History of South Dakota, Vol. II, Part 44

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 44

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).

Jacob H. Cole acquired his preliminary edu- cation in the public schools of his native town and later took a course in the local college, in which excellent institution he was graduated as a member of the class of 1880, receiving the de- gree of Bachelor of Arts and one of the Master of Arts three years later. In the fall of 1881 he

entered the law department of Drake University, in the city of Des Moines, and there completed the prescribed technical course and was gradu- ated in 1882, being simultaneously admitted to the bar of the state. In the spring of the follow- ing year he came to South Dakota and took up his residence in Miller, where he has ever since been engaged in the practice of his profession, being known as an able and skillful trial lawyer and discriminating counsellor and retaining a cli- entage of representative order. While he has been an active worker in the ranks of the Re- publican party, to which he gives an unwavering allegiance, he has never sought any office, but in the fall of 1902 he was by acclamation made the candidate of his party for the office of state's attorney, being elected by a gratifying majority and entering upon the discharge of his official duties in January, 1903. He is eminently quali- fied for the office and his labors as prosecutor can not fail to redound to the best interests of the people through the conservation of justice.

EDWARD J. MURPHY, the local represent- ative of the Mississippi Lumber and Coal Com- pany at Bristol, Day county, was born in Wash- ington county, Wisconsin, on the 29th of March, 1858, being a son of John and Bridget Murphy, who are now deceased. He attended the public schools of his native county and as a youth learned the art of telegraphy. At the age of twenty-one years he was given a position as tele- graph operator on the line of the Chicago, Mil- waukee & St. Paul Railroad in Iowa and Min- nesota, where he remained until the spring of 1883, when he was made operator of this system at Summit, on the Sisseton Indian reservation in what is now a part of South Dakota. He was thus identified with railroad work of this nature in the employ of the company mentioned for a period of about seven years, at various points in Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota and South Da- kota. In 1883 he took up a homestead claim in Valley township, Day county, this state, and since that year has consecutively maintained his home in this county, being one of its early settlers and

I206

HISTORY OF SOUTH DAKOTA.

one who is well known and highly esteemed in the community. He proved up on his claim in due course of time, and still retains the same in his possession, while he also has two other ad- joining farms in the county, all being located within a short distance of the village of Bristol, where he has resided since 1901, having become the local agent of the Mississippi Lumber and Coal Company at the time of its organization, in 1901, and having ably and successfully managed its business here. He had previously given his attention to farming and stock growing for a period of eight years. Mr. Murphy was one of those prominently concerned in securing the incorporation of the Day County Co-operative Creamery Association, of which he was secretary for two years, the enterprise having proved very successful. In politics he maintains an independ- ent attitude, having followed the reform move- ment. In 1885 and 1886 he served as a member of the board of county commissioners, while he has ever shown a deep interest in educational matters and in all else that has tended to con- serve the advancement and prosperity of the community, having held various local and school offices. He has erected two houses in Bristol, and in point of consecutive residence here he is now one of the oldest citizens, there being but two or three others now here who had anticipated his location in the village. He is a member of Andover Lodge, No. 115, Ancient Order of United Workmen.

In this county, in August, 1886, Mr. Murphy was united in marriage to Miss Alice Larkin, who was born and reared in Green Lake county, Wisconsin, and they have two children, Edward J. and Mary Alice.

ALFRED TENNESON, late member of the firm of Tenneson & O'Leary, dealers in general merchandise in the village of Albee, is a native of Norway, where he was born on the Ist of Jan- uary, 1873, being a son of Tennes and Johannah Tenneson. who became the parents of five sons and two daughters, six of whom are living. The subject secured his early educational training in

the schools of his native place, his father having there been engaged as a merchant and ship owner. and when he was a lad of ten years he accom- panied his parents on their emigration to Amer- ica, the family locating in the city of Minneapolis, Minnesota, where he attended the public schools and later completed a course in the Archibald Business College, in that city, being' graduated as a member of the class of 1887. In the fol- lowing year he came to South Dakota and located in Grant county, where he was employed in the lumber and hardware business of his brother, A. T. Tenneson, until 1892, when he returned to Minneapolis, where he was employed for one year as bookkeeper for the Standard Sash and Door Company. In 1894 he returned to Grant county and became associated with his brother, A. F., in the general merchandise business in Albee, the firm having erected a commodious store building in 1896, in which year he pur- chased the interest of his brother in the enter- prise and forthwith formed a partnership with Daniel O'Leary, under the firm name of Alfred Tenneson & Company. They continued to be thus associated, J. E. Turback becoming a part- ner under the name of Tenneson, O'Leary & Company, until January 1, 1904, when the firm was dissolved. Mr. Tenneson also had the dis- tinction of being postmaster of the town, hav- ing been appointed to the office in 1894 and hav- ing remained incumhent of the same ever since that time. In politics he is a stanch Republican. Fraternally he is identified with the Modern Woodmen of America, in Albee.

On the 21st of July, 1895, Mr. Tenneson was united in marriage to Miss Amanda Petrick, who was born in Wisconsin, being a daughter of William Petrick, who was a successful farmer of Grant county, this state, at the time of his death, which occurred July II, 1902. Mr. and Mrs. Tenneson have one child, Francis A.

CARL J. GUNDERSON, the capable and popular young manager of the Union lumber yards at Irene, Turner county, is a native of Norway, where he was born on the 30th of No-

I207

HISTORY OF SOUTH DAKOTA.

ber, 1876, being a son of Hans Gunderson, who came with his family to America in 1882, so that the subject of this sketch has been reared under the influences of our national institutions. The family came to South Dakota in 1883 and lo- cated in Spring Valley, Turner county, where the father provided a home and turned his atten- tion to farming and stock growing until June 20, 1885, when death called him away. Carl J. received such advantages as were afforded in the country schools in the vicinity of his home and continued to assist in the work of the farm until he had attained the age of fourteen years, when he began an apprenticeship at the carpenter's trade, becoming a capable workman and contin- uing to follow this vocation to a greater or less extent for the ensuing ten years. On the Ist of March, 1903, he was chosen manager of the Union lumber yards in Irene, and in this ca- pacity has given most efficient service, while he has so ordered his course as to gain and retain the confidence and respect of all with whom he has come in contact, and is known as an ener- getic and progressive young business man. In politics he gives his support to the Republican party, and both he and his wife are members of the Norwegian Lutheran church.

On the 6th of March, 1901, Mr. Gunderson was united in marriage to Miss Emma Bruget, who was born in Yankton county; this state, on the 7th of April, 1878, being a daughter of Jor- gen and Olina Bruget, who were numbered among the first settlers in the Mission Hill dis- trict of the county. Mr. and Mrs. Gunderson have two children, Olive and Esther.

HARRY E. JONES, cashier of the Bank of Revillo, Grant county, was born in Owatonna, Minnesota, on the 23d of November, 1866, and is a son of Robert E. and Emily K. (Noyes) Jones, the former of whom was born in Ohio and the latter in Vermont. His father located in Minne- sota about 1866, and a few years later removed to Humboldt, Iowa, where he was engaged in the hotel business until 1880, when he came to South Dakota as one of the early settlers of Grant

county and was one of the founders of the village of Revillo, where he operated a hotel and served as postmaster for a few years. He was one of the influential and honored citizens of the county, being public-spirited and progressive and taking an active interest in the development and material advancement of the county and state. He died in Revillo on the 13th of March, 1903, at the age of seventy years, and his devoted wife sur- vives him. They celebrated their golden wedding anniversary on Thanksgiving day, 1902. The Jones family is of Welsh descent, the paternal grandparents of the subject being both born and reared in Wales. The Noyes family is of Eng- lish lineage, and the original representatives in America came over in the historic "Mayflower," while the name has ever since been one of prom- inence in the annals of New England. Robert E. and Emily K. Jones became the parents of five sons and one daughter. John F. is engaged in the grocery business in Revillo; Albert D. is president of the Bank of Revillo; Herbert I. is an engineer at Los Angeles, California ; Evan died at the age of thirty years at Revillo, where he was a partner with his brother, J. F .; Grace died in childhood in Iowa ; and Harry E.

Harry E. Jones was. about five years of age at the time of removal from Minnesota to Hum- boldt county, Iowa. He later attended school at Milbank, South Dakota, having been eighteen years old at the time of the removal to this state. He attended Marion Business College, in St. Paul, where he was graduated in 1888. Imme- diately thereafter he became associated with his brother Albert in the establishment of a private bank at Revillo, while in 1891 it was incorpo- rated as a state bank. It is one of the solid finan- cial concerns of the state and does an excellent business, its affairs being conducted upon a basis of ample capital and the best of executive man- agement. In 1904 the present fine brick building, seventy by fifty feet in dimensions, was completed, while a portion of the building is occupied by the hardware establishment of Jones Brothers, of which Albert D. and the subject are the interested principals. They also are prominently identified with the agricultural and stock-growing indus-

I208

HISTORY OF SOUTH DAKOTA.

try, owning twenty-five hundred acres of fine land in this county. Their success is the more gratifying from the fact that it is the result of their own efforts. When Harry came to the state his financial resources were represented in the sum of one dollar, having given up one of the original two dollars which represented his pat- rimony, in order to keep a prized bird dog which he brought with him. He read law under the preceptorship of Judge Keeler, of Milbank. and was admitted to the bar of the state in 1889. In politics he is a stanch adherent of the Repub- lican party, and fraternally is identified with the Ancient Order of United Workmen, of which he has been recorder from the time of the insti- tution of the lodge, in 1897. He and his wife are members of the Congregational church, he serving as treasurer.

On the Ist of June, 1889, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Jones to Miss Maude Dunbrack, who was born and reared in Hennepin county, Minnesota. Mr. and Mrs. Jones have six chil- dren, namely : Robert D., Verna N., Alta Maude, Evan R., Marguerite E. and Lucille Marie.

DANIEL O'LEARY, one of the prominent young business men and popular citizens of Al- bee. Grant county, being a member of the mer- cantile firm of O'Leary & Cahill, comes of stanch old Irish stock and is a native of Watford, prov- ince of Ontario, Canada, where he was born on the 21st of February, 1871. He is a son of James and Johanna (Ring) O'Leary, both of whom were born in the Emerald Isle, whence they came to America when young, while both are now deceased. Of the ten children all are living except one, the subject of this review hay- ing been the youngest in order of birth.

Daniel O'Leary received his early educational discipline in the public schools of his native prov- ince, continuing his studies until he had attained the age of seventeen years, after which he devoted his attention to various pursuits until 1804. when, as a young man of twenty-three years, he came to South Dakota and cast in his lot with the peo- ple of the state. He located in Albee and was

here engaged in the buying of grain until 1896, when he became a member of the firm of Tenne- son, O'Leary & Company, the other interested principal in the enterprise being Alfred Tenne- son, concerning whom individual mention is made on another page of this work. This firm was dis- solved January I, 1904, since when he has been associated with John C. Cahill, general hardware, implements and grain. The subject is essentially an alert and public-spirited citizen, and takes a deep interest in local affairs, especially in the ad- vancement of the thriving town of which he is a resident. He accords allegiance to the Repub- lican party, and while he has never been an aspir- ant for public office he has been loyal to the duties of citizenship and has served for a number of years as a member of the local school board, being a zealous worker in the cause of popular education and aiming to secure the best possible advantages in this line for his home town. He is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Modern Woodmen of America. being affiliated with the local organizations of the same. January 1. 1904, Mr. O'Leary received the appointment of postmaster of Albee.

On the 5th of November. 1896. in Albee, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. O'Leary to Miss Elizabeth Cahill, a daughter of John and Mar- garet Calıill and a sister of his partner, the fam- ily being one of prominence in Grant county. Mr. and Mrs. O'Leary have three children, namely : Frank J., Roy K. and Elmer W.

JOHN C. CAHILL, one of the represent- ative young business men of Grant county, late manager of the Northwestern Elevator at Albee, was born in Sibley, Osceola county, Iowa, on the 28th of May, 1873, his parents, John and Mar- garet (Quirk) Cahill, having removed to that state from Wisconsin, while shortly after his birth they took up their residence in Minneapolis, Minnesota, whence they later removed to Fox Lake, Wisconsin, and in 1889 removed to Da- kota, near Albee. His father died in February, 1901, as the result of disease which was the se- quel of injuries received during his services in

I 209

HISTORY OF SOUTH DAKOTA.

the war of the Rebellion. The mother of the subject is still living and resides with her chil- dren in Albee. After completing the curriculum of the public schools in Fox Lake, Wisconsin, the subject engaged in teaching in the schools of Grant county, whither he came with the other members of the family in 1889. He gained not little prestige in educational circles in this section, continuing to be actively engaged in teaching until 1896, when he accepted a position as grain buyer for the Northwestern Elevator Company, and was made manager of the elevator of the company at Albee, which position he occupied till January, 1904. In addition to the position noted he also owned a feed mill and wood yard in the village for three years. Since January I, 1904, he has, in company with D. O'Leary. oper- ated a hardware, machinery and grain business at Albee. It is gratifying to note that Mr. Ca- hill has been accorded preferment and distinction by his election to the office of president of the village council, of which position he is incumbent at the time of this writing, having been chosen at the incorporation, which was effected in 1902. In politics he is aligned as a stalwart advocate of the principles of the Republican party, and fra- ternally is affiliated with Jefferson Lodge, No. 114, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and Albee Camp, No. 3265, Modern Woodmen of America.

On the 17th of June, 1897, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Cahill to Miss Charlotte Morback, who was born in Iowa county, Wis- consin. Mr. and Mrs. Cahill have a winsome little daughter, Hazel Irene. They are promi- nent in the social life of the community and their pleasant home is a center of refined hospitality.

JAMES EWING was born in Washington county, Illinois, on the 22d of January, 1862, and is a son of Samuel and Martha (Lackey) Ewing. They had nine children : Maggie, Mary, Susan, James, John, Cora, Thomas, Martha and Mamie. The father carried on farming in Illinois for twelve years and then turned his attention to the manufacture of brick and also did a general

contracting business in that line. Both he and his wife have now passed away.

In the common schools of his native state James Ewing acquired a fair knowledge of the branches of English learning usually taught in such institution. He accompanied his parents on their removal from Illinois to Colorado, where he resided for four years, at the end of which time he went to Kansas, remaining there a year. He next located in Missouri, where he spent about four years and afterward remained for a similar time in Texas. On leaving the south he made his way to Nebraska, where he lived for two years and thence came to South Dakota. In all these various localities he purchased land and then sold his property at a large profit. The year 1886 witnessed his arrival in this state and he first purchased one hundred and twenty acres of land, of which he became the owner in 1896. Two years afterward he bought an additional tract of forty acres and again when two years had passed he bought a similar amount. When another year had gone by he purchased one hun- dred and sixty acres near the town of Yankton and upon this tract he now resides, while the remainder of his land is rented, bringing to him a good income. On his home place he is carrying on general farming and stock raising and his life record presents a prosperous career, his advance- ment in the business world having been gained through untiring diligence, perseverance and through the capable management of his affairs.

On the 28th of October, 1886, Mr. Ewing was united in marriage to Miss Edith Grant, of Yankton, who was born in Canada and was a daughter of Royal and Jane (Schooler) Grant. Her father died when she was but a year old and her mother afterward removed from Canada to Illinois in 1865 and there became the wife of H. A. Dunham, now a prosperous farmer of Yankton county. Her mother died in 1893. Mr. and Mrs. Ewing have seven children: Maude, Leila, Pearl, Mabel, Laura, Lyle and Thelma, aged respectively fifteen, fourteen, twelve, nine, seven, five and two years. The family circle yet remains unbroken by the hand of death and Mr. Ewing is devoted to the interests of this happy

1210

HISTORY OF SOUTH DAKOTA.

household, finding his own happiness in adminis- tering to the welfare and comfort of his devoted and loving wife and children.

In his political affiliations Mr. Ewing is an earnest Republican, never faltering in his al- legiance to the party when questions of state and national importance are involved, but at local elections, when no issue is before the people, he votes independently. Mr. Ewing was reared in the belief of the Presbyterian denomination, al- though he is not at present a member of any church. His worth as a man and citizen are widely acknowledged and Yankton county num- bers him among its valued representatives, re- specting him for what he has accomplished and entertaining for him the warm regard which is ever the logical sequence of genuine personal worth.

CHARLES BOYD FONCANON, who is engaged in the real-estate and loan business in Eureka, and who is a member of the board of commissioners of McPherson county, was born in Millard. Missouri, on the 22d of April, 1869. being a son of Michael B. and Julia S. (Beatty) Foncanon, both of whom were born in Fairfield county, Ohio. the former tracing his lineage to the sturdy Holland Dutch stock which settled in the state of New York in the colonial epoch of our national history, while the maternal an- cestry is of Scotch-Irish extraction, the original progenitors in America having come hither in the middle of the eighteenth century and having served with the Pennsylvania troops in the war of the Revolution. The parents of the subject removed to Missouri prior to the war of the Re- bellion, having been a resident of the state during the days when it was the center of the border warfare, while the father served as a valiant sol- dier in defense of the Union, having been a mem- ber of the Seventh Missouri Volunteer Cavalry during the war. Charles B. Foncanon received his early education in the public schools of his native place, later attended the North Missouri State Normal School, at Kirksville, in which he was graduated as a member of the class of 1890,

and thereafter he took a special course in the Missouri State University. After leaving col- lege he was for two years superintendent of the public schools at La Plata, Missouri, and in 1894 he came to Eureka, South Dakota, where he was for four years principal of the schools. and in 1898 he was elected superintendent of schools for McPherson county, retaining this incumbency four years, at the expiration of which he established himself in his present line of en- terprise, noted in the initial paragraph, being one of the successful real-estate dealers of this section of the state and also making a specialty of finan- cial loans on real-estate security of approved or- der

Mr. Foncanon is a stanch advocate of the principles of the Republican party, and in the fall of 1902 he was elected county commissioner from the fifth district of McPherson county, in which capacity he is now serving. He is identi- fied with the National Guard of the state, being adjutant of the First Battalion of the First Regi- ment, with the rank of first lieutenant. Frater- nally he is identified with Eureka Lodge, No. 58, Knights of Pythias ; Acacia Lodge, No. 108, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons : Batchelder Lodge of Perfection, No. 6; South Dakota Con- sistory, No. 4. Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite, at Aberdeen, and El Riad Temple of the Mystic Shrine, at Sioux Falls.

On the 18th of June, 1900. was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Foncanon to Miss Ottilia M. Hinz, who was born in Manchester, Wisconsin, November 12, 1879, being a daughter of Louis and Minerva Hinz. Mr. and Mrs. Foncanon have a winsome little daughter, Vivian Maurine, born May 4. 1901.

CHRISTOPH GUENTHNER was born in Crimea, southern Russia, on the 25th of April, 1853, but comes of stanch German lineage, since his grandparents on both the paternal and ma- ternal sides were natives of the kingdom of Wurtemberg, Germany, whence they removed to southern Russia, the father of the subject hav- ing been born in Russia, and his wife was born

12II

HISTORY OF SOUTH DAKOTA.

after the removal of her parents to the same dis- trict in Russia. Christoph Guenthner is one of the ten children born to Jacob and Katharine (Meyer) Guenthner, and of this number five are now living, namely : Elizabeth, who is the wife of Wilhelm Roth, of southern Russia ; Jacob, who resides in Bridgewater, South Dakota ; George A. and Mat, who are likewise residents of that place ; and Christoph, who is the subject of this re- view. The father was a successful farmer in Russia and was prominent in public affairs in his district, his death there occurring when he was fifty-two years of age. His widow died at the age of eighty years, in Bridgewater South Da- kota.

Christoph Guenthner was reared to maturity in his native province, growing up under the sturdy discipline of the farm and securing a com- mon-school education. In 1874, in company with his brother Jacob, he emigrated to the United States, making the present state of South Da- kota his ultimate destination. Both brothers took up homestead claims in Hutchinson county, five miles southwest of the present town of Freeman, and in the following year they were joined by their widowed mother and brothers George and Mat. each of whom took up land in the same locality as has the subject. Mr. Guenthner con- tinued to devote his attention to the improvement and cultivation of his farm during the ensuing seven years, at the expiration of which, in 1882, he came to the newly founded village of Free- man, where he established himself in the hard- ware and implement business, in which he suc- cessfully continued for nearly a score of years, building up a large and prosperous enterprise. In 1901 he disposed of his interests in this line and purchased the general merchandise business of the firm of Dobler & Buechler, while in the same year he also secured a half interest in the only drug store in the town, with both of which concerns he has since been identified. His gen- eral store is well equipped in each department and is one of the leading establishments of the sort in the county, controlling a large trade throughout the tributary territory.

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 44

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