History of South Dakota, Vol. II, Part 124

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

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WILLIAM A. SHARP, successfully estab- lished in the real-estate business, in the city of Clark, Clark county, was born on the home farm in Oldtown township. McLean county, Illinois, on the 21st of November. 1858, and, is the son of Theodore and Ophelia M. ( Watson) Sharp. Theodore Sharp was born in New Jersey on the 8th of October, 1820, and when eighteen years of age went to Chatam, that state, where he en- gaged with A. & W. C. Wheeler to learn the machinist's trade, becoming a skilled artisan in the line and also a successful inventor. He may be said to have inherited much mechanical abil-

ity, for as far back as records are in evidence the family have been allied with the machinist's trade and business. Christian Sharp, an uncle of Theodore, was the inventor of the Sharp rifle and was a manufacturer of firearms. John H. Sharp, an uncle of our subject, was likewise a machinist by vocation, and the same is true of Jacob Sharp, his son. Ancestors of Mr. Sharp were participants in the war of the Revolution and also in that with Mexico, but as the family records were unfortunately destroyed by fire no definite data is accessible at this time. Ophelia M. Sharp, the mother of the subject, was born in Glencoe, Columbia county, New York, on the 20th of April, 1832, and her marriage to Theo- dore Sharp was solemnized, in the city of Al- bany, that state, on the 3Ist of December. 1849. They became the parents of one son and three daughters, one of the latter being now deceased.

In the spring of 1858 Theodore Sharp re- moved with his family to McLean county, Illi- nois, where he remained until a short time before the outbreak of the Civil war, when he removed with his family to Louisville, Kentucky, where he had charge of the machine shops of the firm of Miller & Moore during the progress of the war, said shops being engaged principally in gov- ernment work at the time. In the spring of 1866 he again located on a farm near Benjaminville, McLean county, Illinois, where he continued to be actively engaged in agricultural pursuits un- til the fall of 1882, when he came to South Da- kota, accompanied by his only son, the subject of this review; and on the 6th of September of that year each of them filed on a homestead and a tree claim in Clark county. Theodore Sharp here continued to be engaged in farming and stock growing until his death, which occurred very suddenly, in the city of Clark, on the 2d of March, 1886.

William A. Sharp passed his boyhood days on the old homestead farm in McLean county, Illinois, and after completing the curriculum of the public schools in that locality continued his studies in the Wesleyan University, at Bloom- ington, and the State Normal School, at Normal, Illinois. After coming to South Dakota he

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taught during several winter terms in the dis- | His wife was born in Maine, whence she ac- trict schools, and in the meanwhile continued to companied her parents to Wisconsin and later to Minnesota. Mrs. Sharp was a child of about four years at the time of her parents' removal to Nemaha county, Kansas, and there she was reared and educated, having attended the high school in Seneca and later having been for a time a student in Campbell University, at Holton, Kansas. For a number of years prior to her marriage she was a successful and popular teacher in the public schools of Nemaha county. Kansas, where her parents still reside. Mr. and Mrs. Sharp have one child, Carol ()., who was born August II, 1902. be actively engaged in the improving and culti- vating of his farming properties until 1890, hav- ing been elected to the office of register of deeds of Clark county, on an independent ticket, in the autumn of that year, and having removed with his mother from the farm to the county seat on the 12th of the following December. Here they have ever since continued to reside. Mr. Sharp was clerk of Garfield township in 1885-6-7, and held the office of register of deeds for a term of two years, while in 1897-8 he served as county treasurer, having shown much fidelity and dis- crimination in every official capacity in which he has labored. In 1893 he purchased the only set of abstracts of titles for Clark county, and there- after conducted an abstract business until March I, 1903, when he disposed of his books and has since continued in the real-estate business. He is interested in several valuable farming proper- ties and also controls a considerable amount of town realty, while he is also a stockholder in the Vienna Roller Mill Company, at Vienna. this county, where the company has a well-equipped flouring mill and grain elevator. In politics Mr. Sharp was aligned with the Re- publican party until 1890, since which time he has maintained an independent attitude. Fra- ternally he is a valued member of the local or- ganizations of the Woodmen and the Knights of the Maccabees, in the latter of which he has served as commander.

On the 11th of July, 1901, Mr. Sharp was united in marriage to Miss Grace C. Latimer, of Seneca, Kansas. She was born near Winne- bago, Minnesota, on the 12th of October, 1872. and is a daughter of Pleasant H. and Lucy E. (Day) Latimer, whose marriage was solemnized in Minnesota, on the 6th of January, 1869. Mr. Latimer was born in Knox county, Illinois, on the 2d of May, 1844, and removed to Minnesota in 1860, and he served eighteen months in the Ninth Minnesota Volunteer Infantry, during the Civil war, and thirty days during the Indian war in Minnesota in 1862. Ile removed with his family from Minnesota to Kansas in 1876.

FREDERIC ALAN MIX. publisher and editor of the Fairplay, at Fort Pierre. Stanley county, was born on a farm in Hall county, Ne- braska, on the 8th of November. 1875. being a son of Eugene Jesse and Caroline O. (Mann) Mix, both families having been early established in the state of New York, while the parents of the subject were numbered among the pioneers of Nebraska. In 1881 they removed to Smith Center, Kansas, where the father was engaged in mercantile pursuits until his death, which occurred in 1894. His widow and her two chil- dren then returned to Nebraska, and she now resides at Cairo, Hall county, that state, with her daughter, Miss Sadie J. The subject se- cured his early educational training in the pub- lic schools of Smith Center, Kansas, and after the death of his father accompanied his mother on her return to Nebraska, where he was for a time employed on the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad and also identified with farm- ing operations. In 1806 he entered the Grand Island Business College, at Grand Island. Ne- braska, where he was graduated as a member of the class of 1897. Shortly afterward, in August of that year, he went to the city of Omaha, where he was engaged in stenographic work and job printing until 1901, when he came to South Dakota, arriving in Fort Pierre, Stan- ley county, on the 20th of January of that year. Here he effected the purchase of the Fairplay,

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which he has made an exponent of the principles of the Republican party, while through his ener- getic and capable management the paper has gained a high standing and its business has been increased fourfold in the short intervening period, while the cumulative tendency in the en- terprise is still to be marked in a significant and gratifying way. Mr. Mix was reared in the Republican party and has ever given the same his allegiance since attaining his majority. while both he and his wife are communicants of the Catholic church. Fraternally he is identified with the Modern Brotherhood of America and the Ancient Order of United Workmen.

On the 30th of May, 1900, in St. Philo- mena's church in the city of Omaha, Nebraska. was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Mix to Miss Marguerite W. Weinrich, who was born in Saxony, Germany, and who is associated with him in the newspaper business, while he at- tributes to her co-operation and influence much of the success which has attended his efforts.

LEWIS L. FLEEGER, an able and repre- sentative member of the legal profession in Turner county, is a native of the old Keystone state, having been born in Butler county, Penn- sylvania, on the 12th of December. 1864, and being a son of Samuel L. and Mary A. (Pierce) Fleeger. When he was but two years of age his parents removed to Missouri and located in Cooper county, where his father engaged in farming, and in that county the subject secured his early educational discipline in the public schools, while he was reared to the sturdy life of the homestead farm. He continued his studies for some time in Clarksburg College, at Clarks- burg, Missouri, and then entered Waynesburg College, at Waynesburg, Pennsylvania, where he was graduated as a member of the class of 1889. receiving the degree of Bachelor of Arts. After his graduation he took up the reading of law in the office of his cousin. George Fleeger. of Butler, Pennsylvania, one of the representative members of the bar of that section, and under

, this preceptorship continued his technical studies for two years, at the expiration of which, in the autumn of 1891, he returned to Missouri, and for the following years was engaged as instructor in mathematics in Clarksburg College, in which institution he had previously been a student. as has been noted in this context. In the att- tumin of 1892 he came to South Dakota and lo- cated in the city of Yankton, where he was shortly afterward admitted to the bar of the state, and there he was for a short interval en- gaged in the practice of his profession. In the spring of 1893 he came to Turner county and located in the village of Centerville, where he was engaged in practice about eighteen months, at the expiration of which he took up his resi- dence in Parker, the judicial center of the county, where he has since been successfully established in practice, controlling a large and represent- ative clientage. In politics Mr. Fleeger is a stalwart advocate of the principles and policies of the Republican party and he is one of its wheelhorses in Turner county, having served for the past four years as chairman of the Re- publican central committee of the county and having handled his forces with marked skill and discrimination in the furtherance of the inter- ests of his party. In the autumn of 1893 he was elected state's attorney of the county and served in this capacity for two terms, or four consecutive years, making an admirable record as prosecutor. Fraternally he is affiliated with Parker Lodge, No. 30, Ancient Free and Ac- cepted Masons.

On the 5th of November, 1899, Mr. Fleeger was united in marriage to Miss Cliffie M. Elliott, daughter of Judge W. Elliott, of Parker, and of this union has been born one son, Samuel Boyd.

ALFRED H. STILL, of Parker, Turner county, is a native of Clinton county, Iowa, where he was born on the 29th of September. 1862, being a son of Orange and Ruth ( Bovard) Still. When he was a lad of six years his par- ents removed to Scranton. Greene county, Iowa,

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where he secured his early educational dis- cipline, and in 1873, when he was eleven years of age, he came with his parents to what is now the state of South Dakota. His father took up a homestead claim of government land in Turner county, being one of the earliest of the permanent settlers in this section of the state, and here developing a good farm. The subject remained on this homestead until he had attained the age of seventeen years, in the meanwhile having availed himself of the advantages of the pioneer schools of the locality, and he then came with his parents to Parker, where his father built a portion of the hotel of which he is now the proprietor, this being the first hotel in the town. Alfred continued to be associated with his father in the conducting of the hotel for the en- suing two years, at the expiration of which he went to Sioux Falls, where he was employed in connection with the hotel and livery business for five years. He then removed to Boyd county. Nebraska, where he took up a homestead claim, perfecting his title to the same in due course of time and making good improvements on the place, which he still owns. Later he returned to Turner county, South Dakota, and purchased a quarter section of land three miles north of Parker, the county seat, and there he was actively engaged in farming and stock raising for about seven years, also operating a threshing outfit in season during the major portion of this period. In July, 1903, he disposed of his farm here and purchased the Parker House, which had been enlarged and modernized. while he has refitted the same and made it one of the most attractive -troping places in this section of the state, his mtimate knowledge of the business and his constant care for the comfort and convenience of his guests making his house a most popular one, while its cuisine has at all times the best the market affords, and the service accorded is chirable in all respects. In politics Mr. Still Je stanch Republican and takes a zealous in- terest in the furtherance of the party cause. He has served as delegate to various state conven- tions of his party as well as to the minor con- ventions, and is ever ready to do active work

for his party. Fraternally he is identified with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, holding membership in the lodge at Sioux Falls. and also with the Ancient Order of United Workmen.

On the 3d of June, 1883, Mr. Still was united in marriage to Miss Theresa Wagner, a daugh- ter of Simon Wagner, one of the pioneers of Turner county, and they have seven children, namely : Hubert J., Howard L., Ida, Ruth, Alice C., Alfred H. and Theodore.

OLAF GILBERTSON. one of the success- ful farmers and stock growers of Lincoln county, was born in Christiania, Norway, on the 29th of June, 1865, being a son of John H. and Sophia Gilbertson, the former of whom immi- grated to the United States in the spring of 1869, being joined by his family in the fall of the next year. The father of the subject had followed the trade of blacksmith in his native land, but upon coming to the new world he decided to turn his attention to farming. He came to Lincoln county, South Dakota, and took up a quarter section of government land, in Can- ton township, there being but few settlers in the county at the time. He built a log house and then set to work to reclaim his wild land and aid in developing the resources of this section. He continued to live on the old homestead until his death, which occurred in 1899, his wife hav- ing passed away in 1885. They became the parents of four children, namely: Eliza, who is the wife of Andrew Lunn, of this county ; Susanna, who is visiting in Norway at the time of this writing, in 1903: Olaf, who is the sub- ject of this sketch, and John H., who died at the age of twenty-seven years.

The subject was reared on the homestead, where he has continuously resided, and he se- cured his education in the common schools. At the age of twenty-one years he rented the home farm, and he now has one hundred and ninety acres, well-improved and under effective culti- vation, the land lying partly in Lincoln county and partly in Lyon county, Iowa. In addition

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to diversified farming he also raises good live stock, including Durham cattle and Poland- China hogs. He is a Republican in politics, is a member of the Lutheran church and is af- filiated with the Ancient Order of United Work- men at Canton, his postoffice address.

HIRAM HUMPHREY CURTIS, cashier of the First National Bank at Castlewood, Hamlin county, was born in Geneva, now known as Lake Geneva, Walworth county, Wis- consin, on the 6th of December, 1844, being a son of Lewis and Mary Elizabeth ( Humphrey) Curtis. The former was born at Plymonth, Chenango county, New York, on the 8th of No- vember, 1813, and is still living and in fair health, though more than ninety years of age at the time of this writing, in 1904. He engaged in the mercantile business at Manhattan, near the city of Toledo, Ohio, but in 1839 removed to Wisconsin, locating at Geneva, that state, in January of the following year, and there con- tinuing in mercantile pursuits for nearly half a century. He still maintains his home there, hon- ored as one of the oldest living pioneers of that section and as one of the noble patriarchs of the state. His wife was born at Middlebury. Ohio, on the 25th of May, 1822, and her death occurred on the 21st of March, 1868. The father became a prosperous business man and one who wielded much influence. He served for ten years as postmaster of Geneva, under the administrations of Presidents Lincoln, John- son and Grant, and during the climacteric period leading up to the war of the Rebellion he was a stanch Abolitionist and his home was a station on the famous "underground railway." He be- came somewhat extensively interested in farm- ing and timber lands in Wisconsin in the.early days, and has ever commanded high esteem. His devoted wife was a woman of gracious re- finement, a lover of good books and good music, and both became members of the Pres- byterian church in early life and ever exempli- fied their faith in their daily walk and conver- sation. It may be further stated that the an-

cestry of the subject in both the paternal and ma - ternal lines became identified with the settle- ment of New England in the early colonial epoch, and the maternal grandparents of the subject each lived to attain the venerable age of eighty-nine years.

Hiram H. Curtis received his carly educa- tional training in public and private schools in his native town, and then entered Beloit College, at Beloit, Wisconsin, where he took up the work of the classical course, but on account of ill health was compelled to abandon his studies in the sophomore year, having been a member of the class of 1870. He entered college with the intention of preparing himself for the min- istry of the Presbyterian church and it was a matter of grievous disappointment to him that he was obliged to change his plans and enter upon other work. He was fond of good books and of working with tools, particularly in wood. and also enjoyed writing and bookkeeping. This last proclivity caused his father to make a place for him in his store and office, and at the age of sixteen years he became bookkeeper for the store and also assistant postmaster. In 1862. when so many of his schoolmates were enlisting in defense of the Union, he was most anxious also to tender his services, but his parents de- cided that it was unwise to permit him to do so. In his eighteenth year he left home for col- lege, going first to the Wisconsin University in the spring of 1863, and in the autumn of the same year to Beloit College, where he passed four years, in the preparatory and collegiate de- partments, but was unable to complete his course. He returned to his home in Geneva, and in the spring of 1868, through the assistance of his father, there engaged in the mercantile business, opening a stock of drugs, books, etc. He was associated in this enterprise with Pardon Mc- Donald, now of Clyde, Kansas, about one year, and thereafter individually continued the busi- ness for ten years, and with fair success until he became interested in the erection of a large business block, which undertaking compassed his financial failure. For about five years there- after he was employed in his father's store. In

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August, 1882, he visited the territory of Dakota and was very favorably impressed. In the fol- lowing October he came here again, in company with a party of friends, among whom was his brother-in-law, Joseph P. Cheever, and after a trip through what is now the central part of what is now South Dakota, along the line of the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad. they pro- ceeded up the James river valley to Columbia and Aberdeen, returning to Wisconsin without locating land or really deciding what action to take. During the winter of 1882-3 Dakota was thought about and discussed, and finally, in March, 1883, Messrs. Cheever and Curtis came again to Dakota, visiting Brookings, DeSmet, Huron, Miller, Redfield, Aberdeen, Columbia, Clark, Watertown and some other towns. The immigration was immense in that year, and it almost seemed to Messrs. Cheever and Curtis that there was really no place in which they could begin business with any prospect of suc- cess. Finally Thomas H. Ruth, of DeSmet, sug- gested that they visit Hamlin county. They followed this suggestion and arrived in Castle- wood on the 28th of March, 1883, looked about the embryonic frontier town, learned what they could concerning the surrounding country and finally decided to remain. They at once erected a building to include office and dwelling and in the same opened a bank, law, insurance and real-estate office, Mr. Cheever being a lawyer by profession. They had business from the start, but years of drought and short crops came, en- tailing much discouragement. There were several years of struggle and little or no profit. Mr. Curtis' wife and children did not come to the new home until about fifteen months after he had here located, arriving in June, 1884. During the interim he states that he had learned to appreciate home and family as never before, and when his family finally joined him they found their abiding place on a government homestead about three miles from Castlewood. He made proof on this claim in December, 1884. and they then removed into Castlewood, where they now have a very pleasant and comfortable

home. He still owns the homestead farm, to which he has made some addition, and with his family is the owner of other lands in the county, so that as a family they are interested in farm- ing upon a somewhat extensive scale.

In 1891 the banking business established by Messrs. Cheever and Curtis was incorporated under the state law, prosperous years came to the surrounding country, and the enterprise be- came correspondingly successful. In 1894 Mr. Cheever removed to Brookings to engage in the practice of law, and this left the subject individu- ally to superintend the affairs of the bank, though Mr. Cheever continued to retain his in- terest in the business. In 1901 the enterprise was reorganized and incorporated as the First National Bank, succeeding the Hamlin County Bank, under which title the enterprise had pre- viously been conducted. The bank is capitalized for twenty-five thousand dollars and is one of the solid and prosperous financial institutions of the state.

As before stated, Mr. Curtis was very de- sirous of tendering his services in defense of the Union in the early period of the Civil war, but deferred to the wishes of his parents. In 1864, when the call came for seventy-five thou- sand more men, he was in college at Beloit. Enlistments were called for, and students and other young men waxed enthusiastic, and thus, without consulting his parents, Mr. Curtis en- tered the one-hundred-days service, enlisting on the 12th of May, of that year. The company was assigned to the Fortieth Regiment of Wis- consin Volunteer Infantry, which was largely made up of students from Wisconsin University and other colleges in the state, and the command was sent to Memphis, Tennessee, and assigned to picket duty, and there remained during its term of enlistment, when, with the others of the command, the subject received his honorable discharge.

Mr. Curtis was always an earnest Republican until 1896, when he became a party Prohibition- ist, because he believed that there was and is no question before the nation of so great im-

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portance as the destruction of the American saloon and liquor traffic. In 1902 he was the nominee of the Prohibition party in the state for the office of governor. The state committee's management of the campaign was admirable and brought a largely increased vote over that ac- corded in any previous campaign. Mr. Curtis is now a member of the national Prohibition

On the 6th of December, 1870, was sol.m- nized the marriage of Mr. Curtis to Miss Mary Annette Allen, the ceremony being performed at the home of her parents, in Linn, Walworth county, Wisconsin. She is a daughter of George and Harriet Amelia ( Buell ) Allen, her father having been a prominent and wealthy farmer and a citizen influential in political and business affairs in his home town, county and state. Mrs. Curtis completed her education in the Wisconsin State University, at Madison, be- ing graduated as a member of the first class in the normal department. in 1865. Of the chil- dren of Mr. and Mrs. Curtis we incorporate the following brief data: Allen Lewis, who was born June 26, 1874, was graduated in Beloit College, his father's alma mater, as a member of the class of 1901; Kate Lilly, who was born December 12, 1875, was a member of the class of 1902, in the same institution, but was com- pelled to withdraw on account of impaired health ; Amelia Buell, who was born August 2. 1879, was graduated in Beloit College as a member of the class of 1902, and died March 29, 1904, and Annie Mary, who was born on the 7th of February. 1883, expects to enter the same institution in the autumn of the present

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History of South Dakota, Vol. II, Part 124

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