History of Dakota Territory, volume V, Part 51

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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On the 7th of November, 1880, Mr. Ege was united in marriage to Miss Catherine Stoner, Vol. V-19

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a daughter of Saul and Anna (Milliken) Stoner, natives of Pennsylvania. The children born of this union are as follows: Ernest; William; Emma; and Robert, who passed away at the age of eighteen years.

Mr. Ege casts an independent ballot, voting for men and measures rather than party. He has been called to a number of local offices, the duties of which he has promptly and con- scientiously discharged. In 1895 he was elected to represent his district in the state legis- lature. For four years he was mayor of Centerville. He was appointed by Governor Craw- ford as telephone commissioner and served for four years and he was also county commis- sioner. He is much interested in South Dakota's development. In the early days he did the freighting between the old town of Centerville and Vermillion and he has lived to wit- ness many changes and improvements as the years bave gone by, at all times bearing his part in the work of general improvement.

LEONARD S. MARTIN.

Leonard S. Martin, a well known resident of Madison, was born in Bureau county, lili- nois, on the 29th of January, 1873, a son of Charles and Electa Martin. The father devoted his life to farming until his labors were terminated in the call to his final rest. His widow still survives.

Spending his youthful days under the parental roof, Leonard S. Martin became a pupil in the public schools at the usual age and mastered the branches of learning therein taught. He afterward attended the Northern Illinois State Normal School at Dixon and still later the Northern Indiana Normal School, now consolidated with Valparaiso University. He was thus provided with liberal educational advantages and when his textbooks were put aside he returned to the work of the farm, in which he was busily engaged until 1896. In that year he removed to Iowa, where he taught school for three years. Mr. Martin next came to South Dakota in 1899 and continued in school work for three years, proving a capable educator. He next turned his attention to the carpenter's trade and the grain business, being active in both lines at Junius. In 1908 he was elected sheriff of Lake county for a term of four years and in that position discharged his duties with promptness and fidelity, retiring from the office as he had entered it-with the confidence and goodwill of all con- cerned. He then turned his attention to the real-estate and collection business, in which he continued actively until appointed by the city commission to the office of justice of the peace. He was also elected secretary of the Commercial Club in November, 1913, and in both connections, widely diverse as they are, he furthered the best interests of the city, for he stands at all times for progress, improvement, justice, truth and advancement. In April, 1915, be resigned both offices and now devotes his time to general real-estate business.

In November, 1906, Mr. Martin was joined in wedlock to Miss Mary McGillivray, her parents being D. M. and Christie (MeCloud) McGillivray. Her father was a well known pioneer and successful agriculturist of Lake county, now residing south of Junius, South Dakota. Our subject and his wife have three children, Harlan L., Lester M., and Helen C.

In his political views Mr. Martin is an earnest republican, having supported the party since age conferred upon him the right of franchise. He has held a number of township offices in addition to those already mentioned. He belongs to the Odd Fellows society and the Modern Brotherhood of America, and his religious faith is that of the Presbyterian church.

JAMES B. CLARK.

James B. Clark is today the oldest merchant of Gettysburg in years of connection with the business to which he devotes almost his entire time. He was born in Harrison county, Ohio, on the 1st of December, 1846, and is a son of Joseph and Sarah (Dunlap) Clark. The father, a native of Washington county, Pennsylvania, was born in 1803, while the mother's birth occurred in Harrison county, Ohio, in 1812. He removed from the Keystone state to

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the Buckeye state and there engaged in farming for many years, both he and his wife pass- ing away in Harrison county, the former in 1884 and the latter in 1893.

James B. Clark was the eldest of a family of four children born of his father's second marriage and there was only one child of his father's first marriage. The mother had also been married before and had one child. James B. Clark attended school in Harrison county and remained at home until he reached his majority, after which he began work for others on Ohio farms. In the year 1870 he went to Missouri, where he spent two years, after which he returned to Ohio. He was then married and a little later removed to Pawnee county, Nebraska, where he resided for five years, his time being devoted to general agrienl- tural pursuits. In the spring of 1883 he came to South Dakota, and settled in Potter county, where he secured a traet of land and engaged in farming, remaining on that place until January, 1891, when he was elected to the office of register of deeds, which position he filled for four years. He then engaged in general merchandising and has since carried on the business, being today the oldest merchant in Gettysburg. He has a well appointed store, carefully selects his stock to meet the wishes of his patrons and has secured a liberal and growing patronage. He devotes his entire time to his business affairs and in addition to his store he is the owner of land in Potter county, together with business and residence property in Gettysburg.

On the 14th of April, 1875, Mr. Clark was joined in wedlock to Miss Mary J. Jamison, who was born in Harrison county, Ohio, a daughter of William and Sarah (Mahollin) Jamison. The father probably came from Ireland but the mother was a native of Harrison county. Both have passed away, the father dying in 1863 and the mother in 1900. Mr. and Mrs. Clark became the parents of three children: Carrie Maud, now the wife of John E. Sparling, a farmer residing in Montana: Nellie M., who is a bookkeeper in the First National Bank at Valier, Montana: and Sarah Elizabeth, who is principal of the high school at St. Cloud, Minnesota. She was educated in Redfield College and has been very successful as a teacher.

Mr. Clark, who is a thirty-second degree Mason, is a past master of the blue lodge at Gettysburg and is identified with the Scottish Rite at Aberdeen. He is also connected with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Ancient Order of United Workmen and has passed through all the chairs in the former organization at Gettysburg. In politics he is an earnest republican and in addition to serving as register of deeds in Potter county for four years has served for a considerable period as alderman of Gettysburg, being called to that office on the organization of the town and so continuing until 1913. He is neglect ful of no public duty and his ability and fidelity have gained for him the warm regard and support of his fellow townsmen. He has taken an active part in the upbuilding of the north- west and the development of the state has been largely furthered hy his earnest, persistent efforts.

MAGNUS SWENSON.

Magnus Swenson, a retired agriculturist still residing on his splendidly improved farm in Red Rock township, Minnehaha county, where he has now made his home for more than four decades, enjoys distinction as one of the early pioneers of South Dakota. His birth occurred in Sweden on the 27th of July, 1836, his parents being Swen and Permila Munson, both of whom are deceased.

In the acquirement of an education Magnus Swenson attended the common schools of Sweden, in which country he spent the first thirty-two years of his life. In 1868, desirous of testing the truth of the many favorable reports which had reached him concerning the advantages of the new world, he crossed the Atlantic to the United States and took up his abode in Ottumwa, Iowa, where he worked on the railroad for four years, On the expira- tion of that period he came to South Dakota, making his way direct to Sioux Falls, where he arrived in 1873. He took up a preemption claim on section 9, Brandon township, and subsequently traded that property for one hundred and sixty acres of land on section 18, Red Rock township, which is still in his possession. He also homesteaded another tract of one hundred and sixty acres on section 18, Red Rock township, and here devoted his atten- tion to general agricultural pursuits throughout the remainder of his active business career. Mr. Swenson underwent all the hardships and trials of frontier existence, experiencing the

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grasshopper plague and droughts and suffering the rigors of severe winters. As the years have passed, however, he has enjoyed the comforts and conveniences that have come in the wake of advancing civilization, and he has long been numbered among the representative and substantial citizens of his community. He is one of the stockholders of the Corson Elevator Company.

On the 26th of December, 1877, Mr. Swenson was united in marriage to Miss Agnes Carl- son, a daughter of Carl and Petronella Gilbranson. She is a native of Norway, born in 1853, and came with her parents to America in 1874. She was married in Luverne, South Dakota, but was then a resident of Flandreau. Mr. and Mrs. Swenson began their married life in true pioneer style, their first home being a sod house of one room and its furnishings were primitive. For both heating and cooking the fuel used was twisted hay. Often in the early days the snow was so deep in winter that steps had to be cut for the cows to get into the sod barn. Money was very scarce and Mr. Swenson once walked to Valley Springs, a dis- tance of seven miles, to buy a nickel's worth of tobacco. At that time he hauled grain to Worthington by ox team. To Mr. and Mrs. Swenson were born the following children who are still living, Albert, Emil, Samuel, Mabel, Esther and Nellie, while two sons and a dangh- ter have passed away. Emil is now engaged in farming in Brandon township, and Samuel, who is a wide-awake, energetic young man, has charge of the home farm.

Mr. Swenson exercises his right of franchise in support of the men and measures of the republican party and has held a number of township offices, ever discharging his public duties in a highly satisfactory and commendable manner. His religious faith is that of the Lutheran church, to which his wife and children also belong. He has now passed the seventy- ninth milestone on life's journey and enjoys the veneration and respect which should ever be accorded one who has traveled thus far on this earthly pilgrimage and whose career has been at all times upright and honorable.

MISS MARGARET BRISCOE.

Miss Margaret Briscoe, the popular and efficient superintendent of schools of Potter county, is a well known resident of Gettysburg. She is a native of this state, her birth having occurred at Blunt, Hughes county, and is a daughter of John and Ellen (Cunningham) Briscoe. Her father was born in Ottawa, Illinois, January 13, 1851, and her mother in County Down, Ireland, February 26, 1854. Mrs. Briscoe emigrated to this country with an aunt when she was a child of about twelve years and here grew to womanhood, her marriage occurring in Illinois. The Briscoe family continued to reside in that state until March, 1883, when a removal was made to Hughes county, South Dakota, the father having taken up a homestead north of Blunt. They resided in Blunt during the winters hut during the other seasons of the year lived upon the farm. Mr. Briscoe brought his land to a high state of cultivation and engaged in farming and stock-raising until 1913, when the family home was established in Gettysburg. He continued to reside there until his death, which occurred March 27, 1914. His widow is still living in that town. They were the parents of seven children: Henry James, who resides upon a farm near Gorman, this state; Mary, who passed away in 1899, when abont twenty-two years of age; Anna, the wife of Albert Ripley, who resides upon a ranch near Cole Springs, South Dakota: Joseph, who is living on a ranch at Brayton, this state; Margaret, of this review; Frank, who is also ranching at Cole Springs; and Laura, who is teaching in the schools of Clark, this state.

Miss Margaret Briscoe completed the course offered in the public schools of Potter county and was for one year a student in the Gettysburg high school and for three years attended the State Normal School at Aberdeen. When but sixteen years of age she began teaching in Sully county, where she taught for two terms, after which she was for a year a teacher in Potter county. She then continued her education in the high school of Gettysburg and the State Normal and after leaving the latter institution followed her profession in Potter county until the fall of 1913. She then taught in the grammar room at Wessington for one year, after which she was elected to the position of superintendent of schools of Potter county, taking office in January, 1915. She now devotes her whole time and attention to the import- ant duties devolving upon her in that capacity and has already demonstrated her fitness for

MISS MARGARET BRISCOE

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the place. Her long experience in educational work has given her a practical knowledge of the conditions in the public schools and of the possibilities for improvement and through understanding the problems that confront the teachers under her she has ably worked with them to the hest advantage.

Miss Briscoe is a democrat and her religious faith is that of the Roman Catholic church. Fraternally she belongs to Lodge No. 36 of the Degree of Honor at Gettysburg. She is not only a capable teacher and superintendent but she is also a good business woman and owns valuable town property in Gettysburg. Her entire life has been passed in South Dakota and she has thoroughly identified her interests with those of the state and of her community, and as county superintendent she is doing all within her power to further the public good tbrough improving the schools.

CHARLES LEAVITT HYDE.

Pierre, which justly merits the title of "the city beautiful" owes its development and upbuilding in large measure to the efforts and support of Charles Leavitt Hyde who never for a moment loses faith in the future of the city because he reckons upon known conditions and the natural resources of the surrounding country. Moreover he is a capitalist and busi- ness man of marked ability, his keen insight, sound judgment and unfaltering energy enabling bim to pass many upon life's journey who perhaps started out under more advantageous cir- cumstances. He has made his time and talents count to the utmost and never in all of his successful business career has he forgotten his duties of citizenship nor failed to give more than adequate return for the privileges which be enjoys as a resident of this fair land.

He was born in Pike county, Illinois, June 23, 1861, a son of James Franklin and Har- riett (Blake) Hyde. The father was descended from English ancestors who established their home in Connecticut in colonial days. He was born in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, in 1813, and when a youth of six years accompanied his parents on their removal to Ohio, where they remained until he was twenty-three years of age. At that time the family home was estab- lished in Pittsfield, Pike county, Illinois, but afterward James Franklin Hyde removed to Lincoln, Logan county, Illinois, where he made his home for forty-six years. In early life he took up the profession of school teaching which he followed for an extensive period, con- tributing much to the educational progress of the communities in which he lived. In his later years he was considered a most proficient expert accountant and was the author of a popular volume upon bookkeeping and accounts. For twenty years he served as county treas- urer of Pike county, Illinois, and likewise filled many municipal positions, serving in the city of Lincoln as a member of the city council and city comptroller. He was also city treas- urer for more than twenty years, retiring from that position in May, 1911, when he had reached the remarkable old age of ninety-seven and a half years. He took the office at a time when most men are considered long past their prime and when the weaknesses and inability of old age are upon the great majority. He handled more than one million dollars of the public money of Lincoln after he was eighty years of age. He was a remarkable mathematician and a seemingly tireless worker, doing more than two men's clerical work up to his ninety-fifth year. He was elected treasurer for his last term when ninety-six years of age and on retiring from the position on the 1st of May, 1911, he turned over to his successor public funds amounting to almost fifty thousand dollars. His fellow towns- men whom be had so honorably and faithfully served paid him a beautiful tribute on his ninety-third birthday, at which time he was undoubtedly the oldest municipal officer in the United States in sole and active charge of such a responsible office. After his retirement from office in May, 1911, he came to Pierre, South Dakota, where he died later in the same year.

James F. Hyde was twice married. He lost his first wife in 1850 and two years later wedded Harriett L. Blake, of Erie, Pennsylvania, who was born in Maine, in 1832, and comes of Irish ancestry. She is now living at Long Beach, California, in the enjoyment of good health. By this marriage there were three children, but the daughter, Clara, died in early life. The elder son, Franklin R. Hyde, is living in Winnipeg, Manitoba, while the younger son, Charles Leavitt Hyde, is the immediate subject of this review.

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James F. Hyde was an honored member of the Masonic fraternity for more than three score years and ten, having joined the order in Barry lodge, Illinois, when twenty-four years of age. In writing of Mr. Hyde one of the local papers said: "Of Mr. J. F. Hyde an elaborate eulogy is not needed. In his life a model has been set up before us of what all lives ought to be. To tell what this means would be to repeat the whole life story, and it is only neces- sary to sum it up in a few words. 'To bring into our lives these virtues and graces which made him a perfect example to follow.' There was an absolute rectitude about that life that those who have scanned it only for a short time, as with a microscope, cannot find a flaw. There was no rush, no worry about his daily life, because he put the responsibility where it belonged, on the shoulders of his God. Kindness was a predominant trait in his character. He was gentle, conscientious, upright. He shunned publicity, but his nobility and steadfastness of purpose, his loyalty to friends and duty, caused all to realize that in his death we have lost a truly great man. A public officer for many years, his life is known to all and his actions and accomplishments are inseparably interwoven with the his- tory of the locality in which he lived so well. He gave his strength and his talents unspar- ingly to his work, and this united with conscientious industry that never wavered, brought to him in full measure, success in whatever he did. We sorrowfully tender out heartfelt sym- pathy to the members of his family, especially to the faithful wife whose love and friend- ship for the husband has never been broken until now, and whose devotion to the duty that has been before her so many weeks, has won that respect and affection which her exemplary character so richly merits."

While James F. Hyde resided in Pierre for only a brief period, his son, Charles Leavitt Hyde, has been a resident of South Dakota since 1887 and has left the impress of his indi- viduality and ability upon its material growth and upbuilding. He is today one of the most prominent and influential citizens of the state. He supplemented his public school education, acquired in his native county, by three years' study in the Presbyterian College at Lincoln, Illinois, but did not graduate on account of a partial failure of his eye sight due to too close application to his books. He was a youth of seventeen when he went to Colorado, where he was employed as a farm hand or cowboy. Between the ages of nineteen and twenty-four years he was a traveling salesman for a hardware house and a newspaper reporter. In 1886 he was married and established his home in Lima, Ohio, where he engaged in merchandising for a year.

In 1887 Mr. Hyde arrived in South Dakota and has since been engaged in the real-estate business, largely developing and selling his own properties. He is still the holder of extensive landed interests, having altogether about forty thousand acres, most of which lies in South Dakota, He is likewise the owner of much improved city realty, having business blocks in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and Duluth, Minnesota, in addition to his extensive holdings in Pierre. In 1906 he built the Pierre Grand Opera House, which at the time was the best in the state, and in 1910 he erected the St. Charles Hotel of Pierre at a cost of two hundred thousand dollars. It is a fire proof structure containing two hundred rooms and would be a credit to a city of much larger size. In addition to handling farm lands and improving the city real estate, Mr. Hyde was extensively engaged in raising cattle, in the milling business and in banking. He has been the owner of an excellent flour mill equipped with the most modern appointments. Several times he has taken full train loads of cattle from Pierre to the Chi- cago markets and that branch of his business has been an extensive and profitable one. In 1890 he assisted in the organization of the National Bank of Commerce, which has been Pierre's largest bank. In 1907 he organized the American Exchange Bank of Pierre and in 1909 organized the First National Life Insurance Company of Pierre, with a paid up capital of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. He became its president and is still the presi- dent of the American Exchange Bank of Pierre. It has been written of him: "Mr. Hyde's financial career has been most successful, the results solely of his own perseverance, fore- thought and integrity. Though he is but a young man and it is but a few years since he was working for a few dollars a month, he is today one of the heaviest taxpayers of our state." His unbounded faith in the future possibilities of Pierre is shown in the fact that he has built nine large handsome brick business blocks and the unique and interesting part is that there has never been a mortgage placed against any of them, a record heretofore unheard of or unequaled in the United States.

In addition to all of his other activities Mr. Hyde published a little paper called the

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Pierre Rustler, the entire object of which was the exploitation of the interests, opportunities and resources of Pierre and the surrounding country. His greatest ambition is to see Pierre a large and beautiful city, whose people embody high ideals of right and citizenship. Statistics show that western South Dakota has a greater rainfall, richer soil, milder winters, more pleasant summers and larger undeveloped resources than one-third of Europe with over one hundred million people where land is worth from one hundred dollars to eight hundred dollars an acre. The country offers splendid opportunities, affording excellent pasturage and grazing land for live stock, an unlimited supply of natural gas which is used, not only for lighting and heating, but also for power; good coal mines and a largely ideal climate. South Dakota has been termed the sunshine state, having two thousand nine hundred and forty- four hours of sunshine as compared to two thousand one hundred and fourteen in Cali- fornia. There are splendid mineral springs near Pierre, and the soil and climate are adapted to the production of all the cereals grown in the temperate zone. Knowing all these things, Mr. Hyde has been an enthusiastic advocate of Pierre's opportunities and her possibilities. No city in the Union perhaps of similar size can display as fine business blocks, public build- ings and homes.

It was in Warren, Ohio, in 1886, that Mr. Hyde was united in marriage to Miss Katherine L. Robinson, a daughter of William Robinson, and they have become the parents of five children, three sous and two daughters. Ruth, born in 1890, was graduated from the Uni- versity of Chicago with the class of 1912. Charles L., born in 1892, was graduated from Beloit (Wis.) College in 1913. Dorothy, born in 1896, completed the course in the Pierre High School at the age of fifteen. Franklin R., born in 1901, had a severe accident in 1912, when he took the full current of twenty-two hundred volts city electricity but he survived and is now strong and well, more than one hundred inches of buman skin having been suc- cessfully grafted onto his wounds. The youngest of the family, Theodore, was born in 1904.

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History of Dakota Territory, volume V, Part 51

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