History of South Dakota, Vol. I, Part 134

Author: Robinson, Doane, 1856-1946. cn
Publication date: 1904
Publisher: [Logansport? IN] : B. F. Bowen
Number of Pages: 998

USA > South Dakota > History of South Dakota, Vol. I > Part 134

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JOHN SCHAMBER .- The career of the honored subject of this sketch offers both lesson and incentive, since it indicates what is possible of accomplishment on the part of the young man of foreign birth who comes to our great republic and bends his energies to legitimate industry, availing himself of the resources at his command and gaining a success worthy the name. Mr. Schamber has been a prominent figure in the public and business affairs of South Dakota, of which he is a pioneer, and has been called upon to serve in offices of high trust and responsibility. as this context will later indicate. He is one of the leading business men of Hutchinson county, being engaged in the banking business in Menno, and is eminently entitled to consideration in this history.

Mr. Schamber was born in the historic Crim- ean district of southern Russia, within sixty miles of the famed old city of Sebastopol, on the 6th of March, 1856, being a son of Peter and Wil- helmina (Luese) Schamber, of whose six chil- dren four are now living, namely: Peter, a resi- dent of Yankton county, this state : John, the

immediate subject of this sketch ; Rosina, wife of Joseph Bohrer, of Mercer county, North Da- kota ; and George, a prominent merchant of Free- man, Hutchinson county. The parents were born in southern Russia, where they were reared and where their marriage was solemnized. Peter Schamber was there engaged in agricultural pur- suits until 1875, when he came with his wife to the United States, whither our subject had pre- ceded him by one year. The former took up a homestead claim in Yankton county, where he resided until 1884, when he removed to the vil- lage of Freeman, where he passed the residue of his life. his death occurring in May, 1901, while his devoted wife passed away in 1883.

Jolın Schamber was reared on the home farm and secured his education in the common schools and the teachers' seminary in his native land, and there he taught school during one winter term prior to his emigration to America. His English education has been acquired by self-application and absorption since he came to the United States. Mr. Schamher arrived in New York city in August, 1874, and thence came westward to Iowa, where he gave his attention to farm work for one year, then coming to South Dakota and taking up a pre-emption claim in Yankton county. six miles southeast of the present town of Menno. Later he filed a homestead entry on this claim, while in the same locality his father also took up a homestead. In 1880 the subject left his farm, upon which he had made excellent improvements. and came to Menno, where he secured a position as clerk in a general store. In 1882 he removed to Freeman, where he engaged in the general merchandise business, in partnership with his brother George. They continued to be the lead- ing merchants of the town until 1900, when our subject retired from the firm, selling his interest in the business to his brother, with whom he had been so long and pleasantly associated. In 1886 the farmers' elevator was erected in Freeman, the same being controlled by a stock company of lead- ing farmers in the locality, and our subject and his brother became numbered among the heaviest stockholders in the new concern. In 1894 they acquired control of the enterprise, and finally be-

JOHN SCHAMBER.

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came sole owners of the property. In 1902 our subject sold his interests in this line to his brother, who still remains in control of the same. In 1900 Mr. Schamber became one of those prin- cipally concerned in the organization of the Mer- chants' State Bank at Freeman, being made presi- dent of the same and retaining this office until February, 1902, when the bank was sold to the present owners. In November, 1901, he organ- ized the Exchange State Bank of Menno, of which he is now the sole owner, the institution being recognized as one of the solid and reliable monetary establishments of the state and con- trolling an excellent business. He has maintained his home in Freeman.

Mr. Schamber is one of the leaders of the Republican party in the state, and his hold upon public confidence and esteem has been manifested in no uncertain way. He has held numerous lo- cal offices of minor order, and in 1886 was elected treasurer of Hutchinson county, serving three successive terms. In 1893 he was elected to rep- resent his district in the state senate, being chosen as his own successor in the election of 1895 and proving a valuable member of the deliberative body of the general assembly. In 1898 still fur- ther distinction became his, in that he was elected to the important office of state treasurer, in which he served two terms, having been re-elected in 1900 and continuing incumbent of the office until January I, 1903. He retired from this position with the record of having given a most able and discriminating administration of the fiscal affairs of the state. He is ever alive to the best interests of his home town, as well as the state in general. and his public spirit is manifested in a most help- ful way. He is at the present time chairman of the board of trustees of Freeman. He and his wife are members of the Lutheran church, and both are prominent in the best social life of the community.

On the IIth of November, 1881, was solem- nized the marriage of Mr. Schamber to Miss Maria Kayser, daughter of Adam Kayser, of Parkston, and they are the parents of ten chil- dren, namely: J. Adolph, who is a student in Concordia College, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin,

preparing himself for the ministry of the Luth- eran church; Robert E., who is cashier of the Exchange Bank of Menno: Otto G. is manager of the J. H. Leval & Company lumber yard at Lesterville and is said to be the youngest manager in the employ of that company ; Hildegard, Herta, Edgar, Udo, Hedwig. Berthold and Alfred, all of whom are still at the parental home.

JOHN R. GAMBLE, born Geneseo county, New York, 1848. Graduate Lawrence University, Appleton, Wisconsin. Brother of Senator Rob- ert J. Gamble. Located in Yankton, 1873. Held many local offices, and was elected to congress, 1890, but died on August 14, 1891, before taking his congressional seat.

CHARLES P. BATES is a native of the old Empire state of the Union, having been born in Oneida county, New York, on the 4th of Decem- ber, 1859, and being a son of Rev. Laban E. and Caroline (Bronson) Bates, his father having been a clergyman of the Congregational church, in whose ministry he served until the time of his death, in 1896, his wife passing away in 1869. The subject of this sketch was reared on a farm. his father having been engaged in agricultural pursuits in addition to his ministerial labors, and after attending the public schools until he had completed the curriculum he continued his stud- ies in the Genesee Wesleyan Seminary at Lima, New York, and from the age of eighteen until that of twenty-three he devoted a portion of his time to teaching and to the study of law in con- nection with his course in the seminary, having initiated his technical reading of the law in the city of Rochester. In 1883 Mr. Bates came to what is now the state of South Dakota and located in Ipswich, Ed- munds county, where he was identified with the hardware business about two years. In March, 1885, he came to Sioux Falls and resumed the study of law in the office of H. H. Keith, being admitted to the bar in January, 1887, but continu- ing in the employ of his preceptor, Mr. Keith,

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until January, 1889, when they formed a partner- ship, under the title of Keith & Bates, this association continuing until January, 1893, after which Mr. Bates was independently engaged in the practice of his profession until January, 1898, when he entered into partnership with P. J. Rogde, under the firm name of Bates & Rogde. On January 1, 1904, this partnership was dissolved and Mr. Bates formed a business alliance with Ralph W. Parliman, under the firm name of Bates & Parliman.

In May, 1894, Mr. Bates was appointed city attorney, being chosen as his own successor in the following year and thus remaining incumbent of the office until May, 1896. During the spirited campaign of 1894 he was chairman of the Repub- lican central committee of Minnehaha county, marshaling his forces with consummate skill and discrimination and proving himself well qualified for leadership. After the nomination of William Mckinley for the presidency in 1896 he identified himself with the silver wing of the party, receiv- ing the nomination for state's attorney on the Fit- sion ticket and being elected by a gratifying ma- jority, the entire ticket being victorious in the county. In 1898 he was re-elected, serving as a tangible mark of the popular appreciation of his ability and his effective services as public prose- cutor, and in the campaign of that year he was also chairman of the executive committee of the Fusion party in the county and had charge of the campaign in the county. In 1902 Mr. Bates re- newed his allegiance to the Republican party and has since been an advocate of its principles. He is devoted to the work of his profession, giving a careful preparation to all his cases and present- ing every cause with directness and with a full appreciation of the salient points involved, while his thorough knowledge of the basic principles, and the minutiae of the law, as well as of prece- dents, has gained him marked prestige as a trial lawyer and as a safe and conservative counsel. Fraternally Mr. Bates is one of the prominent members of Granite Lodge, No. 18, Knights of Pythias, in which he has passed all the official chairs, and has frequently represented the lodge in the grand lodge of the state. He is also affili-

ated with Sioux Falls Lodge, No. 262, Benevo- lent and Protective Order of Elks, of which he is past exalted ruler, having also represented this organization in the grand lodge. His religious faith is that of the Congregational church, in which he was reared.

On the 5th of February, 1891, Mr. Bates was united in marriage to Miss Grace Chester, of El- mira, New York, and they are the parents of two sons, Chester Bronson and Lawrence Russell.

EDWARD OLSON, the third president of the State University, was a native of Wisconsin, a graduate of the Wisconsin University, and was a professor in the old Chicago University. The university was highly prosperous under his management. He lost his life in the Minneapolis Tribune fire, November 3, 1889.

ORVILLE CLYDE CADWELL is a native of the Buckeye state, having been born in Fay- ette, Ohio, on the 20th of August, 1861, a son of Alpha Dow and Alta Delight Cadwell, who removed from Ohio to Minnesota in 1865, being numbered among the early settlers of Fairmont, Martin county, where the father engaged in the mercantile business, becoming one of the in- terested principals in the Ward & Cadwell Com- pany, of that place, whose business has grown to be one of the largest of the sort in southern Minnesota. The father of the subject died in 1899, at the age of seventy-two years, and his widow is now living at Chokio, Minnesota.

When the subject of this sketch was but five years of age he was rendered totally blind, as a result of an attack of fever, and his early educational training was therefore secured in the school for the blind at Faribault, Minnesota. while later he was afforded excellent advantages in being permitted to prosecute his studies in the celebrated Perkins Institute, in South Boston, Massachusetts, where he was graduated as a member of the class of 1881. His alert and re- ceptive mentality enabled him to make notable progress, and he early evinced a marked taste

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for music and for the reading of good literaturc, while he was fortunately endowed with a strong physique and buoyant spirit, so that his handi- cap has not been as great as might be imagined, for he is a man of fine attainments and excellent business ability, while his generous and genial nature has won him stanch friendships. He re- ceived the best of musical instruction and also learned the art of piano tuning, and after his graduation, in order to still farther advance him- self, he devoted one year to teaching music and to the practical work of his trade. In 1882 Mr. Cadwell secured a position as tuner and pianist in the prominent music house of Dyer & Howard, in the city of St. Paul, Minnesota, and con- tinued in the employ of this firm until 1889, when his health became so impaired as to lead to his resignation. In the autumn of that year he came to Sioux Falls and engaged in the music business, his father being associated with him in the same until his death, when he left his interest to the subject, who is now the sole owner, while the success of the undertaking is shown when we note that this is the largest, best known and most popular music house in the state, having well equipped sales and store rooms and a full line of the best musical instruments and merchandise. To this attractive enterprise Mr. Cadwell devotes his entire attention, and he has manifested great tact and administrative ability in the connection and personally attained the highest popularity in the business, social and musical circles of the city. He is a stanch sup- porter of the Republican party, and in 1899 was elected to represent the fifth ward on the board of education, being still in tenure of this office and taking a lively interest in educational af- fairs and in all else that makes for the well-being of his home city. He is liberal and tolerant in his religious views, and both he and his wife are members of the Unitarian church. He has been affiliated with Sioux Falls Lodge, No. 262, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, since August, 1902, and is one of its valued men- bers.

In the city of St. Paul, Minnesota, on the 18th of November, 1885, Mr. Cadwell was

united in marriage to Miss Minnie A. Burdick, who was born in Fairmont, Martin county, Min- nesota, being a daughter of John and Rebecca (Swearengen) Burdick, and of the children of this gracious union we enter the following brief record: Grace B. was born August 26, 1886; Muriel C., April 22, 1890, and Ralph K., No- vember 2, 1894.

FREDERICK C. WHITEHOUSE was born in the town of Boone, Iowa, on the 18th of March, 1870, being the eldest son of Julius F. and Elizabeth (Duckworth) Whitehouse, the former of whom was born in Maine and the lat- ter in Iowa, the ancestry in the agnatic line being traced back to English and Holland derivation, while the maternal ancestry was of Scottish ex- traction. Isaac and Mary C. Whitehouse, the paternal grandparents of the subject, removed from the old Pine Tree state to Iowa in 1867, lo- cating in Boone county, where Mr. Whitehouse continued to be engaged in agricultural pursuits until 1870, when he removed with his family to Cherokee county, where he and three of his sons took up homestead claims of government land, en- during the hardships and encountering the vicissi- tudes which ever are the portion of the pioneer, but ultimately meeting with a due measure of success. About 1880 the father of the subject dis- posed of his farm, which had greatly appreciated in value under his manipulations and through the rapid settling of the country, and removed to the town of Cherokee, where he engaged in the work of his trade as a carpenter and builder, which he has since followed, he and his wife being now residents of Primghar, O'Brien county, Iowa. The maternal grandfather of our subject was one of the earliest settlers in Boone county, Iowa, where he became a prosperous and influential farmer and there both he and his wife passed the clos- ing years of their lives, honored by all who knew them.

Frederick C. Whitehouse, the immediate sub- ject of this sketch, received his early educational discipline in the public schools of Cherokee, Iowa, where he completed a course of study in the

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high school. At the age of eighteen years he en- gaged in the loan and abstract business in Prim- ghar, Iowa, and simultaneously held the office of deputy auditor of O'Brien county. After be- ing thus engaged for one year he was tendered the responsible office of cashier of the Primghar State Bank, of which position he continued in- cumbent for three years, when his impaired health led him to resign and he thereupon estab- lished himself in the land, loan and abstract busi- ness in the same town, continuing the enterprise most successfully until December 1, 1896, when he disposed of his interests there and came to Sioux Falls, where he has ever since maintained his home and where he has attained a position of prominence as a citizen and business man. From a copy of the O'Brien County Bell, bearing date of November 26, 1896, we quote the follow- ing words as indicating the estimate placed upon the subject in the town where he was formerly engaged in business: "During his residence in Primghar Mr. Whitehouse has won for himself the reputation of dealing honorably and fairly with those who have had business transactions with him, and has always been identified with whatever he considered for the best interests of the town and good of the community, and as an indication of the esteem in which he is held we may point to the fact that our citizens for three successive terms elected him mayor of our city, which office he filled acceptably to the citizens and creditably to himself. This, together with the further fact that he has held several other posi- tions of trust, among which are the deputy audi- torship of O'Brien county and the cashiership of the Primghar State Bank, prompts us to say that with the departure of Mr. Whitehouse Primghar loses one of its best citizens ; and it is safe to say that none will be missed more, by a large circle of friends, than Mrs. Whitehouse, who accompan- ies her husband in a few days to their future home."

Upon coming to Sioux Falls Mr. Whitehouse at once established himself in the real-estate and loan business, as a member of the firm of Scott. Whitehouse & Company, under which title oper- ations were continued until 1893, when the pres-

ent firm of F. C. Whitehouse & Company was formed, the junior member being John M. Zeller. The firm has operated extensively in lands in east- ern South Dakota and has been the means of bringing hundreds of eastern people to this sec- tion, the greater portion of the number still occu- pying the homes purchased from the firm and be- ing contented, prosperous and happy. Mr. White- house is also secretary and treasurer of the Minne- haha Land and Investment Company, of Sioux Falls, the same being capitalized for fifty thou- sand dollars, and he is recognized as one of the loyal citizens and progressive young business men of the state. In politics he gives his support to the Republican party, and fraternally is identified with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Knights of Pythias, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and Ancient Order of United Workmen.

On Christmas day of the year 1889 was solem- nized the marriage of Mr. Whitehouse to Miss Abigail C. Blake, who was born in Shell Rock, Iowa, being a daughter of George G. and Mary E. Blake. Mr. and Mrs. Whitehouse have three children, R. Harold, Leland B. and Marie A.

ALFRED REID is a native of Aberdeen, Scotland, where he was born on the 16th of January, 1870, being a son of Alexander and Sarah Reid, both representatives of stanch and honored Scottish ancestry. The father of the subject is a stone contractor by vocation ; both he and his wife are now residents of Aberdeen, Scotland.

They became the parents of ten children, of whom nine are living. The subject was reared in his native city, in whose public schools he re- ceived his preliminary educational discipline, after which he was for two years a student in Gordons College, a prominent educational in- stitution in Aberdeen. In 1887, at the age of seventeen years, Mr. Reid came to America, whither two of his brothers had preceded him, and he made his way directly from New York to Sioux Falls, where he was employed as a hotel clerk for some time, and thereafter fol-

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lowed various vocations until 1890, when he lo- cated in Rowena, where he engaged in the gen- eral merchandise business, conducting the enter- prise individually until 1899, when he admitted his brothers James R. and Alexander to partner- ship, and they have since continued the business, in connection with their other important indus- trial enterprise. From 1894 to 1897 Mr. Reid was the local manager of the Minnehaha Granite Company, of Chicago, said company operating the quarries at Rowena, and he then entered into partnership with his two brothers and acquired the quarries, which they have since successfully operated, controlling a large and profitable busi- ness. The products of the fine quarries include granite paving blocks, building and dimension stones, broken ashler, range rock and crushed granite, and the firm makes a specialty of con- tracting on all kinds of street improvements in their line.

Mr. Reid is a stanch adherent of the Repub- lican party and has been a most active worker in its cause for a number of years past, while he has been a frequent delegate to the county and state conventions of the party. He has been in- cumbent of the office of postmaster at Rowena since 1897, served for nine years as treasurer of Split. Rock township, and was for seven years 'a valued member of the board of education, hav- ing at all times given a ready support to all measures and enterprises tending to conserve the general welfare and progress. Fraternally, he is identified with Sioux Falls Lodge, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, at Sioux Falls.

On the 27th of May, 1896, Mr. Reid was united in marriage to Miss Nellie M. Davidson, a daughter of James F. Davidson, a well-known and influential citizen of Rowena. She was born in the state of Towa and has been a resident of South Dakota for the past fifteen years. Mr. and Mrs. Reid have four children, namely : Emma Ray, Alfred Nelson, Alexander Davidson and Nellie May. Mr. Reid is a member of the Mod- ern Woodmen of America at Rowena and the An- cient Order of United Workmen, at Sioux Falls. Mrs. Reid is a member of the Methodist Episco- pal church and a prominent worker in the same.

ANDREW E. LEE, born in Norway in 1847, came to America in 1850, locating at Madison, Wisconsin. Came to Vermillion, South Dakota, in 1869, where he has since engaged in mercan- tile business, farming and stock growing. Elected governor upon Populist ticket, 1896; re- elected, 1898. One of the state's wealthiest men.

FRANK BOWEN .- The subject of this me- moir was a young man of sterling character and marked business acumen, and had gained dis- tinctive precedence in the commercial affairs of Minnehaha county, having been engaged in the grain business in the village of Benclare. His life was brought to a close by the hand of a das- tardly assassin, and he thus passed away in the very prime of an honorable and useful manhood. while the crime which caused his death proved a shock to the people of the county in which he lived, while his loss was felt as a personal be- reavement by his wide circle of loyal friends.

Mr. Bowen was born in Benton county, Iowa, on the 7th of February, 1865, being a son of Pat- rick and Catherine Bowen, and his father was a farmer by vocation, having been numbered among the early settlers of the Hawkeye state. The sub- ject received his educational training in the pub- lic schools of his native county and remained on the parental homestead, assisting in the work and management of the farm, until he had attained the age of nineteen years, when he inaugurated his independent business career by going to Cher- okee county, Iowa, where he was engaged in farming about three years, after which he followed the same line of enterprise for a time near Rock Valley, Sioux county, that state, and thereafter he was engaged in the real-estate business in the town mentioned and later in Latchwood, where he also conducted an insurance enterprise, re- maining there three years, at the expiration of which, in 1890, he came to South Dakota and took up his residence in the village of Benclare, Min- nehaha county, where he purchased an established general merchandise business, in connection with the conducting of which he also became one of the leading grain and stock dealers of this section.

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while he also handled lumber and coal and was the owner of the well equipped grain elevator in the town. He was an honored and progressive business man and did much to forward the indus- trial and civic advancement of the village, while he held the respect and confidence of all those who had an appreciation of his sterling worth of character. He was a stanch adherent of the Dem- ocrat party, but never sought the honors or emolut- ments of political office.

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History of South Dakota, Vol. I, Part 134

Author: Robinson, Doane, 1856-1946. cn Publication date: 1904 Publisher: [Logansport? IN] : B. F. Bowen Number of Pages: 998

Author: Robinson, Doane, 1856-1946. cn
Publication date: 1904
Publisher: [Logansport? IN] : B. F. Bowen
Number of Pages: 998