History of South Dakota, Vol. II, Part 34

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 34

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

1146

HISTORY OF SOUTH DAKOTA.

until 1892, when he engaged in the hotel busi- ness, to which he continued to give his attention, as proprietor of the Winsor and Central hotels, finally leading to his appointment to his present office as chief of the local fire department. He joined the volunteer fire department soon after coming to Sioux Falls, and continued with the same after the department was acquired by the municipal government, his ability and fidelity finally leading to his apopintment to his present position. He is a man of genial nature and enjoys the esteem and confidence of the people of the city, who realize that he is ever watchful of their interests and ever ready to respond to the call of duty in offering protection to life and property. In politics the chief was formerly af- filiated with the Democracy, but at the time of the first nomination of the late lamented Presi- dent Mckinley he transferred his allegiance to the Republican party, of whose principles he has since been a stanch advocate. In 1897-98 he represented the first ward on the board of alder- men of the city. Religiously he is a Catholic, while his fraternal relations are with the Ancient Order of United Workmen.

On the 2d of June, 1900, Mr. Mckeever was united in marriage to Miss Josephine Houser, a daughter of Adam Houser, of Salem, this state, and their pleasant home is one in which a gra- cious hospitality is ever in evidence.

THOMAS J. BUSHELL, junior member of the well-known firm of Roberts & Bushell, pro- prietors of the White Seal cigar factory in the city of Sioux Falls, the largest concern of the sort in the state, is one of the popular and repre- sentative business men of the state, and has been a resident of Sioux Falls for more than a score of years, while for seventeen years he held the position of engineer at the state penitentiary here.

Mr. Bushell is a native of Birmingham, England, where he was born on the 4th of July, 1860, being a son of J. G. and Sarah (Bell) Bushell, who still remain in England, his father being a saddler by vocation. The subject se-

cured his educational training in the excellent schools of his native land, and in the city of Birmingham learned the trade of steam-fitting, having become a skilled artisan in the line prior to his immigration to America. He came to the United States in 1879, in April of which year he located in the city of Milwaukee, Wis- consin, where he was employed at his trade for some time, and later was similarly engaged in the city of Chicago. In 1882 he came to Sioux Falls, under contract with a leading Chicago concern, to take charge of the steam-fitting in the South Dakota penitentiary and the Cataract hotel, and after the completion of the work he was appointed engineer at the penitentiary, where he continued to give most effective service for the long period of seventeen years, at the expiration of which he resigned in order to en- gage in his present line of business. In May, 1902, Mr. Bushell entered into partnership with John H. Roberts, a practical cigarmaker, and organized the firm of Roberts & Bushell, and in the comparatively brief intervening period they have built up a large and prosperous business, their trade ramifying throughout the state, while they manufacture cigars of the highest grade, employing the most skilled workmen and utiliz- ing select stock. Their large and well-equipped factory is located at 328 South Phillips avenue, and the concern figures as one of the important commercial and industrial enterprises of the city, while the members of the firm are known as reliable, wide-awake and progressive business men, commanding the confidence and esteem of all with whom they have dealings.

In politics Mr. Bushell accords an uncom- promising allegiance to the Republican party, in whose ranks he has been for a number of years a most active and effective worker, being promi- nent in the party councils in the state, and being at the present time a representative of Minne- haha county on the state central committee, while for the past several years he has been a delegate to the successive state conventions of his party, as well as to minor conventions. In 1900 he was elected a member of the city council, and was chosen as his own successor in 1902, so that

1147

HISTORY OF SOUTH DAKOTA.

at the time of this writing he is serving his sec- ond term, doing all in his power to further the interests of clean and conservative municipal government and being animated by a distinctive public spirit, so that he proves a valuable mem- ber of the body. He is one of the leading mem- . bers of the Ancient Order of United Workmen in the state, being affiliated with Jasper Lodge, No. 21, and in 1900 and 1901 he had the distinc- tion of serving as department grand master of the order in the state. He is also identified with Sioux Falls Lodge, No. 9. Independent Order of Odd Fellows; and with Sioux Falls Aerie, No. 318, Fraternal Order of Eagles, of which he is president at the time of this writing.

On the 28th of May, 1884, Mr. Bushell was united in marriage to Miss Lena Haugen, a daughter of Otto and Anna Haugen, her father being one of the prominent farmers of Turner county, this state, while she was born in Nor- way. Mr. and Mrs. Bushell have one child, Florence Belle, who was born on the 5th of August, 1889, and who is one of the popular young women in her social circles.

JACOB SCHAETZEL, JR., one of the best known citizens of Sioux Falls, and who has the distinction of having been the first mayor of the city after its incorporation as such, is a native of the state of Wisconsin, having been born on a farm in Washington county, on the 16th of May, 1850, and being a son of Jacob and Kathar- ine (Kissinger) Schaetzel, both of whom were born in Darmstadt, Germany, the father having been a farmer by vocation and having passed the closing years of his life in Freeport, Illinois, where he died in 1899, his devoted wife passing away in 1885, while all of their eight children are living at the present time. After completing the curriculum of the district schools the subject continued his studies in the Lawrence University, at Appleton, Wisconsin. At the age of nineteen years he secured employment as clerk in a store at Freeport, Illinois, where he remained for a period of six years, gaining practical knowledge, which proved of great value to him in his later

and independent business operations. Mr. Schaetzel became one of the pioneers of Min- nehaha county, South Dakota, where he took up his residence on the 22d of February, 1876, set- tling in Sioux Falls, which was at the time a straggling little village of about two hundred and fifty population. In the intervening years he has left an indelible impress upon the civic, industrial and business affairs of the city, county and state, while to him has come a due measure of success as the result of his well-directed en- deavors along legitimate lines of enterprise. For the first few years after his arrival in the state Mr. Schaetzel gave his attention principally to the real-estate and insurance business and to the shipping in of horses, for which he found a ready demand as the tide of immigration set in. For two years he conducted a livery and sales stable in Sioux Falls, and since that time his name has been associated with a large number of important and varied business enterprises, while he has accumulated a competence. He is the owner of valuable property in the city and county and is a stockholder in various industrial and financial concerns, having been at one time a stockholder in the German Bank, and a mem- ber of its directorate. As has been well said of him, "There are no negative elements in his makeup ; he is energetic and enterprising, and is a good citizen."

In politics Mr. Schaetzel accords an uncom- promising allegiance to the Republican party, in whose cause he has been an active worker, being one of the wheelhorses of the party in Min- nehaha county. In 1881, upon the death of Thomas T. Cochran, who has been incumbent of the office, he was elected president of the vil- lage council of Sioux Falls, and forthwith

showed his progressive ideas and strong power of initiative by vigorously agitating the question of securing to the place a charter as a city, its population and commercial prestige at the time entitling its incorporation as such. He called a meeting of the citizens for the consideration of the matter, and within the autumn of that year definite steps were taken toward the accomplish- ment of the desired end, a city charter being

1I48

HISTORY OF SOUTH DAKOTA.

drafted and other necessary preliminary work accomplished. The president of the village then went to the territorial capital and presented the claims of Sioux Falls to the legislature, which duly passed the bill authorizing the incorpor- ation as a city. At the first general election un- der the new charter, in 1882, Mr. Schaetzel was further honored by his fellow citizens by being elected the first mayor of the city, receiving a most gratifying support and continuing in tenure of the office for a term of two years, while he gave a most able, careful and business-like ad- ministration, the burdens imposed upon him in the connection being heavy, as his term of office was one marked by reorganization and readjust- ment in municipal affairs, but his vigorous policy was such that harmony and wise administra- tion marked the course of his official career. He was county commissioner for the fifth district during the years 1893-4-5, and was a very active and influential member of the board, while his aid and influence have at all times been loyally given in support of all measures and under- takings for the advancement of the best interests of the city and state.

On the 7th of September, 1871, Mr. Schaetzel was united in marriage to Miss Catharine Bren- ner, who was born and reared in Washington county, Wisconsin, being a daughter of Peter and Christina (Kissinger) Brenner, both of whom died in Polk, Washington county, Wis- consin. Mr. and Mrs. Schaetzel have two chil- dren, Marie, who is the wife of Ernest D. Skill- man, of Irene, this state, and William A., who is engaged in business at Elk Point. The subject is a member of the Masonic fraternity, in which he has passed the degrees of lodge and chapter.

BENJAMIN L. WALKER, farmer and stock raiser and since 1893 treasurer and tax collector of Lyman county, South Dakota, is a native of Pennsylvania and the son of Ahner and Lucinda (Risling) Walker, now living in Hutchinson county, South Dakota, the father being a retired farmer and stock raiser. Abner Walker moved his family to South Dakota in

1870 and located on a homestead near Yankton, where he lived a few years, subsequently chang- ing his abode to Bon Homme county. He be- came a large land holder and well-to-do farmer and stock raiser in Bon Homme and after ac- quiring a competence moved to the town of Olivet, where, as stated above, he is now passing the evening of a well-spent life in honorable re- tirement. Of his four children all are living.

Benjamin L. Walker was born March 26, 1866, in Bedford county, Pennsylvania, and at the age of four years was brought by his parents to South Dakota, where he grew to maturity and has since lived and in the public school of which he received a fair education. Reared amid the stirring scenes of farm life and early taught the varied duties of agriculture, his train- ing has been mostly of a practical character, ac- quired in the stern school of experience, by com- ing in contact with the world in different busi- ness capacities. The family came to this state when scattering settlements were few and far between, and he experienced his full share of the vicissitudes incident to life on the frontier. He spent his youth on the homestead near Yank- ton, later assisted his father develop and im- prove the latter's land in the county of Bon Homme, and on reaching the age when young men are expected to leave home and form their own plans for the future, he turned his atten- tion to agriculture and stock raising, both of which callings he followed with success and financial profit until 1900, when he was elected treasurer and tax-collector of Lyman county, since which time he has lived in the town of Oacoma, the county seat.

Mr. Walker owns a fine ranch of two hun- dred acres, a part of which is under cultivation, the rest being devoted to live stock, in the prose- cution of which business he has met with most encouraging results, making a specialty of the noted Hereford breed of cattle, for which there is always a strong demand at liberal prices. He has made a number of substantial improvements on his place, having good buildings, including a comfortable and attractive residence, which while he occupied was furnished with all the

1149

HISTORY OF SOUTH DAKOTA.

comforts and conveniences calculated to make rural life desirable. The better to attend to the duties of his office, he changed his residence, shortly after his election, to the seat of justice, where he now has a commodious home and with the material growth and prosperity of which town he has been actively identified. Mr. Walker is one of the leading Republicans of Lyman county, and as an energetic and able counsellor he has contributed greatly to the suc- cess of Republican principles in the county of Lyman and elsewhere.

In the year 1894 Mr. Walker and Miss Leila Brown, of Iowa, were united in marriage, Mrs. Walker's parents at this time being residents of Lyman county, South Dakota. Her father is a farmer and stock raiser, owning a valuable ranch and devoting especial attention, not only to raising cattle and horses, but to the buying and shipping the same, doing a large and thriv- ing business and rapidly becoming one of the wealthy men of the section of country in which he lives. Mr. and Mrs. Walker have an in- teresting family of six children whose names are Loretta, Maude, Edyth, Viola, Ivan and Florence, all living and those old enough at- tending the public schools of Oacoma.

RICHARD L. SMITH is a native of Jen- nings county, Indiana, where he was born on the 26th of April, 1833, being one of the eleven children born to James P. and Eliza A. ( Beech- am) Smith. His father was a farmer and each of the eight sons assisted in the work of the homestead place, while during the winter terms they were able to attend the district schools. At the age of eighteen Mr. Smith proved himself eligible for pedagogic honors, securing a license to teach school. He proved successful in his work as a teacher and devoted his attention to this profession for three successive years, while during this time he relegated the work of the farm to his younger brothers and worked at the carpenter's trade during the summer vacation periods. During this time he was giving as much attention as possible to the study of

medicine, first carrying on his studies under the direction of his older brother, a successful prac- ticing physician, and then passing two years un- der the effective preceptorship of Dr. William F. Riley, of Omega, Indiana, who took a great interest in the young man and aided him in more ways than one. The subject, during this time, made his home with his preceptor and in the fall of 1855 he obtained from Dr. Riley a certificate of qualification which enabled him to practice medicine under the laws of Indiana. After a short time he removed to Illinois, being engaged in practice at Decatur for two years and then taking up his residence in Salem, that state, while in the following year he entered the office of Dr. Stephen F. Mercer, of that place, and devoted two years to a systematic review of his professional studies.

At the outbreak of the Rebellion Dr. Smith was among the first to tender his services in defense of the Union. On May 9, 1861, he en- listed as a private in Company G, Twenty-first Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and for the ensuing four years and nine months the history of his regiment is coincident with his personal career as a valiant and loyal soldier. He participated it many of the most important battles incident to the progress of the great fratracidal conflict, his regiment being for the greater portion of the time a part of the Army of the Cumberland, and it was his good fortune to escape wounds and sickness, while he never asked for or received a furlough or a leave of absence. He was always present for active duty or for detached service and his fidelity and zeal never wavered during the long and arduous service which he rendered in behalf of the nation's honor and integrity. He was made first lieutenant of his company in Oc- tober, 1862, prior to the battle of Stone River, in which he was an active participant. He was promoted to captain after the capture of Atlanta in 1864 and received his honorable discharge, at Springfield, Illinois, on the 6th of February, 1866.

After the close of his military service Dr. Smith returned to his former home, in Marion county, Illinois, for the purpose of securing a

1150

HISTORY OF SOUTH DAKOTA.

much needed rest, and there he purchased a farm, which he operated by proxy. In 1868 he made a vigorous campaign for the office of clerk of the circuit court, and he states that in the connection he was "defeated by a respectable majority." In June, 1869, he was appointed by President Grant as superintendent of Indian schools for the northwest, Nez Perces, of Idaho; Shoshones, of Wyoming; and Red Clouds, of South Dakota, resigning in February, 1872. In October, 1872, Dr. Smith entered the employ of the great publishing house of Lippincott & Com- pany, of Philadelphia, and was assigned the man- agement of their educational department for the northwest. In the following year he was ap- pointed steward of the Illinois state prison, at Joliet, retaining this office until 1874, after which he devoted his attention to his profession until 1882, when he came to South Dakota and took up a claim in township 113, range 70, Hand county, where he has ever since maintained his home and where he has developed and improved a valuable farm of six hundred and forty acres. Five acres of his ranch are under cultivation and the remainder is devoted to the raising of hay and to grazing purposes. He raises an excellent grade of live stock, giving special attention to the breeding of horses, in which he has met with marked success. He has not been actively engaged in the practice of his profession for a number of years, but still takes a deep interest in the science and keeps in touch with the advances made in the same.

Dr. Smith has been an active factor in public affairs ever since coming to the territory and the state of South Dakota can find no one more loyal to its interests than is he. He has been a stanch supporter of the principles of the Re- publican party from the time of its organization. He was the first superintendent of schools for Hand county and a member of the first state constitutional convention, and in 1891 he was elected a member of the board of county com- missioners of Hand county, serving three years, during the last of which he was chairman of the board. In 1892 he was the nominee of his party for the state senate, but met the defeat which

attended the ticket in general throughout the state. In 1902 he was elected to represent his district in the lower house of the legislature, serving during the ensuing general assembly with marked ability and to the satisfaction of his constituents who had honored him by their preferment. He was chairman of the committee on public health and also a member of the im- portant committees on ways and means and edu- cation. In March, 1902, the Doctor was made the recipient of a beautiful gold-headed cane, which was presented by the Aberdeen District Medical Society, in recognition of his valuable services as chairman of the house committee first mentioned. The Doctor is a member of Masonic fraternity and of the State Historical Society. In religious matters he is liberal and tolerant, having the deepest respect for the es- sential spiritual verities.

On the 15th of July, 1872, Dr. Smith was united in marriage to Miss Emma D. White, of Iuka, Illinois. She was born in Bond county, Illinois, and is a daughter of Robert F. White, who was an honored pioneer of Illinois. Dr. and Mrs. Smith have two sons, Lawrence N. W., born in prison, Joliet, Illinois, April 6, 1874, and who is now on the home farm, and Clarence I. W., who was born in Marion county, Illinois, December 7. 1876, and is also on the home farm.

LIZZIAM ARCHAMBEAN, who resides in the pleasant village of Geddes, Charles Mix county, is of English extraction and was born in Canada, in the year 1833, being there reared to the age of seventeen years and securing limited educational advantages in his youth, while he has been dependent upon his own re- sources from his boyhood days and is worthy of the honored American title of self-made man. At the age noted he located in the lumbering dis- trict of Wisconsin, where he secured employ- ment in rafting logs down the Wisconsin river, working in the great timber forests during the winter months. He remained in Wisconsin about four years and then went to St. Louis,

1151

HISTORY OF SOUTH DAKOTA.

where he met a fellow countryman, with whom he remained some time, having been employed in the city and vicinity for two and one-half years, at the expiration of which he went down the Mississippi river to Vicksburg, Mississippi, where he remained one year. He then made the trip up the Mississippi and Missouri rivers into the territory of Dakota, arriving here in the year 1859. He found employment for two years at Fort Randall, and he then began to contract for the cutting of logs for use at the garrison, and also got out considerable timber for use in the building of boats. The white settlers were few and far between during those early years, and the great plains were swept by great herds of buffaloes, while elk, deer and bears roamed about almost unmolested, save as hunted by the Indians. In 1862 Mr. Archambean was united in marriage to Miss Adaline Vassor, and they are the parents of ten children, Battia, Joseph, Mary, Julia, Moses, Louis, Annie, Adeline, Josie and Sophia. Mr. Archambean began farming in South Dakota as early as the year 1867, and he is at the present time the owner of two hun- dred and forty acres of land, of which eighty acres are under effective cultivation, while the remainder is utilized principally for grazing purposes. He rents the farm and is living prac- tically retired in Geddes. He is a stanch ad- herent of the Democratic party, and served for some time as road overseer, and both he and his wife are communicants of the Catholic church.

MARTIN HARRIS, of Clark, Clark county, is a native of the old Buckeye state, having been born in Portage county, Ohio, on the 2d of De- cember, 1831, and he is a son of Hosea and Caroline (Skinner) Harris, the former of whom was born in the state of New York and the lat- ter in Massachusetts, while both families were early founded in America. The father of the subject removed to Ohio in the pioneer era in that state, and there passed the remainder of his life, having been a mason by trade and vocation. Both he and his wife were persons of lofty integ-

rity, living earnest and worthy lives. Of their four children one is now living, the subject of this review, he having been the second in order of birth. His mother died when he was a lad of twelve years, and his father passed to his final rest about six years later.

Martin Harris remained at the parental home until the same was broken up by the death of his mother, having in the meanwhile secured such advantages as were afforded in the common schools of his native county. At the age of twelve years he became largely dependent upon his own resources, and thus began the stern bat- tle of life when a mere boy. He was employed at farm work for several years, and then learned the carpenter trade, as well as that of cabinet- making, while thereafter he was employed as a builder and in car shops, learning to be a skilled draftsman in the meanwhile. About 1866 he purchased a farm in Geauga county, Ohio, de- voting his attention to its cultivation about seven years, after which he was similarly engaged in Marshall county, Indiana, until he came to South Dakota. In 1885 he disposed of his farm in the Hoosier state, and came to Dakota territory, lo- cating in Clark county, where he has ever since resided. He took up two hundred acres of gov- ernment land, in Merton township, and reclaimed the same from its primitve condition, making it a fertile and productive farm, while to the orig- inal claim he added until he was the owner of a well-improved ranch of two hundred acres, equipped with high-grade buildings, in distinct contrast to those which he built upon first com- ing to the county, for his original dwelling was a primitive sod house. Mr. Harris devoted him- self zealously and indefatigably to the cultiva- tion and improvement of his land, and with the passing of the years gained a competency, which enables him to pass the evening of his life in that quiet and dignified repose which constitute the just reward for his long years of earnest toil and endeavor. In the spring of 1901 he disposed of his farm and purchased a good residence property in the county seat, where he has since lived retired from active business. In politics Mr. Harris was formerly a Republican, but in

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of South Dakota, Vol. II, Part 34

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