History of South Dakota, Vol. II, Part 48

Author: Robinson, Doane, 1856-1946. cn
Publication date: 1904
Publisher: [Logansport? IN] : B. F. Bowen
Number of Pages: 1138

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The subject was reared on the homestead farm in Wisconsin, assisting in its cultivation during his youth and securing his early educa- tional training in the public schools. At the age of seventeen years he left the parental roof and went to Iowa, where he worked on a farm and also learned the carpenter trade, while he there continued his educational work as opportunity presented, continuing to attend school at inter- vals until he had attained the age of twenty years and thus rounding out a good practical edu-

cation, while he continued to reside in Iowa about ten years, at the expiration of which he came to what is now the state of South Dakota, taking up a homestead claim of one hundred and sixty acres in Charles Mix county, where he has ever since maintained his home, having been among the first permanent settlers within its borders. Shortly after coming here he also bought a tree claim of one hundred and sixty acres, adjoining his homestead. He is now the owner of a well- improved and highly cultivated farm of two hundred and forty acres, while he also rents a half section not far distant, the greater portion of the latter being also under cultivation. In ad- dition to raising the cereals and other products best adapted to the soil and climate he has been very successful in the raising of cattle and swine of excellent grade, and his farm always shows a goodly array of live stock. When he came to the county it was practically an unreclaimed prairie, there being few settlers, while the nearest market town to his farm at the time he located thereon was White Lake, forty miles distant. He has not only witnessed but has materially aided in the development of this section of the state, which is now thickly settled, and as a practical and pro- gressive farmer he considers this as good an ag- ricultural district as is to be found in any state in the Union.

In politics Mr. Campbell is one of the leaders in the local ranks of the Democratic party, and in the autumn of 1902 he was elected a member of the board of county commissioners, defeating the Republican candidate by sixty-five votes, which fact indicates his personal popularity in the county, since it has a normal Republican majority of about two hundred and thirty, he having been one of the two candidates on the Democratic county ticket elected at this time. He has been for many years a member of the school board of his district. Fraternally he is identified with the Modern Woodnien of America, holding mem- bership in the lodge at Geddes.

On the 11th of June, 1883, Mr. Campbell was united in marriage to Miss Eva Scott, who was born in the state of Illinois and who is a sister of Mrs. Edward Hemminger, of this

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county. She is a daughter of. William and Catherine Scott, both of whom died in lowa, her father having been a farmer by vocation. She was the youngest in a family of seven children, the others being Erastus, Robert, Edwin, Minerva, Malinda, Ellen and Charles. Mr. and Mrs. Campbell have four children, all of whom remain at the parental home, namely : James W., Zella B., Louise and Byron F.

HERMAN H. NATWICK was born Sep- tember 15, 1859, in Dane county, Wisconsin, and is the son of Henry O. and Elizabeth Natwick, the father for many years a prosperous farmer of that state. Herman H. was reared on the family homestead, where he early formed the habits of industry and studious investigation which have characterized his subsequent career, and after receiving a preliminary education in the public schools, he prosecuted the higher branches of learning for three years in Beloit College. Leaving the latter institution at the age of eighteen, he began the study of law with Judge Miller, of Grant county, Wisconsin, subsequently prosecuting his legal reading and investigation under the direction of Judge Lyons, of La Crosse, in whose office he remained until admitted to the bar in the year 1878.

Mr. Natwick began the practice of his pro- fession the above year, in Brookings, South Da- kota, where he built up a large and lucrative busi- ness, and with the general business and public in- terests of which place he was actively identified until 1890. Meantime, in 1884, he was elected to the territorial council, in which body he served two years, was mayor of Brookings from 1886 to 1888 inclusive, and in addition to these public positions he was for four and a half years register of the land office at Chamberlain, having been ap- pointed to the latter post by President Harrison in 1889. Mr. Natwick took a leading part in the organization of the Co-operative Savings and Loan Association of Brookings, of which he was made attorney and business manager and which was moved from that place to Sioux Falls in June, 1894. Since the latter year it has done

a large and extensive business, being one of the leading enterprises of the kind in the state and managed by men of ability and wide experience, the official roster at this time including the names of the following gentlemen: R. F. Pettigrew, president ; H. H. Natwick, vice-president; C. G. Leyse, secretary, and Hon. A. B. Kittridge, gen- eral counsel.

Mr. Natwick changed his residence from Brookings to Sioux Falls in June, 1894, and since that time has made the latter city his home. In 1900 he was one of the originators of the Cen- tral Banking and Trust Company, of which he has since been president, and more recently he became the possessor of the Sioux Falls traction franchise, with the object in view of soon sup- plying the city with a fully equipped and thor- oughly up-to-date street railway system. Mr. Natwick's progressive spirit has led him to en- gage in various important business and industrial enterprises, including, among others, the Queen Bee Milling Company, the valuable property of which he and other parties purchased in the fall of 1902 and which, under the present efficient management, will ere long be completely re- modelled and put into successful operation. In addition to his extensive law practice and the business concerns noted, Mr. Natwick has large landed and live-stock interests, owning at this time a valuable farm of one thousand acres, six miles from Sioux Falls, which he has stocked with the celebrated Red Polled breed of cattle, and a ranch of two hundred and forty acres on which are some of the finest blooded horses to be found in the state of South Dakota. In the matter of live stock he is quite enthusiastic, being an au- thority on fine grade cattle and blooded horses, in the raising of which he has met with the most encouraging success and from the sale of which he derives no small share of his income. Politically Mr. Natwick wields a potent influence for the Republican party, not only in local af- fairs, but throughout the state, being invariably chosen delegate to state conventions, in which bodies he has served ever since coming to Da- kota, and he has also been honored with seats in national conventions, having been a member of

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the one which nominated Benjamin Harrison for the presidency.

Mr. Natwick is one of the representative men of his city, and few citizens of the state are as widely and favorably known. He stands for pro- gression in all the term implies, has led a very busy life and discharged worthily the duties of every station to which called. Mr. Natwick is a married man, his wife having formerly been Miss Lizzie M. Haskell, a native of Wisconsin. They have had one child, a daughter, Mabel, who was born November 4, 1885, and whose death oc- curred on the 24th day of December, 1901.

CYRUS WALTS is of sturdy German lineage, the name having originally been spelled Walz, and is a native of the state of New York, having been born in Watertown, Jefferson county, on the 24th of March, 1844, being a son of Wil- liani and Louise Walts, both of whom were like- wise born and reared in the Empire state, the respective families having there located in an early day. The subject was reared on a farm and early became familiar with the strenuous toil of tilling the soil, while his educational training in his youth was secured in the common schools of northern New York. This has been most ef- fectively supplemented by personal application and judicious study in later years, as well as by the valuable lessons gained in the great school of experience. He remained identified with farm work until he had attained the age of twenty-two years, when he set forth to seek his fortunes in the west, having arrived in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, in 1869, and having here followed for a number of years his profession of surveyor and civil engineer, for which he had fitted himself while still a resident of New York. In 1872 he was chosen clerk of the United States district court, retaining this position for the long period of fifteen years, and being a valued and trusted official. For fourteen years he was a member of the board of education of Sioux Falls, having been its president for one year and having taken a deep interest in forwarding educational inter- ests here, while for two years he served as county

superintendent of schools. He was admitted to the bar of the territory in 1887, having given much time to the technical reading of the law and having thus fitted himself for the active work of the profession, though he has not practiced di- rectly to any considerable extent. In 1898 he was elected city justice of the peace, and re- elected in 1902, of which office he has since heen incumbent, and in this capacity he has gained a high reputation for fair and impartial rulings. In politics Mr. Walts gives his allegiance to the Republican party. Fraternally he is affiliated with Minnehaha Lodge, No. 5, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons ; of Sioux Falls Chapter, No. 2, Royal Arch Masons; Cyrene Commandery, No. 2, Knights Templar, and El Riad Temple of the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mys- tic Shrine.

On the 15th of May, 1873, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Walts to Miss Mary A. Benton, who was born in the city of Columbus, Ohio, on the 13th of September, 1853, being a daughter of Porter W. and Harriet (Phelps) Benton. She has the distinction of having been the first teacher in the first public school in Sioux Falls, having been thus employed here during a portion of the years 1870-71. Mr. and Mrs. Walts have three children, Charles C., who is now engaged with R. G. Dun & Company Mercantile Agency as assistant manager at Buenos Ayres, South America ; Harriet L., wife of George W. Stearns, managing editor of the St. Louis Globe-Demo- crat, and Hope V., wife of M. J. Gochey, of Du- luth, Minnesota.

HENRY BRANDON, one of the successful farmers of Lincoln county, was born in Norway, on the 29th of September, 1851, and is a son of Peter and Mary Brandon, who emigrated from

1 the fair land of their birth to the United States in 1866, at which time the subject was a lad of fifteen years, his early education having been thus received in the fatherland. The family lo- cated in Fayette county, Iowa, where they re- mained two years, at the expiration of which the father came to South Dakota and took up a tract

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of wild government land in what is now Canton township, Lincoln county, where he was joined by his family in the following year. They came through with a wagon and ox-team, the trip con- suming three weeks, while in the company's out- fit on the journey were sixteen wagons. Peter Brandon built a primitive sod house for the ac- commodation of his family, and seats in the dwelling were provided by digging down the earth along the sides of the interior to a depth of eighteen inches. Later a small log house was built and finally a frame dwelling of more pre- tentious order and signifying the prosperity which was attending the efforts of the sturdy pioneers. The father continued to reside on the homestead until his death, in the autumn of 1881, while his widow passed away in June, 1900, both having been persons of sterling integrity and having been held in high esteem in the county. They were devoted members of the Lutheran church, and in this faith reared their seven children,-two sons and five daughters,-all of whom are well placed in life and a credit to their parents. The subject has had charge of the farm from the time of the arrival of the family in the county and the entire quarter section is under excellent cultiva- tion, yielding good returns for the labors ex- pended. He erected his present substantial residence in 1894, this being the fourth dwelling built on the old homestead. He is a Populist in politics and while taking a deep interest in the advancement of local interests has never been an aspirant for office.

HENRY CLAY ANDRUS is a native of the state of Michigan and a scion of one of its honored pioneer families. He was born in High- land township, Oakland county, on the 26th of September, 1844, being a son of Justus L. and Sarah W. (Smith) Andrus, and as his father was a great admirer of Henry Clay the honored name was given to our subject. Mr. Andrus was reared on the old homestead farm, and his edu- cational advantages were such as the common schools of the time and place afforded. In the spring of 1864, at the age of nineteen years, he

tendered his services in defense of the Union, enlisting as a member of Battery H, First Michi- gan Light Artillery, and joining the command at Chattanooga, Tennessee. He thereafter re- mained in active service until the close of the war. He was an active participant in the ever mem- orable Atlanta campaigns, and later his com- mand came back to Nashville, Tennessee, in pur- suit of Hood's forces, and it remained in that state until the news of the surrender of Lee was received. Mr. Andrus proved a loyal and val- iant young soldier and made a record which will ever redound to the honor of his name. He was mustered out at Jackson, Michigan, July 22, 1865, and then returned to the old home farm in Michigan. He thereafter continued to be actively engaged in agricultural pursuits in his native county until the spring of 1883, when he deter- mined to cast in his fortunes with what is now the state of South Dakota. He came with his family to Aberdeen and shortly afterward took up a homestead claim in what was then New Hope township, his farm being in that portion which was afterward segregated and named Highland township, this title having been suggested by him, in honor of the township in which he was born, in the old Wolverine state. He located on his claim and forthwith began its improvement and cultivation, and today he is the owner of one of the finest farm properties in this favored and attractive section of the state. He not only im- proved the original claim, but also took up tree claims, and the landed estate now comprises two hundred and forty acres, the major portion being under cultivation while the place is equipped with substantial buildings, good fences, an or- chard of apple and plum trees, which are bear- ing each year, and all represent the tangible results of the well directed efforts of the sub- ject of this sketch. He was, however, not satis- fied to thus look only to his personal interests, but from the start evinced a lively public spirit and gave his aid and influence and service in the promotion of all measures and enterprises for the general good. He served for thirteen years as township and school treasurer, and con- tinued to be treasurer of the school board of his

HENRY C. ANDRUS.

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district until his removal to Aberdeen. He took up his residence in this city in November, 1897. having a pleasant home and amidst a host of stanchi friends he is enjoying the rewards of his former toils and endeavors. He is now a mem- ber of the board of education in Aberdeen and is a member of its building committee. Mr. An- drus has ever been a stanch advocate of the prin- ciples and policies of the Republican party, and has been an active worker in behalf of its cause. In 1896 he was' made the nominee of his party for representative in the state legislature, but met the defeat which attended the party ticket in gen- eral throughout the state in that campaign, there being a veritable landslide in favor of the Popu- list party. He is a member of Robert Anderson Post. No. 19. Grand Army of the Republic.

In Highland township, Oakland county. Mich- igan, on the 15th of January, 1867, Mr. Andrus was united in marriage to Miss Amelia Ann Curdy, who was born and reared in the above township, and was a schoolmate of her future husband. Her parents, Thomas and Sarah J. (Lockwood) Curdy, were natives of New York state, from whence they removed to Michigan, and were early settlers of Oakland county, that state, where they continued to reside until their deaths, the father dying March 17, 1898. and the mother on March I, 1904, at Milford. To Mr. and Mrs. Andrus two sons have been born : Er- nest Curdy, who died January 3, 1879, aged nine years, and Horner S., born April 3. 1879.

Mr. Andrus and wife are members of the First Baptist church of Aberdeen, of which he is a deacon, a trustee and superintendent of the Sab- bath school. Mrs. Andrus has ever been active in the different lines of church work, has served for four years as organist, is teacher of the young ladies' class in the Sabbath school, and is president of the Woman's Relief Corps. Mr. Andrus has led a busy and active life, and his work has not been without success. The world is better for his having lived in it, as his endeav- crs have been set to a high standard of citizen- ship, and the communities in which he has re- sided have felt his influence and been benefited. Perhaps his greatest and most beneficial influence

was felt in the pioneer community with which he cast his lot when he came to Brown county, this state. At that time what is now Highland township was without church or Sunday school organization of any kind, and but little, if any, attention was given by the people to the proper observance of the Sabbath day. Sunday was the same as any week day. Aided by a few kindred spirits, Mr. Andrus, in 1884, organized a Sunday school. This was followed in 1892 by the or- ganization of a church, services being held in school houses. The result of this missionary work in Highland township is appreciable today. and Mr. Andrus has his reward in the knowledge that that community stands with any other in the state in regard to law-abiding, religious and God- fearing people. Truly, Mr. Andrus has proven himself a pioneer of South Dakota in the broad- est and best sense of the term.

Mrs. Andrus is one of the pioneer school teachers of Brown county. She received a nor- mal school training in Michigan, and upon com- ing to South Dakota and finding a dearth of school teachers over the country she became a teacher in the district schools of Highland town- ship and taught for nine terms, and then in New Hope township.

Homer A., son of the subject, was educated in the public schools of Aberdeen and at the Agricultural College at Brookings, South Da- kota, where he spent two years. He served as a sergeant in Company F. First Regiment South Dakota National Guard, and then became ser- geant in Company L. Second Regiment, and is now on detail as sergeant major of the regiment. He is a fireman in the employ of the Chicago. Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad Company at Ab- erdeen.

OSHEA A. FOWLER, judge of the police court in the city of Sioux Falls and recognized as a representative member of the bar of the state, is a native of the old Green Mountain state, having been born in the vicinity of the town of Pownal, Housic county, Vermont, on the 25th of April, 1851, and though a pioneer of

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a great state he is yet in the very prime of vigor- ous manhood. When he was but three years of age his parents emigrated from Vermont to Illi- nois, becoming pioneers of that state, where they continued to reside until 1865, when they re- moved to Rochester, Minnesota, passing the re- mainder of their lives in that state, the father having devoted the greater portion of his active life to agricultural pursuits. Judge Fowler se- cured his elementary educational training in the district schools of Illinois. He was about four- teen years of age at the time of the family re- moval to Minnesota, and he continued his studies in the public schools of Rochester, that state, being graduated in the high school in 1869. He then set forth to seek his fortunes in the west, arriving in Sioux Falls, Dakota, on the 22d of December, 1870. Here he worked at whatever employment he could secure, incidentally putting his scholastic attainments to practical test, having successfully taught school in the old barracks of the government military post in 1871 and having been for some time successfully engaged in the pedagogic work in Minnehaha county. In the centennial year. 1876, he went to Sibley, Iowa, where he was for one year employed as clerk in a hotel, later traveling about in the interests of a nursery company until 1880, when he re- turned to Dakota and located in what is now the city of Aberdeen. He erected the first building in the town and opened the same as a hotel, the caravansary being known as the Alpha House. The following spring Judge Fowler disposed of this property and business and became associated with John Hazzard in the erection of a more pretentious hotel, known as the Hazzard House. He disposed of his interest in the property in the ensuing autumn, and his eldest son was the first child born in the town, the date of his nativity having been September 3. 1881. After retiring from the hotel business the subject took up the study of law, under the preceptorship of M. J. Gordon, a pioneer attorney of Aberdeen, continuing to devote his attention to such specific reading for two years, at the expiration of which he establish- ed himself in the practice of his profession at

Frederick, Brown county, also conducting a land and loan business. In this town he also founded the Frederick Herald, the first newspaper in the town, but he soon disposed of the same. He was admitted to the bar in 1884 and in 1886 returned to Sioux Falls, where he engaged in the general practice of his profession and also acted as at- torney for the Insurance Company of Dakota, re- taining this incumbency, with the exception of a brief interval, until the company retired from business. Thereafter he continued to devote his attention to the practice of law until he was called to assume his present office, having gained marked prestige in his profession and had to do with much important litigation. In 1896 he was elected police judge of Sioux Falls, and by suc- cessive re-elections has ever since remained in tenure of the office, having gained a high repu- tation for the expeditious handling of business and for just and impartial rulings. In politics Judge Fowler is a stalwart advocate of the principles and policies of the Republican party, in whose interests he has been an active and zeal- ous worker. Reverting to his labors as a peda- gogue, it may be stated that the Judge taught the first district school established in Minnehaha county, while he has ever continued to take a lively interest in educational affairs. Fraternally he is identified with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.

On the 26th of April. 1880, Judge Fowler was united in marriage to Miss Emma M. Smith, of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and they are the par- ents of three children, James O., Lewis M. and Fannie P.

CASPER KENNEDY, editor and proprietor of the Sisseton Standard, also postmaster of Sis- seton, was born in Aylmer, Ontario, December 5. 1863, and is one of six children, four sons and two daughters, whose parents, James and Phoebe Kennedy, were also natives of Canada. He was reared in the town of Aylmer, received a high- school education there and in 1882 came to Watertown, South Dakota, and accepted a posi- tion on the Courier-News, published by Doane

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Robinson, remaining with that paper until 1892. When the reservation was opened that year he became a citizen of Sisseton and began the pub- lication of the Standard, which is recognized as one of the best and most influential local news- papers in South Dakota, and which under his able management has contributed greatly to the building up of the town. Mr. Kennedy is a politician of much more than local repute, and through the medium of his paper has done much to promote the success of the Republican party in Roberts county and throughout the northeastern part of the state. In recognition of valuable services rendered his party, he was appointed postmaster by President Mckinley in 1898, and has since discharged the duties of the position to the satisfaction of all concerned, proving a ca- pable, accommodating and most obliging public official. Mr. Kennedy is deeply interested in the welfare of the community in which he resides and is untiring in his efforts to advance the in- terests and prosperity of his fellow citizens of Sisseton and Roberts county. He served several years on the local board of education, during | which time the schools of Sisseton were brought to a high standard of efficiency, and he has also given his influence and encouragement to all enterprises making for the public good along so- cial, intellectual and moral lines, as well as in material affairs. Fraternally he is an active worker in the Masonic order, Ancient Order of United Workmen, Modern Woodmen of America and Knights of Pythias, and religiously is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church of Sisseton and deeply interested in all of the con- gregation's activities.

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History of South Dakota, Vol. II, Part 48

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