History of South Dakota, Vol. II, Part 26

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 26

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having passed the psalmist's span of three score years and ten. His widow is still living and re- sides in the home of her daughter, Mrs. Sher- wood, in DeSmet, being seventy-six years of age at the time of this writing, in 1903.

George E. Masters was reared under the gracious influences of a cultured and refined home, and after completing the curriculum of the public schools continued his studies for two years in Corning Academy, at Corning, New York. At the age of twenty-one he took a position as clerk in a drug store in that place, where he was employed for three years. In 1876 hie set forth to carve out his career in the west, and for two years was employed in the city of Chicago. In 1878 he located in Walnut Grove, Minnesota, in which locality he was employed at farm work, and there, in 1879, he was married to Miss Mar- garet Gilmore. In the spring of the following year he came with his bride to South Dakota, and during the ensuing summer he was employed in the company store of Walls, Harrison & Shute, railroad contractors, who were then engaged in the construction of the line between Tracy and Pierre. In the fall of that year Mr. Masters took a position as brakeman on this road, and in December went to DeSmet. Kingsbury county, in which locality he has filed entry on a tree claim in 1879 and on a homestead in the spring of 1880, his eldest son having been the first white child born in what is now the thriving little city of DeSmet. He continued to reside on his home- stead until 1886, duly proving on the property under the homestead laws. Within this interval. in 1881, he accepted a position with the Empire Lumber Company, at DeSmet, and continued in the employ of this concern for ten and one-half years, while for one year he was an employe of the firm of Hanson & Lambert, engaged in the same line of enterprise in DeSmet. In 1893 he associated himself with his brother Jesse in the sheep business, in which he continued a short time. In 1892 he was candidate on the Demo- cratic ticket for the office of state senator. there being three tickets in the field during that cam- paign. He succeeded in winning sufficient Re- publican votes to compass the election of the

Populist candidate, and though he was himself defeated he gained no little influence in the ranks of his party, and this led to his securing the ap- pointment of postmaster at DeSmet, an office which he held for four years under the adminis- tration of President Cleveland. In the winter of 1884 there was organized in DeSmet Company E of the National Guard of the Territory of Da- kota, and our subject was made third sergeant of the same, from which position he finally rose to the office of captain. At the outbreak of the Spanish-American war Mr. Masters was senior captain of his regiment, which in 1898 tendered its services to the government, enlisting for serv- ice in the Philippines, where it made a brilliant record. Mr. Masters accompanied the regiment to Sioux Falls and there was rejected for service on account of his physical proportions. This was the reason given but he has ever been certain that the real cause of his rejection was one of po- litical nature. He was, however, given the privi- lege of naming the lieutenants of the company over which he had so long been in command, and his choice fell upon Harry Hubbard and Sidney Morrison for first and second lieutenants, respec- tively. On bidding the boys farewell the last to grasp his hand were Lieutenant Morrison and Lewis Chase, both of whom met their death in the Philippines while in discharge of their patri- otic duties.

In March, 1899, Mr. Masters accepted a posi- tion with the John W. Tuttle Lumber Company, as manager of their yards at Spencer, where he has since been located. being one of the honored and popular citizens of the place. He is a stanch advocate of the principles of the Democratic party and has long been an active worker in its cause. While a resident of DeSmet he served for a number of years as a member of the vil- lage council and also as a member of the board of education, while at the time of this writing he is president of the board of education in Spencer. He is affiliated with Spencer Lodge, No. 126, Free and Accepted Masons, to which he trans- ferred his membership from DeSmet Lodge, of which latter he is past master, as is he also of the lodge of the Ancient Order of United Workmen

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in that place. He and his wife are valued mem- bers of the Baptist church.

Mention has been made of the fact that Mr. Masters was married in 1879, his nuptials hav- ing been solemnized, in July of that year, to Miss Margaret Gilmore, a resident of St. Charles, Minnesota, and a native of that state. They are the parents of nine children: Arthur, who is a resident of Dayton, Washington ; Alexander also resides in that place : Vere H. is manager of the State Bank of Farmer : Claude is employed in a printing establishment here; and Juniata, Hazel. Genevieve, Ronald and George, Jr., remain at the parental home.

MORRISON A. TAYLOR, M. D., of Spencer, McCook county, was born in Clarks- ville, Butler county, Iowa, December 2, 1857, a son of James R. and Hester N. (Cook) Taylor, of whose five children he is the eldest of the three surviving. John M., a commercial traveler by vocation, is a resident of Mason City, Iowa, and Rose E. is the wife of L. M. Valentine, a prominent capitalist of that place. James R. Taylor was born in Fairfax county, Ohio, and his wife was born in Fountain county, Indiana. The ancestry in the agnatic line is of Scotch- Irish derivation, and the direct line is traced back to the youngest son of an English earl, he having left the parental home and located in Scotland, whence his descendants eventually came to America. The Cook family is of French Huguenot stock intermixed with German, the original progenitors in America having come hither from Germany and the name having been spelled Koch at that time. The parents of our subject removed from Indiana to Iowa in 1853 and they still reside in Clarksville, that state, honored pioneers of the commonwealth. Mr. Taylor was numbered among the early settlers of Butler county, where he purchased govern- ment land, receiving a warrantee deed signed by Franklin Pierce, who was then president of the United States. He paid the purchase price in gold, which was then the currency commonly in use. He continued to be actively identified with

agricultural pursuits until 1902, when he re- tired, having now attained the venerable age of seventy-two years. He and his wife have long been prominent and zealous members of the Christian church, and he has also been influential in educational work.

Dr. Taylor secured his preliminary educa- tion in the district schools of his native county and then completed a course in the high school at Clarksville. At the age of nineteen he initi- ated his pedagogic career, proving a successful teacher. At the age of twenty-one he went to Decorah, Iowa, where he completed a one year's course in the institute conducted by Professor John Breckenridge, and he thereafter continued to teach for two years in the district schools of his native state. In 1881 he entered the North- ern Indiana Normal School and Business Uni- versity, at Valparaiso, Indiana, but shortly after- ward he suffered a serious illness, which com- pelled him to abandon his studies and return home. He then began teaching in the public schools of different towns and cities in Iowa, continuing to advance in his profession and to receive larger salaries from year to year. In 1889 the Doctor came to South Dakota, and for three years was superintendent of the public schools of Alexandria. In the fall of 1894 he was matriculated in the medical department of the State University of Iowa, where he com- pleted the prescribed course and was graduated in the spring of 1897, receiving the degree of Doctor of Medicine. He initiated the practice of his profession in Volga City, Iowa, but shortly afterward located in Lamont, and later engaged in practice in Waterloo, that state. In May, 1903. Dr. Taylor came to Spencer and here established himself in practice, and he has already gained marked prestige in his profes- sion and controls a representative supporting patronage, which is a due recognition of his ability and genial personality. He is a member of the state medical society and is examiner for the Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Com- pany, of Milwaukee; the Northwestern National Life Insurance Company, of Minneapolis; and the Bankers' Life Insurance Company, of Des

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Moines, while he also holds a similar position with the Modern Woodmen of America, the Mutual Benefit Association, and the Central Life Insurance Association of Des Moines, the Ancient Order of Pyramids, the C. C. C. and the Modern Brotherhood of America. He is a Republican in politics and his religious faith is that of the Christian church. Fraternally he is identified with the Knights of Pythias, the Modern Woodmen of America, the Ancient Order of Pyramids, the Modern Brother- hood of America and the Mutual Benefit Associa- tion.

On the 29th of September, 1898, Dr. Taylor was united in marriage to Miss Marie A. Axtell. of Strawberry Point, Iowa, and they are the parents of two children, Roba H. and Hester M.

WILLIAM T. ELLIS, postmaster at Salem, McCook county, is a native of the Badger state, having been born in Rock county, Wisconsin, on the 2d of August, 1852, a son of Thomas and Mary (Davis) Ellis, of whose six children he is the third and the eldest of the three surviv- ing. Of his brothers it may be noted that Allen B. is engaged in the grain business at Winni- peg, Manitoba, and that Edgar A. is engaged in the same line of enterprise in Assiniboine, Canada. The parents of the subject were born in Cardiganshire, South Wales, whence the father came to America when a young man, his marriage being solemnized in Ohio, where his wife had come with her parents when a girl. Thomas Ellis was a tailor by trade, but the sedentary employment made serious inroads on his health and he was thus led to abandon this vocation and turn his attention to agricultural pursuits. About 1850 he removed from the Buckeye state to Wisconsin, where he resided until 1855, when he removed to Freeborn county, Minnesota, where he initiated his operations as a farmer, becoming one of the prosperous men of that county, where he continued to reside until his death, which occurred on the 13th of September, 1874, since which time his loved and devoted wife has made her home with the

subject of this review. Thomas Ellis was a Re- publican in politics and his religious faith was that of the Methodist Episcopal church, of which his widow is likewise a devoted member.

William T. Ellis was reared on the home- stead farm in Minnesota, and after completing the curriculum of the district school he con- tinued his studies in the high school at Albert Lea, that state. At the age of twenty-one years he engaged in teaching in the public schools, and to this vocation he continued to give his atten- tion at intervals for about twelve years, in Min- nesota and South Dakota. In May, 1880, he came to Salem, this state, and within the same year entered a homestead claim in McCook county, at a point four miles west of Salem. He proved on this property and there continued to reside for a period of six years, developing a valuable farm. In 1888 he became associated with his brother Allen in the erection of a store building in Salem, and in the same they engaged in 'the hardware business, in which they con- tinued to be associated until May, 1901. In 1897 the subject was appointed postmaster at Salem, taking charge of the office on the Ist of June, and he has ever since remained in tenure of the position. At the initiation of his regime the office was one of the fourth class, but in 1899 its business had so increased that it was brought into the class of presidential offices, so that Mr. Ellis received in that year his re- appointment directly from President Mckinley. It is needless to say that he is an uncompromis- ing Republican, and in the connection he has done effective service in behalf of the party cause in this section of the state. He served three years as a member of the board of county com- missioners, having been incumbent of the office at the time of the erection of the present court house. Fraternally Mr. Ellis is identified with Fortitude Lodge, No. 73, Free and Accepted Masons; Salem Chapter, No. 34, Royal Arch Masons; Omega Council, No. 2, Royal and Select Masters; Constantine Commandery, No. 2, Knights Templar, and El Riad Temple of the Mystic Shrine, in Sioux Falls. He is also af- filiated with the local organizations of the

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Knights of the Maccabees. He was the first eminent commander of the Constantine Com- mandery, Knights Templar, of Salem, and has ever manifested a deep interest in the noble fra- ternity of Freemasonry.

J. C. LAWVER, M. D., established in the successful practice of his profession in the town of Spencer, McCook county, was born in Bell- ville, Washington county, Pennsylvania, on the 2d of January, 1862, a son of Martin and Mar- garet (Moss) Lawver, of whose eight children all are living save one. Martin Lawver was born in Brownsville, Fayette county, Pennsyl- vania, as was also his father, while the grand- father was a native of Germany, whence he came to America in an early day, being numbered among the sterling pioneers of the old Keystone state. In the maternal line the Doctor traces his ancestry back to Scotch-Irish stock. His mother died in 1882, and his father now resides in Spen- cer, this state, having come to South Dakota about 1883 and purchasing land in McCook county, where he was actively engaged in agri- cultural pursuits until 1902, when he removed to Spencer, where he has since lived retired.

Dr. Lawver may be said to have inherited a certain predilection for the medical profession, since on the maternal side of the family there have been a number of able physicians, in the various generations. His uncle, John C. Moss, was the inventor of the process of photo-en- graving, in which connection his name became known throughout the civilized world, while several others of the Moss family attained dis- tinction as lawyers and educators. Dr. Lawver secured his early education in the public schools and supplemented this by a course of study in Waynesburg College, at Waynesburg, Pennsyl- vania. At the early age of fourteen years he purchased medical books and began to devote his attention to careful study of the same, having determined to fit himself for the medical pro- fession. In 1882 he went to New York city to complete his medical studies. In the fall of 1884 he entered the Bellevue Hospital Medical Col-

lege, in New York city, where he continued his studies for the ensuing three years, being grad- nated with the degree of Doctor of Medi- cine. He then began the practice of his pro- fession at Granville, West Virginia, where he remained until the fall of 1891 when he was ma- triculated in the Baltimore Medical College, in the city of Baltimore, where he was graduated in the spring of 1892, having thus secured the very best of preliminary training for his exact- ing and responsible profession. After his gradu- ation the Doctor continued in practice at Gran- ville for a short time, and in the fall of the same year he came to South Dakota in search of an eligible location. In February, 1893, he es- tablished himself in practice in Spencer, where his skill, devotion and personal courtesy have been the factors which have enabled him to build up a large and representative practice. In ad- dition to his superior medical education which fitted him for active duties, since he commenced to practice twelve years ago, he has been a liberal patron and student of most of the leading medical books and periodical publications in this coun- try and abroad, by means of which he has suc- cessfully kept posted on the latest discoveries for the cure of human afflictions and the most skillful methods of treating them. Stacks of medical magazines and a magnificent library of the best medical works, representing a cost of hundreds of dollars, attest in the most emphatic terms to the educational qualifications of Dr. Lawver. Among the office equipments are nearly all the latest devices, implements and medical appliances used in testing the condition of the human system and for treating chronic diseases in the most scientific way. Very few country physicians have such a fine display of instruments and appliances as has Dr. Lawver, of Spencer, and this fact as well as the further fact that he possesses superior skill in handling them, is becoming widely known throughout this section of the country. During the past year the Doctor has erected a fine two-story brick building, entirely adapted to his own use, and it is his intention to ultimately utilize this building as a hospital in which he can treat cases

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of every description from different parts of the country, and give them hospital treatment at home equal to or better than what they now go to larger cities to obtain. He is a member of the State Medical Society and at all times keeps in touch with the advances made in both branches of his profession. In politics he renders alle- giance to the Republican party, and fraternally is identified with the Free and Accepted Masons and the Modern Woodmen of America.

On the 2d of February. 1903. Dr. Lawver was married to Miss Margaret Theis, of Farmer, this state, she being a daughter of Jacob Theis and a native of the state of South Dakota.

CHARLES P. BARBIER, who is now liv- ing practically retired in the village of Geddes, was born in Besancon. France, on the 12th of June. 1833. being a son of Frederick and Kate (Goll) Barbiere, both of whom passed their lives in la belle France, the former having devoted the major portion of his life to custom office pursuits, while he served with distinction in the French army. This worthy couple became the parents of nine children, of whom five are still living. three of the number being resident of the United States. The subject was reared to the age of sixteen in his native land, where he re- ceived good educational advantages, and at the age noted, in company with his sister Louise, he emigrated to the United States. His father also desired to come to America, but found it inex- pedient thus to do, since his removal from the French domain would forfeit him the pension which he received from the government and which was adequate for his maintenance in his declining years. From New York city our sub- ject made his way to Ohio, where he remained about ten years, being variously employed, and he then went to the state of Louisiana, where he was engaged in working along the Mississippi river for several years, finally removing to the city of St. Louis, Missouri, where he was em- ployed during the years 1859 and 1860 by the American Fur Company. afterward being

located for a time in Iowa. In 1861 he came to Dakota and secured employment with Dave Pease, a prominent Indian trader, whose head- quarters were on Pease creek and Pease island, which were named in his honor. Later he en- gaged in chopping wood to supply the steam- boats which then plied the Missouri river to points in Montana, where the gold excitement was then at its height. In 1867 he took up a homestead claim of a quarter section of land, near the river, and in what is now Charles Mix county, South Dakota. He improved this farm and retained the same in his possession until 1893, when he disposed of the property, for a consideration of one thousand dollars.

In November, 1863, Mr. Barbier was united in marriage to Miss Kate Bear, a member of the Yankton Sioux tribe of Indians, and of this union have been born six children, concerning whom we enter the following brief record : Louise is the wife of Dennis Moran, who resides in Fort Randall, being an extensive farmer; Mary is the wife of William Sweeney, who is an extensive farmer and stock grower on the Yankton reservation: Annie, who is partially crippled, remains at the parental home ; Sophia resides in Geddes with her parents; Fred. who married Miss Rose Burdean, is a successful farmer of Charles Mix county ; and Adele, who was the fifth in order of birth, died in early child- hood. In politics Mr. Barbier gives his support to the Republican party, and he and his wife are communicants of the Protestant Episcopal church. He served for two years as county com- missioner, has always taken a deep interest in the advancement of the county and state and is held in high esteem by all who know him. He and his wife are the owners of two hundred and forty acres of land on the Yankton Indian reservation, and he gives a general supervision to this property as well as to his other capital- istic interests. Mr. Barbier has a vivid recollec- tion of the memorable snowfall which visited the state in the winter of 1880-81. The precipita- tion began on the 7th of December and remained on the ground until April 12th. The result was the loss of much valuable live stock by starva-

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tion, and the subject himself suffered a loss of more than one hundred head of cattle at the time.

SOLOMON CLOUGH, one of the promi- nent and representative farmers and stock grow- ers of Charles Mix county, is a native of the far distant Pine Tree state, having been born in Piscataquis county, Maine, on the 19th of August, 1832, so that he has now passed the span of three score years and ten. He is a son of Noah and Abigail (Oakes) Clough, who be- came the parents of eight children, namely : Clarissa, Bradford, Noah, Orrison, Albion, Betsy Jane, Solomon and John B. Of the chil- dren those living at the present time are Orrison, Solomon and John B. The father followed a seafaring life for seven years, after which he was engaged in agricultural pursuits during the balance of his active career. The Clough family is one whose name has long been identified with American history, the original progenitors in the new world having come hither from England about four centuries ago. When our subject was a lad of seven years his parents emigrated from Maine to the new state of Illinois, settling in Winnebago county, where they remained about four years, the father having there purchased land for about two dollars an acre. At the ex- piration of the period noted he disposed of his Illinois farm and settled in Grant county, Wis- consin, where he purchased government land and developed a good farm, having been one of the sterling pioneers of that section of the Badger state, where both he and his wife continued to reside until their deaths.

Solomon Clough, subject of this sketch, has a vivid recollection of the pioneer days in Wis- consin, where he passed his youth, assisting in the reclaiming and cultivation of the home farm and attending the common schools until he was about eighteen years of age. In 1854 he was united in marriage to Miss Frances Shaw, who was born in Illinois, and the one child of this union survived its birth by only a few days. The subject continued to follow agricultural pursuits

in Wisconsin from the time of his marriage until 1890, when he came to South Dakota, having previously disposed of his farm in Grant county, Wisconsin, for a consideration of fifteen dollars an acre. Upon arriving in Charles Mix county he purchased one hundred and sixty acres of the valuable land in the Missouri river valley, paying for the same at the rate of six and one- quarter dollars an acre, while he also took up a homestead claim of eighty acres. He now is the owner of a fine landed estate of two hundred and forty acres, the same having excellent improve- ments of a permanent nature and being main- tained under a high state of cultivation. In politics Mr. Clough pronounces himself a Jef- fersonian Democrat and an Abraham Lincoln Republican, and he holds that the two terms are synonymous. He served for six years as treas- urer of his school district and has done all in his power to forward the educational interests of the district. He and his wife are members of the R. G. Ingersoll church.

J. E. HAMAKER, one of the leading busi- ness men and honored citizens of Spencer, McCook county, comes of stanch German lineage and was born in Perry county, Pennsylvania, on the 28th of February, 1849, a son of Adam and Hannah (Grubb) Hamaker, both likewise native of that county and representatives of old and hon- ored families of the Keystone state. Adam Ha- maker was a wheelwright by trade and devoted his attention to the same for a number of years, later engaging in agricultural pursuits. In 1857 he removed with his family to Ogle county, Illi- nois, where he became a successful farmer and prominent citizen, his death there occurring in 1892, his wife passing away in 1901.

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History of South Dakota, Vol. II, Part 26

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