History of South Dakota, Vol. II, Part 33

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 33

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Mr. Gamm holds membership with the

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Knights of Pythias, Improved Order of Red Men, Ancient Order of United Workmen and the Sons of Hermann, and in politics votes the Republican ticket. He has been twice married, the first time, in May, 1869, to Miss Amelia Huhnke, of Germany, who died in 1889 at the age of forty-eight years, leaving three children : Charles, Emma and Edward. Mr. Gamm, on October 23. 1890, contracted a matrimonial al- liance with Miss Louisa Hohlmann, a native of St. Paul, but of German parentage, the union being blessed with two children, a son, William H., and a daughter by the name of Irene. As stated in a preceding paragraph, Mr. Gamm is classed with the most energetic and progressive citizens of Roberts county and in every walk of life he is respected as a courteous, kind-hearted gentleman of sterling integrity and genuine moral worth. He has been quite successful in business, but has other than this to recommend him to the favorable consideration of the com- munity, being interested in everything pertain- ing to the welfare of his fellow men, a liberal donor to all public and private benevolences, and a supporter of agencies that make for the ad- vancement of his city, county and state. Few stand as high in general esteem and no man in Sisseton enjoys greater popularity or is more worthy of the success he has achieved.

T. H. PEEVER is a native of Canada, and the son of David and Eliza ( Huffman) Peever, who came from Ireland about 1860 and settled in Canada where the father purchased land and engaged in agricultural pursuits. Of a family of nine children, six sons and three daughters, T. H. is the eldest in order of birth. He was born August 4, 1862, receiving a good practical education in the public schools of Canada, and in 1881 came to the United States, locating for one year in Michigan, where he engaged in the lumber business. At the expiration of the time noted he went to Wisconsin, where he dealt in lumber during the ensuing nine years, and then sold out and came to Roberts county, South Da- kota, arriving at Wilmot on the 25th of March,

1892, hefore the opening of the reservation. After running a locating office at the above place for a short time, Mr. Peever settled on the pres- ent site of Sisseton, where he took up a home- stead and later when the town was laid out he assisted in the enterprise, took an active in- terest in disposing of the lots and was largely instrumental in attracting a thrifty class of peo- ple to the place. Shortly after locating at Sis- seton, he began dealing in farm machinery, in connection with which he also opened a real estate office, and in due time built up a large and lucrative patronage in both lines of business, continuing the same with encouraging success for a period of six years.

Mr. Peever was the second postmaster of Sisseton, having been appointed to the posi- tion by President Cleveland, during whose ad- ministration he managed the office in a manner highly satisfactory to the public. He was the first chairman of Sisseton and Sisseton township before incorporation and did much to advance the interests of the community and promote its ma- terial growth and development. Mr. Peever has always been an ardent Democrat and since old enough to exercise the rights of citizenship has taken active interest in party politics. In 1899 he was nominated for the senate, but by reason of the county's being overwhelmingly Repub- lican he failed of election, although he made a gallant fight and greatly reduced the normal majority of the opposition. In February, 1900, Mr. Peever organized the Peever-Gorham Mercantile Company of Sisseton, which was in- corporated with a capital of fifty thousand dol- lars for the purpose of establishing and carry- ing on a general mercantile business, and of which he has since been president and business manager. The company carries full lines of merchandise, demanded by the general trade, owns large and commodious store rooms and does a much more extensive business than any establishment of the kind in the city or county. In addition to this enterprise the subject is president of the First State Bank of Peever, is interested in the Peever Loan Company, and owns a large and valuable farm adjoining Sisse-

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ton, which is operated under his direction. Mr. Peever is one of the wide-awake, energetic men of Roberts county, and his ability to carry on successfully large and important enterprises is attested by the financial prosperity that has crowned all of his undertakings. Mr. Peever is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Ancient Order United Workmen and Masonic fraternities, and in the last named or- ganization he holds the office of treasurer at the present time. His domestic life dates from January 22, 1895, at which time he was united in marriage with Miss Agnes P. Rice, who died in 1897, leaving one child, a son by the name of David B. Subsequently, May 18, 1901, Mr. Peever was united in the bonds of wedlock with Miss Emma E. Schindler, a native of Minnesota, and a sister of the Schindler brothers, of Sissc- ton.

ANDREW D. DARLING, D. D. S., one of the representative dental practitioners of South Dakota, maintaining his residence in the thriving town of Tyndall, is a native of the state of Illinois, having been born in Princeton, Beaver county, on the 19th of September, 1862, a son of William D. and Clara O. (Smith) Darling. and the younger of their two children, his sister. Alice C .. being the wife of James McCartney. of Wyncote, Wyoming. The father of the Doc- tor was born in the state of New York, of stanch Scotch extraction, and when he was a boy his parents removed thence to Illinois, where he was reared to the sturdy discipline of the farm, re- ceiving his education in the public schools.

At the outbreak of the war of the Rebellion he tendered his services in defense of the Union, enlisting as a private in the Ninety-third Illi- nois Volunteer Infantry. At the battle of Look- out Mountain he was suffering an attack of measles but insisted upon taking his place in the ranks and participating in the engagement. When the retreat was made he was too ill to keep in line with his regiment and was captured by the enemy and incarcerated in Andersonville prison, where he died shortly afterward. His

widow subsequently became the wife of John Vanderley, and they became the parents of one daughter, Nellie, who is the wife of Edward W. Carrell, residing near Plano, Illinois. The de- voted mother entered into eternal rest in 1873.

Dr. Darling was reared in the home of his maternal grandparents, in Marion county, Iowa, and his early educational advantages were such as were afforded in the public schools of that lo- cality, while he began to depend upon his own resources prior to attaining his fifteenth year, having thus been the architect of his own for- tunes. For four years he worked as a clerk and general utility boy in a grocery at Pella, Iowa, and at the expiration of this period his employer failed in business and a local buyer offered to purchase the stock and place our subject in charge of the enterprise, but he considered it expedient to refuse the overtures thus made and went to Des Moines, that state, where he secured a clerical position in a leading dry-goods estab- lishment. The sedentary occupation finally made serious inroads on his health and he accordingly determined to remove farther to the west. In the spring of 1892, therefore, he resigned his position and proceeded to western Nebraska, where for the first few months he worked on a ranch, receiving his board in compensation for his services but having in view the recuperation of his energies by the outdoor life. Later he secured a position as bookkeeper for an irrigat- ing company. receiving a nominal salary. In July. 1893, he went to Denver, Colorado, arriv- ing in that city in the midst of the severe finan- cial panic of that year, and there he remained for a period of six weeks, by which time his available financial resources had reached a low ebb, being represented in the sum of twelve dollars. With this capital he purchased a ticket for Omaha, Nebraska, and thence went to Pacific Junction, Iowa, where his elder sister was then living. Shortly afterward he secured a position in an abstract office in Plattsmouth, Nebraska, where he remained until the Ist of March. 1894, when he came to Huron, South Dakota, and entered the dental office of his uncle, Dr. William H. Barker, under whose direction

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he made a careful study of operative and labo- ratory dentistry, continuing to be thus engaged for one year, at the expiration of which he went to Austin, Minnesota, in company with a Huron merchant, whom he assisted in establishing his business in the town mentioned. He remained in Austin until October, 1895, when he was matriculated in the American College of Dental Surgery, in the city of Chicago, the institution being now a department of the Northwestern University, of Evanston, Illinois. Dr. Darling continued his studies in this college for two years and then opened an office in South Chicago, and in 1899 he resumed his studies in the same col- lege, where he was graduated in the spring of 1900. During the last year of his college course he worked at night in his little office in South Chicago, often remaining until the morning hours, and while he was thus able to gain finan- cial success in his chosen profession the dual strain caused a distinct impairment of his health, and he was compelled to remain for a short time in a local hospital, after which he returned to his home in South Chicago for a short rest. The exigencies of his business, however, did not per- mit him to secure the needed quiet and he ac- cordingly removed to South Dakota, taking up his residence in DeSmet, where he passed the winter of 1901, and in the following spring he came to Tyndall. where he has since been actively engaged in the practice of his chosen profession, having built up a large and repre- sentative business and being known as one of the able members of liis profession in the state. Dentistry implies both a science and a mechanic art, and in all phases of the same Dr. Darling is amply fortified for the highest order of work, so that his success has come as a natural sequel, while he has attained distinctive personal popu- larity in his chosen field of endeavor. He gives his allegiance to the Republican party and he is a communicant of the Protestant Episcopal church. Fraternally the Doctor is identified with Capital Lodge, No. 110, Free and Accepted Ma- sons, Des Moines; Iowa, and Des Moines Lodge, No. 68. Knights of Pythias.

On the 11th of July, 1898, Dr. Darling was |

united in marriage to Miss Hattie Sturgeon, of DeSmet, this state, and of their three children two are living, namely: Stephen Foster and Paul Eugene, both of whom remain at the parental home. Mrs. Darling is a communicant of the Catholic church.

CHARLES M. STILWILL, one of the able and successful young members of the bar of the state, established in the practice of his profes- sion at Tyndall, Bon Homme county, was born in Hopkinton, Delaware county, Iowa, on the 8th of November, 1875, being a son of Charles H. and Marion (Kirkwood) Stilwill. His father is now postmaster of Tyndall and is in- dividually mentioned on other pages of this work, so that a recapitulation of the family his- tory is not demanded at this juncture. The subject has passed practically his entire life in South Dakota, since he was a child of about five ycars at the time when his parents removed here from Iowa, and here his early education was received in the public schools, after which he continued his studies in Yankton College. In 1892 he began reading law under the preceptor- ship of James D. Elliott, of Tyndall, United States district attorney at this time, and in 1894 he was matriculated in the law department of the Iowa State University, at Iowa City, where he was graduated in the spring of 1896. After his graduation Mr. Stilwill associated himself with the law firm of Shull & Farnsworth, of Sioux City, Iowa, remaining with this concern until April 1, 1897, when his former preceptor, J. D. Elliott, was appointed United States dis- trict attorney and the subject accepted a part- nership with him, and here he has since remained as a partner to Mr. Elliott, while through his ability and discrimination he has gained dis- tinctive prestige in his chosen profession, to which he gives his undivided attention. In politics he gives an inflexible allegiance to the Republican party and has been an active worker in its cause. For the past four years he has been secretary of the Republican committee at Tyn- dall. He is a member of the Congregational

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church at Tyndall, and is treasurer of the church at the time of this writing, taking a zealous in- terest in all departments of its work. Fra- ternally he is a member of Bon Homme Lodge, No. 101. Free and Accepted Masons, of which he is secretary; and he is also identified with the Ancient Order of United Workmen and the Modern Woodmen of America.

On the 27th of December, 1899, was solem- nized the marriage of Mr. Stilwill to Miss Mary A. McAuley, of Tyndall, and they are the par- ents of three children, Helen C., Ruth M. and Charles Frederick.

JOSEPH ZITKA, cashier of the Security Bank at Tyndall, is a native of Bohemia, where he was born on the 21st of March, 1850, being a son of Joseph and Anna (Riha) Zitka, of whose three children he is the elder of the two surviving, the other being Frances, who is the wife of Charles Vaulk, of Bon Homme county, this state. The father of the subject was a farmer in his native land, where he continued to reside until 1867, when he immigrated with his family to the United States, locating in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where he remained about three years, after which he came as a pioneer to South Dakota, which was then still a portion of the great undivided territory of Dakota. He lo- cated in Bon Homme county, where he took up a homestead claim and again turned his atten- tion to agricultural pursuits. He was a man of energy and excellent business judgment, and through his well-directed efforts he attained a definite success in connection with his industrial enterprise as a pioneer of this state, while he so lived as to command the respect of all who knew him. At the time of his death, which oc- curred in September, 1902, he was a resident of Bon Homme county, South Dakota, and his political faith was that of the Democratic party.

The subject of this sketch received his early educational discipline in his native land, being accorded the advantages of the excellent schools in the vicinity of his home, and being about seventeen years of age at the time of the family's

emigration to the United States. After locating in South Dakota he continued to be associated with his father in his farming enterprises until 1883. a partnership relation having been main- tained. He early became interested in matters of public concern and eventually became a prominent factor in the local councils of the Democratic party, of whose principles and poli- cies he has ever been a stalwart advocate. In 1872 he was elected a member of the board of county commissioners of Bon Homme county and in the ensuing year he was still further honored by being chosen to represent his district in the legislature of the territory, while in 1876 he was again elected a member of the board of county commissioners. In 1883 Mr. Zitka was elected register of deeds of Bon Homme county, having hecome a resident of this county in 1870, and this office he held for three consecutive terms of two years each. In 1889 he was a member of the constitutional convention, at Sioux Falls, which formulated the present ad- mirable constitution of the state. In 1898 he was elected treasurer of Bon Homme county, and thereupon became a resident of Tyndall, the county seat having been removed to this place from Bon Homme in 1885.

In 1889 was effected the organization of the Security Bank in Tyndall and Mr. Zitka was chosen cashier of the new institution, a position of which he has ever since remained incumbent, while his discriminating management of its af- fairs has shown him to be an able executive and through his efforts the institution has become one of the popular and solid ones of the state. He is the owner of about fifteen hundred acres of valuable farming land in Bon Homme county. He and his wife are communicants of the Catholic church and fraternally he is a member of Bon Homme Lodge. No. 101, Free and Ac- cepted Masons.

On the 8th of June, 1877, Mr. Zitka was united in marriage to Miss Mary Bohac, of Crete, Nebraska, and of this union have been horn eight children, concerning whom we enter the following brief record: Hattie is the wife of Frank Chladek, of Hawarden, Iowa; Rose is

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the wife of John Herman, of Tabor, South Da- kota; and Mary, Charles, Anna, Agnes, Fran- ces and George still remain at the parental home, which is a center of refined hospitality.

CHARLES H. STILWILL, the able and popular incumbent of the office of postmaster at Tyndall, is a native of the old Empire state of the Union, having been born in Genesee county, New York, on the 7th of February, 1843, a son of Hiram R. and Melinda (Drake) Stilwill, of whose four children three survive, namely : Kesiah, who is the wife of John P. Dickey, of Cherokee, Iowa; Charles H., subject of this sketch; and John G., who is superintend- ent of the Emma mines, at Alta City, Utah. Hiram R. Stilwill was likewise born in Genesee county, of stanch Holland ancestry, and in his native county he received a good English edu- cation, having been for a number of years a successful teacher in the district schools, while later he gave his attention to the nursery busi- ness. He died of typhus fever, in 1853, at the age of thirty-seven years, our subject having been a lad of ten years at the time. His widow subsequently contracted a second marriage, be- coming the wife of Joseph B. Craft, and of this union was born one child, George H., who is now a resident of Oakfield, New York. The mother was summoned into eternal rest in 1871. Her father. John Drake, was an active partici- pant in the war of 1812. William Stilwill, the paternal grandfather of our subject, was born in Cattaraugus county, New York, whither his parents immigrated from Holland, and there he took up a tract of land in what was commonly known as the Holland Purchase.

Charles H. Stillwill, whose name introduces this sketch, was reared in his native county and received his early educational training in the common schools. In 1865 he severed the home ties and set forth to seek his fortunes in the west. He came to Iowa, arriving in Dubuque the day following the assassination of President Lincoln, and he thence carried the news of this lamentable

tragedy into Delaware county, that state, where he devoted his attention to farm work for the ensuing three years. He was married in 1868 and shortly afterward engaged in the manu- facture of fanning mills, at Hopkinton, Iowa, and one year later he removed to a farm which he had previously purchased, in Delaware county, and there he continued to be engaged in agri- cultural pursuits until the spring of 1879, when he disposed of his farm and came to the terri- tory of Dakota, passing the first summer in Yankton, and arriving in Bon Homme county, on the 7th of September, 1879. For about six- teen months thereafter he served as deputy regis- ter of deeds of the county, and in 1881 he was appointed clerk of the courts, which incum- bency he retained for the long period of eleven years, giving most capable and satisfactory service. Within this time he also gave his at- tention to the real-estate business, becoming one of the leading representatives of this line of en- terprise in this section. He associated himself with G. W. Roberts, of Yankton, and Thomas Thorson, of Canton, in the organization of the Corn Belt Real Estate Association, which has accomplished so great a work in furthering the settlement of the state and the development of its industrial resources. Mr. Stilwill has been called to other offices of public trust, having served as deputy sheriff and as deputy county treasurer, and in all positions he has held the implicit confidence of the people of the county. In 1897 he was appointed postmaster at Tyndall, and in 1902 he received a reappointment under President Roosevelt. He is still largely inter- ested in real estate, owning valuable property in Tyndall and extensive tracts of farming land in the county, and he has done much to promote the general welfare and material progress of this favored section of our great commonwealth. In politics Mr. Stilwill gives an unequivocal al- legiance to the Republican party, and fraternally he is affiliated with Bon Homme Lodge, No. IOI, Frec and Accepted Masons ; Scotland Chap- ter, Royal Arch Masons; Springfield Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fellows; and Tyn- dall Lodge, Knights of Pythias. He is a mem-

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ber of the Congregational church, as was also his devoted and cherished wife.

On the IIth of February, 1868, was solem- nized the marriage of Mr. Stilwill to Miss Marian Kirkwood, of Hopkinton, Iowa, who proved to him a true helpmeet until her death. which occurred on the 12th of March, 1903. She was held in affectionate regard by all who knew her, being a woman of gracious and noble character, and she is survived by her four children, namely: Agnes, who is the wife of James D. Elliott, United States district attorney. residing in Tyndall: Dr. Hiram R., who is a practicing physician in Denver, Colorado; Charles M., who is a well-known attorney of Tyndall, being individually mentioned on another page of this work, and Hayes K., who is bookkeeper in the Security Bank, of Tyndall.

REV. EDWARD M. FIEREK, the able and popular priest in charge of St. Leo's Catholic church in Tyndall, Bon Homme county, is a native of the state of Wisconsin, having been born in Stevens Point, Portage county, on the 13th of October. 1874, a son of August and Johanna (Kropidlowski) Fierek, both of whom were born in Poland, where they were reared and educated, having come thence to the United States about 1873. locating in Wisconsin, where their marriage was solemnized. August Fierek rendered valiant service in the Franco-Prussian war, and he came to America shortly after the expiration of his term of service. After his arrival in Wisconsin he was for a short time engaged in farm work, after which he became identified with railroad work, in which he con- tinued, in various capacities, until about 1898, when he met with an accident which necessitated the amputation of his right leg, and since that time he has lived retired, maintaining his home in Ironwood, Michigan, and still having the companionship of his devoted wife, both being communicants and zealous workers in the Catholic church.

Rev. Father Fierek passed his boyhood days in his native state of Wisconsin, and his early 13-

education was secured in the parochial schools of Stevens Point, after which he took a classical and philosophical course of study in St. Joseph's College, at Dubuque, Iowa. Thereafter his studies were interrupted for an interval of about three years, at the expiration of which he was enabled to carry forward his long cherished plans of preparing himself for the priesthood, entering St. Mary's Seminary, in Cincinnati, Ohio, where he completed his theological course, being graduated in June. 1901, and in Septem- ber of the same year he was ordained to the priesthood, at Sioux Falls, South Dakota, under the episcopal offices of Bishop O'Gorman. Soon after his ordination Father Fierek was assigned to the parish of Sts. Peter and Paul church, in Pierre, as assistant to Father John J. O'Neill, and there he remained until June 15, 1902, when he was sent to his -present charge, where he has gained the affectionate regard of his parishioners and the high esteem of all who know him. Father Fierek is a young man of genial and gracious personality, earnest in the work to which he has consecrated his life, kindly and tolerant in his judgment, and one well adapted to the noble calling to which he has given himself in the full- ness of faith and self-abnegating humility.

PATRICK WILLIAM MCKEEVER, chief of the well-equipped fire department of the city of Sioux Falls, is a native of the state of Illinois, having been born in the city of Dixon, Lee county, on the IIth of January, 1868, and being a son of Patrick and Alice Mckeever, who re- moved thence to St. Louis, Missouri, when he was a mere child, his father being a tailor by vo- cation. The parents are now living in St. Louis, Missouri. The subject passed his early youth in the metropolis of Missouri, and there received the advantages of the parochial and public schools. In 1884, at the age of sixteen years, he left St. Louis, and went to Kentland, Indi- ana, where he served an apprenticeship at the tailor's trade, at which he was employed in various parts of the Union until 1887, when he came to Sioux Falls, where he followed his trade

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History of South Dakota, Vol. II, Part 33

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