History of Dakota Territory, volume V, Part 94

Author: Kingsbury, George Washington, 1837-; Smith, George Martin, 1847-1920
Publication date: 1915
Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : S.J. Clarke Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 1262

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Mr. Barber is a republican in polities and takes an active interest in public affairs.

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Fraternally he belongs to the Masonic blue lodge at Onida, in which he is junior deacon, and to the Royal Arch Chapter at Pierre. He recognizes the claims of religion and is at present serving as superintendent of the Union Sunday school at Onida. No plan which is designed to further the moral and civic welfare of his community lacks his heartiest cooperation, and he is also ready to aid in efforts to secure the commercial and financial growth and expan- sion of his community. He is a man of well balanced interests and is recognized as a valued citizen of the community.

BERTRAND M. HART, M. D.

Dr. Bertrand M. Hart is a successful physician and surgeon practicing at Blunt and is also engaged in the drug business there. He was born at Beloit. Wisconsin, November 19, 1876, and is a son of George D. and Lucy (Tuxtberry) Hart. The father was born in the southern part of New York on the 29th of May, 1846, and the mother's birth occurred in northern Pennsylvania, June 6, 1849. In early manhood George D. Hart followed the butcher's trade but after removing to South Dakota in 1892 he engaged in farming near Doland. Spink county, until 1902, when, feeling that he had accumulated sufficient of this world's goods, he retired from active life and removed to Beloit, Wisconsin, where he is still living. During the Civil war he served in Company F, Seventeenth Wisconsin Regiment, and was at the front for three years. He was wounded and for some time was confined in a hospital. To him and his wife, who is also living, were born fourteen children, of whom the subject of this review is the fifth in order of birth.

Bertrand M. Hart received his secondary education in the high school at Webster, South Dakota, and after leaving that institution attended the school of pharmacy of the State Agricultural College at Brookings, South Dakota, from which he received the Ph. G. and Bachelor of Science degrees. Having decided upon the medical profession as a life work be continued his study in the medical college of Northwestern University in Chicago and in 1905 received his M. D. degree. Since that time he has taken a number of post-graduate courses as he realizes the necessity of constant study if he is to keep abreast of the advance- ment in medical science. His has been a life of intense activity and the educational ad- vantages which he has enjoyed have been won by his own labor. When but seven years of age he began herding cattle for a neighbor five miles from home and was so engaged until he was thirteen years old. He then worked as a farm hand and for three seasons drove horses for a threshing outfit. When sixteen years of age he was employed on a ranch and thus earned the money which enabled him to attend the high school at Webster. Each year for eleven years he spent from nine to eleven months in school and earned every penny of the money with which to pay his expenses, receiving no assistance whatever and never borrowing.

Following his graduation from medical college Dr. Hart located in Blunt and in the intervening years has built np a large and lucrative practice and has also gained the com- plete confidence of his colleagues. He is at present serving as surgeon for the Northwestern Railroad. He is also engaged in the drng business in Blunt and the same good judgment and energy which enabled him to pay his own way through school have gained him a gratifying measure of success in business. He believes firmly in the growth and prosperity of the state and has invested in South Dakota land, owning a valnable farm adjoining Blunt and also considerable land southeast of the town.

Dr. Hart was married on the 19th of November, 1907, to Miss Edna Church Shearer, a native of Tipton, Iowa. Her parents, John and Sarah Ellen (Church) Shearer, were born respectively in Edinburgh, Scotland, December 2. 1828, and in Muscatine, Iowa, November 24, 1841. The father, who was a miller by trade, emigrated to the United States when nineteen years of age and located at Tipton. Cedar county, Iowa. He continued to reside there until 1883, when he came to South Dakota with his family and located upon a home- stead near Highmore, where he still resides. He has followed general farming and has gained a competence. Mrs. Hart, who is the seventh of the eight children born to her parents, received a liberal education. She was graduated from the high school at Highmore and sub- sequently entered the South Dakota Wesleyan College at Mitchell, which conferred upon her

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the degree of Bachelor of Arts on the completion of the prescribed course. To Dr. and Mrs. Hart has been born a son, Maynard Sterling, whose birth occurred on the 14th of February, 1910.

The Doctor is a republican and is serving as vice president of the county board of health. He is a member of the Fourth District Medical Society and the State Medical Society and a life member of the Surgeons Club of Rochester, Minnesota, and fellow in the American Medical Association. He is quite prominent in local fraternal cireles as he belongs to the Masonic lodge and to the Mystic Shrine as well. He has served as master of the blue lodge and is patron of the local chapter of the Eastern Star and associate grand patron of the Eastern Star of South Dakota. His life has been characterized by unusual determination and enterprise and he has carried forward to successful completion everything that he has undertaken. He is recognized both as a skillful physician and as an efficient business man and is one of the valued citizens of Blunt.

WILLIAM TATE.

Willian Tate has been actively identified with commercial interests at Sioux Falls since 1901. He was born at Rutland, Vermont, August 15, 1863, and was a little lad of six or seven summers when in 1870 his parents removed to Chicago. After the great fire of the following year the father went to Rochelle, Illinois, and there William Tate continued his education in the common schools until he reached the age of thirteen years, when in 1876 he came to Sioux Falls. He was still quite young when he started out in the business world on his own account and he has had wide experience in the life of the plains. having engaged in herding cattle for Mel Covell and afterward for C. K. Howard. He rode the range, round- ing up the stock, and became acquainted with all of the phases of life in the saddle. In 1889 he accepted the position of shipping clerk with the firm of Hickey & McNamara, wholesalers of liquors, and in 1901 embarked in business on his own account and is now a factor in the wholesale trade of the city, dealing in liquors.

In 1890 Mr. Tate was united in marriage to Miss Jennie MeCarty and they have be- come the parents of two daughters: Katie, who died at the age of nine years; and Lyla Mary, now the wife of Frank R. Baysore.

In his fraternal relations Mr. Tate is an Elk and an Eagle and is loyal to the purposes and spirit of both organizations. He has qualities which render him socially popular and it is well known that Mr. Tate is never too busy to be cordial or too cordial to be busy.

THORSTEIN J. QUESTAD.

The spirit of cooperation seems to be a prominent factor in the life of Baltic and that section of the state, for there are several well established business enterprises conducted upon that plan. Such a one is that of which Thorstein J. Questad is manager-the Cooperative Lumber Company of Baltic-of which he has had charge for four years. He is a native of Norway and possesses many of the sterling characteristics rightly attributed to his race. He was born on the 19th of January, 1856, and is a son of Jacob O. and Ragnhild Questad, who came to the United States with their family in 1870. They did not tarry on the Atlantic coast, but made their way at once into the interior of the country, settling first in Freeborn county, Minnesota. They came to South Dakota in 1873 and the father homesteaded land in Lyons township, Minnehaha county, hecoming actively identified with the pioneer agricul- tural development of his section. Both he and his wife are now deceased.

Thorstein J. Questad was a youth of fourteen years when the family crossed the Atlantic. After acquiring a fair education in the country schools he attended the Cedar Valley Semi- nary at Osage, Iowa, and when his textbooks were put aside concentrated his energies upon farm work and upon school-teaching, giving his attention to the dual pursuits until 1883. He then turned his attention to the lumber business as manager for C. L. Colman and remained in that connection for twenty-five years. No higher testimonial of his capability, fidelity and

THORSTEIN J. QUESTAD

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trustworthiness can be given than the fact that he was retained for so long a period in such a position of importance and responsibility. For the past four years he has been manager of the Cooperative Lumber Company of Baltic, of which he is one of the stockholders. His long connection with the lumber trade well qualified him for the responsibilities that devolve upon him in this connection and under his guidance the business is proving a profitable one, the trade constantly increasing. For some years Mr. Questad was also in partnership with his brother in a general merchandising enterprise in Baltic, carrying a well selected line of goods and meeting with a liberal patronage.

On the 7th of July, 1886, Mr. Questad was united in marriage to Miss Emma Larson, a daughter of Colbein Larson, and to them have been born four children: Clarence, who died at the age of nineteen years; Le Roy Julius, manager of the Cooperative Lumber Company of Colton; Alma Ruth; and Henry George, who died in infancy. Mr. Questad is preeminently a home man, finding his greatest happiness at his own fireside and his greatest pleasure in promoting the welfare of wife and children. In religious faith he is a Lutheran and to the teachings of the church he is most loyal. In politics he is an earnest republican and has been called to several offices of honor and trust. He was president of the town board for two terms, was clerk of the school district for many years and has also been postmaster of Baltic. He recognizes fully the obligations that devolve upon him and discharges every trust in a way to win publie confidence. His life has been well spent and has manifested the sub- stantial and commendable qualities of manhood and citizenship.

WILLIAM N. FARMER.

William N. Farmer is secretary of the Globe Fire Insurance Company with headquarters and residence at Huron. He is active in the management of the company's affairs and is also vice president of the National Bank of Huron. He was born at Atlantic, Iowa, October 17, 1876, a son of William J. Farmer, a lawyer at Chamberlain, South Dakota.

WILLIAM F. HANLEY.

William F. Hanley, who is meeting with gratifying success as a general merchant in Custer, South Dakota, was born in Petersburg, Illinois, on the 14th of February, 1862, a son of William and Margaret (Kern) Hanley, both natives of Ireland, the former born in County Roscommon and the latter in County Mayo. They were married, however, in America and after residing in Pennsylvania for some time removed to Illinois, the father purchasing land near Springfield, that state, in 1867. In 1880 a removal was made to the vicinity of Atkin- son, Holt county, Nebraska, and there the father cultivated land until 1898, when he and his family took up their abode near Fort Dodge, Iowa. He died there in 1912 and the mother a year later. He was active in the democratic party and held a number of local offices.

William F. Hanley, who is the third in a family of seven children, attended school near Decatur, Illinois, and remained at home until he was nineteen years of age. He then found employment on a cattle ranch in Holt county, Nebraska, and after spending three months there was made manager of the ranch. Four and a half years later he went to Ne'igl., Nebraska, where he took charge of a packing plant, and remained there for about six months. At the end of that time he went to Chadron, Nebraska, where he assumed the management of a general mercantile establishment, both wholesale and retail. After two years' experience in that connection he went to Douglas, Wyoming, where he opened a meat market, furnishing meat under contract to Mr. Treat, who was the contractor building the Northwestern Railroad in that section of the country. On returning to Chadron Mr. Hanley engaged in the chattel and farm loan business for about three years and during that time was also examiner for the Farmers Loan & Trust Company of Chicago. In 1890 he arrived in Custer, South Dakota, and established a grocery store under the firm name of Hanley & Bailey. Three months later, however, he accepted the cashiership of the First National Bank and not long afterward sold out his mercantile interests. For fifteen years he was cashier

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and in that capacity directed to a large extent the work of the bank and assumed the responsibility for its management. In the meantime he became president of the M. J. Bailey Company and after it went out of business Mr. Hanley took over its mereantile department and bas sinee been proprietor of a well stocked general store. He buys his goods with special reference to the needs of his customers and as he is content with a reasonable profit his sales are growing from year to year. While in the bank he condueted a sheep ranch twenty-five miles from Custer but has now disposed of that property. He is at present a director and stockholder in the First National Bank and also owns considerable farm land and city prop- erty in South Dakota. In early manhood he was connected with a number of other business enterprises but has now disposed of those interests and gives the closest attention to the conduct of his store.

Mr. Hanley was married on the 14th of August, 1895, to Miss Addie F. Robinson, who was born in Wilmington. Illinois, and is a daughter of Thomas and Margaret (Crawford) Robinson, natives of Ireland and Scotland respectively. The father, who was a carpenter and building contractor, resided in Illinois for many years but in 1885 removed with his family to Rapid City, South Dakota, where he was living retired at the time of his demise. His widow survived him for many years but she, too, has gone to her reward, her death occurring in 1912. Mr. and Mrs. Hanley have four children: Harold R., a graduate of the Custer high school, who is attending the Wesleyan University at Lincoln, Nebraska, and is employed in the First National Bank during his vacations; Doris, who is attending the South Dakota State Normal School at Spearfish; Francis L., a student in the high school; and Donald.

Mr. Hanley is a republican and in 1905 had the honor of serving in the state senate. He proved foresighted and progressive, and his record as a lawmaker is a distinetly ereditable one. For one term he was also a member of the state board of regents and he has held a number of local offices, being chairman of the town board for a number of years and having also served on the board of education. He is an enthusiastic Mason and is well known in that order, belonging to the blue lodge, chapter, commandery and Shrine and having served as master of his lodge. He is a man of well rounded character, giving due attention to busi- ness and yet not allowing it to erowd out other phases of life. and in public affairs and in fraternal and social relations he has become well and favorably known.

GEORGE W. WALTERS.

Farming and dairying claim the time and energies of George W. Walters, whose home farm comprises one hundred and seventy acres on section 34, Mapleton township, Minnehaha county. He also gives much time to the raising of live stock and his various interests have brought to him a snecess that numbers him among the substantial and influential residents of his seetion of the state.

Mr. Walters is a native of Iowa, born in Cedar county on the 22d of February, 1861. His parents, Henry and Mary (Thompson) Walters, were natives of the east, the former born in Pennsylvania, while the latter claimed the Buckeye state as the place of her nativity. They were pioneers of Cedar county, Iowa. the mother accompanying her parents there on their removal from Ohio, while the father was induced to locate in the middle west from the fact that he had a brother living in Cedar county. They were married in Tipton. Iowa, and subsequently, in 1849, crossed the plains to California during the gold excitement on the Pacific coast. the journey being made with ox teams. The father spent two years in the mines and later devoted a similar period to farming in the Golden state. In 1853 he re- turned by way of the Isthmus route and the Mississippi river to Jowa, and with the capital he had acquired while sojourning in the west, he purchased a farm near Tipton, in Cedar county. He spent many years on that farm but a few years prior to his demise he retired and took up his abode in Tipton, where he passed away in 1896. The mother departed this life in 1894.

In the district schools of Cedar county George W. Walters acquired his education. He continued on the home farm and displayed in early manhood qualities of application and good judgment, which have been prominent throughout his subsequent career. Upon reaching

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manhood he engaged in farming for himself, first renting land in Cedar county. A year later he purchased one hundred and sixty acres but at the end of four years sold that property and rented his father's farm, his parents removing to Tipton to live in retirement. He remained on the latter place for five years, at the end of which time he purchased a tract of one hundred and sixty acres in Ida county, Iowa, giving his attention to its management for ten years. He then engaged in the hardware business in Galva, Iowa, forming a partnership with his brother for this purpose. This, however, did not appeal favorably to him and at the end of two years, having in the meantime disposed of his farm, he came to South Dakota and purchased his present property, embracing one hundred and seventy acres on section 34, Mapleton township, Minnehaha county. This is one of the well improved tracts of the locality and here he engages in general farming to some extent but also raises thoroughbred Holstein cattle and Duroc Jersey hogs. He also conducts a dairy business, keeping on hand for this purpose twenty-five milch cows, and this industry is bringing him a gratifying return.

In 1883 Mr. Walters led to the marriage altar Miss Mae Easton, of Cedar county, Iowa, and to this union five children were born but two of the number are deceased. The three surviving members are: Ralph, who is on the home farm and is carrying on business in partnership with his father; Cora, who is a stenographer, in the employ of the secretary of the college at Brookings, South Dakota; and Alice, who is a student in the State University at Vermillion.

Mr. Walters and the other members of his household are identified with the Methodist Episcopal church, and in politics he is a democrat. He is well thought of by his neighbors, and being a man of thoroughly reliable principles stands high in the estimation of all who know him.

JOHN CLIFFORD.

A valuable farm property is that of John Clifford, situated in Groveland township, Spink connty. It comprises six hundred and forty acres of land carefully improved, upon which he has made his home since 1914. Thirty-six years have come and gone since he arrived in this state-years which have brought with them many changes. The work of progress and improvement has been carried steadily forward and in this Mr. Clifford has always borne his part. He came to South Dakota from Watertown, Wisconsin, but New York is the state of his nativity, his birth having occurred in Buffalo on the 25th of March, 1853. He is a son of Patrick and Julia Clifford and, spending his boyhood under the parental roof, he was taken by his parents to Watertown, Wisconsin, and there acquired a public-school education. His texthooks were put aside when he reached the age of fifteen years, and he then hegan earning his living, working out as a farm hand until he started out in farm life on his own account by renting a place in Wisconsin.

Mr. Clifford was thus engaged until he came to South Dakota, arriving here May 17, 1879. He secured a homestead and a tree claim, aggregating three hundred and twenty acres, in Three Rivers township, Spink county, where he made his home until removing to his present place. The work of improvement and development had not been begun thereon, but he at once undertook the task of breaking the sod and tilling the fields and brought the greater part of his land under a high state of cultivation. He planted the necessary trees and other- wise improved his property and as the years passed by and his financial resources increased he kept adding to his holdings until he now has a large amount of land and is considered one of the most successful men in his county. He makes purchases and sales when there is promise of profit and still continues to engage in general farming. employing modern methods and producing excellent results. He has made all of the improvements upon the farm where he now resides in Groveland township and also upon other properties which he has owned, and his place is an attractive one, indicating his careful supervision.

In his political views Mr. Clifford is an earnest democrat and upon that ticket has been elected to various township offices, wherein he has discharged his duties in a manner at once creditable to himself and satisfactory to his constituents. He belongs to the Modern Wood- men of America and he and his family are communicants of the Catholic church.

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It was in Watertown, Wisconsin, on the 8th of March, 1886, that Mr. Clifford wedded Miss Lizzie Burns, a daughter of John and Mary Burns, who engaged both in general and truck farming. A year and a half after their marriage Mrs. Clifford passed away in 1887, leaving him with a little daughter, Julia, who is now the wife of J. Oren West.

Mr. Clifford was one of the earliest white men to locate west of Jim river in this district. He has witnessed practically all the development and improvement of his section and his memory forms a connecting link between the primitive past and the progressive present. He can tell from memory much of the history of this region and its development and there are few settlers who are more widely or favorably known. He has a very extensive acquaint- ance, and his example may well serve as a source of encouragement, showing what may be accomplished when one has the will to dare and to do, notwithstanding the fact that they must face the hardships and difficulties incident to life upon the frontier.

FREDERIC W. SELLERS.

Frederic W. Sellers, who is actively engaged in the practice of law in Custer, was born in Cherokee, Iowa, on the 24th of June, 1884, a son of Frederic L. and Harriet M. (Carpenter) Sellers, natives respectively of Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, and Maquoketa, Iowa. The father was in the lumber business in Wisconsin until 1877, when he removed to Iowa and turned his attention to agricultural pursuits, in which he engaged until his death in 1896. His widow survives and makes her home with our subject, who is the second in a family of three chil- dren. Lewis C., the eldest, died at Billings, Montana, in February, 1910, and the youngest, George K., is secretary to Governor Byrne and is living in Pierre.

Frederic W. Sellers attended the public schools of Cherokee, Iowa, and after completing his preparatory course entered the Liberal Arts College of Iowa State University and was graduated therefrom in 1905. He then began his legal study and received his professional degree from the State University of Iowa in 1907. He worked his way through college during the entire six years, and industry has always been one of his marked characteristics. When but fourteen years of age he began working during his vacations and, although he was but seventeen when he entered the university, he succeeded in earning enough to pay his expenses. Upon graduating from law school be began the practice of his profession at Cherokee, Iowa, where he remained for two and a half years. In the spring of 1910 he arrived in Custer, South Dakota, and in the five years that have since passed he has built up a elientage that represents some of the important interests of Custer county, and his reputation for integrity and ability in successfully solving involved legal problems is enviable. For four years, ending with December, 1914, he served as states attorney and proved a competent and faithful official. While living in Cherokee county he was for two years county attorney.

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History of Dakota Territory, volume V, Part 94

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