History of South Dakota, Vol. II, Part 115

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

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of Washington, at Pullman, remaining in tenure of this executive office for two years, within which he further augmented his prestige as an able educator and administrative factor. He was then called to his present position at the head of the South Dakota Agricultural College, over whose affairs he has thus presided. and with signal ability and discrimination, since 1896, having done much to further the precedence of the institution in all depart- ments of its work and to raise the standard of scholarship to a point which places the college in the front rank among similar institutions of the sort in the Union. He has brought about a marked amplification of the courses of study, in- troduced the elective system of work and made the requirements for graduation notably higher. while during his regime the facilities and acces- sories of the college have been materially aug- mented. The college was established in 1883. almost a decade before the admission of the state to the Union, and at the time when Presi- dent Heston assumed his present office the en- rollment of students showed but one hundred and thirty-five names. The appreciative esti- mate now placed upon the college is shown in the fact that during the year 1903 the enrollment has reached six hundred names, while the finances of the college have increased in like pro- portion, so that the future of the institution is most gratifying to contemplate, as is, indeed, its present status.

President Heston takes the deepest interest in his students, being thoroughly appreciative of the value of education and sparing no pains to aid those who are striving to broaden their sphere of knowledge. It is not strange that his sympathy and timely aid are thus extended, for he gained his own education through personal effort, having worked his way through college and earned the funds for his maintenance during the period of his collegiate course. He received from his alma mater the degrees of Bachelor and Master of Arts, while the degrees of Doctor of Philosophy and of Laws were conferred upon him by the University of Seattle. He was presi- dent of the State Teachers' Association of South

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Dakota in 1902, and is a member of the Ameri- can Association of Agricultural Colleges and Ex- periment Stations, of which he was a vice-presi- dent during 1902. In politics he gives his al- legiance to the Republican party, and both he and his wife are prominent and zealous members of the Baptist church, while fraternally he is identfied with the Knights of Pythias and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. Dur- ing his college days he was affiliated with the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity.

On the 16th of August, 1881, was solemnized the marriage of Dr. Heston to Miss Mary E. Calder, who was born in Harrisburg, Pennsyl- vania, a daughter of Dr. James and Eliza D. Calder, the former of whom was for a decade president of the State Agricultural College of Pennsylvania. He is now deceased, and his widow resides in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Mrs. Heston received her education in the public schools of Harrisburg and the State College of Pennsylvania, being an accomplished musician and a woman of gracious refinement. Dr. and Mrs. Heston are the parents of two children : Charles, who was born on the 9th of February, 1883, is a member of the junior class in the University of Wisconsin, where he is completing a course in electrical engineering, and Edward, who was born on the 20th of September, 1884, was graduated in pharmacy in the State Agri- cultural College of South Dakota, as a member of the class of 1903, and is now engaged in the drug business in Aberdeen, South Dakota, hav- ing formed a partnership with D. E. Crowley.

THOMAS QUINBY LOVELAND, one of the honored pioneers of Brookings county, is a native of the state of Ohio, having been born in Trumbull county, on the 4th of January, 1829, and being a son of Azehel and Emily (Newell ) Loveland, both of whom were born in the state of Connecticut, their marriage being solemnized in Ohio, where Mr. Loveland was engaged in farming and followed the trade of carpenter until his son Thomas, subject of this review, attained such age as to make it possible for him to assume

the management of the farm. When the subject was sixteen years of age his parents removed to the northern part of Trumbull county, locating near the town of Bristol, where the father turned his attention to lumbering, having owned and op- erated a sawmill, in which Thomas was actively employed for some time. Azehel Loveland died in the year 1851, his death resulting from an acci- dent,-a slight cut in the knee developing into blood poisoning, from which he died nine days after receiving the injury, being survived by his wife and five children, concerning the latter of whom we incorporate the following brief record : Thomas Q. is the immediate subject of this re- view : Emily, who is deceased, was the wife of Hiram Williams, of Trumbull county, Ohio; Mar- tha is the wife of Smith Travis, of Bristol, that county ; Mary, the widow of John Russell, is a res- ident of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania ; and Sidney A. is a resident of Ellsworth, Minnesota. The de- voted mother was summoned into eternal rest in 1881, her death occurring in Bristol, Ohio.

Thomas Q. Loveland continued to be associ- ated with his father in business until the death of the latter, and continued the enterprise one year thereafter in the interest of the family. On the 2d of April, 1850, he was united in marriage to Miss Roana House, a daughter of Alvin and Sallie ( Melbe) House, who came to Ohio from Stanestead, Canada, passing the remainder of their lives in the old Buckeye state. Our subject and his wife walked side by side on the jour- ney of life for more than half a century, strong in mutual love and confidence, and the silver cord was finally loosened when the devoted wife and helpmeet was summoned to the land of the leal, on the 19th of March, 1901, at the age of sixty- nine years. She was a woman of noble and gra- cious character and was loved by all who came within the sphere of her influence. Of the union of Mr. and Mrs. Loveland were born nine chil- dren, of whom two died in infancy. Of those who attained maturity we enter data as follows : Rozelia, the widow of Enos M. Hunt. is a resi- dent of Alexandria, Minnesota ; Ella is the wife of Dr. James L. Colegrove, of Brookings, South Dakota ; Edna is the wife of Austin Maxwell, of

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Kanaranzi, Minnesota; Emma is the wife of | which he secured sixty cents a pound. From George Thayer, of Brookings; Quinby A. resides in Fairfield, Wisconsin; Susie is the wife of Her- man M. Harden, editor and publisher of the Huron Democrat, at Huron, South Dakota; and Addie is the wife of Judson R. Towne, a teacher in the high school at Duluth, Minnesota.

After retiring from the lumbering business the subject conducted a hotel at Bristol, Ohio, about two years, at the expiration of which he removed to Baraboo, Sauk county, Wisconsin, in which locality he rented a farm, to whose culti- vation he devoted his attention for the ensuing year, and he thereafter was in the hotel busi- ness in Baraboo for two years. This was about the time of the discovery of gold at Pike's Peak, Colorado, and Mr. Loveland was among those who set forth to seek fortune in the new Eldo- rado. He set forth for the gold fields and the company proceeded as far as Fort Carney, where they encountered persons returning from Pike's Peak, their reports being so unfavorable as to cause many of the outgoing party to abandon the trip and return home, among the number be- ing the subject. He was thereafter engaged in farming in Sauk county, Wisconsin, for two years, within which time the dark clouds of civil war obscured the national horizon. In 1863 he tendered his services in defense of the Union, enlisting as a private in Company F. Third Wis- consin Cavalry, with which he continued in active service until December, 1865, when he received his honorable discharge, at Madison, Wisconsin. It was his good fortune to receive no wound while fighting for the integrity of the nation, nor was he ill at any time during his term of service. He was discharged as second lieutenant and brevetted first lieutenant of his company, having been promoted to this office within a year after his enlistment, while he proved a valiant and faithful soldier of the republic. In the spring of 1866, with money which he had saved from his pay as a soldier, he purchased sixteen acres of land at Russell's Corners, Sauk county, | Wisconsin, and there began raising hops. He continued this enterprise one year, disposing of his property after gathering his first crop, for

this source he realized sufficient money to pur- chase a farm of fifty-five acres, in the same town- ship. He remained on this farm until 1872, when he sold the property and started for the west, his financial resources at the time being represented in the stum of one thousand dollars. He proceeded to Rock county, Minnesota, where he entered claim to a homestead, proving on the same and there continuing to follow agricultural pursuits until he found that his efforts were ren- dered futile by conditions over which he had no control. In 1878 the grasshoppers destroyed his crops, and for five years their depredations were stich that he was not able to even raise seed for planting, being compelled to mortgage his farm and eventually losing the property. In 1878 he determined to try his fortunes in South Dakota, whither he came with a team, a small supply of farming implements and seven or eight head of cattle, the only vestiges of his years of toil and endeavor. He settled near the little village of Fountain, in Aurora township, Brookings county, where he took up pre-emption and tree claims, thus coming into possession of a half section of land. His first effort was to bring about the required improvement of his tree claim. which he did by the setting out of ten acres of trees, and he bent himself earnestly to the work before him and soon a definite success attended his efforts. In time he erected on his farm a commodious and substantial house, good barn and other buildings, while he brought two hun- dred and forty acres of the tract under a high state of cultivation, developing one of the valtt- able farms of this section of the state. In 1900 he disposed of his farm, having become the owner of an entire section, and from this sale he realized eleven thousand dollars,-a fact which stands in evidence of the prosperity which had been gained through his indefatigable energy and his availing himself of the excellent opportuni- ties presented. After disposing of his farm Mr. Loveland took up his residence in the city of Brookings, where he has since maintained his home, being now the owner of four houses and lots in the city and having other excellent in-

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vestments. He is now living retired and is en- joying the just rewards of his many years of honest and earnest toil. Fraternally he is a member of the Masonic order, but is not affili- ated with any of its bodies in an active way at the present time. He was reared in the faith of the Democratic party, to which he gave his allegiance until the outbreak of the war of the Rebellion, since which time he has been a stanch advocate of the principles of the Republican party. In 1894 he was elected a member of the board of county commissioners of Brookings county, serving three years, within which term the county jail and sheriff's residence were erected.

THOMAS SWEENEY, of Rapid City, Pen- nington county, was born at Booneville, New York, on October 20, 1856, and received his early education in a little log schoolhouse in the adjoin - ing county of Lewis, about fifteen miles from his home. When he reached the age of thirteen lie began the battle of life for himself, working on railroads in different parts of the state. After a few years of this sort of employment he appren- ticed himself to a carriage trimmer and learned the business thoroughly at Watertown, New York. In 1878, while living at Watertown, he hired to a stage line, engaging to come to Chey- enne and drive stage between that town and Deadwood. He came to Sparta, Wisconsin, where he got an outfit together, and from there proceeded to Napoleon's ranch, where Pierre is now located. Learning at that place that the stage line had changed hands, he determined to retire from his engagement, and opened a barber shop which he conducted for a time at Fort Pierre and then came to Rapid City. Here he went to work for Evans & Loveline, leading grocers, he having met Mr. Evans at Fort Pierre. He re- mained with this firm about six months, then started in business for himself. He was success- ful from the beginning, his line being hardware and machinery and his place of business a little one-story building on Main street. The business rapidly increased in magnitude and importance under his vigorous and progressive management.

and from the little beginning already described, which was born into commercial life on Novem- ber 7, 1880, it has grown to be one of the largest enterprises of its kind in the Black Hills, and ex- panded from a new and second-hand hardware store into an immense general or department store, carrying almost every kind of commodity needed in his community. In 1886 he built the building he now occupies, which has more floor space than any other business house in Rapid City, and since then he has kept it filled with the most extensive and varied stock to be found in this part of the state. In 1892 he bought the ad- joining building. The firm, which is the Tom Sweeney Hardware Company, is known all over the west and is as widely esteemed as it is known. It employs fourteen men, including plumbers, tin- ners, saddlers, harness makers, blacksmiths and wagon makers. One article in the stock of which Mr. Sweeney is justly proud is a "Round-Up Stove," which was invented and is manufactured by him and which finds a ready and rapid sale from Texas to the Canadian line, it being con- sidered the most complete and convenient stove of its kind on the market. In addition to his mer- cantile business, Mr. Sweeney also has extensive interests in the stock industry in this state and Wyoming, being among the largest cattle men in the Hills.

On May 17, 1883, at Rapid City, Mr. Sweeney was united in marriage with Miss Mary A. Wells, a native of Missouri and daughter of George Wells, a pioneer of 1877 in the Black Hills and a prominent stock man of this section. Mr. Sweeney belongs to the Knights of Pythias at Rapid City and the Elks at Deadwood and takes an active interest in the proceedings of his lodge.

ANDREW P. McMILLAN is one of the leading merchants of Spink county, having a large and well-equipped general store in Conde, and is vice-president of the State Bank of Doland and the owner of a fine landed estate in the county where he has maintained his home since 1887. He is a native of Minnesota, having been

THOMAS SWEENEY.

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born on the homestead farm, in Harmony town- ship. Fillmore county, on the 7th of November, 1859, and being a son of Arthur C. and Rebecca (Cheever) McMillan, both of whom were born in Ohio, of Scotch descent. The paternal great- grandfather of our subject came from Scotland to America in the latter part of the eighteenth century, in company with his two brothers, and their descendants are now to be found in divers sections of the Union. The parents of the sub- ject removed to Fillmore county, Minnesota. where his father became a successful farmer and stock grower. His present residence in Cresco, Jowa, the mother having died in December, 1893.

The subject was reared to the sturdy disci- pline of the farm, and was about ten years of age at the time of his parents' removal to Iowa, where he secured his early educational discipline in the public schools of Cresco. In 1878 he secured a position as clerk in the mercantile establishment of White & Moon, in Cresco, lowa, and contin- ued to be employed as a salesman until coming to South Dakota, having in the meanwhile given careful attention to acquiring an intimate knowl- edge of the various details of the business, fa- miliarizing himself with the values of different lines of goods and thus fortifying himself for an independent career as a merchant. In 1887 he came to Conde, South Dakota, and opened a general merchandise store, one of the first in the town. He began operations upon a modest scale, and by good management and fair dealing his business constantly expanded in scope and im- portance with the settlement and upbuilding of the surrounding districts and the village, and he now has a large and well-appointed establish- ment. He handles dry goods, groceries, clothing, shoes, millinery, etc., and his store is one which would do credit to a much more populous town. In 1887 he erected his present business block, which is twenty-four by eighty feet in dimen- sions and two stories in height. In 1892 Mr. McMillan erected his fine modern residence, at a cost of about three thousand five hundred dollars, the same being one of the most attractive homes in the county, and he is the owner of a valuable farm of three hundred and twenty acres, eight

miles southwest of Conde, this county, the same being under a high state of cultivation and yield- ing good returns. He is one of the principal stockholders in the State Bank of Doland, of which he has been vice-president since 1895. In politics Mr. McMillan is a stalwart Garfield and Bryan man, and although he is essentially public- spirited and progressive he has never sought of- fice of any description. He and his wife are prominent and valued members of the Baptist church in their home town, and he has been su- perintendent of its Sunday school from the time of organization to the present, covering a period of ten years, while Mrs. McMillan is a popular teacher in the same. Fraternally Mr. McMillan is identified with the Masonic order, in which he has attained to the chapter degrees; with the lodge and encampment of the Independent Order, of Odd Fellows, as well as the Daughters of Re- bekah : and with the Knights of Pythias and the Ancient Order of United Workmen.

On the 22d of April, 1884. was solemnized the marriage of Mr. McMillan to Miss Stella K. Hard, who was born and reared in Decorah, Winneshiek county, Iowa, being a daughter of John and Jane (Austin) Hard. Mr. and Mrs. McMillan have the following children : Arthur Edwin, Calla Maude, James Wesley, Leone Dun- bar and Lloyd Fountain. Arthur finishes his commercial course at Brookings College in June, 1904, when he will enter into business with his father at Conde.

MILTON FREASE was born in Luzerne county, Pennsylvania, on January 27, 1846, and in that county was reared and educated, remain- ing there until he was twenty years old. In 1866 he moved to Ohio, where he remained five months. then went to work on the Northwestern Railroad in Iowa. After working on that enter- prise for a period he went into the service of the government, teaming to Fort McPherson and Fort Sedgwick. In 1867 he accepted employment on the Union Pacific Railroad, which was then building through Nebraska. Two years later he returned to Colorado and until 1876 was engaged

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in herding and riding the range in the neighbor- hood of Denver. At the end of this time he went to southwestern Nebraska and started a cattle in- dustry for himself. remaining there four years. In the spring of 1880 he brought his cattle to the Black Hills and placed them at the mouth of Elk creek and on the Belle Fourche river, making his home at Rapid City. In 1888 he took up the ranch he now occupies on Box Elder creek eigh- teen miles from Rapid, and in 1890 he moved his family to the place where they have since made their home. He has been continuously engaged in the cattle business since his arrival in the state and has a fine ranch which is devoted exclusively to the use of his stock and raising hay for their support. In political affiliation he is an ardent Republican, and to the welfare of his party he is zealously devoted, being county com- missioner in 1883 and county treasurer in 1884. For a number of years he was also a stock- holder in the First National Bank of Rapid City. He is a member of the Masonic order, belonging to the lodge of the order at his home town. On

City to Miss Hattie S. Ryan, a native of Indiana. They have four children, Paul, Hazel, Kate and Helen.

JOSEPH BEEM was born in Belmont county, Ohio, on September 27, 1847, and was educated there, remaining until the spring of 1865. He then, in company with his brother Isaac, moved to Jefferson county, Iowa, and for a few years was engaged in farming there. From that locality he came over the Union Pacific to Fort Steele, Wyoming, and remained there a year in the employ of the government as offi- curs conk. The story of his wanderings from that time until 1884 is told in the sketch of his brother Isaac, elsewhere in this volume, for they were together during almost the whole of the time. In the fall of 1884 they brought cattle to the Box Elder and settled on land on that serv- iccable and fructifying stream. He looked after the land and stock interests and his brother en- gaged in freighting for a number of years. They

were the first settlers on this creek, and during the first years of his residence here Mr. Beem's nearest neighbor was eight miles distant. He began improving his land, devoting all his time and energy to this and his stock industry, and as the reward of his labors he now has the finest cattle ranch on the creek, with natural protection against severe weather for his cattle, and prolific yields of both the wild and the cultivated prod- ucts of the soil. He and his brother were in partnership until 1891. They then dissolved and since that time have conducted their business separately. Mr. Beem is one of the unyielding Democrats of this portion of the state, and has always been forceful and potent in behalf of every interest of his party.

At Bismarck, on December 8, 1880, Mr. Beem was married to Miss Sarah A. Davis, a native of Minnesota. They have four children, Mattie E., Edwin A., Angie and Grover C.

HUGH L. BROWN, of near Vesta, is a na- September 5. 1886, he was married at Rapid | tive of Fulton county, Illinois, born on January

23, 1840, and while he was yet a child the fam- ily moved to Bond county, the same state, where he received his early education. Later another move was made to the vicinity of Rockford, and soon afterward another to Monroe, Wisconsin, where the father engaged in farming. Here the son completed his education and on leaving school worked with his father on the farm. In January, 1862, when the Civil war was drench- ing our country with blood, he enlisted in the Thirty-first Wisconsin Infantry, and in that regi- ment he served to the close of the war. He then returned to Wisconsin and again engaged in farming near Monroe, continuing his operations there until 1872, when he settled in Sac county, Iowa, where he was occupied in farming until the spring of 1885. At that time he came to South Dakota and located at Pierre, then a fort or military post. There during the summer he conducted a feed store, handling hay and grain, In the fall he moved to Rapid City, and the next spring took up a pre-emption claim on Box Elder creek. While improving his land and making it

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habitable he continued to live at Rapid City, con- ducting a hotel there. Early in 1888 he settled on his land on the creek, thirty-five miles from Rapid City, and began pushing its development with vigor, subsequently increasing his acreage by taking up a timber and a homestead claim, the three properties adjoining. Since then he has continued to live on this land and has de- voted his energies to its cultivation and the rear- ing of stock. In both he has been very success- ful, winning a competence by the systematic application of intelligence and enterprise, and he has also risen to prominence and influence among his fellow men by his breadth of view and ar- dent devotion to the welfare and advancement of his community. In political faith he is an earn- est supporter of the Republican party, but he is not an office seeker, nor does he subordinate the general weal to any personal or factional inter- est.

On March 30, 1867. Mr. Brown was united in marriage with Miss Eliza Michael, a native of New York, who moved with her parents to the neighborhood of Baraboo, Wisconsin, when she was but five years old. In that region she was reared and educated, and at Baraboo was married. They have two children, Carrie P., now the wife of Joseph Waterson, and Dora E., who is married to Jeremiah Crowley.

MAHLON WELSH, of near Vesta, Pen- nington county, was born in Franklin county, Ohio. on December 28, 1847, and there he reached the age of seventeen and received a dis- trict school education. His father died when he was ten years old and in 1864 the family moved to Paulding county in his native state. Mr. Welsh took charge of the homestead and conducted its operations, continuing to be so em- ployed until 1876. He then passed a year in Story county, Iowa, and in 1877 came to Pierre and soon afterward to Deadwood. He did not linger long here, however, but went to Bismarck, where he went to work teaming for the Beem Brothers. He remained with them three years working on railroad construction and freighting

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History of South Dakota, Vol. II, Part 115

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