History of South Dakota, Vol. II, Part 67

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

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Henry L. Ferry was reared on the pioneer farm and early began to assist in its cultivation and improvement, while his educational advan- tages in his youth were those afforded in the common schools of the locality and period. He continued to assist in the work and management of the homestead farm until he had attained the age of eighteen years, when he started out on his own responsibility, passing about two years in Illinois, where he was variously employed, and then returning again to the homestead in Iowa. He was married in March, 1861, and on Sep- tember 9th of the same year he enlisted as a pri- vate in Company I, Eleventh Iowa Volunteer Infantry, with which he served four years. His command was assigned to the Army of the Ten- nessee, and took part in many of the notable bat- tles of the great internecine conflict through which the Union was perpetuated. He was a par- ticipant in the battle of Shiloh, the sieges of Cor- inth and Vicksburg, the Meridian raid and was under General Sherman in the Atlanta campaign,

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and in the ever memorable "march to the sea," after which his command was in the campaign through the Carolinas, and after the surrender of Lee marched on to the national capital and took part in the grand review of the victorious armies. He received his honorable discharge, at Louisville, Kentucky, on the 15th of July, 1866. After the close of the war Mr. Ferry returned to Muscatine county, Iowa, where he remained until the autumn of 1867, when he came with his wife to the territory of Dakota and entered claim to one hundred and sixty acres of government land, in Fairview township, Clay county. He labored strenuously in the development and im- proving of his farm, and in 1881 Mr. Ferry pur- chased an adjoining quarter section, and the en- tire farm is under effective cultivation, improved with excellent buildings and is recognized as one of the valuable places of the county. Mr. Ferry continued to reside on the homestead and to ac- tively supervise its affairs until 1899, when he purchased an attractive residence in the city of Vermillion, where he has since lived practically retired. He and his wife have been for many years active and valued members of the Metho- dist Episcopal church, and have taken a promi- nent part in religious work. In politics Mr. Fer- ry gave his allegiance to the Democratic party until 1895, since which time he has been arrayed as a stanch supporter of the principles of the Populist party. He has twice been nominated for the state legislature. being defeated on each occasion, with the other party candidates. In 1899 he was elected a member of the board of ed- ucation of Vermillion, serving four years. He was one of the first men in the state to become identified with the Grange movement, and was the leader in the order for a number of years, having been the organizer of the first grange in the state, in 1878, within which year he effected the establishing of ten such organizations in Clay. He is one of the valued members of Miner Post, No. 8, Grand Army of the Republic, in his home city, and manifests a deep interest in his old comrades in arms.

On the 26th of March, 1881, in Muscatine county, Iowa, Mr. Ferry was united in marriage

to Miss Mary J. Reyburn, who was born in But- ler county, Pennsylvania, on the 22d of March, 1835, being a daughter of Callin and Mary (Cal- lin) Reyburn, the former of whom was born in Pennsylvania and the latter in Virginia. Of the seven children of Mr. and Mrs. Ferry we incor- porate the following data in conclusion of this review : Henrietta is the wife of Emmett C. Chapman, of Muscatine county, lowa, and they have five children, while it should be noted in the connection that of the latter one is married, while the subject and his wife have one great- grandchild; Cora M. is the wife of M. B. Hampton, of Charles Mix county, this state, and they have seven children; Arthur V., who is a printer in Vermillion, was for seven years the editor and publisher of a weekly paper, the Mon- itor, at Wakonda, this county; he married Miss Cora Usher and they have five children; Collin R. is in the employ of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad Company, and maintains his headquarters in Vermillion; Orin S., who mar- ried Miss Della U'sher, is a successful farmer of this county; Lucius, who married Miss Kate Herring, has charge of the homestead farm; and Phillip H. is in the employ of the Chicago, Mil- waukee & St. Paul Railroad Company. Lucius and Philip served two years each in the Philip- pines, having been members of Company A, First South Dakota Volunteer Infantry, and they ably sustained the family reputation for loyalty and military prestige.

REIN TALSMA, one of the successful and prominent farmers of Bon Homme county, was born in Friensland, Holland, on the 8th of No- vember, 1846, and is a son of Mattheus and Reintje Talsma, the former of whom passed his entire life in Holland, where he was a gardener by vocation, while the latter came to the United States in 1870 and located in Sioux county, Iowa, where she passed the remainder of her life, her death occurring in 1879. Of the five cildren in the family the subject of this review was the sec- ond in order of birth, while of the number all are

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living except two. The subject was reared to maturity in his native land, where he was af- forded the advantages of the excellent national schools, after which lie was engaged in carpen- tery until he had attained the age of twenty-two years, when, in 1868, he immigrated to America, believing that here were to be found superior op- portunities for the attaining of definite success through individual effort. He had learned the trade of carpenter in Holland, and upon coming to the United States he located in Marion county, Iowa, where he followed his trade and worked on farms for the ensuing six years. At the expira- tion of this period, in 1874, he came as a pioneer to South Dakota, being thus numbered among those who initiated the strenuous work of devel- opment and civic progress. He made the over- land journey with a wagon and team of horses and two yoke of oxen, being thus better prepared to take up the work of reclaiming new land than was the average pioneer of the period. He took up three hundred and twenty acres of govern- ment land in township 93. Bon Homme county, the tract being entirely wild, and soon after his arrival he completed the erection of a sod house of the primitive type, and he then set himself vigorously to the work of placing his land under cultivation, while during the long in- tervening years he has developed one of the val- uable farms of the county and made the best of permanent improvements on the same, including the erection of his present handsome and commo- dions residence in 1899, while about the home is found a well-matured grove of trees, all of which were planted and nurtured by himself.

On the 26th of May, 1873, Mr. Talsma was united in marriage to Miss Grietje Ferwerda, who was born and reared in Holland, whence she came to America in 1873, their marriage be- ing solemnized in the state of Iowa. The great loss and bereavement of Mr. Talsma's life came on the last of April, 1901, when his loved com- panion was summoned into eternal rest, at the age of forty-nine years. They became the par- ents of twelve children, all of whom are living except two, the names being here entered in or- der of birth : Reina. John, Bertha, Winnie (died

at the age of five years), Matthew, Fred (a son who died in infancy ), Winnie (2nd), Katie, Fred (2nd), Lucretia, Margaret and Clarence.

CARROLL F. EASTON, an honored resi- dent of Aberdeen and for many years very closely identified with the material interests of South Dakota, was born in Lewis county, New York, August 31, 1857. His father, Francis M. Easton, a general merchant of Lowville, died when Car- roll F. was about ten years old, after which the latter worked on a farm for his board, in this way spending the greater part of his time until a youth of fourteen, when he went to Philadel- phia, where he earned a livelihood for some time by selling-small articles on the streets of the city, subsequently discontinuing that line of business with the object in view of learning the hatter's trade. After a short experience in that capacity, he quit the shop and entered a store, accepting a very responsible position for one so young, but he discharged his duties faithfully and well and gained the confidence of his employers, who in- sisted that the young clerk remain with them and become permanently attached to the estab- lishment. Not being pleased with the idea of devoting his life to mercantile pursuits, young Easton resigned his place, after less than a year's service, and in 1874 went to Lanesboro, Minne- sota, where his uncle. J. C. Easton, of La Crosse, Wisconsin, had some time previously established a bank. Entering the institution in a clerical ca- pacity, he soon demonstrated unusual efficiency, and on the death of the cashier, which occurred a little later, he was promoted to the latter posi- tion, at the same time becoming practically the manager of the bank, his uncle being absent the greater part of the time. Few young men of the age of eighteen have such a burden of responsi- bility resting upon them, and yet as cashier and acting president Mr. Easton managed the bank quite successfully, and the five years during which he was in charge were the most flourishing of its history.

J. C. Easton was a man of large wealth and wide influence, and in addition to owning the

CF Zablon

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Southern Minnesota Railroad, established a num- ber of banks at different places in Minnesota and Wisconsin, one of these being the establishment referred to. At the end of five years noted above, the subject became interested in a bank at Tracy, Minnesota, starting the business with a limited capital of perhaps six hundred dollars, which he had saved, but from this small beginning the institution steadily grew in the confidence of the community until within a comparatively short time its deposits amounted to over fifty thousand dollars. Mr. Easton's previous experience in banking enabled him to manage the institution in which he was interested in an able and business- like way, but the title under which it was con- ducted being the same as the bank owned by his uncle, the latter objected by reason of prior right to the name. Refusing to yield to his uncle's im- portunities to close out the bank, he continued the business with constantly increasing success, and shortly afterwards, in partnership with two other parties, started another bank at Sioux Falls, South Dakota, which under the name of Easton, Mckinney & Scougle, soon became the leading monetary institution of that city. About the same time, 1880, these parties established several branches at various points in South Dakota, the more noted of which were those at Yankton and Dell Rapids, all beginning with small capital, but gradually growing and extending their influence until becoming permanent fixtures in the respect- ive localities. Subsequently Mr. Easton disposed of his interests in several of the Dakota banks, but kept the one at Tracy, Minnesota, which he continued to manage with success and financial profit for a period of fifteen years. In 1881 lie moved to Aberdeen, organizing a banking busi- ness at Wolsey under the style of Easton, Vance & Company, and later the Bank of Davies & Easton at Bowdle. Through these institutions lie handled, in addition to the general local busi- ness, a great deal of eastern capital, which was loaned at good rates of interest. Mr. Easton served five or six years as president of the First National Bank of Aberdeen, but some years after retiring from that position he disposed of all of his banking interests and turned his attention to

various other lines of business. For a number of years he dealt very largely in real estate, mak- ing a specialty of farm property, which he bought and sold quite extensively, not only in South Da- kota, but throughout several other western states and territories. At one time he was engaged in raising fine blooded cattle of the Hereford breed, and owned a ranch of three thousand six hundred and eighty acres of valuable grazing lands in Brown county. He bought and shipped live stock on an extensive scale, while operating this ranch, and in addition thereto was also interested in the cattle business in old Mexico, where he and C. E. Reid, also of Aberdeen, owned a ranch of fourteen thousand acres, which they managed with encouraging success for a period of ten years, selling it at the end of that time.

In his various business transactions Mr. Easton has not been actuated solely by a desire for gain, much of his endeavor being in the way of inducing a substantial and thrifty class of peo- ple to purchase homes and become permanent res- idents of South Dakota. He has done a great deal to advertise the advantages of the state, not in a loud, sensational manner, but in a more quiet way, based upon truthful representation with which none of the many who came here through his influence have ever found fault, but on the contrary have always found his statements veri- fied by fact. He improved a great deal of his property before selling and in this way provided a large number of comfortable homes, which he sold to settlers on the installment plan. This plan he has found most judicious in every respect, as it redounds not only to his own financial advan- tage, but places the opportunity of securing a home within easy reach of the man of moderate means. He still devotes his attention to im- proving and selling property. also handles a great deal of farm and grazing land, and does an exten- sive business, second in volume to that of no other man in the city of Aberdeen similarly en- gaged. He is one of the wide awake, progressive men of his city, county and state, is deeply inter- ested in public affairs, and in different official ca- pacities, as well as in his private dealings, has always advanced public improvements and cham-

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pioned every laudable enterprise for the general welfare of the community. Politically he is a straight-out Republican and an untiring worker for the success of his party. He was a member of the city council and of the school board, and president of the Masonic Temple, being a thir- ty-second-degree Mason.

Mr. Easton was married, in 1884, to Miss Eva Burns, of Caledonia, Minnesota, and is the father of three children, Russell B., a student of Rensselaer Institute, Troy, New York; Violet, still a member of the home circle, as is also Hazel, the youngest of the family. In closing this brief review of Mr. Easton's active and eminently honorable and useful career, it is but just to ob- serve that his life is one deserving of the greatest praise, for to him, perhaps, as much as to any one man is due the remarkable growth and pros- perity of the section of South Dakota in which he resides. His name will always be conspicuous on the roll of eminent men who have conferred honor on Aberdeen and the northeastern part of the state, and the distinction accorded him of be- ing a leader in all that concerns the material well- being of the commonwealth has been fairly and honorably earned. His prominent position in business circles he owes to his own exertions, his years of energetic labor and his untiring persever- ance, combined with sound judgment, clear in- sight and the exercise of that executive ability which never falls short of the accomplishment of high and noble purposes. He is respected and esteemed for his many manly qualities, as well as for his remarkable influence in building up and strengthening the body politic along material and other lines, and his personal friends through- out his adopted state are numberless.

FREDERICK DAHLENBURG, one of the sterling pioneers of Bon Homme county, where he has maintained his home for thirty years, is a native of the fair old city of Berlin, Germany, where he was born on the 28th of July, 1843, be- ing a son of John and Mary Dahlenburg, both of whom were likewise born in that city, the fa- ther having been a wagonmaker by trade and hav-

ing followed the same in his fatherland until 1878, when he emigrated thence to the United States, where two of his sons had preceded him, and he located in Grant county, Wisconsin, and there both he and his estimable wife passed the remainder of their lives, his death occurring in 1880, while she passed away in 1900. They be- come the parents of five children, namely : Mary, who is the wife of John Ness, of Grant county, Wisconsin; Charles, who is one of the represent- ative farmers of Bon Homme county, South Da- kota; Minnie, who is the wife of Fred Jack, of Grant county, Wisconsin; Frederick, who is the immediate subject of this sketch; and Augusta, who is the wife of Charles Belz, of Lancaster, Wisconsin.

Frederick Dahlenburg was reared to matur- ity in his native city, in whose excellent schools he secured his early educational discipline, after which he turned his attention to army service, in which he was engaged until 1873, when he came to America, in company with his wife. They lo- cated in Grant county, Wisconsin, in April of that year and there remained until May, 1874. when they came to what is now the state of South Dakota, where our subject's brother, Charles, had located in the preceding year, and here they became numbered among the early set- tlers of Bon Homme county. Mr. Dahlenburg entered a homestead claim of government land, in township 93, and this one hundred and sixty acres constitutes an integral portion of his present fine landed estate. He began the im- provement of his land, establishing his home in a primitive sod house, and through his indefatiga- ble energy and good management the wild land has been transformed into a fertile and produc- tive farm, while as prosperity has attended his efforts he has added to the area of his ranch from time to time until he is now the owner of six hun- dred and seventy-two acres, of which three hun- dred and fifty acres are under a high state of cul- tivation, while upon the place have been made the best of improvements, including the erection of a modern farm dwelling, and the large and sub- stantial barn. Good fences surround and inter- sect the ranch, and on the place are to be found

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a good orchard and fine groves of shade trees, all planted by the owner. Mr. Dahlenburg se- cures excellent yields of wheat, oats and corn, giving special attention to the propagation of corn, and he is also one of the successful stock growers of the county, having an excellent grade of cattle and hogs, while he also raises horses for his own use. Mr. Dahlenburg is independent in his political views, and he and his wife are zeal- ous members of the Lutheran church, and enjoy the highest degree of respect and confidence in the community in which they have so long made their home.

In his native city of Berlin, on the 28th of November, 1869, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Dahlenburg to Miss Matilda Steffien, a daughter of August Steffien, who passed his en- tire life in Germany. Mr. and Mrs. Dahlenburg have five children, to whom they have given ex- cellent educational advantages, and of them we enter the following brief record: William, who is associated with his father in the management of the home farm, was married on the 19th of February, 1903, to Miss Delia Paul, who was born and reared in Linn county, Iowa; Annie is the wife of Charles Orth, who is engaged in the furniture business at Tyndall, this county ; and Henry, Frederick, Jr., and Robert remain at the parental home and are attending the local school.

PHILETUS N. CROSS, of Yankton county, was born in Ohio on the Ist of August, 1833, and is a son of Philetus Cross, Sr., who was also a native of the Buckeye state. In 1840 the father took his family to Wisconsin, becoming a well known and successful farmer of that state, but he spent his last years in Minnesota, where he died at a ripe old age.

The subject of this sketch grew to manhood in Wisconsin. It was in the fall of 1869 that he came to South Dakota and took up one hundred and sixty acres of government land in Clay county, giving his time and attention to the im- provement and cultivation of that place until 1883, when he sold out. He passed though all the hardships and trials incident to pioneer life

and had his crops destroyed by the grasshoppers three years and by floods at other times. Throughout his active business life he has con- tinued to engage in agricultural pursuits and is today a resident of Gayville, Yankton county. where he now makes his home.

In 1860 Mr. Cross was united in marriage to Miss Emma Jane Maxon, by whom he had eight children, and after her death he was again mar- ried in December. 1887, his second union being with Mrs. Sarah (Cronk) Blodgett, a native of Ohio. Her former husband was Myron Blodg- ett, one of the honored early settlers and success- ful farmers of Yankton county, having come here from Iowa, in the spring of 1869, and taken up government land. He died on the 16th of April, 1883, honored and respected by all who knew him. Besides his widow he left five chil- dren, one of whom is now deceased. The others are all married and nicely located.

Politically, Mr. Cross is a Republican with prohibition tendencies, being a strong temperance man, and in early life he took quite an active and prominent part in local politics, efficiently serving as county commissioner in Clay county, South Dakota, for a time. He was also a member of the territorial legislature in 1879-80 and was re- garded as one of the most influential men of his community. During the dark days of the Civil war Mr. Cross offered his services to the gov- ernment, enlisting in Company C, Fourteenth Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, and he was hold- ing the rank of second lieutenant when he re- ceived his discharge. He has long been an active worker in the Methodist church, and for the past sixteen years has been an evangelistic minister.

OLE NIELSEN, one of the leading and rep- resentative citizens of Yankton county, was born in Denmark on Christmas eve, December 24, 1853, and is a son of Niels and Juliana (Han- neke) Oleson, also natives of that country. The first twenty years of his life the subject spent in his native land and in 1873 came to the United States. After spending one month in Minnesota, he came to Yankton county, South Dakota, and

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with the interests of this state he has been ac- tively identified ever since. In 1875 his parents and the remainder of the family removed from Denmark to South Dakota and the father now lives retired in Yankton at the age of seventy- six years, while his wife has reached the age of seventy-three years. Both hold membership in the Lutheran church, and the father votes with the Republican party. Their children are Ole. of this review ; John ; Dora, now the wife of Jake Nissen, of Yankton; Estine: Selia: Fred ; Christian : Andrew, deceased; and Helen. All were given good school privileges and Helen, who is still at home, has become quite proficient in music. She is the only one of the children born in the United States.

In 1874 Mr. Nielsen, whose name introduces this sketch, took up one hundred and sixty acres of government land in Yankton county and con- structed a dugout, which was his first home here. Two years later he offered his right to this property for a yoke of steers, but was re- fused and in 1902 it sold for over six thousand dollars, having devoted six or seven years to its cultivation and improvement. He then removed to Yanton, where he ran a dray line for seven years, and in 1889 bought his present farm near Mission Hill, which is an improved place of one hundred and sixty acres. He has since re- modeled the residence, barns and sheds and made other improvements which add greatly to the value and attractive appearance of the place .. He carries on general farming and is also engaged in the buying, feeding and sale of stock, having sixty head upon his place during the winter of 1902-3. He makes a specialty of Poland-China hogs and Percheron horses and upon his farm he raises corn, wheat, oats, timothy and alfalfa.

In June, 1880, Mr. Nielsen was united in marriage to Miss Hannah Andrasen, who is also a native of Denmark, where her parents lived and died. Unto the subject and his wife were born two children, but Julia died in infancy. Harry is now fourteen years of age and is at- tending school. Mr. and Mrs. Nielsen support the Lutheran church and he is a member of Mis- sion Hill Camp. No. 7209, Modern Woodmen of

America. He votes for the men whom he be- lieves best qualified for office and takes a deep in- terest in school work.

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History of South Dakota, Vol. II, Part 67

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