History of Dakota Territory, volume V, Part 48

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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CHARLES S. EASTMAN

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the real-estate business in Hot Springs until January 3, 1893, when he assumed his duties as deputy sheriff, to which office he was appointed. After serving for four years as deputy he was elected sheriff and held that position for the same length of time, making eight con- tinnous years in the sheriff's office at a time when it was not altogether a pleasure to be an officer of the law. He has held other offices, having served as county judge while a resi- dent of Oelrichs in 1887 and 1888. In 1906 the confidence which his fellow citizens have in his ability as well as in his integrity, was expressed at the polls through his election as a member of the state legislature and he ably represented his district in the session of 1907 and was the unanimous choice of his party for speaker of the house. On the 16th of May, 1914, he was made postmaster of Hot Springs, assuming charge of the office on the 1st of June of that year. He is the present incumbent of the position and under his management the postal affairs of the city are systematically and efficiently conducted. Although in con- nection with his early practice he gave considerable time to the buying and selling of real estate, he later concentrated his energies upon his law business, being a partner of William D. Dudley, and doing business under the firm name of Eastman & Dudley, the firm heing regarded as one of the strongest and most successful in the state. For the last few years other interests have demanded a part of his time and his son has taken his place in the legal firm. Mr. Eastman's residence in Hot Springs is one of the finest and most modern in that city.

Mr. Eastman was married on the 15th of April, 1888, to Miss Agnes Colgan, a native of Ottumwa, Iowa, and a daughter of Thomas and Mary (Colligan) Colgan, both of whom were born in Ireland. In early life the father was a railroad contractor, but later carried on general agricultural pursuits. While living in Iowa he gave special attention to the raising of stock and in the early '80s removed to O'Neill, Nebraska, where he continued in that business. The mother of Mrs. Eastman died when the daughter was but five years of age and the latter accompanied her older brother to Valentine, Nebraska, about 1884, whence she removed to Oelrichs, Fall River county, Dakota territory, where she met and married Mr. Eastman. Her father survived until 1895. Mr. and Mrs. Eastman are the parents of six children: Le Roy C., who is engaged in the general insurance business in Hot Springs; Thomas Earl, a practicing attorney of that city; Ruth A., who is attending the State Uni- versity of Iowa at lowa City; Dean H., and Arthur, both in high school; and Helen, who is attending public school.

Mr. Eastman is an ardent democrat and for the last eighteen years has been either state committeeman or chairman of his county committee. He was a delegate to the Kansas City convention of his party which nominated William Jennings Bryan for president and has attended every state convention as a delegate for more than twenty years, and is regarded as one of the leaders of his party in the state. He has taken a commendable interest in the welfare of the public schools and for ten years served as a member of the board of education, for two terms of that time being president of the hoard. He is also president of the Hot Springs Bar Association, which honor he has held for several years. Fraternally he belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, holding membership in the subordinate lodge and the encampment. His life has been one of intense activity and as his labors have been well directed he has accomplished much, not only in the line of his individual success, but also for the general welfare, and he is justly held in the highest esteem and respect by his fellow citizens.

CHRISTEN THORESON.

Christen Thoreson is a resident farmer of Brandon township, Minnehaha county, and, like a goodly percentage of the leading agriculturists of his part of the state, comes from Nor- way. He was born June 24, 1852, and is a son of Thorer Christianson, who was also a native of the land of the midnight sun and was a farmer by occupation. He remained a resident of Norway until 1868 when he came to America, locating in Minnesota. He subsequently removed to South Dakota accompanied by his family of five. He secured a homestead here and engaged in its cultivation and development throughout his remaining days. Both he and his wife are now deceased. Vol. V 18

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Christen Thoreson pursued his education in the public schools of his native land and in Minnesota. He was twenty-one years of age when the family came to South Dakota and he also secured a homestead claim, to which he has since added by purchase a tract of eighty acres. His entire life has been devoted to general agricultural pursuits and he is thoroughly acquainted with the best methods of tilling the soil and caring for the crops.

In 1881 Mr. Thoreson was married to Miss Martha Olson, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Ole Johnson, both of whom are now deceased. To Mr. and Mrs. Thoreson have been born the following named, Sophia, Minnie, Christian, Inga, Julia, Olaf, Ruth, Elmer and Henry. The parents hegan their domestic life upon the farm which he secured upon coming to this county and have since lived on the old homestcad although its boundaries have been extended through additional purchase. Mr. Thoreson's memory goes back to the period of pioneer devel- opment, for when the family came every evidence of frontier life was to be seen in this sec- tion. The journey had been made with covered wagons drawn by oxen. The family was in very straitened financial circumstances and they went through all of the hardships caused by the grasshopper plague. It was a difficult task to transform the wild prairie land into cultivated and productive fields, but the work was resolutely carried forward and Mr. Thoreson has always ranked with the energetic and industrious men of the county. Whatever success he has achieved is the reward of his earnest and indefatigable labor and he is now known as one of the substantial farmers of Minnehaha county.

Mr. Thoreson has always been interested in the welfare and progress of his section of the state and for fifteen years he capably filled the office of school treasurer, to which he was again and again reelected upon the republican ticket. He has always been an advocate of that party, never faltering in his allegiance thereto. His religious faith is that of the Lutheran church and in his life he exemplifies his belief.

CLAUDE M. HENRY.

Claude M. Henry, engaged in the banking business in Redfield, South Dakota, and also identified with the official life of the state as chairman of the South Dakota tax commission, was born in Emmetsburg, Iowa, November 19, 1871, a son of William G. and Nancy M. (Spangler) Henry, the former a pioneer merchant of Iowa. In a family of four children Claude M. Henry was the eldest. He pursued his education in the public schools of Emmets- burg and then entered his father's drug store, where he received his initial business training and gained that experience which has constituted the foundation of his later success. After leaving the drug store he hecame financially interested in a house furnishings business but in 1898 put aside all personal and commercial interests in order to serve his country, enlisting as a member of the Fifty-second Iowa Volunteer Infantry for active duty in the Spanish- American war. He was commissioned first lieutenant of Company K and with that com- mand went to Chickamauga. While he did not have opportunity to meet the enemy at the front, he saw considerable special service.

Mr. Henry has been a resident of South Dakota since 1900, in which year he took up his abode at Hitchcock and there organized the Hitchcock State Bank, which he still owns and controls. His financial interests and activities, however, have still a much broader scope. In 1902 he became one of the organizers of the Redfield National Bank, of which he has since continuously served as cashier, and he is likewise president of the Tulare State Bank. He has made a close and discriminating study of the various phases of banking and is therefore able to wisely direct the interests and activities of the institutions with which he is connected. Aside from his hank stock he holds extensive landed interests in South Dakota and in the Pacific coast states.

Mr. Henry has also been very active in connection with political affairs and for a number of years served as a member of the state republican central committee, thus directing the interests of the party in South Dakota. He was appointed to and was the active organizer of the state tax commission, being its chairman from the beginning. In this connection he has performed a work of the utmost value and importance to the state and in the discharge of his duties has been actuated by utmost devotion to the public good.

On the 3d of September, 1895, Mr. Henry was united in marriage to Miss Laura G.

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Showen, of Emmetsburg, lowa, by whom he has one child, Claudia Maxine. Fraternally Mr. Henry is a Knight Templar Mason and also holds membership with the Knights of Pythias, Independent Order of Odd Fellows and Benevolent Protective Order of Elks. His career may be epitomized in the single phrase-a successful business man and a highly esteemed and honored public official.

HON. JAMES P. COOLEY.

Hon. James P. Cooley, of Bon Homme county, who died June 9, 1915, was an important factor in the development of his section of the state in more ways than one, having served as a member of the state legislature and as a state senator, and also as president of the Security Bank of Tyndall. He was the owner of over four thousand acres of land in this state. He was born February 26, 1845, near Rowlandville in Cecil county, Maryland, a son of Corbin Cooley, whose birth occurred August 12, 1799, in Hartford county, Maryland. He traced his ancestry back to one who came to this country on the Mayflower. His grandfather, Samuel Cooley, was a soldier in the Revolutionary war and two sons of the latter's sons, Daniel and Charles, fought in the War of 1812, being at Fort McHenry at the time that Francis Scott Key wrote the Star Spangled Banner. Corbin Cooley died in Maryland at the age of seventy- six years and his passing was deeply regretted, as he was not only a prosperous and progres- sive farmer but also a man of agreeable personality and tried integrity. His wife, who was in her maidenhood Miss Mary Shaw, was born in Liverpool, England, and most of her brothers and sisters were natives of that country. In early life she was brought by her parents to the new world, the family home being established in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She passed away in Maryland at the advanced age of eighty-two years. To Mr. and Mrs. Corbin Cooley were born eight children, of whom our subject was the third in order of birth and the eldest son.

James P. Cooley was reared in Cecil county, Maryland. He completed the course in the public schools and was graduated from Nottingham Academy. In 1870 he came west, as he believed that better opportunities were to be found here than in the east, and spent the first two years in Edgar county, Illinois, where a brother made his home. At the end of that time he came to South Dakota and filed on a preemption claim in Tabor precinct, Bon Homme county. He broke the prairie land and built a small log cabin, in which be kept bachelor's hall until his marriage. He later took up a homestead claim and also a timber claim and as he prospered bought additional land until the home farm comprised more than one thousand acres of land. He also owned nearly two thousand acres near Springfield, his holdings aggre- gating over four thousand acres. He did not sell any of the grain raised upon bis land, as he fed it all to stock, storing it in & large elevator upon his land until needed. In addition to the grain raised he bought many carloads per year and was one of the largest stock feeders in his section of the state. He fed and shipped from fifteen to twenty carloads of cattle and hogs per year. His cattle sheds and feed lots were the largest in the county and he was excellently equipped in every respect for the care of stock on a large scale. He derived a handsome yearly income from his stock business and was one of the most substantial citizens of his county. He lived in a log cabin until 1884 and then built a small frame house. Nine years later he erected the present large residence of the family, to which, however, he made additions from time to time until it now contains abont twenty rooms.

Mr. Cooley was married in March, 1872, to Miss Mary E. MeCollum, a daughter of John J. and Lovina (Riggs) McCollum, pioneers of Bon Homme county, who are mentioned more exten- sively elsewhere in this work. To their union have been born twelve children, ten of whom survive, as follows: Jessie, the wife of Edwin Hopkins, of Springfield, South Dakota: Emma, who married C. C. Torrence, of Tabor precinct; Mary, who formerly taught school in her home locality, but is now at home; Lucile, the wife of Lewis Barber, a veterinarian of Tyndall, a sketch of whom appears elsewhere in this work; Addie, who gave her hand in marriage to W. R. Christie, of Omaha, Nebraska; Ralph, who married Alta Morgan of Los Angeles, California, and is farming near Springfield, South Dakota; and Corbin, Maurice, Charles and George, all at home.

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Mr. Cooley was a democrat and was honored by official preferment, as he was a member of the territorial legislature of 1872 and 1873 and also served in the state senate for four terms, during the sessions of 1904 and 1908 and again in 1912 and 1914. For four years he served as county commissioner and his record in public office is without a spot, no shadow of suspicion ever having been cast upon his integrity or ability. He was a large stockholder in the Security Bank of Tyndall and was president of that institution, much of its growth and solidity being due to his wise management and financial aenmen. His marked success was the result of good judgment and unceasing industry, and it is related that when a young man endeavoring to get a start in this new country, he was at work the earliest and quit the latest of any of the men of his county. Throughout life he continued an untiring worker, although there was no longer the need of bettering his financial circumstances, as he was one of the most prosperous residents of his part of the state at the time of his death.

LEON W. KREIDLER.

Leon W. Kreidler is a well known and influential factor in journalistic circles of South Dakota as proprietor of the Fulton Advocate, which he purchased in March, 1913, and at the present time he is also serving in the capacity of postmaster. His birth occurred in Luzerne county, Pennsylvania, on the 14th of October, 1870, his parents heing Lewis and Mary Kreidler, who came to this state in 1882 and took up a homestead claim at Highmore, Hyde county. They now reside in Mitchell and enjoy an extensive and favorable acquaintance throughout their community.

Leon W. Kreidler, who was a youth of twelve when he came to South Dakota with his parents, attended the public schools in the acquirement of an education and subsequently assisted his father in the operation of the home farm until twenty years of age. He then learned the printer's trade at Highmore and later purchased an interest in the Herald at Wessington Springs. After a short time he sold his interest in the Herald and was subse- quently employed on various papers throughout the state. For eight years he served as fore- man in the office of the Educator and afterward became an officer of the Salvation Army in Minnesota and North Dakota. In March, 1913, he purchased the plant of the Fulton Advocate and has since published the paper with growing success, so that it is now a popular, widely read and interesting sheet. Recently he has also assumed the duties of postmaster, to which position he was appointed January 21, 1915, by President Wilson and in which connection he is making a most satisfactory and commendable record.

On the 12th of July, 1899, Mr. Kreidler was united in marriage to Miss Hilma Fidroeff, a daughter of Filatt Fidroeff. Their children are three in number, namely: Annie Leona, Daniel Herbert and Mary Josephine. Mr. Kreidler gives his political allegiance to the democracy and is a member of the board of education. His religious faith is that of the Methodist church, of which he is a devoted, consistent and valned member, and both he and his wife belong to the Modern Brotherhood of America. The period of his residence in this section covers a third of a century and in his home community he is well known as a respected and leading citizen.

JOHN B. COMLY, M. D.

Death called Dr. John B. Comly on the 17th day of December, 1914, and in his passing Doland and South Dakota lost a citizen who, by his ability, had become well established among the foremost representatives of his profession in that part of the state. He arrived in South Dakota in 1881, when twenty-one years of age, at which time Mitchell was the terminus of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad. He came from Iowa but was a native of Illinois, his birth having occurred in Winnebago county, near Rockford, on the 5th of May, 1860, his parents being Charles and Mary (Ludwig) Comly. The father, who was a farmer hy occupation, settled in Illinois in 1853, at the time when the first railroad was being built west of Chicago, and with the material development of his community was actively

DR. JOHN B. COMLY

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associated for many years. In politics he was a stanch democrat. He died in 1901 at the age of eighty-seven years, and his wife passed away in 1905 at the age of eighty-nine years, their remains being interred in the cemetery at Pecatonica, Illinois. The family is of English lineage and the first representatives of the name in America came to the new world with William Penn, Henry Comly acting as secretary to William Penn, who in 1682 founded the colony of Pennsylvania. Henry Comly had one son, who had sixteen children, and the family is still very numerous in the Keystone state.

Dr. Comly acquired his primary education in the schools of Pecatonica, Illinois, in which he completed the high-school eourse with the class of 1880. In the meantime, however, he had had practical business training through the active assistance which he had rendered his father. As previously stated, he first came to Dakota territory in 1881, but in the fall of that year returned to Illinois and entered the medical department of the University of Louisville in Kentucky, there pursuing the regular course until he was granted his diploma and profes- sional degree in 1884. He then located for practice at Ridott, Illinois, where he remained for four years, and in 1888 he had broad practical experience in the hospitals of Philadelphia. In 1889 he located at Mapleton, Iowa, where he remained over a year and then removed to Des Moines. He practiced in the capital city until 1891, when he settled at Woodworth, Iowa, where he remained in practice until he again came to Dakota in 1902. He settled on a farm thirteen miles south of Doland and there practiced medicine in connection with farming. He it was who demonstrated that alfalfa could be grown in that district. He remained upon the farm from 1902 until 1909, when he took a pleasure trip to California, returning in 1911. In that year he opened his office in Doland, where he engaged in practice until his demise, being accorded a liberal and well deserved patronage. All through the years he kept in touch with the work of the profession through broad reading, and personal experience and investigation brought to him many valuable truths concerning the laws of health and the best methods to check the ravages of disease. Aside from his practice he had business interests as president of the Farmers Telephone Company and he was also one of the organizers of the Electric Light Company, as well as owning and operating three quarter sections of land near Doland.

At Des Moines, Iowa, on the 9th of January, 1901, Dr. Comly wedded Miss Adah Mitchell, a native of Pennsylvania and a daughter of John and Elizabeth (Kelly) Mitchell, who were also born in the Keystone state. Both are now deceased, the father being buried at Pitts- burgh. Pennsylvania, and the mother at Mapleton, Iowa. In Doland the Doctor and his wife gained many warm friends. He was independent in politics yet not remiss in the duties of citizenship. Fraternally he was a blue lodge Mason and along strictly professional lines he had connection with the District Medical Society, the South Dakota Medical Society and the American Medical Association. Ability in his profession and sterling personal worth estab- lished him firmly in the regard and goodwill of his fellow townsmen, and he had many warm friends who felt the deepest and sincerest regret at his passing.

SALATHIEL E. HURLEY, M. D.

Dr. Salathiel E. Hurley, who is successfully engaged in the practice of medicine at Gettys- burg, Potter county, was born near Logansport, Indiana, on the 6th of February, 1849. His parents, Hiram and Adeline (Howe) Hurley. were natives respectively of Ohio and of Ken- tueky. They removed from Indiana to Illinois, where they resided until the fall of 1854, when they went to Iowa. The father purchased land in that state, which he continued to farm until his demisc. His widow subsequently removed to Yankton, South Dakota, and passed away there.

Dr. Hurley, the eldest in a family of five children, was reared under the parental roof and acquired his education in the district schools of lowa. Later he was a student in the Upper Iowa University at Fayette and took his medical course in the College of Physicians & Surgeons at Keokuk, lowa. Since beginning the practice of his profession he has at different times taken post-graduate work at Chicago and elsewhere, thus keeping in touch with the advance of the profession. In 1883 he came to South Dakota and in the spring of the follow- ing year became a resident of Potter county, where he has since resided. He is the oldest

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physician in the county in years of practice there and he has built up a representative and lucrative patronage. For some time he conducted a drug store, which he established in 1885, hut found that he could not manage it and do justice to his profession and therefore concen- trated his attention entirely upon the practice of medicine. He has a high standing among the physicians and surgeons of Gettysburg and of Potter county and has gained not only the confidence of the general public but also the respect of his colleagues.

In November, 1876, Dr. Hurley was united in marriage to Miss Lavinia Sheward, who was born uear Iron Ridge, Wisconsin. Her father, William Sheward, was a farmer by occupation. He came to this state and spent his last days in Gettysburg. Mrs. Hurley died in 1893, leaving two sons. Arthur, who is engaged in the garage and automobile business, married Miss Rose Packard and has a daughter, Dolores. Lee, who is unmarried, is associated with his brother in business.

Dr. Hurley was again married August 16, 1899, his second union being with Mrs. Nellie (Green) Mitchner, a native of Nebraska, who made her home in Chicago at one time and from there removed to Gettysburg, South Dakota, where she married the Doctor. She is a daughter of Thomas Meredith and Mary M. (Wells) Green, natives of Ohio and Pennsylvania respectively. They were pioneers of Nebraska, locating at what was then known as Mount Vernon, hut now Peru, about 1850. The father huilt the first grist mill at that place and also engaged in general merchandising there. He shipped flour in the early days to Denver by the team load. Mrs. Hurley's great-great-grandfather was appointed first treasurer of the United States under President Washington and loaned money to the government which was never paid back.

Dr. Hurley is a republican but has never aspired to public office, confining his political activity to the exercise of his right of franchise. Fraternally he belongs to the Odd Fellows lodge at Gettysburg and to the Masons, holding membership in the blue lodge at Gettysburg, of which he is a charter member, and the chapter at Cresco, Iowa. Along strictly professional lines he is identified with the Potter County Medical Society, the Aberdeen District Medical Society, the South Dakota State Medical Society and the American Medical Association. During the many years that he has resided in Potter county he has made many friends and wherever he is known he is held in high esteem.

HARRY D. BRAINARD.

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History of Dakota Territory, volume V, Part 48

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