History of South Dakota, Vol. II, Part 120

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

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DAVID ROBERTSON, an able member of the bar of the state, who has served several terms as a representative of Spink county in the state legislature, comes of stanch Scottish lineage and inherits the sterling characteristics of the canny Scotchman-sterling integrity, marked prag-

matic ability and tenacity of purpose, with strong mentality and mature judgment. He is a na- tive of the state of Wisconsin, having been born in Rock county, on the 21st of August. 1855, and being a son of Peter and Helen Robertson, both of whom were born and reared in Scotland, the father having been a native of Glasgow and the mother of Edinburgh. They were married in their native land and shortly afterward, in 1854, immigrated to the United States and set- tled on a farm in Rock county, Wisconsin, where they remained until 1863, when they removed to Freeborn county, Minnesota, becoming pio- neers of that section, where the father improved a good farm. and there both passed the re- mainder of their lives, secure in the respect and esteem of all who knew them. Of their five children all are yet living. They were consistent members of the Baptist church, and in politics Mr. Robertson espoused the cause of the Repub- lican party.

David Robertson, the immediate subject of this sketch, completed the curriculum of the public schools at Mitchell, Iowa, and was reared to the sturdy discipline of the home farm. In 1881 he was matriculated in Carleton College, in Northfield, Minnesota, where he completed the scientific course and was graduated as a member of the class of 1885, with the degree of Bachelor of Science. He had in the meanwhile been reading law, and after his graduation con- tinued his technical studies in the office of Hon. Calvin L. Brown, of Morris, Minnesota, this able preceptor being now one of the associate justices of the supreme court of that state. Mr. Robertson read law under the direction of Judge Brown for one year, and was then admitted to the bar of Minnesota, in July, 1886. In January of the following year he came to South Dakota and took up his residence in Conde, where he engaged in the practice of his profession, and in the real-estate business, in which he has since continued. In politics he is a stanch advocate of the principles and policies of the Republican party, in whose ranks he has been an active and valued worker. In 1890 he was elected to the legislature, making an excellent record. Mr.

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Robertson also takes an active interest in school work and is president of the board of education of Conde. He is an appreciative and popular member of the Masonic fraternity, being affiliated with the following named bodies of the same : Conde Lodge, No. 134. Ancient Free and Ac- cepted Masons ; and South Dakota Consistory, No. 4. Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite, at Aber- deen, having attained to fourteen degrees in this branch of the order at the time of this writing.

On the 21st of February, 1887, Mr. Robert- son was united in marriage to Miss Priscilla V. Herman, who was born in Glenville, Freeborn county, Minnesota, on the 3d of November, 1857, being a daughter of Philip and Augusta Herman, who are now living at Glenville, Min- nesota, her father having been a farmer by vo- cation. Mr. and Mrs. Robertson have three children living, namely: Len D., who was born on the 17th of December. 1887; George V., who was born on the 14th of February, 1893; and Erskine H., who was born on the 14th of July, 1894. Their only daughter. Vida P., was horn October 24. 1890, and died of scarlet fever at the age of fifteen months. Mrs. Robertson is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church and takes special interest in Sunday school work.

EDWARD O. HANSCHKA. of Deadwood, was born on March 7. 1863, in Germany, and is the son of Frederick and Caroline Hanschka, also natives of the fatherland, where the father was an industrious and well-to-do blacksmith. Edward remained at home until he reached the age of seventeen, receiving a common-school ed- ucation and serving an apprenticeship at the trade of his father. In 1880 he came to the United States and, passing by the allurements of the cultivated east, made his way direct to the Black Hills, locating at Central City, where he secured employment from the Homestake Min- ing Company at its Terry mine near that town, he to do blacksmithing there for the company. After five years' service to this company he bought a shop of his own at Central City and

began business for himself. The shop he pur- chased had an interesting history. It was orig- inally owned by John Belt, one of the pioneers of the Hills, and many important events in the early history of this section were started, dis- cussed and planned under its rude roof. He was in business at this stand two years, then when the town of Carbonate was located he moved the shop to that point, being one of the founders and locators of the town. There he remained two years, and during this time was husily employed running his shop, supplying tim- ber and limestone for the Iron Hill Mining Com- pany, and hauling its ore from the mines to the smelter by contract. In the spring of 1888 le moved to Deadwood and went into the employ of the Golden Reward Mining Company as mas- ter mechanic, especially for the purpose of erect- ing for that company the first mill put up in the Hills except the Homestake stamp mills. He remained with this company a year, the mill be- ing destroyed by fire at the end of that time; and as it was impossible for the company to rebuild it until the next year, he again accepted a berth in the blacksmithing department of the Terry mines of the Homestake Company, at Deadwood. As soon as the Golden Reward Company was ready to rebuild its mill he returned to its aid and con- structed the plant, after which he worked for the company until 1892. He then took an en- gagement to build the Little B smelter for the Deadwood & Delaware Smelting & Refining Company, and when this was finished, he built for the same company its Big B smelter, being master mechanic in the erection of both. After the completion of the Big B he took charge of its blacksmithing department, of which he had the management two years. In 1895 he entered into a contract with the company to supply it with limestone and do all its hauling. Since then he has continued to furnish the limestone needed in the operations of the company, which has averaged nine thousand tons a month. In 1900 he first hecame interested in mining for himself, and the next year, he bought one thon- sand acres of mining land. That same year he organized the Standard Mining Company of

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Deadwood, of which he is the principal stock- holder and the vice-president and manager: The company at once erected a mill on its property, which is located in the Ragged Top district, and its operations have been active and eminently successful, it being beyond doubt one of the best mining properties in the Hills at this time. In 1903 Mr. Hanschka bought other large tracts of mining land on Elk creek seven miles south of the Homestake properties. These were known as the Hogan & Anderson and the Scandinavian properties, but he has rechristened them, calling them together the New Bonanza, and it is his in- tention to work them separately from his other enterprises. In the same summer he built a mill on them, and the results so far obtained jus- tify him in the belief that they will be as rich in yield as the Standard. He has in addition several small mining interests and is a stock- holder in some of the larger companies. In 1898 he started an industry in raising and handling cattle, running his stock on the Grand river north of this locality where he bought ranch land. In this venture he has been successful and is con- tinvally enlarging his business.

On January 1, 1889. Mr. Hanschka was mar- ried, at Deadwood, to Miss Minnie Walking, a native of Germany. They have one daughter, Emma C. Since his marriage the subject has made his home at Deadwood, where he has a fine residence. He belongs to the Modern Wood- men of America here, and also to the Masonic order, having solved the mysteries of the York Rite through the commandery and those of the Scottish Rite to and through the thirty-second degree.

JOHN BELL, postmaster of Spearfish, and one of the old and worthy citizens of Lawrence county, South Dakota, is a native of England, born in Yorkshire on the 13th day of December, 1849. Deprived of a father's guidance and lov- ing care at the early age of three years, the childhood and youth of young Bell was beset with many vicissitudes and not a few hardships, by reason of which his educational advantages

were exceedingly limited. While still a mere lad he was apprenticed to the blacksmith trade and after serving his time and becoming an ef- ficient workman he followed his calling at differ- ent places in Lancashire, where he was reared until his twentieth year. In 1870 Mr. Bell came to the United States and after working at his trade in various towns and cities, finally located in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, where he operated a shop until 1876, when, by reason of the excite- ment caused by gold in the Black Hills, he joined the tide of fortune hunters and made his way to Dakota, reaching the mining district in the spring of the year noted. Immediately after his arrival in the Black Hills he started a blacksmith shop, the first one in the place, his only shelter he- ing a large tree on the bank of White Wood creek. There was much more work than he could do and frequently he would be kept busy far into the night attending to the needs of his numerous customers. Later in the summer of 1876 he pushed on to Central City, where he started a shop and worked at his trade continu- ally until 1883, when he closed his establishment and, removing to Spearfish, engaged in the live- stock business. He moved his family to the lat- ter place in 1886 and has since made it his home, the meantime continuing to raise, buy and sell cattle, until 1902, when he sold out his live-stock interests, the better to attend to his duties as postmaster, to which office he was appointed by President Mckinley in 1898. He was reap- pointed in 1902 by President Roosevelt and still holds the position, proving a most capable, pains- taking and obliging official.

Mr. Bell is a Republican in politics and a zeal- ous party worker. Fraternally he is a member of the Masonic order, belonging to Blue Lodge, No. 18, and Lookout Chapter, No. 36, Royal Arch Masons, at Spearfish. He was married, Janu- ary 20, 1872, at Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, to Miss Mary A. Perrett, a native of England, who has borne him nine children, of whom the following are living : Maggie E., Lula M., Rosa, Maud S. and Thomas A. ; the deceased are Bertha, Kate and two that died in infancy.

Mr. Bell has been quite successful in the

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raising and Landling of live stock, from which and his trade he realized sufficient means to re- tire in comfort, being now the possessor of an ample competence for his declining years. Be- ing still in the prime of life, however, with a lib- eral income from the postoffice, he keeps abreast of the times in all matters pertaining to the ma- terial welfare of the city of his residence, being interested in its various enterprises, and co-oper- ating with every laudable undertaking for the social and moral good of the community.

JOHN HENRY RUSSELL, a representa- tive citizen of Lawrence county, South Dakota, was born in Fremont, Sandusky county, Ohio, December 10, 1853. His father, Solomon Nor- ton Russell, a contractor and builder, and his mother, Sarah (Brown) Russell, were both na- tives of the Buckeye state and for many years residents of the city of Fremont. Of the early life and youthful experiences of John H. Rus- sell little need be said, as they were without event of striking note, being confined to labor in the summer time as soon as he was old enough to be of practical service and to attending the public schools of his native town during the winter seasons. After acquiring a fair education young Russell apprenticed himself to a carpen- ter to learn the art of building, becoming an effi- cient workman. He followed his chosen calling in Ohio until 1877, the meantime taking a num- ber of important contracts in his native city and county and earning the reputation of a capable and reliable mechanic. Leaving Fremont the above year, he came to South Dakota and since that time has made his home in the Black Hills country. Mr. Russell has been an honored resi- lent of Lawrence county since April, 1877, and in addition to carpentry has followed various other pursuits, meeting with financial success at his different undertakings.

In 1893 Mr. Russell was elected a member of the Spearfish city council, in which body he served one term, and from 1897 to 1899 inclusive he was a member of the board of county commis- sioners. He also served during the years 1895

and 1896 on the city school board, and in 1903 was elected, on the Republican ticket, representa- tive from Lawrence county to the lower house of the state legislature. Mr. Russell is one of the standard bearers of the Republican party in Law- rence county, and as such has been a potential factor in local and state politics.

Mr. Russell joined the Independent Order of Odd Fellows in 1881, and has been a member in good standing ever since, besides holding nearly every office within the power of the local lodge to bestow. He has also been prominent in the affairs of the grand lodge and at one time served as grand master. Since 1894 he has been identified with the Modern Woodmen of Amer- ica, in which he has also been honored with im- portant official station.

On the 12th day of April, 1879, in the city of Deadwood, Dakota territory, was solemnized the ceremony which united Mr. Russell and Miss Emma Sayre in the bonds of holy wedlock, a marriage blessed with five children, whose names and dates of birth are as follows: Lillian V., January 29, 1880; Howard, October 6, 1881; Una, July 24, 1884; Ruby C., August 9, 1887, and John C., who was born September II, 1891.

GEORGE F. JOHNSON is a prominent business man of Redfield, Spink county, and is now serving as register of deeds of said county. The original progenitor of the Johnson family in America immigrated hither in the early co- lonial period and located in New England, rep- resentatives of the name being found in various sections thereof at the present time. Franklin Johnson, the father of the subject, was a native of the state of Vermont, where he was reared to maturity. As a young man he removed thence to New Jersey, and there he married Miss Rispah Compton, who was born and reared in that state, and they became the parents of five children, of whom three are now living, the subject of this review having been the second in order of birth. He was born in this historic old town of Perth Amboy, Middlesex county, New Jersey, on the 5th of June, 1843, his father having been there

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engaged in the manufacturing of locks for a number of years. George F. received his early educational training in the schools of his native town and was about fifteen years of age when, in 1858, his parents removed to the west and set- tled in Waseca, Minnesota, 'as pioneers of the state. There the father engaged in the milling business, in which he continued during the re- mainder of his active career, and there his death occurred in 1893, at the venerable age of eighty- seven years, while his devoted wife died at the age of sixty-seven years.

The subject was associated with his father in the work of the mill at the time of the out- break of the Civil war, and in March, 1863, at the age of twenty years, he enlisted as a private in Company A, First Minnesota Volunteer In- fantry, which was commanded by Colonel Sully, who later became a general and distinguished himself in the Indian warfare of the west and northwest. The regiment proceeded to the na- tional capital and shortly afterward Colonel Col- vin assumed command. The regiment was as- signed to the Army of the Potomac, and there- after took part in every engagement in which this notable division of the Union forces was concerned until the close of the war, Mr. John- son having received his honorable discharge, at St. Paul, Minnesota, in July, 1865, while the his- tory of his regiment is the history of his record as a leal and loyal soldier of the republic.

After the close of the war Mr. Johnson re- turned to Minnesota, and in 1871 he engaged in the hotel business at Janesville, that state, con- tinuing to be identified with this enterprise until 1881, when he came to Redfield, South Dakota, and became the pioneer hardware merchant of the town. He has ever since continued to be identified with this important branch of trade, has built up a large and profitable enterprise and is one of the influential and honored business men of the county. The business is now con- ducted under the firm name of G. F. Johnson & Son, his only son having been admitted to partnership in 1890. In politics Mr. Johnson is a stalwart Republican, taking a lively interest in the party cause. He served as the first city re-

corder and treasurer of Redfield, and is incum- bent of these positions at the present time, while in November, 1902, he was elected register of deeds of the county, in which office he is giving a most systematic and able administration of the important affairs entrusted to his charge. He is a member of George H. Thomas Post, No. 5, Grand Army of the Republic, and also of the Masonic fraternity, in which he is affiliated with Redfield Lodge, No. 34, Ancient Frec and Ac- cepted Masons, and Redfield Chapter, No. 20, Royal Arch Masons.

On the 19th of May, 1869, Mr. Johnson was united in marriage to Miss Laura E. Storrs, who was born in Maples, New York, being a daughter of John and Sarah Storrs. The sub- ject and his estimable wife are the parents of two children, Grace F., who is now the wife of Hubert W. Bartlett, of Lead, Lawrence county, this state, and Harry E., who is now associated with his father in the hardware business.

SAMUEL A. HOY, superintendent of schools of Spink county, retaining his residence in Redfield, was born in Pickaway county, Ohio, on the 30th of October, 1866, being a son of Rev. Samuel and Melinda (Imler) Hoy, both of whom were likewise native of the old Buckeye state and representatives of pioneer families of that great commonwealth, while both were of German line-

age. Samuel Hoy was a minister of the Evan- gelical Association, and for sixteen years-four terms-was presiding elder in the Ohio confer- ence. In 1883 he removed with his family to South Dakota and took up his residence in Spink county, where he continued his ministerial work, being one of the pioneers of that section, where he developed a good farm. He died Feb- ruary 17, 190I, and his widow died January I, 1904, leaving eleven children, eight sons and three daughters, not a death having occurred among the children.

The subject received his early educational discipline in the public schools of Ohio, and was seventeen years of age at the time of his parents' removal to South Dakota, where he continued his

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studies in the schools of Spink county. In 1887. at the age of twenty-one years, he began his ca- reer as a teacher in the public schools of Spink county, proving successful from the start and continuing to thus follow the pedagogic profes- sion for thirteen years, at the expiration of which, in 1900, he was elected to his present of- fice as superintendent of schools of Spink county, and was re-elected in 1902, in which capacity he has accomplished an admirable work, gaining the confidence and hearty co-operation of the teachers in his jurisdiction and the unqualified approval of the people of the county. In poli- tics he is a stanch adherent of the Republican party, and fraternally is identified with La Delle Lodge, No. 133, Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows.

On the 26th of November, 1902, Mr. Hoy was united in marriage to Miss Blanche Cadwell, who was born in Illinois, on the 13th of October, 1873. being a daughter of Simon and Rosa ( Bell) Cadwell, who are now residing in Ells- worth county, Kansas, where they removed in about 1877.

OTTO HENRY GERDES, M. D., an able representative of the medical profession in Eureka. McPherson county, is a native of Han- over. Germany, where he was born on the 25th of January, 1868, coming of sterling old German lineage and being a son of Henry and Margaret ( Heiken ) Gerdes, who were likewise born in Hanover, in which province the former was identified with agricultural pursuits until his death, which occurred in 1873. In the family were five children, and in 1885 the widowed mother with two of her sons came to America and located in Manson, Iowa, where another of the sons had taken up his residence two years previously. Mrs. Gerdes returned to Germany in 1895. and still remains there, while the three sons continue to reside in America. Dr. Gerdes secured his early educational discipline in the excellent national schools of the fatherland. com- pleting a course in the gymnasium, which is analogous in its provisions and functions to the

high school of the United States. A few months after coming to America with his mother, being seventeen years of age at the time, he secured a position in the drug store of Foley Brothers, at Manson, Calhoun county, Iowa, and was thus employed until 1888, when he began reading medicine under the efficient direction of Dr. D. T. Martin, of the town mentioned. continuing his technical studies under this preceptor until the autumn of 1889, when he was matriculated in the celebrated Rush Medical College, in the city of Chicago, Illinois, where he completed the pre- scribed course and was graduated as a member of the class of 1892, receiving his coveted degree on the 29th of March of that year. A fow months later he came to Hutchinson county, South Dakota, and in March, 1893, established himself in the practice of his profession in Eureka, McPherson county, where he has since remained and where he has been most successful in the work of his profession, having gained dis- tinctive prestige as a physician and surgeon and being known as a close student and one who keeps in close touch with the advances made in both sciences involved, while his personality is such that he has gained the high esteem of the people of the community. He is a member of the American Medical Association and the South Dakota State Medical Society. The Doctor is a member of the Ancient Order of United Work- men, and is local medical examiner for the same, as well as for several of the leading life insurance companies having agencies here, not- ably the New York Mutual Life. He is also a thirty-second-degree Mason. Religiously he is a Lutheran and politically a Republican.

On the 22d of October, 1894, the Doctor was united in marriage to Miss Bertha Bryan, who was born and reared in Woodstock, Illinois, being a daughter of Thomas and Susan Bryan. Dr. and Mrs. Gerdes have three daughters,-Irene, Lillian and Maude.

In a supplemental way it may be stated that the Doctor's grandfather, Henry H. Gerdes, was the owner of three excellent farms in Hanover, Germany, where he died in 1888, at the venerable age of ninety-three years. He left a large and

DR. O. H. GERDES.

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valuable estate, and the properties mentioned still remain in the possession of his descendants. He was a soldier under the renowned General Blucher, and was in that officer's command at the memorable battle of Waterloo.

JAMES A. KISER, a member of the well- known real-estate firm of Kiser Brothers, of Redfield, Spink county, was born on a farm near Madison, Dane county, Wisconsin, on the 24th of February, 1865, and is a son of William C. and Lucy A. ( Black) Kiser, the former of whom was born in Virginia and the latter in Ohio, where her father was a pioneer, the Black fam- ily having been founded in America in the co- lonial days. The father of the subject passed his early childhood in the Old Dominion state and was about two years of age at the time of his father's death. His mother later removed with her children to Ohio and located in Mont- gomery county, on the site of the present Na- tional Soldiers' Home, near the city of Dayton. While he was still a boy the family removed to Logan county, Ohio, where he remained until 1862, when he located in Dane county, Wiscon- sin, where he was engaged in farming until 1881, when he came as a pioneer to what is now the state of South Dakota, taking up government land ten miles east of the present village of Mel- lette, Spink county, where he developed a valu- able ranch, upon which he still resides. In 1888 he was elected county treasurer of Spink county, of which office he was incumbent two years.

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History of South Dakota, Vol. II, Part 120

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