History of South Dakota, Vol. II, Part 79

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 79

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OLIVER ELTON MESICK, one of the leading business men of Gettysburg, is a native of the Badger state, having been born in Prince- ton, Green Lake county, Wisconsin, on the 30th of June, 1861, and being a son of David S. and Elizabeth Jane (Moore) Mesick, both of whom were born and reared in the state of New York. The Mesick family is of stanch Holland Dutch extraction, and the original progenitors in Amer- ica, located at Troy, in the state of New York, in the early colonial epoch, while representatives of this sterling Knickerbocker family were num- bered among the earliest settlers in the vicinity of the present capital city of Albany. The Moore family, of Scottish extraction, was likewise early established on American soil. The father of the subject removed from New York to Wisconsin in 1856, becoming one of the pioneers of Green Lake county, where he improved a valuable farm, upon which he continued to reside until his death, in October, 1901, at the venerable age of seventy- three years. His wife died in April, 1897. on the

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HISTORY OF SOUTH DAKOTA.

home farm. They became the parents of five children, of whom four are living, the subject of this review having been the third in order of birth.

Oliver E. Mesick was reared to the sturdy discipline of the home farm, and was afforded the advantages of the excellent public schools of his native state, having completed a course in the school at Princeton, Wisconsin, in which he was graduated as a member of the class of 1880. In 1893 he was matriculated in the law department of the University of Minnesota, where he com- pleted the prescribed course and was graduated in 1895, with the degree of Bachelor of Laws, while he was admitted to the bars of Minnesota and South Dakota in the same year.

After graduating from the high school Mr. Mesick engaged in teaching in the public schools of Wisconsin, proving successful in his pedagogic efforts and continuing the same until 1883, when he came to South Dakota and located in Potter county, being one of the very first settlers in the county, which was not formally organized at that time, while he was the first to pay taxes in the county, and still holds as a souvenir the first re- ceipt for taxes issued by the county, the same bearing date of January, 1885. He filed on a tract of four hundred and eighty acres of govern- ment land five miles southeast of the present vil- lage of Forest City, and forthwith instituted the improvement of his claim, while he also engaged in teaching school at irregular intervals until 1893, having been principal of the public schools in Gettysburg during the last three years of his service in this line. In the year mentioned he entered the law department of the University of Minnesota. After leaving the University he re- turned to Gettysburg and here established him- self in the practice of his profession, in which he met with gratifying success, and he served during 1897-98 as state's attorney of the county. Prior to entering the law school he had become interested in the agricultural implement business in Gettysburg, being associated with August Maas, under the firm name of Mesick & Maas, the enterprise being carried on by Mr. Maas during the subject's absence while in the university.

Upon his return he divided his attention between his professional work and his implement business, and the latter so rapidly increased in scope and importance that he found it expedient to practi- cally withdraw from the practice of law that he might give his entire attention to his business interests. In 1901 he purchased Mr. Maas' inter- est in the business, which he has since individ- ually continued, carrying a large and complete stock of agricultural implements and machinery, and owning the three commodious warehouses utilized in the connection, while he also owns and operates the large grain elevator near the tracks of the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad, and he also does a large business in the handling of . coal, being the leading dealer of the county. His office building he still owns and utilizes, while he is the owner of other realty in the county in ad- dition to the properties noted. He retains his original pre-emption claim, and also three other quarter sections adjoining, and the family im- proved ranch is devoted to general farming and stock growing. In politics Mr. Mesick gives an unwavering allegiance to the Republican party, and fraternally he is affiliated with Gettysburg Lodge, No. 83, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, of which he is worshipful master at the time of this writing ; he is also a member of the Modern Woodman of America. He is a member of the Baptist church and his wife belongs to the Congregational church.

On the 17th of September, 1902, Mr. Mesick was united in marriage to Miss Minerva C. Car- ter, who was born and reared in Wisconsin, being a daughter of Louis and Margaret Carter, who now maintain their residence in Ripon, Wiscon- sin

SAMUEL E. ATKINSON, who is num- bered among the progressive and representative citizens of Gregory county, is a native of Toledo, Tama county, Iowa, where he was born on the 24th of August, 1869, being a son of William and Margaret (Guthrey) Atkin- son. The former was born in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, near the old homestead of Presi-

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lent Buchanan, and as a youth he assisted in planting trees on this historic place. William At- kinson lived a life of signal usefulness and honor and attained the venerable age of eighty-four years, his death occurring in 1891. The mother still lives with her daughter at Little Rock, Iowa. The father of the subject was reared to manhood in the old Keystone state and was there employed in rolling mills and in the great steel works in the city of Pittsburg for a number of years. In 1868 he removed to Tama county, Iowa, where he was engaged in agricultural pursuits until 1885. when he removed to Brown county, Nebraska, where he took up a homestead of one hundred and sixty acres, developing and improving a good farm and there continuing to reside until about two years prior to his death, when he took up his abode in Little Rock, Iowa, where he passed the residue of his life in the home of his only daughter, Mary, who is now the wife of Romance E. Botkin, of Little Rock, she having been their third in order of birth in a family of four children, all of whom are living. James resides in Mt. Vernon, South Dakota, and Hamilton is a resident of Remsen, Iowa, the subject of this review being the young- est of the children. The parents were worthy members of the Methodist Episcopal church, and in politics the father was a stanch Republican.

Samuel E. Atkinson received his educational training in the public schools of Iowa and Ne- braska, and continued to assist in the work and management of the home farm until he had at- tained the age of twenty-three years, when he be- gan an apprenticeship at the barber's trade, in Coleridge. Nebraska, continuing to follow this as a vocation for two years, after which he became identified with the real-estate and loan business, in which he has since successfully continued, hav- ing been established at various places and having been a resident of South Dakota since 1901. In 1901 he established himself in this business in Fairfax, where he was the first to establish the enterprise of making loans on farming proper- ties in the county, having in the year 1901 placed one hundred and sixty thousand dollars on lands. Here he has also built up an excellent business in the general handling of real estate, while he is

the owner of valuable town property and has represented on his books at all times many desira- ble investments. In his political proclivities he is a stalwart Democrat, and fraternally is identified with the Ancient Order of United Workmen.

On the 22d of December, 1887, Mr. Atkin- son was united in marriage to Miss Gertrude M. Jones, who was born in Toulon, Stark county, Il- linois, on the 15th of October, 1872, being one of the eight children of. Reuben S. and Martha (Taylor) Jones, the father being a successful . farmer of the county mentioned. Mrs. Atkinson was reared and educated in the schools of Illinois and Nebraska, where he was successfully en- gaged in teaching for eight years, while she is is also an accomplished musician and has acted as church organist and choir leader in the var- ious towns in which she and her husband have lived since their marriage. Both belong to the Methodist Episcopal church of Fairfax. One child, a girl, was born June 27, 1899, but died in infancy.

JAMES B. CLARK, member of the firm of Clark & Sparling, dealers in general merchan- clise in Gettysburg, was born on a farm in Harri- son county, Ohio, on the Ist of December, 1846, being a son of Joseph and Sarah (Dunlap) Clark, both of whom were born in Pennsylvania, while both died in Ohio, where the father gave his attention to agricultural pursuits until the time of his demise. His grandfather was of English lineage and came to America prior to the war of the Revolution, in which he served as a loyal soldier in the Continental line.

The subject was reared on the homestead farm and was afforded the advantages of the com- mon schools. He continued to be associated in the work and management of the home farm un- til 1878, when he removed to Nebraska, becoming a pioneer farmer of Pawnee county, where he re- mained until April, 1883, when he came to South Dakota to repeat his pioneer experiences in Pot- ter county. He filed entry on one hundred and sixty acres of government land, twelve miles

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southwest of the present attractive village of Get- having been still an integral portion of the Old tysburg, and there improved a valuable farm, on which he was actively engaged in diversified ag- riculture and stock raising until 1890, when he was elected to the office of register of deeds, while at the expiration of his term he was re-elected as his own successor, thus serving four consecutive years and giving a most acceptable administra- tion. Upon retiring from office he established himself in the general merchandise business in Gettysburg, and has ever since been prominently and successfully identified with this line of enter- prise. He continued the business individually un- til March, 1903, when he admitted John E. Spar- ling to partnership, under the firm name indicated in the opening .paragraph of this sketch, Mr Sparling being the husband of his eldest daugh- ter and the subject of a personal sketch on an- other page of this work. In politics Mr. Clark is a stanch adherent of the Republican party ; and fraternally he is identified with the Masonic or- der, in which he has attained the thirty-second degree of the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite, be- ing affiliated with Aberdeen Consistory.

On the 26th of April, 1876, Mr. Clark was united in marriage to Miss Mary J. Jameson, who was born and reared in Harrison county, Ohio, being a daughter of William and Sarah Jameson, and they are the parents of three daughters, namely : Maud C., who is the wife of John E. Sparling, associated in business with the subject ; Nellie, who is a clerical employe in the Potter County Bank, of which her father is a stockholder ; and Elizabeth, who is at the time of this writing assistant principal of the public schools at Red- field, Spink county.

EDWIN M. STARCHER, president of the Gregory County State Bank, at Fairfax, Gregory county, is a native of West Virginia, having been born in Ripley, Jackson county, on Christmas day of the year 1863, and being a son of Jacob L. and Marian G. (Webb) Starcher, the former of whom was likewise born in Jackson county, that state, in 1832, while the latter was born in the city of Charleston, West Virginia, at that time 30-

Dominion state. The father of the subject was reared and educated in his native state and is a man of high intellectuality and marked business acumen. In his earlier years he was a successful teacher, having been thus engaged in different places, while he also followed mercantile pur- suits as a young man, being now identified with this line of enterprise in Ripley, West Virginia. where he was also engaged in the banking busi- ness for some time. He has accumulated an es- tate of four hundred thousand dollars, the same representing the results of his own efforts since the close of the Civil war. He was a stanch Union man during that crucial epoch and was sheriff of his county at the time, and he is a stanch Dem- ocrat in politics. He visited various portions of the great northwest in a very early day, having been with a government surveying party which made its way up the Red river through what is the present state of South Dakota, the same being then on the very frontier of civilization. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity, and both he and his devoted wife are communicants of the Protestant Episcopal church. They have only two children, the elder of whom, Floyd, is now a res- ident of the city of Richmond, Virginia.

When the subject was a child of six years his parents removed to the state of Minnesota, and located in Hastings, in whose public schools he secured his early educational training. In 1880 he entered the Northwestern Ohio Normal Uni- versity, at Ada, where he continued his studies for one year. He then entered the law depart- ment of Washington and Lee University, at Lex- ington, Virginia, and was there graduated in June, 1888, coming forth well equipped for the practice of his chosen profession. Shortly after his graduation Mr. Starcher came to South Da- kota and located in the town of Wheeler, Charles Mix county, where he established himself in the practice of law, and that he soon gained popu- larity and professional prestige is evident when we revert to the fact that within the first year of his residence here he was elected state's attorney of his county, of which office he remained in- cumbent for two years, proving an able and dis-

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criminating prosecutor. This was before the ad- mission of the state, and he served as the last dis- trict attorney and first state's attorney in that county, being in office at the time of the admission of the state to the Union. He continued in the active practice of his profession in that county for a period of ten years, at the expiration of which, in 1898, he took up his residence in Fair- fax, where he has since maintained his home. In his youthful days he was employed in a drug store and gained a thorough knowledge of the business, being now a registered pharmacist. He has been consecutively engaged in the drug business ever since he came to South Dakota, and thus it may be seen that he is distinctively a man of affairs, having a great capacity for work and that of a successful order, both in profes- sional and business lines. When he took up his residence in the present thriving little city of Fairfax, in 1898, the county had not yet been organized, and he was prominently identified with public affairs here from the start. He is a stanchi advocate of the principles of the Democratic party, and as a candidate of the same he was elected the first county judge of Gregory county, to which dignified position he has since been three times re-elected, being incumbent of the office at at the present time and having made an enviable record on the bench, as has he also in the active practice of his profession. He has also served for four years as city attorney, having been the first and only occupant of the position in this city. He is the owner of the only drug store here, is president of the Gregory State Bank and is the owner of valuable realty in the village and county. As if all these interests were not sufficient to tax his powers of supervision, Judge Starcher is also engaged in the abstract business, having an ex- cellent system of records and being the pioneer in this line in the county. He and his wife are communicants of the Episcopal church, and fra- ternally he is affiliated with the Masons, the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias and the Modern Woodmen of America.

On the IIth of November, 1901, was solem- nized the marriage of Judge Starcher to Miss Marian B. Helenbolt, who was born in Minne-

sota, being a daughter of Harry and Mary E. (Blake) Helenbolt, who removed to Nebraska when she was a child, her father being now one of the successful farmers of that state.

JOHN E. SPARLING, of Gettysburg, Pot- ter county, being a member of the general mer- chandise firm of Clark & Sparling, is a native of "merrie old England," having been born in the town of Barwick-in-Elmet, Yorkshire, on the 27th of October, 1870, and being a son of George and Sarah (Dyson) Sparling, who were born and reared in the same locality. The father and the subject came to America in 1883, and reached Spink county, South Dakota, in April of the same year, where they remained about two years and then removed to Potter county, where the father of the subject was engaged in farming un- til 1889, when he removed to Gettysburg and en- gaged in the hardware business. In 1894 he re- moved to Bowdle, Edmunds county, South Da- kota, and in 1899 he took up his abode in Mar- shall, Minnesota, where he has since devoted his attention to the implement business. The subject received his early educational training in his na- tive town and after coming to the United States continued his studies in the public schools of South Dakota, as opportunity permitted. He was associated with his father in the general merchan- dise and implement business until the spring of 1899, and thereafter he was engaged in the im- plement business in Bowdle, Edmunds county, this state, until the spring of 1903, when he be- came associated with his father-in-law, Mr. Clark, in the mercantile business in Gettysburg, as noted in the initial paragraph of this article. He is in- dependent in politics and has attained the thirty- second degree in Scottish-rite Masonry, being identified with the consistory at Aberdeen, and with the temple of the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine at Sioux Falls, while he also holds membership in the Knights of Pythias, the Ancient Order of United Workmen and the Modern Woodmen of America.

On the 6th of May, 1896, Mr. Sparling

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wedded Miss Maud C. Clark, daughter of James B. Clark, of Gettysburg, and they are prominent in the social circles of their home town, enjoying marked popularity in the community.

SAMUEL WOODARD COSAND, a rep- resentative citizen of Potter county, was born on a farm in Boone county, Indiana, on the 27th of June, 1843. being a son of Samuel and Mary Cosand. The father was born in North Carolina. The original progenitor of the Cosand family in America was the great-grandfather of the sub- ject, who was born and reared in France and who was one of the valiant soldiers who ac- companied General Lafayette when he came to this country to assist the struggling colonists in their war for independence. He continued to serve under the noble general mentioned until victory had crowned the colonial arms, and then located in North Carolina, where a grateful government presented him with a large grant of land. The father of our subject was reared to manhood in his native state, where he continued to make his home until 1820, when he came west to Indiana, making the trip with a team and small wagon and thus conveying all of his worldly ef- fects. He was one of the pioneers of Boone county, where he reclaimed a farm in the midst of the sylvan wilderness, and there he and his devoted wife passed the remainder of their lives, the father passing away on June 6, 1863, and the mother on April 16. 1876. The eldest _son, Robert, served as a soldier in an Indiana regiment during the war of the Rebellion. and is now living in Indiana.

The subject of this sketch was reared on the pioneer homestead in Indiana, early becoming inured to hard work, while his educational ad- vantages in his youth were necessarily somewhat limited. Alert in his mentality and apprecia- tive of the value of knowledge, this deprivation did not constitute a serious handicap, and through strenuous personal effort and application he rounded out in due time what may well be desig- nated as a liberal education. On the 16th of July. 1862, at the age of nineteen years, Mr. Cosand

signalized his intrinsic loyalty and patriotism by enlisting as a private in Company D, Seventy-sec- ond Indiana Mounted Infantry, commanded by Colonel A. O. Miller. He was mustered in at Indianapolis and thence proceeded with his regi- ment to Louisville, Kentucky, where they were assigned to Wilder's brigade, in the Army of the Cumberland. They were sent to Tennessee and soon led the advance against General Bragg, through Hoover's Gap, where they had a severe engagement, being attacked, just after passing through the gap, by Hardy's entire corps. This was the first occasion during the war that the new Spencer rifles were brought into active service, and they proved disastrous to the enemy, the four regiments holding their position until the regular infantry came up to reinforce them, the same night, and each man had fired three hundred rounds in the engagement. The regiment con- tinued to serve under General Thomas until after the battle of Jonesburg, having taken part in the battle of Chickamauga, where has recently been created a handsome monument in memory of the brigade of which the subject was a member. After the battle of Nashville they were organ- ized into a cavalry corps and placed in the com- mand of General Wilson, under whom they served in Georgia. having a number of spirited engagements. With the others of his regiment, Mr. Cosand was honorably discharged, on the 6th of July. 1865. He then returned to Indiana. where he remained a brief interval, after which he went to Iowa, where he engaged in teaching school, and also in farming and dealing in live stock. In 1870 he returned to Indiana, having in the meanwhile made a careful and compre- hensive study of the law, and he was admitted to the bar of his native state, after which he located in Warsaw. Indiana, where he was engaged in the practice of his profession until 1879, when he located in Burlington Junction, Missouri, where he was engaged in practice for two years. after which he returned to Indiana, where he remained until 1883. when he came to Potter county, South Dakota, which was organized in that year, and took up a tree claim of one hun- dred and sixty acres, and also filed on another

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claim of one hundred and sixty acres. In 1885 he was elected state's attorney of the county, being the first incumbent of the office in the county, and holding the position two years, after which he returned to his ranch, four miles south of Gettysburg, where he continued to devote his at- tention to farming and stock raising until March, 1894. In 1898 he served again as state's at- torney. filling out the unexpired term of Mr. Medbury, who died while in office. In 1890 Mr. Cosand was a candidate for attorney general of the state, on an independent ticket, but met de- feat with the rest of the ticket. In 1900 he was again elected to the office of state's attorney, serv- ing two years, since which time he has devoted himself to the practice of his profession in Gettys- burg and to the supervision of his fine ranch. His farm, which is the original tree claim, is well im- proved and under a high state of cultivation, while he is also the owner of valuable realty in Gettysburg, where he has maintained his home since 1894. In politics he is an independent and fraternally is identified with Meade Post, No. 32, Grand Army of the Republic, and the Independ- ent Order of Odd Fellows.

On the 15th of November, 1871, was solem- nized the marriage of Mr. Cosand to Miss Mary J. Dormire, who was born and reared in Union county, Indiana. She died on the 8th of August, 1882, and is survived by two children, Carl, who is residing in Gettysburg, and Nellie, who is now the wife of Grant M. Lambert, who is farming six miles south of Gettysburg. On the 15th of November, 1883, the subject consummated a sec- ond marriage, being then united to Miss Eliza- beth Cisco, who was born in Shelby county, Ohio. being a daughter of William and Percilla ( Bow- ersox ) Cisco. This marriage was the first one solemnized in Potter county.

MATTHEW OWENS, who has charge of the business of the Tuttle Lumber Company at Humboldt. Minnehaha county, claims as the place of his nativity the old Pine Tree state, hav- ing been born in Franklin county, Maine, on the 5th of June. 1852, and being a son of Thomas

and Abigail ( Tarr) Owens, the former of whom was born in County Wicklow, Ireland, while the latter was born in Maine. The father of the sub- ject was reared and educated in the Emerald Isle, where he remained until he had attained the age of twenty-three years, when he emigrated to America, where he believed better opportunities were afforded for the attaining of success through individual effort. He located in the state of Maine, where his marriage occurred, and in 1852 he removed thence with his family to Wisconsin, becoming one of the pioneers of Lafayette county, that state, where he continued to reside until 1864. when he located in Wabasha county, Minnesota, where he continued to be identified with agricul- tural pursuits until his death, his wife also pass- ing the closing years of her life in said county. Of their twelve children five are yet living, the subject of this sketch having been the ninth in or- der of birth.

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History of South Dakota, Vol. II, Part 79

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