History of South Dakota, Vol. II, Part 129

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

USA > South Dakota > History of South Dakota, Vol. II > Part 129

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Mr. Howard was among the first to respond to President Lincoln's call for volunteers after the thundering of rebel guns against the ram- parts of old Fort Sumter had voiced the tocsin of civil war. On the 14th of August, 1861, the subject enlisted as a private in Company H. Twenty-eighth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, com- manded by Colonel Amary K. Johnston, and after the expiration of his term he re-enlisted in the same company and regiment, serving in all four years and nine months, covering somewhat more than the entire period of the war, as will appear in following statements. His command was first assigned to the Army of the Tennessee and took part in all the operations under General Grant in the Mississippi valley, from Cairo to Mobile. Among the engagements in which Mr. Howard participated may be mentioned the fol- lowing : Belmont, which was General Grant's first battle ; capture of Forts Herman, Henry and Donelson; battles of Pittsburg Landing, or Shiloh; the engagement at Davis Crossing of the Hatchie river, being a part of the battle of Corinth ; and the siege and capture of Vicksburg, Spanish Fort, Fort Blakely and the city of Mo- bile. After the surrender of General Lee, Mr. Howard accompanied his regiment to Texas, to assist in driving Maximilian out of Mexico,

and the command encamped at Brownsville, that state, until March 16, 1866, when its members were mustered ont and finally disbanded at Springfield, Illinois, May 14, 1866. Mr. Howard then returned to Illinois, and, at Springfield, re- ceived his honorable discharge on the 6th of April, 1866. The following day he made req- uisition for and secured his certificate of ad- mission to the bar, and shortly afterward located in Knoxville, Illinois, where he was actively en- gaged in the practice of his profession for the ensuing twelve years, gaining success and pres- tige. He then removed to the city of Chicago. where he accepted a position on the editorial staff of the old Chicago Times, whose founder, the late Wilbur F. Story, was at the time in control. being one of the strongest, though most eccentric, figures in the newspaper history of the great western metropolis. Mr. Howard retired from his editorial position two years later and shortly afterward came to what is now the state of South Dakota, arriving in Redfield. Spink county, in March, 1882, and there remaining until May of the following year, when he came to Potter county and here took up one hundred and sixty acres of government land, to whose im- provement he at once directed his attention, being there engaged in farming and stock raising until 1892, when he located in the county seat. Gettys- burg, where he has since been established in the practice of his profession, being a man of broad and exact knowledge of the law and having long held a place of honor and priority. being prac- tically the Nestor of the bar of the county. He is now serving his third term as state's attorney, and has proved a most discriminating and suc- cessful public prosecutor. He is held in high esteem in the community and his genial per- sonality has gained to him a host of friends in the state of his adoption. In politics Mr. How- ard is an uncompromising advocate of the prin- ciples of the Republican party, while fraternally he manifests his abiding interest in his old com- rades in arms by retaining membership in Meade Post, No. 32, Grand Army of the Republic, of which he is a prominent and honored comrade. He has attended the national encampments of

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this noble organization in Chicago, Washington City and San Francisco, and on each occasion has met with most grateful reunions and fraternal ex- periences. Mr. Howard has never been married, and has never belonged to any other fraternal organization.

JOHN G. HOARD, an honored representa- tive of one of the early pioneer families of Union county, is a native of the state of New York, having been born in St. Lawrence county, on the 3Ist of December, 1855, and being a son of Alonzo and Keym (Small) Hoard, the former of whom was born in Vermont and the latter in New York state. The paternal grandfather of the subject came to America from England, set- tling in Vermont. The original orthography of the name was Hoar, and he changed the same to its present form. In 1856 when the subject of this review was an infant of six months, his parents removed to the west and located in Richland county, Wisconsin, his father becom- ing one of the pioneer farmers of that locality. Mr. Hoard early became inured to hard work, being reared on the pioneer farm, and his early educational advantages were limited, owing to the exigencies of time and place. He conned his studies in a log schoolhouse of the primitive type, and finished his specific schooling in an old sod house in Union county, South Dakota, stating to the writer that this rude "temple of learning" bore the name of Antioch. In 1874, at the age of nineteen years, he accompanied his parents to the present state of South Dakota, the family locating in Union county, where his father became one of the pioneer farmers, as had he previously in Wisconsin. He died here in 1890, and his wife is yet living, while of their eight children seven are living. When the subject ar- rived in this country his cash capital was repre- sented in the sum of twenty dollars, which he soon gave to his father, to aid in the support of the family, while his first two years' labor after coming here was similarly applied, so that he started out in life empty-handed upon attaining his legal majority. In 1874 he had entered claim

to a homestead of one hundred and sixty acres, in Prairie township. By industry, energy and good management he made every effort count, and soon the star of prosperity shone upon him, and he has now a fine landed estate of five hun- dred and sixty acres, and a conservative estimate of the value of his various holdings would approx- imate forty-five thousand dollars. In 1886 he left the farm and took up his residence in the village of Alcester, where he engaged in the buy- ing and shipping of live stock and grain, while for four years he also conducted a general store in the village. Mr. Hoard is a stanch advocate of the principles and policies of the Republican party, but has never sought the honors or emolu- ments of public office. He and his wife are val- ued members of the Congregational church in their home town.

On the Ioth day of March, 1879, was solemnized the marriage of John G. Hoard to Miss Adaline Disbrow, who was born in Rosen- dale, Fond du Lac county, Wisconsin, on the 19th of January, 1862, being a daughter of M. L. and Hannah (Scofield) Disbrow, who were numbered among the pioneers of Union county, South Dakota. Mr. and Mrs. Hoard have six children, all of whom remain at the parental home except the eldest, Marjory E., who is now the wife of T. T. Sullivan, of Chicago, Illinois. The others are John S., Edna L., Ethel A .. Gladys A. and Ralph D.

JOHN L. HARRIS, M. D., well-known phy- sician and surgeon, of Webster, Day county, South Dakota, was born at Battle Creek, Cal- houn county, Michigan, on January 3, 1849, the son of James M. and Eliza (Cosad) Harris, both natives of New York state. Both familics were founded in America in colonial times, and one of the Doctor's ancestors served as a soldier in the Continental army. Three of his uncles served in the war of 1812. The father of the subject first removed from New York to Michigan in 1841. and was a pioneer of Calhoun county. He came to South Dakota in 1880, but in 1898 returned east to Chicago, in which city he died in 1903.

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in his eightieth year. The mother died in 1849. Doctor Harris passed through the common schools of Battle Creek, and then attended Olivet College, at Olivet, Michigan. He began reading medicine in 1870, and subsequently he took a course of lectures at Chicago. In 1873 he began the practice at Eastport, Michigan. In 1874 he entered Hahnemann Homeopathic Medi- cal College, Chicago, where he was graduated in the class of 1875. The Doctor then resumed his practice at Eastport, but after a year's time he located at Ovid, Michigan, where he practiced until 1877, and then removed to Roanoke, Indi- ana. In the spring of 1880 he came to South Dakota (then a territory) and began practicing in Brown's Valley, Minnesota, but having his residence in Roberts county, South Dakota. In June, 1881, the Doctor located at Webster, where he was the pioneer physician. Dr. Harris be- came a member of the state board of health in 1886, and was chosen secretary of the board in 1887, and president in 1888. In the fall of 1890 Dr. Harris took his family to Chicago and spent the winter in that city, during which time he attended the College of Physicians and Sur- geons, receiving his degree from the same. The Doctor is a graduate of both schools of medi- cine, but has not practiced homeopathy since 1877.

In March, 1875. Dr. Harris married Miss Sarah J. Buckley, who was born in New Bruns- wick. Canada, and to their union a son and daughter have been born as follows: Lyle, who married Rev. Donald McLean, and Rex W., a law student in the University of Minnesota.

FRED J. CROSS is a native of the state of New York, born at Cape Vincent, Jefferson county, on August 30, 1835. His father was a merchant at Cape Vincent, and during his childhood the family moved to the wilds of Ohio, locating about thirty-five miles south of Cleveland. The whole surrounding country was then a dense forest, and life in its midst entailed all the privations, hardships and dan- gers of the frontier. It was in the scenes and

experiences of such a life that the son grew to manhood and received the only schooling avail- able under the primitive conditions of the time and locality. In 1853, at the age of eighteen, he left the paternal rooftree and moved west . ward to Stephenson county, Illinois, where he learned his trade as a tinner and worked at it until 1868. Then with two other men he came to the territory of Dakota, making the journey with ox-teams. They settled in Clay county, and taking up land engaged in farming. There were but few settlers in that part of the country then, and the experiences of his childhood and youth in Ohio were repeated in this western world in his young manhood. The towns of Yankton and Vermillion were merely outfitting points, and without any of the advantages of advanced civilization. He continued farming in Clay county until 1872, then went to Sioux Falls and opened a hardware store in partnership with N. E. Phillips, which he conducted successfully until 1874. His health then failing, he was obliged to sell his business and for a time measurably relinquished all active pursuits. In 1868 he was elected to the territorial legislature, but as there was no session owing to a mis- interpretation of the law, he was re-elected in 1870. In the ensuing session the first memorial to congress to divide the territory into North and South Dakota was framed and signed by the members. In 1874 he was elected emigra- tion commissioner and superintendent of the ter- ritory, and in 1876 he was again chosen to this important office. He served until the following spring, when he came to Custer as register of deeds for the county by appointment of the gov- ernor. Soon after his arrival in April the county seat was changed to Hayward and he removed to that town. He accepted the office of register because it was impossible at the time to get another suitable man who had been a resident of the state a year. When he wished to resign the county refused to let him, but he forced it to before the county seat was changed back to Custer. While making Hayward his home he came into the neighborhood of Keystone and located mining property on which he is now

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living. In those days Harney was a thriving mining camp and drew all comers to its promis- ing fields. Mlr. Cross was among the first pros- pectors to come into the Keystone region and take up claims, and is therefore the pioneer of this section. In 1878 he settled on his claim and here he has since made his home. In 1880 he was elected to the legislature from Penning- ton county on the Republican ticket, and in the session which followed he was prominent and useful in securing the passage of serviceable legislation, especially in reference to the stock industry. He was elected county commissioner in 1886 and served one term. In 1897 he was again elected to this office and he has held it continuously since that time. He is a firm and faithful Republican in politics, and to the aid of his party he has on all occasions brought wise counsel and efficient service. He owns many valuable mining properties and others of con- siderable worth here and elsewhere, and no citizen of the state has a higher or more firmly fixed place in the public regard and good will.

LOUIS EVERLY, of Keystone, is a native of Indiana, born in Vermilion county on May I, 1845. His father was a farmer and in 1852 the family moved to Cass county, Iowa, which was a new and almost wholly undeveloped country, and they found themselves in the midst of the hard conditions incident to the most ultra pioneer life. The son grew to the age of seven- teen there, and in 1862 moved with his parents to Boulder, Colorado, where the father ac- quired mines in which he and Louis worked. In the spring of 1876 the young man came to the Black Hills, from Franklin county, Nebraska, ar- riving at Custer in April. From there as cap- tain he led a company of seventy-two men to Bear gulch, traveling by way of Cold Springs. On the trip two of the men strolled away from the train and were killed by Indians. Mr. Ev- erly remained in Bear gulch about six weeks prospecting, then went to what is now Dead- wood, although at that time there was no such place. Going into the gulch he located what is

known as the Everly Addition to the town of Elizabeth, all being now a part of Deadwood. He plotted his land and sold it in town lots in the fall of 1876, and soon afterward returned to Nebraska for his family and in the spring of 1877 brought them to this state and settled them at Harney, where he occupied himself in pros- pecting and mining. He has sold many claims there for both gold and tin mines, and has also worked some from which he has taken thousands of dollars; and he still owns a number which show great promise. He is still living on the land on which he settled in June, 1877, which in the intervening years he has greatly improved and brought to a high state of cultivation, irri- gating it at considerable expense and devoting a large part of it to the production of small fruits, of which he produces the largest volume and finest varieties in the Hills. One of the oldest prospectors left in this section, he is also one of the few who have in their declining years the means to make the residue of life easy, and what he has is the result of his own industry and thrift. In politics he has always been an unwav- cring and active Democrat, and in public and local affairs has never failed to do his part cheer- fully toward the promotion of the best interests of the community.

On August 22, 1864, Mr. Everly was mar- ried at Boulder, Colorado, to Miss Jennie Dow- nen, a native of Illinois. They have had five chil- dren, Edna, Milton, Joseph D. (who was killed in the Holy Terror mine on November 6, 1899, at the age of twenty-six years), Catherine and Effie.

THOMAS C. BLAIR, of Keystone, is a na- tive of Nova Scotia, born on June 5, 1854, and the son of Duncan B. and Mary (McLean) Blair, who were born and reared in Scotland. The father was a Presbyterian clergyman at Pic- tou, Nova Scotia, and there the son grew to manhood and received his education. When he was sixteen years of age he went into a mercan- tile house as a salesman and bookkeeper, con- tinuing so employed until the spring of 1879, when he started for the Black Hills. After a'

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long drawn-out and tedious journey he reached Deadwood in July of that year and soon after- ward removed to Terry, where he worked in the mines until the spring of 1880. He then located at Rockerville and engaged in placer mining for a year, after which he took up his residence at Keystone as it is now, and helped to construct the Harney hydraulic flume, which was then building. Since then he has been continuously occupied in prospecting and mining in this sec- tion, and has discovered several famous mines. He was one of the locators of the old Keystone mine, his partners in this being William B. Franklin and Jacob S. Reed. They located the mine in 1890 and sold it to the Keystone Mining Company in 1892. That same year the town of Keystone was started, Mr. Blair being one of its founders, owning a considerable portion of the land on which it is built. He is also one of the original locators of the Holy Terror mine, William Franklin, J. A. Fayel and A. L. Aus- bury being associated with him in this. They lo- cated this property in 1894 and before the end of the year they built a five-stamp mill on it, which they operated until May, 1895, when they sold the whole property to eastern capitalists who formed and incorporated the Holy Terror Mining Company, which has since then absorbed all the Keystone properties. From that time to the present Mr. Blair has been prospecting most of the time and has located several good claims. He is a zealous Freemason, being one of the founders and a charter member of the lodge at Keystone.

On January 30, 1884, at Rapid City, Mr. Blair was united in marriage with Miss Anna L. Reed, a native of Pennsylvania, who died on May 17, 1896, leaving four children, Etta B., Alice, Grace and Mary S.

CARL BRAATZ was born in Prussia March 23. 1851, and is the third of a family of seven children born to Carl and Minnie (Cols) Braatz. These parents were also natives of Prussia and never left the fatherland, both having died near the place where they were born and reared. The

following are the names of their children, in or- der of birth: William, a farmer of Winona county, Minnesota ; Amelia, deceased; Carl, the subject of this sketch; August, a resident of Min- nesota ; Robert, Fred and Bertha, who remain in Germany.

Carl Braatz was reared in his native land and grew to maturity on his father's farm, receiving a good education in the public schools. He early became inured to honest toil and while still a mere youth could perform a man's duty at al- most any kind of manual labor, in consequence of which he was able to care for himself when thrown upon his own resources. Thinking to better his condition in America, whither so many of his countrymen had preceded him, Mr. Braatz, in 1867, came to the United States and spent the ensuing three years in Winona county, Min- nesota, where he turned his hands to various em- ployments, devoting especial attention to agri- cultural pursuits. At the expiration of that time he engaged in steamboating, in which capacity he plied various rivers in the west and south, and to this line of work and to railroading he devoted the greater part of six years. Severing his connection with his employers in 1878, he went to Hutchinson, South Dakota, where he took up a quarter section of land which he at once proceeded to improve and on which he lived for a period of sixteen years. Disposing of his original homestead in 1894, he purchased his present place and at this time he owns a fine farm, the greater part of which has been im- proved by his own labor and from which he real- izes every year a liberal income. Like all pro- gressive tillers of the soil in this state, he gives considerable attention to live stock, raising fine cattle, horses and hogs, and from this source no little of his prosperity has been derived. Mr. Braatz is in independent circumstances and has succeeded in accumulating a sufficiency of this world's goods to render useless every anxiety for the future. He has held various local offices, though by no means an aspirant for public hon- ors, and in politics votes the Democratic ticket.

The domestic life of Mr. Braatz dates from September 13, 1879, at which time he contracted

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a matrimonial alliance with Miss Sarah M. Stonebrake, who was born January 19, 1860. The result of this union has been the birth of the following children: Millie, born May 24, 1880; George, July 30, 1881 ; Ferd, October 11, 1882: Hattie, February 9, 1884; Seymour, July 15, 1885 : Eliza, December 22, 1887; Isaac, July 25, 1890; Bertha, January 9, 1897; John, June 14. 1900.

HENRY C. ASH, of Meade county, is a na- tive of Allegany county, Maryland, and was born on Christmas day, 1827. He remained 1111- der the paternal rooftree in his native state until he reached the age of eleven, then moved with his parents to Tippecanoe county, Indiana, where the family engaged in farming in which he assisted, attending a little country school near the homestead in the winter months, thus sup- plementing in a small way the slender educa- tional facilities he had enjoyed in his former home. In a short time he entered actively on farm work in connection with his father, re- maining so occupied until the death of the latter, when the son was but sixteen years old. Mr. Ash and his brother conducted the farm for a number of years under the supervision of their step-mother, then divided their interests and he went to White county and began farming on his own account, uniting stock raising to his other work. He developed a fine farm and built him- self a comfortable residence, making his prop- erty one of the most desirable rural homes of the section in which it was located. In 1856, believing there were better opportunities for thrift and enterprise in the farther west, he sold his Indiana home and came to Sioux City, arriving at that place on May 26th. The town then consisted of a few tents and shacks and contained only one house with a shingle roof. On July 4th he opened the first hotel ever con- (lucted in the town and continued to conduct it 1intil the fall of 1859. the building being built of logs. At the time last mentioned he moved his family to Dakota, arriving at Yankton on Christmas eve. There he built the fourth house

in the town, a log structure with a dirt roof and no floor but the earth, and here he again engaged in the hotel business, this being the second fron- tier town in which he ministered to the wants of the traveling public, and this enterprise being practically the first hotel within the present limits of the state. He continued in active control of it until 1876, when he sold it and went to the Black Hills, whither he had been ordered as United States deputy marshal, an office he had held continuously since 1862. His outfit was the first to cross the Missouri on the way to the Hills, and the party was obliged to make its own trail through the wilderness from the Mis- souri to Deadwood. They arrived at what is now Rapid City on March 25th and then pushed on to Deadwood. Mr. Ash made a number of trips back and forth over this route in his official capacity, taking away the first prisoner ever taken out of Custer county, a man whom he had arrested for selling whiskey without a license. In 1877 he moved his family to Deadwood, and while on the passage tip the Missouri the boat on which they were traveling caught fire and they lost all their possessions aboard of her. The climate at their new home not agreeing with Mrs. Ash, she returned to Yankton, but he re- mained in the territory and in August settled at Sturgis. The town was staked out on August 7th, and the next day he located on his present site, having taken up one hundred and sixty acres of land. Of this he still owns forty acres, but has sold the rest in town lots, the depot and St. Martin's Academy having been built on land which was originally in his farm. He huilt a log house on his tract and in the fall of 1878 his family joined him there. He engaged in the real-estate business and found it profitable. Sturgis was a thriving town in those days and there was ready sale for land in the vicinity. He resigned as deputy marshal in the fall of 1878 and the next fall was elected justice of the peace, an office to which he was continuously re-elected for a period of seven years. While living at Yankton Mr. Ash repre- sented Yankton county in the territorial legis- lature, serving two terms in that capacity. In

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1894 his residence was destroyed by fire and he at once began the erection of a fine stone dwelling. The facilities for building were not first class and a long time was consumed in building this house, but when it was completed it rewarded his patience and efforts, being the best residence in the town and beautifully lo- cated on the brow of a small hill about half a mile from the center of the place commanding a view of a wide extent of the surrounding country. It is in colonial style with a wide veranda around it, and is in the midst of a fruit- ful orchard and garden. The house is elegantly finished and furnished throughout, and the place is one of the finest homes in the west. Mr. Ash belongs to the Masonic order, with membership in the lodge at Sturgis. In 1863. as a charter member, he helped to organize St. John's Lodge, No. I, at Yankton, the first Masonic body in the state, and he is one of its two surviving charter members.

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History of South Dakota, Vol. II, Part 129

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