History of South Dakota, Vol. II, Part 58

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

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four years an officer in the grand lodge of the state; and also with the Ancient Order of United Workmen, the Modern Woodmen of America and the Knights of the Maccabees.

On the 4th of February, 1882, at Osage, Iowa, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Allen to Miss Ida M. Owen, who was born in Belcher- town, Massachusetts, being a daughter of C. M. Owen, who became an extensive farmer in Iowa, owning a large tract of land in Mitchell county. Mrs. Allen is a woman of gracious presence and was graduated in Wheaton College, Illinois, while she is prominent in the social life of Aberdeen. Mr. and Mrs. Allen have two children, C. Lewis, who is deputy clerk of the supreme court of the state, at Pierre, and M. Estelle, who is a student in the Aberdeen high school at the time of this writing. The son completed the curriculum of the public schools and thereafter continued his studies in the college at Brookings, where he was graduated. He then went to Sioux Falls, and he has practically served as deputy clerk of the supreme court since that time, his preferment coming as the result of his ability and sterling characteristics, while he is one of the popular, well-known and distinctively talented young men of the state.

CHARLES N. HARRIS .- The subject of this sketch, who is engaged in the active practice of his profession in Aberdeen, South Dakota, is one of the pioneer members of the bar of Brown county. Charles Nelson Harris was born in Readstown, Vernon county, Wisconsin, on the Ist of September, 1856, and is a son of Joseph and Sarah E. Harris, the former of whom was born in Pennsylvania and the latter in Ohio, while both trace their genealogical lines back to Eng- lish origin. The Harris family settled near Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, at an early epoch in the history of the old Keystone state, and John Harris, who laid out that town and who was cap- tured and tortured by the Indians, was ani uncle of the grandfather of the subject. As a young man Joseph Harris removed to Ohio, where he was married, and he and his wife thereafter be-

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came numbered among the pioneers of Vernon county, Wisconsin, where he was engaged in farming, becoming one of the prominent and in- fluential citizens of that locality. The father still resides in Wisconsin. The mother died in 1880, at the age of forty-six years.

Charles N. Harris received his early scholas- tic discipline in the public schools of his native state, and in 1879 was matriculated in the law department of the celebrated University of Wis- consin, at Madison, where he was graduated as a member of the class of 1879, receiving the de- gree of Bachelor of Laws and being admitted to the bar of the state in that year. He initiated the practice of his profession in Viroqua, the county seat of Vernon county, in the same year, and there remained until January, 1882, when he came to the territory of Dakota and established himself in practice in Aberdeen, which was then a small village. Here he has ever since engaged in the work of his profession and with the rapid settling of the country and magnificent advance- ment of the city, which is now one of the most progressive and attractive in the state, he has found his legal business constantly cumulative and has been concerned in much of the impor- tant litigation in the courts of this section, re- taining a large and representative clientage, and being held in high regard in business, professional and social circles. He is a stanch Democrat of the Jeffersonian type, and, as he personally states the case, has not become imbued with any of the "new-fangled" notions which have drifted the party from its firm moorings and caused its suc- cess to wane in recent years. He is a thirty-sec- ond-degree Mason, being affiliated with Aber- deen Consistory, No. 4, of the Ancient Ac- cepted Scottish Rite. He and his wife attend the Presbyterian church, of which the latter is a member.

On the Ist of October, 1879, Mr. Harris was united in marriage to Miss Dora E. Bouffleur, who was born in Springville, Wisconsin, in June, 1858, being a daughter of Philip and Mary Bouf- fleur, and of French extraction in the paternal line. She died in August, 1888, leaving three daughters: Edna S., Minnie M. and Genevieve

L. In November, 1892, Mr. Harris was married to Jessie G. Campbell, of Aberdeen, a sister of Judge Campbell, of that place.

WALTER FRANCIS MASON was born in Sparta, Monroe county, Wisconsin, on the 19th of November, 1858, being a son of Merville and Electa Maria (Pixley) Mason, his father having been a mechanic by vocation, but having been well educated in Hamilton College, New York, whence he removed to Wisconsin in the pioneer epoch, there turning his attention to teaching. He located in what is now the city of Milwaukee, and an idea of that city's status at the time may be gained when it is stated that he had charge of its entire public-school system and taught all the pupils in one room. He died in Greenwood, that state, in March, 1898, at the venerable age of seventy-six years and honored by all who knew him. His wife, who was educated in Ober- lin College, Ohio, preceded him into eternal rest by about one year, having passed away in July, 1889. Our subject secured his early educational training in the public schools of his native state, having been graduated in the high school at Neillsville, Wisconsin, as a member of the class of 1875, while later he entered the literary de- partment of the Wisconsin State University, at Madison, where he took the modern classical course and then entered the law department of the same institution, in which he was graduated in 1884, receiving the degree of Bachelor of Laws. Mr. Mason passed his boyhood days on a farm, and from November, 1877, to June, 1884, in the intervals of attending school, he taught school and worked on farms, by which means he earned the money with which to complete his collegiate and professional studies. In September, 1884, he located in Marinette, Wisconsin, where he opened an office, but in the spring of the follow- ing year he removed to Thorp, that state, where he was engaged in practice until the spring of 1887, when he married and soon afterward changed his location to Faulkton, Faulk county, Dakota, where he successfully continued in the practice of his profession for the ensuing four

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years. From 1888 to 1891 he held the office of city attorney of Faulkton, and in 1890-91 he was the local attorney for the Chicago & Northwest- ern Railroad Company. In December of the lat- ter year he came to Aberdeen, in order to have a wider sphere for his professional endeavors, and here he has since maintained his home, having built up a large and important business in the special lines of real-estate, law and probate prac- tice, in which lines he is considered an authority. In politics Mr. Mason is a stanch advocate of the principles of the Republican party, and both he and his wife are zealous and valued members of the Congregational church.

At Neillsville, Wisconsin, on the 24th of Feb- ruary, 1887, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Mason to Miss Etta B. Bryden, who came to that state from Nova Scotia in 1882. Of this union have been born six children, whose respective names and dates of birth are here given: Mer- ville, April 13, 1888; Clarence Linden, Novem- ber 5. 1889 (died October 3, 1895) ; Arthur Hugo, May 14, 1892 ; Alice Bryden, October 19, 1894; Miriam Buland, June 4, 1898; and David, September 25, 1901.

JOHN E. ADAMS .- Among the prominent members of the bar of the state of South Dakota is the subject of this sketch, who is es- tablished in the practice of his profession in the city of Aberdeen, being one of the pioneer members of the bar of Brown county. Judge Adams was born in the city of Paterson, New Jersey, on the 13th of May, 1857, and is a son of John and Sarah J. Adams, both of whom were of Scotch-Irish extraction. When he was a child his parents removed to Pennsylvania, and he there secured his early educational discipline, after which he took a course of study in Alle- gheny College, at Meadville, that state, while he took up the study of law, made rapid progress in his technical reading and assimilation of legal lore, so that he secured admission to the bar of the Keystone state in 1880. In the spring of 1882 he came west to Iowa, locating in the south- eastern part of the state, where he engaged in

the practice of his profession until the following spring, when he came to the territory of Dakota and located in Columbia, which was then the county seat of Brown county. There he soon built up a good practice and gained marked pre- cedence in his profession, while in 1887 he was elected mayor of the town, serving one term. When the county seat was removed to Aberdeen, he transferred his residence to the new capital of the county. In 1890 he was elected county judge and presided on the bench for two terms, while in 1900 he was elected mayor of the city, serving one term and giving an admirable and . progressive administration. He is one of the loyal and public-spirited citizens of this fine little city and is held in the highest esteem in professional, business and social circles. He is a stanch Republican and has taken an active part in furthering the interests of his party in the state. He has attained to the maximum degree, the thirty-third, in Scottish-rite Masonry, and is one of the prominent and appreciative mem- bers of this time-honored fraternity in the state, while he is also identified with the Knights of the Maccabees, the Modern Woodmen of America and the Ancient Order of United Workmen. He and his wife are communicants of the Protestant Episcopal church and are prom- inent members of the thriving parish of St. Mark's church, one of the leading and most pros- perous ones in the missionary diocese of the state.

On the 12th of August, 1888, was solemnized the marriage of Judge Adams to Miss Martha E. Wilkinson, who was born in the city of Kan- kakee, Illinois, on the 15th of April, 1867, being a daughter of William H. and Mary Wilkinson. Of this union have been born five children, all of whom still remain at the parental home, namely : Maple F., Merle E., Constance M., Mildred and Doris L.

OTTO PETER THEODORE GRANTZ is a native of Germany, born November 9, 1835, in Tonning, duchy of Schleswig, the son of Jur- gen and Amalia Grantz, the former coming to

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America in 1849, and settled in California, his wife having died in Germany in 1840. Jurgen Grantz was one of the first to arrive in the gold fields of the Pacific coast and he continued mining in California and other western states and territories until his death, which occurred in Idaho, when he was sixty- eight years old. Mrs. Grantz died when the sub- ject was five years old and another son, who came to the United States, departed this life in the latter part of the fifth decade.

Otto P. T. Grantz was reared in his native land and received a good education in the schools of Tonning, which he attended at in- tervals during his childhood and youth, finish- ing his intellectual training at the age of fifteen. Later he entered a mercantile establishment and after becoming familiar with the business, be- came manager of stores, in which capacity he continued in Germany until the year 1858, when he came to the United States.

On coming to this country Mr. Grantz settled in Iowa, where he engaged in agri- Mr. Grantz stands high in Masonic circles cultural pursuits, but after spending one year and is identified with a number of the most im- in that state removed to Illinois, where he, during the ensuing three years, also devoted his | attention to tilling the soil. Severing his con- nection with farming in 1862, he crossed the plains and on August 24th reached Oregon, where he engaged in mining for several months, when he left that state for Boise Basin, Idaho, arriving at the latter place in January, 1863. During the thirteen years following he devoted his time and energies to mining in various parts of Idaho, but in November, 1876, left that country and came to the Black Hills, which has since been his field of action, making his home the greater part of the time at Deadwood, of which city lie has long been an honored resident.

Mr. Grantz has devoted nearly forty-two years to mining and it goes without saying that during this long period he has become thoroughly familiar with every phase of the important in- dustry which is so intimately associated with the developments and prosperity of the great west. In the main his undertakings have prospered, success has characterized his career and today

he occupies a conspicuous place in business and industrial circles, besides being identified with enterprises and measures having for their object the advancement of the city and state and the promotion of the general welfare. In the spring of 1863, while a resident of Idaho, Mr. Grantz volunteered to fight the Indians, who were then on the war path and causing the settlers much trouble, and he experienced con- siderable active service before the hostiles were repulsed and peace was restored. He has ever been ready to respond when duty calls, his serv- ices at all times are at the disposal of his adopted country and as a citizen he is as loyal to the government and its institutions as any American-born reared under the protecting folds of the stars and stripes. In state and national affairs he is a Republican, but in local matters cares little for party ties, giving his support to the candidates who in his judgment are best qualified for the positions to which they aspire.

portant branches of the order, being a member of Deadwood Lodge, No. 7: Dakota Chapter, No. 3. Roval Arch Masons ; Golden Belt Lodge of Perfection, No. 3; Rose Bruce Chapter, Rose Croix, No. 3: Council Knights of Kadish, No. 3: Black Hills Consistory, No. 3. thirty-second degree K. C. O. H .; Naja Temple, Deadwood, and Deadwood Chapter, No. 23, Order of Eastern Star. These different relations with the ancient and honorable order have brought him into close contact with the leading members of the brother- hood throughout the state, among whom he is hield in the highest personal esteem. He has also been elected at different times to important official stations in the order, in all of which he discharged his duties ably and consistently. proving worthy the confidence . reposed in him and a credit to the organization by which the honors were conferred.

On February 3. 1877, Mr. Grantz was united in the bonds of wedlock with Miss Christina Johnson, the ceremony being solemnized in the city of Deadwood. Mrs. Grantz was born in

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Sweden, and is a daughter of John and Johanna Johnson, who were also natives of Sweden. This marriage has been blessed with four children, Theoline, Otto, Lillie and Nellie, the second of whom died in infancy.

JOHN P. BELDING, deputy United States marshal, with headquarters in the city of Dead- wood, was born in Madison county, New York, on the 12th of July, 1837, being a son of Esdon and Chloe (Goodrich) Belding, the former of whom was born in Connecticut and the latter in New York. James Belding, grandfather of the subject, was an active participant in the war of 1812, and was a son of one of the gallant soldiers who rendered yeoman service in the Con- tinental line during the war of the Revolution. As a young man Edson Belding removed from Connecticut to the state of New York, where he engaged in farming, while both he and his wife passed the closing years of their lives in Bing- hamton, that state. Our subject was reared in his native county, where he received a good com- mon-school education, and he continued his resi- dence in the old Empire state until 1857, when, as a young man of twenty years, he decided to anticipate the advice of Horace Greeley and "go west and grow up with the country." He made his way to Missouri, and was there engaged in railroad construction until the outbreak of the war of the Rebellion, having made his headquar- ters for the greater portion of the time in the city of St. Louis. In June, 1861, he tendered his services in the defense of the Union, enlisting in the Ninth Missouri Volunteer Cavalry, with which he continued in service until 1864, when he received his honorable discharge, with the rank of captain. His regiment was principally on de- tached duty and engaged in scouting service, in which line it made a most excellent record.

Shortly after his discharge Captain Belding set forth for Montana, where the gold excite- ment was then at its height, resulting from the discoveries made in Alder gulch, where now nestles the still somewhat isolated village of Vir- ginia City. one of the oldest towns in the state

and yet one that remains without railroad facili- ties. Mr. Belding had the distinction of making the major portion of the perilous trip in a com- pany whose guide was that honored and famed frontiersman, "Jim" Bridger, the pathfinder. While enroute the party had a number of skir- mishes with the Indians. Near a stream called Gray Bull, east of Livingston, Montana, they were surrounded by the Indians, but Colonel Bridger, who had lived among the Crow Indians, went out and had a pow-wow with the investing and menacing band, whom he promised not to bring through another party of men, and on this condition the party in question was permitted to proceed unmolested, while it is to be said to the credit of Bridger that he did not violate his word, this trait in his nature having commanded him the confidence of the Indians in earlier days. Mr. Belding arrived in Alder gulch in July, 1864, and joined the throng of placer miners in the stirring camp. He remained there for a period of a few months, meeting with fair success, and when, in the following winter, gold was struck in Last Chance gulch, now the Main street of the attractive capital city of Montana, Mr. Beld- ing, in company with Jefferson Lowrey and a dentist named Howe, laid out the first plat of the present city. He there remained until 1868, when he joined the stampede to Miner's Delight, on South Pass, in Wyoming, but the placer pros- pects failed to yield returns, and the venture proved a failure. Mr. Belding then found his finances at a low ebb and set forth to strike the line of the Union Pacific Railroad at Green river. and he there secured employment in con- nection with the construction work, the track reaching Green river in the fall of 1868, after which he assisted in the work of projection until the line made a junction with Central Pacific at Promontory Point, head of Salt Lake, an event of great historic interest. Mr. Belding then made his way up the Snake river to Shoshone Falls, Idaho, in which locality he engaged in mining in the placer diggings for three years, being mod- erately successful. He next engaged in pros- pecting in the vicinity of Salt Lake, and in the spring of 1876 struck out for the Black Hills,

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coming to Cheyenne, Wyoming, and thence with team to Custer, in which camp he arrived on the 18th of February of that year. There he met with negative success and he accordingly moved over into Deadwood gulch, where he met two old Montana friends, Webb and Mcclellan, with whom he located some water ditches on White- wood and Whitetail creeks, and after they had completed one ditch they sold out at a good profit to the Homestake Mining Company. Mr. Beld- ing then made a trip to the east and upon his re- turn, in 1879, again located in Deadwood. In the following year he was elected sheriff of Law- rence county, serving two years. In the winter of 1882-3 the territorial legislature appointed a com- mittee of nine to locate a territorial capital, and the subject was chosen as the representative of the Black Hills district. The committee finally chose Bismarck as the most eligible location. After the discharge of this official duty Mr. Beld- ing again turned his attention to mining, while he also served as justice of the peace. In 1897 he was appointed to his present office as deputy United States marshal, of which he has since been incumbent, having made an excellent rec- ord in a most difficult district, as two Indian res- ervations are within the jurisdiction and involve much work on the part of the deputy marshal, who is compelled to make frequent visits to the same in addition to his other labors. In October, 1902, Walking Shield, a Brule Indian, was hanged at Sioux Falls. He had given much trouble and had been arrested on several occa- sions by Mr. Belding for minor offenses, before he was finally taken on the charge of murder, which resulted in his conviction and execution. Mr. Belding is an uncompromising Republican in his political proclivities, and has been an active worker in the party cause, having attended nu- merous party conventious both during the territor- ial epoch and since the admission of South Da- kota to the Union. He is a member of the Na- tional Mining Men's Association and the Busi- ness Men's Club of Deadwood, while fraternally he is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Ancient Order of United Workmen.

On the 3Ist of December, 1880, Mr. Belding was united in marriage to Miss Della Torey, who was born and reared in Illinois, being a resident of Nebraska at the time of her marriage. Of this union have been born three children, Jessie, Augusta and Gladys.

HON. HENRY E. PERKINS, of Sturgis, Meade county, is a native of Windsor county, Vermont, born on December 1, 1864. He was educated in the schools of his native state, being graduated from the State Normal at Randolph, largely making his own way through the insti- tution by clerking between the terms while his schoolmates were having the usual summer en- joyments of life in hunting, fishing and kindred pleasures. While so engaged in a grocery store his integrity, strict attention to duty and business ability won him recognition as a very promising young business man and ere long the leading hardware merchant of Bethel in his home county induced him to accept a position in his store. Through Mr. Spaulding, of Spaulding & Dele- hant, of Lead, Captain Seth Bullock, of the hard- ware house of Star & Bullock, of Deadwood, heard of him and offered him a position. This was accepted by wire and he arrived at Dead- wood in October, 1883. He remained with the firm until 1886, when he became assistant post- master of the town, and after a year of service in that position he removed to Sturgis to take the position of bookkeeper in the First National Bank of that town. Having special fitness and adap- tability for banking, he made rapid progress in this institution, and in 1895 was chosen cashier. Two years later the bank was reorganized as the Meade County Bank, and he was retained as cashier of the new corporation, a position which he still holds. He is also one of the heavy stock- holders in the concern. He has been thrifty as well as capable, and has acquired considerable mining property of value in the Black Hills and Arizona, and maintains a beautiful home at Stur- gis which he and his accomplished wife make a center of refined and generous hospitality and agreeable social life. In politics he is an unwaver-

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ing supporter of Republican policies and candi- dates and is very active and effective in the serv- ice of his party. In 1900 he was elected mayor of Sturgis and has held the office continuously since that time. He is always energetic in behalf of every good enterprise for the benefit of the com- munity, and as president of the Commercial Club from its organization he has through it and by his personal efforts done a great deal to promote the cause of irrigation in his portion of the state. He is also the South Dakota committeeman of the National Irrigation Association. So forceful and serviceable for the general welfare has he been that in 1902 he was elected state senator of the fortieth senatorial district, comprising Meade and Butte counties, and his value as an or- ganizer and party worker was demonstrated by years of service as secretary and treasurer of the Republican county central committee of his county. He belongs to the Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias, the United Workmen and the Fraternal Order of Eagles.

On October 14, 1893, at Sturgis, Mr. Perkins was united in marriage to Miss Carrie Francis, the only daughter of Charles Francis, a pioneer in the Black Hills and South Dakota generally, and all of his life here a prominent and influen- tial citizen, a sketch of whom will be found on another page of this work. Mr. and Mrs. Per- kins have three children, Esther L., Charles E. and Lillian K. In official life Mr. Perkins has shown the same industry, integrity and marked ability that characterize him in business, and the same agreeable manner and charming personality that he has in social life, wherein he and his wife have long been prominent.

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History of South Dakota, Vol. II, Part 58

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