USA > South Dakota > History of South Dakota, Vol. II > Part 112
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In politics Mr. Carroll has long been recog- mized as one of the leaders of the Republican party in the state, having been frequently a del- egate to county, congressional and state conven- tions, and having on a number of occasions served as chairman of the county conventions. He has been in no sense a seeker of official preferment, but the confidence and esteem reposed in him by the people of his district were signalized in a sig- nificant way in his election to the legislature in 1902. He served during the eighth general as- sembly, and in the connection manifested the same dominating public spirit and loyalty which have marked his course since coming to the state. He was assigned to a number of important com- mittees, notably the committee on appropriations and those on banking, enrollment and engross- ment of bills, public libraries, and the committee on the State Historical Society. Fraternally he is one of the prominent members of the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows, being affiliated with DeSmet Lodge, No. 58, in DeSmet, of which he is the representative in the grand lodge of the state at the time of this writing. while both he and his wife are charter members of the auxiliary lodge of the Daughters of Rebekah. He also holds membership in the Ancient Order of United Workmen and the Knights of the Mac- cabees, having represented his lodge of the former order in the grand lodge of the state, in which he was elected grand receiver. Mr. and Mrs. Carroll
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are communicants of the Protestant Episcopal church and are prominent in the work of both the parish and diocese. In the connection it may be noted that he is a member of the Chapter of Cal- vary Cathedral, of the diocese, which has charge of all church property in the diocese of South Dakota, while he is also a senior warden of St. Stephen's church, in DeSmet.
On Christmas day, 1876, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Carroll to Miss Sara R. Imus, of Corunna, Indiana, a daughter of Charles and Lucy Imus, the former of whom was born in the state of New York and the latter in Vermont. They were numbered among the early settlers in Calhoun county, Michigan, and Mr. Imus was for many years engaged in business in Corunna. They are both now deceased.
PHILETUS CLARK TRUMAN, who died at his home in Volga, on the 27th of October, 19OI, as the result of an attack of pneumonia, was born in Preston, Chenango county, New York, on the 20th of December. 1841, being a son of Clark and Clarissa Truman. His father was born on Long Island, New York, and his ances- tors were numbered among the early settlers in Connecticut, whether they came from England in the colonial era of our national history. Rep- resentatives of the name later removed to Long Island, New York, locating at Little Falls, and thence the father of the subject removed to Chen- ango county, New York, where they remained for a number of years, finally coming west to Mag- nolia, Iowa, where the parents passed the re- mainder of their lives.
Mr. Truman received his rudimentary edu- cation in the district schools of his native county where he was reared on the home farm, and later he continued his studies in the institution at De- ruyter, New York. He effectually supplemented this early discipline during later years, being a close observer and student and becoming a man of broad and liberal information and distinctive intellectuality. In 1856 he left the parental home and went to Wisconsin, where he devoted several years to teaching, in the schools of Rock, Dane
and Green counties, while he simultaneously gave special attention to the reading of law. In July, 1862, he went to Magnolia, lowa, where he mar- ried Miss Eunice Truman, whose death occurred in November, 1873. She is survived by one daughter, Alice M., who is now the wife of John C. Jenkins, of Brookings, this state. After his marriage Mr. Truman continued his residence in Iowa, where he was engaged in teaching school for several terms, while for several years he served as superintendent of schools in Shelby county and also as county surveyor. In 1873 he was admitted to the bar of that state, and there- after was successfully engaged in the practice of his profession at Harlan, lowa, until 1881, when he came to Brookings county. South Da- kota, and took up a pre-emption claim in Lake, Sinai township, upon which he resided until he had perfected his title. He then located in the vil- lage of Volga, where he resumed the practice of his profession, entering into partnership with Arthur S. Mitchell, with whom he continued in practice until 1891. from which time forward until his death he conducted an individual and in- dependent practice of general order, gaining marked prestige. In 1893-4 he served as county judge, and in the fall of the latter year was elected to represent Brookings county in the state legislature, in which he proved a valuable and conscientious working member. In politics he gave an unwavering allegiance to the Republican party, of whose principles he was an able and ef- fective advocate, taking an active part in forward- ing the party cause. He was reared in the faith of the Seventh-day Baptist church, but upon coming to Volga enrolled himself as a member of the Presbyterian church, ordering his life in harmony with the faith which he professed. He was one of the prominent members of the Ma- sonic fraternity in this county, having been iden- tified with Mystic Lodge, No. 89. Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, of which he was past- master : Chapter No. 17, Royal Arch Masons, at Arlington : and Golden Rod Chapter, No. 58, Or- der of the Eastern Star, of which his widow is also a valued member. At the time of his death Mr. Truman was the owner of sixteen hundred
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and forty aeres of farming land, in Brookings and Kingsbury counties, and also of a consider- able amount of property in Volga. He was a nat- uralist of marked ability and enthusiasm, and in this line held a high reputation for his intimate and comprehensive knowledge, while he had the finest collection of lepedoptera and coleoptera in the northwest, and having given much of his time in the later years of his life to study and in- vestigation along this line and to the perfecting of his fine collection. He retired from the active practice of his profession in 1000, and thereafter gave his attention to his capitalistic and landed interests.
On the 12th of January, 1892, Mr. Truman was united in marriage to Miss Mary E. Diek- erson, who was born in Jordan, Minnesota, being a daughter of David D. and Emeline ( Edgerton ) Diekerson, natives of Oneida and Madison county, New York, respectively. The mother of Mrs. Truman was summoned into eternal rest on the 27th of December. 1900, at the age of seven- ty-three years, and Mr. Dickerson made his home with his daughter, Mrs. Truman, having attained the venerable age of seventy-nine years at the time of his death. December 25, 1903.
Mrs. Truman is a lady of culture and gra- eious personality, and is prominent in the social life of the community, while her beautiful home is a center of refined hospitality. She was edu- cated in the seminary at Whitestown, New York. and in the Agricultural College. at Brookings, South Dakota, and was a popular teacher in the publie schools of this state for several years prior to her marriage. She is a musician and also pos- sesses much literary ability, while she and her husband passed many grateful hours in their fine library and in the arranging of his collection of specimens to which reference has been made, and which she still retains. She is an active worker in the local chapter of the Order of the Eastern Star, of which she is past worthy mat- ron, while she has also served as grand conduet- ress in the grand chapter of this state. She is a member of the Presbyterian church, and active in forwarding the work in its different departments. She was made administratrix of her husband's
estate, and still retains a personal supervision of her various properties.
The following obituary notice of Mrs. Tru- man's father appeared in print at the time of his demise and will be of undoubted interest in the connection :
DIED .- David Dickerson, at Volga, on Friday, December 25, 1903, aged seventy-nine years, eleven months and three days. Mr. Dickerson was born in Lee, Oneida county, New York, January 21, 1824. He was the sixth child of John and Phoeba Dicker- son. When he was one year old his parents moved to Mexico, Oswego county, where they lived for eight years. They then moved to lee Center, Oneida county. His education was obtained in the common schools, the Gilbertville high school and the Rensse- laer Academy. at Mexico, New York. He afterwards taught twelve terms of school. August 4, 1852, he was married to Emeline Edgerton, of Ava, New York, and they immediately moved to Portland, Illi- nois, where they resided until 1856. On account of tailing health they moved to Jordon, Minnesota. In 1857 he was a member of the constitutional conven- tion of Minnesota, representing Scott county. He was a prominent member of this convention, being on the finance, public debt and tax committees. He first came to Volga in 1881 to visit with a sick daugh- ler, Mrs. J. S. Bandy, who died on Christmas day,- just twenty-two years prior to his death. His health has gradually failed since the death of his wife three years ago last Sunday. He was brought up in the Baptist faith, but was not a member of any denomi- national church. The only member of his immediate family surviving him is Mrs. M. E. Truman, of this city. For twenty years Mr. Dickerson lived in this community, first settling in Windsor township. where he lived for a few years, but later moved to Volga, where he has since resided. He still retained his land interests in Windsor, but at different times had business interests in the city, he having owned and edited the Tribune in 1885. The deceased was a wonderfully well preserved man for a person of his age. He had a jovial disposition and was always cheerful and full of sunshine.
HUBERT BERTON MATHEWS, one of the able and popular members of the faculty of the State Agricultural College of South Dakota. at Brookings, was born at Eagle Corners, Rich- land county, Wisconsin, on the roth of April, 1868. His father, Louis A. Mathews, was born
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in Ohio, a son of Hubert and Mary Mathews, who were born near the famed old city of Strass- burg, Germany, which was at that time included in the province of Alsace-Loraine, France. Shortly after his marriage Hubert Mathews em- igrated with his wife to America and settled in Ohio, where he was engaged in farming for a number of years, eventually removing thence to Eagle Corners, Wisconsin. He enlisted as a Union soldier in the war of the Rebellion, was wounded in action and taken captive by the enemy, being incarcerated in Andersonville pris- on and dying after exchange from the effects of captivity, his body being thrown into the gulf of Mexico while homeward bound. His widow is still living, having attained the venerable age of eighty-one years and residing in Muscoda, Wis- consin. Louis Mathews was reared to maturity in the state of Wisconsin, and there was solemnized his marriage to Miss Mary Newburn, a daughter of Jeremiah and Catherine Newburn, who were numbered among the early settlers of the Badger state, the former having been a native of Penn- sylvania and the latter of Maine. After his mar- riage the father of our subject settled on a farm in Richland county, Wisconsin, whence he finally removed to the city of Detroit, Michigan, where he remained two years, at the expiration of which he returned to his farm. He there continued in agricultural pursuits until 1882, when he came to what is now South Dakota and secured a tract of land near Willow Lake, Clark county, where he continued to reside until 1889, when he removed to Seattle, Washington, where he has since been identified with mining enterprises, After locating on his homestead in South Dakota his humble sod house served not only as the fam- ily domicile, but also as a place of worship, a school house and a place of public meeting for the settlers of this section, the house having been erected two years previously to his bringing his family to the farm. Louis and Mary Mathews became the parents of eleven children, of whom nine are yet living, while of the number five were graduated in the State Agricultural College of South Dakota, while a sixth is now a student in the institution, being a member of the class of
1905. Of the children we enter a brief record, as follows: Hubert B. is the immediate subject of this review; Sarah died at the age of four years; Emma is the wife of Professor Howard H. Hoy, of the State Agricultural College; Alta is the wife of Perry Smith, of Bisbee, Arizona; Alice is a successful teacher in the public schools of Brookings county ; Roscoe A. is a resident of Great Falls, Montana, where he is identified with mining enterprises; Harry is a student in the South Dakota Agricultural College and is a leader in its athletics, having been the winner of the pole-vaulting contest in the state in the sea- son of 1903 : Leroy is on a farm in Illinois ; Ar- thur is a student in the high school at Brookings ; Oscar graduates in the class of 1904 in the same school, and Minnie, who was the sixth in order of birth, died at Willow Lake, at the age of six- teen years.
Professor Mathews entered the district school at Willow Corners, Wisconsin, when but four years of age, and was there enrolled as a pupil until he had attained the age of thirteen, after which he attended the high school at Muscoda for two terms, coming then to South Dakota and continuing his studies for one term in the school at Willow Lake. In October, 1885, he began teaching in Clark county, this state, devoting his attention to pedagogic work during the winter terms, while he was employed on the farm dur- ing the intervening summer. In 1889 he was ma- triculated in the State Agricultural College, where he continued his studies two terms, when he again began teaching during the winter terms at Willow Lake, in order to earn the funds with which to continue his college work during the summers. While in the college he also availed himself of every opportunity to add to his finan- cial resources, never swerving from the course which he had defined and finally being able to realize his ambition, in the completion of the pre- scribed course, and he was graduated in the col- lege as a member of the class of 1892, receiving the degree of Bachelor of Science. During his college days he was prominent in the athletic sports and in society work, having been a mem- ber of the college ball team and an enthusiastic
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devotee of all manly sports. He was also presi- dent of his class and editor of the college paper. During the summer which witnessed his gradna- tion he also worked with a threshing-machine outfit, thus accumulating a reserve fund which enabled him to enter, in the autumn, the Nebraska State University, at Lincoln, and in that institu- tion he continued his studies until the holiday vacation, when he accepted the principalship of the public schools at Clark City, South Dakota, retaining this incumbency until the following March, when he was appointed an instructor in physics and meteorology in the Agricultural Col- lege, whose sessions are held during the summer months, and he was thus enabled to do post-grad- uate work during the winters, availing himself of the advantages afforded in the University of Michigan, at Ann Arbor, and later of those of the University of Wisconsin, at Madison. In 1896 he was made active professor in the depart- ment of physics, being given the full professor- ship in July of that year, and he has ever since retained this important office, in which his effect- ive and indefatigable efforts have justified the wisdom of his being chosen. At the time when he became connected with the department of physics and electrical engineering no laboratories had been provided for said department, and it is gratifying to note that the college now has sup- plied for this important department one of the best equipped laboratories to be found in the northwest. In 1898 the degree of Master of Science was conferred upon Professor Mathews by the South Dakota Agricultural College. He is prominently identified with the Masonic frater- nity, being a member of the blue lodge, chapter and commandery at Brookings and of El Riad Temple, Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, at Sioux Falls. - He is also af- filiated with the Ancient Order of United Work- men and the Modern Woodmen of the World. Mrs. Mathews is also a member of the Ladies' Club of Brookings.
On the 12th of November, 1894, Professor Mathews was united in marriage to Miss Eva E. Plocker, who was born near Plainfield, Wiscon- sin, being a daughter of James and Fannie
Plocker, the former of whom was born in the city of Amsterdam, Holland, and the latter in the state of Maine. The paternal grandfather of Mrs. Mathews was Cornelius Plocker, who was a sea captain, identified with the Dutch East India Company. After his marriage James Plocker settled in the southern part of Wisconsin, where he was engaged in farming for several years, eventually removing to Plainfield, that state, where he died in the year 1884. In the same year his widow and her daughter, Eva E., wife of the subject, came to South Dakota, locating in Elk- ton, in which vicinity the son, Henry, and daugh- ters, Fannie, Anna and Aura, had previously lo- cated and taken up tracts of land, which they were then holding preliminary to proving title. Of the other children of Mrs. Plocker it may be said that her daughter. Olive, was then residing in Nebraska; Edward and Frank at Bancroft,; and Lucinda in Arizona. Mrs. Mathews became a student in the State Agricultural College in the autumn of 1887, thus being a classmate of her future husband. She was graduated in 1892, having previously been a successful and popular teacher in the district schools, while after her graduation she taught in the Brookings city schools. In 1894 the degree of Master of Science was conferred upon her by her alma mater, while in 1891 she completed a course in pharmacy. She was for two years in charge of the art department of the college. Professor and Mrs. Mathews have three children, Hubert, who was born on the 4th of January, 1897; Hermine, who was born on the 4th of October, 1901, and Baby, who was - born at St. Petersburg, Florida, February 24, 1904.
GEORGE W. MENTCH, a leading citizen of Pennington county, is a native of Indiana county, Pennsylvania, born on September II, 1847, and remained in his native county until he reached the age of twenty-three, being educated there and afterward following farming for a livelihood. In 1870 he moved to the neighbor- hood of Winfield, in southwestern Kansas, and during the next seven years was occupied in
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farming there in 1877 he came to the Black Hills, arriving at Rapid City on May 17th. In December of the same year he went to the min- ing district around Rockerville, where he re- mained until the ensuing fall, when he returned to Rapid City and took up a homestead on Rapid creek. ten miles from the town. Here he en- gaged in farming and raising stock. He was one of the first men in this part of the state to tak an active part in organizing Sunday-school and church work, and during the whole period of his residence here he has been zealous and ener- getic in all forms of religious enterprise. For a few years lately he has been partially retired from active business pursuits, but he still retains an interest in the stock industry. From his advent into this country he has been active and forceful in local public affairs, and is regarded as one of the leading citizens of Pennington county. In politics he is a loyal and devoted Republican, and to the service of his party he has ever been a wil- ling and helpful contributor. His first vote was cast for General Grant for President, and since casting it he has never faltered in the support of the party's principles and candidates. Although essentially a man of peace, he has always been ready for military service when the best inter- ests of the country demanded it. He served in defense of the Union during the closing year of the Civil war in an independent company or- ganized in Pennsylvania, and here in the west he has never failed to take his place in the ranks against savage fury and treachery.
MAJOR JOHN A. PICKLER is a native of Washington county, Indiana, where he was born on the 24th of January, 1844. being a son of George and Emily ( Martin ) Pickler, the former of whom was born in Indiana and the latter in Kentucky, while both families early settled in the Hoosier state, in the pioneer epoch. The father of the subject was for many years engaged in agricultural pursuits, finally removing to Davis county, lowa, where he engaged in merchandis- ing, as did he later in Kirkville, Missouri, where both he and his wife passed the closing years of
their earnest and useful lives. Major Pickler passed his boyhood days on the old Indiana homestead and secured his preliminary educa- tional discipline in the district schools, after which he completed a course of study in the high school at Bloomfield, Iowa, where his parents had taken up their abode. He was later matriculated in the Iowa State University, where he was graduated as a member of the class of 1870, with the degree of Bachelor of Philosophy. Shortly afterwards he entered the law department of the celebrated University of Michigan, at Ann Arbor, where he completed the prescribed course and was gradu- ated in 1872, receiving the degree of Bachelor of Laws. After thus fortifying himself for the work of his exacting profession he engaged in the practice of law in Kirksville, Missouri, whence, in 1875, he removed to Muscatine, Iowa, where he entered into a professional alliance as a member of the law firm of Hoffman, Pickler & Brown, which held high prestige at the bar of the Hawkeye state, and he continued to be thus asso- ciated until coming to South Dakota, in 1882, since which year he has retained his home in Faulk county. He possesses one of the largest and best selected libraries in the state. .
Prompted by intrinsic loyalty and patriotismn. Major Pickler early offered his services in de- fense of the Union when "grim-visaged war reared its horrid front." In 1862 he enlisted in Company D. Third Iowa Volunteer Cavalry, in which he became a non-commissioned officer. During his period of service with this command he was granted a furlough of thirty days in order that he might attend, in Philadelphia, a military training school for applicants for command in colored troops. He was later examined, in the city of St. Louis, and passed for captaincy, and there rejoining his regiment to await develop- ments. He continued in active service with the Third Iowa Cavalry until 1864, when he veteranized and rejoined the same com- pany and regiment, being promoted to sec- ond lieutenant, first lieutenant and finally captain of Company D. in the meanwhile having declined to be mustered in as captain
MAJ. JOHN A. PICKLER.
MRS. ALICE M. A. PICKLER.
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in the One Hundred and Twenty-second Regi- ment of the United States Colored Infantry. Upon being mustered out of the Third Cav- alry he was made major of the One Hundred and Thirty-eighth Regiment of United States Colored Infantry, at the age .of twenty-one years, and commanded this regiment for several months at Atlanta, Georgia. This regiment was mustered out in January. 1866, and Major Pickler then received his honorable discharge. He participated in a number of the notable engagements of the great internecine con- flict and made an enviable record as a faithful and valiant soldier and able commanding officer. He retains a deep interest in his old comrades in arms and is an honored member of the Grand Army of the Republic.
In September, 1882, Major Pickler came from Iowa by railroad to Mitchell, South Dakota. and thence by stage to Huron, at which point he joined a party of gentlemen who were going to the center of Faulk county to locate a town, which they hoped to make the county seat. The party proceeded by rail to Miller, Hand county, where the subject and others of the company pro- cured lumber for claim shanties, the material be- ing loaded with other lumber belonging to others of the party and designed for the construction of a hotel in the new town. In the procession that finally proceeded northward over the untrampled prairies there were thirteen wagons, each being well loaded. For eight miles out of Miller they followed a somewhat beaten track, but thereafter proceeded across the prairies without a trail, placing lath on various high points as they trav- eled. in order that they might find their way back by the same route. On sunfall of the second day they arrived on the present site of Faulkton, locat- ing that town on the south back of the Nixon river. The next day Major Pickler settled upon a pre-emption claim adjoining the town, and his pleasant home is located on this property, a considerable portion of which is now platted into town lots. He was active in assisting in the or- ganization and development of Faulk county, be- ing one of the pioneers of this part of the state, and one of the most prominent members of the bar of this section.
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