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 67
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1892. Supervisors, John Alguire, Frank Barnes, Henry Frantz; clerk, O. Brandenburg: treasurer, G. B. Moulton. At the end of the vear the treasurer reported $810.66 on hand.
1893 Supervisors, John Alguire chairman, Frank Barnes, Henry Frantz; clerk, O. Brandenburg; treasurer, G. B. Moulton; assessor, D. Alguire.
1894. Supervisors, John Alguire chairman, Frank Barnes, Henry Frantz; clerk, O. Brandenburg; treasurer, W. F. Alguire; assessor, S. D. Alguire.
1895. Supervisors, John Alguire chairman, Frank Barnes, F. S. Hall; clerk, O. Brandenburg; treasurer, E. Wiser; assessor, E. J. Tracy.
1896. Same officers as in 1895.
1897. Supervisors, J. C. Dunn chairman, Frank Barnes, J. W. Vincent; clerk, O. Brandenbug; treasurer, E. Wiser; assessor, E. J. Tracy.
1898. Supervisors, J. E. Dunn chairman, Frank Barnes, J. W. Vincent; clerk, O. Brandenburg; treasurer, E. Wiser; assessor, E. T. Alguire.
1899. Supervisors, F. C. Freble chairman, J. W. Vincent, Henry Frantz; clerk, O. Brandenburg; treasurer, E. Wiser; assessor, E. T. Alguire; justice, Rob. Alguire; constable, Henry Watson.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
ALGUIRE, JOHN, one of the prosperous and substantial farmers of this county, was born in Canada, May 21, 1842. In 1853, he came with his parents to the United States and lived in New York ten years. He then removed to Wisconsin, where he resided until 1873. when he came to Dakota and located a homestead in Brandon town- ship, this county. In 1880, he sold out and went to Oregon, but re- turned within a year, and since then has been a permanent resident of this county. He is the owner of a large real estate, the greater portion of which is in Wayne township. His home farm comprises nearly a thousand acres, and is well improved. In short, Mr. Alguire is one of the most successful farmers in this locality, and is a highly respected citizen.
ALGUIRE, SOLOMON D., has been a well known resident of this county for nearly thirty years. He is a native of Cromwell, Canada, and was born in 1854. When only six years old, he came to New York, lived there four years, removed to Wisconsin in 1864, and came to Dakota in 1872. He then secured as a homestead, the northeast quarter of section 3, in the town of Wayne, where he still resides and has a good farm. Was assessor in 1892, and is a good citizen.
760
HISTORY OF MINNEHAHA COUNTY.
BAILEY, WILLIAM, was born in Ireland in June, 1846. His an- cestors were of Scotch-Irish decent, and members of the Presbyter- ian church. When twenty-one years of age he emigrated to the United States, and came to Iowa in May, 1867. During the next three years he traveled extensively over the country, staying but a short time in any place. In May, 1870, he came to this county, and took up 160 acres of land in sections 10 and 15, in Wayne township, where he has since resided, and has added 160 acres more to his farm. He is one of the best and most industrious farmers in the county, and, aside from visiting the World's Fair for two weeks, was never away from home to exceed a day or two at a time, and has undoubt- edly spent more days in Wayne township, than any other person. He is a good neighbor, and a good citizen.
BARBER, JOHN B., has been a resident of Minnehaha county since March, 1872. He took up a homestead and pre-emption in sec- tion 22 in Wayne township, where he still resides and has a well im- proved farm, with substantial buildings. He was born January 15, 1848, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and lived there and in Michigan be- fore coming to this county.
BARNES, VAN RENSSELAER LAFAYETTE, was born in Oneida county, N. Y., in February, 1820, and died May 11, 1887. He was reared on a farm, received an academic education, and taught school several years in New York and Pennsylvania. In 1864, enlisted in the 24th Pennsylvania Infantry, and served through the war. From 1865, until 1869, was farming in Pennsylvania and New York; came to Dakota in 1869, and stopped at Sioux Point until the spring of 1870, when he removed to Wayne township in this county and took up the southwest quarter of section 11, and the east half of the south- east quarter of section 10. He resided in section 11 until one year before his death, when he removed to Sioux Falls. He held school, township and county offices, and the first year he resided in Dakota was elected member of the legislature. He is a good neighbor, and a highly respected citizen.
BARNES, FRANK WAYNE, son of V. R. L. Barnes, was born July 28, 1859, in Erie county, Pennsylvania, and came to Dakota with his parents in 1869, and has resided on section 11 in Wayne township since the spring of 1870. He has added to the old homestead, and now owns a farm of 320 acres. He has no ambition to engage in pol- itics, but is a good neighbor, an enterprising, thrifty farmer, and a respected citizen.
BRANDENBURG, OSCAR was born in Muscatine county, Iowa, in 1850. After having lived in Wisconsin for some time he came to Da- kota and settled in this county in the spring of 1876. He took up a pre-emption and tree claim, and owns at the present time the south- east quarter of section 31, the north half of northwest quarter of sec- tion 19, and the south half of the south half of section 18, in the town of Wayne, residing on the last mentioned place. In 1898, he was nominated county auditor by the Republican party, but the Fusion candidates were elected. He has held the office of town clerk since 1882, and is a respected citizen.
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HISTORY OF MINNEHAHA COUNTY.
BRYAN, WILLIAM H., is a native of Cattaraugus county, New York, and was born May 16, 1836. He lived for some time in Wis- consin and Iowa, and came to Sioux Falls in September, 1872. He pre-empted the northeast quarter of section 33 in Highland but disposed of it, and for a long time was in the employ of his brother-in-law, C. K. Howard, in Sioux Falls. About fifteen years ago he bought a farm in section four in Wayne, and a few years ago he moved on to it, and has greatly improved it, besides erecting large and commodious buildings. He also purchased more real estate, and now owns five hundred and twenty acres of land in Wayne township. He has a fine herd of registered Jerseys, a good stock of cattle, hogs and horses, and is one of the prominent and well-to-do farmers of the county. He always takes an active part in town and county affairs, and, while conservative, is not wanting in public spirit. He has been supervisor of the town board, and assessor, and makes a good official.
FRANTZ, HENRY, is a native of Pennsylvania and was born July 18, 1844. He was reared on a farm and educated in the common schools. Before coming to Wayne in this county in the spring of 1873, he had lived in Ohio and Iowa. During the civil war he enlisted in Company H, 15th Iowa infantry, and when his term of enlistment had expired re-enlisted and served in all, three years and eight months. Upon coming to Dakota he pre-empted the northeast quar- ter of section 31 in Wayne, and afterwards bought the northwest quarter of the same section. He greatly improved his farm but sold out in October, 1894. He is a highly respected citizen.
HALL, FRANCIS S., was born in Ohio, May 10, 1858; lived there and in Iowa until 1886, when he came to this county and located on his present farm, which comprises one hundred and sixty acres in sections 6 and 7 in Wayne, and in section 12 in Benton. He resides in Wayne, is engaged in farming and has quite a good farm, and is a good citizen.
JONES, WILSON S., is a native of Erie county, Pennsylvania, and was born September 9, 1828; worked on a farm and attended the pub- lic schools until eighteen years of age, when he commenced learning the trade of carpenter and joiner. After becoming of age he was in poor health for several years, but says he got well, in spite of the doctors, by stopping taking medicine. In 1857 he removed to Sparta, Wisconsin, where he engaged in the livery and undertaking business for several years, and was a member of the city council two years. He afterwards moved to Menominee, in Dunn county, where he kept a hotel and was sheriff one term. From there he went to New Lis- bon, Wisconsin, and kept the Georgia House two years. After trav- eling about for awhile endeavoring to find a place that would suit him, he came to Sioux Falls in June, 1870. On his forty-second birthday he slept for the first time at his present home in a building he had erected. From the first he claimed that good corn could be raised in this part of South Dakota, and in this he was not disappointed. He has lived here to see the country settled with a prosperous people at the same time he has prospered himself, and adjoining his farm
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HISTORY OF MINNEHAHA COUNTY.
there is now a mammoth packing house erected. Mr. Jones is best known as "Corn Jones" and takes no exception to the prefix; he is a born fighter, energetic and enterprising, takes a hand in public af- fairs and never was on the fence a minute in his whole life. Such a man always has his friends and enemies, but W. S. Jones is a kind neighbor and a good citizen.
McMURREN, HENRY, arrived in Minnehaha county in 1876. He lived in Sioux Falls the first three years, and located on his present homestead in 1879, which comprises 240 acres of section 6 in Wayne, and 80 acres of section 31, in Benton. He lives on his homestead in Wayne, and has quite a good farm. Has held several school district offices. He was born January 1, 1844, in Ireland, and emigrated to this country in 1876.
MOULTON, GUERDON B., was born in Pewaukee, Waukesha county, Wisconsin, September 1, 1843. He was reared on a farm, and received his education in the common schools. In 1862 he en- listed in Company I, 1st Wisconsin cavalry, and served until the close of the war. He then returned to Wisconsin and engaged in farming in Waukesha, Crawford and Trempealeau counties until April, 1873, when he came to Dakota. He took up a homestead and tree claim in Lincoln county, and pre-empted a quarter section of land in Wayne township in this county. His present farm contains 320 acres, and he resides on the northwest quarter of the northeast quarter of section 22 in Wayne. He is a good farmer and a good citizen, but the most prominent trait in his character is his great love for the Democratic party. It might not do to say that he is the only simon-pure Democrat in the county, but it is true that he be- lieves a poor Democrat is better than a good Republican.
OAKS, DANIEL W., was born in Chautauqua county, New York, May 18, 1833. Was reared on a farm and educated in the common schools. He resided in Illinois and Minnesota for some time but finally came to this county in 1871. He secured as a homestead the west half of the northwest quarter and the north half of the south- west quarter of section 14 in Wayne, where he has since resided, and took up the northwest quarter of section 22 in the same town- ship as a tree claim. He built a log house on his homestead in Sep- tember 1871, which was eleven feet square. The roof was covered with cottonwood shingles, and when Mr. Oaks had paid for his shingles he had only 50 cents left. The first winter several persons lived in this house. Mr. Oaks said in an interview: "I don't know how I should have wintered if it had not been for the kindness of C. K. Howard." He has been quite active in public matters. He was chairman of the first Republican county committee of Minnehaha county, and called the first Republican county convention to order. In the winter of 1872-3 he was one of the petit jurors of the first ses- sion of the United States district court at Yankton, and was one of the grand jurors at the first session of the United States court in Sioux Falls in April, 1890, after the admission of the State of South Dakota. He was the first assessor in Wayne and held this office three years and has been school treasurer eighteen years. Mr.
W. S. JONES.
RESIDENCE OF W. S. JONES.
G. B. MOULTON.
D. W. OAKS.
769
. HISTORY OF MINNEHAHA COUNTY.
Oaks adds his testimony to the fact that Dakota blizzards are de- generating in force, and that they are of less frequent occurrence. He said: "When I came here, there was nothing to obstruct the wind, and the few first winters I spent in this county had at least two or three storms each winter that could be called blizzards. We were looking for them all the time." Mr. Oaks is one of the most in- dependent, determined men in the county, and is esteemed as a kind- hearted, upright citizen.
PRUNER, SOLOMON, came to this county in May, 1871, after having previously lived in Ohio, Wisconsin, Illinois and Iowa. He pre-empted 120 acres of section 8, and 40 acres of section 17, in Wayne, which he changed to a homestead, and resided there twenty years. He then sold out and removed to the Pacific coast. He held several town offices while a resident of Wayne, and was a good citi- zen. He is a native of Ohio, and was born May 9, 1818.
RAYMOND, FRANK, was born in Pawlet, Rutland county, Ver- mont, January 30, 1815. He was reared on a farm and educated in the district schools. He came to Dakota October 20, 1868, and to this county February 25, 1870. He pre-empted the four center forties in section 23 in Wayne on the 28th day of February, 1870. Before coming here he had traveled through nearly all of the north- ern states and Central America, and quite a portion of the timedrove an ox-team. He said: "When I came to Sioux Falls there was a stone building near the rear of where the Emerson block now stands, and a log house a little southwest of this, and a building near where the Burlington depot now stands, occupied by a man manufacturing pipestone ornaments. In the winter of 1870, I moved into the stone building and kept a hotel. I had one guest at Christmas, but did not have another for two months." Mr. Raymond has been a man of great activity, and has retained his vigor and energy so that at the age of eighty-four he is as sprightly and active as ever. He has not held office, but has exercised his right of citizenship whenever oc- casion offered.
SMITH, HENRY W., was born in Germany, January 3, 1844, and came to Maryland in 1857. In 1858 he went to Illinois, and resided there until 1872, when he removed to Dakota. He arrived in this county on the 27th day of March of that year, and took up a home- stead in sections 25 and 26 in Wayne, where he built a frame house, hauling the lumber from Elk Point. He afterwards sold this home- stead for a good price at the time the Sioux Falls Stock Yards were located in that vicinity, and purchased the northwest quarter of sec- tion 20 in Wayne, which he now occupies. Mr. Smith was elected as a Republican representative to the 16th territorial legislature con- vened at Bismarck in 1885. He has been an active member of the Farmers' Alliance since its organization in Dakota, and has been fre- quently elected president and secretary of the county alliance, and has also been chairman of the executive committee of the state alli- ance organization. In 1881 he was nominated for representative to Congress by the Independent party of South Dakota, and polled a large vote. receiving only 2,700 less votes than Jolley, the Republican candidate. He was elected auditor of Minnehaha county by the fusionists at the general election in 1896, and was re-elected in 1898.
49
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HISTORY OF MINNEHAHA COUNTY.
Mr. Smith is a farmer, but finds time to engage actively in politics, as the foregoing sketch indicates. He is a good citizen, and has earned a place in the front rank of the Populist party in the state.
SWEET, JESSE W., was born in Herkimer county, New York, July 6, 1847. He lived in Illinois two years, and in Iowa fifteen years, and came to this county July 16, 1870. He engaged in farm- ing, and has a good farm of 320 acres in sections 3 and 4 in Wayne, where he also resides. He is an industrious farmer and a good citizen.
TRACY, ERWIN J., was born in New York, July 21, 1846. He removed from there to Illinois, and then to Wisconsin, and arrived in Dakota October 3, 1877. He bought 160 acres of land in sections + and 9 in Wayne township, where he resided engaged in farming until in 1898, when he moved into the city of Sioux Falls. When he first located on this farm he planted six hundred maple trees, from which he has made some excellent syrup. He has always been pretty active in politics, and was town clerk, justice of the peace eight years, town treasurer five years, and president of the Farmers' Alli- ance of this county.
VINCENT, JOHN W., was born in Illinois, February 10, 1858. He lived there and in Iowa until 1886, when he removed to this county, where he arrived on the 11th day of March. He bought 160 acres of land in sections 5 and 6 in Wayne, where he has since resided. He has held some offices, and is a good citizen.
VINCENT, WILLIAM, was born August 21, 1830, in Somershire, England. He emigrated and lived in Cook county, Illinois; then in Blackhawk county, Iowa; and arrived in Minnehaha county in 1887. He bought and now owns the east half of the northwest quarter of section 7, in the town of Wayne, and resides there. He was road supervisor in 1890. Has a good farm and is an active and well-known citizen.
VINCENT, WILLIAM A., was born in London, England, February 10, 1856. He emigrated to the United States with his parents, and lived in Illinois and Iowa until 1884. During that year the subject of this sketch removed to Dakota, and settled in this county on the 18th day of March, where he has since remained. By pre-emption and purchase he is the owner of a farm of 280 acres in section 6 in Wayne, and resides on the southwest quarter of that section. He has held several school offices, is a good farmer and a good citizen.
WISER, ELIAS AND CAREY. We had biographical sketches of both Elias and Carey Wiser, but at the last moment, when it was too late to obtain the information desired to properly rewrite them, dis- covered that they had been lost. They were very early settlers in Wayne township, locating there in the early seventies. Their father took up the southwest quarter of section 9. He died about ten years ago, and Elias Wiser resides upon and owns the old home- stead, besides 140 acres in sections 5 and 8, which he has purchased. Carey Wiser resides upon section 17, and his farm consists of 420 acres, and is located in sections 17, 8, 16, 20 and 21 in Wayne. They are both prosperous, enterprising farmers, well-known throughout the county, and are highly respected citizens.
WALL LAKE TOWNSHIP.
(101-51)
This township is one of the best for farming purposes in the county. The township lines were surveyed by William J. Neeley in August, 1859, and the subdivisions were made by James V. Bunker in June and July, 1867. It contains, according to the government survey, 22,835.10 acres of land. It has no streams of sufficient size to appear upon the maps of the county, but there is a body of water on section 21 called Wall Lake, which covers 240.42 acres, and the map of the first survey of this township presents the peculiar fact that there were twelve small bodies of water besides Wall Lake, and when it was subdivided, ten of these ponds were located around the corners of the subdivisions. Wall Lake is quite a resort for fisher- men and pleasure seekers, and is only twelve miles from the city of Sioux Falls. It is a fine body of water, let the seasons be what they may, wet or dry. At as early a date as August 8, 1874, the Sioux Falls Pantagraph published the statement that the real estate firm of Cameron & Pettit of Sioux Falls had laid out a town at Wall Lake. The township has only one post office called Lake City, located near the lake. Its nearest railroad station is Hartford, located two miles and a half from the north township line. The residents are princi- pally of German descent, and there can be found in no place in the county a more industrious, thrifty class of farmers than in Wall Lake township. Good substantial farm houses, large commodious barns, and fine stock can be seen in all parts of the township.
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ZION GERMAN LUTHERAN CHURCH.
This church, which is known as the Wall Lake Zion Gemeinde, was organized in 1881, with a membership of forty-five. In 1883 a very fine and commodious church building was erected, at a cost of
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HISTORY OF MINNEHAHA COUNTY.
$3,000, which was paid by members of the church. The church building and parsonage are located in the northeast corner of section 8. The first pastor of the church was the Rev. E. Hahnemann. The Rev. Mr. Voelkert was then pastor of the church for about two years, and was succeeded by the Rev. L. Weinrich, who remained until the present pastor, the Rev. J. Hansen, took charge of the church. Ser- vices are held every Sunday, and the present membership is seventy- five. There is also a Sunday school connected with the church with an average attendance of thirty.
GERMAN LUTHERAN CHURCH .- This church, which is in the German language called Dreieinigkeits Gemeinde, was organized in Wall Lake in 1882, with about fifteen charter members. A church building was erected the same year on the northeast quarter of the northwest quarter of section 11, at a cost of about $1,050.00, which was raised by subscription. The Rev. E. G. Starck was the first pastor of the church; he was succeeded by the Rev. G. J. Fischer, who remained until the present pastor, the Rev. C. P. Thusius, took charge of the church The present membership is twenty-seven, and services are held every two weeks. There is also a Sunday school connected with the church, with an average attendance of twenty-two scholars. In 1882, there was a parsonage erected near the church, at a cost of about $400.00.
FREE METHODIST CHURCH .- A Free Methodist society was or- ganized in Wall Lake township by Mrs. Ulba Thompson of Grand Meadow in 1895, and services were held by her in one of the school houses until the winter of 1897, when the school authorities refused the further use of the school house. Mrs. Thompson upon receiving notice of the action of the school board decided at once that a church building should be erected for the use of the church society she had organized. Mr. S. A. Hoyt gave the society one and a half acres of land on the southwest corner of section 21, and during the summer of 1898, a church building was elected 23x24 feet in size, at a cost of $1,027. On Sunday the 18th day of September, of that year, it was dedicated, and the sermon on the occasion was preached by the Rev. J. H. Wilson, a district elder in the Iowa conference.
WALL LAKE TOWNSHIP BOARD.
1881. The first township officers were: Supervisors, T. J. Col- lins chairman, W. D. Alderson, Charles Lueth; justice, John Berguin; W. T. Pierce was elected clerk, but he removed from the township and .James A. Hooker was appointed to fill the vacancy. During the year the township was divided into four road districts.
1882. Supervisors, T. J. Collins chairman, W. D. Alderson, Charles Lueth; clerk, James Tracy; assessor, Peter Chelius; justice, John Berguin.
1883. Supervisors, T. J. Collins chairman, W. D. Alderson, Charles Lueth; clerk, James Tracy; treasurer, Charles Boy; asses- sor. Wm. B. Knott; justices, Wm. Miller, Henry Aulwes.
1884. The following officers were elected at the first annual March election: Supervisors, T. J. Caldwell chairman, W. D. Alder-
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HISTORY OF MINNEHAHA COUNTY.
son, Charles Lueth; clerk, A. P. Felt; treasurer, Charles Bov; jus- tices, H. Aulwes, C. Felhafer; constables, James Hooker and Wm. Miller.
1885. Supervisors, T. J. Collins, chairman, Charles Lueth, L. Wehrkamp; clerk, James Tracy; treasurer, Charles Boy; assessor, C. F. Maehl; justice, A. C. Brown.
1886. Supervisors, T. J. Collins chairman, W. D. Alderson, L. E. Wehrkamp; clerk, James Tracy; treasurer. Charles Boy; as- sessor, C. F. Maehl; Justice, Wm. Felhafer; constables, Rudolph Kuhn, Carl Westphal.
1887. Supervisors, W. D. Alderson chairman, L. E. Wehr- kamp, Wm. Miller; clerk, James Tracy; treasurer, Charles Boy; as- sessor, C. Maehl; justices, J. A. Campbell and A. H. Janke; con- stables, Michael Dargen, Carl Felhafer.
1888. Supervisors, James Tracy chairman, L. E. Wehrkamp, Henry Dreyer; clerk, James Hooker; treasurer, Charles Boy; as- sessor, C. Maehl: justice, August Janke; constable, Julius Volkman.
1889. Supervisors, James Tracy chairman, Henry Drever, Henry Aulwes; clerk, James Hooker; treasurer, Charles Boy; asses- sor, C. Maehl; justice, T. J. Collins; constable, Henry Fensterman.
1890. Supervisors, James Tracy chairman, Henry Aulwes, L. E. Wehrkamp; clerk, James Hooker; treasurer, Charles Boy; asses- sor, C. Maehl; justices, for two years, C. Sweeney, for one year, Joachim Muchow; constable, C. F. Maehl.
1891. Supervisors, James Tracy chairman, L. E. Wehrkamp, Henry Aulwes; clerk, James Hooker; treasurer, Carl Stowsand; as- sessor, Charles Maehl; justice, Win. Connoley; constables, Otto Gunther, C. C. Muchow.
1892. Supervisors, Henry Aulwes chairman, L. E. Wehrkamp, Wm. Muchow; clerk, J. A. Hooker; treasurer, Carl Stowsand; as- sessor, Chas. Maehl; justice, Carter Sweeney; constables, A. G. Brown, C. C. Muchow.
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