History of South Dakota, Vol. II, Part 110

Author: Robinson, Doane, 1856-1946. cn
Publication date: 1904
Publisher: [Logansport? IN] : B. F. Bowen
Number of Pages: 1138

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HISTORY OF SOUTH DAKOTA.

the same, but after cultivating his place several years sold out to good advantage and changed his abode to Iroquois, where he has since resided, devoting his attention the meanwhile to the busi- ness enterprises in which himself and son are engaged.

Mr. Liddle served one year and three months in the latter part of the Civil war as a member of Company C. Hotchkiss Battalion Volunteers, enlisting at St. Paul and remaining with his command until the cessation of hostilities. His company was stationed for some time at Alexan- dria, Minnesota, and was transferred thence to Fort Duty to protect the settlers of a large area of territory against the hostile Indians. He rendered valuable assistance and retired from the army with an honorable record, since which time he has been as zealous in promoting the in- terests of civil life as he was brave and loyal in upholding the integrity of the national union.

Mr. and Mrs. Liddle became the parents of eleven children, only five of whom are living, namely : Charles, who is in business at Iroquois : Harmon, also a resident of Iroquois and a farmer by occupation ; Latimer, buttermaker of the Iro- quois Creamery : Walter, who is engaged in the railroad business, and Mrs. Esther Bangs. Mr. Liddle is and always has been a pronounced Re- publican, and is an active member of the Grand Army of the Republic post at Iroquois, and with his wife belongs to the Methodist Episcopal church, both being faithful and consistent mem- bers and zealous in all lines of religious and charitable work.

Thirtieth Regiment Indiana Infantry, as a pri- vate. He removed to Michigan in the fall of 1857, and his death occurred February 2, 1877. He married Amelia E. Stedman, who was born at Spencer. Medina county, Ohio, in 1848, the daughter of Nelson and Roxana ( Parrent) Sted- man, natives of New York state, the former born in 1809. the later in 1810.

The subject was reared to manhood in and about his native place, and attended the public schools. In 1887 he came to South Dakota and took up a homestead in Frederick, Brown county. which he at once proceeded to improve and upon which he resided for the following two years. Owing to the stringency of the times and the difficulty experienced in obtaining a livelihood from his land, he disposed of the same at the ex- piration of the above period, being obliged to sell at such a low figure as to cause the loss of nearly all of his labor and improvements. For some time after disposing of his homestead Mr. Ald- rich clerked in a clothing store in Aberdeen, and it was while thus engaged that he decided to go into the hotel business, and in May, 1806. with borrowed capital, he purchased the Wisconsin House, which he at once remodeled and refur- nished throughout, making of it one of the lead- ing hotels of the city. The hotel contains forty commodious rooms, with accommodations for a hundred guests, is modern in its appointments and supplied with all the comforts and conve- niences found in any first-class hotel. Mr. Ald- rich has proven a model landlord, his companion- able and congenial nature having won' him a host of friends among the traveling public. Not only is he popular with his guests, but he stands high with his fellow citizens who esteem him highly as a man and citizen, and have honored him in electing him to important places in the city government. In April. 1898, he was elected as a Republican to the board of aldermen at Aber- deen, and was re-elected to that body in 1900 and 1902. In 1898 he was made chairman of the committee on fire department, and remained at the head of that important committee as long as he was alderman. During that period the

ALVA N. ALDRICH, mayor of the city of Aberdeen, South Dakota, where he is also pro- prietor and manager of the Wisconsin House, one of the leading hotels of the city, was born at Ionia, Michigan, on August 29, 1866, the son of William E. Aldrich, who was born near Buf- falo, New York, February 23, 1840, the son of Warren and Sarah Aldrich, both born near Buf- falo, New York. William E. Aldrich went to In- diana in 1856, where he followed farming. He served ten months as a member of Company E, Gamewell fire alarm system was installed. In

ALVA N. ALDRICH

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1902 the board of aldermen honored him by elect- ing him acting mayor. In March, 1904. Mr. Ald- rich was nominated by the Republicans for the office of mayor, and in April, following. he was elected. His administration began with the inauguration of needed reforms, among which was the strict closing of all saloons on Sunday. and causing the proprietors to comply with the law forbidding them to obstruct the public view of their bars by the placing of palms, signs, etc .. in the front windows. He also closed all the gambling houses, and began the vigorous en- forcement of other ordinances, among the same being the one forbidding spitting upon pave- ments and sidewalks. And those who know the mayor feel certain the public can rest assured that these reforms are not spasmodic, but will continue as long as he remains at the head of the city's government. Mr. Aldrich is a member of the Masonic fraternity, belong to the blue lodge. the chapter and commandery at Aberdeen. He is also a member of the Knights of Pythias order.

On June 5. 1895. Mayor Aldrich was married to Miss Louise Wylie, of Aberdeen, and to this union one son has been born : Louis Wylie, who is now in his sixth year.

I. A. KEITH, the leading druggist of Lake Preston and a man of state reputation by reason of his connection with important public enter- prises, was born in Rock county, Wisconsin, on September 20, 1847. His parents, Alonzo A. and Julia M. ( McFarland ) Keith, were natives of New York, and there lived until about the year 1845. when they moved to Rock county, Wisconsin, where the father .entered land, de- veloped a farm and became successful in agri- cultural pursuits. In 1882 he disposed of his interests in that state and came to South Dakota. locating at Lake Preston, near which place he took up a homestead and retired from active life. He died at his home in Lake Preston in the year 1895, leaving a widow and three children, the former still living at the advanced age of eighty- one. Alonzo Keith was a man of strict integrity and high repute, popular with all who knew him,

and for many years lived an earnest, consistent Christian life, as a member of the Congrega tional church, to which denomination his good wife also belongs. Of the four children born to this excellent couple, three are living, Irwin A., the subject of this sketch, Edgar P., a prominent real-estate dealer and large landowner of Al- gonia, Iowa, and Charles W., who is connected with a Chicago business enterprise ; Herbert, the third in order of birth, died at the age of fourteen years.

The subject of this review was reared in Rock county, Wisconsin, grew to manhood on his father's farm and attended the public schools until fifteen years old, the training thus re- ceived being supplemented by a course of study in an academy at Allen's Grove and a commercial college at Janesville, Wisconsin. At the age of twenty he entered a drug store in Janesville, and after remaining four years in that city and be- coming a proficient pharmacist, came west, stop- ping one year in Iowa, and in 1882 settled with his family at Lake Preston, South Dakota. In March of the latter year he purchased a small pioneer stock of drugs, representing a value of two hundred and sixty-five dollars, and soon built up a lucrative business. Meanwhile, in 1882. Mr. Keith took up a tree claim, and later lo- cated a homestead, on both of which he proved up, and from which he has since received no small part of his income. He owns one tract of real estate, amounting to one hundred and sixty acres, adjoining Lake Preston, its proximity to the town adding greatly to its value, and he now has a beautiful and in every respect desirable home on this property.

Mr. Keith devoted his attention very closely to the drug trade until recently, since which time his son Herbert, a profesional pharmacist and a graduate from the pharmaceutical department of State Agricultural College of South Dakota. has managed the business. Mr. Keith has been officially identified with the South Dakota Phar- maceutical Association since its organization, in 1886, and for ten years served as secretary of that organization and the state board of pharmacy. and for six years he has been a member of the

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state board of pharmacy, being at this time its president. In 1895 he assisted in organizing the Druggists' Mutual Fire Insurance Company of South Dakota, and has served as secretary of the same since that date, the success of the enterprise being largely attributable to his interest and able management. This company was organized by the leading druggists of the state and has its headquarters at Lake Preston, and carries all classes of commercial risks, having a large and well-distributed business in nearly every city and town in the state. It has saved its policy holders approximately seventy-five thousand dollars in premiums refunded, and has paid fire losses amounting to thirty thousand dollars. The cost to its members has been about fifty per cent. of existing insurance schedules.

The domestic life of Mr. Keith dates from 1872, on June 4th of which year he was wedded to Miss Addie C. Burke, of Rochester, New York, daughter of P. Y. and Miranda Burke, old and respected residents of that city. To Mr. and Mrs. Keith three children have been born, Minnie, Herbert, who has charge of his father's drug business, and Grace, all three at home.

Mr. Keith belongs to the Masonic fraternity and Ancient Order of United Workmen, and is a charter member of the Odd Fellows lodge at Lake Preston, which he has served in the highest official capacity within the gift of the organi- zation. Religiously he is a Congregationalist, as is also his wife, both being members of the church at Lake Preston, besides being most lib- eral contributors. He has for many years been a member of the board of education and in 1897 represented the twenty-first senatorial district in the upper house of the state legislature, in which body he made an honorable record, serving as chairman of the senate appropriation committee and as a member of the committees on insurance and banking, education, cities and municipa! George W. Lattin received his rudimentary education in the public schools of Poughkeepsie, New York, and was eleven years of age at the time of his mother's removal to Illinois, where he was reared to maturity on the homestead farm. In the meanwhile he completed the curriculum corporations and public health, besides taking an active part in the general deliberations on the floor. In politics he is a Republican, casting his maiden vote for U. S. Grant in 1868. He was, however, identified with the Populist party for several years, being led to this action by | of the public schools, and in 1876 he entered the

reason of his views upon the financial question and other reform measures of that party. He is a political leader in Kingsbury county, and is not only a power in local politics, but his influence as an organizer and campaigner is felt throughout a large section of the state.

GEORGE W. LATTIN, one of the leading lawyers and jurists of Kingsbury county, claims the old Empire state of the Union as the place of his nativity, having been born in Dutchess county, New York, on the 23d of April, 1858, and being a scion of old and honored families of that state. The original American ancestors in both the paternal and maternal lines came from England to the new world in the colonial epoch of our national history, locating in New England, from which cradle of history representatives of both have gone forth to diverse sections of the Union. The subject is a son of E. C. and Ruth ( Mosher) Lattin, both of whom were likewise born and reared in Dutchess county. The father of the subject was a miller by vocation and his death occurred, in Nassau, New York, in 1865. Judge Lattin was a lad of seven years at the time of his father's death, and in 1869 he ac- companied his widowed mother on her removal to DeKalb county, Illinois, where his mother pur- chased land, continuing to reside on this home- stead farm until her children had been reared to maturity. In 1882 she removed to Franklin, Nebraska, where her death occurred in the spring of 1889. Of her four children we enter the following record: Stephen is a resident of Glyndon, Minnesota, where he is engaged in business; George W. is the subject of this re- view ; Alma is the wife of Samuel Chriswell, of Charleston, Oklahoma ; and Ella is the wife of William Mercer, of Aurora, Illinois.

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Classical Seminary at East Pawpaw, Illinois, where he was graduated as a member of the class of 1880, receiving the degree of Bachelor of Science. In 1880 he was matriculated in the law department of the Northwestern University, in Chicago, where he completed the prescribed course and was graduated as a member of the class of 1882, William J. Bryan having been a member of the junior class at the time of the subject's graduation. Mr. Lattin secured the highest honors in his class, and upon his examin- ation prior to graduation made the mark of one hundred per cent.

In the spring of 1882 Judge Lattin came to Kingsbury county, South Dakota, and took up a claim near the present village of Iroquois, and thereafter he lived upon his farm for eight years, making gool improvements and bringing a goodly portion under a high state of cultivation. In 1890 he was elected judge of the county court, whereupon he took up his residence in DeSmet, where he has since made his home. He served on the bench until 1898, and made a most enviable record, very few of his decisions meet- ing with reversal in the higher courts. In 1892 he purchased the Kingsbury County Independent, a weekly paper, and retained entire control of the same until 1898, when he disposed of his in- terests in the enterprise. In April of that year he was appointed captain of Company E. First South Dakota Volunteer Infantry, and pre- liminary to entering active service with his command he resigned his position on the bench. He accompanied his regiment to the Philippines, where he remained in command of his company during the entire term of service, participating in all the engagements in which his regiment was involved, and returning to his home in October, 1899, having received his honorable dis- charge on the 5th of October of that year. Since his return Judge Lattin has been actively en- gaged in the practice of law in DeSmet, while he makes his home on his fine farm, of one hun- dred and sixty acres, which lies contiguous to the town. He has attained a high degree of suc- cess in temporal affairs, and the same stands as the result of his own efforts, for through his own

exertions he made his way through college, having been practically dependent upon his own resources from the age of sixteen years. In pol- itics he was formerly arrayed with the Republi- can party, but upon the organization of the Pop- ulist party he identified himself with the same, and has since been a stanch advocate of its prin- ciples. Fraternally he holds membership in De- Smet Lodge, No. 55, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and in DeSmet Lodge, No. 25. Ancient Order of United Workmen.

On the 11th of July, 1881, Judge Lattin was united in marriage to Miss Sarah Van Patten, of Lee county, Illinois, in which state she was born and reared, being a daughter of C. F. Van Patten, who was one of the pioneers of Lee county. To Judge and Mrs. Lattin have been born eight children, namely : Mary, who is a suc- cessful teacher, is a member of the class of 1903 in the State Normal School, at Madison; Wil- liam, who was graduated in the DeSmet high school, is now engaged in teaching ; and Herbert, Lois, Homer, Ralph, Mark and Sidney are all at the parental home.

HON. THOMAS REED is a native of Scot- land, born in the town of Auchleblest on the Ist day of October, 1839. His parents were Robert Reed and Agnes Farley, both born and reared in Scotland, and their marriage also occurred in that country. Robert Reed farmed in his native land until 1841, when he came to America and after following the pursuit of agriculture for a few years in the state of New York moved to Ogle county, Illinois, where he continued his chosen vocation until his death, in 1894. Mrs. Reed died in New York in 1842, leaving four motherless children to be cared for by her husband, and right nobly did he discharge this loving duty. Mr. Reed never remarried, but kept his family together until each child was grown and able to care for himself. He possessed more than or- dinary powers of mind, was a close student, and ardent friend of high education and at the age of fifty-five took up the study of astronomy, in which he became quite proficient. The following

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are the names of his children: John, Michael. Agnes, who married Henry Earl, and Thomas, all deceased but the subject of this sketch.

Thomas Reed was quite small when his parents came to the United States and after spending a short time in New York he was taken to ()gle county, Illinois, where he remained until his eighteenth year. He attended school of winter seasons until that age, but began earning his own livelihood when a youth of fourteen by working at different kinds of labor. In 1857 he went to California, via New York city and the isthmus of Panama, and after spending three years mining in Placer county, that state, enlisted in August, 1861, in Company E, First California Infantry, for service in the Civil war. This com- mand marched to Santiago, thence to Fort Yuma, and from there through Arizona. New Mexico and a part of Texas, retaking the gov- ernment forts and posts that had been captured by the Confederates, finally returning to Santa Fe, where Mr. Reed was mustered out in the year 1864. After a brief rest he re-entered the army, joining Hancock's Veteran Corps, which he ac- companied throughout its various experiences, until 1866, in September of which year he re- ceived his final discharge at the national capital.

Returning to Illinois at the expiration of his period of enlistment. Mr. Reed settled down to farming in Ogle county, and there remained until 1881, when he came to Kingsbury county, South Dakota, and purchased eight hundred and sixty acres of land, on which he lived during the nine years following. At the end of that time he ! changed his abode to Arlington and opened a real-estate office to which line of business and money loaning he has since devoted his attention.

Mr. Reed's financial success has been com- mensurate with the energy displayed in all of his undertakings and in addition to a large amount of valuable property in Arlington, he now owns three thousand acres of fine land in the counties of Kingsbury and Brookings, all under cultiva- tion and yielding him a liberal income; also two hundred acres of valuable farm land in Ogle county, Illinois, besides the ample fortune repre- sented by personal property and private capital.

He has other than his business standing and financial success to recommend him to the fav- orable consideration of his fellow citizens, as he has long been deeply interested in the public af- fairs of this city, county and state. Since com- ing to South Dakota he has been actively identi- fied with the Republican party, in local and state politics, has been honored with a number of responsible official positions, prominent among which was that of state senator, having been elected to represent his district in the upper house of the legislature in 1892. He served the district very acceptably for a period of two years and refused a renomination, although impor- tuned by his constituents to accept the honor, as his record as a law-maker was eminently sat- isfactory, not only to his own party but to the people of his jurisdiction, irrespective of political ties.

Mr. Reed is a member of the Masonic broth- erhood, belonging to the blue lodge and chapter at Arlington, the commandery at Brookings, and it was through his individual efforts that the charter for the second named organization was procured, this being the first chapter instituted in South Dakota after its admission to the Union as a state. He is also identified with the Odd Fellows lodge at Arlington, and for over twenty years has been an active worker in the Grand Army of the Republic, being a charter member of the post in the city of his residence and a leader in all of its deliberations. He stands high in Grand Army circles throughout South Dakota, and at the present time is commander of the order in this state, to which honorable position he was elected on June 24, 1903. In August of the same year he attended the national en- campment at San Francisco, the place where he enlisted forty-one years before, and also revisited many of the scenes made interesting by reason of his thrilling ex- periences as a miner. Mr. Reed was married November 22, 1871, to Miss Margaret A. Knapp, daughter of Jarrald and Harriett Knapp, of Ogle county, Illinois, the union being blessed with two children, Robert W. and George P. Mrs. Reed comes of a very old English family, the history of

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which is traceable to an early date in this F. Fuller, of Belvidere, Illinois, and in the spring country, and to a much remoter period in the land 1 of 1881, at Canton, he was admitted to the bar of of her forefathers. Among the relics of her ancestry still in her possession is an old chair. which has been in the family and in constant use for over one hundred and fifty years, a piece of furniture not only interesting on account of its great age, but highly prized as a heirloom by reason of its associations.

Mr. Reed and family belong to the Disciple church of Arlington, and are among its active and much respected members. He finds time from the pressing claims of his business affairs to devote to church work and as a faithful and consistent Christian never allows his secular in- terests to interfere with his religious duties.

BOETIOU'S H. SULLIVAN, one of the in- fluential citizens of Plankinton, Aurora county maintaining his residence in the attractive vil- lage of Plankinton, was born in Harvard, Mc- Henry county, Illinois, on the 23d of August, 1859, and is a son of Eugene and Mary (Sulli- van ) Sullivan, to whom were born nine children. The parents were born in County Kerry, Ireland, whence the father emigrated to the United States when sixteen years of age, settling in Illinois, where he became a successful merchant, there continuing in business until his death, at the age of forty-six years. He was city collector for sev- eral years and was a man who commanded un- qualified esteem in his home community. His wife came to America as a girl of fourteen years, and joined her brother, who had pre- viously taken up his abode in Illinois. She died in 1893, at the age of fifty-two years.

. The subject of this review received an aca- demic education in Belvidere, Illinois, and Mil- waukee, Wisconsin, and in the spring of 1889 he came to the territory of Dakota, remaining for a few months in Huron and passing the winter of 1880-81 in Sioux Falls, while in the following spring he took up his residence in Plankinton, where he has since maintained his home. Prior to coming to the west he had read law under the preceptorship of Judge Charles

the territory of Dakota. He established himself in the practice of his profession in. Plankinto :. and in the intervening years has become one of the successful and prominent attorneys of the state, while he has also conducted a large busi- ness in the handling of real estate. In 1881 he was appointed clerk of the courts of Aurora county, holding the office for six years, and in 1886 he was elected to represent his district in the territorial legislature, while in 1888 he was a delegate to the Republican national convention. in Chicago, which nominated Harrison for the presidency. In the following year he was ap- pointed surveyor general of the territory of Da- kota, to succeed General Maris Taylor, and upon the division of the territory and the admission of South Dakota to the Union he was reap- pointed as surveyor general of the new state, serving in this capacity for a total of five years. He is the owner of about four thousand acres of valuable land in Aurora county, and is promi- nently identified with agriculural pursuits and stock growing, while his residence in Plankinton is one of the handsomest of the many attractive homes in the town. He is a stalwart advocate of the principles of the Republican party and both he and his wife are communicants of the Catholic church. Mr. Sullivan is a member of Auroa Lodge, No. 32, Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows: Sioux Falls Lodge, No. 262, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks ; Plankinton Camp. No. 5558, Modern Woodmen of America ; and Plankinton Lodge, No. 77. Ancient Order of United Workmen.

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History of South Dakota, Vol. II, Part 110

Author: Robinson, Doane, 1856-1946. cn Publication date: 1904 Publisher: [Logansport? IN] : B. F. Bowen Number of Pages: 1138

Author: Robinson, Doane, 1856-1946. cn
Publication date: 1904
Publisher: [Logansport? IN] : B. F. Bowen
Number of Pages: 1138