History of South Dakota, Vol. II, Part 71

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 71

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When the constitutional convention was called in 1890 Mr. O'Brien was a member of the house of representatives and the following year he was chosen to represent Lawrence county in the state senate. His record while a member of those latter bodies was eminently honorable, creditable to himself and satisfactory to his con-

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stituents, and his name appears in connection with some of the most important legislation of the the different sessions.

In 1894 Mr. O'Brien was furthered honored by being appointed state mining inspector, in which capacity he served the commonwealth un- til his resignation for the purpose of accepting the more lucrative position with the Homestake Mining Company, which he has since so ably and worthily held. He has been for many years an influential worker in the Republican party, and in the fall of 1896 was nominated sheriff of Law- rence county, but by reason of the overwhelni- ing strength of the opposition that year failed of election, although running ahead of other candi- dates on his ticket.

Mr. O'Brien, on the 2d day of December, 1885, was happily married to Miss Bessie Tre- week, a native of Cornwall, England, the union resulting in the birth of three interesting children whose names are Ida W., Flora B. and Elizabeth J. Mr. O'Brien is public-spirited, an expert in the great industry to which he has so long de- voted his time and energies, and his popularity with all classes and conditions of people is by no means circumscribed by the narrow limits of the community in which he lives. Wherever known he is esteemed for his many admirable qualities of head and heart, and as an honorable man and upright citizen he ranks with the most enterpris- ing and progressive of his contemporaries. He is an enthusiastic member of the Grand Army of the Republic, belonging to E. M. Stanton Post, No. 81, at Lead.

HENRY ROSENKRANZ, of Central City, was born in Germany, on October 14, 1846, and came with his parents to the United States when he was nine years old. The family settled twenty miles east of Buffalo, New York, and there the father engaged in farming. Henry lived at home until he reached the age of sixteen, attend- ing the district schools and aiding in the work on the farm. His mother died on June 12, 1902, and his father is still living on the New York homestead, being eighty-six years old. At the

age of sixteen the son went to work in a brewery in Buffalo, and after four years of faithful serv- ice there secured a position as foreman in a sim- ilar establishment at Niagara Falls. He re- mained there until 1868, then moved to Kansas City, Missouri, where he passed two years, again working in a brewery. In 1870 he went to Hel- ena, Montana, and soon after his arrival at that place found employment in the mines at Union- ville for a few months, then went into a distillery at Helena. In the following spring he turned his attention to prospecting in the neighborhood of that city, and during the summer joined a govern- ment survey under the direction of Professor Marsh. He was with this expedition four months when he was taken ill and returned to Helena, where he was laid up eight months. In 1872 he again went to work in a brewery, this time at Hel- ena, remaining there so employed until 1876. In July of that year he started for the Black Hills and arrived at Deadwood on August Ioth. He at once found employment in drain ditching, working at this until the next spring. He then opened a retail liquor store at Central City. In September of that year, 1877, he went with sev- eral other men on a prospecting expedition through the hills west of the town. They en- countered a band of hostile Indians who killed all their horses and one man named Thomas Carr. On his return from the disastrous trip Mr. Rosenkranz started a brewery at Central City in partnership with Dan Warner, and in 1880 he bought Mr. Warner's interest and became sole owner of the plant and business. He conducted the enterprise until 1800, when he suspended op- erations and went into the coal and ice business, at the same time doing considerable prospecting in the vicinity of the town. The year 1893 was passed on the reservation where he had cattle, and in 1894 he reopened his saloon at Central City, continuing the business until April, 1903, when he again sold out. It is his present intention to re- tire from active business for a time and take a well-earned and much-needed rest, spending some time in California. He is interested in a large extent of mining property in the Black Hills, and also owns considerable real estate at

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Central City and Deadwood. His place is prop- erly among the old-timers, as he was an early settler here, and he is a valued member of the Pioneers' Society of the Black Hills.

On September 5. 1873. Mr. Rosenkranz was married at Helena, Montana, to Miss Louise Kaiser, a native of California. They had four children, Lizzie, Annie, Lillian and Clara. Their mother died on December 14, 1887, and on De- cember 31, 1889, at Lead, this state, Mr. Rosen- kranz married a second wife, Miss Mary Nuder- icker, a native of Austria. He belongs to the Odd Fellows at Deadwood and the Red Men at Central City.

EUGENE F. IRWIN, timekeeper for the Homestake Mining Company, Lead City, South Dakota, was born in Clinton, DeWitt county, Il- linois, on June 27. 1865. On the maternal side he is a direct descendant of General Putnam, of Rev- olutionary fame, and his great-grandfather, Hiram Smith, was an aide-de-camp on the staff of General William Henry Harrison during the war of 1812. William R. Irwin, the subject's father, is a native of Ohio, and for a number of years resided in Illinois, but in 1881 removed to Missouri, where he has since been practicing law. He served five and a half years in the United States army, participated in many of the noted campaigns of the great rebellion, and after the close of the war was stationed for some time at Ft. Laramie, Wyoming, retiring from the serv- ice with the rank of captain. Mattie M., wife of William R. Irwin, and mother of the subject, is at the present time actively engaged in Grand Army and Woman's Relief Corps circles and for the past thirty years has been prominently iden- tified with the mission work of the Presbyterian church.

Eugene F. Irwin was reared in his native state, received his education in the public schools of Clinton and remained in Illinois until 1881, when he accompanied his parents upon their re- moval to Nebraska. From 1881 to 1883 he worked as an apprentice on the Waterloo Ga- zette, but the latter year quit the office and en-

tered the railway service with headquarters at Blair, Nebraska. After spending a short time railroading he resigned his position and in 1884 resumed newspaper work as compositor on the Blair Pilot, in which capacity he continued about one year. Severing his connection with the Pilot office, he worked for some time with the Crom- well Lumber and Grain Company, at Craig, Ne- braska, and on quitting that firm returned to railroading, which he followed at various places and in various capacities until 1893. While thus engaged, he filled the position of bill clerk in the Omaha freight office, was station agent at differ- ent points, ticket agent and train dispatcher, quit- ting the same at Chadron, Nebraska, on April 26th of the year noted to enter the employ of the Homestake Mining Company at Lead, South Da- kota, with which large and wealthy enterprise he has since been identified as timekeeper.

Mr. Irwin's career has been varied and active and, in the main, financially successful. He has the unbounded confidence of the wealthy cor- poration with which he is connected and dis- charges the duty of his responsible post with credit to himself and to the satisfaction of all concerned, enjoying not only the high esteem of his superiors, but the kindest regard of his asso- ciates and fellow workmen as well. Mr. Irwin is a Republican in politics and ever since old enough to exercise the right of franchise has been an active worker for the success of his party. In April, 1902, he was elected mayor of Lead City and his administration of the municipal gov- ernment has been satisfactory in every way to Democrats as well as Republicans.

Mr. Irwin is a zealous Mason and enjoys worthy prestige in the fraternity, having been honored with a number of important official po- sitions. ,He joined the blue lodge in October, 1886; the Royal Arch degree, February, 1890; Knights Templar, July, 1890; thirty-second or Scottish Rite degree, April, 1893; Shrine, Au- gust. 1892; Order of the Eastern Star, 1891, and Royal and Select Masters, August. 1895. He has served as worshipful master of Golden Star Lodge, No. 9; high priest of Golden Belt Chapter, No. 35. Roval Arch Masons ; eminent commander

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of Dakota Commandery, No. I, Knights Templar ; grand junior warden and grand senior warden of the grand commandery of Knights Templar, of South Dakota ; grand junior warden and grand master of the first veil, grand chapter, Royal Arch Masons, of South Dakota ; grand royal arch captain and grand principal sojourner of the same chapter, and grand junior deacon of the grand lodge, Free and Accepted Masons. By the fore- going list it will be seen that Mr. Irwin has held many of the most prominent positions within the power of the brotherhood to bestow, his elevation to the same attesting his capability and high standing in an order where merit and not pres- tige is the pathway to honorable station.

Mr. Irwin was married, in Waterloo, Ne- braska, July 29, 1886, to Miss Lucy M. Royce, whose ancestors were among the early settlers of northern Vermont, and whose family has long lived in that state. Three children have been born of this union, namely: Georgie D., Helen F. and Edith F., all living.

M. VINCENT MULCAHY, M. D., who is successfully established in the practice of his profession in Vermillion, Clay county, comes of stanch old Irish lineage and is a native of the dominion of Canada, having been born in the town of Orillia, province of Ontario, on the 28th of January, 1868. He is a son of Thomas and Mary (Collins) Mulcahy, the former of whom was born in Ireland, whence he came to Canada in his youth, and he is still living there. His wife was a native of Canada and of Irish descent, and there her death occurred in 1875. Dr. Mulcahy completed the curriculum of the public schools in his native town, being graduated in the Orillia high school as a member of the class of 1885. He then entered the medical department of the University of Toronto, where he completed the prescribed course and was graduated in 1889, while in the same year he completed a course in the Ontario College of Physicians and Surgeons, in the same city, receiving license to practice in the province of Ontario. To further advance him- self in the knowledge of his profession the Doc- 27-

tor took a post-graduate course in the New York Polyclinic Institute in the year 1890, which fact is indicative of his devotion to his profession and his desire to keep in close touch with all advances made in the same. In 1890 he entered upon the practice of medicine at Smith Falls, Canada, where he remained one year, at the expiration of which he came to South Dakota and estab- lished himself in practice at Elk Point, Union county, where he built up a successful practice, there continuing his residence until 1898, when he located in Vermillion, where he now controls an excellent and representative practice. In 1897 he took a second post-graduate course in the Poly- clinic Institute in New York City. He served as superintendent of the board of health of Union county while a resident of Elk Point, and he is at the present time medical examiner for the New York Life Insurance Company, the Mutual Life Insurance Company, of New York, the North- western Life Insurance Company, of Milwaukee, and others of importance. He holds membership in the South Dakota State Medical Society and the American Medical Association, while fraternally he is identified with the Masonic order, in which he has passed the capitular degrees ; the Knights of Pythias, and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.

On the 2d of October, 1892, Dr. Mulcahy was united in marriage to Miss Laura Fox, of Orillia, Canada, and she died on the 23d of February, 1898, leaving one child, Vera. On the 2d of July, 1901, the Doctor consummated a second marriage, being then united to Miss Bertha Chamberlain, of Pasadena, California.

JOHN BAGGALEY, of Deadwood, is a na- tive of Bucks county, Pennsylvania, born June 26, 1849, in the town of New Hope, where his parents, Francis and Ann ( Mulcaster) Baggaley, settled about two years prior to the date of his birth. Francis Baggaley, a native of England, was by occupation a flax dresser, his father hav- ing been a manufacturer of pottery on an exten- sive scale in the county of Yorkshire. The Mul- casters, for several generations, were miners, the

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family still holding large coal interests in various parts of England and Wales. Francis Baggaley moved from Pennsylvania to Connecticut when the subject of this sketch was quite small, thencc to Andover, Massachusetts, and still later to New York city, where his death occurred in 1890; his wife dying in January. 1883, in Albany, New York.

John Baggaley, as already indicated, was a child when his parents moved to Connecticut and Massachusetts, and his first educational experi- ence was in the schools of Andover, in the latter state, where he acquired a fair knowledge of the branches constituting the prescribed course of study. At the age of fifteen he laid aside his books and entered a newspaper office, to learn the printer's trade, but after serving a short time gave up the business and started out to make his fortune by other means. When about sev- enteen years of age he left home and went to Missouri, where he worked at different places as a farm hand during the ensuing six years, at the expiration of that time joining his parents at Galesburg, Illinois, to which place they had in the meanwhile removed. From 1872 to 1877 he oper- ated an express business at Galesburg, but in April of the latter year he came to Deadwood, South Dakota, from which place he started out on a prospecting tour.

Mr. Baggaley devoted about nine years to prospecting, during which time he traveled over various parts of the territory, acquiring a prac- tical experience in mining and meeting with the vicissitudes which usually attend people engaged in this not always successful search after hidden wealth. In the main, however, he was reasonably fortunate as he succeeded in locating several val- uable properties, which ultimately resulted greatly to his advantage, besides organizing and promot- ing a number of mining enterprises from which he received a liberal income. He became a stock- holder of the Iron Hill Mining Company, of which, for the past twelve years, he has been secretary and treasurer. About one hundred and twenty-five men were employed and the property was among the most productive mining proper- ties in the Black Hills country prior to the low price of silver.

In 1886 Mr. Baggaley discontinued promoting as a specific work, and since that time has devoted his attention principally to the brokerage and commission business, later adding real estate, in all of which lines he has a large and lucrative patronage. He has a wide correspondence with all sections of the Union, by means of which he has induced men of capital to invest their surplus in the Black Hills and other parts of South Da- kota. In connection with his regular business, he has recently been dealing in curios of all kinds, for which there is always a great demand by tourists, his stock of these articles being large, valuable and representing much labor and expense in the collecting.

Mr. Baggaley served as treasurer of Dead- wood from 1896 to 1898, inclusive, and proved a capable and popular official. As a Republican he is interested in politics, but is more of a busi- ness man than a politician, devoting his attention closely to his interests, with the result that he is now the possessor of a fortune of considerable magnitude, which through his energy is being continually augmented. Mr. Baggaley was initi- ated into the Odd Fellows order at Galesburg, Illinois, in 1876, and has been actively identified with the fraternity ever since, being at this time a leading member of Eureka Lodge at Deadwood. Years ago he united with the Baptist church, and began the earnest Christian life which he has since lived, being one of the pillars of the con- gregation worshiping in Deadwood. He was the first clerk and treasurer of the church in this city, both of which positions he held for a number of years, and since about 1898 he has been a dea- con, besides contributing liberally of his means to the support of the gospel, both at home and in other places.

The domestic life of Mr. Baggaley dates from 1870, on August 22d of which year he was united in the bonds of wedlock with Miss Jennie Evans, daughter of Edward and May Evans, of Brookfield, Missouri, where the ceremony was solemnized. The children born of this union, three in number, are May E., who married J. C. Gregory, editor of the Auburn Argus, Auburn, Washington; Maud A., wife of A. H. Stillwell, the subject's business associate, and George F.,

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who is also a partner of his father in the latter's various enterprises. Thus in a somewhat cursory way have been set forth the leading facts and characteristics in the life of an enterprising, broad-minded man, who has indeed been the architect of his own fortune and who, standing four square to every wind that blows, exercises a wholesome influence upon the community of which he has been a respected and honored cit- izen.

COL. JOHN L. JOLLEY, of Vermillion, Clay county, is a native of the city of Montreal, Canada, where he was born on the 14th of July, 1840, being a son of James and Frances (Lawlor) Jolley, both of whom are now deceased. In 1846, when he was a lad of six years, his parents re- moved to the city of Hamilton, Ontario, and there he secured his early educational training in a private school. In 1853 the subject began working at the trade of harnessmaking, in the employ of his father, and thus continued until May 1, 1857, when he removed to Portage City, Wisconsin, where he began the study of law the following year, prosecuting his technical read- ing with much zeal and being admitted to the bar of the state in October, 1861.

On August 21, 1862, Mr. Jolley enlisted as a private in Company C, Twenty-third Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, with which he proceeded to the front, and he continued in active service until the close of the war, having participated in many important engagements and having risen to the rank of second lieutenant of his company, receiv- ing his honorable discharge as such, at Mobile, Alabama, on the 4th of July, 1865. He then re- turned to the north and took a short course of study in the Eastman Commercial College, in the city of Chicago. On the 10th of July, 1866, John L. Jolley came to the territory of Dakota and be- came one of the pioneers of the present flourish- ing city of Vermillion, Clay county, where he es- tablished himself in the practice of his profession, in which he has ever since continued, having gained distinctive prestige in the same and being one of the oldest practitioners in this section of

the state. He is a stalwart advocate of the prin- ciples of the Republican party and has long been a prominent figure in its local ranks, wielding much influence in its councils in the state. In 1884 he was delegate from the territory to the national Republican convention, which nominated James G. Blaine for the presidency, and he has been frequently a delegate to the territorial and state conventions. He was four times elected a member of the territorial legislature and twice represented his county in the state legislature, after the admission of South Dakota to the Union. In 1891 he was elected to congress, to fill the unexpired term of the late Hon. John R. Gamble. In 1877 Mr. Jolley was chosen as the first mayor of the city of Vermillion, and in 1885 he was again called to the chief executive office of the municipality. He was a member of the state constitutional convention of 1889 and at all times has been recognized as a citizen of utmost loyalty and highest public spirit. Fraternally he manifests his abiding interest in his old comrades in arms by retaining membershp in Miner Post, No. 8, Grand Army of the Republic.

On the 20th of April, 1874, near the city of Dubuque, Iowa, was solemnized the marriage of John L. Jolley to Miss Harriet J. Grange, and they are the parents of three children, viz : Fran- ces, who is the wife of Hon. Charles H. Dillon, a prominent member of the bar of Yankton, this state ; Charles W., who is a successful farmer of Clay county, and Mary L., who remains at the parental home.

DANA REED BAILEY, one of the distin- guished members of the bar of Minnehaha county, and county judge, is a native of the old Green Mountain state, having been born in Montgomery, Franklin county, Vermont, on the 27th of April, 1833. He was reared to the sturdy discipline of the farm and after completing the curriculum of the district schools, he continued his studies in Leland Seminary, at Townshend, Vermont, and finally completed his education in Oberlin Col- lege, Oberlin, Ohio, in 1858. He taught three terms in the district schools, was

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for six months an instructor in a select school, and later was a teacher in the Beekman school, at Saratoga Springs, New York, for one year. In June, 1856, Judge Bailey began reading law and in the following year entered the office of the late Chief Justice Royce, of the supreme court of his native state, under whose preceptorship he continued his technical reading for some time. He then entered the Albany Law School, at Albany, New York, where he was graduated in April, 1859. In the following month he entered upon the practice of his chosen profession, locating in Highgate, Vermont, being there established in practice until the Ist of Sep- tember. 1864. In that place he held for two years the office of town agent and for an equal period was trustee of the United States reserve fund. He was also deputy collector of the United States customs at Highgate, having charge of the office for three years and three months, while for six months he acted as special agent of the war department. In 1863 he was appointed secret aid of the United States treasury department, serving in this capacity for three years. On the Ist of September, 1865, Judge Bailey opened a law office in St. Albans, Vermont, and on the 3d of the following February he en- tered into a professional partnership with Park Davis, while a year later H. C. Adams became a member of the firm. The subject was a delegate to the Republican national convention in 1868, and was a member of the state central committee of the party in Vermont two years. He served two years as state's attorney of Franklin county. and in 1870 was elected a member of the state senate, being chosen as his own successor two years later and serving with marked ability and distinction, having been chairman of the judiciary committee, while by vote of the joint legislature he was appointed one of a committee of five to investigate the Vermont Central Railroad, which investigation was not concluded until July, 1873. He was for two years a member of the board of school directors of St. Albans.

In 1869 Judge Bailey became identified with the interests of the west, having, in 1871, laid out the town of Baldwin, St. Croix county, Wiscon-

sin, of which he was the original proprietor. He there built the Matchless flouring mills and was the owner of three sawmills and half-owner of two grain elevators. He had in the meanwhile taken up his permanent abode in the town and for a decade was there engaged in the manufacture of flour and lumber and in farming and merchan- dising as well. For several years he maintained a large herd of high-grade shorthorn cattle, sell- ing the same in 1877, in the Chicago market, for the highest average price offered for any herd in the United States in that year.

In 1874 Judge Bailey removed to Baldwin, St. Croix county, Wisconsin, where he served three years as president of the municipal council, as treasurer one year and as school director for seven years. In 1877, at the Republican district convention, he was nominated by acclamation for the state senate, as representative of the twenty-fourth senatorial district, comprising seven counties, and in the county in which he resided he received in the ensuing election all the votes cast, with the exception of fifty-seven, the total vote being three thousand one hundred and thirty-one, while the Republican nominee for the lower house of the legislature had only ninety- nine majority in the county. He was chairman of the judiciary committee in the senate during the session of 1879. In 1880 the Judge was elected a member of the board of county commis- sioners of St. Croix county, and was re-elected in each of the two succeeding years, resigning his position on the 19th of December, 1882, at which time he was also chairman of the board, and on the 21st of the same month he arrived in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, where he has ever since- maintained his home. From the time of his ar- rival until March. 1884, he had charge of the Dakota business of the Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company, of Milwaukee, and on the TIth of the month last mentioned he opened a law office here, in the Masonic Temple, being the first tenant to occupy rooms in the new building, and here he actively resumed the practice of his pro- fession. In January, 1886, he formed a co-part- nership with Park Davis, who had been his pro- fessional colleague in Vermont many years previ-

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History of South Dakota, Vol. II, Part 71

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