USA > South Dakota > Minnehaha County > History of Minnehaha county, South Dakota. Containing an account of its settlements, growth, development and resources Synopsis of public records, biographical sketches > Part 31
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1895. Supervisors, S. W. Helson, chairman, George A. Baker and A. C. Collins; clerk, P. M. Carter; treasurer, R. E. Brooks: assessor, A. Long.
1896. Supervisors, S. W. Helson, chairman, George A. Baker and Frank Forde; clerk, E. S. Carter; treasurer, Richard E. Brooks: assessor, A. C. Long.
1897. Supervisors, George A. Baker, chairman, John Klee- man and L. D. Lacey; clerk, W. P. Willard; treasurer, Richard Brooks; assessor, P. M. Carter.
1898. Supervisors, Frank Forde, chairman, L. D. Lacey and E. S. Carter; clerk, W. P. Willard; treasurer, Louis Zentle; assessor, Wm. Howie, Jr .; justice of the peace, Win. Caldwell.
1899. Supervisors, L. D. Lacey, chairman, Frank Forde and Geo. A. Baker; clerk, W. P. Willard; treasurer, Louis Zentle; assessor, Wm. Howie, Jr .; justice of the peace, D. F. Harrington; constable, Ralph Denslow.
20
FRANK FORDE.
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HISTORY OF MINNEHAHA COUNTY.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
BAKER, GEORGE A., is a native of England, and was born on the 18th day of February, 1849. He received a common school education, and worked on a farm until he was twenty-one years of age, at which time he emigrated to the United States, and for a while resided in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In 1871 he took up his residence in Rock Rapids, Iowa, and remained there two years. He then removed to South Dakota, and located in this county, taking up the southwest quarter of section 33 in Sioux Falls township, where he has since re- sided. In addition to this, he has 80 acres of land in Lincoln county, which he also farms. He was chairman of the township board of supervisors during 1896 and 1897. He made a good official, is a good citizen, and an enterprising, progressive farmer.
CALDWELL, ERASMUS, was born in Port Hope, Canada, January 30, 1822. He removed from there to Minnesota, and came to this county in 1871, and took up what is now known as the Bunker place in Sioux Falls township. After residing there a few years he dis- posed of it and settled in section twenty-five same township. He is a quiet, unassuming man and a good citizen. He has two sons LOUIS P., and ADELBERT, who are both enterprising young farmers, and good citizens of the county. Mr. Caldwell had his share of the hard- ships of pioneer life, but he courageously braved it through, without outside help, freighting for C. K. Howard when farming would not pay. He said when he first arrived in Sioux Falls he tendered a one hundred dollar check on a bank in Redwing, Minn., in payment for goods in Moulton's store. Mr. Moulton was unable to change it, but at last True Dennis was found to be in possession of sufficient ready money to make the exchange. However, he was uncertain about the validity of the check, although Mr. Moulton assured him "You bet it is all right," but finally, after a good hour's negotiation, accommo- dated Mr. Caldwell. At the first visit to Sioux City the check was promptly honored by the bank, and Mr. Caldwell had no further trouble about the acceptance of his checks whenever presented.
CALDWELL, WILLIAM, is a native of Ontario, Canada, and was born June 5, 1849, in the village of Orono, in Durham county, was reared on his father's farm, and attended the public schools, and a commercial college at London, Canada; came to the United States and engaged in farming at Redwing, Minn., for two years and a half; came to Sioux Falls and worked for C. K. Howard for about two years; returned to Canada, and was a commercial traveler for nearly ten years; in 1881 took up land in Miner county, South Dakota, and engaged in farming at that place for seven years, and managed the Corson Brothers' farm in this county for two years. He has been justice of the peace of Sioux Falls township since 1393, and is popu- larly known as Judge Caldwell. He is a good citizen.
FORDE, FRANK, was born in Ireland February 26, 1848, and emigrated from the land of his nativity to Pennsylvania in 1866, where he resided two years. He then went to England and remained six months, returned to the oil region in Pennsylvania for six months.
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HISTORYOF MINNEHAHA COUNTY.
and then started West with his brother. Arriving at Omaha in the summer of 1869 he and his brother agreed to "flip a copper" and let it decide whether they would go to California or to Sioux Falls, where Jack had been before. The turn of the copper decided in favor of Sioux Falls, and they came. Hunting was a pretty good business in this region of the country in those days, and they im- mediately purchased an outfit of traps and other equipments for hunting and commenced business. The brothers built a log shanty on the bank of the Big Sioux west of town, in the fall of 1869, and trapped muskrat, mink, beaver, fox and wolf. There were at this time muskrats in great abundance, and the other animals enumerated were not scarce, and occasionally an otter would be caught. Forde says, "I believe I have stood in one place and shot 100 muskrats be- fore stopping." In 1870 Frank formed a partnership with Big Eagle, chief of the Santee Sioux, and Lewis Hulitt, and engaged in trapping and hunting in what is now Minnehaha and Lake counties. Late in the spring of 1871 they loaded their furs upon an old wagon, and with a pair of oxen, started for New Ulm, Minnesota, to dispose of their season's work. They arrived there in June and sold their furs for a little over $1,000; then loaded their wagon with provisions, ammunition and whiskey, and started back. Arriving at Flandreau they met Cash Coats, and he was taken into a partnership in a new scheme. They went to Pipestone and quarried a quantity of pipe- stone sawed it into 600 blocks of such size that they could be easily manufactured into pipes. Then all but Big Eagle came to Sioux Falls. Among other purchases the firm had made were ten gallons of whiskey and ten gallons of alcohol. They all pledged themselves not to take a single drink, and started back to Flandreau where Big Eagle was to join them, and then they would proceed across the country to Fort Thompson west of the Missouri river, to dispose of their pipestone, whiskey and alcohol. They went north and camped the first night about twelve miles from Sioux Falls. The next morn- ing, being very dry, they finally concluded to vote on the question whether they would take a drink, and the ballot showed three ayes. At Flandreau, Big Eagle joined them, and they started on the Brooking's trail, as it was called, for the west. They did not make very rapid marches with their ox-team, but they did hold a good many elections on the way, and every time the vote was taken they had less whiskey. At last they arrived at their destination, but they had nothing to dispose of but their pipestone. For a day or two everything went on smoothly. They were selling the Indians ten pipes for a good pony, four for a buffalo robe, one for a blanket and so on. when the Indians began to claim the pipestone belonged to the Indians, and that Forde and company had no right to quarry it. The party was soon brought before the agent, and he read them a portion of a treaty from which it appeared that the pipestone quarry was Indian property, and he advised them it would be best to move on. They got in motion at once, taking with them all their effects, and they kept on the march until eleven o'clock at night, when they camped, got their supper and retired. But it was not long before they heard unearthly yells and found they were surrounded by
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Indians, who proceeded to business at once, taking into their posses- sion all the property they had sold, and confiscated "as contraband" all the remaining material for pipes. The party was now nearly bankrupt, having only a small quantity of provision and Coats a little money. They proceeded to Yankton, and from there came to Sioux Falls. They held no elections on the way, a vea vote on the question that they voted on going out, would have been meaningless, in fact
- dispiriting. Mr. Forde says: "Beavers are good eating, and the tail of a beaver is a great delicacy; have cooked and eaten them a great many times in my shanty." He at first "squatted" on what is now Park Addition in the city of Sioux Falls, but there being no fuel or water upon it, abandoned it, and took by pre-emption the northwest quarter of section 19, where his dairy farm is now located. In 1873 he got his patent to this land, signed by Gen. Grant, andafterwards offered to sell the land for $400, but was compelled to keep it. In 1888 he sold a half interest in it to Melvin Grigsby for $10,000. He has now a large dairy and sells milk all the year round to the people of Sioux Falls. The buildings upon this farm cost several thousand dollars. Mr. Forde is a man of great energy, is an active enterpris- ing citizen and always takes a lively interest in political matters. He has been a member of the township board several years and was its chairman in 1898 and was elected for the three years term to the same office in March, 1899.
CARTER, LEVI S., is a native of New Hampton. New Hampshire, and was born May 4, 1831. He was reared on a farm and educated in the district schools and New Hampton Academy. When twenty-one years of age he engaged in teaching school. Two years later he learned photography and for five years was engaged in the photo- graphic business in New England and Chicago. In 1858 he turned his attention to dentistry, and after graduating from the Baltimore Dental College practiced his profession for ten years in Illinois. He then engaged in the drug business about thirteen years at Mendota, Illinois. On the 28th day of July, 1882, he arrived in Sioux Falls, and soon after purchased the northeast quarter of section 4, in Sioux Falls township, where he has since resided. He has been employed to make crop reports for this county since the first year of his residence here, and has kept a climatic record since 1885. He has for several years been Volunteer Meteorological Observer at Sioux Falls for the U. S. Department of Agriculture, and is an active, and highly respected citizen.
JONES, DANIEL W., was born in Deerfield, Franklin county, Massachusetts, February 28, 1832. He was reared on a farm and educated in the common schools. He resided in Vermont two years and for several years in Illinois, and came to this county in 1879. He bought the northwest quarter of section 13, in Sioux Falls town- ship and has resided there since then. It is a good farm, and he has a handsome home. He is also the owner of other farm lands in Split Rock and Valley Springs. Mr. Jones is an honest, upright citizen.
JONES, ELIJAH, was born in Miomi county, Ohio, July 14, 1828; was reared on a farm, and was engaged in farming in his native state
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HISTORY OF MINNEHAHA COUNTY.
until the fall of 1858, when he moved to Marshal county, Iowa, where he resided until the fall of 1874, when he came to Dakota and settled in Lincoln county, half a mile from Sioux Falls township. He was chairman of the supervisors of Springdale township fourteen years. In 1893 he removed to Sioux Falls township where he now resides. He is a respected citizen.
JOHNS, HENRY, was born in Germany, September 21, 1851; was reared on a farm, and attended the public schools until seventeen years of age, when he learned the cooper's trade, and until 1881 was a journeyman cooper in his native country. In February, 1881, ar- rived in America; worked at his trade in the State of New York one year, and in Chicago until April, 1886, when he came to Sioux Falls. Soon after his arrival at this place he was employed in the cooper shop at the brewery, and remained there until the fall of 1888, when he purchased a few acres of land in section eleven in Sioux Falls township and commenced market gardening, in which he still con- tinues. He has been a school officer in school district No.16 for ten vears, is a good neighbor, and an industrious, upright citizen.
KINGSBURY, EDGAR J., was born April 3, 1831, at Andover, Con- necticut. He was reared on a farm, and was educated in the com- mon schools and the high school of East Hampton, Massachusetts. At the age of seventeen years he commenced teaching school, and for the next eight years worked on the farm and taught school dur- ing the winters. From this time until he came to this county in 1880, he was engaged in farming on the old homestead in Andover. He resided in Sioux Falls two years, and then moved onto his farm of 320 acres in sections 14 and 23 in Mapleton, where he remained until a few years ago, when he built a fine residence on section 3 in Sioux Falls township where he now resides. Mr. Kingsbury is an honest, upright citizen, and well liked by his neighbors and acquaint- ances.
LACEY, WILLIAM G., was born at Wheatland, Monroe county, N. Y., October 26, 1814; graduated at Vermont University; took a law course at Yale; graduated at Geneva Medical College, and practiced medicine in New York city; was a member of the Masonic order, and was a politician of note, and held responsible positions of trust in New York; came to Sioux Falls June 27, 1883, and purchased a farm in section 13 in Sioux Falls township, and section 18 in Split Rock township. He died February 28, 1891. His two sons, WILLIAM G., and LEVI D., are now residing on the home-farm. They were en- gaged in the grain business several years. William has been a mem- ber of the town board of supervisors of Sioux Falls township three years, and Levi two years.
WILLARD. WILLIAM P., is a native of Medina county, Ohio, and was born on the 7th day of May, 1842. He was raised on his father's farm, and received a common school education. When the war of the rebellion broke out he promptly responded to the call for volun- teers, and enlisted in the three months service in Co. K, 8th Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and after serving five months was discharged. In August, 1862, he re-enlisted, for three years, in Co. B, 124 Ohio,
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and served to the close of the war. At Chickamauga he received a slight wound in his arm from a splinter, and was at another time hit by a bullet, which fortunately struck his beltplate, and thus saved his life. After the war he returned to Ohio and lived there until 1865, when he moved to Des Moines county, Iowa, got married. and engaged in farming until the fall of 1882. At that time he removed to Dakota, and bought a farm in Sioux Falls township, of Mrs. Clara Lewis, but sold it the next year, and bought his present farm, which comprises 160 acres in section 12, Sioux Falls township, and section 7, Split Rock township. He resided on this farm until 1889, when he went to Escondido, California, and engaged in raising oranges and lemons for seven years, when business interests com- pelled him to return to his farm in Minnehaha county, where he has since resided, and has a good farm. He has been clerk of the town board of Sioux Falls township five years, is a careful painstaking official, and an enterprising, highly esteemed citizen.
WOERHLE, DAVID, is a native of Germany, and was born August 21, 1846. He was in the military service four years and served in the German and French war. In 1877 he emigrated to the United States, and in 1878 came to Sioux Falls. He took up a homestead in section 1, but sold it a few years ago. He is still engaged in farm- ing, and is an industrious, good citizen.
LONE ROCK.
This illustration is from a photograph taken at an early date. The rock was exactly eight feet square, and when the water in the river was at its ordinary height, its top was about four feet above the water. It was frequently visited by the early settlers of Sioux Falls. When the ice went out during the spring of iSSi it broke this rock from its foundation, and it fell into a hole about twenty feet in depth, just below where it stood.
CITY OF SIOUX FALLS.
Sioux Falls was the first place inhabited by white men in the valley of the Big Sioux, and in the first chapter of this book a carefully prepared ac- count of the most important events in her history down to 1875 appears. What was then only a little village is now the most populous and important city in the state, and although not without natural advan- tages, this development and growth has been in the main the result of the push and en- terprise of her citizens. But the history of the methods adopted, and the means used, VIEW OF THE WEST SIDE, NEAR THE ISLAND, SI UX FALLS, are more in harmony with the purpose of this work than any gen- eralization we could possibly make; we will therefore proceed to pre- sent a complete summary of her municipal affairs, public institutions, industries, and other important matters, which as a whole indicate the character and importance of every community, hoping our read- ers, with the aid of the illustrations, will find our treatment of the subject interesting and instructive.
THE INCORPORATION OF THE VILLAGE AND CITY OF SIOUX FALLS, AND IMPORTANT MUNICIPAL TRANSACTIONS.
The twelfth session of the legislative assembly of the Territory of Dakota passed an act incorporating the village of Sioux Falls. The territory comprised 1,200 acres, including all of section 16, and a row of forty acre tracts on the east, south and west of the same section. The charter was brief, but comprehensive. The govern- ment of the corporation and the general management of its affairs were vested in a president, who was ex officio a trustee, and four trustees. The elections were held annually on the first Tuesday of March, and the term of all the elective officers was for one year.
The first election was held on the third Tuesday of March, 1877.
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HISTORY OF MINNEHAHA COUNTY.
C. K. Howard was elected president of the board of trustees and held this office four successive years. During his administration a liberal policy was pursued, and the growth of the village, if not phe- nomenal, was of such a character as to inspire the residents with bright hopes of the future of Sioux Falls.
The act incorporating the village of Sioux Falls was amended in 1879, creating the office of village justice of the peace, and defining his duties and jurisdiction.
Although prosperous under the village organization, her citizens in 1882 began to realize that the charter pattern was too small and restrictive, and public meetings were held for the purpose of taking measures to secure a city charter. The question was discussed, and the sentiment of the people found to be strongly in favor of im- mediate action, and a committee was appointed to draft a charter and report to a meeting of the citizens to take place in the future, so that the wisdom of the whole village might be brought to bear upon its construction.
It was at this juncture of affairs that the writer became a resi- dent of Sioux Falls, and had the pleasure of listening to the report of this committee, consisting of L. S. Swezey and A. C. Phillips. A good deal of interest was manifest at these meetings, and very few, if any, of the provisions of the proposed charter escaped discussion. When the charter had been completed by the committee and received the sanction of the public in the form of a bill for enactment by the territorial legislature then in session at Yankton, it was conveyed there by a committee, and became a law on March 3, 1883.
By the provisions of this charter the city was divided into four wards, and the annual city election fixed for the first Tuesday in April. The elective officers were a mavor, two aldermen from each ward, clerk, assessor, treasurer, police justice and city justice. The offices of city attorney, marshal, policeman, street commission- er, health officer and board of health were created, to be filled by ap- pointment by the mayor, and confirmed by the council. A board of education was also established, consisting of two members from each ward to have control of the public schools.
The first city election took place on the 3d day of April, 1883, and it was the last one held at a single polling place. The contest for mayor was spirited. There were three candidates in the field, namely, Jacob Schaetzel, Jr., C. W. Hubbard and Dexter J. Knapp; 806 votes were cast, Schaetzel receiving 414, Hubbard 376 and Knapp 16. By referring to the list of city officials it will be seen that a strong council was elected, and for business capacity, the mayor and aldermen who had in charge the affairs of the city the first year of its existence, has not been surpassed if equaled since then. The city, of course, inherited the obligations of the village as well as its assets. The Daily Press, at the time Sioux Falls became a city, published the following statement of the debits and credits of the de- funct village: "The financial condition of the village at this time shows that the amount of indebtedness on account of the general fund was $22,200; the village was bonded to the amount of $20,000 for aid in securing the earlier completion of the St. Paul Railroad; the
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HISTORY OF MINNEHAHA COUNTY.
indebtedness on account of the board of education including bonds was $26,800, making a total indebtedness of about $69,000, to be as- sumed by the city. The total assets to be turned over to the city may be enumerated as follows: fire apparatus worth $7,000; real estate in the way of lots, engine and truck houses, prison, etc., $2,- 500; right of way and depot grounds for the Milwaukee Railroad, $6,- 500; school property, including thirty-two city lots, three brick school houses and one frame, $33,000; for the $20,000 railroad bonds the village was amply compensated, at but a small per cent of the amount other communities have paid for similar enterprises, which made the total assets $69,000, an exact balance for the indebtedness it was called upon to assume."
It was during the first year of the city government, that the "telephone war" occurred, and a brief outline of the facts will dem- onstrate that the administration was energetic and efficient in pro- tecting the interests of the public.
In March, 1882, a telephone company was organized with a cap- ital of $10,000. About September 25, the same year, the instruments arrived in the city, and the McKinney and Scougal bank got the first one. About the first day of July, 1883, the property of this company was transferred to the Erie Telegraph & Telephone Co., a corpora- tion organized in the State of New York -- and from this time the tel- ephone business began to thrive. To transact the business, poles had been erected on Phillips avenue, and the company claimed the right to erect them on any and all the streets and avenues in the city. The city authorities decided that the erection of poles and the stringing of wires on the principal business streets of the city was a public nuisance, and on the 6th day of October, 1883, so declared by ordinance, and prohibited the company from erecting poles on Phil- lips and Main avenues, and gave the company ten days to remove those already erected. The company disregarded the provisions of the ordinance, and on November 3, the mayor, upheld by the city council, caused the poles to be cut down and removed. The company employed Winsor & Swezey of Sioux Falls and Gamble Bros. of Yankton, and on November 24, a suit was brought against the city for ten thousand dollars damages. On December 18, the plaintiff obtained an injunction from Judge Edgerton, one of the supreme court judges of the territory (there being no judge in this district at that time), restraining the city, its officers, agents and servants, "from destroying, removing or interfering with the telephone lines, poles, fixtures and wires of the plaintiff, and from obstructing, pre- venting or interfering with the company, its agents and servants, in restoring, repairing, erecting and extending its lines, poles, fixtures and wires, as may be necessary in repairing, operating and maintain- ing its telephone exchange in the said City of Sioux Falls." This order, as will be seen, permitted the company to erect poles and establish telephone lines, notwithstanding the ordinance of the city, and almost seemed to decide the merits of the case in advance of the issues formed. On December 20, the defendant demurred to plain- tiff's complaint. On December 22, the defendant moved to dissolve the injunction of December 18, and obtained an order from Judge
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Edgerton, staying the operation of the injunction, while the motion to dissolve was pending. Bartlett Tripp was employed to assist A. Frizzell, who was at this time city attorney. The motion was heard before Judge Edgerton and taken under advisement, and on Febru- ary 4, 1884, the motion to dissolve was denied, and the order staying the operation of the injunction vacated. This order was served on the city attorney on February 9, and published in the Daily Press the next morning. The parties were on a "war footing" again, and the city authorities were more determined than ever that no poles should be erected nor wires strung on Phillips and Main avenues by the company. The city council was called together on February 11, and as it was one of the notable sessions of this body, the proceed- ings are recorded here: "Present, the mayor, Jacob Schaetzel, Jr., Aldermen Porter P. Peck, N. E. Phillips, George A. Knott, M. Grigsby, F. L. Boyce and True Dennis. M. Grigsby moved that the city marshal be instructed to enforce the telegraph and telephone ordinance under any and all circumstances." This motion, after striking out the declaration of war, was carried. Nothing further occurred until February 18, when the company commenced digging a hole for a telephone pole near the corner of Phillips avenue and Tenth street. John Reynolds, Frank Dockery and Peter McCar- rier were engaged in the work, when City Marshal C. T. Jeffers ap- peared on the scene and arrested them all under an old village ordi- nance, making it unlawful "to dig and remove earth in the streets."
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