History of South Dakota, Vol. II, Part 133

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

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light and fuel should it be deemed expedient to thus utilize the same. The buildings on the ranch are substantial and well-arranged struct- ures, including an attractive modern residence. Twenty miles east of this place the firm have the Stone Lake ranch of about thirty-five hundred acres, with an inexhaustible supply of water available at a depth of thirteen feet, and on their ranches is raised an ample supply of fodder to provide properly for the care of stock during the winter seasons. Mr. Fairbanks is a man of pro- gressive ideas and through his well-directed ef- forts has gained a position as one of the repre- sentative and prosperous stockmen of the statc. In politics he exercises his franchise in the support of the principles of the Republican party, and fraternally holds membership in the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows.

On the gth of August, 1892, was solenmized the marriage of Mr. Fairbanks to Miss Gertrude Olsen, who was born in Clay county, this state, being a daughter of C. Olsen, a successful farmer and stock raiser of Vermillion, Clay county. Mr. and Mrs. Fairbanks have five children, Hattie, Mabel, Ruth, and Frank and Francis, who are twins.

ALEXANDER LEANDREAUX, one of the successful stock growers of Edmunds county, comes of French lineage and is a native of the province of Quebec, Canada, his birth- place having been sixty miles east of the city of Montreal, where the family was early established. He was born in November, 1835. and will have thus passed the psalmist's span of three score years and ten by the time this history is issued from the press. but he is an excellent type of the sturdy pioneer and in appearance and actions gives slight indica- tions of the years which rest so gently on his head. His parents passed the closing years of their lives in the state of Massachusetts. In 1852, when about seventeen years of age, Mr. Lean- dreaux left his native province and made his way to the Lake Superior region, where he was en- gaged in teaming for the ensuing three years.

In the autumn of 1855 he went to the city of New York and there embarked for California, making the trip by way of the isthmus of Pan- ama and arriving in due course of time in San Francisco. Ile went to the gold fields and de- voted his attention to placer mining there for three years, being successful during the major portion of the time, as it evident when we revert to the fact that he cleared sixteen thousand dol- lars in thirty days. In 1858 he joined the stani- pede to the newly discovered gold fields of the Frazer river, where, within one year, lie lost nearly all he had previously accumulated. He then proceeded to Colville, Washington, at the head of the Columbia river, where he remaine 1 two years, being fairly successful in his oper- ations. He then went to Florence City, Idaho, three hundred miles distant, remaining six months and finding his success notable for its ab- sence. He then returned to Colville and started in the business of transporting supplies by means of pack trains of mules, continuing this enterprise four years and making the same profitable. Thereafter he was for three years in Virginia City, Montana, where gold was first discovered in that state, and he then joined in the unsuccess- ful stampede to the Blackfoot district, and thence, the same fall, went to the Deer Lodge valley and made his way down the Missouri river on a steamer called the "Zephyr," to Fort Rice. In the following spring he, with others, was ordered to leave, by reason of the treaty stipula- tions made with the Indians, the major in com- mand of the post having about this time taken measures to also expel Father Smith, one of the missionary priests of the Catholic church. He fired his gun at the good father, and one of the Indians stepped forth and reproved the major. telling him he was a fool and trying to kill God Almighty. Mr. Leandreaux went next to Fort Sully, where he worked about five months for the post traders, Duff & Peck, assisting in the erec- tion of their store. He then secured permis- sion and established a wood yard on the river, and continued to operate the same until the railroad reached Pierre, having made the business a profitable one. He then engaged in the live-

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stock business, going to Minnesota for stock and | pasturing the same on the range about Fort Pierre. He next located on the Cheyenne river, where he continued in the same line of enterprise for three years, utilizing the Bad river range for the ensuing two years, and then moving his stock to the Moreau river valley, where he has since remained, running about five hundred head of cattle, principally of the Hereford breed, while he also has an average of one hundred horses, both draft and light driving. He is the owner of a fine modern residence in Evarts, and the family occupy the same during a portion of each year. Mr. Leandreaux has been twice married, his first wife having been a Sioux woman, and after her death he married a half-breed French and Sioux woman. He has one son and eight daugh- ters.

JAMES SIMPSON .- No history of the South Dakota School for Deaf Mutes can be con- plete without a sketch of the life of the one man who. through thick and thin, worked early and late to build up the institution. This man was the late James Simpson, virtually the founder and for twenty-three years the superintendent. He took up the work in the summer of 1880, one year after any attempt was made to educate the deaf of the then territory of Dakota, and he did not relinquish the work until the end of the twenty-fourth year of the school's existence, in June, 1903. His was a most remarkable career. the more so when one considers that Mr. Simp- son was himself deaf, like the young people of the state of South Dakota who came to his school in quest of an education. Being possessed of a broad and thorough education himself and realiz- ing the many difficulties that the deaf have to surmount in the attainment of an education, Mr. Simpson was early drawn to the cause of teach- ing the deaf and he expended his whole life in the work.

James Simpson was born in Milford county, Michigan, January 21, 1855, of sturdy Scotch stock. He was the youngest of a family of six children, two girls and four boys. Besides him-

self there were in the family two brothers who were deaf more or less. William, the second boy, was partially so, and Delos, the next young- est, was almost totally deaf. The deafness of James came on gradually and the exact cause is a mystery, though one of the physicians of the day attributed it to a throat trouble. The fact that he was losing his hearing was only fully ap- parent when he was about ten years old. His mother was a painstaking woman and encour- aged him to use his vocal powers all the time, with the result that he was always able to speak. Being unable to hear, he came into the habit of watching the motions of the lips and in this way understood nearly all that was said to him. This accomplishment remained with him through life, and few persons, meeting and conversing with him for the first time, were aware that they were speaking to a man who could not hear a word of what was said to him. In nearly all matters of business intercourse Mr. Simpson re- lied on spoken words in carrying on conversa- tions, thus facilitating matters and avoiding the tedious method of written conversation neces- sarily employed by those who are unable to use speech in their intercourse with the hearing people.

At the age of fourteen years, when both of his parents were dead, the subject of this sketch entered the Michigan School for the Deaf, at Flint. His brother William was acting as guar- dian to him and his other deaf brother, Delos. The last named, being older than James, had been attending the school at Flint for several years previous and was soon to graduate and enter the National College for the Deaf at Washington, D. C., the only institution of its kind in the world. At the Flint school James Simpson entered upon his studies with zest. He was naturally bright and absorbed learning read- ily. One of his ambitions was to graduate and enter the national college or one of the larger schools for the deaf in the east, to round out his education. For four years he studied hard un- der the tutorship of Prof. Thomas L. Brown, and made such rapid progress that he was soon in the highest class, having passed many a student who

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had been in the school any number of years. At the end of these four years young Simpson re- moved to New York state, making his home with an unele or cousin. In the fall of the same year he entered the Fanwood School for the Deaf, in New York city. Here he again showed his pro- pensity to outstrip the older students in the race for the head of the class. He entered the highest or academie class within three months after his entrance into the institution, and in so doing passed three or four classes of some twenty-five students each. The academic class consisted of about thirty students and was under the tutor- ship of Prof. Oliver D. Cooke. of whom there has seldom been an equal as a teacher of the deaf, and never as a disciplinarian. Prof. Cooke. previous to his appointment to the Fanwood school, was a teacher in the school for the deaf at Hartford, Connecticut, the original school of the kind in America, founded by Dr. Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet, whose son, Dr. Edward M. Gallaudet, is president of the National College for the Deaf. Mr. Simpson spent three years in the Fanwood school and graduated with the high- est honors. He devoted himself so assiduously to his studies that in a total of seven years he had completed a course which it takes most young men from ten to fourteen years to finish. He was the valedictorian of his class, and de- livered a masterly address at the graduating ex- ercises, and received, with his sheepskin, honor- ary mention from the faculty for his particularly fine record throughout the three years he had spent at Fanwood.

Immediately upon graduation young Simp- son went to Attica, New York, and took up the jeweler's trade. He spent about a year at this business, then went back to Michigan, where he secured employment on the farm of one of his cousins. He was young and his future in life had not then shaped itself definitely. He was determined, however, to make his mark in the battle of life and as he followed the plow he kept his mind active planning for the future. His chance, which was also the turning point in his life, came in a most unexpected manner. His brother Delos had graduated from the national

college some time previous and his standing as a student had reached the ear of Moses Folsom, then superintendent of the lowa School for the Deaf, at Council Bluffs. Mr. Folsom was look- ing for a number of bright and capable young men to become a part of his faculty. He wrote to Delos Simpson and offered him a position in the corps but the offer for some reason did not appeal to him. It occurred to him, however, that his brother James might be willing to accept the position were it agreeable to Superintendent Fol- som to make the substitution. Accordingly he laid the proposition before James, who signified his willingness to accept, and a letter of explana- tion was dispatched to Superintendent Folsom. Word came back that it would be satisfactory to the school authorities to have James become a member of the teaching corps.

It was with vigor and enthusiasm that he entered upon the work of teaching the deaf. His methods were eminently those employed by Prof. O. D. Cooke at the Fanwood school and by Prof. T. L. Brown at the Michigan school. It was a coincidence that Mr. Simpson had had in Prof. Brown an instructor who had been a pupil of Prof. Cooke's at Hartford. To this fact un- doubtedly was due the peculiar success attained by Mr. Simpson in his educational work, coupled with his natural aptitude for the work. His ev- ery procedure was logical and his explanation of subjects clear. He realized that to attain the best results the student should understand fully the subject in hand. Thorough and intelligent work on the part of the pupil was made the watch- word-and results fully attested to the wisdom of such a course. At the Iowa school he was a leader among the faculty, ever hokling out for modern and logical methods, tempered with con- servatism. He remained in this position for three years, during which time he was married to Miss A. Laura Wright, a student of the Iowa school and sister of the matron.

In the summer of 1880 Mr. Simpson, finding himself in poor health, sought rest and recreation at the home of his brother-in-law. Atttorney E. G. Wright, at Sioux Falls, South Dakota. An- other sister of Mrs. Simpson had been in Sioux

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Falls the previous twelve months, teaching a class of seven deaf children. She had found the work rather trying and was not sure that she would want to continue it indefinitely. When Mr. Simpson came among the people of Sioux Falls the suggestion was made that he was the proper person to take up and carry on the work. He immediately put the suggestion into effect. Citizens of Sioux Falls came to his aid promptly. for they realized that such an institution in their midst was bound to grow and prove a worthy institution. Money was raised for the erection of a suitable building and to provide for the main- tenance of the school until such time as the ter- ritory should come to its aid with territorial funds. A tract of ten acres of land was donated by a few public-spirited citizens and a large building erected thereon. The school was opened under most auspicious circumstances on October 21, 1880, with James Simpson at the head. The attendance was eight pupils on the opening day. The ninth pupil came one month later, and by the beginning of the year 1881 there were ten pupils. Since its establishment this school had had at least two hundred and fifty pupils at one time or another within its walls.

Superintendent Simpson acted as instructor, assisted by his wife. The first two or three years were trying ones, but Mr. Simpson had a stout heart and knew he was engaged in a worthy work that would bring him his reward. He overcame numerous obstacles and the school prospered. The attendance grew rapidly and new buildings had to be provided. After the lapse of twenty years there were six fine stone structures, grouped in such manner that a fire threatening one would not affect the others. Thirty acres of land additional was purchased, deciduous and evergreen trees were set out and the grounds were beautified with driveways and lawns. From the nucleus of eight pupils on the opening day there were nearly fifty in 1889. when the territory of Dakota was divided into the states of North and South Dakota. A new school was soon established in the northern commonwealth and between fifteen and twenty pupils at Sioux Falls were transferred. A few

years later the attendance at the South Dakota school was again at the former number, three or four teachers were regularly employed, and one of South Dakota's most worthy institutions was doing a noble and necessary work. Her graduates are scattered to the four winds, and they are self-supporting and valuable citizens. Most of them, in addition to obtaining an intel- lectual education, learned some branch of the trades, by which they are able to hold their own with hearing people.

Mr. Simpson was a careful manager and watched every detail of the institution closely. His expenditures were always within the annual allowances made by the state. The health of the children in his charge was so carefully looked after that seldom was there a case of serious sick- ness. The moral and spiritual welfare of the children also came for most careful attention. In his personality Mr. Simpson possessed a most attractive quality and he made friends easily. To know this man and to enjoy his confidence were an honor. He was devoted to his family, of whom he had three boys, all of whom survive him, and one girl, who passed away in infancy. His wife also survives him. He was a good busi- ness man and made judicious investments of his earnings, thus leaving his family in good circum- stances at his death. His property holdings consisted of a large farm in Iowa and two in South Dakota, besides numerous head of live stock and other property.

The pernicious practice of permitting poli- tics to enter into the affairs of state institutions is responsible for Mr. Simpson finally relinquish- ing the superintendency of the school he had so long guided. In the spring of 1903 the board of charities and corrections, pleading a desire to make a record in economical management of the institutions under their charge, reduced his salary nearly one-half. Under the circumstances Mr. Simpson could not accept the reduction and still retain his self-respect, so he promptly handed in his resignation. This step had been anticipated by the board, and they were not slow in accept- ing the resignation, seeing that it was their chance of driving in the wedge that was to open

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the way to using the school for deaf mutes for political purposes. For twenty-three years no preceding board had dared go contrary to public sentiment by removing the efficient head of the the school. This action of the board in the spring of 1903 was condemned by every citizen of the state who wanted to see efficiency placed above politics.

At the time he handed in his resignation Mr. Simpson's health was poor and the action of the board only hastened a step he had considered for some time previous. He immediately sought re- cuperation of his health in the Black Hills, but there was no appreciable improvement. He re- turned to Sioux Falls to settle down in a home of his own, hoping that complete rest would restore him to health. But on the way he was stricken down and in a very short time breathed his last at the home of his brother-in-law, J. T. Gilbert, in Sioux Falls, surrounded by his entire family. His death occurred on November 16, 1903, and on the 19th his mortal remains were consigned to their last resting place in Mount Pleasant cemetery. The services at the house were private, but at the grave the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks had charge of the exercises, the deceased having been an honored member of the order. The services, both at the hot se and at the grave, were largely attended and the floral tributes were many.

In the demise of James Simpson the state of South Dakota lost a valuable citizen and the deaf a warm friend. There can be no nobler mont- ment to his memory than the South Dakota school for the deaf.

PHIL L. AXLING.

NEWTON S. TUBBS, of Custer City, is a native of Oneida county, New York, and dates his birth from November 22, 1853, having first seen the light of day in the town of Weston, near which the parental homestead is situated. His youthful years were spent on his father's farm, where he early learned the lessons of industry, thrift and self-reliance, which have so materially influenced his subsequent life, and in the public

schools he received a modest educational train- ing. When a mere lad he began working for himself and so assiduously did he apply himself that at the age of sixteen he found himself the possessor of several hundred dollars, which he ju- diciously invested in land, thus early in life be- coming a tiller of the soil upon his own responsi- bility. A hard worker and good manager, he took advantage of every opportunity to improve his condition, and it was not long until he was regarded one of the most energetic and success- ful agriculturists of the community in which he resided. He continued to cultivate his farm and prosper until 1879, when he disposed of his in- terests in York state and started west, arriving at Cheyenne, Wyoming, on March 24th of that year. Shortly after reaching his destination Mr. Tubbs engaged in dairying near Cheyenne, in connection with which he also bought cattle, meeting with encouraging success in both lines of business. Later he discontinued his operations in Wyoming and in the fall of 1879 drove through with an ox-team to the Black Hills and took up land adjoining Custer City which place, at that time, was an insignificant hamlet, consist- ing of a few log shacks and occupied by a tran- sient population, attracted thither by the pros- pect of gold. Having faith in the future growth and ultimate prosperity of the town, Mr. Tubbs decided to make it his permanent place of abode : accordingly he began improving his land, and in a short time started a dairy, which he operated for several years with profitable results, also es- tablished a cheese factory, which in like manner proved the source of a handsome income. While prosecuting these enterprises he turned his at- tention to stock raising, beginning on a small scale, but gradually enlarging the business until within a comparatively short time he had it es- tablished upon a firm basis with every prospect of continued success. In the fall of 1882 he went to Cheyenne and bought one thousand head of sheep, which he drove through to the Hills and herded on a large tract of fine grazing land near Red Canon, about ten miles from the Cheyenne river. This was the first attempt at sheep rais- ing in the Black Hills country and to Mr. Tubbs

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belongs the honor of being the father of the in- dustry in southwestern Dakota. From that time to the present his business has steadily grown in magnitude and importance until he is now the largest and most successful sheep raiser in the state, owning extensive tracts of land in various parts of the country and running from sixteen to twenty-five thousand head every year.

In addition to his large live-stock interests Mr. Tubbs is identified with various other en- terprises, notable among which is the Edge- mont Irrigation and Improvement Company, an undertaking inaugurated in 1895 to carry water from the Cheyenne river to a large area of sur- rounding country for the purpose of reclaiming and reducing to cultivation lands which up to that time were little better than dry, sterile wastes. This laudable object, however, failed of accom- plishment by reason of the financial embarrass- ment of the company, after which Mr. Tubbs secured the entire canal and lands to the amount of ten thousand acres, taking possession of the property in January, 1903. He is now rapidly pushing the enterprise to completion and when finished it will doubtless make him one of the wealthiest men in the west, as the canal is the largest artificial waterway in the state, and the land when properly irrigated will be among the richest and most productive in Dakota.

Mr. Tubbs has manifested commendable zeal in all of his undertakings and possesses the abil- ity, judgment and fertility of resource essential to the prosecution of large and important enter- prises. He is not only a broad-minded, public- spirited man of affairs but tactful, shrewd and a natural leader who in business knows no such word as fail and who labors for the public good while advancing his own interests. His home, adjoining the corporate limits of Custer City, is perhaps the finest and most costly private res- idence in this part of the state, and he has been exceedingly liberal in surrounding himself and those dependent upon him with the conveniences and comforts of life and all the luxuries which large wealth and refined taste suggest. He was married in Custer City, August 3, 1883, to Miss Jennie Page, of Illinois, the union being ter-

minated by the death of the loving and faithful companion, after a happy wedded experience of nearly nine years' duration. Mrs. Tubbs de- parted this life on the 22d day of March, 1902, leaving besides a husband three children to mourn her untimely loss, namely : George, Page and Alice. Mr. Tubbs holds membership with several secret fraternal organizations, belonging to the Masonic lodge at Custer City, also to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Modern Woodmen of America, Knights of the Macca- bees and Ancient Order of United Workmen, at the same place, being an active worker in the different orders.

ALLEN D. DOUGAN, one of the prom- inent and successful citizens of Aurora county. is a native of Dodge county, Wisconsin, where he was born on the 14th of December, 1856, be- ing a son of John and Eliza ( Nickerson) Dou- gan, who now reside in Mason City, Iowa, the former being seventy-three years of age at the time of this writing. The paternal grandparents of the subject were born in Ireland, whence they emigrated to America in an early day and located finally in Warren county, New York, where their son John was born and reared. In 1845 they re- moved to Wisconsin and located on a farm in Dodge county. At the age of twenty-one he left home and learned the carpenter's trade and was foreman and had charge of the woodwork in John S. Rowell's manufacturing establishment at Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, for ten years. In the fall of 1869, he, with his family, removed to Mason City, Iowa, where he formed a co-partner- ship with E. R. Loyd for the sale of farm ma- chinery. Their efforts were very successful. For the past twenty-five years he has not engaged in any active business, only giving attention to his landed interests. He has been an ardent Re- publican from the time of the organization of the party. Fraternally he is a member of the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows, and it is largely through his efforts that the organization has completed a fine business structure and lodge rooms, also having succeeded in securing the

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History of South Dakota, Vol. II, Part 133

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