History of South Dakota, Vol. II, Part 89

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

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corporated in 1902, with a capital stock of one hundred and fifty thousand dollars. Three trav- eling salesmen are employed by the house, who represent its interests throughout its extended trade territory.

J. H. Jackson was born in the province of Quebec, Canada, on the 22d of May, 1853, being a son of Alonzo and Mary J. Jackson. He was reared in his native province to the age of twen- ty-four years, and there received excellent edu- cational advantages. In 1877 he removed to Marshall, Lyon county, Minnesota, where he gave his attention to farming until 1881, when he came to what is now the state of South Dakota and opened a hardware store in Ordway, Brown county, this being prior to the time of the com- pletion of the line of the Chicago, Minneapolis & St. Paul Railroad to Aberdeen. In 1883 he also opened a store in Columbia, where he continued to be actively engaged in business until coming to Aberdeen, in 1888, since which time his busi- ness career has already been outlined in this ar- ticle. In politics Mr. Jackson is a member of the Republican party, and takes an active interest in its cause. He was elected the first mayor of Columbia, South Dakota. During territorial days he served on the staff of Governor Church as com- missary of supply, with the rank of major. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity, having at- tained the Knight Templar, Scottish Rite and Mystic Shrine degrees.

On the 20th of February, 1889, Mr. Jackson was united in marriage to Miss Nora Ringrose, who was born and reared in Wisconsin, and who was a resident of Aberdeen at the time of their marriage. They are the parents of five children, namely: Helen M., John H., Genevieve, Alice and Edward.

SAMUEL C. HEDGER, one of the repre- sentative business men of the city of Aberdeen, is a native of Michigan, having been born on a farm in Monroe county, on the 15th of March, 1853, a son of B. H. and Mary A. Hedger, both of whom died in this state. He received his early educational training in the common schools and

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supplemented this by a course of study in that celebrated institution, the Michigan State Agri- cultural College, near Lansing, this having been the first college of the sort established in the Union and one which has ever remained a model for all others. After leaving college he was vari- ously engaged for a time and finally engaged in the general merchandise business in South Lyon, Oakland county, Michigan, where he remained until 1882, having been successful in his opera- tions. In March of that year he came to Brown county, South Dakota, and located in Columbia, this county, but shortly afterward took up a homestead near the present village of Detroit. He was the founder of this village, having plat- ted the town on his land and having named the same in honor of the metropolis of his native state. In 1885 Mr. Hedger was elected auditor of Brown county, and this caused him to take up his residence in Aberdeen. He was twice re-elected to this responsible office, thus serving for six consecutive years and gaining unqualified popular commendation. After retiring from of- fice he was for eight years employed as travel- ing salesman for George D. Barnard & Com- pany in South Dakota, still retaining his resi- dence in Aberdeen, and since that time he has here been established in the real-estate and insur- ance business, receiving a large and representa- tive support in both departments of his enter- prise, while he is also one of the stockholders in the Aberdeen Gas and Electric Light Com- pany and other local enterprises. In politics he is stanchly arrayed in support of the principles and policies advanced by the Republican party, and fraternally he has attained the Knights Tem- plar degrees in the Masonic order, thus complet- ing the York rite.

On the 22d of February, 1878, in Oakland county, Michigan, Mr. Hedger was united in marriage to Miss Mary Bullock, who was born and reared in the state of Michigan, and who was summoned into eternal rest in Columbia, South Dakota, August 16, 1888. Her only child, Ivy, is now the wife of Frederick Bartholomew, of San Francisco, California. On the 28th of April, 1896, Mr. Hedger wedded Miss Elizabeth Chal-

mers, who was born in Illinois, where she was reared and educated, and they have one child, Jeanette.

JOHN QUINN ANDERSON, government trader at the Crow Creek Indian agency, in Buf- falo county, is a native of the state of Missouri, having been born in Lagrange, Lewis county, on the Ist of January, 1866, and being a son of Cap- tain Lee Anderson, who was born and reared in Virginia, being of Scotch ancestry. He was an early settler in Missouri, where he passed the clos- ing years of his life, having died when the sub- ject was but seven years of age, and the latter having passed away five years later, at Dallas, Texas, in 1878. He thereafter lived in the home of an uncle until he had attained the age of four- teen years, having in the meanwhile attended the public schools as opportunity afforded. At the early age noted he went to Iowa, where he was for two years employed in a creamery, and then coming to what is now the state of South Da- kota, where he arrived in the year 1882, locating in Mitchell, Davison county, and turning his hand to such work as he could secure. He assisted in building a portion of the line of the railroad between Mitchell and Aberdeen when nineteen years of age, and held the position of tie foreman. He early identified himself with the cattle indus- try, buying and selling stock, while during the past few years he has also raised cattle, on a con- stantly increasing scale. In 1894 he started a stock ranch sixty miles west of Chamberlain, in Brule county, and has there continued operations most successfully, while he is at the present time one of the executive officers of the Western Stock Growers' Association. For a number of years past he has been a government beef contractor, and since March, 1901, he has been bonded In- dian trader at Crow Creek Indian agency. In politics he is a stanch Republican, and fraternally is identified with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and the Knights of Pythias.

On the 16th of November, 1898, Mr. Ander- son was united in marriage to Miss Clara L. Will- rodt, who was born in the city of Davenport,

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Iowa, on the 30th of July, 1874, being a daugh- ter of Senator Lawrence H. and Mary (Wagner) Willrodt, who are now residents of Brule county, South Dakota. Mr. and Mrs. Anderson have no children.

When Mr. Anderson resided in Lyman county, South Dakota, he was named as a presi- dential elector for this year. He was a repre- sentative in the legislature from Lyman and Stanley counties in 1901.

ROSWELL BOTTUM, one of the leading real-estate men of Aberdeen, was born in Fond du Lac county, Wisconsin, on the 3d day of Au- gust, 1857. He spent his boyhood and youth in his native state and attended for a number of years the public schools, supplementing the train- ing thus received by a course in Ripon College. Leaving that institution, he engaged in teaching. which profession he followed in Wisconsin for a period of three years, and at the expiration of that time came to South Dakota, locating in Spink county in 1879, and took up a homestead near the town of Redfield. When that county was set apart as an independent jurisdiction, Mr. Bottum took an active part in its organization, which be- ing effected, he was appointed county treasurer, holding the office one term. He discharged his official functions in an eminently satisfactory manner, in addition to which he also exercised a potent influence in shaping county affairs gener- ally, the meanwhile devoting all of his leisure to the improvement of his homestead, which in- creased greatly in value as the country became more thickly populated. After living on his place for about six years, he removed to Faulkton, Faulk county, where, in partnership with his brother, J. H. Bottum, he established the Citizens Bank, of which he was cashier during the four years of the institution's existence. Disposing of his interests in Faulkton, Mr. Bottum, in 1892, changed his residence to Watertown, where he was engaged in the real-estate business until 1896, when he found a larger and more favorable field in the city of Aberdeen.

Since the latter year Mr. Bottum has built

up a large and prosperous business, which in- cludes the handling of all kinds of city and coun- try real estate in many of the best counties of South Dakota, besides acting as agent for F. R. Clement, of Minneapolis, whose extensive landed interests in this state are subject to his manage- ment. He has consummated a number of large deals, for which liberal commissions were re- ceived, and his patronage has steadily grown, un- til in magnitude and importance his business now compares favorably with that of the most suc- cessful agencies of the kind in the state.

Mr. Bottum is a thirty-second-degree Scottish- rite Mason, and has been honored with a number of high official positions in the brotherhood; he is an active worker in the lodge at Aberdeen and like all true members of the mystic tie, endeavors to square his life and control his conduct accord- ing to its precepts.

Mr. Bottum is a married man and the father of two children, a son, Frank, and a daughter by the name of Margaret. His wife was for- merly Miss Alla A. Beardsley, of Redfield, South Dakota, and the ceremony by which her name was changed to the one she now so worthily wears took place in that town on the 23d of Att- gust, 1887.

ANDREW THORSON, one of Brown county's well-known farmers, residing on his large farm four miles northeast from the city of Aberdeen, is a native of Norway, where he was born on August 24, 1848, being the son of Thore Thorson. At the age of nineteen years the sub- ject became a sailor before the mast, and sailed all over western European waters. After follow- ing the sea until 1871, he returned to his old home in Norway, and in 1872 he came to America, landing at New York. From New York he came direct to St. Peter, Minnesota, from where he went to New Ulm, Minnesota, and took employ- ment on the construction of the Chicago & North- western Railroad. He worked on the grading and in other capacities until the road was con- structed to Watertown, South Dakota, putting in the summer months on the work and returning to

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St. Peter, Minnesota, for the winters. In the spring of 1880 Mr. Thorson located land in Brown county, South Dakota, taking up one hun- dred and sixty acres, which is his present home, but continued to work on the railroad until 1893, when he diverted all his attention to farming. He now owns over fourteen thousand acres, in two pieces, and carries on operations on a large scale, growing grain and raising horses, cattle, etc. Of late years, however, his health has been poor, and he has traveled considerably, spending much of his time in California.

At St. Peter, Minnesota, in 1881, Mr. Thor- son was married to Carrie Peterson, who was born in Norway, and came to America in 1870. To this union the following six children have been born: Theodore, Mina, Annie, Christian. Arthur and Josephina. Mr. Thorson is a Repub- lican.

WALLACE L. DOW, one of the most tal- ented and best known architects in the state of South Dakota, comes of stanch New England stock and is himself a native of the old Granite state, having been born in Croydon, Sullivan county, New Hampshire, on the 21st of Septen- her. 1844, and being a son of Hial and Lura ( Powers ) Dow. The father of our subject was a carpenter and building contractor at Newport, New Hampshire, and under his direction Wallace L. learned the trade in his youth, while his edu- cational advantages were such as were afforded in the local schools and Powers Institute, at Ber- nardston, Massachusetts. Mr. Dow's early am- bition was to follow the profession of architec- ture, and he devoted all his energies for several years to preparing himself for work along this line. From 1861 to 1866 he was engaged in the heating and plumbing business in Springfield, Massachusetts, the knowledge thus gained prov- ing of much value to him in connection with the practical work of his profession in later years. At the expiration of the period noted he returned to Newport, New Hampshire, where he organized the firm of W. L. Dow & Com- pany, for the purpose of contracting and also

manufacturing builders' supplies. An extensive enterprise was built up by the firm and he con- tinued to be identified with the same for several years. He then devoted a few years to the study of architecture, under the effective direction of his uncle, Edward Dow, a prominent architect in Concord, New Hampshire, and then came west, in the autumn of 1880, locating in Pierre, South Dakota. In February of the following year Hon. N. G. Ordway, then governor of the territory, ap- pointed him a member of the board of directors to whom was assigned charge of building the territorial penitentiary in Sioux Falls, to which city he removed in 1882, while he has ever since made this his home and business headquarters. He was chairman of the board for four years, within which time the penitentiary was com- pleted and placed in operation, the same being now the state prison of South Dakota. Since the completion of this important work Mr. Dow has devoted his entire attention to architectural work, and has made plans for most of the public buildings in the state, while his professional serv- ices have been in requisition outside the limits of the commonwealth. The development of the building-stone industry in his section of the state has been accomplished largely through his efforts. In politics he is stanchly arrayed in support of the principles and policies for which the Repub- lican party stands sponsor.

In 1865 Mr. Dow was united in marriage to Miss Lois M. Whipple, of Croydon, New Hamp- shire. and they have three sons, namely : Edward W., who is associated with his father in busi- ness : Baron C., who has been for many years an attache of the well-known Sioux Falls newspaper, the Argus-Leader ; and Annie H., who is at home.

CHARLES A. McARTHUR, dealer in agri- cultural implements in the city of Aberdeen, is a native of the state of Minnesota, having been born in Plainview, Wabasha county, on the 11th of September, 1871, and being a son of John and Mary (Campbell) McArthur, who now re- side in the city of Seattle, Washington. The sub- ject received his elementary educational discipline

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in the public schools of Minnesota, and was ten years of age at the time of his parents' removal to Ordway, South Dakota, in 1881. Here he con- tinued his educational work, the family removing to Aberdeen in 1886, and in the high school of this city he was graduated as a member of the class of 1891, having completed the scientific course. After leaving school Mr. McArthur be- came identified with his father in the implement business, being admitted to partnership in 1893, under the firm name of John McArthur & Sons. This association continued until 1894, when the firm of C. A. McArthur & Company was organ- ized. Under this title the enterprise was contin- uted until November, 1901, when the subject be- came the sole owner, having individually con- ducted the business since that time. He handles a full line of agricultural implements and machin- ery, including the McCormick harvesters and mowers, the John Deer plows, the Gaar-Scott threshing machines and engines, windmills, gaso- line engines, the United States cream separators, Winona wagons and a select stock of carriages and buggies. In politics Mr. McArthur gives his support to the Republican party, and frater- nally he is identified with the Masonic order, in which he has attained the Knights Templar de- grees, and with the Ancient Order of United Workmen.

On the 4th of September, 1895, at Wellsburg, West Virginia. was solemnized the marriage of Mr. McArthur to Miss Clara Bracken, daughter of Margaret R. Bracken, of that place. She was well and favorably known in Aberdeen, having here held the position of delivery clerk in the postoffice for some time prior to her marriage, and both she and her husband are active in the social life of the community. They have two children, Everett and Stuart.

ALBERT WILLIAM CAMPBELL, a lead- ing member of the bar of Aberdeen, and ex-judge of the fifth judicial circuit of South Dakota, was born October 10, 1856, at Oconomowoc, Wau- kesha county, Wisconsin. He spent his boyhood in Monroe county, Wisconsin, and secured his

early education in the district school and the graded school of Tomah. He taught school for two years. He began the study of law at Madi- son, Wisconsin, in 1877, and in 1877-78 he took the law course at the University of Wisconsin. He was admitted to the bar in 1878, and the fol- lowing year opened an office at Viroqua. Wiscon- sin, where he was engaged in practice until 1883. at which time he came to South Dakota, locating at Aberdeen, forming a partnership with C. N. Harris. In 1885 Judge Campbell formed a partnership with George W. Jenkins, which as- sociation continued until 1880. In 1896 he was elected to the South Dakota legislature and re- clected in 1888 and in 1889 he was elected to the judgeship of the newly created fifth judicial cir- cuit, he being the first judge of the same. His term as judge expired on January 1, 1902, when he returned to the practice, and has so continued. Both as a lawyer and judge, his career has been successful, and his standing in the legal profes- sion of South Dakota is of the best. Judge Campbell has been twice married, the first time in 1880, to Lulu E. Casson, of Viroqua, Wiscon- sin, who died in 1891, leaving two children ; Joseph C. and Donald H. In 1893 Judge Camp- bell married Marie Haven, of Webster, South Dakota. To this union three children have been born ; Roger, Dorothy and William.

ALBERT F. MILLIGAN. state agent of the St. Paul Fire and Marine Insurance Company for South Dakota, with headquarters at Aber- deen, was born at St. Thomas, Ontario, Canada, on April 11, 1862. His parents were James and Mary (Hunt) Milligan, both natives of the prov- ince of Ontario, where the father resides at the present, living retired at St. Thomas. The mother died in 1897.

Albert F. Milligan attended the public schools, then taught for three years. after which he en- tered the St. Thomas Collegiate Institute, taking high position in mathematics and languages. In 1884 he came to Aberdeen, South Dakota, and two years later established himself in the local fire insurance. Five years later he was ap-

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pointed state agent for the St. Paul Fire and Ma- rine Insurance Company, and has since held that important position. Under his management of this field the company has kept pace with the growth and development of the Northwest, and now controls the leading insurance business in South Dakota. Mr. Milligan gives close atten- tion to the upbuilding of his business, and has done much to gain for his company its success and prestige in South Dakota. Mr. Milligan has other important interests, including those of farming and banking. He is a director of the Aberdeen National Bank and of the First Na- tional Bank of Webster, South Dakota, and is also identified with the First State Bank of Ah- erdeen. He has always been a member of the Republican party, and is a member of the Ma- sonic fraternity, being a member of Damascus Commandery, No. 10, Knights Templar, and of El Riad Temple. Mystic Shrine, the latter of Sioux Falls.

In Ellendale, South Dakota, on August 10, 1888. Mr. Milligan was married to Rose Abbott, who was born and reared in Kandiyohi, Minne- sota, being a daughter of Burroughs Abbott, now a resident of Aberdeen. Mrs. Milligan was a suc- cessful teacher in the Aberdeen public schools for several years prior to her marriage. Three children have been born to this union : Marjorie, Muriel and James Abbott.

JOHN C. BASSETT, president of the Aber- deen National Bank, and one of the well-known and successful bankers of South Dakota. was born in Killingly, Windham county, Connecticut, August 26, 1864, the son of Augustus and Sarah J. Bassett. The parents were born in Connecticut and their family names have been identified with New England for many generations.

John C. Bassett was educated in the public schools of Danielson, and began his business ca- reer in 1880 as secretary of a milling company at Danielson. In 1888 he came to South Dakota and located at Langford, Marshall county, where he engaged in the banking business. In 1900 he was elected cashier of the Aberdeen National

Bank, and removed his residence to that city. In 1902 he was elected president of the above bank. Mr. Bassett's banking and financial interests are extensive, as besides holding the presidency of the Aberdeen National Bank, he is president of the Commercial Bank of Langford, South Da- kota, president of the State Bank of Pierpont, South Dakota, vice-president of the First State Bank, of Aberdeen, and a stockholder in other banking institutions. In politics Mr. Bassett is a Republican, and he belongs to the different Masonic bodies and to the Ancient Order of United Workmen. He and his wife are members of the Presbyterian church.

On June 29, 1892, Mr. Bassett was married to Harriet Galbraith, who was born in Minneapolis. Minnesota. on November 12, 1864. Mr. and Mrs. Bassett are the parents of the foll wing children : Ruth, Hellene, Margery and Clarke.

ANDREW C. FOSSUM, who is engaged in general contracting in the city of Aberdeen, was engaged in contracting and as superintendent of contracting work in the city of Chicago for seven years, and from the western metropolis came to Aberdeen in August, 1881. Here he was in the employ of others in an executive capacity for about two years, at the expiration of which, in 1883, he began contracting on his own account, as a member of the firm of Saxon & Fossum. This association continued four years and since that time he has conducted his operations individ- ually. He erected the public-library building and many of the best business blocks and private resi- dences in the city, while his methods have always stood voucher for the best of workmanship and the most absolute fidelity to contract. In addition to his own operations he has found his services much in demand as a superintendent in connec- tion with the contract work of others, and in this capacity he has had charge of the erection of the new buildings for the Jewett Brothers and the fine dormitory of the normal school, besides many other notable buildings. Personally he employs at times as many as twenty-five men in connection with his contract work, and in this line as coupled

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with his general superintendency he has had the direction of the labors of fully one hundred men at various times. Mr. Fossum is a Republican in his political proclivities, and he served one year as a member of the board of aldermen, represent- ing the third ward. Fraternally he holds mem- bership in the Knights of Pythias and the An- cient Order of United Workmen.

Mr. Fossum is a native of Christiania, Nor- way, born on the 12th of October, 1844, and be- ing a son of Christopher and Anna Fossum. He received a common-school education. He came to America in 1808, stopping first in Lansing, Iowa. In 1872 he went to Chicago, and in 1878 he went to Red Wing, Minnesota, and in 1881 came to Aberdeen, South Dakota.

In Chicago, Illinois, in 1874, Mr. Fossum was united in marriage to Walburg Olesen, who was born in Christiania, Norway, and they are the parents of eight children.

CHARLES J. McLEOD, publisher of the Daily and Weekly News at Aberdeen and sole proprietor of the business there conducted under the title of the News Printing Company, comes of Scotch-English lineage and is a native of Nova Scotia, where he was born on the 22d of March, 1863, being a son of John H. and Cath- arine McLeod. He received his early educa- tional training in the public schools and at the age of fourteen years entered upon an apprentice- ship at the printer's trade in the office of the Herald, at North Sidney, in due time familiariz- ing himself with all details of the "art preserva- tive of all arts." He came to the territory of Dakota in 1883, locating in Brown county, where he has ever since maintained his home, having become proprietor of his present flourish- ing business in 1893. His paper is modern in letter-press and makeup and maintains a high edi- torial standard, well serving as an exponent of local interests and as guide and director of public opinion in its field, advocating the cause of the Republican party and being highly valued in the connection by the party leaders in the state. Mr.

McLeod is a Republican, while as a progressive, loyal and public-spirited citizen he is held in high estimation.

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History of South Dakota, Vol. II, Part 89

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