History of South Dakota, Vol. I, Part 86

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 86

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HISTORY OF SOUTH DAKOTA.

In private life he was a model man and greatly endeared himself to his friends and his family. To his friends he was the personification of fidel- ity. No consideration and no influence that could be brought to bear could induce him to de- sert them or waver in the slightest degree in his allegiance to them. It was this that welded his friendships, which once formed were never sev- ered; and this, in its way, also embittered his enemies. In his family he was all purity and devotion. He was a delightful conversationalist, and to his children he was a companion as well as a guide, an example as well as an inspiration, their warmest friend and their most judicious counselor. Impervious to fulsome flattery, he was yet highly appreciative of kind things said of him, and good-humoredly tolerant of criticisms. These traits overflowed the boundaries of his domestic life and made him popular wherever he was known. It was said of him that if he could get a few minutes of close communion with an enemy, he could almost invariably change the enmity into an undying friendship.

CHARLES NELSON HERREID, fourth governor of South Dakota, is a native of Wis- consin, where he was born October 20, 1857. His parents were among the earliest pioneers of that state. His boyhood was spent upon the farm, where he imbibed that love of nature and of life in the open which has continued a marked characteristic of his life. He early evinced a love of learning and made his own way through the common schools and Galesville University and after a course of reading in a law office, where he acquired a knowledge of practice, he took the course at the Wisconsin Law School, and graduated with the class of 1882. That year he was married to Miss Jeannette Slye, of La- Crosse county, and they took up their home at Leola, in McPherson county, where from the first Mr. Herreid, with commendable public , spirit, became a leader in every movement for the development of his locality, in material, moral and educational lines, and very early was accorded recognition as a distinct power in the

affairs of the territory. He prospered in his affairs, two lovely children were born to his home, he became associated in the ownership of one of the local banks, and when every prospect seemed to be propitious, there came the awful holocaust of 1889, when a flood of flame swept McPherson county, and in a twinkling of an eye, almost, Leola was literally wiped from the map. Miraculously, among the very few structures which escaped the fury of the flames were Gov- ernor Herreid's home and bank. Leola was not to speedily recover from this disaster. The re- actionary period which came to Dakota at this time, following the boom of settlement, the great historic drought period of 1889 and 1890, ac- companying it, were especially trying to that sec- tion and only the most courageous of the settlers remained to fight out the battle. The effect upon business was inevitable, but Governor Herreid was not the kind of man to be overcome by the untoward conditions which had overtaken him. but, with abiding faith in Dakota and that victory would come to him who had the cour- age and tenacity to fight to the end, he remained. carrying forward his business, protecting his property and maintaining his credit, and by his example giving courage and assistance to his de- spondent neighbors. He was, during this period, called by his neighbors to serve as prosecuting attorney and county judge, and in 1889 was ap- pointed trustee of the State University, and his good judgment was a factor in bringing that institution through the complications which came near to wrecking it in the period following the death of President Olson. From 1893 to 1897 he was lieutenant governor and won the highest commendation from both political friends and enemies for his good judgment and absolute fairness. In 1898 he was made chairman of the Republican state committee and conducted a masterful campaign, and was the acting member for South Dakota on the Republican national committee. In 1900 he was elected governor, a position he still holds, and his administration has been most satisfactory, free from all scan- dals and characterized by several administrative reforms, inaugurated by Mr. Herreid, which are

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certain to bring lasting benefit to the state. It should be noted that from 1897 until he became governor Mr. Herreid was a regent of education. The writer is fully aware that this brief sketch of Governor Herreid's life appears to be in- tended as an eulogy, but submits that every word of it is sustained by the facts and is, in view of the facts, but faintly drawn. His life and career have been such as to bear the closest scrutiny, exhibiting very much to commend and very little to criticise.

Governor Herreid is a consistent member of the Presbyterian church, and a faithful worker in all of its activities. He is a close student of social problems and of political economy, and a courageous and original thinker upon all lines of progress. In February, 1903, he was called upon to mourn the death of his son, Roscoe C., a splendid boy of fifteen years. Governor Her- reid's home is now at Eureka, in McPherson county, whither he removed from Leola after the building of the railroad. The Governor is a thirty-second-degree Mason and has held various important places in the grand lodge of the Ancient Order of United Workmen, and has been grand chancellor of the Knights of Pythias, do- main of South Dakota.

GEORGE WILLISTON NASH. state superintendent of public instruction, is almost a native product, for his parents brought him to the home in Lincoln county in his infancy. He, however, is a native of Janesville, Wisconsin, where he was born in 1868, and is the son of Newman C. and Jennie (Williston) Nash, and comes of good old Anglo-Saxon stock. The name, indeed, is a thoroughly characteristic Saxon product, primarily being "At the Ash." but, yielding to the penchant of the old English yeomen to abbreviate, became first "At'nash" and finally assumed its present form. Something more of family history will appear in the sketch of Newman C. Nash in this volume.

The earlier years of George W. Nash were spent on the homestead claim of his parents, near Canton, but in 1877 his father purchased the

Sioux Valley News, and thereafter the home was in Canton, where he attended school and assisted his father in the printing office, soon becoming an excellent printer. In 1885 he entered the pre- paratory course in Yankton College, from which institution he graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Science in 1891. In the meantime, however, he had for a year, in 1888-9, associated with James F. Hall in the publication of the Sioux Valley News, his father's newspaper at Canton, the latter being at the time engaged in the publication of another newspaper at Hot Springs. The next autumn, after his graduation, the subject accepted a position as an instructor in Augustana College at Canton, where he con- tinued until called to Yankton in January, 1893. to become principal of Yankton College Academy. In 1894-5 he went abroad and studied in the University of Leipzig, Germany, and traveled extensively in Europe. In the autumn of 1895 he resumed his work in Yankton, and his alma mater conferred upon him the degree of Master of Science. During the summer va- cations of 1896 and 1897 he pursued his post- graduate studies in the University of Minnesota, and the latter year was advanced to the pro- fessorship of mathematics and astronomy in Yankton College. a position he continued to hold until he resigned in 1902 to become state superintendent of public instruction.

· Professor Nash's work in this department has demonstrated his ability, energy and untir- ing industry, as well as his fertility in devising methods for the advancement of education and arousing enthusiasm and co-operation among educators and boards of education. Upon his recommendation the legislature passed the uni- form certification bill, by which teachers' cer- tificates become uniform and valid in every county. The standard of requirements to secure certificates, by graduates of state institutions, was also raised. He at once adopted the plan of visiting the members of the school boards in annual convention in each county, a plan which has resulted in arousing the utmost enthusiasm, permeating into every school district. He is compelling the reciprocal recognition of South

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Dakota's state certificates in other states, by re- fusing to recognize any state's certificates unless that state reciprocates by according equal favors to those of this state. He proposes that our standards shall be as high as any and then shall receive the recognition to which they are entitled.

Professor Nash possesses all of the qualifica- tions for successful leadership upon educational lines. He is deliberate in forming a judgment, but that judgment when once formed is unshakable, yet his manner is so agreeable and his methods so fair that new friends come to him with every accomplishment. Persistence and thoroughness are controlling characteristics in all of his under- takings and failure is unknown and unrecognized by him. It is difficult to characterize some mén without dealing in the superlative and George Nash is one of this class. His conduct and stic- cess thus far in life are infallible prophecies of a further career of great usefulness in enlarged fields of activity.

Professor Nash was married on November 17. 1903, to Miss Adelaide Warburton, of Pierre, the daughter of Judge and Mrs. Fuller. The subject is a member of the Congregational church and of the Modern Woodmen and Home Guardians. He is also a member of the executive committee of the State Historical Society.

CHARLES HENRY SHELDON, second governor of the state of South Dakota, was born in LaMoille county, Vermont., September 12, 1840, the son of Greshem and Mary (Brown) Sheldon, and was the third in a family of four, consisting of two sons and two daughters. Greshem Sheldon was a hatter by trade and for many years was a resident of Montreal where he owned an independent business, but, meeting with reverses, died in 1844, a poor man,. when Charles was hut four years of age. Mrs. Shel- don lived to be eighty-six years of age, dying in 1800 at the home of Charles, whose constant care she had been throughout his life. The early life of Governor Sheldon was a hard struggle. His mother was very poor and he was compelled to work from his earliest recollection to eke out

the family expenses. Until approaching man- hood he found employment on farms and then for several years in small stores ; nevertheless he managed to pick up a good deal of elementary learning and from his childhood was passion- ately fond of oratory, in which he constantly trained himself. His sympathetic nature made him a natural abolitionist and when the war broke out, when he was in his twenty-first year, he promptly offered his services, but upon his first enlistment he was, upon physical examina- tion, for some reason rejected. He enlisted again on the 23d of November, 1861, and was duly mustered into service in Company E, Seventh Regiment Vermont Volunteer Infantry. His military service was highly creditable and at the close of the war he had won the position of second lieutenant of Company I of the Seventh Regiment. After the war he settled in Golconda, Pope county, Illinois, where he engaged in mer- cantile business, and later he was connected with a large tobacco commission house at Paducah, Kentucky.

In 1880 Governor Sheldon removed to Da- kota and settled upon government land near Pier- pont. Day countv, where he opened a farm and built a home which he maintained until his death. In 1886 he was sent to the territorial legislature and in 1892 he was chosen governor of the state, which position he filled with credit for four years. There have been no more difficult years in the history of the west than the four during which Charles H. Sheldon held the governor's chair in South Dakota. Before he had been in office six months the great national panic of 1893 was on and the period of depression con- tinued throughout his term. To add to the em- barrassments of the period, came the almost total crop failure of 1894 and upon the heels of that the Taylor defalcation of January I. 1895, by which the state treasury was robbed of every dollar. Throughout all of these trying ex- periences the Governor labored unceasingly to maintain the state's credit and with results as good as could be hoped for when adverse con- ditions are considered. At the close of his sec- ond term he retired quietly to his farm and lived

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in simple comfort until the campaign of 1898 came on, when he responded to the call of his party to engage in a speaking campaign in the state and was assigned to a series of appointments in the Black Hills and made one of his most pow- erful speeches in the city of Deadwood on Satur- day night. October 15. Almost immediately fol- lowing the close of his address he was taken with a chill. Pneumonia followed and he died at the Bullock Hotel on Thursday morning fol- lowing, shortly after his wife and son reached his bedside.

Governor Sheldon was twice married. His first wife was Miss Mary Waters, of Pope county, Illinois, to whom he was married shortly after the war and whose death occurred in 1874. She left him no children. He was married in 1875 to Miss Martha Frizzell, of Johnson county, Illinois, and the union was blessed with three children, James B., Ethel and Charles H. James died in 1894, while a student at Brookings Col- lege. Governor Sheldon was a man of marked ability, of good and strong impulses and his memory is cherished in South Dakota by a host of friends.

JAMES H. KYLE .- The late Senator James H. Kyle, of South Dakota, died the early even- ing of July 1, 1901. He was buried the after- noon of July 4. eleven years-almost to an hour-after he delivered an address which gave him a seat in the United States senate. Since his serious illness at Cleveland. September, 1898, he had not been well, although his appearance otherwise indicated. His vitality was gone. The wire and fiber of his constitution were wasted and worn, and, a complication of ills overtaking him, the thread of life was easily broken, and in a few days he crossed the dark river. The Christian faith, his guide through life, sustained the departing spirit, and with perfect confidence he beheld the opening scenes of his eternity.

James Henderson Kyle was born at Cedar- ville, near Xenia, Greene county, Ohio, Febru- ary 24, 1854, and was the second of a family of six children-three brothers and three sisters-

of whom one brother and two sisters survive. His father, Thomas B., was born at the Kyle homestead, near Xenia, Ohio, January 24, 1824, and when seven years of age moved with his father to the then territory of Kentucky. When it was admitted as a slave state they returned to the Senator's birthplace and near where his father was born. The father served as a Union soldier and officer in the Civil war, and in the fall of 1865 with his family moved to Urbana, Champaign county, Illinois, where he still re- sides. The influencing reason for the selection of this home was on account of the proposed lo- cation of the State University, affording an op- portunity for the education of his children. The Senator's grandfather was born in Pennsylvania in 1773 of parents who came from Scotland to this country in a very early day. The Senator's great-grandfather, with six brothers, served their country during the Revolutionary war. His mother, Jane Henderson, was born in Westmore- land county, Pennsylvania, May 30, 1829, of parents who came from the north part of Ire- land.

While living at Xenia, Ohio, the Senator at- tended the common schools and received his pri- mary education. At Urbana he graduated from the high school and entered the State University at Champaign in 1871. Not being able to se- cure the course of study he desired, he entered Oberlin College, Ohio, in 1873, and graduated from that institution in 1878. While attending school and the University of Illinois he worked on a farm during vacation, and when at Oberlin College he also worked on a farm and taught school to defray his expenses, and very largely supported himself while obtaining his education. He then entered the Western Theological Semi- nary at Allegheny, Pennsylvania, where he wholly sustained himself by giving private les- sons in Greek, Latin and mathematics until his graduation, in 1882.

April 27, 1881, Mr. Kyle was married at Cin- cinnati, Ohio, to Miss Anna Isabel Dugot, who, with two children, Miss Ethelwyn and James H. Kyle, Jr., survive.

After graduating from the seminary and re-

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ceiving his license to preach, he accepted service with the Board of Home Missions and located at Mount Pleasant, Utah. There he had charge of a seminary in connection with his church duties. To secure a climate more healthful to his wife, he removed to the then territory, now state, of South Dakota, in 1885, and was in charge of the Congregational church at Ipswich, in that state, until 1889, when he removed to Aberdeen and became pastor of the First Con- gregational church. At a celebration of the Fourth of July, 1890, at Aberdeen, he delivered a memorable address. A spirit of political unrest prevailed in the state and an advanced position was taken in the remedies proposed. This speech attracted marked attention and provoked much discussion, not only at his home, but throughout the state, and from that date he was well known by all its people. The next day the "Independents" of his senatorial district held their convention and, without effort and against his will, a unanimous nomination was tendered. His election followed, and early in January, 1891, the duties of the office were assumed. He was a man of imposing presence, a fine specimen of physical manhood and intellectual force-vigor- ous in mind, acts, and the accomplishment of results. To the duties of this office he applied himself with rare fidelity and honesty of pur- pose and immediately won the respect, confidence and esteem of his colleagues in that body. Although inexperienced in legislation, his evident desire to be right and do right was apparent, and his industry, kindness and courtesy were un- failing. A just measure commanded his support with the certainty that day follows night, and in the perfection of details he never wearied. Feb- ruary 16, 1891, he was chosen United States senator to succeed Gideon C. Moody, receiving the combined independent and Democratic votes. In 1897 he was re-elected for a second term, ex- piring March 3, 1903. During his term of office he served on the committees of Indian affairs, patents, territories, pensions, irrigation and rec- lamation of arid lands, Indian depredations, forest reservations and the protection of gune,

and was chairman of the committee on education and labor.

Senator Kyle's ability for hard and effective work was fully recognized in his appointment as chairman of the United States industrial com- mission, created by act of congress of June 18, 1898, and the volumes of testimony taken under his personal direction and supervision and his exhaustive reports upon the subject justified the confidence reposed. He did not live to see the completion of the work of the commission; but the vast amount of testimony and the great variety of subjects covered in the report show that the plans were well conceived and carried to a successful conclusion. The work done by the commission will undoubtedly be of great as- sistance in shaping future legislation.

Another notable and salutary congressional act proposed and accomplished by him was the designation of Labor Day and making it a na- tional holiday. For all time will this day be recognized and observed by the laborer and his friends. Labor never had a better friend than Senator Kyle, and no one better understood its needs or extended a more sympathetic and help- ful hand. As a boy he worked upon the farm to aid in securing the education he so eagerly sought and highly prized ; as a man and senator he did not forget the labor of his youth. His experience taught him the true dignity of labor and its necessity in every walk of life.

In time of the nation's danger party politics are laid aside and animosities forgotten. In the events leading up to and during the Spanish- American war Senator Kyle was not an excep- tion to this rule, although not identified with the party in power: He stood loyally with the President and fearlessly supported the adminis- tration in war measures and in every detail which would assure a speedy and successful termination of the conflict. When the war ended, Senator Kyle earnestly and consistently worked to secure the ratification of the treaty of peace. He did not stop here. As a true American, he kept pace with the progress of our country's development. cheerfully, courageously, and hopefully accept-

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ing the burdens necessarily assumed as the result of the war.

The accurate and eloquent tributes of affec- tion and esteem paid his memory by members of congress who were so long associated with the Senator and who knew him best show the record and impression he made in that body. He per- formed every duty to which he was assigned with conspicuous zeal, industry and ability. His patient attention to the details of business, even when pressed upon him by those not entitled, in- dicates the kind heart which always influenced him. and his candor and fairness inspired all with confidence. In manner he was unassuming. caring little for society, bending his whole energy to the performance of official duties. He was charitable in act and thought. His modest, quiet, kindly way endeared him to a host of friends. who mourned his loss with personal grief. He was a dutiful son, of tender sensibilities and noble impulses, a kind and loving husband and father, an upright, pure and courteous gentleman. most loved by those who knew him best. When death called him he was at the zenith of his power, absorbed in public duties with such energy that he was unable to withstand the strain. and the desire, unconsciously in his mind, found expression in his last words, evidencing as well his Christian faith: "Now I shall rest."

HON. ERICK J. BERDAHL is a native of Norway, where his birth occurred on the 8th day of August, 1850. When six years old, he was brought to the United States by his parents, and from that time until 1860 lived at the family home in Winneshiek county, Iowa, removing. the latter year, to Houston county, Minnesota, where he worked on the farm and attended school during the six years following. In 1866 he ac- companied the family to Filmore county, in the latter state, and after living there until 1873 came to South Dakota, settling on a farm in Sverdrup township, Minnehaha county, which he still owns and which he took up under the homestead law soon after his arrival. Mr. Berdahl has been ac- tively identified with the material interests of

Minnehaha county during the twenty years of his residence therein, and few, if any, have exer- cised a more beneficial influence upon its devel- cpment or have contributed in a more marked degree to the various agencies and enterprises making for its progress. From the original homestead of wild land in a sparsely settled lo- cality, he has developed one of the finest and most valuable farms of its area in the county, a beautiful place of one hundred and sixty acres, all under cultivation, containing substantial im- provements and presenting the appearance of a home in which few comforts and conveniences are lacking. As an agriculturist Mr. Berdahl stands in the front rank, and the ample compe- tence he now commands, and the fine condition of his home, attests the energy and success witlı which he has prosecuted his life work. Mr. Ber- dahl, on the 2d day of April, 1873, was united in the bonds of wedlock with Miss Hannah Brand- vold, who was born July 5, 1848, in Norway, and who came to the United States about two years prior to her marriage. Mr. and Mrs. Ber- dahl are the parents of ten children, only three of whom are living, namely, John E., Carrie and Henry ; the deceased are Christina, who married Erick Langness and died in her twenty-fourth year : Albert, Carrie, Anna, Alma and Anna, the last five dying in childhood.

Mr. Berdahl has been an influential Repub- lican ever since attaining his majority and by reason of his activity in party circles and serv- ices rendered in different campaigns he has been from time to time honored with various official po- sitions. He served for some years as justice of the peace, also as chairman of the township board, and for several years past has been treasurer of the Farmers' Mutual Insurance Company of Minnehaha County, a position of great responsi- bility, requiring of the incumbent much more than ordinary business talent. He also repre- sented the county of Minnehaha one term in the general assembly and as a legislator sustained the high reputation in which he was held by the people, fully meeting the expectations of his constituents, Democrats as well as Republicans. Mr. Berdahl is a man of great firmness, honest

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History of South Dakota, Vol. I, Part 86

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