History of South Dakota, Vol. II, Part 20

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 20

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world," and living a life of honor and usefulness. His widow still resides near Jefferson, being sev- enty-seven years of age at the time of this writ- ing. in 1904. The subject received his educa- tional training in the public schools of Iowa, and continued to be associated with his father in the conduct of his business affairs until he had at- tained his legal majority, when he initiated his independent career. In March, 1883. he came to what is now the state of South Dakota and filed entry on the northwest quarter of section 10, township 120, range 68, in Faulk county, which original homestead is an integral portion of his present landed estate. He surveyed his own land, as only a small portion of the land had been surveyed by the government at the time, and his residence is lo- cated on this original claim. He is now the owner of twelve hundred and cighty acres of most fertile and productive land, improved with substantial and attractive buildings, the property being un- incumbered of debt, while he is also the owner of a nice residence in the city of Aberdeen, his inten- tion being to utilize the same as a family home during the period when his children are to avail themselves of the educational advantages there afforded. He devotes his attention to diversified agriculture and the raising of a high grade of live stock, and is the owner of two modern steam threshing machines, which he keeps in active operation each autumn. In politics he is an un- compromising Republican, and he has served two terms as county commissioner, being chairman of the board for a portion of each term. He is iden- tified with Camp No. 2602, Modern Woodmen of America, at Ipswich, in which he carries an insur- ance of three thousand dollars.

On the 8th of June, 1888. Mr. Price was united in marriage to Miss Lotta M. Scott, who was born in Manchester, Iowa, on the 14th of August, 1867, being a daughter of Thomas B. and Emma (Pratt) Scott. Mr. and Mrs. Price have five children, whose names and respective dates of birth are here entered: Joseph. August 20. 1889: Florence. August 30. 1891 : Howard. October 13. 1893; Marie, October 8. 1895. and Forrest, August 7, 1898.

WILLIAM T. DALE. a prominent and well- known citizen of Mellette. Spink county, was born in Daleville, Luzerne county, Pennsylvania, on the 6th of January. 1840, and is a son of Mark Dale, who was a native of England, whence he came when young to America. in company with his parents, who located in Pennsylvania, and en- gaged in farming. The father of the subject also continued to follow the great basic industry of farming during his active life and his death oc- curred in Pennsylvania. He was a man of ex- alted integrity of character and a prominent member of the Methodist Episcopal church, in which he was a licensed exhorter. He was twice married and the subject of this review was the eldest child of the first union. William T. Dale was reared on the farm and his early educational advantages were such as were afforded in the common schools of his native county. At the age of thirteen years he set out to see somewhat of the world, coming west to Illinois, where he remained three years, after which he returned to his home in the old Keystone state, where he worked for his father for a year, and then went to Salem, that state, being employed there until the fall of 1860. He then went to the pineries of Clearfield county, Pennsylvania, and worked at lumbering until spring, then going down the river on a lumber raft to Marietta, that state. On the 21st of May, 1861, he tendered his services in defense of the Union, practically being in the Federal army throughout the entire period of the great Civil war. He enlisted in Company K. Fifteenth Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, for a term of three months. D. H. Hastings being cap- tain of his company. Mr. Dale took part in the battle of Falling Waters and was with General Patterson when he crossed the Potomac. He re- ceived his honorable discharge on the 7th of Au- gust. 1861, and on the 17th of the following September re-enlisted, at this time becoming a member of Company L, Ninth Pennsylvania Vol- unteer Cavalry, in which he was made commis- sary sergeant of his company, which was in com- mand of Captain George Smith. His regiment was assigned to the Army of the Cumberland. and in the connection he was a participant in the

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battles of Perryville, Thompson Station, Brent- wood, second battle of Franklin, Triune, Shelby- ville, Lafayette (Georgia), the three days' fight at Chickamauga ; the engagement at Mossy Creek, the two battles at Fairgarden, and the conflict at Cripple Creek, after which he was with Sherman in the Atlanta campaign and on the memorable march to the sea, taking part in the engagements at Black river and Goldsboro. He received his second discharge on the 31st of December, 1863, but promptly veteranized and re-enlisted in the same company and regiment. April 14th the regiment started home. Mr. Dale received a veteran's furlough on April 26th at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and arrived in Dan- ville on the 28th. On May 22d following he was married to Susan Snover, to whom he had been engaged at the time of his enlistment in 1861. On May 26th he rejoined his regiment. with which he continued in active service until the close of the war, receiving his final discharge on the 18th of July, 1865. He then returned to Pennsylvania, and in the same year removed with his wife to Iowa, locating in Independence, where he continued to reside for the ensuing fif- teen years, being there engaged in the manufac- turing of wagons, making and losing ten thou- sand dollars.

On the 20th of May, 1881, Mr. Dale made his advent in what is now the town of Mellette, South Dakota. with a strong heart and light purse to start life anew, being the first settler, and in the following fall, October 4th, he here opened a grocery store, the only store within ten miles, which he conducted until January, 1883, when he sold out his groceries and put in a stock of hardware, in which line he has ever since continued, now having a commodious and well- equipped store and warehouse, and carrying a full line of heavy and shelf hardware, tinware, stoves, etc., as well as agricultural implements and ma- chinery. He has the unqualified confidence and esteem of the people of the community and thus has his business prosperity established on a firm foundation, controlling a large and representative trade. It was not until about two months after his settling here that another resident came to

the little frontier village which was represented by only one or two buildings at that time. In December, 1881, Mr. Dale was appointed post- master of the place, and has ever since served in this capacity save for an interim of four years, during the second administration of President Cleveland. He has taken a most prominent part in the development and civic progress of the vil- lage and county, and is one of their most hon- ored and popular citizens. He is identified with the Grand Army of the Republic and the Ma- sonic fraternity, besides a number of insurance fraternities, and in politics he is a stalwart ad- vocate of the principles and policies of the Re- publican party. He is treasurer of the Old Set- tlers' Association of Spink county and takes an active interest in its affairs.

In Pennsylvania, on the 22d of May, 1864, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Dale to Miss Susan Snover, who was born and reared in Wayne county, that state, and of their children we record that Mark died at the age of twenty- seven years : Lucy is the wife of J. L. Mead, the subject's partner in the hardware store and busi- ness ; and Bertha remains beneath the parental roof. The family are all members of the Episco- pal church and Mr. Dale was for a number of years one of the vestry of the St. James church at Independence, Iowa, although he never united with the church but took an active interest in its welfare and supported it in every way possible.

JOEL WHITNEY GOFF, A. M., who oc- cupies the chair of English in the South Dakota State Normal School at Madison, is a native of the old Pine Tree state and a scion of families early settled in New England, where was cradled so much of our national history. He was born on a farm near Sangerville, Piscataquis county, Maine, on the 16th of October, 1861, being a son of Edward and Elizabeth (Spaulding) Goff. the former a farmer and lumberman by occupation. Professor Goff has but meager data of absolutely authentic order as applying to the remote gene- alogy, but it is known that the ancestry in the ag- natic line was of English and Irish extraction,

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while on the maternal side the lineage is traced to Scotch and English forbears. The paternal ancestors came to the new world in the early colonial epoch and settled in New Hampshire and Maine, while representatives of the name were valiant soldiers in the Continental line during the war of the Revolution. Many followed a sea- faring life, and records extant indicate that for several generations the love of travel, and partic- ularly of the sea, was strongly evidenced by the sturdy men of this stock. The parents of the subject are now dead. To them were born three children, of whom all are still living.

The early educational advantages enjoyed by the subject were such as were afforded in the public schools of Sangerville, Maine, after leav- ing which he continued his studies for one year in Foxcroft Academy, at Foxcroft, that state. La- ter he was for two years a student in the Maine Central Institute, at Pittsfield, being there grad- uated as a member of the class of 1882. In 1882 he was matriculated in Bates College, at Lewis- ton, where he completed the classical course, being graduated in June, 1886, with the degree of Bach- elor of Arts, while in 1889 his alma mater con- ferred upon him the degree of Master of Arts. It may be said that Professor Goff passed his boyhood and early youth on the parental farm- stead, three miles distant from the village of Sangerville, and he early became imbited with a distaste for the drudgery of farm life, while he was equally appreciative of the value of an education and had the self-reliance and determin- ation to carry him forward to the coveted goal. Through the generous sacrifice of his parents he was enabled to prepare himself for college, and thereafter certain friends of the young man had sufficient confidence in him to advance the funds requisite to supplement his own earnings to a sufficient degree to enable him to complete his collegiate course. He labored zealously to attain the desired end, teaching school during the winter terms and working on farms during the summer vacations. After his graduation Pro- fessor Goff forthwith turned his attention to teaching, finding this the most expedient method of earning the money with which to discharge

his indebtedness and being also animated with a distinctive love of the work. During the first year after his graduation he held the position of principal of Monmouth Academy, at Monmouth, Maine, and at the end of the school year he made a trip to South Dakota, for the purpose of rec- reation and in order to see what he could of the great west. The greater portion of the time was given to the study of law and the next year he accepted the principalship of the Anson Academy, at North Anson, Maine. At the end of the year he was elected to his present position as profes- sor of English in the South Dakota State Normal School, and he has thus been identified with the institution in this capacity for the past fifteen years, contributing materially to the prestige of the school and to the advancement of its interests and the efficiency of its work, while he is held in affectionate regard by the many students who have been trained under his able direction. Pro- fessor Goff has an attractive home in Madison and is also the owner of valuable farming land in Lake county. In politics he has ever been a stanch advocate of the principles of the Repub- lican party, and while he has never sought or desired official preferment he has been an active worker in the party cause, having served for several years as chairman of the Republican cen- tral committee of Lake county, while he also rep- resented the county on the state central commit- tee for two years. He is liberal in his religious views and is not formally identified with any church organizations, his opinions being essen- tially in harmony with the basic tenets of the Uni- tarian church. The Professor was initiated into the time-honored Masonic fraternity in the spring of 1887, when he became an entered apprentice in Monmouth Lodge, No. 110, Free and Accepted Masons, at Monmouth, Maine, in which he was passed to the degree of fellowcraft, after which he was duly raised to the Master's degree and with which he is still affiliated. He has advanced through the various grades and attained the thir- ty-second degree of Scottish Rite Masonry, be- ing identified with Oriental Consistory, in the city of Yankton.

On the 22d of June, 1892, Professor Goff

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was united in marriage to Miss Frances Shaw, who was born near Cresco, Howard county, lowa, being a daughter of James and Ella Em- mons Shaw, who are now residents of Madison, South Dakota. I Mrs. Goff was a pupil in the State Normal School, where she was graduated as a member of the class of 1890, and while there she formed the acquaintance of her future husband, who was one of her instructors. Prior to her marriage she was for one year a teacher in the public schools at DeSmet, this state, and one year in her alma mater, the normal school. Professor and Mrs. Goff have three children, namely : Charles Sheldon, who was born on the 5th of June. 1894; Margaret, born February I, 1897 ; and Edward Shaw, February 2, 1901.

Our subject is quite frequently called upon to deliver public addresses on educational and other topics and to thus appear before various organizations. In the spring of 1903 he was se- lected as one of the three judges of delivery at the annual meeting of the Northern Oratorical League, held in the city of Minneapolis, this league comprising the great universities of the central and northwestern states, including Chi- cago University, the Northwestern, the Iowa, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Oberlin College.

WILLIAM B. VALENTINE comes of stanch English stock and is a native of the city of Buffalo, New York, where he was born on the 31st of March, 1836, being one of the eight children of George and Anna (Mee) Valentine, while all except one are yet living. Eliza is a widow and resides in Cincinnati, Ohio; Sarah is the wife of John M. Cooper, of St. Louis, Mis- souri : William B. is the subject of this sketch ; Elizabeth, a maiden lady, resides in St. Louis, as does also Lucy, who is the wife of William N. Graves; Albert is engaged in building and con- tracting in Tuscola county, Michigan; and Helen is the wife of Byron Bailey, of Cincin- nati. The parents were both born in Boston, England, whence they came to America with their respective parents when they were children, 8-

both having been reared and educated in Buffalo, New York, where their marriage was solem- nized. Jolin Valentine, grandfather of the sub- ject, was a man of means and became an in- fluential and prominent citizen of Buffalo, where both he and his wife died. John Valentine learned the trade of mason in his native city and was a man of marked intellectuality and business ability. He was engaged in contracting and building in Buffalo until 1867, when he removed to Michigan, locating in Bay City, which was then a village of two or three thousand, and there lie continued to reside about five years, at the expiration of which he removed to Fair Grove, Tuscola county, that state, where he con- tinued to make his home until his death, which occurred in 1886, at which time he had attained the venerable age of eighty years. In politics he was originally an old-line Whig, but upon the organization of the Republican party he espoused its cause and ever afterward remained a stalwart adherent of the same, taking an active part in forwarding the party interests but never aspir- ing to official preferment. His religious faith was that of the Adventists and he afterward be- came a Baptist. His first wife, the mother of the subject, died in 1849, and he later married Mrs. Ann Dove, no children being born of this union.

William B. Valentine, whose name initiates this sketch, was reared to maturity in Buffalo, New York, and received his educational training In the common schools, while in his youth he learned the trade of mason under the effective direction of his father and became a skilled and able contractor and builder. Upon attaining maturity he left the parental roof and went to Ohio, where he remained one season, being en- gaged in the work of his trade. He then re- turned home, where he remained for a short time and then took up his residence in Flint, Michigan, where he engaged in contracting and building. to which important line of enterprise he has ever since given his undivided attention, having had to do with the construction of many large structures of both public and private order and having been long recognized as one of the

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leading contracting builders of South Dakota. He remained in Flint about four years and then went to Bay City, where he continued in his chosen vocation about eight years, having erected the first brick building in that now at- tractive and populous city, where he continued to make his home until 1870, when he came to Yankton as one of the pioneers in his line, and here he erected the first brick building to be put up in the place, while it may be said without fear of contradiction that he has erected more than one-half of the principal buildings in the city. In politics Mr. Valentine is a stalwart ad- vocate of the principles of the Republican party, and he served for six years as a member of the board of county commissioners, while for four years he was a member of the city council, in each of which incumbencies his efforts and advice proved of marked value and met with appreciative approval. He also was for one year a member of the board of trustees of the state hospital for the insane, which is located in his home city. Mr. Valentine is not formally identified with any religious organization, but his family are members of the Congregational church.

On the 10th of November, 1863, Mr. Valen- tine was united in marriage to Miss Elfrida E. Mathias, who was born in Woolwich, England, and of this union have been born four children, namely : Florence E., who remains at the par- ental home; Gipsy E., who is the wife of Leon J. Potter, of Chicago, Illinois; Dr. Everett M., who is a practicing dentist of Yankton; and Charles H. A., who is a successful contractor and builder of Phoenix, Arizona.

REV. HENRY KIMBALL WARREN, M. A., LL.D., president of Yankton College and known as one of the leading educators of the state, was born in Cresco, Howard county, Iowa, on the 3Ist of May, 1858, being a son of Chaun- cey J. and Mary A. (Kimball) Warren, whose two other children are Alice M., who is the wife of Rev. Arthur H. Claflin, of Allegheny, Penn- sylvania, and Harriet L., who is the wife of Wil-

liam H. Davisson, assistant chief engineer of the Rock Island Railroad, with headquarters in the city of Chicago. Chauncey J. Warren was born in Watertown, New York, on the Ist of August, 1831, and when he was about seven years of age his parents removed to northern Indiana, becom- ing pioneers of that section, where his father de- veloped a farm in the midst of the forest wilds. Thus the father of the subject was reared under the conditions of the pioneer epoch, implying that his educational advantages were somewhat limited in scope and that a full quota of arduous labor fell to his portion in his youthful days. After his marriage he removed to Cresco, How- ard county, Iowa, where he engaged in farming. He there continued to reside until 186t. when he returned to Middlebury, Elkhart county. Indiana, and purchased his father's old homestead farm, to whose cultivation he gave his attention until 1865, when he disposed of the property and re- moved to Ionia county, Michigan, purchasing a farm near the village of Portland, where he con- tinued in agricultural pursuits until 1872, when he took up his residence in the village. where he engaged in the operation of saw and planing mills and in the manufacture of the products in- cidental to the same. At the present time he is devoting his attention to the manufacture of an improved type of washing machines, still retain- ing his residence in Portland. In politics he is a stanch advocate of the principles and policies of the Republican party, and he and his wife are both earnest and active members of the Congre- gational church.

Henry K. Warren, the immediate subject of this sketch, acquired his early education in the public schools, completing a course in the high school at Portland, Michigan. In 1876 he was matriculated in Olivet College, at Olivet, that state, where he was graduated in the spring of 1882, receiving the degree of Bachelor of Arts, while three years later his alma mater conferred upon him the Master's degree. After his gradu- ation Dr. Warren turned his attention to the ped- agogic profession, in which his work during the intervening years has been attended with most gratifying success. He was ordained a clergy-

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man of the Congregational church at Neligh, Ne- braska, in the year 1893, and the degree of Doc- tor of Laws was conferred upon him by Olivet College, in 1902. The Doctor was principal of the public schools at Mount Pleasant. Isabella county, Michigan, during the years 1882-3, and from the latter year until 1889 he held the posi- tion of superintendent of the public schools of Hannibal, Missouri. He was then called to the presidency of Gates College, at Neligh, Ne- braska, retaining this incumbency until 1894, and for the ensuing year he was president of Salt Lake College, at Salt Lake City, Utahı. He re- signed this position in 1895 to accept his pres- ent incumbency as president of Yankton College, while his labors here have been such as to add further to his high reputation as an able and dis- criminating educator, the college having been eminently prosperous during his administration. In politics the Doctor is a Republican, taking a lively interest in the issues of the day, and fra- ternally he is a member of Yankton Lodge, No. 101, Ancient Order of United Workmen.

On the 25th of December, 1883, was solem- nized the marriage of Dr. Warren to Miss Lillian Hamilton, of Sturgis, Michigan, and they are the parents of three children, Howard H., Ruth K. and Robert H., all of whom remain at the pa- rental home, which is a center of gracious and refined hospitality.

F. D. WYMAN is the scion of one of the oldest families in the United States, the history of his ancestry being traceable in an unbroken line to Lieutenant John Weyman (as the name was originally spelled), a tanner by trade, the date of whose marriage, in November, 1644. appears on the old official records of Middlesex county, Massachusetts, preserved in the archives of Woburn, that state. Of the preceding history of this ancestor nothing definite is known, but from the most reliable information obtainable he subsequently appears to have been a man of considerable consequence in his community, and, from his title, to have been connected with the early military service of the colony. Among his

immediate descendants was a son by the name of Jacob, who also became a tanner and who spent his life in his native town of Woburn. A son of Jacob Weyman, also Jacob by name, was born at the above place, September II, 1688, but of him little is known beyond the fact of his having married, and reared sons and daughters, one of the former being Daniel, who for a num- ber of years operated a saddlery shop at Sud- bury, Massachusetts, and who afterwards served from 1757 to 1759, inclusive, as a sergeant in the French and Indian war. His son, Daniel, Jr., born at Sudbury, was a millwright and builder, also a soldier, having joined the American army at the age of nineteen and taken part in Arnold's ill-starred invasion of Canada, during the early part of the Revolution. This Daniel married and reared a family, among his sons being one who was also given the name of Daniel, and who, like his father, became a millwright and builder Joseph Weyman, son of the third Daniel, was a soldier in the war of 1812, and for a livelihood followed the same pursuits as did his father and grandfather before him, working at his trades for a number of years in Schoharie, New York. David Weyman, son of Joseph, and father of the subject of this review, was born in New York, removed with his parents when a child to Crown Point, that state, and, when a young man, took up the trades to which his ancestors had for so long a period devoted their attention, to-wit, building and equipping of mills. He followed his chosen calling in his native state until about the year 1844, when he removed to Walworth county, Wisconsin, where in addition to the manufacture of flour he carried on farming. Subsequently, 1865, he disposed of his interests in Walworth county, and took up his residence in Schuyler county, Missouri, where he devoted his attention chiefly to agricultural pursuits, until his death, which occurred on the 21st day of January, 1871. He was a man of intelligence and good judgment, successful in his business affairs and a most estimable citizen. In politics he was a Republican and an active party worker and in religion he subscribed to the Baptist faith and for many years was an earnest and sincere

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History of South Dakota, Vol. II, Part 20

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