History of South Dakota, Vol. II, Part 55

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 55

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JAMES McQUILLEN, of Lead, was born on August 15, 1843, at Jackson, Michigan, where his parents, Nicholas and Elizabeth (Riley) Mc- Quillen, settled on their arrival in this country from Ireland, where they were born and reared.

They came to America in 1826, and believing there was greater opportunity for enterprise and thrift in the unsettled West than in the East, pro- ceeded at once to the territory of Michigan and, accepting the hard conditions of life in the wilder- ness, began to build a home and win an estate by hard work and stern endurance of every pri- vation. The father was a mechanic and found his skill in great demand in the new country. The son was reared to the age of eighteen in his native place and was educated in its schools. In 1861, fired with the same spirit of adventure and self-reliance that had impelled his parents, he made a trip to California by way of New York and Cape Horn, and on arriving at his destination after a tedious and perilous voyage he engaged in prospecting and mining. He was at Sacramento when the presidential election of 1864 took place, and there he cast his vote for Mr. Lincoln's electors. He remained in Cali- fornia and Nevada until 1872, all the while con- nected with the mining industry, then returned to Michigan and secured employment in the copper mines around Lake Superior. Six years were passed in that region and occupation, and in the early part of 1878 he left for the Black Hills, where he was destined to find his future home, arriving in April. In July following he began an engagement with the Homestake Mining Coni- pany, which has continued until now, and he is now one of the oldest of that company's em- ployees in continuous service. When he began to work for this corporation it had no mills, but one was erected during the same month that his work there began. He was assigned to the amalgamating department of the work, and with this he has been connected ever since. For ten years he has been night foreman of the stamp mills of the Homestake Company and by his fidelity and conscientious and intelligent perform- ance of his important duties he has won a high place in the regard of his employers and the men in the mill. He has been careful of his earnings, investing them judiciously in mining property and other real estate, and he now has valuable possessions in each. His mining interests are very promising, and can hardly fail to be of great

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value in tinie. He stands well in the community, and takes an active and serviceable interest in every phase of its advancement. He belongs to the United Workmen, and he and his family are members of the Catholic church.

On July 18, 1880, at Houghton, Michigan, Mr. McQuillen was married to Miss Katie Hal- loran, a native of that state. They have one daughter, Katie, who was born at Lead and is now the wife of Herbert Richardson.

CHARLES K. WEEDON. of Central City, is a native of Columbiana county, Ohio, where he was born on November 23, 1835, and is the son of James and Nancy (Mankin) Weedon, who was born and reared in Virginia. They settled in that portion of Ohio when it was on the wild frontier, and there they established a home and developed a good farm, remaining until 1843, when they moved to Wayne county, Illinois. There the father took up a homestead and again began to redeem the virgin soil from its wildness and make it fruitful with the prod- ucts of cultivated life. The parents remained in that county until death ended their labors; and there also the son grew to manhood and was educated in the district schools near his home and at the high school in Fairfield, the county seat. After leaving school he assisted his father on the farm until February. 1862, when he en- listed in defense of the Union in Company E, Seventh Illinois Cavalry, in which regiment he served three years, mostly in the armies of the West. He participated in a number of important engagements, making a gallant record as a soldier and being mustered out as a non-commissioned officer at Gravely Springs, Alabama, in 1865. He then returned to his Illinois home, and after spending some time in farming, engaged in the livery business at Fairfield. In the spring of 1877 he came to the Black Hills, arriving at Deadwood on March 7th. He at once went to work in the mines at Golden Gate near Central City, where he was employed two years. In 1879 he purchased property and built a livery barn at Central City, and since that time he has been

conducting one of the leading livery businesses in this part of the state, being by continuous appli- cation to the same enterprise one of the oldest business men in the place. In political faith he is a staunch Republican and during the whole of his mature life he has been active and effective in the service of his party. In 1893 he was elected county assessor of Lawrence county, and was re-elected in 1895. During the two years following the close of his second term he was in the office as deputy, thus serving the county six years in connection with the valuation of property for taxation. In local affairs, independent of political considerations, and in every good un- dertaking for the advancement of his community, he has always been zealous and energetic. While devoting his attention to other business he has kept up his interest in mining and owns a num- ber of valuable properties and claims.

On March 15, 1867, Mr. Weedon was married at Memphis, Tennessee, to Miss Lizzie McCoy, a native of Wisconsin, who died on August 24, 1901, and was buried in the cemetery at Dead- wood.

ANDREW H. LUNDIN was born in Sweden on August 24, 1848, and remained in his native land until he was twenty, receiving his education and learning his trade as a blacksmith there. In 1868 he came to the United States, and after working at his trade for nearly five years in various parts of the East, went to California in 1873. and during the next three years was employed at his craft in San Francisco and at mines in other parts of the state. In 1876 he re- turned east on a visit, and the next spring came to the Black Hills, arriving in May. A few months were passed in different portions of this region, then in September. 1877, he settled at Lead, where he has since maintained his home. His first engagement here was. as a blacksmith for the Golden Star mine, and later he worked for the Highland in the same capacity. This was before these properties belonged to the Home- stake Company, and when it acquired them he accepted employment with it, remaining in its

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service until 1882. In that year he took charge of the shops of the Black Hills & Fort Pierre Railroad at Lead, this line at that time belong- ing to the Homestake Company. When it was sold to the Burlington in August, 1901, he left its employ and took a year's rest. In the fall of 1902 he built his present shop on Prince street. and here he has worked up a large and profitable business in blacksmithing and making wagons. He has been thrifty all the while as well as in- dustrious, and has acquired considerable real estate of value in the town and extensive mining interests. On April 19, 1882, he was married at Lead to Miss Helen Brakke, a native of Wis- consin. They have three children, Alfred. Wil- lard and Helen. Mr. Lundin is a devoted and zealous member of the Masonic order and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, holding his membership in the lodges of these fraternities at Lead. No man in the town or neighborhood stands higher in the general estimation of the public, and none deserves a higher place in public regard and good will.

WILLIS HUNT BONHAM is a native of the state of Illinois, having been born on a farm in Jasper county, on the 13th of January, 1847. and being a son of Levi M. and Mary (Hunt) Bonham, both of whom were born in Virginia, whence they accompanied their respective parents to Ohio in childhood, being there reared to ma- turity and there marricd, while they became num- bered among the sterling pioneers of Illinois, the father developing a good farm in Jasper county, while he also was a civil engineer and did no little work in this line and in his younger days was a successful teacher. The family records in the agnatic line available to the subject date back to a few years prior to the war of the Revolution, and indicate that ancestors of the line removed front Massachusetts to Maryland and Virginia.

The subject of this sketch received a com- mon-school education, and as a youth was studious and industrious, making the most of the opportunities afforded him. He left the home farm at the age of twenty years and learned the

trade of painting and decorating. In 1873 he removed to Denver, Colorado, where he worked at his trade until 1877, when he came to the Black Hills, being one of the pioneers in this section of South Dakota. He located in Deadwood and shortly afterward drifted into the newspaper business, with which he has ever since been suc- cessfully identified. He began at the foot of the ladder and finally became the publisher of a pa- per and attained a success greater than any of his competitors, finally bringing about the consoli- dation of the two leading papers, which he now owns and publishes. At the time of the Civil war he enlisted in a regiment of Illinois volun- teers, but was mustered out after three weeks, by reason of his being under the required age. Mr. Bonham has proved one of the valuable and progressive citizens of Deadwood, in whose af- fairs he has ever maintained a deep interest. He served as city clerk from 1882 to 1887, and has been helpful along every line of local enterprise of a public nature. He had much to do with the organization of the efficient city fire department, with which he became identified in a personal way at the time of its inception, having served as foreman and later as chief engineer. In politics he gives an uncompromising allegiance to the Re- publican party and is an active worker in its cause. Fraternally he is identified with the Knights of Pythias, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Improved Order of Red Men, Eagles and other social organizations, while in his younger days he was an active member of the Presbyterian church.

CHARLES A. RANDALL was born in Logansport, Indiana, on July 9, 1871, and he is the son of Charles H. and Augusta (Thissel) Randall, natives of Massachusetts. The father was a pattern maker and lived in Logansport until the close of his life. The son grew to manhood there and after being graduated from the high school attended an excellent college at Urbana, Illinois, where he pursued a course of special training in architecture. On leaving this insti- tution he went to Chicago and passed three years

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in an architect's office to get the benefit of prac- tical work in his profession. In 1893 he returned to Logansport and opened an office there, soon becoming one of the leading architects of north- ern Indiana, his work calling him to all the sur- rounding towns. He made plans for and built many of the principal public buildings that were erected during his stay there. In 1901 he closed out his interests in Indiana, and coming to Dead- wood in this state, formed a partnership with O. C. Jewett, who had been actively engaged in the profession for a number of years in the Black Hills. In April, 1902, Mr. Jewett died, and since then Mr. Randall has continued the business alone. When it was determined by a number of the leading citizens of Deadwood to build a hotel in the town that would do justice and be a credit to the place, he was asked to draw plans and specifications for the structure, and when he sub- mitted his drawings they were promptly ap- proved, and the hotel was built according to them. This was his first great work in Deadwood, and the house stands a lasting monument to the enter- prise of the people of the city and of his own skill and capacity. Since the completion of this edifice his work has constantly increased, and there is already a noticeable improvement in the character of the buildings erected in the city, and there is also excellent promise that this improve- ment will go on to larger and still better results. He is thoroughly in love with his profession, and approaches every duty in connection with it with the breadth of view and public-spirit of a pro- gressive and far-seeing man, and also with a conscientious devotion to the highest ideals and the most praiseworthy motives.

LAFAYETTE COWDIN is a native of Wyoming county, New York, where his birth occurred on the 10th day of June, 1854. Reared on a farm, he grew up a strong, well-developed lad and at an early age learned to appreciate the dignity of honest toil and to rely upon his own exertions in the matter of obtaining a livelihood. He attended at intervals during his youth the public schools of his native place, and after as-

sisting his father on the farm until twenty years old, he severed home ties and turned his face towards the great west, starting in September, 1876, for South Dakota, with the Black Hills as his objective point.

Reaching Deadwood on the 24th of the fol- lowing month, Mr. Cowdin accepted a position with his brother-in-law, G. W. R. Pettibone, in whose company he came west, the latter shortly after their arrival opening a store in the town of Gayville. After clerking there for a short time the subject was sent to Sydney to buy goods, which being accomplished he returned to Gay- ville and looked after the store until the follow- ing spring. the meanwhile doing considerable prospecting for himself in different parts of the country. The following summer he returned to the Hills where he was variously engaged until the next spring, when he started in an express business in Deadwood, beginning in a modest way with one horse and a light wagon with which he soon secured a lucrative patronage. Some time later, in the fall of 1878. he began carrying passengers from Deadwood to Rockfort, his being the first public conveyance between the two places, but after devoting a few months to stag- ing, he discontinued the business to run a sprin- kling wagon in the former city. Subsequently he was engaged in hauling lumber to Deadwood, which line of work he followed until February, 1880, and then took up a ranch on Alkalie creek, where he turned his attention to agricultural pur- suits.

After farming one summer, Mr. Cowdin sold his ranch and returning to Deadwood, resumed staging, running from that city to Galena. This proved a remunerative enterprise and he con- tinued it until May, 1883, when he sold out and located at Sturgis, where he has since been en- gaged in the livery business. Shortly after settling in his present place of residence, he pur- chased a well-equipped barn on Main street, which with the improvements since added is now the largest and most successful establishment of the kind in the city, one of the best patronized and most popular livery barns in this section of the state. Mr. Cowdin keeps a number of the

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finest horses obtainable, both for saddle and driv- ing purposes, and his rolling stock is first-class and up-to-date, consisting of carriages, buggies, phaetons, broughams and other vehicles, all of modern style and selected with an eye to beauty and comfort as well as to utility. Without in- vidious distinction, it has been asserted that Mr. Cowdin is without doubt the most popular busi- ness man in Sturgis, being kind and obliging. cordial in his relations with his patrons, genial in disposition and the life of any social circle in which he may be found.

Mr. Cowdin is a married man and the father of an interesting family that is well known and favorably regarded by the best social element in the city of Sturgis. His wife was formerly Miss Martha Tourtillott, a native of Minnesota, and the ceremony by which her name was changed to the one she now bears was solemnized at Fort Pierre, South Dakota, on December Ist of the i year 1884; the three children born to this union are Enima B., Edna L. and M: J.

JOHN SCOLLARD, proprietor of the Hotel Scollard in Sturgis, is a native of the Badger state, having been born in Washington county, Wisconsin, on the 3d of January, 1852. and being a son of Patrick and Elizabeth ( Murphy) Scol- lard, both of whom were born in Ireland. They were numbered among the early settlers in Wis- consin, and passed the closing years of their lives in that state. The subject was reared on the homestead farm and completed the curriculum of the public schools of his native state, having taken a course in the high school in the city of Mil- waukee. After leaving school he followed various occupations in Wisconsin until the cen- tennial year. 1876, when he came to the Black Hills, being numbered among the adventurous spirits who initiated the march of progress and development in this section. In 1878 he became proprietor of the Hotel Scollard, in Sturgis, and has ever since conducted this caravansary, hav- ing made improvements upon the building from time to time and now having a modern and well- conducted house,-one well meriting the patron-

age which it is accorded. In politics Mr. Scol- lard is a stanch advocate of the principles and policies of the Democratic party, and though he has never sought official preferment he has ever taken a deep interest in public affairs, particu- larly of a local nature, and is known as a pro- gressive and loyal citizen. He served as a mem- ber of the constitutional convention of 1889 and has served two terms as mayor of Sturgis. He has been affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows since 1878, being now a member of Bear Butte Lodge, No. 46; while he is also identified with Rathbone Lodge, No. 78. Knights of Pythias, and with Sturgis Aerie, No. 225, Fra- ternal Order of Eagles.

On the 21st of January, 1875. was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Scollard to Miss Margaret Donnelly, who was born in the state of New York, on the 5th of February, 1855, being a daughter of Patrick Donnelly. Mr. and Mrs. Scollard are the parents of two children. as fol- lows: Mabel, who was born in Sioux City and died at the age of nine years in 1884, being buried in the cemetery at Sturgis; Gertrude, who was born in Deadwood in 1878 and was the first white female born in that place. She was edu- cated in the public schools and at the Sacred Heart Convent at Omaha, Nebraska.

MOSES HAINES, of Lawrence county, South Dakota, came to the United States from the British possessions, being a native of New Brunswick, where his birth occurred on the 23d of February, 1846. His boyhood, which was un- eventful, was spent amid the quiet scenes of the parental home, and at intervals until his sixteenth year he attended the public schools, acquiring, by close application, a knowledge of the branches constituting the prescribed course of study. At the above age he left home and entered upon his career as a self-supporting actor in the affairs of life, going first to the state of Minnesota, where he worked at lumbering for different parties un- til 1868, when he decided to seek his fortune further west. Yielding to a desire of long stand-

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ing, Mr. Haines went to Montana, where he turned his attention to mining, in the prosecution of which he traveled extensively over that ter- ritory, visiting the different mining districts, but meeting with only fair success in his operations. He remained in that part of the county until the discovery of gold in the Black Hills, in 1876, when he made for the new land of promise, join- ing a company on March 4th of that year, which, under the leadership of one William Langston, started from Bozeman, and came in via what is now Spearfish and arrived at Deadwood the latter part of the following May. The men comprising this company were among the first to reach the Black Hills, and at the time of their arrival the present flourishing city of Deadwood was noth- ing but a small collection of tents and a few in- significant log shacks, occupied by hardy and dar- ing adventurers, who made everything in the shape of comfort secondary to the one absorbing desire for gold. After spending about two months in Deadwood and vicinity, Mr. Haines he spent the greater part of the summer and fol- lowing winter, and the next spring he took up his present ranch, four miles from the town of White- wood, and began farming and stock raising. In the course of a few years he had a goodly por- tion of his land in cultivation, also increased the number of his cattle the meanwhile, and in due time became one,of the successful agriculturists and stock men on Whitewood creek, which repu- tation he still enjoys. He added to his real estate from time to time, made a number of good im- provements on his ranch, and his cattle interests continued to grow apace until, as stated above, he found himself one of the leaders of the industry in Lawrence county, as well as an influential fac- tor in the civil affairs of the same.

came to the foot hills on Whitewood creek, where . and then entered the high school at Decatur, Illi-

In 1897 Mr. Haines moved his family to Whitewood and has resided in the town ever since, though still owning his ranch and giving personal attention to his large and constantly in- creasing cattle and other live-stock interests. He was married in Crook City on the 8th of May, 1891, the lady of his choice being Miss Hattie Jones, of Iowa, who departed this life on Decem-

ber 12, 1897, leaving, besides her bereaved hus- band, a daughter by the name of Nettie.

Mr. Haines is a gentleman of high character and excellent repute, and enjoys to a marked de- gree the confidence of the people with whom he mingles.

JAMES H. McCOY, who is now serving on the bench of the fifth judicial circuit of the state, was born on a farm near Oakley, Macon county, Illinois, on the 14th of July, 1855, the son of Benjamin F. and Minerva D. (Helm) McCoy, the former of whom was born and reared in Greenbrier county, Virginia, where he devoted his active life to agricultural pursuits. He is now a resident of Oakley, Illinois, of which state he is an honored pioneer. His wife was born near the city of Baltimore, Maryland, in 1830, and died at Oakley, Illinois, in 1889.

The subject of this sketch pursued his studies in the district schools during his boyhood days nois, where he fitted himself for matriculation in the Illinois Wesleyan University, at Blooming- ton, being graduated in the law department of that institution as a member of the class of 1880. During the following two years he gave his at- tention principally to teaching in the public schools of his native state, and in 1883 he was appointed special field examiner for the United States pension department, with headquarters in Louisville, Kentucky. In July, 1885, he was dis- missed from this position on account of "offensive partisanship," and the following month he opened a law office at Britton, Marshall county, Dakota territory, there continuing in active practice until 1893, when he removed to Webster, Day county, South Dakota, where he built up a large and im- portant law business, remaining in practice there until January, 1900, when he transferred his resi- dence and professional headquarters to the city of Aberdeen. His practice was of general char- acter, and from 1890 to 1901 he probably tried as many civil cases as any other attorney in the cir- cuit, this fact standing in unmistakable evidence of his ability and the confidence reposed in him

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by the public. In 1887 Judge McCoy was ap- pointed county auditor of Marshall county, and two years later was elected county judge of that county, being re-elected in 1892. In 1901 he was elected to his present exacting and responsible office of judge of the circuit court of the fifth judicial circuit, embracing the counties of Brown, Beadle, Day, Grant, Marshall, Spink and Rob- erts. His rulings on the bench have shown him to be possessed of a clear, judicial mind, a thor- ough knowledge of the minutiae of the law, and a desire to subordinate all else to the ends of justice, so that he has but augmented his hold upon popular confidence and esteem. On April 27. 1904, at the judicial convention held at Web- ster, the Judge was renominated by acclamation for a second term of four and a half years as judge. The Judge is an uncompromising ad- vocate of the principles of the Republican party, in whose cause he has rendered effective service, having served as chairman of the central com- mittees of both Marshall and Day counties. Fra- ternally he is identified with the Masonic order, having served two years as senior warden of Coteau Lodge, while a resident of Webster ; he is also a member of the Modern Woodmen of America, and of the Ancient Order of United Workmen.

In Springfield, Illinois, on the 27th of June, 1883, Judge McCoy was married to Miss Hanna F. Heath, and they have two children, Lelah K., who was born March 1I, 1886, and James C., who was born October 18, 1892.

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History of South Dakota, Vol. II, Part 55

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