History of South Dakota, Vol. II, Part 22

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 22

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ring in 1876, at which time he was seventy-one years of age. While his vocation in life was farming, he had distinctive mechanical ability, and for a number of years he did much work along this line, in connection with his agricultural oper- ations, while he was also a successful stock- grower, our subject having gained his initial ex- perience in the breeding of stock under the ef- fective direction of his father. Jared Sanford was a stanch Republican in his political proclivities and he and his wife were zealous members of the Congregational church, the latter having entered into eternal rest in 1854, at the age of forty-five years.

John H. Sanford was reared to farm life and secured his early educational discipline in the public schools, supplementing the same by a course in F. E. Arnold's business college, at Rock- : ford. Illinois. On attaining his legal majority he came into possession of a valuable farm, of one hundred acres, the same having been a part of his father's old homestead in Ogle county, Illinois. and he devoted his attention to the cultivation of the same until the time of his marriage, which occurred on the 30th of December. 1869, when he led to the hymeneal altar Miss Lonisa E. Stone, the only daughter of Joseph and Mary Stone, of Ogle county, Illinois, and thereafter he was associated with his father-in-law in the man- agement of the latter's farm until 1880, while for a number of years he was extensively engaged in the buying and shipping of live stock, in which line of enterprise he was very successful, gain- ing a knowledge which has made him one of the best judges of stock to be found in South Dakota. In 1880 he came to South Dakota and secured a quarter section of land in Bon Homme county. He has since added to his landed estate in the county until he is now the owner of an entire section, as previously stated, and though the tract is valuable farming land he devotes his attention more specially to the cattle industry, being an extensive feeder of stock and a breeder of reg- istered cattle and hogs. He has done much to improve the grade of stock raised in this section and his finely improved farm shows some of the finest specimens of cattle and hogs to be found in

the confines of the state. He is progressive and discriminating in his methods and has been very successful in his operations since coming to South Dakota. In politics he gives his support to the Republican party, but he has never been an as- pirant for public office. Fraternally he is identified with Bon Homme Lodge, No. 101, Free and Ac- cepted Masons. He and his wife are the parents of one child, Harry Otis, who is a veterinary surgeon, being successfully established in the practice of his profession at Tyndall.

JAMES H. DICKSON, one of the leading citizens of Scotland, Bon Homme county, is a native of the old Empire state, having been born on a farm in St. Lawrence county, New York, on the 4th of September, 1844, a son of John and Catherine ( McGregor) Dickson, both of whom were born in Scotland, of stanch old Scottish lineage, while both came to America as children, their respective parents having emigrated to this country and taken up their abode in the state of New York. The father of the subject passed his entire life in the northern part of that state, where he was a successful farmer. He passed away at the age of seventy-four years, having been a man of prominence and influence in his section and having held various local offices. He identified himself with the Republican party at the time of its organization and ever afterwards remained a stanch advocate of its principles, while both he and his wife held membership in the Presbyterian church, the latter having been summoned into eternal rest at the age of forty- two years.

The subject was reared under the invigorat- ing discipline of the home farm and after avail- ing himself of such advantages as were afforded in the common schools of the locality and period he completed a course of study in the Eastman Business College, at Poughkeepsie, New York. He continued to assist in the work and manage- ment of the home farm until he had attained the age of twenty-three years, when he went to the town of Gouverneur. St. Lawrence county, New York, where he engaged in the dry-goods busi-

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ness in company with George P. Tait, under the firm name of Tait & Dickson. This partner- ship continued about five years, at the expiration of which the subject retired from the firm and engaged in the merchant-tailoring business in partnership with James Brodie, under the title of Brodie & Dickson. Four years later, in 1879, Mr. Dickson established himself in the same line of enterprise at Adams, Berkshire county, Massachusetts, being there a member of the firm of Dickson & Legate. In 1882 he came to South Dakota and located in Scotland, Bon Homme county, where he has ever since main- tained his home. Here he opened a general mercantile establishment and engaged also in the buying of grain and hogs, in each of which lines of enterprise he built up an excellent busi- ness within a short interval. Upon the com- pletion of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad through this section Mr. Dickson- built and operated a chain of grain elevators from Lesterville to Armour and Parkston, while later he erected a large elevator in Geddes, and several of these monuments to his enterprising spirit are still owned and operated by him. He is a heavy shipper of hogs and grain, and in connection with the latter branch of industry he handles agricultural implements and coal in the various towns in which he buys grain. These statements clearly indicate that he is a man of affairs and one of marked capacity in an executive way, but he has proved equal to meeting all exigencies and is known as a careful, able and upright business man and as a citizen of value to the county and state. In 1894 his mercantile house and stock in Scotland were entirely destroyed by fire, but a fortnight later he had installed a new and comprehensive stock in his present attractive quarters, so that his large trade suffered but slight interruption.

In politics Mr. Dickson gives an unqualified allegiance to the Republican party and has been a prominent figure in its councils in the state, having been repeatedly a delegate to state and other conventions, while he has been strongly im- portuned by his party friends to permit the use of his name in connection with candidacy for the

state senate, but he has no ambition for official preferment, realizing that the demands of his business are exacting and require his undivided attention and believing that he has discharged his civic duties in his fforts to promote the cause of his party and to further the ends of good government. He is one of the prominent and valued members of the Presbyterian church, in which both he and his wife are zealous workers, and he has held the office of elder in the church since the age of twenty-eight years, having been elected to this office while a resident of Gouverneur, New York, and having been chosen incumbent of the same office in Scotland soon after identifying himself with the church here. Fraternally he is affiliated with Scotland Camp, Modern Woodmen of America.

On the 14th of February, 1872, was solem- nized the marriage of Mr. Dickson to Miss Mary J. Tait, who was born and reared in Rossie town- ship, St. Lawrence county, New York, and they are the parents of one son, Cyrus J., who is as- sociated with his father in business.

FREDERICK D. WICKS, who is presiding on the bench of the county court of Bon Homme county, an incumbency which he has retained for nearly a decade, is a native of the old Empire state of the Union, having been born in Fort Ed- ward. Washington county, New York, on the 3Ist of July, 1866, and being the youngest of the seven children of Walter W. and Ellen ( Ken- nedy) Wicks, all of whom survive except one, a brief record concerning them being as follows : William E. died at the age of forty-five years ; Mary remains at the parental home ; Walter J. is superintendent of the Indian school at Spring- field. South Dakota ; Sarah is the wife of James D. Keeting, a printer and publisher in Fort Ed- ward, New York; Fannie is the wife of Frank B. Hall, a successful merchant of Hartford, New York: Albert H. is a cigar manufacturer and to- bacconist at Fort Edward, that state ; and Fred- erick D. is the immediate subject of this sketch. The parents are still living at the old home in

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Fort Edward, where the father of the subject has long been engaged in building and contract- ing. He is a Republican in his political procliv- ities and both he and his wife are members of the Episcopal church.

Judge Wicks secured his early educational training in the public schools of his native town and later supplemented this discipline by a course of study in the Fort Edward Collegiate Institute. In 1886 he began the reading of law in the office of R. O. Bascom, a prominent member of the bar of Fort Edward, and under his able preceptor- ship he continued his technical studies until he be- came eligible for admission to the bar, gaining this distinction in 1890. Soon afterward he came to South Dakota and located in Scotland, where he established himself in the practice of his chosen profession. His ability so manifested itself that his novitiate in his new field of endeavor was of short duration and he soon took a prominent place at the bar of the county, while a gratifying recognition of his personal popularity and his professional talent canie only two years after he took up his abode in the town, since in 1892 he was elected county judge, of which important office he has since remained consecutively incum- bent save for an interim of two years. He has a distinctively judicial mind. is well poised and im- partial in his rulings, which are based on a thor- ough knowledge of the science of jurisprudence in its various branches, and he has dignified the bench by his able and discriminating services. He is also city attorney of Scotland. a position which he has held for four terms, and he is known as a skillful advocate and a conservative and able counsellor. In politics the Judge gives an un- wavering allegiance to the Republican party, in whose cause he has rendered timely and efficient service, and both he and his wife are communi- cants of the Protestant Episcopal church. while fraternally he is identified with Scotland Lodge, No. 52, Free and Accepted Masons : Scotland Chapter. No. 31. Royal Arch Masons, and Ori- ental Consistory, No. 1. Ancient Accepted Scot- tish Rite, in Yankton.

On the 12th of November. 1895, was solem- nized the marriage of Judge Wicks to Miss Mary

L. Wood, of Springfield, this county. She was born in Springfield. Bon Homme county, in 1874. Judge and Mrs. Wicks have three children, Em- ma. Walter and Ellen.

JOHN L. TURNER, in point of consecutive identification the oldest merchant in the state of South Dakota save for one exception, retaining his residence and business headquarters in the attractive town of Springfield, Bon Homme county, is a scion of a family which has been identified with the annals of American history from the early colonial epoch, and is himself a native of Geneseo, Livingston county, New York. where he was born on the 26th of August. 1843. being a son of Lyman and Martha (Lewis) Tur- ner, of whose five children he is the eldest of the three surviving, his sisters being Mary H., a maiden lady, residing in New York city. and Isa- bella L., the wife of Charles S. Pease, of Alhany, New York. The father of the subject was born in Connecticut, in 1800, his ancestors in the ag- natic line having emigrated from England to America in 1648, taking up their abode in the colony of Massachusetts, whence representatives later went into Connecticut, where the name be- came one of prominence, as representative of the highest order of citizenship. Members of the family rendered valiant service as Continental soldiers during the war of the Revolution, and patriotism and loyalty have been distinguishing family traits in successive generations. As a young man Lyman Turner removed with his father. Matthey Turner, who was born in 1777. to New York city, whither an older brother had preceded them, and after remaining for a short time in the national metropolis he removed to Geneseo, that state, where he establishd himself in the mercantile business. In later years he be- came extensively engaged in the cattle business in that section of the Empire state, and was a member of the company which imported the first shorthorn cattle into that district. He eventually retired from mercantile pursuits and devoted his entire attention to the breeding of blooded live stock, in which connection he gained a high repu-

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tation, being very successful in his efforts and becoming an extensive land owner. He died at the age of fifty-five years, in the very prime of his honorable and useful manhood, his demise oc- curring in 1864. He was originally an old-line Whig in his political adherency, and espoused the cause of the Republican party at the time of its organization, ever afterward remaining a radical advocate of its principles, though he never sought official preferment. He and his wife were com- municants of the Protestant Episcopal church and were persons of sterling character, retaining the high regard of all who knew them. The mother of the subject entered into the eternal life in 1861, at the age of forty-two years.

John L. Turner remained at the parental home until he had attained the age of twenty-two years and after completing a course of study in the high school at Geneseo he entered a private boarding school conducted by Dr. Reed, at Geneva, New York, and later continued his studies in a com- mercial college at Rochester, that state. After thus completing his educational discipline he be- came actively associated with his father in the cattle business, which he continued after the death of his father until 1867, when he removed to Ann Arbor, Michigan, where he resided until 1870. giving his attention to property interests of the estate in that locality. In the year last mentioned he cast in his lot with what is now the state of ! South Dakota, coming to Springfield and here es- tablishing himself in the general merchandise business. About three years later he became asso- ciated with Henry E. Bonesteel in the prosecu- tion of the enterprise, under the firm name of Bonesteel & Turner, and this partnership obtained for a quarter of a century, being dissolved in 1898, after which John W. Turner, the son of our subject, became associated with him in the busi- ness, proving an able coadjutor, and the enter- prise has since been continued under the firm name of J. L. Turner & Son. The business has grown to extensive proportions, drawing its trade from a wide radius of contiguous country, while the stock carried is select and comprehensive and the firm is one whose reputation for reliability and fair dealing is of the highest. Mr. Turner is also

the owner and operator of the Artesian roller mills in Springfield, and for many years he also conducted a drug store in the town, having re- cently disposed of this branch of his business.

In 1864 Mr. Turner enlisted as a member of the Fifty-eighth New York National Guards, in which he was made sergeant major, and during his term of service he was on guard duty at El- mira. New York, receiving his honorable dis- charge in December. 1864. Mr. Turner has ever been a stanch adherent of the Republican party and has taken an active interest in promoting the party cause. Soon after coming to Springfield he was appointed postmaster of the town, being the first incumbent of this office, which he con- tinned to hold for a number of years, while his also was the distinction of being the first mayor of the town, of which position he was likewise incumbent for several years. He may well be mentioned as one of the founders and builders of Springfield, to whose interests he has ever been most loyal. doing all in his power to promote its advancement and material upbuilding. In 1806 he was candidate of his party for presidential elector, and in 1892 he was an alternate delegate to the national Republican convention, in Min- neapolis. He has been a member of the Masonic fraternity since 1865 and is a charter member of Mount Zion Lodge, No. 6. of Springfield : he was a delegate at the organization of the grand lodge of the territory of Dakota, being senior grand warden of this body in 1879. He is also a char- ter member of the Masonic Veterans' Associa- tion and is identified with DeMolay Commandery, No. 3. Knights Templar, at Yankton, and with El Riad Temple, Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, in Sioux Falls. He is one of the prominent members and a communi- cant of Ascension church, Protestant Episcopal. in whose organization he took an active part, and he has been a member of its vestry from that time to the present. He was for several years a member of the board of education of Springfield. and in 1883 he was a member of the state con- stitutional convention, which assembled in Sioux Falls.

On the 17th of May, 1865, was solemnized

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the marriage of Mr. Turner to Miss Mary A. Finley, of Geneseo, New York, and they became the parents of one son, John W., who was born on the 8th of October, 1866, and who is now as- sociated with his father in business, being one of the able and popular young men of the county. Mrs. Turner entered into eternal rest on the 8th of March, 1884, having been a devoted communi- cant of the Episcopal church, and on the 2d of February, 1888, Mr. Turner was united in mar- riage to Miss Fanny E. Howes. of Springfield, who presides with gracious dignity over their at- tractive home, no children having been born of this union.

CHARLES M. KEELING, M. D .- The attractive town of Springfield, Bon Homme county, has in Dr. Keeling an able physician and surgeon and one whose prestige and success place him among the representative members of the medical profession in the state. The Doc- tor was born in Bartholomew county, Indiana, on the 16th of February, 1863, being a son of William W. and Mary R. (Speirs) Keeling, all of whose five children are yet living, namely : John R., who is a merchant at Shelbyville, Indi- ana: William F., who is engaged in the drug business at Nemaha, Nebraska ; Charles M., who is the subject of this sketch ; Dr. James E., who is a practicing physician at Sulphur Hill, Indi- ana ; and Marian R., who is the wife of Edward L. Culver, of Omaha, Nebraska.

The father of the subject is a representative of one of the pioncer families of Indiana, hav- ing been born in that state in the year 1830, and being there reared to maturity. As a young man he prepared himself for the practice of medicine, entering the Eclectic Medical College of Cin- cinnati, Ohio, and being there graduated about 1858. He entered upon the practice of his pro- fession in Indiana, where he remained until 1863, when he went to Nemaha, Nebraska, where he continued the work of his noble profession very successfully, becoming one of the leading citizens of that section. In 1865 he was elected a mem- ber of the Nebraska legislature, and shortly after

the expiration of his term of office he returned to Indiana, locating at Sulphur Hill, where he continued in the active practice of medicine about a quarter of a century, being recognized as one of the leading physicians of that section. About 1890 he returned to Nemaha, Nebraska, where he has since maintained his home and where he still devotes more or less attention to his profession, though well advanced in years. He is a Democrat in his political proclivities, and his religious faith is that of the Methodist Episcopal church. Mary R. Speirs was born in Indiana in 1840 of Scotch parents.

Dr. Charles M. Keeling was an infant at the time of his parents' removal to Nemaha, Ne- braska, and was about three years of age when they returned to Indiana, and thus he secured his early educational training in the public schools of Sulphur Hill, that state. At the age of sixteen years he was matriculated in Harts- ville College, at Hartsville, Indiana, where he continued his literary studies for some time. He was thereafter engaged in teaching in the public schools for five years and then began reading medicine under the effective direction of his honored father, thus continuing until 1885. when he entered the Medical College of Indi- ana, at Indianapolis, where he was graduated as a member of the class of 1887, receiving his coveted degree of Doctor of Medicine. Soon after his graduation he came to South Dakota and took up his abode in Springfield, where he has since continued in the practice of his pro- fession, being known as a skilled physician and surgeon and having a large and constantly in- creasing business. In 1899 he completed a post- graduate course in Chicago, while in 1901 he took another post-graduate course in New York city, ever aiming to keep in touch with the ad- vances made in the sciences of medicine and surgery and thus the more thoroughly fortifying himself for his practical work in connection with the same. He is a member of the State Medi- cal Society, of which he was president in 1901, and is also identified with the American Medi- cal Association. In politics he gives his allegiance to the Democratic party and fraternally he holds

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membership in the lodge and chapter of the Masonic order and in the adjunct order of the Eastern Star; also the lodge and Daughters of Rebekah, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Modern Brotherhood, and the Knights of the Maccabees, and the Modern Woodmen of America.

On the 22d of March, 1882, Dr. Keeling was united in marriage to Miss Viola E. Osborn, of Sulphur Hill, Indiana, and they have one child, Era. Mrs. Keeling's father, John C. Osborn, was born in 1840, in Ohio, and was a school teacher. He died in 1866. The mother, whose maiden name was Roanna Hawkins, was born in Indiana in 1841.

PAUL LANDMANN, who is successfully engaged in the real-estate and lumber business in the town of Scotland, Bon Homme county, was born in Odessa, Russia, on the 22d of February, 1853, being a son of Anton and Louisa ( Hoff- man ) Landmann and the only survivor of their three children. His brother, Emanuel, died in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on the 28th of Sep- tember, 1898, as a result of fever contracted in Porto Rico, where he served as a member of Company F, Third Illinois Volunteer Infantry, during the Spanish-American war. The father of our subject was born in Germany and always remained a citizen of that empire, though he went to Russia as a young man and there main- tained his home about a quarter of a century. A year after the subject came to the United States and located in South Dakota his parents joined him here, and this state continued to be their home until their deaths.

Paul Landmann was reared to maturity in Russia, and there acquired his educational train- ing in the excellent schools of his native place. In 1873, at the age of twenty years, he bade adieu to his native land and set forth to seek his fortunes in America. He landed in New York city and from the national metropolis con- tinued his westward journey to what was then the territory of Dakota, arriving in Yankton, the

capital, with a cash fund of only five dollars. There he was for seven years employed in the hardware store of the firm of Wynn & Buck- walter, in the capacity of salesman, and in 1880 he came to Scotland, Bon Homme county, where he engaged in the same line of enterprise upon his own responsibility, beginning opera- tions upon a modest scale and succeeding in building up an excellent trade. He continued the business about seven years, when he disposed of the same, having been elected to the office of county treasurer, in which he served one term, after which he was incumbent of the office of register of deeds of the county for a term, having proved a most efficient executive in each of these capacities. After his retirement from office Mr. Landmann returned from Tyndall, the county seat, to Scotland, where he engaged in the real- estate business, in which he has since continued, having handled much valuable property in this and other counties of the state. In February, 1903, Mr. Landmann expanded the sphere of his business operations in Scotland, by establishing extensive lumber yards in the town, and he already controls a large part of the lumber busi- ness of this section. He is the owner of eleven hundred and twenty acres of land in Hutchinson county and much valuable real estate, both im- proved and unimproved, in the village of Scot- land. He is a stalwart Republican in his po- litical adherency and is a strong factor in the councils of his party in this section, and both he and his wife are members of the Reformed church.

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History of South Dakota, Vol. II, Part 22

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