaged for six years. At the end of that time he assumed the management of a furniture store in Crete, Nebraska, where he remained for one year. He then went to Friend, that state, and became manager of a furniture store there for a similar period of time. He bought the business in con- nection with a Mr. Spillman, the firm being known as Spillman & Schulte, and remained in that connection until 1898, or for six years. He then sold out his interest to his partner and went to Grand Island, Nebraska, where he entered the employ of Joseph Sonderman, the proprietor of a furniture and undertaking establishment. Mr. Schulte managed the business for a number of years but on the 12th of April, 1910, removed to Deadwood and purchased of B. S. Boot the undertaking business which he still conducts. He understands the principles of embalming well and as he gives deft and unobtrusive service he is known as one of the best undertakers in the city. He also has a large picture store and picture-fram- ing establishment in connection with his business and this branch of his activities is a very profitable one.
On the 4th of September, 1888, Mr. Schulte was married to Miss Elizabeth Moore, of Michigan. They have three children: George, who was born in 1890, at Crete, Nebraska, and is now associated with his father in business; and Irene and Pauline, twins. Mr. Sehulte is a republican and is at present representing the second ward upon the Deadwood city council. Fraternally he belongs to the Ancient Order of United Workmen, the Modern Woodmen of America, Lodge No. 1186, the Elks and the Eagles, all of Deadwood. In all that he does he manifests the characteristic German trait of thoroughness and as his business integrity has never been doubted his financial success is but natural. His sterling qualities of character have won him the respect of all who have come in contact with him and he is a valued resi- dent of the city.
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