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 56
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HISTORY OF MINNEHAHA COUNTY.
of cases, a good advocate, and when summoned to a court of last re- sort, he is well equipped, and able to make the very best presenta- tion of his case. He has a large and lucrative practice, and is em- ployed in a good many important cases, not only at home but throughout the state. As a citizen he is independent and enterpris- ing, and takes an active part in all public matters.
KELLER, DR. ALVIN H., was born in Rimersburg, Clarion coun- ty, Penn., April 4, 1853; attended the common schools and the Clar- ion Collegiate Institute; when sixteen years of age commenced work in a drug store in Philadelphia; graduated from the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and then had charge of a drug business at a salary of $1800 and commission on the sales until 1879, when he removed to Has- tings, Neb., and engaged in the drug business for himself; completed a course in medicine and graduated from the Oma- ha Medical College in 1883, and then took up the practice as a physician in connec- tion with the drug business at Hastings. Later took a post graduate course in Chicago; came to this county and located in the city of Sioux Falls in 1890 and open- ed a drug store in connection with A. P. Abbott, and practiced his profession; in 1892 he disposed of the drug business and has made the treatment of diseases of the nose, throat and lungs a specialty; in A. H. Keller, Ph. G. M.D. 1898 took a special course at the Poly- clinic college hospital in Chicago, organ- ized the Dr. A. H. Keller Chemical Co. in Sioux Falls in 1897 and manufactures the Sylvan Ozone and other remedies, and confines his practice to special work. He is a man of great industry and his whole time is devoted to his professional work, at the present time in connection with his brother, Dr. W. F. Keller, and they have a large and growing practice.
KENDALL, FRANK A., was born in Fowlerville, Livingstone county, N. Y., August 31, 1848; moved with his parents to Sparta, Wis., in 1854; was educated in the public schools and graduated from a commercial college at Milwaukee, Wis. When sixteen years old entered a drug store at Red Wing, Minn., where he remained eight vears, then for three years was in the drug business at Prescott, Wis. The next seven years traveled for Noyes Bros. & Cutler of St. Paul. In 1884 went to Howard, Miner county, S. D., and was there engaged in banking until 1895, when he moved to Sioux Falls. While at Howard was mayor one year. Since coming to Sioux Falls he has had charge of the Syndicate block, and is now also in charge of the Edmison-Jameson and Gilbert blocks. Mr. Kendall is a good business man, pleasant and affable, and highly respected by a wide circle of acquaintances.
H. H. KEITH.
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HISTORY OF MINNEHAHA COUNTY.
KIDDER, JEFFERSON P., was born in 1816 at Braintree, Vermont, where he received a common school education; was trained to agricul- tural pursuits, and taught school. He prepared for college at the Orange county Grammar school, graduated at the Norwich universi- tv and was a tutor therein. In 1848 he received the degree of Master of Arts from the University of Vermont; studied and practiced law ; was a member of the state constitutional convention of Vermont in 1843; was state's attorney in 1842-9; was a member of the state sen- ate of Vermont in 1847-8; was lieutenant governor of Vermont in 1853-4; removed to St. Paul, Minnesota in 1857; was elected a pro- visional delegate from Dakota territory while visiting there in 1859; was a member of the Minnesota house of representatives in 1861-3-4; was appointed associate justice of the supreme court of Dakota ter- ritory in 1865, and removed there; was reappointed in 1869 and again in 1873, and resigned after having discharged the duties of that office for ten years; was elected to the Forty-fourth Congress in October. 1874, as a Republican, receiving a majority of 2,408 votes over Moses K. Armstrong, a Democrat; was again, in 1876, elected delegate and served until 1879, when he was reappointed associate justice of the supreme court of Dakota territory and held this office until his death, which occurred October 2, 1883. He held his first term of the dis- trict court in Minnehaha county in June, 1879, and remained Judge of this court until his decease. He was an honest judge and greatly respected by all who knew him.
KILAND, GUSTAV H., was born at Manitowoc, Wis., March 2, 1862. He attended school until twenty-one years of age, graduating from the Luther college, at Decorah, Iowa, in 1883; then returned to his native town; was elected justice; commenced the study of law, and was graduated from the law department of the State University at Madison, Wis., in 1889. In July of that year came to Sioux Falls, and entered the law office of Boyce & Boyce, where he remained three years; then opened a law office by himself, but soon after formed a copartnership with Wm. Fuerste; in 1890, was appointed a member of the board of trustees of the State University at Vermil- lion, S. D .; in 1896-7 was city assessor of the city of Sioux Falls; is secretary and treasurer of the City Hospital, and of the Scandina- vian Publishing Co., and was elected clerk of the school board of the city of Sioux Falls in 1899, and is practicing law. Mr. Kiland is a good official, a good business man, and an esteemed citizen.
KIRBY, JOSEPH, like other people was at one time a mere child, in fact, he was a very small child October 5, 1863, when his parents began to care for him at Chickasaw county, Iowa. He worked on his father's farm, taught district schools, and studied law a little in New Hampton, Iowa. On the 28th day of June, 1886, he arrived in Sioux Falls, and within thirty minutes after his arrival was reading law in Bailey & Davis' law office. He was admitted to practice November 12, 1886, but was employed by Bailey & Davis until March 17, 1888, since which time he has been practicing law by himself. There is not a more untiring, indefatigable and persistent (right or wrong lawyer in the city of Sioux Falls. He has a great faculty of getting
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HISTORY OF MINNEHAHA COUNTY.
business, and since 1888, it is probable that no attorney's name has appeared in so many cases in the courts of Minnehaha county, and possibly in the supreme court as that of Joseph Kirby. During the last three years he has had quite an experience. The post offices at Waubay, Miller and Highmore in South Dakota, had been robbed, and quite an amount of postage stamps taken. On the 2d of July, 1896, a detective called at his office and demanded the stamps stolen. Mr. Kirby turned over a package he had received twenty-two days before. He was indicted in the United States district court that fall, charged with having received all the stamps stolen from the offices above named, knowing them to have been stolen, with the intent to appropriate them to his own use. The indictment was held to be bad on demurrer, and he was again indicted and brought to trial. When the evidence was all in, the court directed a verdict of not guilty as to the stamps stolen at Waubay and Miller, and the High- more branch was submitted to the jury. The jury disagreed. The case was again tried, and the jury after being out fifty-two hours brought in a verdict of guilty as to the first count in the indictment, and he was sentenced to the penitentiary for the term of two years. A majority of the jurors made affidavits after the verdict had been rendered, that they did not intend, and did not suppose that in ren- dering the verdict they had found him guilty of intending to appro- priate the stamps to his own use, which was essential to the finding of a verdict of guilty. The case was appealed to the United States supreme court, and was heard in January last, and this court found that he had been erroneously convicted, and sent the case back to the trial court for a new trial. The case will be on the calendar of the October, 1899, term of the United States district court held at Sioux Falls. In consequence of the conviction, Mr. Kirby was disbarred from the practice of law in the state and United States courts, but immediately after the decision was rendered by the United States supreme court, the state supreme court reinstated him. The United States through its officials prosecuted Mr. Kirby with great vigor, and nothing was left undone that could possibly aid in his conviction. Mr. Kirby is a man of wonderful energy, takes a hand in all public affairs, and is an enterprising, generous citizen.
KINGSBURY, WALTER R., was born in Andover, Connecticut, December 25, 1832. He was reared on a farm, attended the public schools, and was graduated from the State Normal school. He taught school in Connecticut and Illinois for thirteen years, and then en- gaged in the mercantile business for the same length of time, first in Adams county, Illinois and then in Chicago. On the 4th day of April, 1878, he arrived in Sioux Falls, and until 1883 was engaged in the real estate business, and was the promoter of some of the large business enterprises of the city. He has always been an industrious, enterprising citizen, and greatly esteemed by a large circle of acquaintances. He is one of those persons who has merited greater success in his attempts to build up Sioux Falls than has fallen to his lot, but this has not been owing to want of courage and ability in his management. A loyal friend, a first-class citizen, and a generous neighbor, are the most prominent characteristics of the subject of this sketch.
JOSEPH KIRBY.
38
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HISTORY OF MINNEHAHA COUNTY
KITTREDGE, ALFRED B., is a native of Cheshire county, New Hampshire, and was born March 28, 1861; received his early educa- tion in public schools and by private tutor; in 1878 entered Yale and graduated from that institution in 1882; then commenced the study of law in the office of Judge Veasey, at Rutland, Vermont, and also studied in the office of Bachelder & Faulkner of the same place, until 1884, when he entered the Yale law school from which he graduated in the spring of 1885; was admitted to the bar by the supreme court of Connecticut the following June; then came to Sioux Falls, and sub- sequently entered into a copartnership with C. H. Winsor, which copartnership existed until Mr. Winsor removed to New York in October, 1895.
It is only fourteen years since Mr. Kittredge came to Dakota, but he is one of the best known men in the state. This is largely due to the part he has taken in politics. He soon became very popu- lar with his associates, and nothing, in the estimation of his friends, was too good for him, which resulted in his being pushed to the front in political circles. Possessed of good sense, and a rare faculty of organization, he soon exercised a controlling influence over the po- litical conventions of the Republican party, and persons desirous of political promotion in South Dakota come to Sioux Falls at their earliest convenience to consult Mr. Kittredge.
He was elected senator from Minnehaha county in 1889 and re- elected in 1891, and was one of the most influential men in the senate. At the national republican convention in 1892 he was elected a mem- ber of the national republican committee from South Dakota and re- elected in 1896. He has never been a trifler in political matters, and if any criticism is to be made upon his political methods, it is that he has pushed aside from political preferment all such persons as would not fight in the ranks with the same zeal as they would if their names appeared upon the roll call of the acknowledged leaders of the party. He is the local attorney for the Great Northern and the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad companies and has a large law practice which he is industriously looking after; and with his thorough legal attainments and wide acquaintance it is not too much to expect that he will become one of the most successful lawyers in South Dakota.
KLAUSON, WILLIAM, was born on a farm in the province of Sodermanland, Sweden, July 22, 1862. He attended the public schools and the University at Stockholm, where he was graduated in 1883; worked as foreman for a building contractor three years, and then came to this country and settled at Salem, MeCook county, this state, December 11, 1886; worked as stone mason until 1892, when he located at Sioux Falls, where he has since been engaged in the real estate business. Mr. Klauson is a conservative, safe business man, and a good citizen.
KNAPP, DEXTER J., was born at Dummerston, Vt., November 30, 1844; was educated in the public schools, and when only sixteen years of age went to New Haven, Conn., and engaged in the silk trade for about six years; then went to Minneapolis, Minn., where he
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HISTORY OF MINNEHAHA COUNTY.
engaged in the loan and lumber business until he removed to Sionx Falls in October, 1877. At first he bought city lots and did some building, but his principal business from that time to the present writing has been dealing in real estate. He has been a great adver- tiser, sending out circulars by the thousands at times, in which he portrayed the advantages of the country in his peculiar and attrac- tive style. He has also written articles for the newspapers which were sure to catch the public eye. But he has not confined himself to literary efforts in the interest of the public. Four years ago it occurred to him that the ponds and rivers in southeastern Dakota were not yielding their proportion of food supply for the inhabitants. With him to conceive of a project, especially where the public good is concerned, is to act. He studied the subject and came to the con- clusion that the streams ought to be stocked with fish, and without any aid or any hope of gain to himself, he interceded with the United States commissioner of fish and fisheries for a supply of fry. He has received six large consignments, and distributed them in the lakes, rivers and streams throughout this part of the state, not for- getting Minnehaha county. He put three millions of black bass, croppies and other game fish into Wall Lake, and the Split Rock re- ceived a large supply of speckled and rainbow trout. He was ap- pointed fish warden of the state by the late Governor Sheldon, and has received two appointments to the same office by Governor Lee. Mr. Knapp is an industrious, enterprising and esteemed citizen.
KNOWLES, EDWARD S., was born in Rigo, N. Y., February 24, 1861; attended the common schools, and the Rochester academy in New York; moved to Danville, Il1., in 1878, and after having attended the high school at that place for some time, engaged as clerk in a grocery store one year; came to Sioux Falls on the 14th day of April, 1882, and engaged in the grocery business under the firm name of Mighton & Knowles; in 1884 was employed by the Insurance Com- pany of Dakota, and in 1885, by the Luverne Granite Company, at Luverne, Minn .; subsequent to this was employed by Avery & Er- skine, Walter French, and T. J. Fosdick in Sioux Falls, as clerk in their mercantile business; in 1893 went into the insurance business, and is now a member of the firm of Morcom & Knowles in the same business. Mr. Knowles is a Knight Templar and Shriner, and has been the recorder of the Chapter in Sioux Falls since 1890. He is prominent in social circles, and is a respected citizen.
KREISER, FREDERICK, was born in Germany, January 6, 1851; emigrated to the United States in 1868, and located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where he remained until he removed to Sioux Falls Mav 1, 1883. Has nearly all his life worked at his trade, which is that of carpenter. In 1889 was elected alderman from the Second ward in the city of Sioux Falls and served one year. In 1894 was elected alderman from the Sixth ward for a two years' term. In May, 1898, was appointed chief of police of the city of Sioux Falls. He is a good official, a good neighbor and an upright citizen.
ALFRED B. KITTREDGE.
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HISTORY OF MINNEHAHA COUNTY.
KUH, SOLOMON, is a native of Saxony, Germany, and was born August 19, 1825. He received a common school education, and when quite young became clerk in his father's store, and remained there until twenty-two years old, when he emigrated to the United States; was clerk in a store of general merchandise in Baltimore, Md., for several years, and a commercial traveler for about ten years; re- moved from Baltimore to Pittsburgh, Pa., where he clerked in a store for about two years; then went to Milwaukee; came to Chicago in 1859. just as the cholera epidemic broke out; there were no rail- roads at that time, and he took the stage for Dubuque, Iowa, where he remained two years; then embarked on the War Eagle, which had the famous statesman Charles Sumner on board, and went to St. Paul, and during the trip saw the present site of Minneapolis, where at that time nothing could be seen but endless prairie and a land office down in a ravine; returned to Dubuque, got married, and en- gaged in the mercantile business there for several years; then re- moved to Des Moines, Iowa, where he opened a broom factory and resided for about eight years; in April, 1889, he came to Sioux Falls. where he has since resided. Since his coming here he has invested heavily in real estate. He also opened a broom factory in connection with his two sons, Julius and Louis Kuh, under the firm name of Kuh Bros., and they are doing an extensive and successful business. Mr. Kuh has always been an active business man, and notwithstand- ing his age takes active interest in everything calculated to promote the prosperity of the city in which he lives. He is an enterprising man, and a good citizen.
LACY, JOHN S., was born in Portagecounty, Ohio, September 30, 1831. He received a good education, and after having become of age engaged in farming in Ohio, Iowa and Minnesota until 1887, when he removed from the last mentioned place to Dakota. In 1889 he came to this county and settled in Clear Lake township, taking up the northwest one-fourth of section 28 as a homestead, and the south- west of section 21 as a tree claim. Some years afterward he sold this land and purchased the west half of the northeast one-fourth of section 30, where he resided until 1895, when he removed to the city of Sioux Falls. Before coming to this county he had held town and county offices where he formerly resided; was assessor of Clear Lake in 1891, and served upon the grand jury the same year. Mr. Lacy is a thoroughly well informed man, an upright, honest citizen and greatly respected by all who have the pleasure of his acquaint- ance.
LAMB, RICHARD, of colored parentage, was born at New Castle, Indiana, in 1832. He came to Sioux Falls in April, 1879, and resided at this place until his death, which occurred February 7, 1897. While a resident of Sioux Falls he conducted a barber shop, and practiced medicine to a limited extent. He was a well informed man and took an active interest in public affairs, and, what was more, he had positive convictions and was always ready to main- tain them. He was highly respected as a citizen and it will be a long time before the acquaintances of Richard Lamb will forget his polite and kindly greetings.
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HISTORY OF MINNEHAHA COUNTY.
LANGSETH, PEDER, is a native of Trondhjem, Norway, and was born October 6, 1858. He was graduated from the State Nor- mal School in 1879, and from the Latin department in the college at Christiana in 1884 and passed the philosophical examination in the State University at that place in 1886. During this time he was also a teacher in a private college in Christiana. In 1887 came to the United States and entered the Lutheran Seminary at Mad- ison, Wisconsin, where he took a theological course and was grad- uated in 1890. Soon after he became pastor of a Lutheran church at West Tacoma, Washington, and remained there three years. In 1893 came to Sioux Falls and since then has been one of the able corps of teachers at the Lutheran Normal School.
LARSON, EDWARD, was born in Norway on a farm near Christi- ania, on the 9th day of January, 1838. He never attented school a day in his life. After working on a farm until fourteen years of age, he went into business for himself in a small way in the country. At sixteen he went to Christania, and engaged in business there until he emigrated to this country. He arrived at Rushford, Minnesota, on the 16th day of August, 1869, and took employment in a tin shop. He continued in this work until he removed to Sioux Falls, where he ar- rived on the 10th day of August, 1876. He then secured by pre-emp- tion a quarter section of land in Benton township; built a sod house, and moved into it; but the following spring he came to Sioux Falls and put up a building on Phillips avenue, sixteen by thirty feet, and opened a tin shop. For ten years he did business at this place, and then removed to his present location on Eighth street. From the time he commenced business down to the present writing, he has been constantly adding to his line of business, so that to-day he has every- thing that a person would be liable to call for in a hardware store. His energy, thrift, and enterprise in business is proverbial, and it has resulted in his accumulating quite a large property. Besides his business property he owns at the present time a fine residence, five farms, and more than a dozen tenement houses. He never med- dles with politics, and would as soon think of lecturing upon scientific subjects as to run for office. There are but few men like him in any community. He lets other people's affairs alone, attends strictly to business, and is a respected citizen.
LAWSHE, ISAAC GRANTHAM, was born on a farm in northwestern Illinois, on the 15th day of March, 1860. He graduated from the high school of Sharon, Wisconsin, taught school for two years, and then engaged in railroad work in the southern states. In 1889, he came to Sioux Falls, studied law with G. P. Nock, and was admitted to the bar November 17, 1891. Since then he has been in the practice of his profession at Sioux Falls, devoting his time almost exclusively to col- lections. He is an honest, upright lawyer, and a good citizen.
LEAKEY, LEVI, a brother of Milton R., was born in Henry county, Indiana, February 23, 1824, and died in Sioux Falls September 13, 1898. He was raised on a farm, and when he attained his majority purchased a farm on which he resided until he removed to Iowa in 1877. While in Indiana he was prominent in the affairs of the town
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HISTORY OF MINNEHAHA COUNTY
in which he lived. He came to Sioux Falls in the fall of 1879, and soon after purchased a farm a few miles out of the city, and aside from the care of this farm had little to do with business affairs. When the Illinois Central and the Willmar & Sioux Falls railroads were being built into the county, he was appointed by the court, and served as one of the appraisers of damages for the right-of-way. Quaint in his manners, and manner of speech, still, he had such a direct, honest way of expressing himself upon public questions, na- tional and local, that it was a pleasure to meet and converse with him. He was an exceptionally kind neighbor, an honest man and a highly esteemed citizen.
LEAKEY, MILTON R., was born in Henry county, Indiana, August 26, 1834. He attended the public schools and worked on a farm until eighteen years of age, when he commenced work at the carpenter's trade, and continued in this employment in his native state until he removed to Sioux Falls, where he arrived in February, 1882, and engaged in the same work for six years, but by that time he had secured a good farm, and having other property interests to look after, abandoned his trade. Mr. Leakey is a well known citizen of Sioux Falls, and is highly esteemed as an upright, honest man and a good citizen.
LEBLOND, DR. JOHN B., was born in Ohio, February 27, 1825, and died at Sioux Falls, July 24, 1895. He studied medicine at Cleve- land, Ohio, and practiced in his native state until 1856, when he moved to Brownsville, Minnesota. He was a member of the first and second legislature of that state. When the civil war broke out he was ap- pointed surgeon, and was in the service during the entire war. He came to Sioux Falls in 1880, and practiced his profession until the time of his decease. He was a good physician, a skilful surgeon, a splendid neighbor, and a highly esteemed citizen.
LEVINGER, MORIZ, is a native of Bavaria, and was born March 28, 1852. He received his school education in the old country and emigrated to the United States in 1869. He has always been in the brewery business, working in New York, Chicago and in Oskaloosa, Iowa, until the fall of 1884, when he came to Sioux Falls as superin- tendent of the brewery at this place, in which position he remained until he and Moses Kaufmann purchased it on the 17th day of Feb- ruary, 1886. He is a practical brewer, and understands the busi- ness in all its details. Since the purchase of the brewery, Levinger & Kaufmann have managed the business with more than ordinary business ability. Mr. Levinger is not only a good business man, but is public-spirited and generous, and his influence, although quietly exerted, is felt upon the public issues of the dav.
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