History of Dakota Territory, volume V, Part 68

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 17th of January, 1880, Mr. Gratt was united in marriage to Miss Katie Klein, a daughter of Bartley Klem, who was one of the pioneer residents of Minnesota and one of the first settlers of Lake county, South Dakota. The children of this marriage are: Frank, who now operates the old homestead; Dora, the wife of Peter Fleissner; George, who is with his father; May, the wife of Claud Alverson; Lawrence; Annie, the wife of Thomas Jnr- gensen; Marvin; Klein; Barbara; and Raymond.

The religious faith of the family is that of the Catholic church. Mr. Graff gives his political allegiance to the republican party and has been almost continuously in township offices since the township was organized. He was a school officer for twelve years and is interested in much that pertains to the welfare and advancement not only of his community but of the state. Fraternally he is connected with the Odd Fellows and the Modern Wood- men. He is a devotee of the automobile and finds his recreation in motoring. For thirty- five years he has made his home in Lake county and is, indeed, one of the valued citizens as well as pioneers. His worth to the community is widely recognized, for his business activities have been along lines that have contributed to public progress as well as to individual success.

ANDREW JAMES COGAN.

Andrew James Cogan, one of Dakota's early journalists but now devoting his attention principally to agricultural pursuits, was born in Newark, New Jersey, on the 4th of Janu- ary, 1856, and is a son of Michael and Bridget (Cole) Cogan. The birth of the father occurred near Saratoga, New York, and he belonged to an old colonial family that settled in the northern part of that state when it was still a vast wilderness. He died shortly after the birth of our subject, leaving the responsibility of rearing the son to his young widow. After spending about a year in Wisconsin Mrs. Cogan with her infant son removed to Pike county, Missouri, in 1858. There they resided during the stormy period of the Civil war, their sym- pathies being with the northern cause. Had our subject been of an age acceptable to the recruiting officers he would have entered the service and fought for the preservation of the Union. His uncle Barney, then eighteen years old, was the eighth volunteer to enlist in a company formed in Pike county and he continued in the service throughout the war. Both he and his brother Timothy were wounded in one of the last battles and for months were in a hospital in Alabama, during which time they were mourned among the dead.

Owing to the disorganized condition of the schools in Missouri at that time Andrew J. Cogan's educational advantages were very limited and he was only able to attend school for two years, either in Missouri or Dakota. He has, however, acquired a good practical educa- tion by reading and study and took a course in a commercial college at Madison. Wisconsin. It was in 1869 that he came to this state with his mother. who joined her brother at Bon Homme.

Here Mr. Cogan later established the Bon Homme Democrat, the second democratic journal published north and west of Sioux City, Iowa. It was only a small four page, three column paper, the make-up being seven by nine inches and the first issue bearing date early in August, 1876. The following year the paper was enlarged to a four page, seven column folio and christened the Bon Homme Citizen. On the 28th of February, 1880, Mr. Cogan removed his entire plant, including the building, presses and equipment, to Scotland, every- thing being loaded on four wagons and hauled to its destination. He left Bon Homme at ten o'clock in the morning and reached the outskirts of Scotland at nightfall. The next fore- noon the building with its contents were set up and business was resumed. The following year, however, Mr. Cogan sold out to M. H. Day & Company, whose successors still conduet the paper under the name of the Citizen-Republican.

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On retiring from journalism Mr. Cogan returned to the farm near Bon Homme, where he engaged in agricultural pursuits until 1910, when he filed a homestead traet in Meade county and secured an additional quarter section under a "desert claim." This was further increased by a half section secured in 1914 under the enlarged homestead law, and he now has a fine traet of farming and grazing land, to the improvement and cultivation of which he is devoting his energies. However, he still owns his farm in Bon Homme county.

On the 29th of February, 1876, Mr. Cogan was united in marriage to Miss Emma M. Boyle, an adopted danghter of Judge Boyle, and to them have been born eight ehildren, six of whom are still living. Beatrice is now the wife of Peter McDonald, by whom she has four children, and they live in Meade county. Agnes is the wife of Charles F. Sisson, making his home near Sioux Falls, and they also have four children. Paul, who lives in Meade county, is married and has three children. Evaline is the wife of Edward M. Mitchell, of Forest- burg, South Dakota, and has one child. William B., a resident of Fort Clark, North Dakota, married Josephine Brasda and they have one child. May is the wife of Everett Jones, of Springfield, and they have two children. Mrs. Cogan passed away February 12, 1894, and in 1899 Mr. Cogan married Miss Fanny Dostal, who died March 27, 1908, leaving two chil- dren, Clara Anna and Frances Lillian.

Mr. Cogan was reared in the Catholic faith and is a member of the Knights of the Macca- hees. He has been a lifelong democrat, supporting that party through the columns of his paper and hy personal influence. When he entered journalism democrats were not so plentiful in Dakota as they are at the present time. He has seen almost the entire development and upbuilding of this state and can relate many interesting incidents of pioneer days. He well remembers the severe blizzards of April, 1873, and that of October beginning the "winter of the deep snows" with its attending floods of the following spring. He also recalls the severe, though short, storm of January 12, 1888, when many human beings as well as stock lost their lives. One of his memory pietures is that of Custer and his men, who for a fortnight camped near Bon Homme on their way to annihilation a few months later in the disastrous battle of Wyoming in the spring of 1876. Sitting Bull and other noted Indians were friends of Mr. Cogan in the early territorial days. As a young man he was employed in building churches on the Yankton reservation at Greenwood, Swan Village and Choteau Creek. He is widely and favorably known and has a host of friends in South Dakota.

DEWITT C. BOOTH.

A native of New York, DeWitt C. Booth was born in the Mohawk valley, August 5, 1867, the youngest of a family of six children, four sons and two daughters, born to George and Ellen (Fearon) Booth. Mr. Booth's paternal grandparents were William and Elizabeth Booth, of English ancestry, while his maternal grandparents were Edward and Nellie (Pren- tis) Fearon, of Scotch-Irish ancestry. The subject of this sketch attended the public schools of New York state and later pursned a course at Colgate Academy, Hamilton, New York, one of the most thorough schools in the east. While a young man, Mr. Booth's parents located in Chicago which thereafter was their home. After some business experience in the head office of one of the leading railway systems in Chicago, Mr. Booth was appointed to a posi- tion in the United States treasury department with headquarters at Chicago. During the Columbian Exposition at Chicago, he was detailed to the customs division which had full charge of all the foreign exhibits and was therefore in close touch with the most interesting features of the World's Fair, an experience not only unique but of rare educational value.

Although the treasury department of the government is looked upon as the most desir- able in the service, the out-of-door life as well as the interesting and valnable work of the fish commission, now the bureau of fisheries, department of commerce, appealed more strongly than routine office work and therefore Mr. Booth sought and obtained a position in that service. After considerable experience in the commercial fisheries of the Great Lakes, the marine varieties along the Atlantic coast and the Salmonidae of the western states, Mr. Booth was appointed superintendent of the new fish cultural station then under construction at Spearfish, South Dakota, in 1899, being the youngest superintendent in the entire service. The territory covered by the fish cultural station at Spearfish is probably more extensive

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than any other in the country. None but the coarser varieties of fish were native to the waters throughout the whole section and the excellent fishing at present is due to the results of artificial tish culture. As the pioneer in fish culture in this section of the northwest, Mr. Booth had necessarily to meet at first hand and solve many new problems along his line of work. The natural fish cultural conditions in Yellowstone National Park were in many respects very similar to those of the Black Hills and acting under departmental orders Mr. Booth investigated the fish cultural possibilities there during the early spring of 1901. IIc soon thereafter started the first fish hatchery in the history of the park and stocked with several varieties of trout all suitable waters throughout that scenic wonderland. In the development of the fish cultural station there Mr. Booth made thirteen annual trips to and spent ten summers in Yellowstone National Park and built up the largest trout egg collecting station in the world. Probably no two places in the country today offer greater attractions to the disciples of Izaak Walton than Yellowstone National Park, the wonderland of Wyoming, and the Black Hills, the wonderland of the Dakotas. When, however, it is under- stood that the waters of hoth these places were practically without fish life under natural conditions the success of artificial fish culture is fully demonstrated. The Spearfish fish cultural station is engaged in the propagation of the Salmonidae exclusively and the follow- ing varieties are handled, brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis), Loch Leven trout (Salmo trutta levenensis), rainbow trout (Salmo irideus), blackspotted trout (Salmo mykiss lewisii), steel- head or salmon trout (Salmo gairdneri), lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) and land- locked salmon (Salmo salar sebago). Since the establishment of the fish cultural station at Spearfish many millions of fish and eyed fish eggs have been distributed from that point, shipments having been made to seventeen different states besides those forwarded to the British Isles, Alaska and Yellowstone National Park. In the line of enhancing the natural resources of the country, Mr. Booth has therefore been a prominent factor in the upbuilding of the northwest.

During 1901, Mr. Booth was united in marriage to Miss Ruby Elizabeth Hine, a daugh- ter of Senator James W. and Emma (Barnum) Hine, of Detroit, Michigan, and they have two children, Edward Fearon and Katharine Barnum Booth now attending the training school of the South Dakota State Normal at Spearfish.

Mr. Booth is a thirty-second degree Mason, a Knight Templar, a Shriner and a past master and a past high priest, having received the Master Mason degree in New York in 1897. Mr. Booth is well versed in the scientific as well as the practical phases of his line and his opinions on fish cultural problems, especially those relating to the Salmonidae are widely accepted as authority.

ANDREW C. BERG.

Andrew C. Berg is one of the partners in the firm of Berg & Estensen, who carry on a general merchandise and hardware business in Sherman. They have one of the leading busi- ness houses of Minnehaha county and are accorded a liberal patronage, which is drawn not only from the town of Sherman but also from the surrounding country.

Mr. Berg was born in Norway in 1860, a son of Christopher A. and Agata Berg, who brought their family to the United States in 1872. They first located in Michigan, but in 1874 came to South Dakota, locating in Highland township, Minnehaha county. The father homesteaded land on section 19 and took up a tree claim on section 32. He continued to cultivate his land until 1907, when he removed to Sherman, where he is still residing. His wife, however, has passed away.

Andrew (. Berg was educated in the common schools and after laying aside his text- books assisted his father in the work of the farm until 1888, when he entered upon his career as a merchant. Beginning with a small stock, the firm of Berg & Estensen has grad- ually added to the lines of merchandise carried, and as their business methods are above reproach, it is but natural that theirs is now one of the leading stores of the county. In addition to his connection with this business Mr. Berg is president of the Farmers Elevator.

Mr. Berg was married in 1886 to Miss Emma Estensen, a daughter of E. and Christina Estensen, and they have become the parents of the following children: Alma Charlotte,

MR. AND MRS. ANDREW C. BERG

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now Mrs. J. A. Johnson; Emily Mabel Louise, the wife of Helmer Docken; Curtis Leroy, deceased; and Ethel Lillian. All of the children were born in South Dakota.

The family give their religious allegiance to the Lutheran church and are among the prominent members of the congregation in Sherman. Mr. Berg supports the platform and candidates of the republican party and is chairman of the school board, doing much to further the cause of public education. He still owns the homestead, although he resides in Sher- man, and maintains a keen interest in the agricultural development of this section of the state as well as in the maintenance of good business conditions in Sherman. He has found in this country opportunities for advancement, and as he has utilized them, he is now one of the most prosperous and esteemed men of his community.

JOHN W. ADDIE.

John W. Addie has won success as an attorney and is well known and highly esteemed m Armour, where he is located. His birth occurred in Cresco, Iowa, on the 4th of April, 1872, and he is a son of John and Christina Addie. The family removed to South Dakota in 1884 and located in Spink county, where the father took up a homestead and also a tree claim. He followed agricultural pursuits there until 1902, when he removed to Wisconsin, where he is still farming. His wife is also living.

John W. Addie attended the district schools in his boyhood and was subsequently a student in the normal department of Redfield College, where he completed the prescribed course. He then matriculated in the State University of South Dakota, which conferred upon him the Bachelor of Science degree in 1899. He then followed the profession of teach- ing for four years and was for some time principal of schools in Armour. He was elected county superintendent, which office he held for four years. In 1904 he was admitted to the bar and has since engaged in the practice of the legal profession. He has built up a large clientage and holds the confidence and respect not only of the general public but also of his professional brethren. For six years he filled the office of county judge and for four years he was states attorney.

Mr. Addie married Miss Mary Hess, a daughter of E. A. Hess. Our subject is a stanch republican in politics and takes a deep interest in everything relating to the public welfare, an interest which is manifested by his membership in the Commercial Club. His fraternal affiliations are with the Modern Woodmen of America and with the Masonic order, in which he has taken the eighteenth degree in the consistory at Yankton. He is recognized as a successful attorney and as a valued citizen of Armour.

EDWARD O'CONNELL.

Edward O'Connell, who follows farming on section 11, Orland township, is one of the best known and most progressive agriculturists and stock-raisers of Lake county. He occupies a beautiful home in the midst of a highly cultivated farm and the place is pervaded with an air of prosperity that is indicative of his careful supervision and intelligently directed efforts. A native of Wisconsin, he was born on the 3d of June, 1868, and is a son of Thomas and Anna (Fox) O'Connell. The father died in Wisconsin and the mother afterward removed with her family to South Dakota, where she homesteaded a claim, which has since been developed into a good farm, upon which she still resides.

Edward O'Connell acquired a district school education and assisted in the work of the home farm until he came to this state in 1882. He secured a tree claim, covering the north- east quarter of section 15, Orland township, Lake county, and as opportunity has offered has added to his land until he is now the possessor of four hundred and eighty acres which he personally cultivates, devoting the greater part of the farm to the raising of cereals best adapted to soil and climate. He also makes stock-raising an important feature of his busi- ness, has a fine herd of thirty head of cattle and also raises Percheron horses. He has made splendid improvements upon his farm, has erected a fine modern residence, commodious, sub-

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stantial and attractive in appearance, and has built good barns and outbuildings, which fur- nish ample shelter for grain and stock. He has secured all modern farm implements and machinery, has fenced his land and divided it into fields of convenient size. He practices the rotation of crops and all other modern methods of scientific farming and the results are most gratifying. In addition to his work on the farm he is a stockholder in the Rural Tele- phone Company.

On the 12th of January, 1902, Mr. O'Connell was united in marriage to Miss Mary A. Timlin, a daughter of Thomas Timlin, of Wisconsin, and their children are: Clare, Gertrude, Nora and Edward. The family are Catholics in religious faith and Mr. O'Connell is very active in Catholic circles. In politics he is a democrat. He favors good roads and contrib- uted two hundred dollars for the building of the Meridian road. He stands at all times for progress and improvement in everything connected with South Dakota's development and upbuilding and is one of the progressive citizens of Lake county.

JAMES JOHNSON MCINTIRE.

James Johnson MeIntire, now deceased, devoted many years to educational work both in the schoolroom and in the pulpit and his life was one of far-reaching influence and bene- fit. He was born in Franklin, New York, September 22, 1827, and died at Sioux Falls, South Dakota, December 20, 1902, after an illness of three months resulting from injuries sustained while serving in the Union army. He was a son of Nathaniel and Miranda (Goodrich) McIntyre, the former a native of Massachusetts and of Scotch descent, representing an ancestry connected with the early history of this country. The mother was born in Walton, Delaware county, New York, and came of a family of notable social prominence and culture.

The father died when James J. MeIntire was a small boy, after which he earned his own hving. Thrown upon his own resources when less than ten years of age, he one day sat upon a doorstep and watched a man pass by who was under the influence of liquor. He said to himself: "No one respects that man, and why? Who decides one's position in life?" He followed out his line of thought and then and there pledged his life to the upbuilding of things pure and right, not only setting a standard for himself but resolving to influence as far as possible the lives of those around him. To this resolution he faithfully adhered to his dying day. Through his own efforts he obtained a common-school education and in 1847 entered Colgate University, where he remained as a student for three years. He then pursued a three years' course at Rochester University, from which he was graduated in 1853 with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. He later pursued a year's work in the theological depart- ment of the seminary at Rochester. In his boyhood he served as a blacksmith's apprentice and thoroughly learned the business, the knowledge of which served him many a good turn during pioneer times. He was licensed to preach hy the Olean (N. Y.) Baptist church in 1847 and while continuing his university work spent many of his Sundays and his vacation periods in preaching. He left the university for a year in order to teach a school "that no one could manage" and after conquering the situation he resumed his studies. In 1852 he was commissioned by the Erie Canal Bethel Society for missionary work along the canal, west of Rochester, and in 1854 he was ordained a minister of the gospel by the Pembroke (N. Y.) Baptist church, where he remained as pastor for two years. He then accepted a pastorate in Berlin, Wisconsin, where he also occupied the position of principal of the public schools. In 1860 he removed to Watertown, Wisconsin, where he was pastor for two years. He then went to Waterloo, Wisconsin, where he led in the building of a church, in which he conducted a school for five years. This school was called the Waterloo Institute. Still later he was principal of the academy at Marshall, Wisconsin, for three years and through the following years was principal of the Walworth Academy, after which he severed his con- nections with Wisconsin to become a resident of Dakota territory.

In the fall of 1871 Mr. MeIntire secured a homestead in what is now Turner county, South Dakota, and did pioneer missionary work there for five years. Subsequently he went to Towa and for a year had charge of the public schools in Floyd and for two years continued as principal of the schools at Janesville, Iowa. In 1882 he became pastor of the Baptist church at Shell Rock, where he remained for several years, after which he returned to South

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Dakota and for five years was principal of the Hurley public schools. He next accepted the pastorate of the Baptist church at Spencer, where he remained until 1899, when he retired and took up his abode in East Sioux Falls.

The Rev. MeIntire was twice married. On the 26th of December, 1850, at Ellicottville, New York, he wedded Miss Sarah Swartz, a daughter of George and Margaret (Berry) Swartz. To them were born seven children, as follows: Edgar James, who married Miss Ella Hart; Charles and Alva, who died in infancy; Mary Elizabeth, who gave her hand in marriage to Oscar Elce; Nettie Irene, the wife of David High; Carrie Morean, who became the wife of Charles F. Hackett; and Daniel W., who married Miss Julia Olsen. The wife and mother passed away in 1877 and the following year Rev. MeIntire was again married, his second union being with Miss Mina G. Vandemark, of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, a daugh- ter of Henry and Mary Vandemark. They became the parents of two children: Hazel, who became the wife of Jolin Moses; and Lewis.

In politics Mr. McIntire was a republican, voting with the party. In matters of citizen- ship he stood for all that was progressive and right. He was a strong advocate of the temperance cause and at the time of the Civil war he gave indisputable evidence of his loyalty to his country by raising a company of which he was appointed captain. Soon after- ward, however, he was commissioned superintendent of refugees and chaplain of the Forty- ninthi Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, in which connections he continued until the close of the war. The public offices that he has filled have been in the educational field. He was county superintendent of schools in Turner county in 1873-4 and in the following year was chosen superintendent of public instruction for the territory of Dakota, filling that position for two years and doing much to shape the educational development of the state during its formative period. He became a charter member of Hurley Lodge, No. 75, I. O. O. F., at Hurley, South Dakota, and in 1894 was appointed grand chaplain of that order, which position he filled continuously to the time of his demise. He was also chaplain of the South Dakota Depart- ment of the Grand Army of the Republic. The little bronze button which he wore was not only indicative of his service in defense of the Union during the Civil war but was also an evidence of a patriotie citizenship that manifested itself in continuous effort to aid in the material, political, intellectual and moral progress of the individual and of the common- wealth at large.

LARS LARSON.

Lars Larson is the proprietor of a furniture and undertaking establishment at Mobridge, where he embarked in business in 1909, having now one of the best stores west of Aberdeen. He was born in Norway, September 22, 1860, and is a son of Lars and Regina Larson, who were also natives of the land of the midnight sun, where their entire lives were passed. In their family were ten children, of whom five are yet living, and three of the number still remain in Norway.

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History of Dakota Territory, volume V, Part 68

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