USA > South Dakota > Who's who in South Dakota, Vol. III > Part 10
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Then, Mrs. Pyle was elected president. She called a meeting at Huron in 1911, and they changed the name of the organization from "Equal Suffrage Association" to the "South Dakota Universal Franchise Leagu! ' Arother meeting was called at Huron in 1912. At that time it was determined to go after the 1913 legislature in earnest. The question was re-submitted, and in 1914 it
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went down to defeat again. But Mrs. Pyle and her co-workers did not become disheart- ened. She called another meeting at Huron after the fall election in 1914, and those pres- ent decided to bring the matter before the 1915 legislature, which they did. It was again defeated in the election of 1916. The election returns, each time, showed that the cause was gaining strength. They got the question re-submitted in 1917, and it carried by a large majority in 1918 - two years be- fore the national suffrage amendment went into effect.
These nine years of faithful adherence by Mrs. Pyle to a losing cause, and its final triumph under her successful leadership, gave her wide recognition throughout the state as an effective organizer. And for the ultimate victory she attained, her name will find a permanent place in our state history.
HER CAREER
Mrs. Pyle's maiden name was Mary Shields. She was born in Orange, New Jer- sey, February 28, 1866. When she was seven years of age, the family removed to Pleasant
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Grove, Minnesota, where Mary grew to womanhood.
In the fall of 1882, Miss Shields came to Dakota Territory and taught a rural school for one year in Brookings County. The next year she went to Miller, where her parents had preceded her, and accepted a position in the city schools of that place, teaching con- tinuously in Miller until she was united in marriage, May 26, 1886 to a promising young attorney, John L. Pyle.
She and her husband lived in Miller until September, 1889, when they removed to Huron, where Mr. Pyle continued the prac- tice of his chosen profession. As a member of the bar he was very successful and won state-wide recognition. In 1898 he was elect- ed Attorney-General of South Dakota, and the opinions he rendered as the legal ad- viser for the state are still cited by attorneys everywhere. They are models of logic and rhetoric, and they reveal a knowledge of law and a sincerity that are admirable. He was reelected in 1900; but, unfortunately, before his widening career, so happily begun, could be completed, and while he was yet in of-
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fice, on February 21, 1902, he was called to that
"Undiscovered country
From whose bourne no traveller returns."
After his death Mrs. Pyle continued to reside in Huron.
The crowning glory of every normal wom- an is motherhood. Mrs. Pyle has attained this glory - four-fold, for she is the mother of one son and three daughters.
"There are soft words spoken by dear dear lips Far richer than any other, But the sweetest word the ear hath heard Is the hallow'd name of Mother.
"O, magical word, may it never die From the lips that love to speak it, Nor melt away from the trusting heart That e'en would break to keep it.
"Was there ever a name that lived like this? Will there ever be such another? The angels have reared in heaven a shrine To the holy name of Mother." (Author unknown.)
At the proposal meeting held in Pierre on December 9, 1919, Mrs. Pyle was proposed by the majority Republicans for one of their
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Presidential Electors, and she was regularly nominated in the March (1920) primaries which followed, and duly elected at the polls in November, - being the first woman in South Dakota ever to attain this honor. Dur- ing the campaign, she was also an advisory member of the executive committee of her chosen party.
During her long residence in Huron, she has been active in the Club and Social life of the community. Mr. Pyle had been a trus- tee of Huron College. Shortly after his death Mrs. Pyle was appointed a trustee of the school. To this task, more than to any other line of work, she has devoted her energies.
"A woman's rank Lieth in the fullness of her womanhood: Therein alone she is royal."
GEORGE ELIOT
Then, up steps Mr. Longfellow, filled with every shade of emotion known to the human soul, and declares of such women as Mrs. Pyle :
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"The life of woman is full of woe! Toiling on and on and on, With breaking heart, and tearful eyes, And silent lips; and in the soul The secret longings that arise Which this world never satisfies."
And Joaquin Miller throws in the compensa- tion :
"Under the storm and the cloud today, And today the hard peril and pain - Tomorrow the stone shall be rolled away For the sunshine shall follow the rain."
COLONEL FRED RAY
"BABY OF THE REGIMENT"
"He's of stature somewhat low; Your hero should be tall, you know."
On Decoration Day, 1919, an undersized soldier clad in an overseas uniform and
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wearing a pair of Colonel's shoulder straps, marched down the gang plank of a great ocean liner that had just returned to New York from France, and was rushed across the continent to San Francisco, California, where he was mustered out in exactly the same building on the United States Presidio in which he had been mustered out as a Cor- poral in the Spanish-American War - just twenty years before. His name was Colonel Fred Ray, of Yankton, South Dakota.
IN SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR
He was born on a farm in Yankton County, September 14, 1883; and was therefore, at the time he enlisted as a Private in Co. "C" 1st S. D. Inf., April 20, 1898, only fourteen years and seven months of age.
In July, 1898, the First South Dakota In- fantry was encamped in a sand bank in San Francisco. As usual guards were thrown around the camp daily. "Post No. 1" was a twelve-foot gate at the southwest corner of the grounds. On one occasion, the fifteen- year-old lad detailed to walk this beat was Freddie Ray, the "Baby of the regiment." He was such a little fellow - about five feet
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tall. The loose sand came half way to his knees. With a big, old-fashioned, long-bar- relled Springfield rifle over his boyish shoul- der and with a big soldier hat on his head, he looked still smaller - about four feet.
It seemed cruel to watch him pace that twelve feet through the deep sand, turn and pace back again, and keep up this tiresome beat in the scorching-hot sun for two hours at a time. Yet not once did he complain. With a smile on his youthful face, his hat tilted slightly backward on his head, and with a snappy rifle salute to each officer that passed, he seemed the happiest soldier in the Regiment. And no better picture could be imagined of Freddie Ray. All through the Philippine Insurrection, his genial dispositon remained ever the same. He never com- plained about anything. The bigger the task assigned him, the harder he went at it and the happier he apparently became. Just how so young a lad - and one undersized, at that - got into the service, history does not dis- close. He was called the "Baby of the regi- ment;" and the members of the organization were all proud of him. Although a mere
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stripling of a youth, he was, after all, one 1 of the most manly men of the Regiment.
Shakespeare said of one like him in "Richard III":
"O, 'tis a parlous boy
Bold, quick, ingenious, forward, capable; He's all the mother's from top to toe."
And Freddie himself might well repeat the words of Praed :
"I remember, I remember How my childhood fleeted by, - The mirth of its December, And the warmth of its July."
Into the mouth of his fond mother, let's put one line from Shakespeare in "Hamlet":
"O wonderful son, that can so astonish a mother;"
and then ask his father proudly to repeat a stanza of Addison's, found in "Cato":
"Thanks to the Gods, my boy has done his duty! - Portius, when I am dead, be sure thou place His urn near mine."
Immediately after the South Dakota regi- ment captured Block House No. 4, in the Philippines, on February 5, 1899, Ray was
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promoted to Corporal, which position he held till the close of the war.
BETWEEN WARS
After the Spanish-American War he re- turned home and for two years attended the . Academy of Yankton College. Following this he was for five years a clerk in the Yankton postoffice. Then he acted as teller for eighteen months in the First National Bank, at Yankton, and from this job he stepped in as cashier of the First Loan and Trust Co., of Yankton, holding the latter position until the breaking out of the World War.
IN WORLD WAR
In 1901, he was appointed 1st Lieutenant of Co. "M" S. D. N. G., at Yankton. Four years later this company was mustered into the 4th Regt. S. D. N. G., and Ray was pro- moted to Captain. In 1914, he was raised to Major, and shortly thereafter was placed on the officers' supernumary list where he re- mained until the World War came on. Then he was commissioned Major, 3rd Squadron, 1st S. D. Cavalry. In October, 1917, he was transferred to the command of the 3rd Bat-
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talion, 133rd Infantry ; and on September 16, 1918, he was promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel and given command of the 135th Infantry, . in the 34th Division.
He took this Regiment overseas on the "Nevasa," landing at Liverpool, in October. They were placed in a rest camp for a brief interval. Then they crossed over to Le Havre, France, proceeded to Bordeaux, and were re-shipped to Le Mons, where they be- came replacement troops.
On October 28, 1918 Colonel Ray was transferred to the 88th Division and given command of the 350th Infantry. He com- manded this regiment through the Post War period - during the 90-day manoeuvre cam- paign.
February 26, 1919, Colonel Ray met with a painful accident. The A. E. F. were hold- ing a horse show. He had taken First Mount- ed prize in the Regiment and Second in the Brigade. During the preliminaries of the Division show, his steed was just starting on a three-foot hurdle when he slipped and fell onto the Colonel, fracturing the latter's
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right ankle. This forced him out of the com- petition.
However, with characteristic pluck, he kept command of his regiment in the ma- noeuvres which followed and operated them, from his billet, by means of a telephone, five miles away. By using a chart he laid down a box-barrage around a distant town with wonderful precision and success. Colonel W. A. Hazle, now Adjutant General of South Dakota, was umpire of the manoeu- vres.
Colonel Ray was given an educational as- signment in the 88th Division on March 14, 1919, with headquarters at San Joire, on the Ornane river. He was ordered to erect sixty- seven buildings to accommodate 2150 army students, and to arrange a syllabus of studies in Modern Languages, Agriculture in all its phases, Motor Repair Work, Radio, Tele- phone and Telegraph ; and to organize classes in Barbering, Tailoring, Economics, and various other lines of Business.
The order was issued on March 14, and the sixty-seven buildings were all completed, equipped with electric lights and other neces-
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saries and made ready for use in exactly ten days. On March 24, classes in all courses and departments were placed in operation. This was the first School to complete the A. E. F. School Orders; in fact, it was in op- eration three weeks ahead of its nearest com- petitor. This feat stands out as a record of achievement unsurpassed in the history of the American forces abroad; and it is, like- wise, the greatest record of achievement in Colonel Ray's career. This school was broken up on May 3, following, and Ray was ordered home and discharged.
Six weeks after being mustered out, he re- ceived his Colonel's commission, which, in the mess of events, had been delayed.
AFTER THE WAR
Upon receiving his discharge at San Fran- cisco, on June 26, he immediately entrained for Yankton where he arrived on July 2. A month later he decided to incorporate the Farmers and Merchants State Bank, of Yankton, and to erect a large new building. It was completed and the bank opened for business on May 3, 1920. The Official Call. of the State Banking Department, made less
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than sixty days after the bank opened, showed deposits of approximately a quarter of a million. This shows that Colonel Ray enjoys the confidence and esteem of his fel- low-townsmen.
In August, 1920, he was elected Com- mander of the South Dakota branch of the American Legion ; and the "Baby of the regi- ment" has now become renowned !
PERSONAL
Colonel Ray was united in marriage, May 10, 1906, to Miss Florence G. Roberts, of Yankton. Three girls and one boy came to bless their home life. He belongs to all Masonic bodies, except the Shrine, and is a member of the Elks, the Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias and the Eagles.
Says Waller to such a man as he :
"But when your country called you forth,
Your flaming courage and your matchless worth, To fierce contention gave a prosperous end."
MRS. REWMAN
MRS. MABEL REWMAN
MEMBER CHARITIES AND CORRECTIONS
During the eventful primary election cam- paign of 1920, when Mrs. Mabel Rewman, of Deadwood, was speaking in behalf of General Leonard Wood throughout several states, she was scheduled to speak in one of the leading cities of Ohio. When the local women's committee learned that the speaker of the day was to be a lady from South Dakota, the chairman of it telephoned the chairman of the men's committee (it was ? joint affair) and asked him if she would be "dressed in the way eastern women attire." He cleverly replied : "No - she will perhaps be clad in cowboy attire and carry a lariat."
When the train arrived, and Mrs. Rew- man, tastily clad in the neatest fashion of the day, steped off, the east had met the west
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face to face, and their misgivings about the West's lack of culture suffered a slump. Let us hope that the improved means of trans- portation may cause an intermixing of our peoples, and that the East may finally be- come acquainted with the West! The poem by Arthur Chapman is most appropriate :
Out where the handclasp's a little stronger Out where the smile dwells a little longer, That's where the West begins; Out where the sun is a little brighter, Where the snows that fall are a trifle whiter, Where the bonds of home are a wee bit tighter, That's where the West begins.
Out where the skies are a trifle bluer, Ont where friendship's a little truer, That's where the West begins; Out where a fresher breeze is blowing, Where there's laughter in every streamlet flowing, Where there's more of reaping and less of sowing, That's where the West begins.
Out where the world is in the making, Where fewer hearts in despair are aching, That's where the West begins; Where there's more of singing and less of sighing, Where there's more of giving and less of buying, And a man makes friends without half trying - That's where the West begins.
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GIRLHOOD
Mabel Fontron was born in Castleton, Illinois, June 12, 1875. When she was two years of age her parents moved to Kansas, and in that state she grew to womanhood. Her father settled on a farm near Hutchin- son. Mabel assisted with the house work, did chores, and attended rural school. Finally, she continued her education in the Hutchin- son high school, and later took a stenographic and typewriting course.
WOMANHOOD
When she reached maturity her father moved to Hutchinson and engaged in the loan and insurance business. She became identi- fied with him. Later, she went to St. Joseph, Missouri, where she lived for two years and then she removed to Quincy, Illinois, for two years. After this she returned to Hutchin- son, and for seven years longer was re- identified with the Fontron Realty Company.
Finally, the woman suffrage campaign in the state of Washington came on. With her natural aptitude for politics, she decided to get into it. And so she went to that state
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and became a prominent factor in helping to carry it for suffrage.
After this success, she went to the new state of Oklahoma and became engaged in the grocery business.
MARRIAGE
Miss Fontron finally sold her grocery busi- ness and on July 10, 1911, was married to Mr. Paul Rewman, of Deadwood, South Dakota.
They departed immediately for Europe where they spent a year visiting all the prominent cities and points of interest in Europe and on the British Isles.
Upon their return, in 1912, they settled in Deadwood, where Mr. Rewman is engaged in business.
IN SOUTH DAKOTA
Mrs. Rewman is active in civic and social work in her home city. She was president of the women's auxiliary of the business men's club in Deadwood for two years. She took an energetic part in the last two suffrage campaigns in South Dakota, and she deserves her full share of credit for the success at- tained for her cause.
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Governor Norbeck recognized her excep- tional ability as an organizer and social worker, and in 1918 he appointed her on the Women's Board of Investigation for the in- stitutions of the state.
Here again her splendid attainments at- tracted such wide recognition that the Gov- ernor, in 1920, appointed her on the Board of Charities and Corrections, - the first woman ever to hold a position on one of the Constitutional boards of the state.
PUBLIC SPEAKER
As a public speaker, on the stump, before student bodies, and at social functions, Mrs. Rewman is always "at home."
"Hark to that shrill, sudden shout! - The cry of an applauding multitude Swayed by some sweet-voiced orator who wields The living mass as if (s) he were its soul." - BRYANT
Personality is power ; Mrs. Rewman has it. Personal magnetism is a speaker's greatest asset; Mrs. Rewman has it. A vocabulary replete with jeweled words, ever ready of command, is an orator's first necessity ; Mrs. Rewman has it. Complete self-possession
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gives charm to platform bearing; Mrs. Rewman has it. Grace in gestures lends finish to public speaking ; Mrs. Rewman has it. In fact it would be hard to find a woman possessed of finer natural attainments for platform work than she.
She has become a powerful political cam- paigner. In the presidential primaries of 1920, she made twenty-eight speeches in South Dakota, six in Nebraska, nine in Illinois, and four in Ohio, - all in favor of General Leonard Wood. His committee praised her work highly, and the National Republican Committee, after the convention, promptly engaged her as one of the leading speakers for the fall campaign.
"Employ the gift thou hast, Whate'er it be, with true and earnest care; And this endeavor shall not be the last; Each good performed, another shall prepare." - MRS. GUERNSEY
IN HER HOME
Although interested in the social welfare of her state, Mrs. Rewman is, first of all, a great home body ; that is, to her, home is the choicest place on earth. She keeps her's
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most beautifully, and it is a genuine "home" for all of her numerous friends.
"Home is the resort
Of love, of joy, of peace, and plenty; where, Supporting and supported, polished friends And dear relations mingle into bliss." - THOMPSON
A. O. RINGSRUD A SELF-MADE IMMIGRANT
Among the most substantial citizens of our commonwealth are the Scandinavian-Amer- icans. The number of state and county of- fices that have been held in South Dakota by
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this class of citizens equals the number that have been held by all other nationalities com- bined. The placing upon them of this official responsibility shows the true esteem in which they are held by the public. They have prov- en themselves trustworthy. The record of their public careers reflects great credit upon their Fatherland.
COMES TO AMERICA
A little thirteen-year-old Norwegian lad, - the son of a blacksmith -, born at Gaus- dahl, Norway, September 13, 1854, and edu- cated in the rural schools of his native com- munity, was brought to America by his par- ents and with them settled on a claim in Union County, Dakota Territory, on July 4, 1867. His name was A. O. Ringsrud - to- day proprietor of one of the largest mercan- tile establishments in the state, situated in Elk Point.
HARDSHIPS
Between the landing of this immigrant boy and the attainment of his successful business career, stretch out a half century of eventful years as a pioneer in Dakota.
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The family was poor, - the father doing blacksmithing on his claim to help "keep the wolf from the door." At one time their only food for two weeks consisted of corn boiled in milk. But, they weathered the storm of adversity. It is such pioneers as these that have made Dakota what it is today. Their individual struggles and the history of the state are one and inseparable; in fact the history of the state is but the record of their individual achievements. A. O. Ringsrud be- longs to this class.
BOYHOOD EXPERIENCES
About a month after they landed on their claim, the boy was sent by his father to work for Paul Pacquette, a Frenchman living near the Iowa end of the present bridge over the Sioux River, just above Sioux City. Here he was thrust among French and Indians - all of whom were trying to speak English - while the only language he knew was Norwe- gian. It was his business to drive seven yoke of oxen hitched to a breaking plow. The cattle understood French; the boy spoke Norwegian. Neither one could understand the other; so they harmonized their "dif-
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ferences" on English; and the boy soon learned some very emphatic words which the oxen very quickly learned to understand.
One night the oxen strayed away. Pac- quette sent young Ringsrud on a broncho to find them. The horse got scared, pitched the boy from the saddle and dragged him for a long distance through vines and across ra- vines, while his left foot was firmly caught in one of the stirrups. The next morning the boy's leg was badly swollen. Finally, run- ning sores developed. There were no doc- tors. Pacquette poured lard oil onto the
sores. Soon proud flesh began to form. After several months of this kind of treat- ment a country doctor came along and fixed up the limb, so that it gradually got well.
IN BUSINESS
The lad worked out among the pioneer homesteaders until June of 1870, when he entered a store in Elk Point as a clerk and began to get his real training for life. He continued this line of work which was in reality his apprenticeship, for eight years.
However, in 1885, he entered the mercan- tile business on his own account. Prosperity
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attended his efforts, regardless of the "dry time." In 1896, he incorporated his firm; and today he is president of one of the largest and best kept general stores in South Dakota. His firm is making money; and this sturdy Norwegian lad - today a 100 per cent Am- erican - is facing the future with a grim determination that commands respect.
POLITICS
Away back in 1876, when our young immi- grant was but twenty-one years of age, and while he was as yet a clerk in a store in Elk Point, he thought to try his hand in politics, and so he ran for Register of Deeds in Union County, on the Republican ticket, and was defeated. But he was made of that stern stuff which does not yield to one defeat, and so he ran again in 1878 ; was elected ; re-elect- ed in 1880 and again in 1882. In 1884, he ran for County Treasurer, was elected, and re-elected in 1886. Two years later he was elected Secretary of State, - serving two terms ; and he was a member of the Constitu- tional Convention in 1889.
Lured on by these repeated successes, he became a candidate for Governor in 1896,
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but was defeated by Andrew E. Lee by 319 votes out of over 88,000 cast.
When C. L. Dotson, of Sioux Falls, re- signed his position on the Board of Charities and Corrections in March, 1917, Governor Norbeck appointed A. O. Ringsrud to the va- cancy, and re-appointed him for a full six- year term beginning in 1919 and ending in 1925. He is one of the strong men on this important board, and he has given lavishly of his time to his official duties.
We live in a democracy. In it each indi- vidual feels he can take a certain amount of liberty with the good names of those who are in authority over him - those who, for the time being, constitute his government. Pri vate scandals are not numerous; but the mo- ment a man enters the political arena his good name then becomes public property.
Shakespeare weighed his words well when he wrote :
"Good name in man or woman, dear my Lord, Is the immediate jewell of their souls. Who steals my purse steals trash;
'Tis something, nothing; 'twas mine, 'tis his
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And has been slave to thousands. But he that filches from me my good name Robs me of that which not enriches him And makes me poor indeed."
A prominent part of our American poli- tics is character assassination. Ringsrud could not escape it. Ten years in office in Union County and four years as a state of- ficial, made his good name an object of as- sault by his political enemies.
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