History of South Dakota, Vol. II, Part 125

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

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year. 1904. All of the children were born at Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, their father's native place.

CHRISTOPHIER SNYDER VINCENT, M. D., successfully engaged in the practice of his profession at Wagner. Charles Mix county, committee from his state. In early years of his . was born on a farm in Coeymans township, near residence in South Dakota Mr. Curtis served : as township clerk and township treasurer, b :. t has never been ambitious for office of local order. He is now considerably interested in and con- nected with town and rural telephone contrac- tion in Castlewood and vicinity. He and his wife are prominent and valued members of the Presbyterian church in their home town, and he is an elder in the same and for the past eighteen years has been superintendent of and a teacher in its Sunday school.

Indian Fields, Albany county, New York, on the 18th of March, 1845, and is a son of Asa S. and Hannah Maria ( McClure) Vincent, both of whom were likewise born in Albany county, the lineage on the paternal side being of English origin and on the maternal of Scotch. The ma- ternal great-grandfather of the Doctor was a clergyman of the Scotch Presbyterian church, and his son Daniel W., grandfather of our sub- ject, was a local minister in the Methodist Episcopal church. Leonard Vincent, great- great-grandfather in the agnatic line, was an Englishman of means and immigrated to the state of New York while it was still an English colony. His eldest son, Leve, was born in that state, on the Ist of June, 1736, and the latter's eldest son, Amos, grandfather of the Doctor, was born about 1760. Asa S. Vincent, father of our subject, was born near Indian Fields, Al- bany county, New York, on the 14th of April, 1808, and it is interesting to note that the Doc- tor is the descendant of the oldest child and son in the line of five successive generations.

Dr. Vincent prepared for college in the Greenville Academy, New York, and was gradu- ated in Hamilton College, at Clinton, that state, in 1873, receiving the degree of Bachelor of Arts, while in 1876 he received from his alma mater the degree of Master of Arts. In the meanwhile. at Turin, Lewis county, New York, on the Ist of April, 1874. he was ordained to the min- istry of the Presbyterian church, being stated supply for the first six months thereafter and being then installed as pastor. retaining the in- cumbency two and one-half years. During his active labors in the ministry the Doctor held pastoral charges in Norwalk, Ohio; Baltimore, Maryland ; Springfield, Ohio; Turner's Falls,

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Massachusetts ; Williamstown, New York: Au- burn, Nebraska : Joplin, Missouri ; Oakes, Nortli Dakota, and Tyndall, South Dakota. He finally took up the study of medicine, and on the 2d of June, 1885. was graduated in the Eclectic Medical College, in Cincinnati, Ohio, receiving his degree of Doctor of Medicine from this well- known institution. He was engaged in the prac- tice of his profession for a time in Springfield, Ohio, and later at Dormansville, New York, while in 1897 he established himself in practice at Tyndall, Bon Homme county, South Da- kota, where he remained for a period of six years, at the expiration of which he came to Wagner, Charles Mix county, where he has built up a large and representative practice. While he has always been successful in general prac- tice and surgery he considers that his best work has been accomplished in connection with the treatment of chronic diseases, to which he has devoted special attention and study.

In politics the Doctor is a stanch Republican. and of his religious faith we can give no more consistent statement than to quote his own words: "I have been an ordained minister of the Presbyterian church since September, 1874. honoring alike all denominations as so many schools in the one universal church of Jesus Christ, and cherishing the hope that God in his wisdom will ultimately realize the universal sal- vation of all men and angels." In a fraternal way the Doctor is identified with Lodge No. 212 of the Ancient Order of United Workmen at Auburn, Nebraska, and in 1868 he became a member of Jefferson Lodge, No. 554. Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, in New York, being at the present time affiliated with Bon Homme Lodge, No. 101, at Tyndall, South Dakota.

On the 23d of April, 1874. was solemnized the marriage of Dr. Vincent to Miss Ella Ham- mond, who was born in Auburn, New York, on the 3d of December. 1854, being a daughter of Colonel George Edmond and Hannah Maria (Harris) Hammond, and of the children of this union we enter the following brief record, the respective dates of birth being given in each connection : Wright .A., March 1. 1875: Whel-

don Jones, July 31. 1876; Maybelle, May 14, 1878; Edmond Hammond. June 28. 1881 ; Paul, August 31, 1884, and Faith, September 30, 1892.

ORVILLE S. BASFORD is a native of the old Green Mountain state, having been born in Shelburne, Vermont, on the 29th of August. 1848. and being a son of Samuel and Henrietta (Kingsbury) Basford, the former of whom was a mechanic by vocation, while both passed their entire lives in New England. In the agnatic line the genealogy is traced back to four brothers who came to America from England in the latter part of the eighteenth century, having been originally from Wales, and their descendants in the new world are now numerous and found in the most diverse sections of the Union. while the orthography of the name has become varied. -Basford, Bassford, Bashford, etc. The sub- ject received his early education in the common schools and then completed a four-years classical course in the University of Vermont, as a mem- ber of the class of 1876. Prior to his gradu- ation he was regularly stationed as a licenciate of the Vermont conference of the Methodist Episcopal church, and later was duly ordained to elder's orders. After five years of successful work in the ministry of his church in Vermont, at Mil- ton, Hyde Park and Essex, he came to the terri- tory of Dakota, in 1880, his prime object being to induce his brothers, who were merchants, to avail themselves of advantages offered in the securing of government lands. He was given a Methodist circuit embracing the south half of Spink county. and within the three years following he or- ganized four societies and erected three churches, -at Hitchcock, Crandon and Redfield. He then becanie concerned in political affairs and with- drew from the active work of the ministry. In 1894 he was chosen chairman of the Republican state central committee, manoeuvred his forces with much ability during the campaign of that year, and in the spring of the following year resumed ministerial functions, removing to Mis- souri, where he was for four years pastor of a church at Wellsville. Montgomery county, and

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for three and one-half years incumbent of a charge at Linnens, Linn county. His health be- came impaired and he accordingly returned to South Dakota, where the invigorating climate soon enabled him to recuperate his energies. He is now associated with his two sons, Frank and Harry, and is manager and editor of the Red- field Press, which is published by the firm of Basford Brothers & Basford. He was post- master of Redfield from 1800 to 1894, inclusive, and in 1887-8 was editor and publisher of the Dakota Methodist. He has been an active worker in the cause of the Republican party, as has already been noted in this context, and fra- ternally he is identified with the Masonic order. the Knights of Pythias, the Modern Woodmen of America, the Good Templars and the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows, of which last he was elected grand master of the grand lodge of the state, at Deadwood, in 1890, while in the following year he was elected grand repre- sentative at Yankton.

Mention should be made of the fact that Mr. Basford enlisted, in 1864, as a member of the Seventeenth Vermont Volunteer Infantry, but was rejected by reason of his youth and was thus unable to assist in the defense of the Union during the Civil war. He was a member of the board of commissioners of Spink county from 1884 to 1886, inclusive, and was a member of the board of regents of the Mitchell University in 1887-8-9.

On the 22d of August, 1871, at Georgia, Vermont, Mr. Basford was united in marriage to Miss Arminda M. Blake, and they are the parents of six children, namely: William B., Caroline A., Delta C., Frank W., Orville K. and Harrison D.

AMUND O. RINGSRUD, a successful business man of Elk Point, Union county, is a native of Norway, where he was born Septem- ber 13. 1854, being a son of Ole O. and Carrie Ringsrud, who emigrated thence to the United States in 1867. when he was a lad of thirteen years, locating in Union county, South Dakota.

the father engaging in agricultural pursuits and being known as an honest, industrious and worthy citizen of his adopted country. Our sub- ject secured his rudimentary education in his na- tive land and after coming to America he con- tinted his studies in the public schools. He gave his attention to farm work in Union county until the year 1870, when, at the age of sixteen years, he came to Elk Point and being there employed as clerk in a general store until 1879. In 1878 Mr. Ringsrud was elected to the office of register of deeds of Union county, in which capacity he served six consecutive years, while in 1885 he was elected county treasurer, being chosen as his own successor in 1887 and thus ably administer- ing the fiscal affairs of the county for four years. Still further honors were in store for him through the appreciative recognition of the peo- ple of the state, for in 1889 he was elected to the office of secretary of state, of which he con- tinued incumbent four years, proving himself a capable and discriminating official and by his course fully justifying the popular choice. In 1885 he engaged in the mercantile business here on his own responsibility, beginning opera- tions on a modest scale, and from this nucleus he has built up a most excellent trade, having now one of the largest general stores in this section of the state and being known as a re- liable and honorable business man, whose word is as good as his bond. The subject was a member of the state constitutional convention of 1889, and proved anew his loyal interest in the welfare of the new commonwealth. In politics he accords an uncompromising support to the Republican party, in whose cause he has been a most active and efficient worker, and in 1896 he was the candidate of his party for the office of governor of the state, being defeated by only a few hundred votes and running ahead of his ticket. Fraternally Mr. Ringsrud is a Mason, belonging to the commandery and con- sistory, and also belongs to the Ancient Order of United Workmen and the Modern Woodmen of America.

On the 23d of March, 1876, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Ringsrud to Miss Emma F.

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Snyder, of Lawler, Iowa, and they are the par- ents of three children, Grace E., now Mrs. F: W. Ford, of Elk Point ; Stella May, at home, and Alfred, at St. John's Military Academy, Dela- field, Wisconsin.

JAMES L. BULLOCK, of Pierpont, Day county, was born in Tonica, LaSalle county, Illinois, on the 20th of December, 1861, and is a son of James T. and Ann Frances (Cross- man) Bullock, both of whom were born and reared in Massachusetts, being representatives of stanch old colonial ancestry. As a young man James Tisdale Bullock removed from New England to Illinois, locating in LaSalle county, where he engaged in farming. A number of years later he removed to Michigan, where his death occurred, his family thereafter returning to Illinois, his wife dying later, in Michigan. The subject of this review was the eighth in or- der of birth of the eight children, of whom two are living, and he passed his schooldays in Michigan and Illinois, availing himself of the advantages of the public schools and growing up under the sturdy and invigorating influences of the farm. He was identified with agricultural pursuits in Illinois until 1887, when he came to what is now the state of South Dakota and pur- chased two hundred and forty acres of land five miles northeast of Pierpont, Day county, where he engaged in farming and stock raising, with which important lines of industrial enter- prise he has ever since been identified. To the area of his original purchase he has added until he now has a finely improved ranch of about four hundred acres, the same being de- voted to diversified agriculture and to the rais- ing of high-grade live stock. He is recognized as an energetic, far-sighted and progressive farmer and business man and is one of the hon- ored citizens of the county, commanding uni- form confidence 'and esteem. From the time of taking up his residence in the county to the present he has manifested a commendable in- terest in public affairs, and is one of the stalwart supporters of the Republican party in this sec-

tion of the state. In 1899 he was elected to represent his district in the state legislature, and was chosen as his own successor in 1901, prov- ing a valuable working member in the house and having been assigned to various important committees. He is affiliated with the Ancient Order of United Workmen and its auxiliary or- ganization, the Degree of Honor.

On the 23d of August, 1885, Mr. Bullock was joined in wedlock to Miss Ella Remsburg, who was born in Illinois, being a daughter of Perry Remsburg, who removed from his na- tive state of Maryland to that of Ohio and later to Illinois, where he made his home for a num- ber of years, both he and his wife, whose maiden name was Mary Brown, passing the closing years of their lives in Kansas. Mr. and Mrs. Bullock have four children, namely: James Shelby, Harry Romaine, Emmet Mellette, and Myrtle Janette.

GEORGE A. WOOD, one of the represent- ative and highly esteemed business men of Mil- bank, Grant county, has here in commection with his brother, built up a successful hardware, lum- ber and farm machinery business. He is a na- tive of the province of Quebec, Canada, having been born in Brome Corner, a village which was settled by people from New England, and situ- ated near the Vermont line. Walter Wood. father of the subject, was born and reared in the state of Vermont, and moved across the bor- der into Canada, where he became ident.fied with the lumbering industry in that section. His wife, whose name was Martha P. Jacobs, was a na- tive of Connecticut.

The subject of this sketch was born on the 23d of June, 1851. His early education was received in the old stone school house in his na- tive village and continued in the academy of that place. When he was twelve years of age his parents removed with their family to Wisconsin, and a few years later took up their residence in Elliota, Minnesota, where his father was en- gaged in farming. George A. entered the pre- paratory department of the State University of

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Minnesota in 1872, where he was graduated as a member of the class of 1878, receiving the de- gree of Bachelor of Literature. In the same year he engaged in the hardware, lumber and machinery business with his brother, John C., under the firm name of Wood Brothers, in the village of Ortonville, Big Stone county, Min- nesota. When the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad was extended westward into South Dakota in 1880 the firm removed to Mil- bank, Grant county, and established an excellent business, being one of the leading retail concerns in the state. They are progressive and energetic and have so conducted their business as to win and retain the confidence of all with whom they have dealings. They have large and well-equip- ped warehouses and general salesrooms, and handle all kinds of heavy and shelf hardware, lumber and builders' materials, agricultural im- plements and machinery. The firm also have milling and agricultural interests.

In polities the subject is an independent Re- publican ; fraternally he is identified with the Ancient Order of United Workmen, and is a member of the Congregational church.

On the 9th of June, 1879, Mr. Wond was married to Miss Caroline Rollit, daughter of Rev. Charles Rollit, at that time a resident of the city of Minneapolis. She is a graduate of the University of Minnesota of the class of 1879.

DARWIN M. INMAN, president of the First National Bank of Vermillion, Clay county, is a native of the old Empire state and a scion of old colonial stock in New England. He was born in Clarendon, Orleans county, New York, and is a son of Philip and Anna (Thompson) Inman, the former of whom was born in Con- nectient and the latter in Vermont, both being of English lineage.

Mr. Inman was reared in his native county, and after duly availing himself of the advantages of the public schools he continued his studies in Holley and Albion Academies, locating in that county, and there preparing for college. He was matriculated in Rochester University, where

he completed the classical course and was gradu- ated, receiving his degree. Mr. Inman is to be noted as one of the pioneer bankers of South Dakota, where he has maintained his home since the territorial era, when the present state was on the very frontier. In the spring of 1875 he on- gaged in the banking business in Vermillion being associated in the enterprise with nis brothers-in-law. Messrs. Myron D. Thompson and Martin J. Lewis. They also became promi- nently concerned in the grain business, owning and operating a large elevator in Vermillion, and also conducting an extensive business in the handling of agricultural implements, machinery and lumber, while they are associated in the live-stock business in the county. Mr. Inman was successfully engaged in teaching in the pub- lie schools of New York state for several terms prior to coming as a pioneer to the great ter- ritory of Dakota, and he has ever retained a deep interest in educational affairs. He was president of the board of trustees of the village of Ver- million in 1876, and in 1876-7 was a prominent member of the territorial legislature, in which he later served two more terms, while he was a member of the first general assembly after the state was admitted to the Union. He served for several terms as a trustee and director of the State University, in Vermillion, being one of its trustees at the time when the first building was erected.

In politics Mr. Inman is a stalwart advocate of the principles of the Democratic party, and he has been a prominent figure in its ranks in South Dakota, serving as chairman of the Demo- cratie state central committee for six years, both during the territorial and state regimes. He served two terms as supervisor of the town of Clarendon, New York, prior to coming to the west, while mention has already been made of the official positions he has retained in South Dakota. Fraternally he has attained the chival- ric degrees in the Masonic order, being identified with Vermillion Commandery, No. 16, Knights Templar, in Vermillion, and with El Riad Tem- ple, Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, at Sioux Falls.

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On the 28th of December, 1874, Mr. Inman was united in marriage to Miss Adele Lewis, of Columbus, Columbia county, Wisconsin, who was born in Clarendon, Orleans county, New York, being a daughter of William L. and Eliza Ann Lewis. No children have been born of this union. Mrs. Inman takes a deep interest in the Baptist church to which Mr. Inman gives a liberal support.

ANTON V. VETTER, a member of the well-known firm of Vetter, Stoller & Hepperle, of Artas, Campbell county, and also president of the Artas State Bank, was born near the city of Odessa, Russia, on the 19th of January, 1868, and is a son of Valentine and Franciska Vetter, both of whom were born and reared in that same locality, being of German lineage. The subject received superior educational advantages in the excellent national schools of his native land, and was there engaged in teaching for several years prior to coming to America, in 1892. His par- ents had immigrated to the United States in 1888 and located in Emmons county, North Da- kota, where they still reside, the father being a prosperous farmer and stock grower and a man of influence in his community. Upon coming to South Dakota the subject of this sketch located in Eureka, McPherson county, where he secured a clerical position in the general store of John Pietz. in whose employ he continued four years, at the expiration of which he removed across the line into North Dakota and engaged in the mercantile business at Selz, North Dakota, where he remained six years, meeting with ex- cellent success and laying the foundations for his present exceptional prestige as a business man. In 1901. upon the completion of the Missouri River branch of the "Soo" Railroad through Altas, he removed to this village and here as- sociated himself with Messrs. John Stoller and Fred Hepperle, in the establishing of the firm mentioned in the opening paragraph of this article, and they have built up a large and pros- perous general merchandise business, having a well-equipped store, forty-six by one hundred

and twelve feet in dimensions, besides an annex, twenty-six by eighty feet, in which is carried their stock of furniture and stoves, while in ad- dition they have a large warehouse for general storage purposes. They carry a complete stock of all kinds of merchandise and have a first- class store and one which has gained popularity and a large supporting patronage from a wide radius of country normally tributary to the town. In 1903 Mr. Vetter entered into partnership with Ludwig Schmalz and opened a general store at Hague, North Dakota, under the firm name of Schmalz & Vetter, and this establishment also is doing a prosperous business. On the Ist of August, 1903, Mr. Vetter was elected president of the Artas State Bank, in which connection he is proving a most capable executive officer. In politics he gives his support to the Democratic party, and he is a thoroughly loyal, progressive and public-spirited citizen.

On the 6th of August, 1889, Mr. Vetter was united in marriage to Miss Barbara Wingerter, of Odessa, Russia, and they have five children, Martin, Frances, Elizabeth, Peter and Mary.

JAMES HALL, the popular proprietor of Hotel Hall at Ft. Pierre, Stanley county, is a native of the old Green Mountain state, having been born in Hardwick, Caledonia county, Ver- mont, on the ioth of May, 1841, and being a son of Don C. and Mary L. (Bell) Hall, both of whom were likewise born in Vermont, the former being of Spanish descent in the paternal line and Scotch in the maternal, while the latter was of Irish and English genealogy. The pa- ternal grandfather of our subject was Don Carlos Barrett, and the name Hall was taken by his son and namesake, who was reared in the home of his maternal relatives, who bore that name. Don Carlos Barrett was a sea captain and as nearly as can be ascertained he lost his life on a voyage made in 1818. Don Carlos Hall, father of the subject of this review, was taken by his mother's people when he was but four years of age. the Hall family being of Scotch ex- traction and having long been identified with the

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ship-chandlery business in New England. James D. Bell, the maternal grandfather of our subject. was brought from Ireland to America when a child, his father having been compelled to leave the Emerald Isle by reason of his prominence in connection with political disturbances, as he was an Orangeman. This exiled patriot became an eminent criminal lawyer in Vermont and was a man of exalted character and distinguished ability. James D. Bell married Lucy Dean, who was a direct descendant of Governor Thomas Dudley, who landed in America in 1630, and of Walter Dean, who arrived in the new world in 1638.

James Hall, the immediate subject of this article, was a child of fourteen years at the time of his parents' removal from Vermont to the wilds of Wisconsin, and they became pioneers of Portage county, that state. He was reared in the midst of the great forests of northern Wis- consin, and his educational advantages were such as were afforded in the common schools of the locality and period, while he carly became in- ured to the strenuous and somewhat venture- some labors connected with the great lumbering industry. He was engaged in the lumber busi- ness in that state for some time, as was he later in Illinois, Missouri and Iowa, and in 1883 he came to South Dakota and located in Blunt. Hughes county, where he continued in the same line of enterprise until 1890, when he engaged in the hotel business, with which he has ever since been identified. In politics Mr. Hall is stanchly arrayed as a supporter of the principles and policies of the Democratic party.

On the 3d of July, 1868, at Hanover, Jo Daviess county, Illinois, Mr. Hall was united in marriage to Miss Eliza Truax, who was born in Rome, New York, on the 20th of October. 1854. being a daughter of Isaac and Sarah (Ford) Truax, who were numbered among the pioneers of Illinois. Mr. and Mrs. Hall became the par- ents of five children, namely : Alice, Robert I., Harry, Bella and Norma, and all are living with the exception of Bella, who died at the age of six years.

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History of South Dakota, Vol. II, Part 125

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