History of Dakota Territory, volume V, Part 97

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 26th of June, 1901, Mr. Williamson was united in marriage to Miss Bertha A. Smith, a daughter of George E. and Martha (Dinwiddie) Smith, of Hawarden, Iowa. Mrs. Williamson is active in the work of the Methodist church and the Ladies Aid Society. She has become the mother of two children. Dorothy Lucile and Marguerite.

Mr. Williamson is a republican and has always taken a commendable interest in pub- lic affairs, while at the present time he is ably serving as president of the board of educa- tion. His religious faith is that of the Methodist Episcopal church and he is a member of its board of trustees. His has been an active and useful life and he has contributed to the development of bis section of the state along a number of different lines. In all relations of life he has measured up to high standards of manhood and he is highly respected where- ever known both for his ability and for his integrity.

ERICK J. OYAN.

Erick J. Oyan is the manager of the Farmers Elevator Company and the Baltic Creamery Company at Baltic and as such is an active factor in the business circles of his town and county. He was born in Norway on the 13th of February, 1874, and is a son of Jens E. and Mary Oyan, who in the year 1881 brought their family to the United States. They made their way at once into the interior of the country and, like many of Norway's sons, sought a location in the northwest, establishing their home upon a farm near Baltic. Both the father and mother are still living.

Erick J. Oyan was a little lad of but seven summers when brought by his parents to the new world. He pursued his education in the public schools of Baltic and then left school to assist his father on the farm. He afterward became connected with the lumber trade as an employe of T. J. Questad, in whose service he remained for a considerable period, but for the past sixteen years he has occupied his present position as manager of the Farmers Elevator Company and for about fourteen years has also been manager of the Baltic Creamery Com- pany. Under his able direction the two concerns have prospered and today the elevator returns two hundred and fifty thousand dollars annually and the creamery about fifty thousand dollars. Mr. Oyan displays splendid ability as manager in directing the immense volume of business now under his care. It has largely been due to his efforts that the patronage of the two companies has increased to such an extent. The elevator and the creamery offer an excellent market to producers in this section of the country and the sales of the products handled net a splendid return for the stockholders. Mr. Oyan is watchful of every detail pointing to success, is thoroughly acquainted with the trade in every particular and his work is carried forward with a determination and energy that leaves no doubt as to the result. As the years have passed he has won a fair measure of prosperity and is now a stockholder in and the secretary and manager of the Farmers Creamery, also a stockholder and secretary of the Farmers Lumber Company, and a large stockholder in the elevator company and the creamery company.

On the 15th of November, 1902, Mr. Oyan was married to Miss Etta M. Lee, a daughter of O. H. and Mary Lee, the former of whom has passed away. He homesteaded land in Sverdrup township, upon which bis widow still lives. To Mr. and Mrs. Oyan have been born

ERICK J. OYAN

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five children : Olive Marie, Joseph Milton, Blanche Evaline, May Ernestine and Hilma Constance.

Mr. Oyan is treasurer of the school board and the cause of education finds in him a stalwart champion, for he recognizes that it is one of the strongest bulwarks of the nation. In religious faith he is a Lutheran and is now acting as treasurer of the Nedaros Evangelical Lutheran church at Baltic. His political allegiance is given to the republican party, but he does not seek nor desire office. He is preeminently a home man, devoting his leisure hours to his family. It has been his desire to provide a comfortable living for them that has actuated him in all of his business connections and his developing powers have gained him place among the representative business men of his county.

JACOB FERGEN.

Jacob Fergen, the period of whose residence in South Dakota covers more than a third of a century, is actively engaged in the real-estate business at Parkston and has won well merited success in that connection. His birth occurred in Madison, Wisconsin, on the 11th of May, 1862, his parents being Carl and Margaret (Klein) Fergen, the former one of the first white settlers of the Badger state. The family came to South Dakota in 1879, and Carl Fergen passed away in Parkston thirteen years later. His widow is still living at the age of eighty-two years and enjoys an extensive acquaintance in her home community.

Jacob Fergen, who was a youth of seventeen when he came to South Dakota with his parents, acquired a public-school education and subsequently followed the profession of teaching in this state for five years. On the expiration of that period he accepted a posi- tion with the Huntington Elevator Company and at the same time was engaged in the machinery business, while later he bought grain on his own account and also continued in the machinery business. He was appointed postmaster at Parkston under the Cleveland administration and served for five years, discharging the duties devolving upon him in a most commendable and satisfactory manner. In 1910 he disposed of his former interests and embarked in his present business, handling real estate and also dealing in seeds. In the spring of 1914, however, he sold his seed store and has since devoted his attention exclusively to the real-estate business, in which he has won a gratifying measure of success. for he keeps well informed on realty values and has negotiated many property transfers to the complete satisfaction of those concerned. He is likewise a stockholder in the canning factory and has long been numbered among the substantial and representative citizens of his town.

Ou the 19th of January, 1897, Mr. Fergen was united in marriage to Miss Eva J. Schmidtz, a daughter of Mathias Schmidtz. They have two children, Genevieve Josephine and Celestine Elizabeth. Mr. Fergen is a democrat and a prominent figure in state politics, having been the candidate of his party for state senator. His religious faith is that of the Catholic church and fraternally he is identified with the Knights of Columbus, belonging to Maher Council at Mitchell. He is known as a man of high character, of marked business ability and enterprise, whose sterling qualities have won for him the confidence of a large circle of friends and acquaintances in the community.

FREDERICK W. GIGAX.

During practically the entire period of his active life Frederick W. Gigax has been in some way associated with the implement business and has represented some of the largest implement houses in the United States. He has founded success upon wide experience, sup- plemented by business insight and ability of a high order, and he has risen to a prominent place in his chosen field, being manager at Aberdeen of the Rumley Prodnets Company. He was born in Chicago, Illinois, in 1875, and following the completion of his public-school course entered the Iowa State University, where he studied mechanical engineering. He later secured a position with the Altman Taylor Machinery Company, with whom he remained for some years. In 1903 he became connected with the Avery Company of Peoria, Ilinois,

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and for three years thereafter held a position at their Omaha house. From 1906 to 1909 he was manager at Kansas City and was afterward for two years head of the Indianapolis branch. From July, 1911, until May, 1912, he was connected with the export department of the company and in its interests made trips to South America and Europe. being aided in his work along this line by his ability to speak five languages.

On the 20th of September, 1913, Mr. Gigax was made manager of the Rumley Products Company at Aberdeen and he has since held this important position, which he fills in a creditable and able manner. This company was established on the 31st of December, 1911, following the consolidation of the M. Rumley Company, the Advance Thresher Company and the Garr Scott Thresher Company. The plant was built by the Advance Company in 1909 and in 1911 was enlarged to meet the demands of the new concern, so that it now covers nearly an entire city block. The company carries the Advance Thresher line and the Garr Scott Company's and the M. Rumley Company's lines of threshers, besides the oil pull, kerosene tractor, engine plows, feed grinders, ensilage cutters, stationary and portable gas engines, hay balers, corn shredders and electric lighting outfits. The company employs from thirty-one to fifty men and has twenty-five traveling representatives, covering a territory embracing North and South Dakota and eastern Montana. There is a five hundred thou- sand dollar stock of goods in the Aberdeen house, in addition to a one hundred thousand dollar stock of spare parts. Besides the plant at Aberdeen there is also a branch at Watertown.

Mr. Gigax is married and has five children. He is connected with the Benevolent Pro- tective Order of Elks, the Masonic lodge and the United Commercial Travelers. He is a man of good business ability, exemplary habits and upright character and he fully merits the goodwill which is uniformly extended him.

W. G. MATHIEU.

The financial interests of Edmunds county are well represented by W. G. Mathieu. cashier of The Bank of Bowdle, his activity along that line dating from 1910. He was born in Buffalo county, Wisconsin, on the 4th of February, 1881, a son of William and Louisa (Wilson) Mathieu. The father was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, January 4, 1849, but in his childhood days went with his parents to Wisconsin and it was in Alma, that state, in October, 1876, that he wedded Lonisa Wilson, a native of Homewood, Pennsylvania, born February 10, 1857. In early manhood William Mathieu engaged in the steamboat serv- ice on the Mississippi river and after his marriage he settled upon a farm in Buffalo county. Wisconsin, where he carried on general agricultural pursuits until 1887. He then removed west to Brown county, South Dakota. He had made a trip to that section of the state in 1880. The Chicago & Milwaukee Railroad had been built at that time only as far as Bristol and he and a party of five others walked across the prairie from that point through Groton to Rondell, sleeping at night on the open prairie with the starry heavens as their canopy. There was not a single building upon the present site of Groton or of Aberdeen.

On his removal to Brown county in 1887 William Mathieu settled at Verdon, where he erected a store building and for two years conducted a mercantile business. At the end of that time he engaged in the grain trade and implement business, with which he was promi- nently identified for twenty years, securing a liberal patronage as the country became more thickly settled and developed. In 1904 he organized the Farmers & Merchants State Bank in Verdon, of which he was the principal stockholder. In June, 1909, he disposed of his banking as well as his other business interests and retired from active life. For twenty years he was the foremost business man of Verdon and that section of the state. His interests were extensive, varied and important and he carried forward to successful com- pletion whatever he undertook. his labors at all times being of a character that contributed to public progress and improvement as well as to individual success. He is a member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen and his life has been well spent.

In early youth W. G. Mathieu was brought to South Dakota and was here reared upon the frontier, early becoming familiar with all the different phases of pioneer existence. His public-school education was supplemented by a commercial course at the Aberdeen Business

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College, and after completing his studies there he became associated with his father in the conduct of his various business enterprises. In December, 1909, after his father had dis- posed of his business connections, W. G. Mathien went to Kansas, where he had some land holdings, and there he remained for a year. In December, 1910, he located in Bowdle and in company with his father purchased The Bank of Bowdle, of which his father became the president, while W. G. Mathieu assumed the management of the bank as its cashier. The home of the bank is one of the finest bank buildings in that section of the state, splendidly equipped with all modern devices for protection and safety, while the furnishing of the bank are most attractive.

In 1910 Mr. Mathieu was united in marriage to Miss Gertie Bliss, of Durand, Illinois. He gives his political allegiance to the democracy and fraternally is identified with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, belonging to Aberdeen Lodge, No. 1046. He is one of the well known business men of his part of the state, readily adapts himself to changing conditions, studies the signs of the times and is conducting his business affairs along modern, progressive methods. He has, too, that spirit of conservatism which is so essential in safe and successful bank management and is regarded as a thoroughly trustworthy business man, enjoying the confidence and goodwill of all.

H. P. GUTZ.

H. P. Gutz, the efficient and popular cashier of the First National Bank at Selby and one of the large landowners of Walworth county, was born at Pomeroy, Iowa, April 3, 1879, a son of Fred and Anna (Brandt) Gutz, both natives of Germany, who emigrated to Amer- ica many years ago and entered land in Iowa, where they are still living.

H. P. Gutz received an excellent education and remained at home until he attained his majority. In 1900 he came to South Dakota and located at Selby, becoming cashier of the Walworth State Bank, which was later converted into the First National Bank, of which Mr. Gutz has served as cashier since its establishment. The excellent condition of the bank and the confidence which is placed in it by the public are due in no small measure to the cashier's thorough knowledge of banking, business acumen and unquestioned integrity. Mr. Gutz owns the building in which the bank is located and also holds title to two thousand acres of land in this state, being one of the men of affiuence of his community.

Mr. Gutz was married in June, 1904, to Miss Louise Trainor, who was born at Lagrace, South Dakota, and they are the parents of four children, Max Urban, Raymond P., Carl Henry and Josephine. Mr. Gutz is a republican and has served acceptably on the school board and on the city council. His religions faith is that of the Lutheran church. He is recognized as a man of much force of character and of undoubted probity and honor and he is also acknowledged as one of the leading forces in the agricultural and financial devel- opment of his locality.

CLAYTON R. BARNES.

Clayton R. Barnes, actively and successfully engaged in general farming in Wayne township, Minnehaha county, was born on the 7th of January, 1888, in the township where he still resides. He is a son of F. W. and Eugenia Barnes, who are natives of Erie county, Pennsylvania. The father left the Keystone state in early life and came as a boy to South Dakota in 1872, in company with his parents, the grandfather homesteading. After reach- ing sufficient age to assume the responsibilities and labors of the farm F. W. Barnes began working the place and it is now being further developed and improved by Clayton R. Barnes, so that it has been operated by three successive generations of the family. The grandfather and father are numbered among the pioneer settlers and because of their activity in public affairs the name of Barnes is indelibly inscribed upon the pages of the history of Minnehaha county. The grandfather was sheriff of the county and held several offices when the state

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HISTORY OF SOUTH DAKOTA

was still under territorial rule. Both Mr. and Mrs. F. W. Barnes are still living, the former being now actively engaged in business in Sioux Falls.

Their son Clayton R. Barnes was educated in the public schools and in a business college at Sionx Falls, where he pursued a commercial course. After leaving school he assisted his father on the farm and when the latter retired from its active management Clayton R. Barnes took up the work, which he has since successfully conducted, cultivating not only the original tract which was secured by his grandfather as a homestead claim but also two hundred acres more. His father now owns three hundred and sixty acres, all of which is being cultivated and improved by Clayton R. Barnes, who is regarded as one of the energetic, representative and progressive young farmers of this part of the state. In addition to tilling the fields in the production of wheat and other cereals, he is also engaged extensively and successfully in stock-raising, having one hundred and fifty head of cattle and one hundred and seventy-five hogs upon his place. He has all the modern farm implements and machinery and his place is well improved in every particular. There are good buildings, providing ample shelter for grain and stock, and he is thoroughly a farmer of the modern age, using the latest scientific ideas, which he puts to the practical test in a manner that produces sub- stantial results.

Mr. Barnes is an earnest republican as far as belief in party principles is concerned, but at local elections he casts an independent ballot. He has served as clerk of his town- ship and has held some school offices. He is yet a young man, having only recently passed the twenty-seventh milestone on life's journey, but the record he has made places him among thie leading agriculturists of Minnehaha county and has established his position as a most capable business man.

CHARLES SIMEON BLODGETT.

Charles Simeon Blodgett, for over three decades a resident of South Dakota and one of the substantial and highly honored citizens and retired business men of Rapid City, is a native of New Hampshire. He was born in the town of Fitzwilliam, that state, on the 9th of December, 1942, a son of Joseph Blodgett, a native of Northfield, Massachusetts, and a direct descendant of Thomas Blodgett, who came from England on the ship Increase and settled in Massachusetts in 1635. Joseph Blodgett was born October 28, 1796, and removed from the old Bay state to New Hampshire in early manhood. There he married Hannalı Chase, of Jaffrey. New Hampshire, and they became the parents of nine children, of whom Charles S. Blodgett of this review is the youngest and the only survivor of the family.

Charles Simeon Blodgett bad but limited educational advantages in the public schools of his native town, but reading and study in later years have made him well informed. On the 13th of April, 1861, soon after Fort Sumter was fired upon he enlisted for three months' service in response to the president's call for troops and later he reenlisted as a member of the Second New Hampshire Volunteer Infantry for three years. He was mustered into the United States service at Portsmouth, New Hampshire, May 26, 1861. The regiment pro- ceeded to Washington and served under General McDowell, participating in the first battle of Bull Run. Mr. Blodgett was afterward under the command of General Joe Hooker and participated in the Peninsular campaign under General Mcclellan and the seven days' fighting around Richmond. On account of serious disability he was discharged September 13, 1862, at Newark, New Jersey, and returned home, but he felt that his place was at the front and as soon as he had somewhat recovered he again enlisted in November, 1862, joining the Sixteenth New Hampshire Volunteer Regiment. His regiment was sent to New Orleans under the command of General Banks and was at Port Hudson during the fighting and at the sur- render of that place in 1863.

Mr. Blodgett was honorably discharged from the service August 20, 1863, and spent the following year in the oil regions of Titusville, Pennsylvania. He afterward went to Boston, where he spent the succeeding three years in the provision business. In 1867 he came to the west, establishing his home at Waterloo, Iowa, where he remained through the following seventeen years, successfully engaged in the grain business. In 1883 he came to Dakota ter- ritory, settling at Kimball, where he embarked in the grain, coal and live-stock business

CHARLES S. BLODGETT

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and also entered and proved up a homestead claim. In 1906 he removed to Hermosa, South Dakota, where for four years he operated a stock ranch of two thousand acres with his son, Arthur B. In.1910 he took up his abode in Rapid City, since which time, except for the attention required by his private interests, he has lived retired from active business. Ilow- ever, he still retains some holdings in lands and is financially interested in banks at Cotton- wood and Hermosa, South Dakota.

On the 17th of February, 1876, Mr. Blodgett was married to Miss Sarah L. Flint, a daugh- ter of Ezekiel and Fannie (Willard) Flint. They became the parents of a daughter, Hattie L., who resides with and cares for her father, and a son, Arthur B., who is now at Brawley, California. The wife and mother passed away July 24, 1914. She was born at Winchester, New Hampshire, November 9, 1848, and in the early '50s accompanied her parents on their removal to Bowen Prairie, lowa, where both her father and mother passed away when she was but six years of age. Mrs. Blodgett was reared by New Hampshire friends and remained with them until her marriage at Bowen Prairie, in 1876. She was the ideal exemplification of the devoted wife and mother and her helpful, generous nature was always finding expres- sion in many kindnesses bestowed upon others. Hospitable and gracious, she was never happier than when entertaining those for whom she cared in her own home. Her death came with tragic suddenness a few hours after her return from Rochester, Minnesota, where she had gone to consult with physicians regarding her condition, for her health had for some time been indifferent. Her passing brought a distinct shock not only to her many friends in Rapid City hut to those of Kimball and Waterloo who had loved her for her true and genuine womanliness. The funeral was very impressive and was attended by many friends from distant places. The Kimball Graphic said: "The news of Mrs. Blodgett's death comes with extreme sorrow to all, and her husband, son and daughter have the sincere sympathy of all Kimball in the affliction which has come to them. Mrs. Blodgett was a most estimable woman in every way and of that type whose death is a distinct loss to any community."

In politics Mr. Blodgett is a republican and for many years has heen prominent in the party activities in the state. While residing at Kimball he served in various official capac- ities and his record was at all times characterized by the utmost fidelity to duty. In Masonry he has attained the thirty-second degree. . He is a member of the Grand Army of the Repnh- lie and has served as commander of the posts at Kimball, Hermosa and Rapid City. He was elected department commander of the Grand Army of the Republic for one year at the last state encampment held at Rapid City in May, 1915. Mr. Blodgett's long residence in South Dakota might aptly be characterized as more than thirty years of good citizenship. He has been a potent factor in the development of the state and its transformation from a wild frontier to the prosperous commonwealth of today with its advanced civilization, In the work of improvement he is most deeply interested and he has left the impress of his individ- uality upon many lines of improvement.

H. H. SHERWOOD, M. D.

Dr. H. H. Sherwood, physician and surgeon of Humboldt, where he has practiced con- tinuously and successfully since 1910, is entitled to recognition among the able representa- tives of the profession in Minnehaha county. His birth occurred in Shabbona, Illinois, on the 12th of January, 1872, his parents being Frank O. and Lucinda E. (Helm) Sherwood, the former a native of Ohio and the latter of New York. Their marriage was celebrated in Illinois, to which state they removed as children with their respective parents when it was still a frontier region.

H. H. Sherwood was reared at home and pursued his education in the public schools of Shabhona, Illinois, completing the high-school course with the class of 1888. Subsequently he secured employment in a Chicago drug store and in 1892 entered the School of Pharmacy of Northwestern University, being graduated therefrom in 1894. He then opened a drug store in Woodhull, Illinois, and conducted the same successfully until 1897. In the fall of that year he took up the study of medicine, matriculating in the College of Physicians and Surgeons, the medical department of the University of Illinois, which institution conferred upon him the degree of M. D. in 1901. His first location as a medical practitioner was at

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History of Dakota Territory, volume V, Part 97

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