History of South Dakota, Vol. II, Part 119

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

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of the state in 1881. On the 6th of May of the following year he arrived in Northville, Spink county, Dakota, and here turned his attention to farming, taking up government land a few miles distant from the then embryonic village of Northville, and improving his property. He there continued to be actively engaged in farm- ing until 1887, when he established his home in Northville and entered upon the active practice of his profession, in which he has attained pres- tige and marked success, having a representative clientage in the community and conducting a prosperous general practice, while he is also en- gaged to a very considerable extent in dealing in real estate, being personally the owner of six- teen hundred acres of valuable agricultural land, the major portion of which is in Spink county. He has ever shown a loyal interest in public af- fairs and has served in various positions of lo- cal trust and responsibility, having been a mem- ber of the board of county commissioners in the early days, while he is one of the leaders in the the ranks of the Republican party in his section, being a member of the state central committee of the same at the time of this writing, having been chosen for his second term at the Repub- lican state convention in May, 1904. He is iden- tified with the Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows and the Ancient Order of United Workmen.

On the 18th of November, 1884, was solem- nized the marriage of Mr. Mariner to Miss Alerta Peterson, who was born in Nebraska, whence she came with her parents to South Da- kota in the territorial days. Of this union have been born six children, namely: Leta M., Han- nah G., Orrin (deceased ), Guy, Claude and Ward.

SAMUEL CROCKETT BLACK, secre- tary of the South Dakota & Iowa Land & Loan Company, with headquarters in Mellette, was born on a farm in Champaign county, Ohio, on the 23d of September, 1849. and is a scion of one of the old and honored families of the Buck- eye state, where his grandfather, Alexander H. Black, who was a native of Kentucky and of

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Scotch lineage, took up his residence in 1809, taking part in the early Indian wars and serving as captain of a company in the command of Gen- eral Wayne, known to history as "Mad Anthony Wayne," by reason of his intrepid daring. In this connection Captain Black accompanied his doughty general on the march to the lakes and saw not a little of active service in conflict with the Indians. He became possessed of a large tract of land in Champaign county, and there passed the closing years of his life, while his son Samuel C., Sr., the father of the subject, also lived on this ancestral homestead and became a prominent and influential farmer and stock grower. He likewise was a native of Kentucky and died in Ohio, as did also his devoted wife, whose maiden name was Mary Ann Grant. They became the parents of nine children, while of the number five are living at the time of this writing.

Mr. Black was reared on the home farm and received his early educational training in the common schools, after which he continued his studies in Wittemberg College, in Springfield, Ohio. He then resumed his association with ag- ricultural pursuits, and also took up the study of medicine, to which he devoted his attention for a short time. After the death of his father he took charge of the homestead farm and in connection with its operation also continued to deal in live stock until 1882, when he came to the present state of South Dakota and purchased land in Spink county, where he became the owner of three quarter sections of land eleven and a half miles northeast of Mellette. He re- moved his family to South Dakota in 1886, and there continued to be engaged in farming and stock growing until 1898, when he took up his residence in Mellette and turned his attention to the handling of grain and live stock, with which important line of enterprise he has since been prominently identified, controlling a large busi- ness, while in 1902 he associated himself with the South Dakota & Iowa Land & Loan Company, with headquarters in Mellette, and he has since been secretary of said company, which controls a large real-estate and loan business throughout

North and South Dakota. He served for two terms as mayor of Mellette, giving a most sat- isfactory administration of municipal affairs. He has passed the commandery, Scottish-rite and Shrine degrees in the Masonic fraternity, being secretary of his lodge at the time of this writing. He is also a member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen.

On the 18th of March, 1884, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Black to Miss Frances Mill- er, who was born and reared in Ohio, and they have two daughters, Jessie, who is a graduate of the Holy Angels Academy, in Minneapolis, and Lola.

GEORGE J. HAMILTON, engaged in the general merchandise business in the town of Mellette, was born in Brownhelm, Lorain county, Ohio, on the 25th of August, 1860, and is a son of Alexander Hamilton, who was born and reared in Edinburg, Scotland, whence he cante to America in 1855, settling in Ohio, where he was engaged as overseer in a quarry for a number of years. In 1863 he removed with his family to Vernon county, Wisconsin, where he turned his attention to agricultural pursuits, re- maining there until 1885, when he joined the subject in South Dakota, where he afterward maintained his home, being engaged in farming in Spink county. He died in 1895. The sub- ject of this review was reared on the home farm in Vernon county, Wisconsin, where he availed himself of the advantages of the public schools. He continued to be there engaged in farming until 1882, when he came to what is now the state of South Dakota, arriving in March and taking up his location in Spink county, where he took up government land, thirteen miles southeast of the village of Mellette, being there actively engaged in farming and stock growing until 1896, while he still retains possession of his homestead, which he has developed into one of the valuable ranches of this favored section of the state. In the autumn of the year last noted he removed to Mellette, where he was en- gaged in the livery and draying business until

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1899, when he disposed of his interests in these lines and associated himself with his younger brother, Walter, in the general merchandise busi- ness here. They have since successfully contin- ued operations, under the firm name of Hamil- ton Brothers, and have a well-appointed store and one in which is carried a select and compre- hensive stock in each of the several departments, while both of the interested principals are held in uniform confidence and esteem in the com- munity. The subject has been incumbent of va- rious township offices and is at the present time chairman of the board of education in his home town. In politics his franchise is exercised in support of the Populist party and fraternally he is affiliated with the Modern Woodmen of Amer- ica.

On the 6th of November, 1889. Mr. Hamil- ton was married to Miss Fannie Cloyd, who was born in Illinois, whence she came with her parents to South Dakota in 1884. Of this union has been born one child, Hazel.

RICHARD WILLIAMS, one of the promi- nent business men and representative citizens of Langford, Marshall county, was born in Cam- bria, Columbia county, Wisconsin, on the 16th of May, 1857, and is a son of William A. Williams, who was born, reared and married in Wales. He married Margaret Thomas, a native of Wales, and they became numbered among the very early settlers of Wisconsin, where they took up their residence about 1850. There his wife died in 1861, when the subject of this sketch was but four years of age, and the father thereafter con- tinued to reside in Wisconsin until 1880, when he accompanied our subject to what is now the state of South Dakota, first locating in Brown county, whence both came to Langford in 1887, and here they are still living, the father being seventy-nine years of age at the time of this writing. in 1904. and being well preserved in both mind and body.

Richard Williams was educated in the com- mon schools of his native county, and was en- gaged in farm work in Wisconsin until coming

to South Dakota, in the fall of 1880. He settled in Brown county, having made the trip on foot from Milbank to Columbia, as the former place was at the time the western terminus of the railroad. He filed claim to a homestead near the present town of Bath and then returned to Wisconsin for the winter. In the following spring he returned to his homestead and initiated the work of developing the same. He remained on his farm until the spring of 1886, when he located in the village of Columbia, Brown county, where he engaged in the implement business, in which line he continued operations there until 1887, when he sold out and removed to Lang- ford, Marshall county, and there became associ- ated with his brother Rowland in the hardware business, under the firm name of Williams Brothers. They conducted the largest business of the sort in the county until 1892, when the subject sold his interest to his brother, the latter continuing the enterprise until his death. After retiring from the hardware business Mr. Wil- liams was engaged in the farming implement business until 1900, since which time he has de- voted his attention to the real-estate business and to farming, being the owner of extensive inter- ests in the latter line, while his real-estate oper- ations are of very considerable scope and impor- tance. He is the owner of valuable farming lands in both Marshall and Day counties.

Concerning his public career we are able to quote from an appreciative article published in a local newspaper: "Mr. Williams has been more or less prominent in public affairs ever since coming to the state. In 1882 he was deputy assessor of Brown county and personally assessed most all the land in Brown county lying east of the Jim river, also a portion lying west of the river, including the city of Aberdeen. That same fall he was in charge of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad Company's exhibit of South Dakota agricultural products at the Milwaukee exposition, which did much to attract the atten- tion of homeseekers toward the new state. In 1887 he was elected president of the first board of trustees of the town of Langford, and has often been re-elected to the same office. In the fall of

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1892 he was unanimously nominated by the Re- publicans of Marshall county for the office of county treasurer, but owing to the pressure of a personal business resulting from the death of his brother he withdrew from the race, though there is no doubt but that he would have been success- ful at the polls. He has been for the past nine years a member of the board of trustees of the grand lodge of the Ancient Order of United Workmen of South Dakota, and was for eight years chairman of that board, being held in high esteem in the councils of the organization. In 1889 Mr. Williams was elected a member of the first senate of the new state, from Marshall county, and in 1898 he was re-elected to the sen- ate as representative of the thirty-second dis- trict, comprising the counties of Day and Mar- shall. This district had been overwhelmingly Populist for two preceding elections, but owing to the strong hold Mr. Williams had on the friendship and confidence of the people he de- feated the fusion nominee and served his con- stituents so faithfully and satisfactorily that he was unanimously renominated by the Republican senatorial convention of his district in 1900, and was again triumphantly elected to the responsible office in which he had rendered so effective serv- ice."

Mr. Williams has been an enthusiastic worker in the cause of the Republican party and is an able advocate of its principles and policies. In addition to holding membership in the Ancient Order of United Workmen, as already noted, he is also identified with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He and his wife are valued mem- bers of the Methodist Episcopal church in Lang- ford, and he is also a member of its board of trustees.

On the 27th of January, 1887, at Columbia. Brown county, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Williams to Miss Ida H. Reynolds, who was horn in the city of Chicago, Illinois, on the 8th of April, 1861, being a daughter of Elihu G. and Ruth Reynolds, both of whom are now deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Williams have three children, Ar- thur, aged seventeen, Richard Glen, aged fifteen, and Gladys, aged nine, in 1904.

JOHN R. THOMPSON, M. D., one of the leading members of his profession in Spink county, was born in Burlington, Kane county, Illinois, on the 13th of September. 1858, and is a son of Thomas J. and Hannah A. (Tucker) Thompson, who were numbered among the pio- neers of that state, whither they removed from their native state of West Virginia. In 1880 the father, accompanied by the subject, came to Spink county, South Dakota, and took up land. He then returned to Kane county, Illinois, and the following year moved the family out. He is now living in Northville. The mother died April 8. 1904, aged sixty-five years.

After completing the curriculum of the pub- lic schools the Doctor took a two-years academic course in the academy at Elgin, Illinois, and thereafter was engaged in farming in that state until 1880, when he came, as a young man of twenty-one years, to the present state of South Dakota and cast in his lot with its pioneers. He arrived in Spink county in May of that year, and took up government land, whose improvement he at once instituted, continuing to be engaged in farming on this property until September, 1882, when, in harmony with plans previously conceived, he went to the city of Chicago, where he was matriculated in the Bennett Medical Col- lege, in which he was graduated in March of the following year, having previously devoted much personal study and investigation to the science of medicine. He then entered the Col- lege of Physicians and Surgeons, in the same city and was graduated in the same in March, 1885, thus receiving the degree of Doctor of Medicine from each of these well-known institutions. In April, 1885, he began the active practice of his profession in Northville, Spink county, where he has ever since maintained his home and where he has built up a large and representative busi- ness as a physician and surgeon, his success hav- ing been most gratifying from the start. He still retains his original ranch and has been con- secutively identified with farming and real-estate interests since coming to the state, while he is now the owner of two entire sections of valuable land in this county. He is a member of the

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American Medical Association, the Aberdeen District Medical Society, and is identified with the fraternal insurance societies known as the Ancient Order of United Workmen, the Mod- ern Woodmen of America and the Modern Brotherhood of America. In politics he is a stalwart Republican, but has never manifested aught of predilection for public office of a polit- ical nature.

On the 29th of May, 1887, Dr. Thompson was united in marriage to Miss Etta M. Greg- ory, who was born in Waybridge, Vermont, on the 3d of August, 1846, being a daughter of Le- ander A. and Eliza A. Gregory, who removed from the old Green Mountain state to Beloit, Wisconsin, where she was reared and educated. Dr. and Mrs. Thompson have one daughter, Ketha A., who was born on the 28th of October, 1888.

EZRA MARTIN, of Northville. Spink county, was born in Martinsville, Wayne county, Michigan, on the 30th of September, 1860, be- ing a son of Winslow P. and Emeretta Alida (Disbro) Martin, the former born in the state of Massachusetts and the latter in that of New York. The paternal grandfather of the subject was Joel Martin, who likewise was a native of Massachusetts and a scion of stanch old Puritan stock, the family tradition being that among those who came to America on the historic Mayflower, probably on the occasion of its sec- ond vevage, was one Christopher Martin, who figured as the original progenitor of the family in the new world. Winslow P. Martin was reared and educated in the state of New York, whither his father had removed from Massachu- setts, and there he continued to reside until about 1852, when he removed to Michigan, be- coming one of the early settlers of Wayne county, in which is located the city of Detroit, the beautiful metropolis of the state. He pur- . chased a tract of wild land, heavily timbered, and set to himself the task of reclaiming the same to cultivation. He wielded much influence in the section where he thus established his 45-

home, having been called upon to serve in va- rious important township and county offices, in- cluding that of superintendent of schools, in which connection it may be inferred that he placed that appreciative estimate upon the char- acter of one fair school-teacher in his jurisdic- tion which led to his marriage to Miss Disbro, who proved to him a devoted wife and helpmeet. The last twenty-five or thirty years of his life were devoted to ministerial work in the Wesleyan Methodist denomination. Ile came to North- ville. South Dakota, in 1882, and became pastor of the Wesleyan Methodist church here. con- tinuing to hold that position until his death, which occurred in 1885. His widow survives.

Ezra Martin, the immediate subject of this sketch, entered the schools of Martinsville as a child of five years and there learned the myster- ies of "Webb's Word Method" and other rudi- mentary text-books, and when he had attained the age of eleven years his parents removed to Pittsford, Hillsdale county, Michigan, where he completed the course in the graded schools, be- ing graduated in the high school as a member of the class of 1877. For a time he was a suc- cessful teacher in the district schools of that locality, and also assisted in the work of the home farm which his father had there purchased. Just a few days before he had attained his le- gal majority he started for the west, passing about six months in Nebraska and thence coming to South Dakota, having made his advent in what is now the village of Northville on the 22d of January, 1882. The town was then repre- sented by a depot and section house, and he pur- chased the first lot sold by the Western Town Lot Company in Northville, while he also took up a pre-emption claim adjoining the present corporate limits of the village. The tide of im- migration began to flow in and the early settlers in this locality needed a place to secure provis- ions. Our subject accordingly associated himself with his brother Edwin and erected a store on the lot which he had purchased, and there es- tablished a general-merchandise business, the first in the town. The firm commenced opera- tions upon capital furnished by their father, and

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though they secured a good support and were popular with the people wi the community they were seriously handicapped by inexperience and lack of capital of their own, and after conducting the enterprise about two years they abandoned the same, our subject turning his attention to agricultural pursuits, while his brother later be- came a clergyman of the Wesleyan Methodist church.

Mr. Martin has been signally prospered in temporal affairs during the intervening years and has erected substantial and attractive buildings on the place, including a commodious residence, while all other improvements indicate the pro- gressive spirit and good judgment of the owner. Mr. Martin is now the owner of twenty-three hundred acres of valuable land in this vicinity, and has also accumulated a considerable amount of real estate in Northville, while in addition to all this and his large amount of personal prop- erty he also owns property in Wisconsin, Michi- gan and Cuba. For the past decade he has given his personal attention largely to the grain business, buying and shipping large quantities each year.

Mr. Martin is a man of distinctive public spirit, is a stanch advocate of the principles of the Republican party, and while he has taken a lively interest in its cause he has never been per- sonally ambitious for office. He and his wife are prominent and valued members of the Wes- leyan Methodist church in Northville, the re- spective families having been among the charter members of the same and having contributed in a large measure to the erection of the chapel in Northville, and in the same the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Martin was solemnized on the same day which marked the dedication of the building. They have been specially active in the work of the church, and the subject served as superintendent of its Sunday school about fifteen years.

daughter of Thomas J. and Hannah A. (Tucker ) Thompson, who came to Spink county, South Dakota, in 1881, where the father still resides, the mother having died in April, 1904. M1. and Mrs. Martin have six children, whose names, in order of birth, are as follows: Earl Levant, Fern Hannah, Glenn Richards. Frank Thomp- son, Floyd Winslow and Alida Pearl.

RICHARD B. HUGHES, of Spearfish, was born April 14. 1856, in Somerset county, Penn- sylvania, and is the son of Michael J. and Mary L. (Haight) Hughes, the former a native of Ire- land and the latter of Bedford, Pennsylvania. His mother's ancestors emigrated to this country in colonial times, her grandfather being a gal- lant soldier in the war of the Revolution and fighting in that memorable contest under Wash- ington. During the Civil war the family lived I at Cumberland, Maryland, where they kept a | hotel until 1864. In that year they moved to Illinois, and after living a short time at Dixon, moved to Peoria. In 1867 they changed their residence to Nebraska, the year that state was admitted to the Union, locating at West Point in the Eikhorn valley, where the father took up a homestead and engaged in farming. Owing to the migratory life of the family the son Richard had but broken and irregular opportunities for sccuring an education, but in 1869 he was sent to Chicago, where he attended a business college for two years. Returning to West Point at the end of that period, he went into the office of the West Point Republican where he served his ap- prenticeship to the printer's trade, remaining four years. In the spring of 1876 he came to the Black Hills, arriving at Custer on May 7th and at Deadwood gulch five days later. He then engaged in prospecting, alternating his work in this line with service on the newspaper of Deadwood, the Pioneer and the Times. During a portion of 1880 he edited and managed the News, an evening paper at Deadwood, and in December of that year he moved to Rapid City and took editorial charge of the Journal, then a

On the 12th of October, 1882, was solem- nized, under the circumstances just noted, the marriage of Mr. Martin to Miss Mary J. Thomp- son, who was born near the city of Elgin, Illi- nois, on the 31st of January, 1864, being a ; weekly and later a daily paper, which he con-

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ducted nine years, in 1883 and 1884 serving as county treasurer. Rapid City was then in a vig- orous boom and he was president of the board of trade and also city treasurer. In the fall of 1889 he was elected to the first state legislature as a Democrat and was one of the eighteen members of his party in a house of one hundred and twenty-five. Prior to this he had been in the real-estate business, and after leaving the Jour- nal he devoted his attention to that until 1892, when he was appointed United States surveyor general for the district of South Dakota, an office he held four years, during which he made his home at Huron. He has always been more or less interested in mining and since leaving the office of surveyor general has devoted his whole time to that industry. Coming to the Hills with a number of capitalists from the eastern part of the state, he organized the Cleopatra Gold Min- ing Company, whose property is located in the carbonate district on Squaw creek, eleven miles northwest of Deadwood. From the organization of this company he has been its manager, and in March, 1902, he also became manager of the Holy Terror Mining Company, succeeding John S. George in this position, which he still holds. Since 1899 Mr. Hughes has made his home at Spearfish, where he has an elegant residence. He has other mining interests in stocks and claims in addition to those mentioned, and is also engaged in the cattle business, principally in the northern part of the state. He was one of the founders and is a charter member of the Pio- neers' Association of the Black Hills, and takes a leading and serviceable part in its proceedings.

On March 19, 1884, Mr. Hughes was mar- ried, at Rapid City, to Miss Mattie E. Lewis, a native of Illinois. They have two sons, Richard L. and Clarence W.

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History of South Dakota, Vol. II, Part 119

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