USA > South Dakota > History of South Dakota, Vol. II > Part 57
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old Virginia stock and is himself a native of the state of Missouri, having been born on the home- stead farm, in Monroe county, on the 29th of November, 1851, and being a son of William W. and Eliza J. (Stalcup) Heninger, both of whom were born in the Old Dominion state, whence they came westward as pioneers of the state of Missouri, where the father devoted the remainder of his life to agricultural pursuits. The subject of this sketch was reared to the sturdy discipline of the farm and after com- pleting the curriculum of the common schools, took a course of study in Central College, at Fayette, Missouri. When he was seventeen
years of age his father died and he then left school to assist in caring for the widowed mother and the seven other children of the family. He remained on the old farm until 1882, when he came to South Dakota and located in the village of Ordway, Brown county, where he followed the lumber trade for one season and then, in February, 1883, removed to Westport, where he was successfully engaged in the lumber busi- ness until July, 1902, since which time he has maintained his home in Aberdeen. While a resi- cent of Westport he did the banking exchange business of the town, affording accommodations that were duly appreciated by its business men, while in the vicinity of the town he also owned a fine farm of four hundred and fifty acres. He disposed of his interests in Westport in Janu - ary, 1902, and came to Aberdeen, where he pur- chased an interest in the Aberdeen Gas and Electric Light Company, of which he has since been vice-president, and to this important enter- prise he has since devoted the major portion of his time and attention, while he also has other capitalistic interests.
MARTIN R. HENINGER comes of stanch . stitutional convention in 1889, held in the city of
The father of the subject was a stanch Union man during the war of the Rebellion, and thus the son was reared in the faith of the Republi- can party, to which he has ever continued to give an unfaltering allegiance, while he has taken an active interest in its cause and been prominent in public affairs of a local nature. He was a delegate from Brown county to the state con- Sioux Falls, and was appointed by Governor Sheldon a member of the state board of regents of education, but he resigned the position shortly afterward, feeling that the demands of his pri- vate business would not permit him to give the requisite attention to official duties. He was elected clerk of Brown county in 1895 and served for two years, giving a most able and satis- factory administration. He has been frequently a delegate to the county, state and district con- ventions of his party and been an active factor in its councils. He is identified with the Masonic fraternity, in which he has attained the Knights Templar degrees and also with the Ancient Order
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of United Workmen and the Modern Woodmen of America.
On the 9th of July, 1882, Mr. Heninger was united in marriage to Miss Mary A. Way, who, like himself, was born and reared in Mon- roe county, Missouri, and they have three children, Nora L., Mabel H. and Mildred D., all of whom still remain beneath the home roof and lend cheer and brightness to the family circle.
IVOR D. DAVIS is one of the popular citi- zens and representative business men of Aber- deen, where he has been engaged in contracting and building for more than twenty years, within which period he has erected many notable build- ings in this city and in other sections of the state, having gained a high reputation in his chosen vocation, not less by reason of his technical knowledge of its details than on account of his invariable fidelity to the terms of his contracts and his inflexible integrity of purpose in all the relations of life.
Mr. Davis comes of sturdy Welsh lineage and was born in the beautiful little city of Racine, Wisconsin, on the 5th of March, 1854, being a son of Samuel and Maria (Thomas) Davis, both of whom were born in Wales. The paternal grandfather of the subject emigrated with his family from Wales to America in the thirties and located in Racine, Wisconsin, becoming one of the honored pioneers of the town. He was a . Mrs. Davis has been a leading member of the splendid Welsh scholar. There also his son, Samuel, became a prominent carpenter and builder, continuing his residence in Racine until his death. while his wife also died there. They became the parents of four sons, the two youngest being deceased, while the subject of this review was the second in order of birth.
Ivor D. Davis received his educational dis- cipline in the public schools of Racine and there learned the trade of brick-mason, being engaged in the active work of the same in Wisconsin until 1883, when he came to Aberdeen, South Dakota, arriving on the 20th of March, and forthwith establishing himself in business as a contractor
and builder, while the many fine buildings which have been erected by him in the intervening years, offer adequate testimony to the success and prestige which he has attained. He has erected many of the finest buildings in his home city, including the Mead block, the McArthur building, the Jackson block and the Ward hotel. In Huron he built the Groton building, and in Bowdle the Mason block, while in a number of other towns are found fine modern buildings which testify to his skill and ability. His own residence in Aberdeen is one of the many at- tractive and thoroughly modern homes which grace the city. In politics Mr. Davis is a stanch supporter of the principles and policies of the Republican party, and while he has never sought office, he served four years as a member of the board of aldermen and has at all times shown himself to be a loyal, progressive and public-spirited citizen. Mr. Davis has at- tained prominence in the time-honored Masonic fraternity, with which he has been identified since 1879, and in which he has received the thirty-second degree of the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite, being thus affiliated with South Dakota Consistory, No. 4, at Aberdeen, while he is also a member of El Riad Temple, An- cient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. He is also a member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen, in which latter he was made a knight commander in the Court of Honor, at Washington, D. C., in October, 1903.
Order of the Eastern Star and a representative of the local organization in the grand chapter of the state. It may be consistently noted in the connection that our subject and the members of his family all have the inherent musical taste and ability typical of the Welsh stock, and that he became a member of the first cornet band established in Aberdeen, this being April, 1883, while Frank Dilly was leader of the same. Mr. Davis continued an active member of this or- ganization until 1889.
On the 17th of July, 1878, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Davis to Miss Winifred Griffith, who was likewise born and reared in
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Racine, Wisconsin, and of Welsh extraction, being a daughter of Evan R. Griffith, one of the early and prominent settlers of the town. Mr. and Mrs. Davis have four children, Marie, Arthur, George and Jeannette. The elder daughter is at the time of this writing incum- bent of the position of hookkeeper in the office of the Aberdeen News.
ANSEL T. GREEN has a well-equipped machine shop in the city of Aberdeen and is one of the honored and successful business men of Brown county. He was born in Jefferson county, Wisconsin, on the 31st of May, 1851, and is a son of Charles W. and Eunice Green, both of whom were born in the state of New York, while they became numbered among the pioneers of Wisconsin. The paternal grandfather of our sub- ject removed with his family from New York to Wisconsin about 1837, being numbered among the very early settlers of the Badger state, where he devoted the remainder of his life to agricul- tural pursuits, which also constituted the voca- tion of the father of our subject. Charles W. Green showed his loyalty to the Union at the time of the Civil war, since he enlisted in the Twentieth Regiment of Wisconsin Volunteer In- fantry, with which he served until the close of the war, having received his honorable discharge in August, 1865. He was an active participant in a number of the more notable battles of the great conflict, the first being the engagement at Perry Grove, while his regiment was stationed for nearly two years at Galveston, Texas, from which point it made numerous trips and was in active service, crossing the gulf of Mexico sev- eral times and being present at the surrender of the city of New Orleans, as well as of Vicks- burg. After his return to Wisconsin he resumed his trade of carpentering and he continued his residence in that state until 1898, when he re- moved to St. Johns, Michigan, where he and his devoted wife now maintain their home, having celebrated their golden wedding in 1900.
Ansel T. Green passed his boyhood days at Whitewater, Wisconsin, and while his father was
absent as a soldier he left home and passed some time in other sections of the state, in the mean- while having pursued his studies in the common schools. After his father's return he went to Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin, where he served a three-years apprenticeship at the machinist's trade, becoming a skilled artisan in that line. During the ensuing three years he was employed at his trade at various places in Wisconsin and then located in the city of Milwaukee, where he remained three years, at the expiration of which he removed to Minneapolis, Minnesota, where he maintained his home until 1883, having in the meanwhile, in 1877, made a trip into what is now the state of South Dakota. In 1883 he came once more to this section of the Union and took up his abode in Aberdeen. which was then a small fron- tier village, and here assumed the position of foreman in the newly constructed round-house of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad, re- taining this incumbency until 1892. He then resigned the position and opened a small machine shop on his own responsibility. His ability in his trade had become known and his business has steadily increased in scope and importance from the time of its initiation, and he now has a well- equipped shop, in which is installed the most improved lathes, slotters, planers and other ma- chines, including a corrugating mill roll, which is the only one in the state. In 1901 Mr. Green hegan the manufacturing of outfits for the drill- ing of artesian wells, and this department of his enterprise has proved most successful. In the connection he has added a foundry to his plant, as well as a pattern shop and warehouse, while he has abundant reason to feel satisfied with the suc- cess which he has attained since starting business on his own responsibility, and is thus one of the loyal and public-spirited citizens of Aberdeen, one of the most attractive and thriving cities in the state. He is a man of marked intellectuality, a reader of good literature, and one who keeps in touch with the current affairs of the hour. In politics he gives his support to the Republican party, and while he has never sought or desired public office, he has consented to serve as a mem- ber of the board of education of Aberdeen, his
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interest in the cause of education prompting him to this course. He and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, and he is a member of the board of trustees of the church of this denomination in Aberdeen.
On the 9th of June, 1880, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Green to Miss Delphia Con- rad, who was born in the state of New Jersey, she being a resident of Minneapolis, Minnesota, at the time of her marriage. They have four children, Alberta, who is now a successful and popular teacher in the public schools at Freder- iek, Brown county; Mabel, who is similarly en- gaged at Claremont, Brown county ; Leo, who is employed in his father's establishment ; and Paul.
JOHN S. VETTER has the distinction of be- ing a native of the great western metropolis, the city of Chicago, where he was born on the 4th of March, 1857, being a son of George and Ur- sula (Knecht ) Vetter, both of whom were born in the kingdom of Wurtemberg, Germany. There also was born the paternal grandfather, George Vetter, who is a land owner and a man of influence in his community, having lived a retired life in Wurtemberg for a number of years prior to his death. The maternal grand- father of our subject was a merchant tailor by vocation. George Vetter, Jr., father of him whose name initiates this review, came to America before attaining his legal majority, arriving in 1849 and remaining a resident of Canada until 1851, when he removed to the city of Chicago, which then gave slight evi- dence of becoming a great metropolis. There he was for a time employed in the old Gage foundry and later became a minister in the German Evangelical church. He continued to be identified with the Illinois conference of this church until his death, and was assigned to vari- ous pastoral charges under its jurisdiction. In 1866 he was sent to Germany by the general con- ference of the church in the United States, pass- ing two years in his fatherland and one year in Switzerland, and being accompanied by his fam- ily. He had previously served one year in the
Union army during the war of the Rebellion, hav- ing enlisted as a member of the Seventy-sixth Illinois Volunteer Infantry and having been in the command of General Grant a portion of the time, while he was incumbent of the office of sergeant of his company at the time of his dis- charge, on account of physical disability. The father died in Aberdeen March 14, 1903. They became the parents of three children, of whom the subject is the youngest.
John S. Vetter was reared in Illinois, and after attending the public schools in various towns and cities in which his father was estab- lished as pastor, he entered Northwestern College, at Naperville, that state, where he continued his studies for two years. He then took up his abode in Kankakee, that state, where he became book- keeper in the clothing establishment conducted by his uncle, John G. Knecht, with whom he re- mained five years, at the expiration of which he returned to Chicago, where he was for some time identified with the men's furnishing-goods busi- ness. In 1882 Mlr. Vetter came to what is now the state of South Dakota and took up home- stead, pre-emption and tree claims in Brown county, twelve miles northwest of Aberdeen. He at once began the work of developing and im- proving his property and still owns the same, while he has since added to his landed posses- sions until he now has a fine estate comprising two entire sections, while the same is devoted to diversified agriculture and to the raising of live stock. The permanent improvements on the place are of excellent order, and include a fine artesian well, sunk to a depth of eleven hundred feet. He raises principally wheat and eorn, having had ninety aeres of the latter in 1903, while he gives special attention to the growing of the short- horn type of cattle and the raising of hogs.
In politics Mr. Vetter is a stanch advocate of the principles of the Republican party, and has been an active worker in its cause. In 1891 he was chosen elerk of the courts of Brown county, in which capacity he served four years, and in 1885-6 he was deputy sheriff, this being in the formative period of the history of the county. when lawlessness was often in evidence, making
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the office no sinecure. On the Ist of February, 1898, Mr. Vetter was appointed register of the United States land office in Aberdeen, and on the Ist of March, 1902, was reappointed, by Presi- dent Roosevelt, being the present incumbent of this responsible position and having given a most able administration of the affairs of the office. He has passed the degrees of York Rite Masonry and is also identified with the Ancient Order of United Workmen, the Modern Woodmen of America and the Royal Arcanum, while he and his wife are zealous members of the Presbyterian church.
On the 12th of September, 1889, was solem- nized the marriage of Mr. Vetter to Miss Eliza- beth Cole, who was born in New Jersey, being a daughter of James Cole, who came to South Da- kota in 1883, and resided in Edmunds county on their removal to the state of Nebraska. Mr. and Mrs. Vetter have two children. James H. and Ursula E.
ANTHONY H. OLWIN is a native of the old Buckeye state and a representative of one of its sterling pioneer families. He was born on a farm near the city of Dayton, Ohio, on the 8th of February, 1856, and is a son of Joseph and Margaret (Hiestand) Olwin, the former of whom was born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and the latter in the state of Virginia, while both are now deceased. The Olwin family is of stanch Ger- man extraction and was founded in Pennsylvania in the colonial era of American history. Joseph Olwin accompanied his parents on their removal from Pennsylvania to Ohio in early 'twenties, and the family settled in Montgomery county, where the grandfather of our subject, with the assistance of his sons, developed a good farm, he and his wife there passing the remainder of their lives, honored by all who knew them. In 1863. after the death of his parents, Joseph Olwin re- moved to Crawford county, Illinois, where he remained seven years, at the expiration of which he returned to Ohio and located in Miami county, where he engaged in farming and stockgrowing, continuing to there maintain his home until he
was summoned from the scene of life's activities, his devoted wife also passing the closing years of her life in said county. He was very successful in his industrial and business operations, was a man of sterling integrity and one who ever showed a loyal interest in all that concerned the welfare of his home county, state and country. At the time of the buikling of the old Indiana, Bloomington & Western Railroad through Mi- ami county he laid out and platted on a portion of his farm the village of Laura, a town which has grown to be one of considerable importance, the line of railroad mentioned having become now a portion of the main line of the Big Four system.
The subject of this review is the eldest in a family of eight children, and received his pre- liminary educational discipline in the public schools of Illinois and Ohio, after which he com- pleted a course in the Miami Business College, at Dayton, Ohio, said institution having been at the time conducted by Prof. A. D. Wilt, who is one of the successful educators of the state. After leaving school Mr. Olwin devoted the major por- tion of his time for four years to teaching in the public schools of his native state, meeting with success in the pedagogic profession. It may be consistently noted at this juncture that he later devoted three years to the study of law, with the intention of following the work of the legal pro- fession as a vocation, but after coming to the west he found it expedient to abandon his plans in this direction, though his technical knowledge has proved of much practical value to him. After giving up his work as a teacher Mr. Olwin en- tered the employ of the publishing house of Van Antwerp, Bragg & Company, of Cincinnati, Ohio, and for two years gave attention to introducing their revised school books in the state of Ohio. He then took a position with the Indiana, Bloom- ington & Western Railroad Company, part of what is commonly known as the Big Four, and assisted in securing the right of way for its line through central Ohio, from Springfield straight westward, and was successful in his efforts. He thereafter was for one year engaged in the gen- eral merchandise business at Phillipsburg, Ohio, and at the expiration of this period disposed of
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his interests there and came to Aberdeen, South Dakota, arriving in March, 1883. He came as representative of the firm of Thomas Kane & Company, of Chicago, selling school, church and bank furnishings and also buying bonds, and he continued with this concern in this section of the Union for two years, covering a wide territory, with Aberdeen as headquarters, and he then re- signed his position and entered into partnership with Jewett Brothers in the grocery business in this city. Two years later he purchased the in- terests of his partners and individually continued the enterprise until 1892, when he sold out and engaged in the dry-goods business, under the title of the Olwin-Hall Dry Goods Company. One year later he purchased the entire business and conducted the same for the ensuing five years under the name of the Olwin Dry Goods Com- pany. He then, in 1897, admitted to partnership Mr. Robert H. Angell, and they have ever since been associated, under most amicable and pleasant relations. Mr. Angell is a native of the state of New York and a thorough and able business man, having come to Aberdeen for the purpose of thus identifying himself with Mr. Olwin. On the Ist of January, 1903, they incorporated the business under the firm name of the Olwin-Angell Com- pany, which still obtains. In the same year they erected their present splendid store, one of the most attractive business structures in the city, while it is eligibly located on Main street, ad- joining the new federal building. The block is fifty by one hundred and thirty-six feet in lateral dimensions, two stories in height, with basement, while it is lighted from three sides, making the
elegant salesrooms the more attractive.
The
building has a front of terra cotta and plate glass, is modern in design and construction, and is a model establishment. The company carry a se- lect and comprehensive stock of dry goods, car- pets, cloaks, furs, shoes, millinery, etc., and con- trol a large, representative and constantly in- creasing retail trade, while their jobbing depart- ment has found its business so distinctively aug- mented each year as to furnish further proof of the legitimacy of Aberdeen's claims as one of the best wholesaling and jobbing centers in the state.
The fine store is modern in all its appointments and conveniences, having among other provisions most attractive waiting and toilet rooms for the accommodation of patrons. Mr. Olwin is a man of genial and gracious presence, and this fact, as coupled with his inflexible integrity and liberal business policy, has gained to him the confidence and esteem of all with whim he has come in con- tact, while he enjoys distinctive popularity in both the business and social circles of his home city. He is public-spirited and progressive and is a valuable acquisition to the business circles of Ab- erdeen, as is also his partner and able coadjutor, Mr. Angell. In politics he gives his allegiance to the Republican party, fraternally is identified with the Ancient Order of United Workmen, and in religion subscribes to the creed of the Presby- terian church.
On the 31st of March, 1885, Mr. Olwin was united in marriage to Miss Huldah M. Mutz, who was born and reared in Ohio, being a daugh- ter of Peter Mutz, a prominent and influential farmer of Miami county, that state.
CHARLES H. ALLEN is a native of the state of Iowa, having been born in Osage, the official center of Mitchell county, on the 17th of March, 1857. His father, Joseph Allen, was born and reared in Ohio, and removed thence to Illi- nois in an early day, being a jeweler and watch- maker by vocation. He married Abigail Allen, and they remained for several years in Illinois and thence removed to Iowa, where they passed the remainder of their lives. They became the parents of sixteen children, of whom the subject of this review was the fifteenth in order of birth. The father served as surgeon during a portion of the Civil war, and two of his sons were also valiant soldiers in the Union army, while one of them, Jeremiah, sacrificed his life on the altar of his country. Our subject passed his boyhood days in his native town, where he secured his early educational training in the public schools, his elder brothers having received collegiate ad- vantages. In 1870, when but thirteen years of age, he set forth to see somewhat of the world,
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making a tour of several of the western states and being absent from home for a period of nine years, within which time he learned the trade of stone cutting, to which he devoted his attention until 1879, when he returned to his old home, where he remained a few months, after which he located in Nebraska and engaged in farming, and was practically starved out during the memorable grasshopper plague. He returned home in 1881, was married in February of the following year and forthwith came to what is now the state of South Dakota, arriving in Aberdeen on the Ist of March, 1882. He took up a claim in the county and finally perfected his title to the same, and he then 'engaged in the draying business in Aber- . deen, continuing in the same for five. years, dur- ing which interval he also dealt in horses, buying and selling upon an extensive scale and meeting with good success. In 1897 he sold out his trans- fer and draying business and established his present enterprise, in the handling of wood and coal. He has a well-equipped yard, two hundred and fifty by three hundred feet, in the business district of the city, while the line of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad adjoins his yards on the north, so that his trans- portation facilities are unexcelled. In 1903 Mr. Allen handled twenty-two hundred cords of wood, secured principally from Minnesota, while each year he handles a large amount of coal of all grades, keeping a large supply on hand and handling from three to five thousand tons annually, while the extensive ramifications of his business necessitate the em- ployment of a considerable number of men and teams. He is the owner of eleven quarter-sec- tions of land, the greater portion being located in Brown county, to the west of Aberdeen, while nearly all the property is under cultivation and well improved. He also owns an attractive mod- ern residence in the city which has been his home for many years. He is progressive and public- spirited, is a stanch Republican in his political proclivities, and for four years represented the fourth ward in the city board of aldermen. Fra- ternally Mr. Allen is affiliated with the Independ- ent Order of Odd Fellows, in which he was for
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