History of South Dakota, Vol. II, Part 117

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

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diana, having a brother living at the latter place, he moved to Lee county, Illinois, where for two years he carried on barbering in small towns. At the end of this period he moved to Boone, lowa, and after barbering in that town, Mar- shalltown and State Center for some time, went to Sioux City in the early part of 1873, and soon afterward came to South Dakota, locating in Clay county, where he took up land and turned his attention to farming. The grasshoppers de- voured his crops and he was forced to return to Sioux City and work at his trade. He then passed a year at Davenport in the same employ- ment and another in the coal fields south of there. In 1875 he returned to South Dakota, crossing the river on ice and found that his homestead had been jumped. He then went to Vermillion and opened a barber shop which he conducted until February, 1877. At that time, in company with three other men, he came to the Black Hills. The party had one wagon which was heavily laden with goods and they were obliged to walk most of the way. Their route was by way of Pierrre and they were compelled to cross the Missouri on ice and had great difficulty in doing so. The ice broke under the wagon and it went to the bottom of the river, but they succeeded by great effort in get- ting it out and across without material loss in their supplies. They joined the first train that reached Rapid City by way of Pierre. They had no armed guards for protection, but nearly all the members of the party, consisting of sixty- five men, were armed. Arriving at Rapid City on March 19th, and having his barbering outfit with him, Mr. Hammerquist determined to re- main there and for employment opened a shop, a much-needed enterprise in the small town as it was then. He witnessed all the exciting events of its early history and took his part like a man in every movement for the general weal. In 1878 he went east for a short visit and on his return found his town property jumped. He recovered this, however, and in it opened a small drug store which he profitably conducted for a few years. In the fall of 1881 he purchased the claim to the ranch he now occupies and moved

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his family there the next spring, this being the second family to settle at this end of the creek. Since then this has been his home and here he has been actively engaged in the stock industry. After moving to the ranch he went east and bought a small herd of cattle which was the nucleus of his present holdings in this line, and by vigorous management of his business he has steadily expanded it until he has become one of the leading stock growers. in this part of the county. He has also pushed forward the im- provement of his ranch from year to year, and thus made it one of the most attractive rural homes in the neighborhood. The land is nearly all under irrigation and is very productive, yield- ing abundant returns for his labor and a gen- erous support to his stock. In the local affairs of the county Mr. Hammerquist has ever been energetic and serviceable, and having displayed more than ordinary capacity for administrative duties, has been chosen by his fellow citizens to places of trust and importance in the public service. He has been postmaster at Farming- dale since 1890 and was county assessor from 1890 to 1894, two terms. He is an ardent worker in the Republican party and has commanding in- fluence in its councils. He has also been zealous and helpful in school affairs and prominent in every movement for the advancement of the county. He belongs to the Masonic order, with membership in the lodge at Rapid City.

On October 12, 1879, Mr. Hammerquist was married at Comstad, in Clay county, to Miss Mary E. Anderson, a native of Norway, who came to America in childhood and to Vermillion in 1873, when she was sixteen. They have eight children, Ida F., Harry E., Fred A., Anton W., Earl N., Erma M., Charles L. and Helen C.

MAURICE KELIHER, one of the prom- inent and enterprising stock growers and highly esteemed residents of Pennington county, was born on July 20, 1849, at Bangor, Maine, and while he was yet a child the family moved to near Harvard, Illinois, where the father took up land and engaged in farming. The old home-

stead now belongs to Mr. Keliher and is one of his most cherished possessions. On it he was reared to the age of eighteen, and near it in the little country schoolhouse he received his educa- tion. In 1867 he left the scenes and associations of his childhood and youth, and moved to Den- ver, Colorado, then a small place in a new coun- try, but with the promise of its mighty growth and enterprise already showing plainly. After a short residence there he went to Montana and for a short time was engaged in freighting in that state, after which he returned to Denver and again followed freighting in partnership with his brother Michael, who was afterward killed by outlaws in Texas. They had a number of bull- teams and carried on an extensive and profitable business, freighting between Denver and the Indian reservations and also between that town and Cheyenne. In 1877 Mr. Keliher went east to visit his parents and on his return to Chey- enne was married. He remained in that city un- til the fall of 1878. At that time freighting be- came unprofitable owing to the completion of the railroad, and Mr. Keliher determined to come to the Black Hills and turn his attention to raising cattle. He brought cattle with him and, locating on Spring creek, gave his whole time and en- ergy to building up and expanding his business. To this enterprise he has adhered steadfastly ever since, and has made a decided success of it, be- coming one of the most extensive stock growers in this part of the country, and producing stock of high grades. His home is at Rapid City where he has a handsome residence of modern style and furnished with every consideration for the comfort and enjoyment of its inmates.

On November 24, 1877. Mr. Keliher was married, at Cheyenne, Wyoming, to Miss Elea- nora Walsh, a native of Ireland who came to the United States with her parents in her child- hood. They have five children, Frank, Eleanora, Margaret, Morse and Miriam. Mr. Keliher be- longs to the Masonic order and the United Work- men, holding his membership in both at Rapid City. In politics he is an unwavering and active Republican, but has always declined public of- fice.

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GEORGE BUCKINGHAM, of Pennington county, one of the few remaining pioneers of the Black Hills, whose extensive ranch of one thott- sand acres on Rapid creek, fourteen miles from Rapid City, is one of the valuable and attractive country homes of this region, was born in Dev- onshire, England, on February 27, 1856, and began his education there. While he was yet a youth his parents emigrated to the United States and settled at Morristown, New Jersey, where he attended school one term, then worked on a farm two years. In 1873 he went to Philadel- phia, and during the next three years was em- ployed in railroading. In the spring of 1876 he came to the Black Hills by way of Cheyenne, arriving at Custer City on April Ioth. From there he went to Castleton, a mining camp on Castle creek, and after prospecting there a short time, moved to Silver City, on Rapid creek, where he remained until 1880 prospecting and mining. In March of that year he took tip a ranch on this creek eleven miles from Rapid City and engaged in ranching and raising stock, following this line of industry there until 1897. He then sold that ranch and bought the one he now occupies, two miles farther down the creek, on which he has since made his home. Here he has continued his farming and stock operations and greatly improved his land. His ranch com- prises one thousand acres, the principal product of which is hay, and he has extensive herds of well-bred and high-grade cattle. With plenty of water for irrigation, and the greater part of his land well supplied with it, he need never fear a shortage in his crop, and his success is well established and of a commanding character.

On December 25, 1889, Mr. Buckingham was married at Rapid City to Miss Emma Botney, a native of Norway, who died on September 3, 1902. She was one of the remarkable women of this part of the country and had a career of inspiring interest and usefulness here. She came with a party from Minnesota to Deadwood in 1878, but after a short residence there returned to her former home. In 1883, however, she came again to the hills, this time to remain. Be- ing a woman of unusual force of character and

business capacity, she engaged in freighting with a bull-team between Deadwood and Pierre, Sid- ney and Cheyenne,-the only woman who ever conducted a freighting business in this section on her own account,-and it should be said that she was very successful in the enterprise.

HON. JAMES HALLEY, president of the First National Bank of Rapid City, is a native of Scotland, born January 7, 1854, at the thriv- ing little city of Sterling, Perthshire. When he was two years old his parents brought him to the United States and located at Washington, D. C., where he grew to the age of sixteen and received his education. He learned telegraphy and then went sonth, where he was employed for a year at different places. He returned to Washington at the end of the year and soon afterward came west to Cheyenne, Wyoming, and there secured a position as chief operator, which he filled for three years. At the end of that time he made a trip to the Pacific coast, and on his return located at Omaha for a few months, then once more made his home at Cheyenne. In 1876, for a private company composed of Chey- enne capitalists, he opened telegraph offices along the line between Cheyenne and the Black Hills, arriving at Custer in August and Deadwood a few weeks later. He remained in the employ of the telegraph company until 1879, when he was appointed teller of the First National Bank of Deadwood. This position he resigned at the close of 1880, and then, in company with Messrs. Lake, of Deadwood, and Patterson, of Rapid City, he organized the banking house of Lake, Halley & Patterson, at Rapid City. He was prominent in the management of this institution until September 1, 1884, when it was merged into the First National Bank of Rapid City, of which he was appointed cashier. On January 13, 1898, he was chosen president of this bank, and he has held this office ever since. He is also president of a bank at Hot Springs, and one at Keystone which was formerly the Harney-Peak Bank of Hill City, when that town was on the boom. He is president of the Rapid City Elec-

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tric Light Company and treasurer of the Rapid River Milling Company. However he has not devoted the whole of his time to fiscal matters. He is also deeply and intelligently interested in public affairs, and being a loyal and devoted member of the Republican party. he has on all occasions given the principles and candidates of that organization an earnest and serviceable support. He served one term in the upper house of the territorial legislature, the last one before South Dakota was admitted to the dig- nity of statehood. He has also been mayor of Rapid City two terms, and was a delegate to the Republican national convention at Minneapolis in 1892. and at Philadelphia in 1900. For a number of years he was a member of the state central committee of his party, and has served as chairman of its county central committee. He is also extensively interested in real estate and the stock industry, and is secretary of the Box Elder Land and Live Stock Company which owns two thousand acres of land and large num- bers of stock. Of the numerous and admired fra- ternal orders he has joined but one, the Knights of Pythias, being a member of Gate City Lodge, No. 8, of this order.

On September 13, 1878, at Cheyenne, Wy- oming. Mr. Halley was united in marriage with Miss Lottie Smith, a daughter of S. L. Smith, of that city. Their wedding trip was made by stage from Cheyenne to Deadwood. They have nine children, Albert, Helen, James, Frances, Lottie, Sarah, Samuel Russell. Walter and Don- ald. Albert recently graduated from Stanford University, and Helen from Wellesley College.

JOSEPH JOLLY, of Pennington county, is one of the representative and forceful men of this portion of the state. He was born on Decem- ber 14. 1843, in Lafayette county, Wisconsin, and was there reared and educated. There also he worked at blacksmithing and followed freighting until 1874. He then removed to Dallas county, Iowa, and after a residence of about eighteen months there, started in 1876 for the Black Hills, making his journey by way of

O'Neill to Custer City, where he arrived in May of that year. He then began freighting be- tween Sidney and Pierre and Rapid City and Deadwood, continuing this business with grat- ifying results, although it was attended with great danger and considerable difficulty, until early in 1879. At that time he came to Rapid City to locate, and in February entered the ranch he now occupies, four miles south of the city, on Rapid creek. Taking up his residence on this place, he at once started an industry in farming and made good his hopes by vigorously arranging for irrigating his land. For a number of years his principal crop was oats, but after the construction of the railroad through this sec- tion he changed to alfalfa, and also began rais- ing cattle and horses. He has remained on the place continuously since first settling on it, and and has converted it into an excellent farm and a comfortable home. He also has much addi- tional land on which he runs his stock. In fra- ternal relations he is an active member of the Masonic lodge at Rapid City and in politics he has been zealous and serviceable on all occa- sions, advocating high standards in official life and the broadest principles of civic and polit- ical morality. In 1889 he and Richard Hughes were the county's representatives in the state legislature, the first session of that body, and on its elevated forum he sustained the reputation he had earned at home for breadth of view, strict integrity and wise foresight in public affairs.

JOHN E. HUNT, one of the most enterpris- ing and progressive farmers of Pennington county, is a native of Lyon county, Kansas, born on September 10, 1859, and the son of George and Charlotte ( Belcher) Hunt, natives of Mas- sachusetts. In 1854 the parents removed from their native state to Illinois and there lived on a farm for two years. In 1856 they took another flight westward, settling at the place of his birth, where they were pioneers. They engaged in farming here until the autumn of 1859, when they went back to Massachusetts. They were still imbued with the western spirit, however,

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and after remaining two years in the east, again started in the wake of the setting sun, stopping first in Henry county, Illinois, and carrying on successful farming operations there for nine years. In 1870 they moved to lowa county, Iowa, and soon afterward to Guthrie county in the same state. Here their son received the greater part of his scholastic training, for in 1877 the family came to the Black Hills, and in the strenuous contest with nature then before them no opportunities was left for further school- ing, except as it might be had under the stern discipline of experience. They made the trip by way of Yankton, and arrived at Rapid City on June 14th. This flourishing metropolis was then but a hamlet of a few houses, but the gold- en music from the hills had electrified the world, and families were pouring into the region by ev- ery route and means of travel. The Hunts re- mained at Rapid City for a year, the father and sons engaging in freighting between that place and Sidney and Pierre. They continued this business for three years, but in 1878 located the rauch on which the mother and son now live and made it the family home. In 1880 the freighting enterprise was abandoned, and the whole time and energy of the family were de- voted to the improvement of the home they had chosen, and the development of its promising resources. Their first efforts were given to se- curing sufficient water to irrigate the land as a means of permanent improvement, although they raised a crop of very respectable propor- tions in the summer of 1880. The irrigation was pushed forward as rapidly as possible with the facilities they had, and although their prog- ress was slow for awhile, it was steady and the work was conducted on a scale looking to per- manent results, and enduring value; now it is complete and effective in all respects, the entire farm of one hundred acres being fully supplied with water for every need. The · father was in active control of the farm- ing business until his death, February 19, 1894, and since then the son, John E. Hunt, has had it in charge, and has conducted and de- veloped it along the lines laid down at the be-

ginning. Mr. Hunt's mother, a most estimable lady, who fully enters into the spirit of the busi- ness, and is in harmony with her surroundings, lives with him and manages the affairs of the household with the same vigor, breadth of view and success that he displays in the operations of the farm.

MICHAEL QUINN, living near Smith- ville, Meade county, was born in Ireland, but when he was four years old his parents moved to England and settled in Lancashire, where he grew to the age of eighteen and received a lim- ited education. His life began on October 18, 1846, and in 1864 he came to the United States and locating at Lawrence. Massachusetts, worked in a cotton mill, remaining there two years. In 1866 he joined the Fenian raid into Canada, but, with the others who were con- cerned in that movement, he was compelled by the United States government a short time af- terward to return to this country. He then went to St. Joseph, Missouri, where he made a con- tract to drive an ox-team from that city to Den- ver, Colorado. A few days after his arrival at Denver he secured employment on the construc- tion of the telegraph line between that city and Salt Lake, hut heavy snows made it impossible to continue this work, and he went to Julesburg and engaged as a freight teamster between that place and Fort Laramie. The severity of the weather again stopped operations, and he deter- mined to winter on the Platte. Here he and his comrades had an exciting time, being attacked by Indians who took all their horses and cattle. Mr. Quinn remained in that neighborhood and Wyoming two years, then went to work on the Union Pacific Railroad, which was building through this country at that time, and contin- tied to be so employed until the road reached Cheyenne. He spent a short time freighting and filling contracts to supply wood in Colorado, and when the excitement over the discovery of gold in the Black Hills broke out he began freight- ing between Cheyenne and Deadwood, making his first trip in the spring of 1877. Later he

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freighted between Rock Springs and Fort Fried- man two seasons, then in 1878 he went to Pierre and freighted between that city and Fort Meade, Deadwood and Rapid City. Having teams of his own he did a considerable business down to 1882. In the spring of 1881, however, he bought cattle and placed them on the Cheyenne river, leaving a man in charge of them, and the next year he sold out his freighting outfit and devoted his time to raising cattle on the Chey- enne. When the Sioux reservation was opened in 1892 her moved to Bad river, and later he took up land there which is his present home ranch. It is sixty-five miles east of Rapid City, which he has always made his trading town, and is a fine body of land, well located and adapted to the stock industry. His time and energies are devoted entirely to the cattle busi- ness, and his interests in this and in land are considerable. While not an active partisan in politics, he is a man of great public spirit and deeply interested in the enduring welfare of his county and state.

ALGERNON L. HOLCOMB, of Rapid City, whose untimely and tragic death on Octo- ber 11, 1891, at the early age of forty-two, shocked the entire community and was univer- sally lamented, was a native of Carthage, Jeffer- son county, New York, where he was born on May 27, 1849, and was the son of William and Maria (Fanning) Holcomb. They were pros- erous farmers in his native place, but believing the west offered better opportunities for effort and capacity than the east, in 1855 the family moved to Dubuque county, Iowa, and here Mr. Holcomb was reared and educated. After com- pleting his scholastic course he attended Bailey's Commercial College, at Dubuque, and soon af- ter leaving there was married. In the spring of 1876 he and his wife started to the Black Ilills, arriving at Yankton in March and pro- ceeding from there by boat to Pierre. Here Mr. Ilolcomb was taken ill and they were obliged to return to Iowa. In the fall of 1877 they again started for the hills, and this time

were successful in making the trip, arriving at Rapid City in December. They brought cattle with them and the first chairs seen in Rapid City which was then a small village with no buildings but a few rude log shanties. Their first home in this western wilderness was a little log house in which they were obliged to hoist umbrellas to keep dry when it rained. As soon as it was practicable they built a better house, also of logs, and making it their home placed their cattle on the Cheyenne river. For a time Mr. Holcomb was in partnership with two brothers, but later they divided their prop- erty and each conducted his own business. He moved his cattle to the White river, where he kept them until his death. It was on White river that he first bought land, and his widow still owns large tracts there and continues the cattle industry, employing a manager to look after her stock. On their arrival in this section of the country they opened a grocery store at Rapid City, and with his own teams Mr. Hol- comb freighted his goods from Pierre. Some time afterward he took charge of the hotel which his father opened when he came to this coun- try, but at the time of his death his energies were wholly given up to raising cattle and horses. In October, 1891, he was thrown from his horse while riding, and on the IIth day of that month he died from the effects of the ac- cident. He was an active and zealous Republi- can in politics, and in fraternal relations be- longed to the Odd Fellows at Rapid City.

On March 5, 1876, Mr. Holcomb was mar- ried to Miss Sarah E. Brown, a native of Du- buque, Iowa, where the marriage occurred. She is the daughter of Hiram and Eliza (Luck) Brown, the former a native of Maryland and the latter of Kentucky. Both settled in Du- buque in childhood, their parents being pioneers in that locality, and they were reared and mar- ried there, the father being a prominent con- tractor and builder in that city. Mrs. Holcomb . also was reared and educated there, and had her home in the city until her marriage. Soon after this took place she came with her husband to South Dakota, and this has been her home

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ever since. She has been prominent in the so- cial life of the city, and being a lady of great business capacity, was of great assistance to her husband during his life, and since his death she has conducted the business with unusual shrewdness and success, handling both the cat- tle and the horses with skill and every considera- tion for securing the best results. Two sons blessed their union, Robert L. and Algernon A. Robert is married and engaged in the cattle in- dustry, while Algernon is finishing his educa- tion in New York.

PETER DUHAMEL, of Rapid City, was born December 22, 1839, near Montreal, Canada, and he remained there until he reached the age of seventeen. In April, 1857, he came to the United States, and after short stops at Chicago and St. Louis, proceeded to the mouth of the Sioux river, where Sioux City now hums with its myriad enterprises and busy life. The set- tlement at that time consisted of a store and a few uncanny residences built in the rude man- ner of the period and locality. He remained in this vicinity working on a farm until the fall of 1859, when he engaged to drive an ox-team from there to Fort Randall and on to Fort Pierre, his compensation to be fourteen dollars per month. He was therefore in the territory when almost all its inhabitants were Indians and soldiers. He remained at Fort Pierre until May 3, 1860, when, with two other men, he started for Pike's Peak. Nineteen days were consumed in reach- ing Denver on horseback, this place then con- sisting of two shacks and a few tents in the way of human habitations. The journey was tedious and trying, but otherwise uneventful, not a white man being met by the party in the whole of its course. Mr. Duhamel and his compan- ions went up the South Platte to a point about nineteen miles north of Denver, where they took up land and he began to raise cattle on a small scale and gradually enlarged his operations, re- maining there nineteen years. In July, 1879, he left there with his family and eight hundred cat- tle for southwestern Dakota, and arrived at

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History of South Dakota, Vol. II, Part 117

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