USA > South Dakota > History of South Dakota, Vol. I > Part 98
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HON. THOMAS L. BOUCK .- Holding worthy prestige among the public men of South Dakota, and a leading member of the Grant county bar, the career of Hon. Thomas L. Bouck presents much that is interesting and in-
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structive, having risen to high official station and demonstrated in different spheres the ability to discharge worthily responsible duties. Mr. Bouck was born January 29, 1865, in Fulton, Schoharie county, New York, and is the only son of Samuel Bouck, a prominent farmer and a descendant of one of the old Dutch families. The Boucks were there represented in colonial times and several of the name bore gallant parts in the Revolution, as well as in the various In- dian wars. Samuel Bouck lived a long and use- ful life, dying in March, 1897, at his home in New York. His wife, Mary M. Vroman, sur- vived him until July, 1902, and lies beside him in the old cemetery at Middleburg.
Thomas L. Bouck attended Hartwick Semi- nary, and, deciding to make the legal profes- sion his specialty, entered the Albany Law School, completing the prescribed course in 1886, immediately after which he came to South Dakota and opened an office in Milbank. Here he soon won recognition and in due time built up a large and lucrative practice. For a number of years his name has appeared in connection with nearly every important case tried in Grant county. He was elected the first county judge in 1889 and served by successive re-elections for three terms. In 1897 he was elected to the state senate, serving as such during two sessions, serv- ing throughout on the judiciary committee and as a member of the temperance committee se- cured the present liquor legislation. Mr. Bouck was several times appointed city attorney, and in 1893 he was the Democratic candidate for circuit judge, failing of election by the small margin of only seventy-eight votes. In 1903 he was further honored by being elected mayor of Mil- bank, which office he still holds. Mr. Bouck's personal popularity is only limited by his ac- quaintance and many of his warmest friends and admirers hold political opinions directly opposite to his own. Not endorsing Bryanism, Mr. Bouck became identified with the Republican party in 1900.
Mr. Bouck is the possessor of an ample com- petence, much of his means being invested in city real estate. In addition to a fine residence,
one of the most attractive homes in the city, he owns a large two-story fifty-foot-front brick block and he also has valuable agricultural and live stock interests in the country, owning several earning farms.
Mrs. Bouck was formerly Miss Margaret L. McCarthy, the marriage occurring on the 14th of July, 1898. She was born at Luverne, Min- nesota, her father, Michael McCarthy, being one of the early pioneers and widely known citizens of that state. They have two children, Thomas L. and Margaret L. Fraternally Mr. Bouck is a Knight Templar Mason and he is also con- nected with the Pythian and Red Men brother- hoods.
HON. NICHOLAS I. LOWTHIAN, one of the honored pioneers of Grant county, has been prominently identified with the industrial and civic development of the state. He is a native of Ontario, where he was born in the 17th of March, 1840, being a son of Timothy and Dinah (Irvin) Lowthian, both of whom died when he was an infant. He was reared by his sister and attended the public schools of his native province until he had attained the age of fourteen, after which he was employed in a telegraph office until 1856, when he removed to Worth county, Iowa, where he was identified with farming until March 9, 1862, when he enlisted as a private in Company C. Fifth Minnesota Volunteer Infantry, the regi- ment being assigned to the Army of the Tennes- see. He participated in thirteen battles and for eighteen months was in the medical department assisting in hospital work and in caring for the wounded. He received his honorable discharge, at St. Paul, on the 9th of March, 1865, and then returned to Iowa and engaged in farming in Worth county. In 1867 he removed to Freeborn county, Minnesota, where he continued to follow agricultural pursuits until his removal to South Dakota, having in the meanwhile served for five years as captain of a company of the Minnesota National Guard. In 1879 Mr. Lowthian came to what is now Grant county, South Dakota, and entered a homestead in Melrose township, and
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there developed and improved a fine farm, includ- ing one hundred and sixty acres which was owned by his wife. There he continued to be actively and successfully engaged in farming and stock growing until the spring of 1903, when he re- moved to Milbank, purchasing a pleasant and commodious residence on South Grant street, where he has since lived practically retired from active business, though still maintaining a general supervision of his farming interests.
Mr. Lowthian accords an unswerving alle- giance to the Republican party, and he has been a prominent figure in public affairs since coming to the state, having been incumbent of various local offices, while he was a delegate to the con- stitutional conventions of 1883 and 1885, and a inember of the state senate in 1893 and 1895. From 1867 to the present he has served officially in connection with schools in Minnesota and Da- kota.
On the 22d of December, 1859, at Gordons- ville, Minnesota, Mr. Lowthian was united in marriage to Miss Susan Beighley, who was born and reared in Butler county, Pennsylvania, being a daughter of Peter and Elizabeth Beighley, and they are the parents of three children, namely : William, who carries on the farm in Melrose ; John P., who is now engaged in the drug busi- ness at International Falls, Minnesota ; and Dr. George H. Lowthian, who is now engaged in the practice of his profession in Hewitt, Todd county, Minnesota. The subject and his estimable wife also adopted two children, Kate, who is now the wife of M. McMillan, of Kansas City, Mis- souri, and Nina, who still remains at the home of her foster parents. Also on his return from the south, Mr. Lowthian brought a Mississippi boy, Jacob Des Muke, to Iowa and who remained in the family till his marriage. He is now a resident of Condee, Spink county, South Dakota.
MERRITT B. WISEMAN has the distinc- tion of being a native of this county and a scion of one of its honored pioneer families, while he enjoys distinctive popularity in the community which has been his home throughout life, and is
one of the representative young men of this sec- tion.
He was born on the parental homestead in Os- ceola township, Grant county, on the 28th of May. 1879, and was the first white child born within the confines of said county. He is a son of Mar- cellus H. and Josephine P. (Palmer) Wiseman, the former of whom was born in Vermont, a rep- resentative of a family established in New Eng- land in the colonial era, while the latter was born in Illinois, where their marriage was solemnized and where the father was engaged in farming until 1879, when he set forth for the territory of Dakota, transporting his family and their few household goods in a covered wagon and making the entire journey overland with horse teams. He became one of the first settlers in Grant county, where he became the owner of valuable property, and he and his wife still reside in Milbank, being held in the highest esteem by all who know them. Marcellus H. Wiseman was for a number of years a trusted employe of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad Company, and was thus en- gaged for a number of years after coming to South Dakota, being now practically retired. He has ever been known as a man of force and pro- gressive ideas, and has manifested distinctive public spirit, having taken a particularly active part in the contest which resulted in the estab- lishing of the county seat at Milbank. He is a Republican in politics. They have four children, the subject of this sketch being the only son.
Merritt B. Wiseman, whose name initiates this review, has passed practically his entire life in Milbank, though the village was not founded until some time after his parents' location in the county, and he duly availed himself of the ad- vantages of the excellent local schools, having completed the course in the Milbank high school and been there graduated as a member of the class of 1897. He then practically continued his educational work by the valuable discipline gained through association with the "art preservative of all arts," having worked at the printer's trade about four years, while for the past four years he has rendered efficient service in the office of the county auditor, having been appointed deputy au-
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ditor in 1900 by John E. Truran. At present he is associated with the chief carpenter of the Jim River and of the H. and D. division of the Chi- cago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad. In politics the subject is one of the alert and enthusiastic young Republicans of his native county, and takes a lively interest in public affairs of a local nature, while he also keeps well informed on the national issues. Fraternally he is identified with Milbank Lodge, No. 20, Ancient Free and Ac- cepted Masons, of which he is secretary at the time of this writing, and with Banner Lodge, No. 57, Knights of Pythias, and Milbank Camp, No. 1887, Modern Woodmen of America.
On the 24th of June, 1902, Mr. Wiseman was united in marriage to Miss Lillian Lau, who was born in Wisconsin.
GUY L. WOOD .- Conspicuous among the successful business men and representative citi- zens of Grant county is the well-known financier whose name furnishes the caption of this review. G. L. Wood, for many years identified with the commercial interests and material growth of Milbank, and now president of the Farmers' Bank, is a native of Canada and one of six chil- dren who formerly constituted the family of Walter A. and Martha P. (Jacobs) Wood, the father born in Wales, the mother in New Hamp- shire. Mrs. Wood was descended from old colonial stock, her ancestors in an early day hav- ing been prominent in the annals of New Eng- land, and her grandfather fought in the war of the Revolution. Of the seven children, three sons and a daughter live in Milbank, South Dakota, one brother resides in New York, one brother in Minnesota and one brother is dead.
G. L. Wood was born November 5, 1860, and when about five years of age was taken by his parents to Wisconsin, and later to the south- ern part of Minnesota, where he spent his child- hood and youth, receiving his preliminary edu- cation in the public schools. Actuated by a laud- able desire for more thorough scholastic training. he entered the University of Minnesota and while attending that institution devoted his vacations
to teaching and to various other kinds of em- ployment in order to defray the expense of his collegiate course. Leaving the university in the sophomore year, he went to Ortonville, South Dakota, where, in connection with his two brothers, he engaged in the hardware trade, es- tablishing in 1878 a prosperous business which they conducted until 1880. In that year the firm added lumber and machinery and continued handling the three lines during the ensuing two years, at the expiration of which G. L. sold his interest to his brothers, and established a loan and trust business which he conducted in Mil- bank until the spring of 1891, when he organized the Farmers' Bank. Later this institution was incorporated as a state bank with G. L. Wood, president ; J. C. Wood, vice-president, and J. C. Elliott, cashier, under which official management it soon became an influential factor in the finan- cial and business circles of Grant county and vicinity, its prestige continuing with steadily growing interest to the present time. In addi- tion to his connection with the bank, Mr. Wood has promoted and established various other en- terprises, including the G. L. Wood Farm & Mortgage Company, which has extended its operations over Grant and other counties, and which now has several branch offices. The com- pany has built up an extensive business, owning at the present time about four thousand acres of land in different parts of the country and han- dling over a quarter million dollars annually. The business is constantly growing in volume and im- portance, and it is not too much to claim for its energetic president the credit of the enterprise, as it has been largely the outgrowth of his fertile mind and its success is the result of his judg- ment, method and capable management. Mr. Wood is essentially a business man and as such easily ranks with the most energetic and pro- gressive of his compeers in his adopted county and state. He keeps in close touch with the times in financial and general business matters, is fa- miliar with economic and industrial conditions of the section of the country in which he operates and, realizing the wants of the people, he has supplied the same generously and unsparingly.
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Like all good citizens and progressive men, he is deeply interested in his own community and few have contributed as freely as he to its ma- terial advancement, and none have been more active in promoting its social and moral welfare. His relations with his fellow men have been char- acterized by a high sense of honor.
Mr. Wood is a Methodist in religion, and at this time is on the official board of the church at Milbank. Fraternally he belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and Modern Woodmen of America, and in politics supports the Republican party.
On September 27, 1883, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Wood and Miss Frankie L. Morrill, daughter of Jefferson and Helen E. Morrill, the father being connected with the Withington Tool Company, of Jackson, Michi- gan. Mrs. Wood is a native of that state and has presented her husband seven children, four sons and three daughters, whose names are as follows : Ray M., Helen E., Hugh J., Marion, Guy L., Wyant A. and Rosamond.
JOHN D. SMULL, deputy postmaster at Milbank, was born in DeKalb county, Illinois, on the 31st of January, 1865, and is a son of Joel W. and Jennie (Dixon) Smull, the former of whom was born in New York and the latter in Pennsylvania. He is deceased and she resides in Chicago, John D. being their only child. Joel W. Smull devoted the major portion of his active business life to the vocation of contractor and be- came a prominent and influential citizen of Illinois, having served for a number of years as a member of the state legislature, while he was at one time grand master of the grand lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
When John D. Smull was five years of age his parents removed to Chicago, in whose public schools he secured his education, after which he became identified with mercantile pursuits, hav- ing finally established himself in the rolling mill business in Chicago, where he remained until 1892, when he came to South Dakota and took up government land on the newly opened Sisse-
ton Indian reservation. He assisted in the or- ganization of Blooming Valley township, was its first clerk and was otherwise prominently con- cerned with local industrial and civic develop- ment. He was president of the Settlers' Associa- tion of the Sisseton Reservation, which had over one thousand members and which was formed to secure an abatement of the charge of two and one-half dollars per acre demanded by the gov- ernment, and through the medium of the organi- zation this was accomplished and the government permitted settlers to secure free homesteads, as had been the case in other sections. He re- mained on his farm, which he still owns, for about seven years, since when he has resided in Mil- bank. During the fifth general assembly in 1898-9 he served as clerk of the appropriations com- mittee in the house. He is a stanch supporter of the Republican party and has been a zealous worker in its cause, having served for eight years as chairman or secretary of the county cen- tral committee. In March, 1899, he became deputy postmaster, in which capacity he has since served, except for a short interval. He is popu- lar, courteous and obliging, proving to be the right man for the place. He is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, in which he has passed the official chairs, taking a lively interest in the work of the lodge and in the wel- fare of the order in general.
On the 27th of October, 1892, Mr. Smull was united in marriage to Miss Annie Clouckey, who was born in Greene, Butler county, Iowa, being a daughter of Joseph and Mary Clouckey, while she was a resident of Greene at the time of her marriage, of which two daughters have been born, Jennie C. and Mary D.
JOHN S. FARLEY is one of the prominent merchants and representative citizens of Milbank, where he conducts a prosperous and extensive business in hardware, farming implements, etc. Mr. Farley is a native of Galena, Illinois, where he was born on the 28th of February, 1856, be- ing a son of John J. and Lucina Farley, the former of whom was born in the state of New
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York and the latter in Ohio. They were num- bered among the early settlers of Illinois, and John J. was for a number of years a successful teacher, though he devoted the major portion of his active career to agricultural pursuits. He died in Milbank, June 11, 1893, and his wife passed away in Iowa in 1883, and their three sons and one daughter are still living. John S. grew to maturity under the sturdy discipline of the home farm in Howard county, Iowa, where his par- ents took up their abode in 1859, and there re- ceived his early educational training in the dis- trict schools. After leaving school he continued to assist in the management and work of the home farm until 1880, when he came to Milbank, and here established himself in the hardware busi- ness, being one of the pioneer merchants of the town. He began operations on a modest scale, and with the development of the county and the advancement of the town as a business center, he has prospered and now controls a large and flourishing business, drawing his trade, from a wide radius of country. Correct methods have gained and retained to him the confidence and re -- gard of all, the result being that his business has constantly grown in scope and importance. Mr. Farley has not hedged himself in with his per- sonal interests and affairs, but has shown that potent public spirit which ever proves a factor in the upbuilding and advancement of any com- munity. In politics he gives a stanch support to the Republican party, on whose ticket he was elected treasurer of the county in 1888, remain- ing incumbent of the office for four years and ably administering the fiscal affairs entrusted to his care. In 1899 he was elected a member of the board of aldermen of Milbank, and has served about four years in this capacity, having been elected for the third time in the spring of 1903. He is affiliated with the Modern Woodmen of America and the Ancient Order of United Work- men, and both he and his wife are communicants of the Catholic church, holding membership in the local parish of St. Laurens church.
On the 27th of June, 1883, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Farley to Miss Minnie Dore. who was born in St. Croix, Wisconsin, being a
daughter of Edward and Elizabeth Dore, the latter surviving upwards of thirty years. To Mr. and Mrs. Farley have been born nine children, those living being John E., George Stan- ley, Mary E., Francis and Earl S. Paul, Walter, Lucina and another boy died in infancy. The family home, at the corner of Fourth avenue and Fifth street, is one of the attractive residences of the town.
LESTER H. BENTLEY, who is actively en- gaged in the practice of his profession in Mil- bank, is also engaged in the real-estate and loan business and is prominently identified with indus- trial affairs. He has been a factor in political and civic matters since coming to the state, and com- mands unqualified esteem wherever known.
Mr. Bentley is a native of Minnesota, having been born in Viola, Olmsted county, on the 29th of January, 1871, and being a son of A. L. and Tamar (Wiltse) Bentley. In 1881 they settled on a homestead near Andover, Day county, South Dakota, and there Lester learned every detail of farm work, driving cattle to break the original sod. Lester H. was reared to the sturdy disci- pline of the farm in Day county, and his prelim- inary educational discipline was secured in the district schools, while he later continued his stud- ies in the high school at Montevideo, Chippewa county, Minnesota, where he was graduated as a member of the class of 1889. He shortly after- ward began the study of law in the office of Smith & Fosnes, of that place, and in September. 1889, entered the University of Minnesota, where he spent one year in the academic course and was then matriculated in the law department of the same institution, being graduated in the spring of 1892, with the degree of Bachelor of Laws, while he was simultaneously admitted to the bar. Soon afterward he engaged in the active work of his profession in Montevideo, where he entered into a professional partnership with C. A. Fosnes, with whom he was associated until 1893, when he came to Milbank, where he has since resided and where he has gained high prestige in his profes- sion and marked success in business connections.
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In 1892 he stumped Minnesota in the interests of the Republican party, of whose principles he is a stalwart advocate, and at each ensuing cam- paign his services have been in requisition. He is attorney for a large number of financial insti- tutions, and has personally identified himself with prominent industrial concerns. He was one of the organizers of the Wagner Milling Company, of Milbank, of which he is still a stockholder, and is also one of the interested principals in the Wagner-Bentley Cattle Ranch Company, while he is vice-president and a large stockholder of the People's Kanmare Dry Coal Company of Kanmare, North Dakota. He owns and is presi- dent of the First State Bank, of Strandburg, Grant county, South Dakota. He is also iden- tified with the farming and stock-growing indus- try, and is a man of marked business acumen and progressive ideas, his executive and administra- tive powers being exceptionally pronounced. He is agent for large and valuable tracts of farm- ing and grazing land in Assiniboia, and during the year 1902 sold more than a million dollars' worth of land in South Dakota, Minnesota and Assiniboia, while he also has the best of facili- ties for the extending of financial loans upon real- estate security. In the fall of 1902 his name was brought prominently before the people of the state in connection with the office of railroad com- missioner, for which he was candidate for the nomination on the Republican ticket, and is an earnest worker in his party. With his manifold professional and business interests he considers himself favored in having "escaped" public office. Fraternally he is identified with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias. the Ancient Order of United Workmen and the Modern Woodmen of America. Mr. Bentley has one of the finest residences in Grant county, which he completed in 1903, at a cost of about ten thousand dollars.
On the 6th of May, 1893, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Bentley to Miss Mabel I. Tay- lor. of Alexandria, Minnesota, in which state she was born and reared. They have two children, . Lester II., Jr., and Charles E.
EDWARD P. BROCKMAN, the efficient and popular register of deeds of Grant county, was born in Hastings, Minnesota, on the 16th of October, 1868, and is a son of Edward B. and Susan G. (Powell) Brockman, the former of whom was born in England and the latter in the state of Wisconsin, while they were among the early settlers in Minnesota, where they took up their residence in 1857. He was a tinsmith by trade and followed the same for many years. eventually retiring from business. The family came to what is now North Dakota in 1881, lo- cating in the city of Fargo. His two sons and one daughter are all living, Edward P. being the second in order of birth.
Edward P. Brockman received his rudi- mentary education in the public schools of his native town and was about thirteen years of age when his parents removed to North Dakota. He then attended the public schools of Fargo, and, after completing a course in the high school, entered the normal school at Moorehead. He began to teach at the age of nineteen years, and successfully followed this vocation until he en- gaged in the general merchandise business at Tower City, North Dakota, where he remained until 1893. when he came to Grant county and located in Milbank, where he was identified with mercantile pursuits until 1896, when he went to Big Stone City, where for more than two years he was employed in the banking establishment of Gold & Company. He then engaged in the gen- eral merchandise business in that town, dispos- ing of his interests after a period of about eighteen months. In the fall of 1900 he was elected to the office of register of deeds of the county, whereupon he took up his residence in Milbank, and was re-elected in 1902, for a sec- ond term. He is also interested in the abstract businesss. the headquarters of the same being located in his office, and is also the cashier of the Corona State Bank, which opened its doors in November, 1903. He accords a stanch al- legiance to the Republican party, and has taken a decp interest in local affairs since coming to the county, while he is distinctively alert and public-spirited and is one of the loyal citizens of
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