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OENEALOGV  COLLECTION 


ALLEN  COUNTY  PUBLIC  LIBRARY 


3  1 


833  01103  4185 


A   HISTORY 


OF 


JERAULD  COUNTY 


SOUTH  DAKOTA. 


BY  N.  J.  DUNHAM. 


FROM   THE  EARLIEST  SETTLEMENT 
TO  JANUARY  1ST,  1909. 


WESSINGTON  SPRINGS,  SO.  DAK. 
1910. 


1142961 


A  FOREWORD. 

In  presenting  to  our  readers  this  history  of  Jerauld  County  we  are 
undertaking  a  rather  large  task.  There  is  so  little  of  record  and  so  much 
of  legend  that  it  is  hard  to  separate  the  wheat  from  the  chaff.  However, 
we  have  carefully  sifted  the  legends  as  received  and  have  selected  what 
seemed  to  be  accurate.  Of  the  later  history,  of  course,  records  disclose  the 
facts  and  that  has  been  less  difficult  to  gather. 


The  First   Iiiliabitant. 


I  lie  Second  Iiiliabitant. 


PART  ONE. 

Chapter  1. 


The  story  of  the  country  embraced  within  the  hmits  of  Jerauld  couni^, 
prior  to  the  removal  of  the  Indians  to  their  reservations  in  1859,  is 
almost  legendary.  Even  the  man.  for  whom  was  named  the  range  of 
hills  that  run  north  and  south  thru  the  center  of  the  county,  is  only 
known  to  have  been  a  trapper  who  frequented  the  lakes  and  streams  in 
this  part  of  the  great  territory  prior  to  1863. 

Of  him  it  is  related,  that  he  in  company  with  some  other  trappers 
was  engaged  in  his  usual  avocation  along  the  Firesteel  and  Sand  Creeks 
at  the  tim€  of  the  Indian  uprising  at  New  Ulm,  Minnesota,  in  1863.  The 
whole  western  country  was  then  swarming  with  hostile  bodies  of  Sioux. 
As  these  bands  were  driven  westward  by  the  soldiers  from  ISIinnesota, 
the  trappers  were  caught  in  the  line  of  retreat  taken  by  the  savages. 
Wessington  and  his  companions  took  refuge  in  the  grove  near  the  big 
spring.  For  several  days  the  trappers  fought  off  their  enemies,  but 
provisions  and  ammunition  failing,  they  attempted  to  break  through  and 
escape.  One  by  one  they  fell,  selling  their  lives  as  dearly  as  possible. 
Wessington  was  the  last  of  the  number.  He  was  wounded  and  captured. 
Taking  him  back  to  the  grove  where  he  and  his  friends  had  made  such 
a  gallant  fight,  the  Indians  tied  him  to  a  tree  and  put  him  to  death  by 
torture.  The  story  of  his  capture  and  death  was  told  by  the  Indians. 
Various  trees  about  the  spring  have  been  pointed  out  in  later  years  as 
the  spot  where  the  trapper  met  his  death. 

Among  the  soldiers  who  followed  the  Indians  in  their  retreat  through 
the  hills  and  camped  by  the  big  spring,  were  Chas.  Davis  and  Richard 
Butler,  both  in  later  years,  residents  of  Alpena. 

This  was  the  last  of  the  Indian  raids  in  the  country  between  the  Mis- 
souri and  James  rivers.  During  the  next  fifteen  years  the  Sand  Creek 
and  Firesteel  valleys  and  the  Wessington  Hills  were  mainly  occupied 
by  peaceful  Indians  and  trappers,  and  horse  thieves  and  wild  bufifalo. 

In  1876  two  squatters  named  Hain  and  Nicholson  settled  at  the  foot 
of  the  hills.  Hain  laid  claim  to  the  northeast  quarter  of  section  13,  town- 
ship 107,  R.  65,  the  land  upon  which  the  big  spring  is  located.  On  the 
bank  of  the  little  stream  that  flows  from  the  spring  and  protected  by  the 


8 

trees  that  grew  up  from  the  ravine,  he  built  a  sod  hut  and  later  added 
to  it  a  building  made  of  logs,  which  for  many  years  stood  as  a  landmark 
of  the  county. 

Nicholson  selected  his  location  about  four  miles  north  of  Hain,  at 
the  entrance  of  a  deep  gulch  afterwards  embraced  in  the  farm  owned  by 
H.  J.  Wallace. 

These  men  made  no  attempt  to  cultivate  the  land  further  than  a  small 
garden  patch.     Their  means  of  living  was  mainly  a  matter  of  conjecture. 

In  1874  a  scout  with  Custer's  soldiers  in  the  Black  Hills  washed  a 
pan  of  gravel  taken  from  the  bottom  of  French  Creek.  The  result  was 
a  find  of  marvelous  richness.  Custer  sent  a  dispatch  to  army  headquarters 
announcing  the  discovery  of  gold  in  the  hill  country. 

This  untimely  message  was  unwisely  published  to  the   world.      Im- 
mediately a  stream  of  excited  gold  seekers  started  for  the  new  Eldorado. 
They  went  by  teams,  on  foot  and  on  horseback,  only  to  find  the  country 
of  gold  guarded  by  troops  who  stopped  the  eager  prospectors  and  turned 
them  back. 

The  disappointed  gold  seekers  returning  to  their  homes  told  of  the 
mighty  expanse  of  fertile  prairies  that  must  be  crossed  before  the  gold 
country  could  be  entered.  The  description  of  the  country  that  had  been 
marked  upon  the  maps  as  the  Great  American  Desert,  fired  the  ambition 
of  die  young  men  of  the  east  to  obtain  homes  and  try  their  fortunes 
in  farming  and  stock  raising  in  the  upper  Missouri  valley. 

The  craze  for  gold  changed  to  a  craze  for  land.  The  government  land 
laws  permitted  every  head  of  a  family,  or  single  person,  male  or  female, 
to  obtain  480  acres  of  her  most  fertile  soil  on  the  continent. 

In  1876  Sioux  Falls  was  a  town  of  but  few  scattered  buildings  and 
less  than  five  hundred  inhabitants.  In  less  than  five  years  a  dozen  towns 
of  a  thousand  or  more  people  had  sprung  up  in  the  valleys  of  the  Big 
Sioux  and  James  rivers. 

At  no  time  since  the  gold  fever  of  '49  took  so  many  people  across  the 
plains  to  California,  has  the  nation  beheld  such  a  movement  from  an 
old  to  a  new  country. 

Some  officials  of  the  Chicago  &  Northwestern  railroad  in  crossing  the 
prairies  to  lay  out  a  line  of  transportation  to  the  Black  Hills  gold  region, 
saw  the  opportunity  for  developing  an  empire  and  at  the  same  time  in- 
suring an  inexhaustable  source  of  revenue  to  the  railroad  that  should 
push  its  lines  across  these  fertile  prairies.  A  report  to  the  directors 
fesulted  in  an  order  to  extend  the  system  westward. 

The  C.  M.  &  St.  P.  immediately  followed  the  example  of  the  North- 
western and  hundreds  of  miles  of  railroad  were  built  across  a  country 
that  had  never  known  a  settler. 


lO 


Immigrants  by  thousands  and  tens  of  thousands  followed  close  after 
the  locomotive  and  began  the  business  of  getting  land.  Some,  more  ven- 
turesome and  hardy  than  others,  pushed  on  ahead  of  the  roads  and  took 
land  far  from  the  towns  or  settlements. 


Chapter  2. 

Two  years  after  Levi  Hain  settled  by  the  big  spring  three  brothers, 
]\Ioses,  Peter  and  Ogden  Barrett,  came  out  from.  Minnesota  and  settled 
at  the  mouth  of  what  is  known  as  Barrett's  Gulch.  Peter  Barrett  filed 
on  land  in  section  one  107-65  on  the  23rd  day  of  May,  1878,  while  JMoses 
Barrett  at  the  same  time  made  a  homestead  entry  for  160  acres  in  sec- 
tions II  and  12  of  the  same  township.  Ogden  Barrett  had  made  a  timber 
culture  entry  for  a  quarter  section  in  section  6 — 107 — 64  and  he  began 
to  make  improvements  on  that  date. 

The  Barretts  were  men  who  enjoyed  the  wide  range  and  the  free 
life  of  the  frontier.  Their  new  homes  were  over  a  hundred  miles  from 
the  nearest  settlement,  while  the  only  means  of  regular  communication 
with  the  rest  of  mankind  was  the  Yankton-Ft.  Thompson  mail  line  which 
I)assed  over  the  old  Ft.  Thompson  trail  every  two  weeks.  A  post-office, 
named  Wessington,  with  P.  R.  Barrett  as  postmaster  was  established  in 
1878  and  was  supplied  by  this  route.  The  lumber  that  was  used  in  the 
construction  of  Peter  Barrett's  claim  shanty  was  brought  with  teams 
from  Beaver  Creek,  Minnesota. 

The  next  spring,  1879,  a  man  named  W.  H.  Stearns  bought  the 
squatters  right  of  Levi  Hain  to  the  NE  14  of  section  13 — 107 — 65,  and 
moved  into  the  log  house.  Hain  moved  about  three-quarters  of  a  mile 
north  and  built  another  log  house,  which  afterwards  became  the  first 
public  school  house  in  the  territory  now  embraced  within  the  limits  of 
the  city  of  Wessington  Springs.  In  this  house  Hain  lived  until  he  moved 
into  Hand  county  about  two  years  later. 

The  next  settler  in  the  vicinity  of  Wessington  Springs  was  John  Mc- 
Carter.  who  filed  a  homestead  entry  on  the  SW  of  29 — 107 — 64,  two 
miles  south  of  the  present  city.  About  the  same  time  a  man  named 
Strong  filed  on  a  claim  in  section  17- — 107 — 64.  In  the  succeeding  fall 
a  Mr.  Tucker  settled  in  the  yicinty  of  McCarter  and  Strong. 

In  the  north  part  of  the  county  Paddock  Steves.  Chas.  Williams,  M. 
J.  Thornton  and  J.  A.  Palmer  settled  among  the  foot  hills  in  108 — 65. 


'    II 

Emergencies  arise  in  the  lives  of  pioneers  that  call  for  heroic  action. 
No  matter  how  carefully  plans  are  laid,  something  will  be  overlooked,  or 
some  accident  happen  that  brings  about  the  unexpected.  This  happened 
to  M.  J.'  Thornton  in  February,  1880.  His  team  was  not  in  condition 
to  drive  and  he  was  wholly  without  means  of  conveyance.  In  this  con- 
dition the  supply  of  flour  for  the  family  became  exhausted.  The  nearest 
point  at  which  flour  could  be  obtained  was  the  village  of  Mitchell,  fifty 
miles  away.  It  must  be  procured  and  he  must  get  it.  The  winter  had 
been  mild  and  the  prairie  was  free  from  snow.  Bidding  his  family  good 
bye,  Thornton  set  out  on  foot  to  bring  a  sack  of  the  much  needed  article 
from  the  distant  station.  It  was  a  long  walk  but  he  arrived  at  Mitchell 
on  the  evening  of  the  day  he  left  home.  He  remained  over  night  and 
the  next  morning  obtained  the  flour  and,  carrying  it  on  his  shoulder,  be- 
gan his  long  journey  to  the  Wessington  Hills. 

It  was  not  hard  walking  for  the  ground  was  frozen  and  the  few 
streams  he  crossed  on  the  ice.  He  followed  the  trail  over  which  the 
mail  was  carried  and  had  no  difficulty  until  darkness  came  on.  The 
prairie  had  been  overrun  by  fires  and  was  a  great  unbroken  stretch  of 
utter  blackness.  As  night  came  the  sky  became  cloudy  shutting  off  even 
the  faint  starlight.  The  moon  would  not  rise  until  near  morning,  and 
Thornton  soon  found  himself  trudging  on  in  a  darkness  so  intense  that 
the  burned  prairie  upon  which  he  was  walking  could  not  be  seen.  The 
trail  he  had  been  following  became  invisible  and  he  lost  it.  A  light  wind 
was  blowing  from  the  northwest  and  trusting  that  it  had  not  changed 
he  walked  straight  into,  it  and  kept  on.  There  was  not  a  habitation  of 
any  kind  between  Mitchell  and  the  Wessington  Hills.  After  walking 
tor  what  seemed  hours  he  ascended  a  small  elevation  and  caught  a  glim- 
mer of  a  light  that  appeared  to  be  miles  away  to  the  left.  He  had  not 
yet  crossed  the  Firesteel  Creek  and  he  knew  the  light  must  be  a  long 
way  off. 

He  turned  his  steps  in  the  direction  of  the  light  and  soon  felt  him- 
self descending  into  what  he  rightly  thought  to  be  the  bed  of  the  creek. 
Guided  by  the  wind  he  kept  on  until  about  ten  o'clock  when  he  reached 
the  light  which  proved  to  be  from  the  home  of  John  AlcCarter.  He 
stayed  with  the  settler  until  morning  and  then  continued  his  course  north 
along^the  foot  hills,  reaching  home,  tired  but  otherwise  all  right. 

In  the  spring  of  1879  the  mail  service  was  changed  so  as  to  make 
Wessington  the  terminal  of  the  line  from  Yankton,  another  route  begin- 
ning there  and  going  on  to  Ft.  Thompon.  The  time  was  altered  so  as 
to  require  the  trips  on  both  lines  to  be  made  twice  a  week. 

As  the  mail  in  those  days  contained  but  few  papers,  and  the  letters 


12 

were  not  numerous  it  was  carried  from  Wessington  to   Ft.   Thompson 
on  horseback. 

In  the  summer  of  1879  Chas.  WiUiams^,  one  of  the  four  settlers  in 
108 — 65,  began  carrying  the  mail  from  Wessington  (Barrett's  residence) 
to  the  Missouri  river  and  back,  making  the  trips  according  to  the  new 
schedule.  The  distance  from  Wessington  to  Ft.  Thompson  was  forty- 
five  miles  and,  as  there  was  not  a  settler  between  the  two  stations,  the 
trip  must  be  made  in  one  day  or  the  rider  would  have  to  pass  a  night  on 
the  open  prairie.  In  the  warm  weather  a  bivouac  under  the  stars  was 
no  hardship,  but  in  the  winter  time  the  experience  was  not  at  all  desir- 
able. 

A  few  days  after  Thornton  made  his  trip  to  Mitchell  for  flour,  Charles 
Williams  started  on  his  return  trip  from  Ft.  Thompson,  Feb.  26,  1880, 
carrying  the  few  letters  and  dispatches  sent  out  by  the  people  at  the  fort. 
The  trail  was  a  mere  path,  traveled  by  no  one  but  the  mail  carrier.  The 
day  was  mild  and  Williams  was  having  a  pleasant  ride.  He  had  crossed 
Elm  Creek  and  had  covered  about  half  the  distance  to  Barrett's  place 
when  one  of  those  terrible  winter  storms  that  occur  at  rare  intervals 
on  the  prairies  west  of  the  great  lakes,  struck  him  with  scarcely  a 
moment's  notice.  The  fine  snow  filled  the  air  so  completely  as  to  be 
almost  suffocating.  It  was  mid-day,  but  in  the  blinding  snow  the  path 
was  as  invisible  as  in  the  darkest  midnight.  The  trail  was  soon  lost  and 
after  searching  in  vain  to  recover  it  Williams  turned  west  in  the  hope 
of  being  able  to  reach  the  thicket  of  small  trees  that  skirted  the  banks 
of  Elm  Creek,  which  he  knew  were  but  a  few  miles  distant.  He  dis- 
mounted and  led  the  pony,  facing  the  furious  wind  and  plunging  through 
the  snow  drifts  that  formed  with  incredible  rapidity.  All  the  afternoon 
and  all  night  he  led  his  horse  about,  searching  for  the  shelter  of  the 
thickets.  The  next  forenoon  he  reached  the  creek  and  a  small  grove  of 
trees.  He  gathered  some  dry  twigs  and  attempted  to  make  a  fire.  The 
few  matches  he  found  in  his  pocket  were  damp  and  one  by  one  he  saw 
them  fizzle  and  die.  Then  he  lost  hope.  The  storm  continued  with  all 
its  fury  and  dropping  the  bridle  rein  he  sat  down  to  what  he  believed 
would  be  his  last  rest.  How  long  he  sat  there  he  did  not  know,  but 
was  finally  aroused  by  his  horse  tipping  him  over  while  trying  to  free 
its  nose  from  icicles.  Williams  then  got  upon  his  feet  and  began  wan- 
dering along  the  creek  bed  to  keep  alive  until  the  storm  should  cease. 
Along  the  creek  bottom  he  was  protected  somewhat  from  the  fury  of  the 
wind,  but  unfortunately  he  fell  into  a  pool  of  water  that  had  not  been 
frozen.  He  held  up  his  feet  and  poured  the  water  from  his  boots  as 
much  as  possible  and  continued  his  combat  with  the  storm.  So  for  sixty 
hours  the  contest  went  on.     At  last  the  storm  abated,  the  sun  came  out 


13 


Levi  Main's  Log  House. 


The  Big  Spring,  zvhere  Wessington  ivas  burned  by  the  Indians. 


14 

and  although  the  weather  was  30  degrees  below  zero  he  made  his  w-ay, 
now  walking,  now  crawling,  now  rolling  over  and  over  across  the  deep 
gnlleys  filled  with  snow,  to  keep  from  sinking  to  a  depth  from  which  he 
could  not  get  out,  he  finally  reached  an  Indian  camp,  from  w^hich  he  was 
taken  to  the  fort.  His  feet  were  so  badly  frozen  that  both  were  am- 
putated. Williams  became  a  traveling  peddler,  wandering  over  most 
of  the  United  States. 


Chapter  3. 


The  spring  of  1880  found  the  little  band  of  settlers  at  the  foot  of  the 
hills  all  in  good  health.  They  were  somewhat  curious  as  to  the  move- 
ments of  strange  men,  who  mysteriously  came,  were  seen  about  the  hills 
for  a  few  days  and  then  as  mysteriously  disappeared.  There  were 
rumours  of  the  existence  of  an  organization  of  horse  thieves  and  cattle 
rustlers  that  extended  from  below  Sioux  City  to  far  up  the  Alissouri 
river,  with  a  station  somewhere  in  the  hills.  It  was  hinted  that  a  depot 
or  stable  existed  in  the  Nicholson  gulch,  but  if  so  it  was  so  w^ell  hidden 
that  none  of  the  settlers  chanced  to  find  it.  So  far  no  one  had  been 
disturbed  in  their  possessions  and  the  settlers  were  content  to  let  the 
mysteries  of  the  hills  remain  unsolved. 

The  late  snow  melted  and  the  warm  spring  rains  started  the  vegeta- 
tion and  the  prairies  that  had  been  black  from  the  fires  that  had  overrun 
them,  began  to  take  on  the  brightest  green,  that  extended  unbroken  as 
fas  as  the  eye  could  reach.  From  the  high  points  of  the  hills  a  person 
with  a  good  field  glass  could  get  a  view  of  the  great  plain  from  Huron 
to  Mitchell  without  seeing  a  human  habitation,  excepting  the  few  shanties 
close  to  the  range  of  hills. 

The  showers  continued  until  the  latter  part  of  May  and  then  ceased. 
By  the  middle  of  June  the  grass  was  evidently  needing  rain.  By  the 
first  of  July  the  prairie  was  taking  on  a  dead-grass  color  and  the  vegeta- 
tion was  shrinking  and  dying.  One  day  in  the  fore  part  of  July,  when  a 
strong  north  wind  was  blowing,  a  fire  was  started  among  the  hills  away 
to  the  north.  .\s  it  advanced  the  stretch  of  flame  extended  east  and 
west.  The  wind  increased  as  the  fire  moved  forward.  With  no  streams 
nor  lakes,  nor  broken  prairie  to  hinder  its  progress  a  mighty  billow  of 
flame  swept  past  the  little  settlement  leaving  only  blackness  where  the 
beautiful  green  had  been  but  a  few  weeks  before. 

None  of  the  settlers  lost  anything  by  the  fire,  except  the  grazing  for 


Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bromzvell  Horslev.     George  Wallace.  Daniel  Knit. 


i6 

their  animals.  In  the  ravines  among  the  hills  the  grass  sprang  up  again 
in  a  short  time,  and  although  the  cattle  and  horses  were  on  short  rations 
for  a  day  or  two  they  soon  were  able  to  obtain  abundance. 

Some  rain  came  after  the  fire  and  by  the  middle  of  August  the  settlers 
could  go  into  the  draws  and  put  up  sufficient  hay  to  last  them  through 
the  winter. 

During  the  summer  of  1880  a  number  of  prospective  settlers  visited 
the  country  in  the  vicinity  of  the  springs  and  along  the  foot  hills. 

W.  N.  Hill  came  out  from  Minnesota  and  put  up  a  few  stacks  of  hay 
and  was  followed  by  Hudson  Horsly  and  his  brother  Bromwell.  The 
latter  stayed,  but  Hill  went  back  to  spend  the  winter.  C.  M.  Chery  came 
in  the  fall  and  took  up  his  residence  on  the  NE  of  20  in  108 — 65,  though 
he  spent  the  winter  with  P.  R.  Barrett. 

Andrew  Solberg  filed  on  the  NW  of  14 'in  107 — 64,  and  his  son,  Ole 
C.  Solberg  took  a  pre-emption  and  tree  claim  in  section  one  of  106 — 64, 
where  he  lived  during  the  winter.  This  was  the  first  settlement  in  what 
is  now  Viola  township. 

During  the  winter  of  1880  Mr.  Stearns  being  away,  Andrew  J.  Sol- 
berg lived  in  the  log  house  near  the  big  spring. 

Among  the  people  who  visited  the  hills  in  the  fall  of  1880  were  J. 
W.  Thomas,  Rev.  A.  B.  Smart  and  D.  W.  Shryock,  who  selected  land. 

Though  far  removed  as  the  settlers  by  the  hills  were  from  the 
towns  and  villages,  yet  they  were  not  wholly  deprived  of  the  comforts  of 
civilization.  On  the  9th  day  of  May,  1880,  Rev.  Chapin,  a  Presbyterian 
missionary,  held  religious  services  at  the  residence  of  Peter  Barrett  and 
preached  the  first  sermon  ever  addressed  to  an  audience  in  the  limits  of 
the  county.  After  the  church  services  were  concluded  a  Sunday  school 
was  organized  and  became  a  regular  feature  of  Sabbath  observance 
through  the  summer  and  fall  until  October,  when,  because  of  the  severity 
of  the  weather  and  the  scattered  condition  of  the  settlement,  it  was  dis- 
continued for  the  winter. 

During  the  fall  several  unaccountable  things  occurred  to  annoy  the 
settlers.  A  few  animals  mysteriously  disappeared  and  no  traces  of  them 
could  be  found.  The  homes  were  too  widely  scattered  and  too  few  in 
number  to  render  available  and  concerted  action.  They  had  their  suspi- 
cions, but  could  prove  nothing  and  the  law  and  courts  were  too  far  away 
to  afiford  them  any  relief  even  though  the  evidence  could  have  been 
produced.  They  were  attached  to  Hanson  county  for  judicial  purposes 
and  there  were  no  magistrates  or  police  officers  nearer  than  Mitchell. 
They  suffered  their  losses  as  best  they  could,  making  no  complaint  except 
to  each  other.     The  houses  of  Strong,   McCarter  and  Tucker  were  all 


17 

burned  while  the  owners  were  away  and  under  circumstances  that  made 
it  impossible  for  the  fires  to  have  been  accidental. 

Strong  and  Tucker  abandoned  their  land  and  went  away,  but  Mc- 
Carter  built  another  residence  and  prepared  to  stay  through  the  winter. 
A  man  named  Stephen  Smith  had  settled  near  the  Springs,  and  one 
morning  a  fine  colt  he  had  brought  with  him  was  missing  and  never  re- 
turned. 

In  1 08 — 65  the  shanties  of  Paddock  Steves  and  J.  A.  Palmer  were 
broken  open  and  robbed  while  the  proprietors  were  away  from  home  for 
a  night.  Palmer's  shanty  was  torn  down  and  the  boards  scattered  about 
over  the  prairie. 

Hudson  Horsley  had  a  fat  cow  among  his  animals  that  would  have 
afforded  a  good  supply  of  meat  for  his  family  during  the  winter.  Shortly 
after  the  winter  set  in  the  cow  was  missing  and  was  never  heard  of  after. 
One  night  a  span  of  horses  disappeared  from  P.  R.  Barrett's  stable  and 
all  search  for  them  proved  fruitless. 

The  mysterious  strangers  continued  to  come  and  go,  but  who  and 
what  they  were,  or  w-hat  was  their  mission  was  only  a  matter  of  surmise. 

Joe  Black,  a  young  man  who  had  come  out  with  Hudson  Horsley, 
took  the  job  of  carrying  the  mail  between  Wessington  (Barrett's  place) 
and  Mitchell,  and  made  the  trips  without  molestation  two  times  each 
week. 

The  winter  of  1880 — 81  was  one  of  exceptional  severity,  not  only  on 
the  plains,  but  throughout  all  of  the  middle  west.  Snow  began  to  fall  in 
October  and  continued  on  the  ground,  with  an  occasional  light  fall,  until 
in  February,  when  a  heavy  snow  fall  commenced  that  lasted  a  week  with- 
out interruption.  When  at  last  the  storm  ceased  and  the  sun  came  out 
the  snow  was  five  feet  deep  on  the  level. 

During  the  severe  weather  the  settlers  were  annoyed  but  little  by  the 
desperadoes.  The  timber  in  the  gulches  afforded  plenty  of  fuel,  so  there 
was  no  occasion  to  make  long  trips  away  from  home.  The  deep  snow- 
that  kept  the  settlers  at  home,  also  prevented  the  horse  thieves  and  rust- 
lers from  moving  about  without  leaving  a  trail  that  could  be  easily  fol- 
lowed. So  the  winter  passed  quietly  at  the  homes  by  the  hills,  th»^ 
greatest  hardship  being  the  loneliness  of  their  isolated  locations. 


i8 

Chapter  4. 

With  the  year  1881  began  the  immigration  to  Dakota  Territory  that 
culminated  in  the  mighty  rush  two  years  later.  Some  who  had  been 
here  in  1880  prospecting,  came  back  in  1881  with  other  prospectors,  who 
"filed"  and  wrote,  or  carried  back  to  their  friends  such  favorable  reports 
that  more  came.  The  melting  of  the  deep  snows  filled  the  draws  and 
lake  beds  that  were  dry  the  previous  year,  full  to  overflowing.  The 
spring  rains  were  heavy  and  frequent,  and  were  followed  by  abundance 
of  moisture  throughout  the  year.  The  "sod"  crops  that  were  planted 
grew  prodigiously.  All  who  came  were  greatly  pleased  with  Uncle 
Sam's  farms  that  he  was  giving  away  to  all  who  would  take. 

With  the  return  of  warm  weather  Mr.  Solberg  went  back  to  his 
claim  on  section  14.  Solberg's  shanty  was  a  decidedly  primitive  dwelling. 
It  consisted  of  four  short  stakes  driven  into  the  ground,  one  at  each 
corner  of  the  structure,  and  a  tall  one  in  the  center.  Brush,  brought 
from  a  gulch  in  the  hils,  was  stood  up  about  the  center  stake  leaving  a 
small  room  underneath  in  which  one  could  stay  at  night  comfortably  in 
warm  weather,  but  the  extreme  rigor  of  the  winter  of  1880 — 81  had 
rendered  it  uninhabitable.  Mr.  Solberg  then  took  up  his  abode  in  the 
log  cabin  by  the  big  spring.  With  the  return  of  warm  weather,  however, 
he  was  able  to  again  take  up  his  residence  on  his  government  land. 

Mr.  Stearns  on  the  30th  of  April,  1881,  made  proof  and  obtained  his 
final  receipt.  That  was  probably  the  first  "proof"  made  in  what  is  now 
Jerauld  county.  The  receipt  was  filed  for  record  in  the  office  of  the 
register  of  deeds  of  Hanson  county.  On  the  3rd  day  of  June,  1881, 
Mr.  Stearns  sold  the  land  to  Dr.  C.  S.  Burr,  of  Mitchell,  and  that  deed, 
also,  was  recorded  in  Hanson  county.  The  consideration  for  this  transfer 
was  $1,000. 

During  the  summer  of  188 1  several  men  came  to  Aurora  county  and 
took  up  their  abode  north  of  township  105  who,  though  they  did  not 
become  men  of  great  w^ealth,  yet  had  much  to  do  with  the  development 
in  may  ways  of  the  county  subsequently  created. 

In  May  of  that  year  two  men  left  the  train  at  Mitchell  and  tried  to 
get  a  ride  on  to  the  end  of  the  road  at  Mt.  Vernon.  The  passenger  train 
was  going  no  further  than  Mitchell  and  they  were  finally  offered  a  ride 
by  the  section  boss  if  they  would  help  "pump"  the  hand  car. 

They  threw  their  grips  on  this  western  "limited"  and  began  to  liter- 
ally work  their  passage.  Arrived  at  Mt.  Vernon  they  took  their  grips 
from  the  hand  car  and  set  out  on  foot  for  the  Wessington  Hills,  the  out- 
line of  which  could  be  seen  lying  low  on  the  horizon  in  the  northwest. 

One  of  these   men   was   Almona   B.    Smart,   afterward   a   first   com- 


19 

missioner  of  two  counties ;  the  other,  Alden  Brown,  subsequently  the 
first  county  superintendent  of  Aurora  county. 

The  next  day  after  leaving  the  hand  car  at  Mt.  Vernon  they  reached 
the  hills  where  Mr.  Smart  had  taken  some  land  in  the  east  half  of  section 
12 — 107 — 65,  on  the  occasion  of  his  visit  in  the  fall  before  and  Mr. 
Brown  made  a  settlement  on  the  NW  quarter  of  section  6 — 107 — 64. 

C.  W.  Hill  and  his  son,  Wm.  N.  Hill,  came  on  from  Minnesota  and 
settled  in  108 — 65,  C.  W.  Hill  in  June  buying  a  relinquishment  from 
Paddock  Steves  to  the  latter's  claim  in  section  22.  George  Wallace  pur- 
chosed  the  squatter's  right  of  Nicholson  and  settled  on  the  east  half  of 
section  17  in  108 — 65,  while  Russells  and  Eagles  settled  across  the  line 
in  108 — 64. 

C.  D.  Brown  moved  his  family  on  the  NE  of  section  31 — -108 — 64, 
being  the  first  family  domiciled  in  that  township. 

A  rfiinister  named  J.  W.  P.  Jordan,  father-in-law  of  A.  B.  Smart, 
settled  on  a  claim  a  mile  east  of  the  big  spring  in  May,  1881,  and  was 
soon  followed  by  J.  W.  Thomas  and  D.  W.  Shryock,  who  settled  on  the 
land  selected  by  them  the  preceding  autumn.  About  the  same  time  C. 
W.  P.  Osgood,  Hiram  Blowers  and  R.  S.  Bateman  and  his  son,  William, 
joined  the  settlers  near  the  hills. 

On  the  14th  day  of  May  of  that  year,  John  Grant  made  filing  for  a 
half  section  of  land,  the  east  half  of  19,  in  town,  107 — 64,  and  was  fol- 
lowed a  few  months  later  by  his  brother,  Newell  Grant.  The  two  Grants 
became  residents  immediately  after  making  entry  at  the  Mitchell  land 
office. 

About  the  same  time  Charles  Walters  settled  on  the  NE.  of  the  NW. 
of  sec.  22  in  106 — 64,  and  the  next  year  became  a  permanent  resident. 

On  Sept.  7  L.  G.  Wilson  established  his  residence  on  the  SW  quarter 
of  25  in  106 — 64  and  the  next  day  made  a  homestead  entry  for  the  SE 
quarter  of  the   same   section. 

One  day  in  November,  1881,  another  man  arrived  at  the  settlement 
about  the  Springs,  who  afterward  became  prominent  in  the  affairs  of  the 
county,  spent  the  night  with  A.  B.  Smart  and  the  next  morning  before 
■  sunrise  climbed  to  the  top  of  the  hills  and  took  a  long  earnest  look  over 
the  James  River  Valley,  glistening  w^hite  in  the  autumnal  frost.  He 
was  captivated  by  the  beauty  of  the  landscape.  Except  the  few  dwellings 
near  the  hills  not  a  thing  could  be  seen  as  far  as  the  eye  could  reach 
denoting  the  presence  of  a  human  being.  The  white  carpet,  the  blue  sky. 
the  rising  sun  and  the  invigorating  air  fixed  in  his  mind  the  determina- 
tion to  make  these  prairies  his  future  home.  That  day  he  drove  to 
Mitchell  and  on  the  6th  day  of  November,  1881,  P.  H.  Shultz  made  the 
6th  entry  for  public  land  in  township  106 — 64. 


20 

All  the  settlements  mentioned  thus  far  were  in  what  was  then 
Aurora  county,  which,  for  all  pvirposes  of  county  government  was  de- 
pendent upon  Hanson  county  officials.  An  earnest  effort  was  then  on 
foot  in  certain  quarters  to  wipe  Davison  county  off  the  map  and  attach 
the  western  part  of  it  to  Aurora  county.  Davison  county  had  been  or- 
ganized and  was  provided  with  a  full  set  of  officials. 

The  settlers  in  Aurora  county,  therefore,  were  in  the  anomalous  po- 
sition of  having  a  fully  organized  county  between  them  and  the  official 
home  of  the  courts  and  constabulary  to  which  they  must  appeal  for 
legal  protection.  All  deeds  and  mortgages  must  be  recorded  in  Hanson 
county,  books  and  court  mandates  had  to  come  from  Hanson  county 
magistrates. 

Under  such  circumstances  the  political  and  judicial  organization  of 
Aurora  county  was  a  necessity. 

The  law  of  the  territory  at  that  time  provided  that  when  any  unor- 
ganized county  should  contain  fifty  voters  it  should  be  the  duty  of  the 
acting  governor  to  issue  a  commission  to  three  of  the  residents  there 
of  whom  should  by  virtue  of  such  appointments,  be  authorized  to  do  all 
things  necessary  to  be  done  to  construct  a  county  government  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  laws  of  the  territory. 

In  the  summer  of  1881  a  commission  was  given  by  the  governor  of 
the  territory  to  Mr.  A.  B.  Smart  of  township  107 — 65,  and  two  other 
residents  of  the  county  of  Aurora  and  they  proceeded  to  appoint  the 
other  county  officials  and  do  the  many  things  essential  to  set  the  ma- 
chinery of  the  county  in  motion.  In  this  work  the  member  from  the 
hills  seems  to  have  had  his  share  of  influence.  In  the  appointment  of 
the  county  officials  Mr.  D.  W.  Shryock  was  made  a  justice  of  the  peace, 
C.  W.  P.  Osgood,  constable,  Alden  Brown,  county  superintendent,  all  of 
Wessington  P.  O.,  and  Mr.  L.  G.  Wilson  of  township  106 — 64,  county 
assessor.  Of  these  officers  appointed  by  the  first  commissioners  of 
Aurora  county,  Mr.  Wilson  was  the  only  one  who  was  selected  by  the 
people  to  succeed  himself  at  the  expiration  of  his  appointed  term. 

During  the  year  1881  the  settlers  had  not  been  molested  by  the  horse 
thieves  and  it  was  hoped  that  their  troubles  from  that  source  were  ended. 

During  a  part  of  the  summer  and  fall  of  188 1  Hudson  Horsley  lived 
with  the  family  of  his  father-in-law,  Mr.  C.  W.  Hill  on  the  NE  of  22 
in  108 — 65.  Mr.  Horsley  had  nearly  completed  a  house  on  the  SE  of 
26,  which  he  had  taken  for  a  pre-emption  claim  in  the  same  township. 
He  had  put  up  a  stack  of  hay  and  was  about  ready  to  take  up  his  abode 
for  the  winter  on  his  own  land. 

M  r.  Hill's  residence  was  near  the  lower  end  of  a  gulch  or  ravine,  that 
extended  some  distance  back  into  the  hills.     A  view  to  the  south  from 


21 


Mr.  and  Mrs.  C.  JV.  Hill.  Rev.  J.  G.  Campbell. 


S.  T.  Leeds. 


Mr.  and  Mrs.  J.  A.  Holcobnb. 


22 

the  house  was  cut  oft"  by  the  high  peaks  that  rise  many  feet  above  the 
adjacent  tops. 

One  evening  in  November,  when  the  wind  was  in  the  south,  a  bright 
light  in  the  air  near  Turtle  Peak  gave  them  warning  that  a  prairie  fire 
was  approaching  among  the  hills.  Mr.  Horsley  went  to  his  new  house 
ior^  section  26  to  protect  that  and  the  hay.  After  he  had  gone,  Mrs. 
Hill  and  Mrs.  Horsley,  growing  anxious  to  know  the  exact  location  of 
the  flames  which  they  knew  must  be  somewhere  near  the  upper  end  of 
the  ravine,  left  the  house  on  section  22  and  walked  up  the  valley  in 
the  direction  of  the  fire.  They  reached  the  high  land  at  the  end  of  the 
gulch,  where  a  two-furrow  firebreak  had  been  made,  when  they  found 
that  the  fire  had  already  passed  them  on  the  west  and  had  crosed  the 
valley  between  them  and  the  house.  In  a  word  they  were  on  the  hill 
surrounded  by  fire.  The  light  wind  drove  the  flames  straight  toward 
them.  To  get  out  of  the  circle  of  fire  was  impossible.  There  was 
scarcely  a  moment  for  thought  even.  As  the  flames 'rushed  upon  them, 
Mrs.  Horsley  threw  herself  into  the  furrow  that  formed  a  part  of  the 
firebreak  and  pulled  some  of  the  sods  over  her  head  and  neck.  For  one 
terrible  instant  she  felt  the  stifling  heat,  then  the  flames  had  passed. 
She  sprang  to  her  feet  and  saw  her  mother  standing  beside  her  enveloped 
in  flames.  Neither  had  lost  consciousness  and  both  realized  their  peril. 
With  bare  hands  they  tore  ofif  the  burning  garments  and  each  saved  the 
other.  They  finally  reached  home  again  but  both  were  ill  for  a  long 
time  from  the  eft'ects  of  their  fearful  burns.  Mr.  Horsley  had  saved 
his  barn  and  other  property  but  had  no  use  for  it  until  the  next  season. 


Chapter  5. 

The  year  1882  was  an  active  year  in  the  prairie  settlement.  North 
and  south  of  it  the  railroads  had  been  extended  to  the  IMissouri  river, 
and  the  C.  M.  &  St.  P.  that  year  built  its  James  River  line  north  from 
Mitchell  as  far  as  Letcher.  At  every  station  immigrants  and  prospec- 
tors unloaded  from  the  trains  by  hundreds  and  literally  scattered  over 
the  prairies.  They  came  singly  and  in  parties  of  twos,  threes  and  dozens. 
Every  shanty,  sod  house  and  dug-out  became  a  lodging  place  where  the 
newcomers  could  find  shelter  for  a  night. 

As  we  have  already  seen  the  settlers  about  the  Springs  were  a  long 
ways  from  town  and  in  case  of  sickness  were  practically  without  medical 
aid.     So  it  was  with  much  satisfaction  that  they  welcomed  the  arival 


23 

of  Mrs.  Dr.  N.  C.  Weems,  in  February  of  1882.  She  was  a  widow,  well 
skilled  in  her  profession  and  for  many  years  was  a  veritable  blessing  to 
the  people  in  the  central  part  of  Jerauld  county. 

With  the  opening  of  spring,  settlers  and  prospective  settlers  began  to 
spread  over  106,  107  and  108  in  the  north  part  of  Aurora  county  and 
Ihe  eastern  part  of  Buffalo.  It  was  difficult  for  the  newcomers  to  select 
the  unclaimed  land  from  that  for  which  entries  had  been  already  made 
at  the  land  office.  This  fact  induced  several  of  the  men  who  had  been 
in  the  country  about  the  hills  long  enough  to  become  familiar  with  it, 
to  make  a  regular  business  of  assisting  the  immigrants  to  find  suitable 
locations. 

Among  those  who  devoted  their  time  to  helping  the  newcomers  to 
locate  were  C.  W.  Hill,  Hiram  Blowers,  C.  W.  P.  Osgood  and  A.  B. 
Smart,  the  latter  pursuading  C.  W.  McDonald  to  come  out  from  Sioux 
Falls  to  form  a  partnership  and  engage  in  the  business  with  him.  This 
was  the  first  firm  of  land  agents  at  the  Springs  and  continued  six  months, 
when  it  was  dissolved  by  limitation  of  contract. 

The  first  important  event  of  the  year  1882,  was  the  organization  of 
the  M.  E.  Church,  on  the  30th  of  March  for  which  articles  of  incorpor- 
ation were  adopted  April  8th.  The  beginning  of  this  church  organiza- 
tion was  made  by  Rev.  A.  B.  Smart,  on  the  occasion  of  his  first  visit  to 
the  hills,  Nov.  14th,  1880.  At  that  time  he  held  religious  services  at 
the  home  of  P.  R.  Barrett,  and  organized  a  class  meeting.  That  organi- 
zation had  been  continued,  with  services  at  irregular  intervals,  until  the 
foundation  of  the  regular  church  society  as  above  stated.  This  nucleus 
of  a  church  had  been  kept  alive  mainly  through  the  efforts  of  Mr.  Smart. 

The  charter  members  of  this   church  corporation   were : 

Sarah  Barrett,  Mrs.  Biddle,  Fannie  Tofflemier,  Laura  Shryock,  C. 
W.  McDonald,  Omer  Shryock,  Thos.  Shryock,  Clias.  Shryock,  Ruble  J. 
Smart,  A.  B.  Smart,  F.  T.  Tofflemier,  Mrs.  E.  Tofflemier,  Ruth  Toffle- 
mier, Kate  Tofflemier,  Ollie  Tofflemier,  Floy  Tofflemier,  Maud  Toffle- 
mier, Tell  Tofflemier,  Wm.  Taylor. 

With  the  organization  of  the  church  Rev.  J.  W.  P.  Jordan,  father- 
in-law  of  A.  B.  Smart,  was  made  pastor.  The  meeting  was  held  at  the 
residence  of  Mrs.  Riddle,  which  was  located  about  the  center  of  the 
south  line  of  section  8- — 107 — 64. 

At  the  first  quarterly  meeting  of  that  year,  1882,  it  was  determined 
to  build  a  church  26  by  40  ft.  in  size  on  the  northwest  quarter  of  section 
17.  Of  course  to  build  a  church  required  money.  As  the  members  of 
the  little  community  were  not  able  to  pay  the  expense  of  erecting  the 
proposed  edifice  it  was  necessary  to  look  elsewhere  for  required  funds. 
"By  a  unanimous  vote  of  the  members  of  the  church  Mr.  R.  S.  Bateman 


24 

was  appointed  a  committee  of  one  to  look  after  that  part  of  the  under- 
taking. 

As  soon  as  he  could  put  his  affairs  in  shape  for  leaving,  he  drove  to 
Huron  and  took  the  train  for  his  old  home  at  Appleton,  Wis. 

The  next  important  event,  especially  to  the  parties  concerned,  was 
the  birth  of  a  son  to  Mr.  and  Ad^rs.  Hudson  Horsley,  of  io8- — 65  at  their 
home  on  the  SE  of  section  26.  The  little  Dakotan  was  named  Orlo  and 
was  the  first  birth  in  what  is  now  Jerauld  county. 

It  is  impossible  to  ascertain  certaintly  the  order  in  which  the  settlers 
arrived  in  1882  and  the  years  that  followed.  But  in  the  spring  of  1882 
the  number  of  residents  was  increased  by  the  arrival  of  J-  G.  Campbell, 
C.  T.  Wallace,  Geo.  R.  Bateman,  H.  J.  Wallace,  Findlay  T.  Tofflemier, 
J.  A.  Holcolmb,  John  Chapman,  Seth  Richardson,  Wm.  Goodwin,  B.  F. 
Wiley. 

From  the  5th  of  Nov.  1878  when  it  was  established,until  the  1st  of  July. 
1882,  the  postoffice  of  which  P.  R.  Barrett. was  postmaster,  had  been  known 
as  Wessington,  but  on  that  day  the  department  at  Washington  changed 
it  to  Elmer,  and  gave  the  name  Wessington  to  a  new  office  established  in 
the  western  part  of  Beadle  county  on  the  C.  &  N.  W.  Ry.  The  change 
of  name  came  as  a  complete  surprise  to  the  settlers  by  the  springs  and 
their  indignation  was  great.  Petitions  signed  by  nearly  all  the  settlers 
were  time  and  again  sent  to  the  department  officials  asking  that  the 
former  name  of  the  office  be  restored. 

The  immediate  employment  of  the  people  at  that  time  was  getting 
settled,  breaking  prairie  and  planting  "sod  crops."  Their  buildings, 
hastily  constructed,  were  either  frame  shanties  or  "sod  houses."  The 
former  were  usually  covered  outside  with  tar  paper  and  inside  with  such 
periodicals  as  the  family  received  through  the  mails,  while  the  sod 
structures  had  no  lumber  except  what  was  required  for  window  and 
door  frames  and  roof.  Occasionally  some  settler  would  select  a  spot  on 
a  side  hill  and  with  pick  and  shovel  scoop  out  a  hole  10x12  feet  in  size, 
throw  over  it  a  few  planks  and  some  dirt  and  use  it  for  a  temporary 
abode.  These  dwellings  were  models  of  neatness  and  afforded  their  oc- 
cupants as  much  or  more  of  comfort  and  unalloyed  happiness,  as  they 
obtained  in  after  years  in  more  prententious  houses. 

The  erection  of  these  buildings  and  hay  or  sod  stables  was  the  first 
move  in  getting  settled.  The  next  was  to  break  up  as  much  of  the  prairie 
as  possible  and  get  it  planted.  There  was  no  "old  ground"  to  rent  and 
each  one  must  prepare  from  the  beginning  the  field  that  he  sowed. 

The  breaking  season  always  began  as  soon  as  the  grass  started,  which 
was  as  early  as  the  frost  was  out  of  the  ground  and  continued  until 
alK)ut  the  20th  of  June.  Settlers  who  had  but  one  pair  of  animals  would 
"double  up"  with  a  neighbor  and  so  "change  work"  through  the  season. 


25 

Horses,  oxen,  cows,  all  that  had  strength  to  pull  were  put  at  the  neces- 
sary work. 

C.  M.  Chery  and  M.  J.  Thornton  united  their  teams  and  began  to 
turn  up  the  tough  sod.  Thornton  had  been  using  the  team  which  con- 
sisted of  two  of  his  own  and  one  of  Chery's  horses  for  several  days, 
when  one  morning,  on  going  to  the  stable  to  feed  the  animals  he  found 
the  stalls  empty.  Filled  with  misgivings  he  hurried  to  Chery's  shanty 
to  see  if  the  horses  had  broken  out  of  the  stable  and  gone  over  there. 
Chery, had  seen  nothing  of  them  and  a  day  of  search  and  inquiry  about 
the  settlement  failed  to  find  any  trace  of  the  missing  team.  The  horse- 
thieves  had  again  commenced  their  work.  In  hayingtime  two  yoke  of 
oxen  belonging  to  Hudson  Horsley  and  his  brother  Bromwell  Horsley 
were  gone  and  could  not  be  found.  Other  losses  were  sustained  and  the 
settlers  began  to  guard  their  stables  with  dog  and  gun.  The  presence 
of  "night  riders"  was  again  reported  and  the  mysterious  comings  and 
goings  of  strange  men  and  of  some  "hangers-on,"  who  had  no  visible 
means  of  support  was  a  subject  of  much  discussion  in  the  neighborhood. 

The  settlers  were  now  sufficiently  numerous  to  dare  to  protect  them- 
selves and  about  Sept.  ist  a  move  was  set  on  foot  to  drive  the  lawless 
characters  from  the  hills  and  gulches.  A  party  captured  a  young  fellow 
whose  actions  appeared  to  them  suspicious  and  by  threatening  him  with 
serious  consequences  if  he  did  not  reveal  all  he  knew  of  the  desperadoes, 
obtained  from  him  a  full  statement  of  who  the  thieves  were,  their  place 
of  rendezvous  and  their  method  of  operation.  The  boy  was  detained 
and  application  made  to  Justice  of  the  Peace  Shryock  for  a  warrant  for 
the  arrest  of  all  the  members  of  the  gang  implicated  by  the  boy's  narra- 
tive. The  warrant  was  issued  and  placed  in  the  hands  of  C.  W.  P.  Os- 
good, constable. 

The  news  soon  spread  through  the  settlement  that  a  raid  was  to  be 
made  on  the  horsethieves,  supposed  to  be  somewhere  in  the  gulches.  The 
constable  did  not  feel  like  searching  the  hills  and  ravines  alone  and  be- 
gan to  look  about  to  gather  a  posse  to  assist  him  in  making  the  arrests. 

While  the  constable  was  gathering  his  assistants  a  party  of  settlers 
in  io8 — 65,  growing  impatient  and  fearful  that  the  desperadoes  would 
get  into  hiding,  started  to  capture  some  of  them  before  the  constable 
could  arrive.  The  result  of  this  move  was  the  shooting  of  one  man  and 
the  escape  of  the  fellow  supposed  to  be  the  leader  of  the  horsethieves. 

Meanwhile  the  constable  was  riding  about  with  great  bluster,  calling 
for  a  posse  and  spreading  the  news  of  the  proposed  arrest.  In  the  midst 
of  the  excitement  W.  I.  Bateman  drove  to  the  residence  of  Rev.  J.  G. 
Campbell  and  asked  him  to  join  in  helping  the  officer  to  serve  the  war- 
rant.    The  minister  readily  assented  and  taking  his  Winchester  rifle  set 


26 

out  with  Bateman  to  join  the  constable.  Mr.  Osgood  was  satisfied  with 
this  acquisition  to  his  force  and  immediately  started  for  the  ravine  in 
109 — 65,  indicated  by  the  boy's  story  as  the  hiding  place  of  the  men 
named  in  the  warrant. 

At  the  entrance  to  the  gulch  indicated  the  posse  found  a  strange  man, 
heavily  armed,  standing  as  a  sentinel,  who  commanded  the  party  to  halt 
and  then  informed  them  that  his  instructions  w'ere  to  not  allow  anyone 
to  go  up  that  valley. 

"Look  here,  my  man,"  said  the  minister,  "you  come  and  look  in  this 
bwggy-"  The  man  came  to  the  vehicle  and  saw  several  rifles  and  re- 
volvers lying  on  some  hay  in  the  bottom  of  the  box.  "Now,"  said 
Campbell,  "it  may  be  for  your  eternal  welfare,  both  here  and  hereafter 
to  get  into  that  buggy  and  ride  alone  with  us." 

"I  guess  maybe  your  advice  is  good,"  replied  the  stranger  as  he 
climbed  into  the  buggy  and  the  party  drove  on. 

They  ascended  the  ravine  to  where  they  expected  to  find  the  man 
they  were  looking  for,  but  he  was  gone.  The  party  returned  to  the 
mouth  of  the  gulch  and  there  separated,  Campbell  and  Osgood  going  on 
north  along  the  foot  of  the  hills  to  look  for  the  other  men  named  in  the 
warrant. 

Campbell  and  Osgood  went  to  see  the  man  who  had  been  shot  and 
found  him  suffering  considerable  pain  and  terribly  frightened.  The  bullet 
had  struck  a  rib,  followed  around  his  body  to  the  back  where  it  had 
passed  out,  giving  the  appearance  of  having  gone  directly  through  him. 
Campbell  probed  the  wound  and  having  learned  the  course  taken  by  the 
bullet  assured  the  man  that  his  hurt  was  not  fatal.  He  then  sent  for  Airs. 
Dr.  Weems  to  attend  the  injured  fellow  and  departed  on  his  errand 
with  the  constable. 

It  was  afternoon  when  they  left  home  and  the  trip  up  the  ravine  had 
taken  considerable  time.  Night  had  now  come  on  and  the  two  men  pro- 
ceeded by  starlight. 

After  traveling  a  mile  or  so  they  heard  the  loud  voices  of  men  evi- 
dently intoxicated.  The  strangers  were  on  foot  and  coming  along  the 
trail  which  the  minister  and  constable  were  following.  Osgood  at  once 
recognized  the  voices  as  those  of  the  men  he  wanted.  He  and  Campbell 
got  out  of  the  buggy  and  taking  their  weapons  advanced  to  meet  the  ap- 
prouching  group.  The  drunken  men  did  not  notice  the  constable  and 
his  companion  until  the  minister  stepped  squarely  in  front  of  them  with 
leveled  rifle  end  ordered  them  to  throw  up  their  hands.  The  men  were 
dumfounded.  but  their  hands  went  up,  instantly.  Soon  they  realized 
that  they  were  facing  a  leveled  rifle  and  two  revolvers.  Then  their  pro 
fanity  became  terrific,  but  lower  their  hands  they  dare  not.    They  obeyed 


27 

an  order  to  face  about,  and  then  stood  still  with  uplifted  hands  until  the 
constable  had  taken  a  brace  of  revolvers  from  each  of  them.  They  were 
then  put  into  the  buggy  and  guarded  by  the  constable  and  his  companion 
were  taken  to  Osgood's  residence  where  they  were  detained  until  the  next 
day.  A  preliminary  examination  was  held  before  Justice  Shryock  and 
the  settlers  then  realized  that  it  is  one  thing  to  have  suspicions,  well 
founded,  in  fact  to  be  fully  convinced,  and  feel  that  they  absolutely  know 
a  thing,  and  still  not  be  able  to  prove  it. 

The  boy  when  brought  into  court  declared  the  story  he  had  told  the 
men  who  had  threatened  him  was  all  false,  and  told  to  save  himself  from 
punishment.  The  justice  could  do  nothing  but  discharge  the  prisoners, 
except  the  young  fellow,  who  spent  a  long  time  in  the  jail  at  Plankinton. 
The  result,  however,  was  effectual.  The  settlers  were  no  longer  molested 
by  the  desperadoes. 


Chapter  6. 


About  the  20th  of  May  1882,  assessor  L.  G.  Wilson  began  the  first 
assessment  of  Aurora  county.  In  that  portion  now  contained  in  Jerauld 
county  he  found  123  persons. 

In  the  spring  and  summer  of  1882  settlers  established  themselves  in 
other  parts  of  the  county.  In  106 — 65  Joseph  Mottle  located  with  a  herd 
of  cattle  on  the  SE  of  Sec.  5  ;  S.  S.  Moore  put  in  a  sod  crop  on  the  SE 
of  2;^  and  N.  E.  Williams  on  the  NW  of  13  and  later  in  the  year  V.  I. 
Converse  built  a  small  shanty  on  the  SE  of  28 ;  Jule  Swan  also  located 
there  that  summer.  1 

In  106 — 66  Frank  Spinier  began  work  in  May  on  his  tree  claim  and 
did  the  first  breaking  in  the  township.  He  built  a  sod  house  on  the 
same  claim,  the  SW  of  26,  about  the  same  time.  At  the  southwest 
corner  of  Crow  Lake,  Albert  Allyn,  a  clerk  in  the  land  office  at  Mitchell 
selected  a  claim  in  Sec.  22,  as  soon  as  the  surveyor's  plat  was  filed  and 
he  and  Spinier  were  at  work  on  their  sod  buildings  at  the  same  time. 

In  the  NE  part  of  106 — 6y,  Combs  &  Harris  located  a  horse  ranch 
in  Sec.  2,  while  in  107 — 67,  later  in  the  season  Abe  Scyoc  and  Henry 
Ferren  settled  in  Sec.  18.  Among  those  who  came  to  the  western  part 
of  the  county  prospecting  that  season  was  C.  S.  Jacobs,  from  Victor, 
N.  Y.,  who  located  a  tree  claim  in  Sec.  6 — 106- — 66.  S.  S.  Vrooman,  from 
Pana,  111.,  and  E.  S.  Waterbury  and  his  brother  Dan,  both  from  Polo, 
111.,  each  of  whom  took  from  one  to  three  claims  in   107 — 67.     At  the 


28 

same  time  S.  T.  Leeds  came  from  Amboy,  111.,  and  traversed  the  whole 
length  of  what  is  now  Jerauld  county.  Leeds  selected  a  line  quarter 
section  in  what  is  Pleasant  township  and  went  to  the  land  office  at 
Mitchell  to  make  a  tree  claim  entry  for  it.  He  paid  his  money,  obtained 
a  filing  receipt  and  went  on  his  way  to  Illinois.  When  he  returned  the 
next  year  he  found  that  his  receipt  described  land  six  miles  west  of  that 
he  had  selected.  The  reason  was  that  107 — 66  had  not  been  surveyed, 
but  107—67  had  been,  and  the  officials  at  the  land  office  preferred  to  give 
him  what  he  didn't  want,  rather  than  take  the  trouble  to  explain. 

In  the  fall  of  that  year  Mrs.  Mary  Hendricks,  the  first  woman  settler 
in  107 — 67,  came  out  from  Polo,  111.,  and  filed  on  the  southwest  quarter 
of  section  11.  Early  in  the  next  spring  she  came  again  and  for  several 
years  remained  a  resident  of  that  township. 

On  the  iith  day  of  July,  1882,  a  party  of  four  men,  driving  several 
hundred  head  of  sheep  arrived  at  the  settlement  about  the  big  spring  and 
stopped  at  the  residence  of  Hiram  Blowers  for  the  night.  The  next 
morning  they  went  west,  over  the  hills  looking  for  land  upon  which  to 
locate  a  sheep  ranch  taking  the  flock  with  them.  They  were  the  first  to 
cross  the  hills  for  the  purpose  of  settlement  and  two  of  them  are  still 
residents  of  the  county.  The  party  consisted  of  O.  O.  England,  C.  W. 
England,  Chas.  Armstrong  and  N.  B.  England.  They  went  up  into 
township  108 — 66,  then  unsurveyed,  and  when  they  found  a  place  that 
suited  them  they  stopped  and  began  the  first  habitation  between  the 
Springs  and  Ft.  Thompson. 

About  two  months  later  Mr.  Allan  G.  Snyder  moved  on  to  his 
present  farm  in  sections  14  and  23  in  the  same  township  and  has  kept  up 
his  establishment  alone  for  twenty-seven  years. 

In  the  northeast  part  of  the  county  in  the  north  part  of  township  108 — 
63  Wm.  Arne  had  found  a  tract  of  land  that  suited  him  and  made  it  his 
home.  In  the  south  part  of  the  township  tw^o  gentlemen  from  England 
had  set  their  stakes  and  were  making  themselves  homes  on  the  prarne. 
One  was  John  Cook  and  the  other  Thos.  Sheffield.  Both  are  in  that  town- 
ship with  their  families  yet. 

Just  across  the  line  in  Sanborn  county,  Mrs.  Mary  Barber  and  ]\Iiss 
Betsy  Litchfield  were  holding  claims.  They  will  be  remembered  by  all 
the  early  settlers  as  the  two  ladies  who  for  many  years  were  the  hostesses 
of  the  Alpena  Revere  House. 

In  township  107 — 66.  B.  F.  Crittenden,  a  private  surveyor,  had  estab- 
lished his  residence  on  the  SW  of  35. 

Among  the  newcomers  were  two  of  especial  assistance  to  their  neigh- 
bors— in  those  days  "neighborhood"  extended  over  a  wide  stretch  of 
country.     These  two  men  were  John  Chapman,  who  had  settled  on  the 


29 


G.  N.  Price's  Liverv  Barn  at  Waterhury. 


Mr.  and  Mrs.  Thos.  Sheffield. 


Miss  Betsey  Litchfield.  Mrs.  Mary  Barber. 


30 

SE  of  section  17 — 107 — 64  and  Wm.  Goodwin  on  the  SW  of  32  in  the 
same  township.  Both  were  skilled  blacksmiths  and  soon  had  all  the) 
could  do  in  attending  to  the  wants  of  the  settlers. 

Until  July  ist,  1882,  the  people  about  the  hills  had  relied  upon  the 
mail  route  from  Mitchell  to  Ft.  Thompson  for  their  mail.  Then  the 
government  gave  them  a  line  once  a  week  from  Plankinton. 

On  the  4th  day  of  March,  1882,  President  Arthur  issued  a  patent 
conveying  title  to  the  land  embraced  in  Stearns'  proof,  made  April  30, 

1881,  and  upon  which  the  big  springs  are  located.     On  the  loth  of  May, 

1882,  Mr.  Burr  sold  to  D.  A.  Scott  a  one-half  interest  in  this  tract  of 
land  and  they  immediately  set  Surveyor  Israel  Green,  of  Mitchell,  at  work 
platting  the  town  of  Wessington  Springs.  The  town  plat  was  filed  in  the 
office  of  the  register  of  deeds  of  Aurora  county,  May  26th,  1882.  This 
was  the  first  official  publication  of  the  name  "Wessington  Springs." 

Another  important  event,  the  first  of  its  kind  in  the  country  embraced 
in  the  county  of  Jerauld,  was  the  marriage  of  C.  W.  McDonald  and  Fanny 
Tofflemier,  on  the  17th  of  August,  1882,  at  the  residence  of  the  bride's 
parents,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  F.  T.  Tofflemier.  The  officiating  clergyman  was 
Rev.  A.  B.  Smart. 

On  the — day  of — ,  1882,  Alden  Brown,  growing  tired  of  the  duties 
of  his  office  resigned  the  position  of  county  superintendent  of  Aurora 
county,  and  Mr.  C.  W.  McDonald  was.  at  the  instance  of  Commissioner 
Smart,  appointed  to  fill  the  vacancy.  As  the  school  townships  were  not 
organized,  however  .there  was  but  little  work  for  that  officer  to  do. 

As  the  time  for  the  November  election  approached  the  people  of 
Aurora  county  began  to  look  about  for  men  to  succeed  the  appointed 
officials  In  the  whole  political  arena  there  is  probably  no  position  more 
trying  or  thankless  than  that  of  commissioner  to  organize  a  new  county. 
Many  a  political  ambition,  or  business  scheme,  depends  for  its  success 
upon  the  policy  to  be  adopted  by  that  first  board.  The  old  proverb,  "as 
the  twig  is  bent  the  tree  is  inclined,"  is  as  true  of  young  counties  as  of 
young  children. 

The  commissioners  of  Aurora  county  had  incurred  the  enmity  of  a 
number  of  men  possessed  of  considerable  political  influence,  who  deter- 
mined to  punish  them  by  defeating  their  election  to  succeed  themselves. 
For  member  from  the  hill  district  they  determined  that  Mr.  Smart  should 
not  be  continued  in  office.  The  result  was  that  that  commissioner  was 
retired  and  Mr.  R.  S.  Bateman,  of  Wessington  Springs,  put  in  his  place. 

Mr.  L.  G.  Wilson,  of  township  106 — 64,  was  continued  as  assessor, 
but  was  cut  off  from  further  work,  for  Aurora  county,  by  the  division  of 
that  county,  which  occurred  the  next  year. 

Late  in  the  fall  of  1882  a  man  named  S.  Woodhouse  built  a  shanty  on 


31 

the  townsite  of  Wessington  Springs,  but  in  a  few  days  moved  it  out  into 
the  country.     This  was  the  first  building  erected  on  the  townsite. 


Chapter  7. 

In  the  early  part  of  February,  1883,  E.  S.  Waterbury  and  his  brother, 
Dan  Waterbury,  came  back  to  their  claims  in  the  west  half  of  section 
21 — 107 — 67  and  prepared  for  platting  a  town.  The  plat  which  was  filed 
on  the  10th  day  of  March,  1883,  comprised  eight  blocks,  six  and  a  half 
in  the  southwest  corner  of  the  NW  quarter  of  the  section  owned  by  E. 
S.  Waterbury,  and  one  and  a  half  blocks  in  the  northwest  corner  of  the 
SW  quarter,  owned  by  Dan  Waterbury.  They  had  erected  a  building, 
of  lumber  brought  with  them  from  the  woods  about  Polo,  111.,  on  the 
line  between  their  two  claims.  For  a  time  it  was  the  only  structure  on 
the  townsite.  The  new  village  was  named  Waterbury,  after  the  men  who 
founded  it. 

Two  miles  away,  on  the  SW  of  29,  in  the  same  township,  a  man  by 
the  name  of  John  R.  Miller,  but  who  was  masquerading  under  the  name 
of  John  Scott,  had  filed  a  pre-emption  claim,  and  with  a  man  named 
Burpee  and  another,  a  minister,  F.  M.  Cooley,  of  Cedar  Lake,  Iowa, 
began  to  plat  a  town  which  they  called  Sulphur  Springs.  The  name  was 
also  given  to  a  large  spring  that  was  close  enough  to  the  site  to  furnish 
the  town  with  abundance  of  water.  The  Sulphur  Springs  plat  was  made 
a  matter  of  record  five  days  after  the  Waterbury  plat  was  filed.  Both 
were  entered  of  record  in  Brule  county,  to  which  Buffalo  county  had  for 
some  time  been  attached  for  judicial  purposes. 

The  two  towns  were  near  the  line  which  it  was  thought  the  S.  M. 
branch  of  the  C.  M.  &  St.  P.  Ry.  would  follow  from  Diana  (Artesian) 
to  the  Missouri  river.  They,  were  rival  towns  in  the  strictest  sense  of 
the  word.  No  more  beautiful  or  fertile  land  could  be  fond  in  the  whole 
territory  and  it  only  required  transportation  and  population  to  make  one 
of  them  a  fine  city  and  the  county  seat  of  Buffalo  county.  Which  should 
it  be? 

The  railroads,  hotels  and  livery  stables  were  surprised,  astonished  and 
overwhelmed. 

If  1882  was  a  year  for  prospectors,  1883  was  the  year  for  settlers. 
The  number  of  settlers  in  '83  far  more  than  doubled  the  number  of  those 
who  came  to  "look"  in  previous  years.  All  the  railroads  leading  into 
the  territorv  were  strained  to  the  utmost  to  carry  the  immigrant  freight 


32 

billed  to  some  point  between  the  James  and  Missouri  rivers.  The  rail- 
road between  Mitchell  and  Kimball  was  lined  on  both  sides  with  people 
in  wagons,  in  tents  and  some  without  any  shelter,  in  camp,  getting  their 
movables  ready,  as  fast  as  possible  to  move  off  into  the  country.  The 
village  hotels  and  residences  were  crowded  with  people  who  sought  shelter  , 
from  the  March  or  April  weather. 

Everybody  was  talking  of  the  new  county  that  the  last  territorial 
legislature  had  formed  out  of  the  north  part  of  Aurora.  Plankinton 
was  the  main  point  of  debarkation  for  those  who  were  going  to  the  cen- 
tral part  while  those  who  were  going  into  the  eastern  part  of  the  new 
county  left  the  railroad  at  Mitchell  or  Huron. 

Townships  io6 — 67,  107 — 67  and  108 — 67  had  been  a  part  of  Buffalo 
county  prior  to  the  creation  of  Jerauld  county  by  the  legislature  of  1883, 
and  the  fact  that  they  had  been  put  in  to  make  up  the  new  county,  does 
not  seem  to  have  been  generally  known  until  some  months  later. 

All,  however,  received  the  on-rush  of  settlers.  At  White  Lake  and 
Kimball  hundreds  of  men  left  the  train  every  day,  swarmed  to  the  hotels 
and  eating  houses,  and  then  as  fast  as  teams  could  be  hired,  and  as  fast 
as  teams  could  take  them,  they  rushed  for  townships  106,  107  and  108, 
ranges  66  and  dy.  The  objective  points  were  Waterbury  or  Sulphur 
Springs  in  107 — dj,  or  Crow  Lake  in  106 — 66. 

Crow  Lake  in  the  southern  part  of  io6 — 66  is  a  body  of  water  cover- 
ing an  area  of  about  700  acres.  It  was  a  meandered  lake,  and  well  known 
by  reputation  to  many  people  who  had  never  seen  it.  Settlers  in  telling 
of  their  claims  referred  to  them  as  being  north,  south,  east  or  west  from 
Crow  Lake.  People  who  went  into  the  western  part  of  Jerauld  county 
entered  it  by  way  of  Waterbury  or  Sulphur  Springs,  or  by  way  of  Crow 
Lake  or  Wessington  Springs. 

By  the  first  of  August  nearly  every  quarter  section  in  the  surveyed 
townships  had  been  filed  on  and  in  the  unsurveyed  the  land  was  subject 
to  some  "squatter's"  right.  So  great  was  the  influx  of  people  that  the 
first  assessor's  report  made  in  June,  1884,  showed  1,1 11  voters  in  the 
new  county  and  a  population  of  nearly  2,500,  and  yet  it  is  doubtful  if 
the  population  increased  any  after  the  first  of  October,  1883.  The  assess- 
ment of  1882  had  reported  only  123  persons,  all  told,  in  the  part  of  the 
county  then  belonging  to  Aurora.  At  the  time  of  the  '82  assessment  there 
were  no  settlers  in  range  67. 

While  the  incoming  settlers  were  racing  over  the  prairies  to  get  the 
choicest  locations,  the  two  towns  of  Waterbury  and  Sulphur  Springs 
were  vying  with  each  other  to  get  the  lead  in  business  and  general  im- 
portance. 

Each  had  a  newspaper  about  the  same  time,  "The  News"  at  Water- 


33 

bury  and  "The  Buffalo  County  Herald"  at  Sulphur  Springs.  Both  pub- 
lications started  in  May  or  June.  Then  Sulphur  Springs  got  a  saloon, 
run  by  Pond  &  Fluke.  Waterbury  did  not  have  a  saloon  and  did  not 
want  one. 

But  the  saloon  at  Sulphur  Springs  was  short  lived.  In  fact  it  went 
to  pieces  before  it  really  got  started.  One  of  the  partners,  Fluke,  a  Ger- 
man, furnished  the  capital  with  which  to  finance  the  enterprise,  and 
against  this  Pond  was  to  put  in  his  time.  They  brought  from  Kimball 
four  barrels  of  whiskey  and  a  load  of  lumber.  Before  the  building  was 
erected  however,  a  quarrel  between  the  partners  dissolved  the  firm.  Two 
of  the  barrels  had  been  opened  and  about  half  the  contents  sold  when  the 
dissolution  of  partnership  occurred.  Pond  claimed  and  took  the  two  full 
barrels  of  whiskey  and  half  the  lumber  and  hauled  it  to  his  claim  in 
Buffalo  county. 

The  part  of  the  assets  reserved  by  Fluke  was  seized  by  the  landlord, 
Conrad,  for  a  board  bill  and  stored  in  the  cellar  of  the  hotel  and  then 
taken  to  a  shanty  on  the  SE  of  section  31  in  107 — 67.  From  there  it  dis- 
appeared in  small  quantities,  portions  of  it  being  found  later  on  the  sur- 
rounding prairie,  under  stones  and  in  other  hiding  places. 

Pond  retained  his  share  of  the  liquor,  and  the  license,  until  the  part 
taken  by  Fluke  was  gone  and  then  it  also  vanished.  There  has  never 
since  been  a  saloon  in  the  western  part  of  Jerauld  county. 

S.  T.  Leeds  had  already  opened  a  blacksmith  shop  at  Sulphur  Springs 
while  W.  E.  DeMent  had  set  up  a  forge  in  the  rival  town.  Each  town 
had  a  hotel  ready  for  use  about  the  same  time.  Dr.  Jones  built  the  hos- 
telry at  Waterbury  and  leased  it  to  Wilbur  Cross,  while  Mr.  Conrad  put 
up  the  one  at  Sulphur  Springs. 

Sulphur  Springs  secured  a  post  office  first,  and  it  was  thought  a 
decided  advantage  was  obtained  by  it.  But  the  advantage,  if  any,  was 
somewhat  lessened  by  the  fact  that  the  department  had  refused  to  give 
the  office  the  name  of  the -town  and  called  it  "Delta."  Mr.  Waterbury 
offset  the  advantage  that  the  opposing  town  had  from  its  post  office, 
which  received  mail  from  Kimball  once  a  week,  by  going  to  Kimball 
twice  a  week  and  getting  the  mail  for  all  the  residents  and  patrons  of 
his  town. 

F.  M.  Cooley,  who  ran  the  "Herald,"  told  editorially  of  the  advan- 
tages of  Sulphur  Springs  as  a  business  location,  while  Dunlap,  publisher 
of  the  "News,"  told  of  the  growing  importance  of  Waterbury.  Burton 
Brown  opened  a  general  store  in  Sulphur  Springs  and  Pice  &  Herring 
started  a  similar  establishment,  but  on  a  larger  scale,  in  the  other  town. 

Then  Sulphur  Springs  organized  a  brass  band,  and  Waterbury  formed 
a  string  band. 


34 

Sulphur  Spriugs  organized  a  Congregational  Church,  incorporated  it 
and  built  a  church  building  20x30  feet  in  size. 

This  church,  the  first  of  its  denomination  in  the  county,  was  incor- 
porated Nov.  1st,  1883,  the  charter  being  issued  to  F.  ]\I.  Cooley,  Joseph 
Ponsford,  Henry  E.  Alerwin,  Chas.  Lyon  and  others  whose  names  are 
unobtainable.  The  name  of  the  society  was  "First  Congregational  Church 
of  Bufifalo  County,  D.  T."  At  the  time  the  charter  was  applied  for,  the 
people  of  that  portion  of  the  county  did  not  know  that  the  townships  in 
range  67  had  been  detached  from  Buffalo  county  and  made  a  part  of  the 
new  county  of  Jerauld. 

When  the  time  came  for  laying  the  foundation  wall  for  the  church 
the  minister's  wife  went  about  among  the  people  of  the  town  solicit- 
ing from  each  some  little  thing  to  put  under  the  corner  stone.  She  met 
with  good  success  until  she  reached  the  blacksmith  shop.  'T  have  noth- 
ing," said  the  man  at  the  bellows.  "O  yes !  Any  little  thing,  no  matter 
what,"  insisted  the  lady.  'T  know  I  haven't  anything  at  all — but  yet, 
wait,  ril  tell  you,  I've  a  half-pint  flask.  I  hate  to  spare  it,  but  FU 
put  that  under  the  stone."  "No,  no,"  said  the  good  woman,  "there  shall 
be  no  such  thing  as  that  in  the  collection." 

"Yes,"  said  the  smith,  growing  determined  with  opposition,  "I'll  put 
it  under  the  stone." 

"But  I  say  you  shall  not." 

"Well  then,  I'll  put  it  beneath  a  stone  at  the  other  corner,  but  under 
a  corner  of  the  wall  the  flask  shall  go." 

So  the  flask  was  left  out  of  the  collection,  but  when  the  mason  laid 
the  stone  at  one  of  the  other  corners  the  smith  thrust  the  flask  in  un- 
der it. 

A  few  weeks  later  a  heavy  wind  struck  the  church,  partly  moving  it 
from  the  wall.  Then  it  was  found  that  the  corner  resting  above  the 
flask  had  not  been  moved  perceptably. 

When  the  crowd  gathered  about  the  building  to  ascertain  the  dam- 
age the  smith  remarked,  "If  I  had  only  put  a  flask  under  each  corner." 

As  both  towns  were  ambitious  to  be  the  county  seat  of  Bviffalo  county, 
they  determined  to  call  a  mass  convention  to  nominate  county  officers. 
The  plan  was  to  ask  the  governor  to  appoint  the  commissioners  nominated 
by  the  convention,  after  which  the  commissioners  should  organize  the 
county  and  appoint  the  other  officers  named. 

The  convention  was  held  in  the  fore  part  of  August,  at  Waterbury, 
and  E.  A.  Herman,  W.  H.  Crandall  and  E.  W.  Cleveland  were  nominated 
for  commissioners.  Of  course  nothing  came  of  the  movement  and  later 
the  idea  of  still  remaining  a  part  of  Buffalo  county  was  abandoned. 


114^961 

Chapter  8. 

The  surveying  of  the  various  townships  of  Jerauld  county  was  done 
under  different  contracts,  let  by  the  government  to  surveyors  at  diif'erent 
times.  The  townships  in  ranges  64  and  65  were  surveyed  in  1874  and 
those  in  6;^  the  year  following.  Township  106 — 66,  106 — 67,  108 — 66, 
and  107 — 67  were  surveyed  in  1882,  while  those  numbered  107 — 66  and 
108 — 67  were  surveyed  in  the  spring  and  summer  of  1883. 

On  the  surveyed  lands  the  settlers  had  no  trouble  in  selecting  the 
tracts  they  desired,  but  in  the  townships  where  the  lines  had  not  been  run, 
the  difficulty  was  sometimes  great,  especially  so  if  the  country  was  rough 
and  broken.  Some  of  the  squatters  employed  private  surveyors  to  ex- 
tend the  lines  from  surveyed  townships,  some,  starting  from  a  corner 
stake  already  established,  would  measure  M'ith  a  marked  buggy  or  wagon 
wheel,  while  others  would  "step"  off  the  required  distance.  The  greater 
portion  of  107 — 66,  108 — 66  and  108 — 67  was  settled  upon  by  squatters 
in  advance  of  the  government  surveyors. 

In  the  summer  af  1883  while  the  contractor  was  surveying  the  lines 
of  107 — 66,  he  was  much  surprised  by  the  sudden  disappearance  of  his 
flagman  who  was  but  a  short  distance  away  and  on  comparitively  level 
ground.  The  man  had  dropped  out  of  sight  while  the  surveyor  was 
looking  back  over  the  route  they  had  come.  A  half  hour  passed  and 
then  in  place  of  the  flagman  appeared  a  fellow  wearing  an  enormously 
tall  plug  hat,  a  swallow-tailed  coat  and  carrying  a  light  cane.  All  the 
£.fternoon  the  surveyor  followed  the  strange  flagman  who  seemed  to 
know  'well  enough  the  duties  of  his  position. 

When  evening  came  and  the  crew  gathered  at  the  camp  fire  the  stranger 
proved  to  be  the  regular  flagman.  In  passing  the  NE  of  21  the  man  had 
noticed  a  board  lying  upon  the  prairie  about  which  the  grass  had  been  a-, 
good  deal  trampled.  The  appearance  aroused  his  curiosity  and  he- 
turned  the  board  over.  This  disclosed  a  hole  leading  down  into  a  room 
about  8x10  feet  in  size.  He  dropped  into  the  room,  which  was  unoc- 
cupied, and  found  a  sheet  iron  stove,  a  bed,  a  rude  stool  and  several 
articles  of  wearing  apparel.  He  exchanged  garments  with  the  unknown 
squatter  and  climbing  to  the  surface  appeared  before  the  surveyor  as  the- 
strange  flagman.  The  next  day  when  passing  the  same  quarter  again' 
the  flagman  stopped  to  "reswap"  and  found  the  hole,  or  "dugout"  occu- 
pied by  a  negro  who  was  holding  the  land  under  the  rules  of  "squatter- 
sovereignty."  The  hole  was  his  domicile  and  constituted  his  improve-- 
ments.  When  the  surveyor's  plat  was  filed  the  darkey  made  entry  for  the 
land  and  afterwards  perfected  his  proof.  The  hole  was  the  only  residing 
place  he  ever  had  on — or  in — the  land. 


36 

That  the  reader  may  get  the  full  interest  of  the  story  of  Jerauld 
county  as  we  proceed  the  names  are  here  given  that  appeared  upon  the 
tax  list  of  the  various  townships  in  1884,  which  was  made  in  the  months 
of  May  and  June  of  that  year.  The  list  is  so  large  that  it  is  impossible 
to  give  the  order  in  which  the  settlers  came;  but  it  is  safe  to  say  that 
nearly  all  came  in  1883,  or  before,  and  all  prior  to  May  ist,  1884: 

Logan,  (106 — 6^) — H.  C.  Andrews,  John  W.  Atkinson,  S.  X.  Atkins, 
G.  R.  Bass,  W.  J.  Burnett,  D.  M.  Brannon,  E.  R.  Burgess,  Joseph 
Byer,  E.  Blakeslee,  W.  H.  Butterfield,  D.  A.  Brannon,  W.  S.  Combs, 
Jr.,  Mr.  Colwall,  E.  Coleman,  T.  Chase,  J.  N.  Barker,  A.  J.  Brown,  F. 
Coupleman,  Zebulon  P.  DeForest,  Mary  Dykeman,  William  DeKay, 
Ira  Ellis,  Austin  S.  Fordham,  Wm.  H.  Fox,  Mary  Frick,  H.  A.  Frick. 
Henry  E.  Geweke,  A.  L.  Gotwals,  Geo.  W.  Gallers,  W.  Hayter,  Adam 
P.  Hoag,  Stephen  Hillers,  A.  Harris,  Geo.  Housner,  Charles  Hastings, 
W.  Hodge,  J.  B.  June,  Neils  C.  E.  Jorgenson,  H.  Krumswied,  August 
Kappleman,  Christian  Kuhrt,  C.  F.  Kuhrt,  Frank  Knight,  B.  F.  Levette, 
James  Long,  Henry  Mundfrom,  Alex  McClellan,  John  Marris,  Charles 
W.  Mentzer,  H.  H.  Moulton,  C.  C.  Meyer,  Chas.  S.  Marvin,  Annie  E. 
Norin,  Wm.  Niemeyer,  J.  E.  Noggle,  Andrew  Pflaum,  J.  Purdy,  D.  B. 
Paddock,  E.  W.  Patten,  Joseph  G.  Reaset,  J.  A.  Riegel,  W.  Rosenbaum, 
P.  J.  Rahbe,  H.  A.  Robinson,  G.  B.  Robinson,  A.  Rosenbaum,  Eugene 
Roe,  W.  A.  Ransom,  A.  Solomon,  Joseph  Sutherland,  Will  S.  Sapham, 
David  Strabble,  R.  V.  Smith,  Arthur  Sykes,  B.  L.  Solomon,  Herman 
Schurke,  Orlo  Stannard,  Willis  Stannard,  J.  M.  Spears,  Herman  Wal- 
ters, Hiram  Woodbury,  Andrew  Wilson,  J.  M.  Wray,  J.  F.  Wicks,  E. 
G.  Will,  Henry  P.  Will,  J.  H.  Young. 

Crow,  (107— 67)— Wm.  Austin,  D.  W.  Bracy,  U.  E.  Babb,  C.  W. 
Blackney,  U.  P.  Bump,  Harry  T.  Bert,  David  Barr,  Geo.  W.  Burger, 
H.  N.  Brown,  N.  J.  Barr,  Henry  C.  Corey,  Geo.  A.  Chambers,  Wilber 
M.  Cross,  T.  P.  Clark,  Hugh  Connel,  E.  Corsen,  Morris  E.  Curtis,  C. 
A.  Cahill.  C.  A.  Conrad,  Clarence  C.  Carnes,  F.  M.  Cooley,  J.  F.  Cooley, 
T.  J.  Dickey,  T.  R.  Dunlap,  W.  E.  Dement,  Wm.  Dunlap,  Delavan  L. 
Davis,  James  Dunlap,  Samuel  Dunlap,  Frank  Dunlap,  John  Eagen, 
Jerry  Foley,  James  Fgerty,  Eveline  Gray,  L.  H.  Goodrich,  J.  A.  Grace, 
George  Gilbert,  Charles  Green,  W.  H.  Howard,  Josephine  Herring, 
Mary  L.  Healy,  E.  A.  Herman,  S.  E.  Herman,  John  Hessett,  Henry  Her- 
ring, Jack  Harrison,  Jorgen  Jorgenson,  D.  T.  Jones,  Horace  P.  Jones, 
G.  King,  W.  King,  K.  Knutson,  E.  A.  Kreitzer,  W.  G.  Kellogg,  Seth 
Kethledge,  S.  T.  Leeds,  Geo.  L.  Light,  Thos.  W.  Lane,  H.  A.  Lamb, 
Chas.  H.  McClintic,  E.  F.  Merwin,  John  R.  Miller,  H.  E.  Merwin,  C. 
V.  Martin,  L.  W.  Miles,  Penelope  Miller,  E.  V.  Martin,  L.  P.  Miles,  A. 
M.  Moore,  E.  N.  Mount,  F.  L.  Norin,  C.  B.  Noble,  Jacob  Norin,  Thomas 


37 

H.  Null,  Geo.  H.  Pierce,  James  A.  Paddock,  W.  F.  Ponsford,  Joseph 
Ponsford,  E.  S.  Platner,  Chas.  E.  Platner,  L.  R.  Prichard,  J.  L.  Perry, 
Wm.  H.  Plank,  Anna  A.  Peterson,  G.  N.  Price,  W.  A.  Pond,  G.  S.  Rowe, 
W.  A.  Rex,  C.  G.  Robinson,  Mrs.  S.  C.  Rowe,  H.  M.  Rice,  Jean  Rabie, 
Alvah  Remington,  Joseph  Roberts,  H.  L.  Shakespeare,  Frank  Sage, 
Eugene  Stanley,  Miss  R.  F.  Scott,  Minnie  Stanley,  A.  Snart,  John  Snart, 
Patrick  Sweeney,  Chas.  M.  Torrence,  S.  S.  Vrooman,  R.  A.  Wheeler, 
Geo.  Waterbury,  P.  A.  Wilson,  P.  H.  Whalen,  David  Waterbury,  J.  L. 
Wilson,  Lewis  J.  Waterbury,  Joseph  Wertz,  A.  E.  White,  David  FI.  Wa- 
terbury, E.  S.  Waterbury,  O.  P.  Waterbury,  D.  O.  Wilson. 

Marlaur,  (108^ — 67) — ^John  Briles,  John  Buchanan,  Wm.  S.Bass,  J. 
P.  Boisen,  Herbert  Baker,  Chas.  Boisen,  F.  M.  Bemis,  Amrose  Baker, 
S.  M.  Baker,  Jas.  Buchanan,  W.  Cavico,  J.  F.  Calvert,  Charles  Chris- 
tianson,  J.  M.  Corbin,  John  L.  Coller,  Helen  E.  Dement,  A.  H.  DeLap, 
J.  H.  Daniel,  Frank  Danberg,  O.  C.  Emery,  J.  M.  Flint,  Evans  Flack, 
Brice  Garvis,  Geo.  G.  Groub,  Wm.  Grace,  Mary  Grimwood,  Z.  Groub, 
J.  J.  Groub,  Elial  Heaton,  Tillman  Hunt,  John  A.  Hudson,  R.  P.  Hites, 
A.  T.  Hudson,  Calvin  Hain,  Hattie  Hillman,  Oscar  N.  Hillman,  J.  W. 
Lamb,  Elwood  Lancaster,  Matilda  Lindquist,  P.  O.  Lindquist,  Wm.  Mar- 
shall, B.  F.  Marlaur,  Wm.  Marlaur,  Christian  Movek,  Theron  Mills, 
Wm.  Orr,  E.  Orcutt,  Peter  Peterson,  F.  J.  Pressey,  David  Potter,  D. 
Rodney  Pavey,  John  Ruan,  G.  H.  Rhodes,  A.  Remington,  Levi  Strong, 
W.  M.  Scofield,  W.  S.  Scofield,  C.  F.  Scofield,  C.  C.  Sapp,  Geo.  A. 
Sloan,  Patrick  Swiney,  A.  C.  Thompson,  James  Tolbert,  W.  R.  Whipple, 
Emeline  Waterbury. 

Harmony,  (108 — 66) — Mary  E.  Burger,  Joseph  Bromley,  Geo.  S. 
Brady,  Anson  Beals,  Mary  E.  Ballard,  Wm.  Bremner,  Chas.  A.  Brown, 
Clayton  Brown,  Jas.  H.  Cool,  Joseph  H.  Collier,  John  C.  Chapman,  Delos 
Clink,  John  Collier,  Chas.  Darling,  N.  J.  Dunham,  John  Eglin,  O.  O. 
England,  Henry  L.  England,  Joseph  R.  Eddy,  C.  W.  England,  Geo.  S. 
Eddy,  L.  O.  Evans,  Adolph  Fesenmier,  Fred  Fisher,  Otto  Fesenmier, 
James  Grieve,  Isaac  Grimons,  W.  T.  Hammack,  Edwin  Hamblin,  Morris 
A.  Hoar,  J.  M.  Hanson,  T.  J.  Morris,  A.  M.  Moor,  S.  E.  Mills,  O.  J. 
Marshall,  C.  W.  Mills,  W.  A.  Miller,  C.  M.  Mills,  Daniel  Mitchell,  J. 
H.  Murphy,  Wm.  Murphy,  Lewis  Nordyke,  August  Ponto,  H.  A.  Peirce, 
C.  S.  Richardson,  I.  N.  Rich,  Moses  Rich,  G.  H.  Shepherd,  Allen  G. 
Snyder,  W.  M.  Skinner,  T.  W.  Sample,  Chas.  G.  Smith,  John  Shannon, 
Jefferson  Sickler,  R.  O.  Sheldon,  Geo.  W.  Titus,  W.  M.  Titus,  Thomas 
Walsh,  Peter  Welfring,  Thomas  D.  Williams,  Thomas  S.  Whitehouse. 
Will  McGalliard. 


38 

Chapter  9. 

Pleasant,  (107 — 66) — J.  E.  Adkinson,  G.  Bingham,  C.  S.  Barber, 
Joseph  Bowen,  George  Barnes,  J.  A.  Barnum,  L.  J\I.  Brown,  Isaac  Byam, 
W.  \y.  Brower,  Anna  E.  Brower,  James  Cavenaugh,  W.  H.  Coohdge, 
J.  F.  Chandler,  P.  X.  Chandler,  Ed  Cummings,  O.  E.  Corwin,  B.  F. 
Crittendon,  Wm.  A.  Dean,  John  Day,  T.  H.  Dnrfee,  E.  Dwyer,  Hiram 
Dean.  E.  Ditsworth,  James  Dwyer,  Irwin  Eaton,  P.  J.  Eddy,  Andrew 
Faust,  James  Foster,  S.  W.  Foster,  Rial  Farmer,  Henry  P.  Faust,  George 
Fisher,  Henry  Finster,  O.  E.  Gaffin,  Samuel  Gailey,  J.  W.  Gerken,  J. 
A.  Gaffin,  Mattie  E.  Gloyd,  Frank  E.  Gaffin,  S.  F.  Huntley,  H.  D.  Hin- 
iiers,  C.  J.  Hunt,  C.  W.  Hilliker,  Herman  Hinners,  Chas.  R.  Hansen, 
AV.  E.  Hunt,  D.  C.  Hewitt,  Robert  Hiatt,  I.  S.  Ingham,  N.  J.  Ingham. 
A.  H.  Ingham,  Daniel  Jacobs,  John  Jacobs,  Joseph  Jacobs,  J.  B.  Jacobs, 
J.  T.  Johnston.  L.  A.  King,  Henry  Kallis,  Geo.  W.  King,  Kate  M. 
Knieriem,  Geo.  Knieriem,  Herman  Krueger,  W.  W.  Lewis,  J.  F.  Lynn, 
Henry  McElwain,  Noah  'Moonshover,  S.  J.  Moore,  Thos,  Alurphy. 
Samuel  Marlenee,  John  Murphy,  Ira  Maxwell,  Albert  J.  JMiller,  A.  R. 
Powell.  J.  D.  Powell,  F.  M.  Pratt,  Francis  Pryne,  Josephine  J.  M.  Pryne, 
J.  C.  Pomeroy,  Miss  S,  J.  Richardson,  Theo.  Round,  J.  S.  Richardson, 
Wm.  Reagan,  J.  J.  Snyder,  J.  E.  Sullivan,  Jacob  Stickley,  E.  A.  Sower- 
wine.  R.  H.  Stetson,  Geo.  Strong,  Miss  Ai^nie  Salter,  Samuel  Sowerwine, 
S.  B.  Shimp.  B.  R.  Shimp,  G.  W.  Stetson,  R.  C.  Trollope,  J.  W.  Todd, 
G.  ^^^  Trollope,  A.  E.  Turrill,  —  Thompson,  W.  H.  Toaz,  T.  Tryon. 
R.  S.  A  essey,  Alark  Williams,  Thos.  Warburton. 

Crow  Lake,  (106 — 66) — A.  M.  Allyn,  Elizabeth  A.  Amos,  Thomas 
Amos,  W.  R.  Annis,  R.  A.  Buckmaster,  ]\Iiary  V.  Burroughs,  Fred  E. 
Burroughs,  August  Bachmor,  Elizabeth  Bartlett,  Sherman  Bartlett,  James 
H.  Baker,  Perry  Blojak,,  Gustav  Beutner,  Frank  Bruz,  E.  H.  Grossman, 
C  S.  Grossman,  John  Conley,  James  Conley,  Gideon  E.  Clark,  John 
Deindorfer,  V^aurin  Dusek,  Geo.  Deindorfer,  Carsten  Detlefs,  Louis  Dein- 
•dorfer,  Wm.  H.  DeGroat,  B.  F.  Drown,  Fred  Daum,  Sr.,  Fred  Daum, 
Jr.,  C  E.  Daum,  A.  Duschick,  J.  P.  Evans,  Alex  Erickson,  Bertha  E. 
Erickson,  Joseph  Fox,  Thomas  Fox,  Ellis  Gratz,  Ellen  D.  Gordon,  John 
Gibisch,  Enos  Granby,  Joseph  Gibisch,  Sr.,  Joseph  Gibisch,  Jr.,  John 
Hicks,  Robert  Hibel,  Samuel  Hibel,  John  Hiller,  J.  L.  Heintz,  Wm.  A. 
Huffman,  R.  Y.  Hazard,  D.  R.  Hughes,  Robt.  Hughes.  E.  N.  Huntley, 
R.  J.  Hughes,  Chas.  W.  Henning,  Frank  Haas,  E.  J.  Holdridge,  Thos. 
Henning,  John  N.  Henning,  Coleman  Harrington.  Henry  M.  Hafifey, 
Carl  Haas,  Fred  Hoagland,  Charles  S.  Jacobs,  B.  F.  Jones,  Samuel  L. 
Kneedler,  John  Klekar,  Louis  Kratzer,  Ernest  Lain,  Albert  Maxwell, 
I^eter    i\Iohr.    Thomas    Mitchell,    Corneilus    Mver,    Nicholas    Mver.    Sr., 


39 

Nicholas  Myer,  Jr.,  John  Monarch,  Frank  Morawac,  George  J.  Aloest, 
Z.  S.  Moulton,  David  Moulton,  Eliza  J.  Mentzer,  Theo.  F.  Mentzer, 
Samuel  H.  Melcher,  James  Nelson,  Andrew  Nelson,  Joseph  O'Brien, 
Fred  Paulson,  Emma  Paulson,  Anton  Reindl,  Matt  Rupert,  Elliott  L. 
Sawyer,  Frank  Spinier,  Wm.  Shultz,  John  H.  Schmidt,  Nelson  Swanson, 
Philip  W.  Tabor,  Joseph  Vanous,  John  Vanous,  Geo.  Vanous,  J.  H. 
Wichman,  James  Wamuse. 

Anina,  (io6 — 65) — W.  A.  Baker,  E.  T.  Bowen,  John  Bancroft,  Mrs. 
Mary  E.  Bogardus,  Michael  Barr,  James  Barr,  C.  B.  Blake,  J.  C.  Barr, 
Chas.  H.  Coggshall,  Miss  F.  Cummins,  Miss  Emma  Cady,  Elmer  Car- 
penter, Anton  Clementson,  Christian  Clementson,  Robert  Coe,  V.  I. 
Converse,  A.  D.  Cady,  Thomas  G.  Derry,  W.  R.  Day,  James  T.  Ferguson, 
I.  H.  French,  Mrs.  L.  G.  French,  M.  Greer,  Claus  Gunderson,  Henry 
Gunderson,  Mary  J.  Genet,  Wm.  H.  Hensley,  Kate  Hannaberry,  Wm. 
Hodgson,  Fred  A.  Hagenbruck,  Asa  Hodgson,  Mary  D.  Hagenbruck, 
O.  F.  Kellogg,  Erie  E.  Kellogg,  Bridget  A.  Kenny,  C.  C.  Little,  Louie 
Lindsey,  J.  M.  Lyle,  E.  C.  Lyle,  George  Lind,  Joseph  Lehmen,  Miss  Nel- 
lie Lewis,  Joseph  Motl,  E.  Moon,  Gordon  McDonald,  Adolf  Mahler, 
Geo.  Maxwell,  John  Moore,  McReady  Martin,  S.  S.  Moore,  Jas.  T.  Mc- 
Glashan,  C.  R.  Nelson,  John  B.  Neal,  Don  C.  Needham,  Hattie  E.  Need- 
ham,  Barnet  Neal,  Fidelia  Overton,  William  Pooley,  Frank  Pecachek, 
John  Pavek,  Alva  Primmer,  W.  B.  Primmer,  Orin  Parker,  G.  V.  Rhoades, 
Jas.  C.  Ryall,  Mrs.  Rhoades,  R.  S.  Russell,  Westly  Shultz,  Jesse  Shultz, 
John  W.  Shultz,  David  S.  Smelser,  Miss  Jennie  Swan,  Louis  Schwarz, 
Jule  A.  Swan,  Thomas  E.  Sadler,  Henry  J.  Talbot,  Samuel  Totten, 
Charles  Vesey,  Mittie  S.  Vessey,  C.  W.  Vessey,  Peter  Van  Slyke,  Henry 
Walters,  Norris  E.  Williams,  Geo.  Walters,  C.  F.  Walker,  G.  A..  Wine- 
garden,  Helen  Wheeler. 

Media,  (107— 65)— Samuel  Arnold,  A.  S.  Beals,  W.  R.  Brush,  W.  L 
Bateman,  A.  F.  Bateman,  Geo.  W.  Bennett,  R.  S.  Bateman,  A.  A.  Beels, 
Wm.  Bush,  C.  L.  Beach,  Miss  M.  H.  C.  Bennett,  D.  E.  Braught,  R.  Bush. 
R.  H.  Cowell,  E.  E.  Cummings,  B.  G.  Cummings,  M.  A.  Cummings, 
Horace  B.  Coley,  John  Cross,  M.  D.  Crow,  Lucinda  C.  Comforth,  Lucy 
A.  Dixon,  E.  L.  DeLine,  Theodore  Dean,  James  F.  DeVine,  Thos.  V. 
Donovon,  John  DeVine,  J.  H.  Farnham,  Mary  A.  French,  E.  H.  Ford, 
Jas.  A.  Hindman,  W.  A.  Housel,  M.  J.  Harris,  Daniel  Hindman,  Charles 
Hanson,  G.  B.  Hanford,  A.  Johnson,  John  H.  Kugler,  Chas.  Kugler, 
Rudolph  Krauz,  Edward  Kutzner,  Mike  J.  Long,  Augustin  LaPoint,  W. 
C.  Mundie,  C.  W.  McDonald,  Donald  McDonald,  T.  A.  McGinnis,  A.  M. 
Mathias,  R.  M.  Magee,  J.  E.  McNamara,  Calvin  Ott,  Mortimer  Powell, 
George  Pratt,  Myron  Pratt,  A.  Phillips,  Wm.  P.  Ryan,  Jos.  Rummelhart. 
A.  Schubert,  Harland  Stowell,  J.  M.  Smith,  Mrs.  A.  B.  Smart,  A.  B. 


40 

Smart,  Isaac  L.  Stevens,  B.  F.  Swatman,  Mrs.  L.  G.  Swatman,  Wni. 
Theeler,  Herman  Theeler,  John  Tawlks,  C.  Thompson,  Gustaf  Theeler, 
Cyrus  Thompson,  C.  E.  Thayer,  W.  E.  Taylor,  E.  A'oorhees,  J.  H..  Ves- 
sey,  Jas.  H.  Woodburn,  Jas.  Weibold,  Mrs.  A.  B.  Williams,  A.  War- 
burton. 

Chery,  (io8 — 65) — Joseph  Ackerson,  George  Archer,  Henry  L.  Bart- 
lett,  K.  W.  Blanchard,  Harvey  Butler,  Geo,  W.  Bolton,  J.  F.  Bolton,  E. 
H.  Cleaver,  C.  M.  Chery,  B.  F.  Chapman,  Lina  French,  John  Decker,  P. 
B.  Davis,  Chas.  Davis,  B.  Drake,  A.  R.  Doty,  Joseph  Geopfert,  G.  Gop- 
pert,  John  Gilbert,  S.  B.  Georgia,  B.  Horsley,  Wm.  Horsley,  H.  M.  Hay, 
Jesse  Harmston,  R.  M.  Kayner,  Jerusha  Johnson,  Chas.  Marson,  A.  Mer- 
cer, Wm.  Marlow,  Fred  Phillips,  Philip  Phillips,  Salon  Pal- 
mer, E.  A.  Palmer,  Samuel  Richardson,  O.  W.  Richardson, 
Lemuel  F.  Russell,  Mrs.  A.  A.  Riddle,  W.  H.  Robeson, 
Wm.  J.  Reese,  Jacob  Rosenthall,  Lawrence  Russell,  Thos.  Roach,  Bridget 
Roach,  James  Roach,  Joseph  D.  Roach,  Albert  Russell,  Chas.  Smith, 
Hudson  Horsley,  W.  T.  Hay,  W.  N.  Hill,  E.  C.  Hill,  C.  W.  Hill,  James 
Hoar,  Inez  L.  Hoar,  Geo.  Homewood,  George  losty,  H.  P.  Jones,  Sarah 
Johnston,  John  Juza,  Albert  N.  Louder,  Miss  Love,  H.  J.  Louder,  H.  W. 
Louder,  T.  W.  Lanning,  T.  J.  Lanning,  W.  R.  Lanning,  J.  W.  Mellick, 
Herman  Miller,  J.  W.  McCullough,  M.  H.  Martin,  Ole  Nelson,  John 
Neff,  C.  W.  P.  Osgood,  D.  N.  Paxton,  J.  H.  Palmer,  W.  E.  Phillips, 
Fred  Phillips,  John  Poff,  — •  Raymond,  M.  E.  Small,  Jesse  Simons,  A. 
Sturgis,  E.  D.  Schaefer,  J.  W.  Simons,  M.  A.  Schaefer,  E.  L.  Turner, 
Chas.  Taylor,  M.  J.  Thornton,  F.  M.  Townsend,  H.  J.  Wallace,  T.  L. 
White,  F.  E.  Woodruff,  Sarah  Wilkinson,  Miss  L.  Young,  J.  C.  Zim- 
merman. 

Dale,  (108 — 64) — John  A.  Adebar,  Vincent  Brechtel,  Wm.  Burns, 
B.  B.  Beadell,  Anthony  Bixler,  Alden  Brown,  Chas.  D.  Brown,  R.  A. 
Bartlett,  W.  G.  Cakebread,  Edward  Crawford,  John  Campbell,  Archie 
Campbell,  John  Cook,  Ely  W.  Chapman,  John  Crawford,  John  N.  Dynes, 
Chas.  Dawson,  James  Eastman,  F.  J.  Eastman,  A.  B.  Easter,  Wm.  Edgar, 
Emily  J.  Easter,  Ira  Eldell,  B.  F.  Eagle,  Louis  Fenstimaker,  R.  R.  Grif- 
fith, Daniel  Schmidt,  Ernest  Schmidt,  Joseph  Scott,  Charles  Scott,  John 
Teasdale,  Robt.  Tracy,  Wilber  I.  Tower,  D.  Townsend,  Clement  Turner, 
R.  \'andervene,  Peter  Wieland,  Geo.  H.  Youngs. 


41 

Chapter  10. 

Wessington  Springs,  (107 — 64) — S.  H.  Albert,  M.  C.  Ayers,  P.  R. 
Barrett,  Hiram  Blowers,  P.  B.  Berlin,  J.  J.  Barnes,  Geo.  R.  Bateman,  J. 
G.  Campbell,  A.  V.  Custer,  Solomon  Carey,  Geo.  T.  Chapman,  John 
Chapman,  Daniel  Carey,  Thomas  Drake,  LaFaette  Ewers,  Lucina  Eager, 
M.  M.  Flint,  John  R.  Francis,  J.  F.  Ford,  H.  D.  Fisher,  Andrew  Giller- 
son,  Ernest  Garendt,  John  Grant,  Wm.  M.  Goodwin,  Newell  Grant,  W. 
W.  Goodwin,  N.  C.  Hall,  Wm.  Huffman,  Wm.  Hawthorne,  C.  E.  Hackett, 
Lars  Johnson,  James  Johnson,  J.  W.  P.  Jordan,  Robert  Johnson,  George 
Johnson,  S.  Kinney,  E.  Knudson,  Andrew  Lund,  Martha  Lewis,  Ed 
Lowe,  M.  A.  McCune,  John  A.  McCarter,  John  McCarter,  Samuel  Mc- 
Donald, John  McCormick,  Chas.  Meihak,  Sarah  McCormick,  Richard 
McCormick,  E.  V.  Miles,  J.  A.  McDonald,  James  A.  McCarter,  H.  W. 
Mills,  J.  D.  Morse,  Samuel  McCormick,  E.  B.  Orr,  Harvey  M.  Russ, 
Seth  Richardson,  Edwin  A.  Riddle,  Charles  Rohr,  Berton  Richardson, 
Matthew  Sheppard,  J.  O.  Shryock,  Thos.  H.  Shryock,  S.  K.  Starkey,  C. 
H.  Stephens,  H.  C.  Stephens,  A.  C.  Shultz,  H.  S.  Starkey,  L.  S.  Starkey, 
S.  S.  Starkey,  D.  W.  Shryock,  John  Stone,  E.  L.  Smith,  F.  T.  Tofflemier, 
W^m.  Taylor,  Ruth  Tofflemier,  L.  H.  Tarbell,  E.  L.  Turner,  J.  W.  Thomas, 
Jane  R.  Williams,  B.  F.  Wiley,  Wm.  J.  Williams,  Mary  Williams,  S. 
West,  E.  G.  Williams,  John  E.  White,  Owen  E.  Williams,  Adam  West. 

Viola,  (106 — 64)- — David  A.  Bryant,  Augusta  T.  Berge.  Alanson 
Barrs,  A'liss  Barrs,  E.  L.  Brown,  Abram  N.  Brown,  C.  R.  Bruland,  A. 
Bywater,  Archie  B.  Creswell,  Daniel  Cockle,  Christian  Clodt,  W.  V. 
Dixon,  W.  C.  Davis,  D.  V.  Davis,  M.  P.  Dtmn,  C.  W.  Dougherty.  Gus- 
tave  Draeger,  George  Dean,  Mary  F.  Ford.  T.  K.  Ford,  John  B.  Folsom, 
Joseph  A.  Ford,  B.  F.  Gough,  Gotlish  Gates,  John  Gerkin,  John  M. 
Houk,.  Chas.  Hein,  J.  T.  S.  Irons,  C.  E.  Johnson,  Andrew  Jacobson, 
Louis  Jonker,  Ole  A.  Knutson,  John  Kuch,  Peter  Klink,  Ebbert  Kellog, 
H.  H.  Kieser,  Henry  Krabbenhoeft,  L.  D.  R.  Kruse,  Louis  Kruse, 
Henry  Kasulka,  Daniel  Kieser,  Fred  Kieser,  Geo.  N.  Kalb,  Stewart  King, 
Christian  Krohmer,  Paul  Lillehaug,  M.  M.  Modlin,  Stephen  H.  Morse, 
J.  C.  Morse,  Karl  Meiback,  E.  H.  Merville,  O.  W.  Morehead,  E.  E. 
Nesmith,  M.  W.  Nesmith,  John  M.  Primmer,  John  Phillips,  Fred  Prim- 
mer, Wm.  Pagenhart.  N.  G.  Rhoades,  Jesse  Reynolds,  Perry  Reynolds, 
Peter  A.  Roti,  Jas.  W.  Simpson.  Sr.,  Jas.  W.  Simpson,  Jr.,  John  Simp- 
son. Francis  E.  Simpson,  Robert  H.  Simpson,  Peter  H.  Schultz,  Geo.  A. 
Seekatz.  Jacob  N.  Smith,  Christoph  Schultz,  Wm.  P.  Schultz,  C.  A.  Sol- 
berg.  F.  J.  Shellmyer.  August  Schuttpelz,  Chas.  Shabley,  A.  J.  Solberg, 
Ole  J.  Solberg,  Ole  C.  Solberg.  Ole  Swenson,  Jonas  A.  Tyner.  Wm.  t). 
Towner.  Charles  Towner.  O.  L.  Tucker,  Wm.  E.  Towner,  Wm.  Ville- 


42 

brandt,  Frank  A'oge,  Wm.  P.  Wilson,  J.  M.  Winslow,  Chas.  Wolk,  Henr}- 
Walters,  Louis  O.  Woem,  Charles  Walters,  C.  E.  Walker,  O.  J.  Walker, 
Wni.  Wetzel,  L.  G.  Wilson,  W.  F.  Zimmerman. 

Blaine,  (io6 — 63) — H.  H.  Atwood,  Auriel  Antonio,  Tlios.  O.  Berg, 
O.  G.  Berg,  E.  O.  Berg,  T.  W.  Barrs,  Jacob  Buckawatz.  Thomas  Biggar, 
Fred  E.  Cook,  Charl  Christoferson,  A.  I.  Churchill,  Peter  Davick,  Lester 
Dunton, '  Richard  Dalton,  James  R.  Dalton,  L.  F.  Daniel,  Washington 
Edd}^,  Steffen  L.  Endal,  Sylvanus  Freeman,  Christian  Feistner,  Leonard 
Feistner,  D.  A.  Grant,  W.  A.  Grant,  Julius  Hart,  Henry  Hart,  Ole  O. 
Hollebakken,  D.  R.  Hale,  Ole  Johansen,  Knute  Knudson,  Henry  Koons, 
Fred  Luker,  Nettie  Lee,  Halver  Mekkelson,  Battis  Miler,  Fred  W.  Myer. 
George  Mills,  Miss  Meyers,  A.  M.  Matthews,  Hortense  McKune,  Eveline 
E.  ■NlcKune,  Peter  Manning,  Forest  Olin,  Bertie  Olson,  jNIathias  Pfaler, 
LaFayette  Pearce,  Nellie  E.  Parker,  C.  W.  Parker,  Andrew  Peterson, 
August  Pauloski,  Emma  Pauloski,  Ira  Purdy,  Richard  Price,  John  Par- 
quet. G.  W.  Rychman,  Antoin  Rygnski,  Fred  K.  Strasser,  Wm.  Stiner, 
Joseph  Steichen,  Jacob  Stromer.  Mary  Shannon,  Henry  W.  Scott,  Kittie 
Shannon,  Ole  R.  Solberg,  Ole  T.  Soarem,  Sam  K.  Swenson,  Andrew  O. 
Swenson,  Herman  Schraeder,  James  Stoddard,  John  Steiner,  W.  R. 
Thomas,  Mrs.  M.  M.  Teachout,  M.  L.  Thomas,  Jonas  Velle,  Wm.  Wus- 
son,  Bottis  Wecker,  John  P.  Wolf,  John  M.  Wheeler,  Peter  Wolf,  Franz 
H.  Wams,  Charles  C.  Wright,  G.  H.  Waldron,  Calvin  jNL  Young,  M. 
W.  Young,  D.  W.  Young,  L  A.  Young,  John  Zimmerman,  John  Steichen, 
Nicholas  Steichen. 

Franklin,  (107 — 6^) — Magnus  Anderson,  G.  T.  Adkinson.  Joshua 
Adkinson,  Perry  Bush,  A.  J.  Bevens,  JNIartin  Baker,  L  J.  Black,  D.  Boge, 
G.  O.  Bergelian,  Andrew  Berg,  W.  L  Bellows,  D.  P.  Burnison,  George 
Bryon,  W.  N.  Brown,  Joseph  Bouton,  Frank  Bush,  D.  M.  Black,  S.  W. 
Boyd,  Henry  Beogelee,  Hugh  Confry,  R.  H.  Chase,  C.  M.  Clark,  S.  D. 
Cation,  Joseph  Doctor,  A.  B.  Dalrymple,  C.  G.  Evans,  H.  L.  Evans, 
Jacob  Etzel,  Josephine  Englestad,  A.  L.  Eager,  Hiram  Freeman,  R.  W. 
Foster,  L.  E.  Franklin,  Edward  Fitzgibbon,  Charles  Gurte,  Henry  Goll, 
Albert  Gunderson,  J.  M.  Hardin,  J.  W.  Harden,  Knute  N.  Hovey,  La- 
rome  Hessdorfer,  George  Hodges,  Anna  A.  Hoff,  Andrew  Hessdorfer, 
7.  T.  Harmon,  Geo.  Hessdorfer,  Wm.  J.  Houmes,  Moses  N.  Hefte,  John 
Hautenbourg,  R.  Hessdorfer,  Frank  Janoush,  Wm.  Karril,  Henry  Kni- 
criem,  John  Kogel,  John  Klemm,  Ole  C.  Lindebak,  Gias.  E.  LaRue, 
Lars  Larson,  A.  Maldren,  John  Marshall.  John  McLean,  F.  W.  Martin, 
David  McDowall,  B.  R.  McCaul,  Wm.  McCaul,  Ira  McCaul,  J.  A.  Mc- 
Caul,  Gust  Newman,  Robert  Nisbet,  A.  M.  Nettleton,  H.  D.  Newton, 
C.  Nettleton,  Herbjorn  Ostenson,  Theo.  Offerman,  George  O'Brien, 
Walter  P.   Pierce,  Wm.   ]M.   Posey,   Elijah   Purdy,   ]\Irs.   W.     Pinkham. 


43 

Henry  M.  Posey,  S.  D.  Ray,  1.  P.  Ray,  Iver  H.  Refvrem,  E.  M.  Smith, 
Olena  Solberg,  James  Susha,  Michael  Selz,  Edwin  S.  Starkey,  L.  W. 
Surman,  Henry  Stinkier,  John  J.  Sime,  Charles  Thorpe,  Margaret  Trot- 
ter, P.  T.  Varnum,  Thomas  M.  Whiffin,  J.  C.  Wallace,  H.  D.  Wihte, 
H.  A.  White,  Minnie  J.  Whiffin,  Jas.  G.  Young,  James  H.  Boyd,  J.  M. 
Brown. 

Alpena,  (io6 — 63) — Wm.  H.  Arne,  William  Aitlt,  Virgil  P.  Arne, 
Syver  P.  Amenson,  Albert  Ahart,  H.  M.  Arne,  W.  L.  Arnold,  J.  Barnes, 
John  Basse,  Wm.  Brandenburg,  George  Brevier,  Allen  N.  Brayton,  I. 
W.  Black,  Chas.  Bechtold,  Fred  Busse,  T.  Linus  Blank,  Moses  D.  Blank, 
Ray  Barber,  Wm.  Bechtold,  C.  P.  Canon,  J.  A.  Calhoun,  A.  N.  Canon,Wm. 
S.  Corothers,  J.  E.  Cook,  James  Conlin,  L.  W.  Castleman,  Geo.  D.  Canon, 
John  Campbell,  A.  B.  Davenport,  Richard  Davenport,  Leopold  Dietz, 
Wesley  Davis,  James  W.  Eastman,  Charles  Eastman,  Daniel  Eastman. 
E.  M.  Eastman,  R.  J.  Eastman,  Wm.  Forshire,  Thomas  J.  Forbes,  R.  P. 
F'lagg'^  J-  O.  Gray,  Wm.  Girton,  H.  M.  Hall,  Joseph  P.  Harding,  Chas. 
G.  Haskins,  Levi  Hamilton,  John  A.  Houmes,  Fred  Heller,  Mathias  Hed- 
strom,  D.  S.  Kellogg,  Daniel  Kint,  Henry  E.  King,  W.  A.  Linn,  L.  N. 
Looms,  Chas.  E.  Moore,  M.  M.  Moran,  Joseph  H.  May,  James  Moran, 
Hugh  J.  Moran,  Peter  Milroy,  B.  F.  Miller,  Patrick  McDonald,  Joseph 
A.  Moore,  E.  F.  Makemson,  Dan  A.  McCoy,  Ole  Onstad,  Andrew  On- 
stad,  Mary  Onstad,  Betsey  Onstad,  Morgan  Onstad,  Frank  B.  Phillips, 
Isaac  Pierce,  B.  Quirk,  Frank  Quirk,  Daniel  F.  Royer,  John  Smith,  Coun- 
cil Sparks,  D.  N.  Smith,  Thos.  Sheffield,  Matt  Suerth,Gustave  Scheel.Fred 
M.  Schemer,  And.  Sundberg,  August  Scheel,  Joseph  Terrell,  Warren  G. 
Tubbs.  O.  F.  Woodrufif,  John  R.  Woodruff.  John  Woods.  Daniel  Web- 
ber, John  Wallace,  Edson  Whitney,  Frank  O.  Wheelihan,  M.  J.  Wolcott, 
J.  M.  Webber,  C.  M.  Yegge,  F.  W.  Whitney. 

The  following  is  a  list  of  the  first  settlers  in  the  various  townships  as 
nearly  as  we  have  been  able  to  gather  from  the  memory  of  the  oldest 
inhabitants : 

Logan — W.  S.  Combs,  Jr. 

Crow — Abel  Scyoc. 

Marlaur — J.  J.  Groub. 

Harmony — O.  O.  England. 

Pleasant — B.  F.  Crittenden. 

Crow  Lake — Albert  M.  Allyn. 

Anina — Joseph  Motl. 

Media — Levi  Hain. 

Chery — Chas.  Nicholson. 

Dale — C.  D.  Brown. 

Wessington  Springs — Ogden  Barrett. 


44 


Viola — Ole  C.  Solberg. 
Blaine — Joseph  Steichen. 
Franklin — Wm.   M.   Posey. 
Alpena — Wm.  H.  Arne. 


Chapter  II. 

While  the  villages  of  Waterbury  and  Sulphur  Springs  were  striving 
for  supremacy  as  the  commercial  and  political  center,  settlers  were  locat- 
ing among  the  hills  and  valleys  of  the  adjoining  townships. 

Among  them  were  citizens  and  profesional  men  of  all  kinds.  In  io8 
— 66  there  were  in  1883  nineteen  graduates  from  eastern  colleges,  and 
this  township  was  no  different  from  the  balance  of  the  county.  Then 
there  were  carpenters,  masons,  blacksmiths,  harness  makers,  printers, 
painters,  who  were  able  to  bring  to  the  new  settlements  all  the  comforts 
and  conveniences  of  older  countries,  as  fast  as  their  mechanical  skill 
could  be  used. 

Townships  108 — 67,  and  107 — 66  were  unsurveyed  in  the 
spring  of  1883.  Yet  the  squatters  were  able  by  the  means  of  stakes  and 
corners  of  the  adjoining  townships  to  select  their  claims.  There  were 
but  few  cases  of  two  persons  claiming  the  same  tracts  of  land.  The  land 
laws  of  the  United  States  divide  a  section  into  forty-acre  tracts,  which 
is  the  smallest  legal  sub-division.  A  squatter  could  only  hold  40  acres 
by  virtue  of  his  settlement.  Still  the  instances  were  rare  where  any  por- 
tion of  a  quarter  section  was  claimed  by  more  than  one  settler.  One 
instance  of  this  kind  occurred,  however,  in  108 — 67.  F.  M.  Cooley,  of 
Sulphur  Springs,  made  improvements  on  the  SE  of  35,  and  Joseph 
Roberts  settled  himself  on  the  same  quarter.  Robert's  shanty  was  on  a 
line  on  the  northwest  forty,  while  Cooley's  was  in  the  valley  on  another 
forty.  Both  stuck  to  the  claim  until  the  surveyor's  plat  was  filed,  when 
Cooley  went  to  the  land  office  at  Mitchell  first,  and  made  entry  for  the 
NE,  SE  and  SW  of  the  disputed  quarter  and  also  for  the  SE  forty  of 
the  SW  I — 4  of  the  section.  This  left  Roberts  with  the  northwest  forty 
acres  and  no  land  adjoining  that  he  considered  desirable.  He  therefore 
abandoned  the  tract. 

In  this  township  (108 — 67)  settlement  began  on  the  6th  day  of  May, 
when  J.  J.  Groub  and  B.  P.  Marlar,  both  from  Missouri,  squatted  on 
their  claims.  They  came  from  the  same  county  in  Missouri,  but  were 
strangers  until  they  met  while  looking  for  land  in  that  township  in  Jer- 


45 

auld  county.  Groub  settled  on  'sections  19  and  20  and  Marlar  on  the 
NW  of  4.  They  were  soon  followed  by  W.  S.  Scofield  and  his  sons 
Frank,  Mark  and  George;  John  and  A.  T.  Hudson,  J.  M.  Corbin,  the 
Bakers,  and  Zacharia  Groub  and  his  daughters,  all  of  them  taking  claims 
near  each  other.  In  section  12  Mr.  E.  Olcutt  made  his  improvements  in 
the  forepart  of  June.  In  Mr.  Olcutt's  house,  his  little  daughter  Fanny, 
was  born  in  the  month  of  August  of  that  year,  being  the  first  child  born 
in  that  township. 

Among  the  people  who  came  to  Jerauld  county  in  1883,  were  the 
Vessey  brothers,  who  arrived  at  White  Lake  on  the  17th  day  of  May. 
They  immediately  began  to  transport  their  goods  to  the  SE  of  section 
12 — 107 — 66,  upon  which  R.  S.  Vessey  established  the  rights  of  a  squat- 
ter. They  arrived  at  their  destination  on  the  morning  of  the  18th  of 
May  and  began  the  construction  of  a  "claim  shanty."  By  night  the 
structure  was  completed  and  the  men  were  housed  in  one  end  of  the  build- 
ing and  the  horses  in  the  other.  The  season  that  followed  was  a  strenuous 
one.  One  hundred  and  thirty  days  were  put  in  on  the  road  between  the 
claim  and  the  town  of  White  Lake.  Though  the  air  was  full  of  politics, 
the  future  governor  of  the  state  was  too  busy  getting  established  in  his 
home  to  give  the  subject  any  attenion.  By  fall  a  new  house  had  been 
ereced,  a  horse  stable  built  and  sheep  shed,  18  feet  wide  by  240  feet  long 
had  been  completed  for  the  600  head  of  sheep  brought  out  from  W^iscon- 
sin  by  Mr.  S.  H.  Albert  in  August. 

On  the  morning  of  April  5th  of  that  year  a  gentleman  with  his  wife 
and  children  and  his  sister  engaged  a  team  at  Plankinton  to  take  them 
to  Wessington  Springs.  They  made  the  start  early  for  they  did  not  wish 
to  hurry  on  the  way — and  they  did  not.  About  an  hour  after  the  horse 
team  started  a  man  left  the  station  with  a  yoke  of  oxen,  following  the 
same  road.  Mile  after  mile  the  two  teams  traveled  along  the  wearisome 
way.  Other  teams  came  up  behind  the  ox  team,  turned  out,  passed  with 
a  cheery  word  to  the  driver,  and  soon  after  drove  by  the  horse  team. 
The  distance  between  the  ox  team  and  the  horses  grew  perceptibly 
shorter.  The  boy  driving  the  horses  began  to  slap  the  animals  with  the 
lines  and  whip  and  say  "giddap."  After  a  while  the  man  with  the  ox 
team  turned  his  cattle  to  the  side  of  the  road  and  for  some  time  the  two 
traveled  side  by  side.  Then  the  oxen  began  to  draw  ahead,  and  at  length 
turned  into  the  road  and  went  on.  In  vain  the  gentleman  riding  behind 
the  horses  suggested  to  the  boy  that  he  might  hurry  a  little,  and  in  vain 
the  boy  slapped  and  cried  "giddap."  The  ox  team  kept  gaining  and 
finally  disappeared  in  the  distance.  After  dark  the  horse  team  arrived  at 
the  residence  of  Rev.  J.  G.  Campbell  on  the  SW  of  17 — 107 — 64. 

Mr.  Campbell  came  out  and  inquired  who  they  were  and  what  they 


46 

wanted.  Being  informed  that  the  party  consisted  of  Rev.  S.  F.  Huntley 
and  family  on  their  way  to  the  residence  of  Rev.  A.  B.  Smart,  he  took 
his  lantern  and  piloted  them  across  the  gully  and  over  the  hills  until 
the  light  in  Smart's  house  could  be  seen  and  there  the  weary  passengers 
alighted  about  lo  o'clock  in  the  evening. 

In  June  following  ]\Ir.  Huntley  built  a  sod  house  on  the  NW  of  4 — - 
107 — 66  and  with  his  family  became  a  squatter  on  the  "unsurveyed."  Al- 
though in  after  years  he  served  his  county  with  distinction  in  the  con- 
stitutional convention  and  state  senate,  he  never  forgot  the  wearisome 
journey  from  Plankinton  to  Wessington  Springs  when  he  "just  moved 
into"  Jerauld  county. 

On  the  nth  day  of  April,  1883,  five  men  stopped  near  where  the 
townships  of  Media,  Anina,  Crow  Lake  and  Pleasant  are  located.  One 
of  them  was  Theodore  Dean,  who  came  in  a  covered  wagon,  which  he 
placed  on  the  SW  of  30 — 107 — 65,  and  in  which  he  lived  until  in  the 
fall,  when  he  built  a  shanty.  Another  of  the  party  was  J.  T.  Ferguson, 
who  at  once  built  a  shanty  with  a  board  roof  on  the  NE  of  6 — 106 — 65, 
where  he  lived  and  still  lives.  The  shanty,  but  built  with  a  shingle  roof, 
is  still  on  the  place.  John  Conley,  another  of  the  number,  built  a  shanty 
on  the  NE  of  2 — 106 — 66,  while  his  brother,  Joseph  Conley,  made  his 
improvements  on  the  SW  of  26 — 107 — 66.  John  W.  Todd,  the  other 
member  of  the  party,  had  brought  his  family  with  him  and  put  up  a  tent 
for  a  dwelling  and  lived  in  that  during  the  summer  on  the  SE  of  25 — 
108 — 66.  His  wife,  Mrs.  Minnie  Todd,  was  the  first  woman  resident  of 
that  township.  Dean  is  one  of  the  commissioners  of  the  county,  and 
Ferguson  is  the  clerk  of  courts. 

Nearly  all  the  land  in  107 — 66  was  soon  taken  and  the  people  began 
the  process  of  getting  acquainted.  This  is  soon  accomplished  in  frontier 
settlements,  where  each  must  help  the  other. 

Samuel  Marlenee,  a  skillful  carpenter,  who  settled  on  the  SW  of  5 
was  in  great  demand  in  assisting  to  buold  the  shanties  that  sprung  up  as 
by  magic  everywhere.  So  fast  they  grew  that  the  next  spring  'Mr. 
Huntley  from  his  residence  on  the  NW  of  4,  counted  84  dwellings.  It 
is  impossible  to  give  particular  mention  of  each  settler,  but  we  must 
refer  the  reader  to  the  list  already  published. 

In  August  the  people  had  become  so  well  settled  that  they  began  to 
take  steps  toward  a  more  organized  condition  of  society.  On  the  5th 
of  that  month  a  Sunday  school  and  church  service  was  commenced  at 
the  residence  of  Chauncey  Barber  in  the  southern  part  of  the  county. 
A  minister  from  White  Lake  was  present  and  preached  to  the  settlers. 
Mr.    Barber   was   elected   superintendent   of   the    Sunday    school.    O.    E. 


47 

Gaffin,  assistant;  T.  H.  Null  of  106—66,  was  made  secretary  and  ]\Irs. 
Moulton,  also  of  106 — 66,  treasurer. 

•In  October,  1883,  the  government  established  a  mail  route  for  a 
weekly  service  between  White  Lake  and  Elmer  with  a  postofface  at  the 
residence  of  G.  W.  Stetson  with  that  gentleman  as  postmaster  and  another 
at  Crow  Lake  with  Albert  M.  Allyon  as  postmaster. 

The  Stetson  postoffice  was  kept  in  a  dugout  on  the  NE  of  34 — 107— 
66,  which  was  Mr.  Stetson's  dwelling  place. 

The  mail  carrier  over  the  new  line  was  Mr.  R.  Y.  Hazard  of  106 — 66; 
his  compensation  being  $312.00  for  performing  that  service  from  October 
15th,  1883,  to  June  30th,  1884. 

The  mail  facilities  for  the  new  county  had  now  been  very  much  in- 
creased. A  line  was  established  during  the  summer  running  from  ■Miller 
to  Kimball  via  Sulphur  Springs,  with  George  N.  Price  as  carrier ;  another 
from  Elmer  to  Miller  with  A.  B.  Smart  as  carrier.  The  Plankinton  line 
was  extended  to  Huron  and  the  service  increased  to  twice  a  week  on  the 
first  of  March,  1883.  Jack  Sutley,  who  had  carried  the  mail  between 
Plankinton  and  Elmer  from  the  time  the  line  was  established  July  i, 
1882,  continued  to  drive  that  route  until  April  3,  1883,  when  he  sold  it 
to  Bert  Orr,  who  was  then  living  at  Plankinton.  The  offices  in  the 
southern  part  of  this  line  in  Jerauld  county  were  Parsons,  Gordon  and 
Sullivan. 

In  November  a  postoffice  was  located  on  the  NE  of  7 — 107 — 65, 
named  Templeton  with  J.  N.  Cross  as  postmaster.  This  office  was  sup- 
plied by  the  Elmer  and  White  Lake  line. 

The  line  from  Mitchell  to  Fort  Thompson  was  still  continued,  but 
the  service  was  anything  but  satisfactory. 

During  the  summer  of  1883  the  people  of  108 — 66,  among  whom  were 
a  goodly  number  of  Quakers,  progressed  as  rapidly  as  their  neighbors 
on  the  south.  Nearly  all  the  land  was  taken,  and  a  large  acreage  broken 
up.  Along  in  September  or  October  C.  G.  Smith,  A.  G.  Snyder,  Wil- 
liam Marshall,  I.  N.  Rich,  O.  J.  Marshall,  Peter  Wilfring  and  C.  W. 
Mills  organized  a  Sunday  school  at  the  residence  of  the  latter  on  the 
SW  of  15.  This  organization  is  still  in  existence.  At  first  the  meetings 
alternated  between  Mr.  ]\Iills'  home  and  that  of  Mr.  Wilfring  on  section 
22,  accompanied  by  preaching  by  Air.  and  Mrs.  Huntley  and  William 
Marshall. 


48 

Chapter  12. 

One  morning  in  the  latter  part  of  April,  1882,  a  party  consisting  of 
John  and  Peter  Primmer  and  W.  B.  Wilson  set  out  from  the  south  part 
of  106 — 64  to  meet  Fred  Kieser  at  Huron,  who  was  coming  over  the  C. 
&  N.  W.  with  300  or  400  head  of  sheep  from  Iowa.  They  arrived  at 
Huron  that  evening  and  found  Kieser  there  with  the  sheep  unloaded  and 
ready  for  an  early  start  in  the  morning.  He  had  brought  with  him  a  few- 
rods  of  portable  fencing  that  he  put  on  a  wagon  to  take  along  for  use 
as  a  coral  at  night  while  on  the  way  from  the  station  to  his  claim  in 
section  35 — 106 — 64.  On  the  wagon  with  the  fencing  he  put  the  pro- 
visions for  the  party  during  the  trip. 

At  Huron  they  met  Charles  Walters  who  was  also  going  to  his  claim 
in  section  22 — 106 — 64.  Walters,  as  a  matter  of  company,  decided  to  go 
along  with  Kieser's  party. 

All  being  ready  the  sheep  were  started  in  charge  of  Mr.  Kieser,  Ben 
Wilson  and  John  Primmer,  leaving  Pete  Primmer  to  follow  on  with  the 
team,  fencing  and  provisions. 

It  was  at  the  time  of  year  when  the  new  grass  was  just  starting  and 
the  sheep  were  inclined  to  straggle  a  good  deal.  They  were  finally 
brought  out  of  the  town  and  started  in  a  southwesterly  direction.  The 
drivers  had  gone  on  with  the  flock  of  sheep  until  near  noon,  but  the  team 
with  the  fencing  and  food  for  dinner  did  not  appear.  Kieser  became 
anxious  about  the  missing  wagon  and  driver  and  rode  back  to  the  town 
to  see  ^\■hat  was  the  trouble  while  Ben  and  John  moved  on  with  the 
straggling  herd. 

Back  in  Huron  Pete  leisurely  put  the  team  to  the  wagon,  knowing 
that  a  f]ock  of  sheep  move  slowly,  and  thinking  he  would  soon  overtake 
them.  AA'hen  everything  was  ready  he  drove  out  of  town  on  the  road 
he  supposed  the  sheep  had  taken.  In  those  days  the  trails  ran  everywhere 
without  regard  to  section  line,  for  there  was  not  a  fence  between  Huron 
and  Plankinton.  Pete  got  on  to  one  of  these  trails,  or  roads,  and  fol- 
lowed on,  expecting  every  moment  to  come  in  sight  of  the  moving  herd. 
As  he  did  not  come  up  with  the  drivers  as  soon  as  he  thought  to.  he 
concluded  they  had  gone  faster  than  usual  and  whipped  up  the  team. 
On  and  on  he  went,  following  in  a  direction  toward  home  as  nearly  as 
he  could  judge,  but  no  sheep  could  he  find. 

Mr.  Kieser  reached  Huron  in  search  of  the  team  and  wagon  and 
learned  that  Pete  had  gone  after  the  herd.  The  thought  at  once  occur- 
red to  him  that  the  team  was  on  the  wrong  road  and  immediately  set  off 
— on  another  road  of  course — to  overtake  Pete  and  bring  him  around  to 
the  boys  who  he  knew  by  this  time  must  be  getting  hungry.     Away  he 


49 

went,  mile  after  mile,  but  no  Pete  could  he  see.  At  length  he  gave  up 
the  search  and  returned  to  the  herd  and  the  hungry  drivers.  All  the 
afternoon  they  kept  the  sheep  moving  on  in  the  direction  of  their  desti- 
nation, constantly  scanning  the  surrounding  prairie  in  the  hope  that  Pete 
would  appear  with  the  food  and  the  coral  fence. 

Just  before  dark  they  came  to  a  claim  shanty  and  camped  for  the 
night.  The  people  who  occupied  the  shanty  were  hospitable  and  the 
party  obtained  a  good  supper  and  then  took  turns  through  the  night  in 
herding  the  sheep.  The  next  morning  after  a  hearty  breakfast  the  flock 
was  again  put  in  motion  and  the  long  w-earisome  journey  continued — 
seeming  doubly  long  for  there  was  not  another  dwelling  on  the  way. 
Still  the  missing  wagon  did  not  come  in  sight  and  with  nothing  to 
eat  or  drink,  except  the  water  in  the  lake  beds  that  they  passed,  the  boys 
and  men  trudged  on  till  night.  About  sundown  they  arrived  at  the  bank 
of  a  small  lake  west  of  where  Alpena  now  stands  and  again  camped. 
The  air  was  chilly  and  no  shelter  to  be  seen. 

From  among  the  things  in  his  wagon  Mr.  Walters  brought  out  a 
single  blanket,  a  spade  and  a  loaf  of  bread.  The  loaf  was  divided  among 
them  and  then  with  the  spade  they  dug  a  hole  about  a  foot  deep  and  six 
feet  square.  Into  this  they  piled  a  lot  of  dry  grass,  that  with  their  pocket 
knives  they  cut  from  the  lake  bed,  and  all  but  one  lay  down  under  cover 
of  the  one  blanket  to  get  what  rest  and  sleep  they  could.  The  one  stayed 
up  to  watch  the  sheep  for  two  hours  when  he  changed  places  with  one 
of  those  in  the  hole.  They  slept  but  little,  but  got  some  rest.  It  was 
tiresome  to  lie  in  one  position,  but  were  packed  so  closely  that  all  must 
turn  at  the  same  time.  Lying  "spoon  fashion,"  when  one  would  get  tired 
he  would  cry  out,  "prepare  to  spoon,  spoon,"  all  would  turn. 

But  the  longest  night  has  a  morning  and  the  longest  journey  has  an 
end.  At  daylight  on  the  first  day  of  May  they  were  up  and  on  the 
journey  again.  That  night  they  reached  home  and  glad  enough  to  get 
there.  Pete  had  arrived  before  them.  He  had  wandered  about  on  the 
prairie  in  search  of  the  flock  until  all  hope  of  finding  it  was  gone  and 
then,  after  spending  one  night  in  the  wagon,  drove  home. 

On  the  31st  day  of  May,  1882,  a  party  composed  of  James  O.  Gray, 
Edson  Whitney,  J.  Bridgeman,  J.  P.  Harding  and  Mrs.  Roxy  A.  Bartlett, 
mother-in-law  of  Bridgeman  and  Harding,  crossed  the  east  line  of 
Aurora  county  near  the  southeast  corner  of  section  i — 107 — 63.  Mrs. 
Bartlett  had  previously  filed  a  preemption  claim  on  the  SW  of  30 — 108 — 
63,  and  Mr.  Harding  had  placed  the  same  kind  of  a  filing  on  the  north- 
west quarter  of  the  same  section.  While  in  Mitchell  to  get  lumber  and 
her  household  furniture  she  and  her  son-in-law,  met  Gray  and  Whitney, 
who  were  going  up  the  James  River  Valley  to  look  for  land.     An  ar- 


50 

rangement  was  made  with  Mr.  Gray,  who  had  a  good  span  of  horses, 
to  take  a  load  to  the  Bartlett  claim. 

Soon  after  crossing  the  county  line  they  arrived  at  the  residence  of 
W.  M.  Posey,  who  with  his  family,  had  located  a  few  days  before  on 
the  NE  of  2  in  107 — 63.  The  Poseys  were  then  the  only  family  in  what 
is  now  Franklin  township.  After  a  few  minutes  spent  in  greetings  and 
inquiries  the  party  passed  on  taking  a  course  west  by  north.  On  the  NW 
of  33 — 108 — 63,  Mr.  Gray  made  a  slight  improvement,  as  notice  to  any 
who  might  come  after  him  that  he  had  selected  that  quarter  as  his  claim. 

At  the  SW  of  32 — 108 — 63  Mr.  Whitney  made  his  selection  and  the 
party  went  on  to  the  spot,  where  ]\Irs.  Bartlett  wanted  her  claim  shanty 
built.  It  was  afternoon  when  they  reached  he  Bartlett  claim  and  the 
weather  indicated  a  storm.  A  temporary  shelter  was  constructed  for 
the  household  goods  and  in  it  the  whole  party  took  refuge  from  the  rain 
that  came  with  the  night. 

The  number  of  settlers  in  townships  107  and  108 — 63  was  small  at 
that  time.  ]\Ir.  Posey  with  his  family  was  busy  getting  a  rude  shelter 
on  section  2 — 107 — 63,  and  in  digging  a  well  close  by.  The  shanty  was 
14x16  of  rough  boards  with  a  shed  roof.  The  covering  of  the  shanty 
was  made  of  16  foot  boards  which  projected  about  18  inches  over  the 
north  side.  The  well  was  dug  down  to  a  depth  of  about  8  feet,  but  not 
finding  water  they  concluded  to  use  the  hole  as  a  place  in  which  to  keep 
milk  and  butter.  For  convenience  in  getting  out  and  into  this  improvised 
outdoor  cellar,  some  steps  were  dug  from  one  side  down  into  it. 

In  the  Posey  household  at  that  time  there  were  eleven  persons  and 
as  it  was  impossible  to  make  separate  beds  for  all  one  long  bunk  was 
built  across  one  end  of  the  shanty  which  served  as  a  brace  for  the  walls 
and  a  sleeping  place  for  the  whole  family. 

On  the  SE  of  5 — 107 — 63,  a  gentleman  named  I.  P.  Ray  had  built  a 
commodious  house  one  and  one-half  story  high,  but  his  family  had  not 
yet  arrived. 

In  sections  3  and  10  of  108 — 63  W.  H.  Arne  and  Richard  Davenport 
had  located,  while  Albert  Ahart  had  built  a  house  on  the  SE  of  29,  and 
August  Scheel  on  the  SE  of  32.  The  last  two  settlers  had  put  up  their 
buildings  in  February. 

The  coming  of  the  party  mentioned  at  the  l^eginning  of  this  chapter 
was  a  welcome  addition  to  the  settlement.  ]\Ir.  Gray  had  provided  him- 
self with  a  tent  and  in  it  he  and  his  family  took  up  their  abode. 

By  helping  each  other  all  were  soon  comfortably  housed  in  their 
temporary  quarters. 

The  24th  of  June  was  an  intensely  hot  day  and  the  sun  set  in  a  bank 
of  clouds  that  threatened  a  severe  storm  before  morning.     Each  of  the 


51 

settlers  kept  close  watch  of  the  weather  until  toward  midnight  the  clouds 
disappeared  and  all  retired  to  rest. 

About  two  o'clock  in  the  morning-  a  terrific  wind  storm  struck  the 
sleeping  settlement.  Ahart's  house  was  literally  crushed  to  splinters. 
The  roof  of  Mrs.  Bartlett's  house  was  scattered  over  the  prairie  and  the 
family  exposed  to  the  rain  and  hail  that  soon  followed.  The  Gray  tent 
was  blown  from  its  fastenings  and  whirled  away  in  the  darkness.  The 
rain  and  hail  began  to  come  and  getting  a  wide  board  that  had  been 
used  by  the  family  as  a  table,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Gray  held  it  in  a  slanting 
position  over  the  terrified  children,  until  the  violence  of  the  storm  was 
past. 

Mr.  Ray,  whose  faniily  had  come  on  a  few  days  before  felt  the  house 
yielding  to  the  fury  of  the  wind  and  catching  up  the  children  he  and  his 
wife  rushed  for  the  protection  of  the  sod  stable  that  stood  near.  When 
about  half  way  between  the  two  buildings  he  heard  the  house  behind 
him  crush  to  pieces  and  by  the  flare  of  the  lightning  he  saw  the  roof  of 
the  sod  stable  go  off  with  the  wind.  He  stopped  and  for  a  minute  braced 
against  the  wind  while  he  thought  what  best  to  do.  By  the  light  of  the 
thunder  bolts  he  saw  that  the  roof  of  the  house  had  settled  down  onto 
the  lower  floor  and  seemed  to  be  intact  and  holding  together.  It  ap- 
peared to  be  the  safest  place  and  under  it  he  hustled  the  family. 

When  'the  Posey  family  heard  the  storm  coming  they  ran  to  the  well 
that  had  been  used  for  an  outdoor  cellar  and  crowded  into  that  for 
shelter  from  the  wind.  The  roof  of  the  shanty  soon  disappeared  and 
then  the  rain  and  hail  came  in  torrents.  The  steps  down  into  the  cellar 
made  a  ditch  for  the  water  and  soon  the  well  was  filling.  They  helped 
each  other  out  of  the  hole  and  then  ran  to  the  walls  of  the  shant}-  for 
protection.  The  bunk  had  braced  the  walls  sufficiently  to  keep  them  up- 
right and  under  the  bunk  the  whole  family  gathered  and  remained  until 
daylight. 

In  the  morning  the  settlers  hurried  about  from  one  family  to  another 
to  ascertain  what  damage  had  been  done  and  who  if  any  had  been  hurt. 
It  was  found  that  no  one  had  been  seriously  injured,  but  the  stock  had 
been  scattered.  Nothing  in  the  history  of  the  county  is  more  firmly  fixed 
in  the  memory  of  the  settlers  of  '82  than  the  storm  in  the  night  of  June  24. 

Nearly  all  of  the  settlers  put  in  a  few  acres  of  sod  crop  and  gathered 
a  good  harvest.  In  September  a  prairie  fire  swept  over  the  settlement 
destroying  a  stable  for  Mr.  Kellogg,  who  had  settled  on  the  NW  of 
31 — 108 — 63,  and  burned  all  the  hay  that  Gray  had  made.  Mr.  Posey 
lost  a  part  of  his  hay  and  R.  J.  Eastman  lost  all. 


52 

Chapter  13. 

Early  in  the  spring  of  1882,  Joseph  and  John  Steichen  located  in  the 
central  part  of  township  106 — 63,  in  sections  20  and  21,  put  up  sod  houses 
and  made  the  beginning  of  what  have  since  become  some  of  the  best 
farms  in  the  county.  They  were  soon  followed  by  Andrew  and  Samuel 
Swenson,  who  settled  in  sections  5  and  9.  These  four  settlers  were  in 
time  to  break  up  a  few  acres  of  prairie  and  each  raised  a  fair  crop  of 
sod  corn. 

Later  in  the  season,  J.  P.  Parquet,  C.  C.  Wright,  Richard  Dalton, 
John  j\I.  Wheeler  and  Thos.  Biggar  found  land  that  suited  them  and 
became  early  pioneers  of  that  township.  x-Vll  these  settlers  except  Mr. 
Wright  started  their  Dakota  settlements  with  sod  buildings. 

The  winter  of  1882 — 83  was  about  an  average  Dakota  winter,  and  the 
pioneers  found  plenty  to  occupy  their  time. 

In  February,  1883,  Rev.  J.  G.  Campbell,  who  was  hauling  building 
material  from  Mitchell  to  his  farm  near  Wessington  Springs,  was  caught 
by  a  snow  storm  and  stayed  over  Sabbath  with  Mr.  Wright.  It  was 
suggested  that  religious  services  be  held  and  notice  was  accordingly  sent 
out  through  the  neighborhood.  A  few  of  the  settlers  gathered  in  re- 
sponse to  the  call  and  the  first  sermon  in  township  106 — 63  was  preached 
by  Mr.  Campbell  in  Mr.  Wright's  house  from  the  following  text: 

"A  bruised  reed  shall  he  not  break  and  the  smoking  flax  shall  he  not 
quench.     He  shall  bring  forth  judgment  unto  truth." — Isa.  42:3. 

Geo.  W.  Ryckman  came  to  106 — 63  in  April,  1883,  and  built  a  frame 
shanty  on  the  NW  of  5.  At  that  time  there  was  the  residence  of  but  one 
actual  settler  in  sight  from  Ryckman's  dwelling  which  stood  on  a  little 
knoll.  On  the  4th  of  July  foiling  quite  a  number  of  the  newcomers  gath- 
ered at  Ryckman's  to  celebrate  the  day.  Then,  from  the  place  of  cele- 
bration, 72  residences  were  in  sight.  A  few  were  frame  shanties,  many 
were  of  sod  and  some  were  ''dug-outs." 

One  morning  in  the  summer  of  1883  a  lady  entered  the  Liverpool 
office  of  one  of  the  great  Trans-Atlantic  steamship  companies  and  bought 
a  ticket  for  herself  and  six  children — all  boys — to  Huron,  D.  T.  Her 
luggage  consisted  of  eleven  large  boxes  packed  almost  to  bursting.  The 
trip  was  a  nerve-racking  one,  with  all  the  boys,  each  one  curious  to  see 
every  part  of  the  ship.  But  the  voyage  was  made  without  incident 
worthy  of  note  until  the  ship,  the  "City  of  Berlin,"  arrived  in  the  harbor 
of  New  York. 

There  the  customs  officers,  the  terror  of  all  ocean  travelers,  came 
aboard.  Now  there  is  as  much  difiference  between  revenue  officers,  as 
there  is  between  civilized  people  and  barbarians.     Some  would   roughly 


53 

break  open  a  box  or  bail  of  goods,  dump  out  the  contents,  scatter  the 
articles  about  on  the  floor  and  after  making  a  mark  on  the  box  to  indi- 
cate that  it  contained  no  dutiable  things,  leave  the  mess  for  the  owner  to 
repack  as  best  he  or  she  could. 

The  English  lady  stood  for  some  time  watching  the  officers  as  they 
emptied  and  ransacked  the  bundles,  bags,  boxes  and  trunks  of  the  other 
passengers.  What  would  she  do  if  they  emptied  all  her  luggage  and 
spread  it  about  like  that '  She  thought  she  could  never  get  it  stowed 
again.  She  soon  noticed  the  difference  in  the  methods  of  the  govern- 
ment agents  and  picking  out  a  man  with  a  kindly  face  she  approached 
him  and  holding  out  the  keys  to  her  packages  told  him  she  was  in  a 
hurry,  that  she  had  six  little  boys  to  look  after,  and  wouldn"t  he  please 
inspect  her  goods. 

"Madam,"  he  said,  "do  all  these  packages  belong  to  you?" 

"Yes,  sir." 

"Well,"  he  said  musingly,  "you  do  not  look  like  a  smuggler,  so  just 
open  this  box  first.  Now  put  your  hand  down  on  the  inside  clear  to  the 
bottom  and  pass  it  around  the  box.  There  now  lock  it  up  again  and  we 
will  peep  into  the  others."  So  they  went  through  all  the  boxes,  the  of- 
ficer putting  a  chalk  mark  on  each  one  as  she  locked  it.  In  a  few  hours 
they  were  on  the  train  with  no  more  danger  of  the  little  fellows  falling 
overboard,  and  if  she  could  keep  them  together  until  they  reached  their 
destination  she  would  think  herself  lucky  indeed. 

On  the  third  day  out  from  New^  York  they  arrived  at  Huron  and 
made  inquiry  for  a  gentleman  named  Reed,  to  whom  they  had  been 
directed.  Mr.  Reed  being  found,  for  whom  the  lady's  husband  was  at 
work  she  requested  that  gentleman  to  please  inform  Mr.  Thomas  Shef- 
field that  his  wife  and  family  had  arrived.  The  husband  soon  appeared, 
and  a  few  weeks  later  all  were  settled  on  their  homestead,  the  SW  of 
22 — 1 08 — 63. 

At  the  residence  of  August  Scheel  on  the  NE  of  32 — 108 — 6^  a. 
daughter  was  born  on  the  12th  of  December,  1882,  and  all  the  new- 
comers, who  settled  in  that  vicinity,  must  go  and  see  the  first  native  born 
in  the  township.  The  little  lady  grew  to  womanhood  in  that  township^ 
and  now  bears  the  name  of  Mrs.  William  Ahart. 

The  spring  of  1883  brought  many  new  settlers  to  the  townships  in 
range  63.  All  was  hustle  and  hurry,  the  land  must  be  selected  and  a 
trip  made  to  the  Mitchell  land  office  to  make  a  filing.  Then  lumber  and 
other  material  brought  for  the  claim  buildings,  for  though  the  buildings 
were  made  of  sod  stripped  from  the  prairie,  the  roofs,  doors  and  window 
frames  must  be  made  of  wood. 

These  primitive  structures  answered  the  purpose  on  the  prairie  that 


54 

the  log  houses  did  in  the  forest  settlements  of  the  wooded  states  farther 
east. 

In  ]\lay,  1883,  T.  L.  Blank  and  his  sister,  Sadie,  (now  Airs.  L.  W. 
Castleman  of  Alpena)  arrived  from  Iowa.  Mr.  Blank  at  once  built  a 
sod  house  on  his  claim,  the  SW  of  27 — 108 — 63.  Other  settlers  had 
come  and  more  were  arriving  every  day.  There  were  a  number  of  chil- 
dren in  the  neighborhood,  and  Miss  Blank  determined  to  organize  a 
.<chool,  using  her  brother's  sod  residence  for  a  school  house.  This  school 
was  commenced  about  the  loth  of  June,  1883,  and  in  it  were  gathered 
Elva,  I\Iary,  Ella  and  Clara  Eastman,  Ira  and  Jessie  Posey. 

About  the  same  time  that  Miss  Blank  began  her  day  school  a  Sun- 
day school  was  organized  at  the  residence  of  Chas.  Eastman  which  was 
named  Plainview  Union  Sunday  School.  Mr.  Blank,  wdio  had  been 
most  energetic  in  its  organization,  was  made  superintendent,  and  Mrs. 
Chas.  Eastman  organist. 

About  the  same  time  Liberty  Sunday  School  was  organized  at  the 
residence  of  I.  P.  Ray  in  107 — 63. 

Religious  services,  conducted  by  Rev.  A.  B.  Smart,  were  held  in  con- 
nection with  the  Sunday  schools. 


Chapter  14. 


In  the  early  autumn  of  1883  some  of  the  people  of  township  108 — 65 
( Chery)  determined  to  provide  school  privileges  for  their  children.  Mr. 
M.  E.  Small  furnished  a  building,  located  on  his  homestead,  the  SE  of 
22,  and  Miss  Sarah  Johnson  was  employed  as  teacher.  The  school  con- 
tinued for  several  months  and  was  attended  by  the  following  named 
pupils:  Chas.  Aliller,  May  T^Iiller,  Lucy  Hill,  Phoebe  Hill,  Ole  Olson, 
Joe  Thornton,  !Mary  Johnson,  Maggie  Johnson. 

The  building  in  which  this  school  was  taught  was  afterward  used  by 
Mr.  Small  for  a  granary  and  still  is  in  use  on  the  same  farm  which  is 
now  owned  by  Mr.  R.  W.  Johnson. 

The  teacher.  Miss  Johnson,  afterward  taught  several  terms  in  the 
public  schools  of  the  township  and  then  married  Mr.  Owen  Williams  of 
Wessington  Springs  township.  She  died  near  Wessington  Springs  a  few 
years  later. 

In  township  108 — 65  occurred  the  first  death  in  Jerauld  county.  A 
little  child  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  G.  W.  Bolton  died  after  a  short  illness  and 
was  buried  on  their  homestead,  the  NW  quarter  of  section  32.    The  only 


55 

cemetery  in  the  county  at  that  time  was  on  the  SW  of  29 — 107 — 67,  near 
Sulphur  Springs.  That  was  too  far  away  and  so,  with  the  sympathetic 
aid  of  the  neighbors  the  Httle  one  was  laid  near  the  prairie  home  and 
there  it  rests  today. 

On  the  25th  day  of  July,  1883,  Mr.  Jas.  F.  Bolton,  who  owned  the 
NE  of  31 — 108 — 65,  employed  Mr.  H.  J.  Wallace,  a  surveyor,  and  platted 
a  townsite,  which  he  named  "Alonclova."  He  afterward  changed  the 
named  to  "Bolton,"  but  he  never  recorded  the  plat  nor  sold  any  lots. 

Benjamin  Drake  took  the  SE  of  6 — 108 — 65  as  a  pre-emption  claim 
in  the  spring  of  1883.  He  put  up  a  frame  shanty  and  purchased  a  break- 
ing plow,  which  nearly  exhausted  his  ready  cash.  He  raised  a  few  acres 
of  flax  and  by  the  first  of  September  was  in  shape  to  go  comfortably 
through  the  winter.  But  that  morning  he  met  with  a  disaster  that 
changed  the  whole  aspect  of  affairs  for  him.  He  had  risen  early  as 
usual  and  built  a  fire  in  his  cook  stove.  He  then  took  the  water  pail 
and  went  to  the  well,  which  he  had  dug  about  forty  rods  from  the  house. 
As  he  started  back  with  the  pail  of  water  a  dense  volume  of  smoke  at 
the  shanty  told  him  it  was  on  fire.  The  old  man  hurried  as  fast  as  pos- 
sible, but  before  he  reached  the  building  the  flames  were  bursting  from 
the  roof  and  sides.  He  lost  all  his  outfit  and  had  to  build  a  sod  house  in 
which  to  spend  the  winter.  He  and  his  family  worked  hard  for  several 
years,  but  finally  gave  it  up  and  moved  to  Minnesota,  where  they  still  live. 

In  the  western  part  of  107 — 65  a  Sunday  school  was  organized  with 
26  members  at  the  residence  of  Mr.  Kendall  on  section  5,  ^Nlay  27th, 
1883.  ]\I.  D.  Crow  was  elected  superintendent,  ^Ir.  Kendall,  assistant 
superintendent.  Mrs.  E.  L.  DeLine,  secretary  and  treasurer,  and  R.  S. 
Vessey.  librarian.  This  organization  was  kept  up  until  fall  when  it  was 
merged  in  the  Union  Sunday  school,  held  at  the  residence  of  Mr.  J.  N. 
Cross  on  the  XE  of  7. 

With  the  coming  of  spring  in  1883  Wessington  Springs  began  to 
shown  signs  of  life. 

The  territorial  legislature  that  closed  on  the  9th  of  March  had  passed 
a  bill  enabling  the  people  locafed  in  the  townships  numbered  106,  107  and 
108  of  Aurora  county  to  make  a  new  county  of  the  townships  described 
therein. 

At  once  interest  centered  about  the  new  town  located  at  the  big  spring. 
The  few  residences  in  the  vicinity  were  thronged  with  settlers  and  pros- 
pectors. The  dwellings  of  Hiram  Blowers,  R.  S.  Bateman  and  A.  B. 
Smart,  being  nearest  the  townsite,  became  almost  per  force,  regular 
boarding  houses. 

C.  W.  McDonald  and  W.  I.  Bateman  formed  a  partnership  under  the 
firm  name  of  McDonald  &   Bateman,   and   began   the   publication   of  a 


56 

weekly  newspaper,  named  "The  Wessington  Springs  Herald."'  The  first 
issue  published  on  the  24th  day  of  March  was  printed  in  the  office  of 
the  Aurora  County  Standard,  then  located  at  Plankinton.  The  next  two 
issues  were  also  printed  in  Plankinton,  and  then  the  Herald  printing  office 
was  located  in  a  room  in  R.  S.  Bateman's  house  a  few  rods  south  of  the 
Wessington  Springs  townsite.  The  first  issue  printed  in  the  new  location 
was  run  through  the  press  on  the  28th  day  of  April,  1883,  and  contained 

15  quires  of  paper. 

According  to  the  law  creating  the  new  county,  it  could  not  take 
effect  until  the  people  residing  in  the  proposed  county  should  say  by  their 
votes  that  they  desired  the  new  political  organization  with  the  name  as 
fixed  by  the  legislature.  The  vote  was  taken  on  the  17th  day  of  April 
and  Jerauld  county  was  born  that  day. 

There  has  never  been  a  time  when  the  Dakotan  has  not  felt  an  in- 
terest in  politics.  At  this  election  one  of  the  polling  places  was  at  the 
residence  of  I.  P.  Ray,  in  Franklin  township.  The  result  of  the  vote  in 
that  precinct  was  carried  by  L.  W.  Castleman  that  night  to  the  residence 
of  H.  J.  Wallace  in  Chery  township. 

On  the  day  before  the  first  issue  of  the  Herald  was  printed  in  Mr. 
Bateman's  house,  a  real  estate  firm  by  the  name  of  Reed  &  Akin,  began 
the  construction  of  an  office  building  on  the  south  side  of  Main  street, 
a  short  distance  west  of  where  the  State  Bank  building  now  stands.  It 
v/as  moved  across  to  the  north  side  of  the  street  a  few  weeks  later  and 
occupied  by  Drake  &  Magee,  after  Reed  &  Akin  left  the  town,  which 
occurred  about  the  first  of  June.  The  Reed  &  Akin  office  was  the  first 
building  to  remain  permanently  on  the  townsite  and  at  the  time  of  its 
construction  it  w^as  the  only  building  on  the  original  plat  of  the  town.  It 
now  stands  back  of  the  office  building  of  Arisman  &  Wallace  and  is  used 
by  that  firm  as  a  private  office. 

A  few  days  later  Mr.  A.  R.  Powell,  then  a  squatter  in  township  107 
— 66,  hauled  a  load  of  lumber  from  Planktinton  for  Lew  Hoes  and  a 
Mr.  Phillips,  who  formed  a  partnership  and  with  the  load  of  lumber 
erected  a  rough  board  shanty,  with  a  board  shed  roof.     The  building  was 

16  feet  square,  and  stood  a  little  north  and  east  of  where  the  Oliver 
Hotel  now  stands. 

In  this  building  Hoes  &  Phillips  opened  a  stock  of  groceries,  which 
had  been  brought  by  Powell  with  the  lumber  for  the  building.  This  was 
the  beginning  of  the  commercial  life  of  Wessington  Springs. 

A  day  or  two  after  Hoes  &  Phillips  put  up  their  grocery  "store," 
Mr.  A.  J.  Wentworth  built  a  shanty  about  where  the  stable  of  the  M. 
E.  parsonage  is  located.     This  building  remained  on  the  townsite  but  a 


"  57 

short  time.     Mr.  Wentworth  moved  it  to  his  claim  on  the  NE  of  15 — 
107—65. 

During  the  same  month  (April)  the  townsite  company  at  that  time 
composed  of  C.  S.  Burr,  of  Mitchell,  and  D.  A.  Scott,  of  Rockford,  la., 
began  active  work  to  set  the  town  on  the  way  to  a  vigorous  growth.  A 
hotel  was  a  first  necessity  and  they  commenced  bringing  lumber  for  that, 
purpose  from  Plankinton,  then  the  nearest  railroad  point.  It  was  a  long 
haul,  the  roads  were  bad,  and  no  bridges  between  Plankinton  and  the 
Springs.  The  worst  place  on  the  road  was  at  the  crossing  of  the  west 
branch  of  the  Firesteel  creek  in  Aurora  county.  The  water  was  high 
and  the  creek  bed  soft. 

To  remedy  this  difficulty  Mr.  Scott  brought  out  some  timbers  and 
planks  and  built  a  bridge  over  the  stream.  That  was  a  great  convenience 
while  it  lasted,  but  a  few  days  after  the  bridge  was  constructed  a  heavy 
rain  flooded  the  stream  and  the  bridge  disappeared  completely  and  for- 
ever so  far  as  Air.  Scott  was  concerned. 

About  the  last  of -April  a  couple  of  gentlemen  arrived  from  Ludlow, 
A''ermont,  to  look  at  the  new  town  with  a  view  to  building  a  hotel.  Mr. 
Scott  at  once  offered  them  the  lumber  that  he  had  brought,  at  what  it 
cost  him,  and  also  ofifered  to  make  them  a  present  of  the  tree  lots  on 
the  corner  where  the  First  National  Bank  now  stands.  The  offer  was 
accepted  and  work  on  the  foundation  of  the  hotel  commenced  at  once. 

By  the  first  of  May  the  cellar  was  ready  for  the  stone  masons  to  begin 
la^ang  wall.  Quite  a  crowd  was  standing  about  when  Mr.  Mark  Scofield 
rolled  the  first  stone  to  its  place  in  a  bed  of  mortar  and  one  of  the  by- 
standers exclaimed,  "By  Halifax!  that's  the  first  stone  laid  in  mortar  in 
the  county  of  Jerauld."  From  that  time  the  workmen  rapidly  pushed 
the  work  to  completion. 

On  the  13th  of  April  Mr.  R.  S.  Bateman,  who  had  been  in  Wiscon- 
sin soliciting  funds  for  the  erection  of  the  church  building,  returned  to 
the  Springs  and  reported  a  successful  trip.  The  matter  being  called  to 
the  attention  of  the  townsite  company,  Messrs.  Burr  &  Scott  at  once 
contributed  five  hundred  dollars  towards  building  the  new  church  and 
also  promised  the  society  a  block  of  lots  upon  which  to  build  the  edifice, 
a  promise  that  was  fufilled  as  soon  as  the  preparations  were  completed. 

April  22,  1883,  two  young  men,  quiet  and  unpretentious  in  demeanor, 
came  into  the  little  village  at  the  foot  of  the  hills,  and  soon  became  a  part 
of  the  business  life  of  the  community.  One  of  them,  Mr.  F.  Drake,  re- 
mained but  a  short  time.  The  other,  Mr.  E.  L.  Smith,  has  lived  in  Wes- 
sington  Springs  more  years  than  any  other  man.     No  man's  handiwork 


has  been  felt  in  the  now  thriving  city,  to  a  greater  extent  than  his.  A 
carpenter  by  trade,  Mr.  Smith  has  been  one  of  the  few  indespensible 
citizens  of  the  place. 


Chapter  15. 


Alay  5th,  1883,  Mr.  T.  R.  Dunn,  of  the  firm  of  Dunn  &  Hackett, 
arrived  in  Wessington  Springs  to  prepare  for  opening  a  real  estate  office. 
Air.  Hackett  remained  in  -Mitchell  a  few'  dc.ys  to  close  up  some  business 
he  had  there  and  to  get  a  supply  of  blanks  and  others  things  essential  for 
the  office.  In  a  few  days  the  new  firm  procured  a  building  that  had  been 
erected  a  short  distance  east  of  town  and  moved  it  onto  one  of  the  lots 
where  Shull's  drug  store  now  stands.  On  ]\Iay  19th  their  professional 
card  first  appeared  in  the  Wessington  Springs  Herald.  It  was  the  begin- 
ning of  an  office  maintained  by  Mr.  Hackett  for  a  number  of  years. 
The  building  was  afterward  moved  across  the  street  and  now  occupies 
a  place  in  the  rear  of  Hawthorne's  restaurant. 

About  a  month  later,  June  i6th,  1883.  Drake  &  Alagee  also  opened  a 
law  and  real  estate  office  in  the  building  put  up  by  Reed  &  Akin. 

]\Ir.  Phillips  remained  in  the  grocery  business  with  Lew  Hoes  but  a 
short  time  and  about  the  first  of  May  sold  his'  interest,  which  was  small, 
to  C.  H.  and  II.  C.  Stephens.  The  new  firm  conducted  the  business, 
under  the  name  of  Hoes  &  Stephens  for  a  few  days  and  then  Mr.  Hoes 
being  compelled  to  go  to  Iowa  for  an  indefinite  stay,  he  sold  his  share 
to  his  partners,  who  continued  the  business  for  several  months  as  H.  C. 
&  C.  H.   Stephens. 

In  the  month  of  Alay  Stephens  Bros,  began  the  construction  of  a 
store  building,  one  and  one-half  stories  high,  that  occupied  their  time 
during  the  following  two  months.  By  the  fourth  of  July  their  building 
was  so  far  along  that  they  began  selling  goods  over  rough  board  counters. 
The  upper  story  was  made  into  one  room,  \vhich  was  used  as  a  public 
hall. 

When  Stephens'  Hall  was  completed  the  church  services  were  held  in 
it  instead  of  at  Mrs.  Riddle's  house  on  section  8.  Until  the  building  of 
the  First  M.  E.  church  the  room  over  Stephens'  store  was  the  place  for 
all  public  gatherings. 

Immediately  after  Dunn  &  Hackett  placed  their  office  on  the  south 
side  of  Main  street  Sam  Arnold  and  Will  Housel  l^egan  to  put  up  a  store 


59 

building-  on  one -of  the  vacant  lots  west  of  the  present  site  of  the  State 
Bank. 

During  the  first  week  in  June,  1883,  E.  B.  Orr,  who  had  purchased 
of  Jack  Sutley  the  stage  line  from  Planktinton  to  Huron,  began  the  erec- 
tion of  a  livery  stable  in  Wessington  Springs  near  the  present  location  of 
the  residence  of  Geo.  N.  Price.  While  Mr.  Orr  was  building  his  stable 
Silas  Kinney  was  at  work  on  a  store  and  residence  which  still  stands 
opposite  Short's  notion  store.  The  Kinney  building  was  completed  and  a 
flour  and  feed  store  opened  in  it  the  first  week  in  July. 

In  the  meantime  work  on  the  hotel  was  being  rapidly  pushed  and  on 
the  4th  day  of  July  the  building  was  opened  to  the  public.  The  following 
is  an  accurate  description  of  the  well  known  hostelry: 

The  main  building  was  two  full  stories  in  height  and  was  24 — 60  feet 
in  size.  Above  the  second  story  was  an  attic,  in  which  beds  and  cots 
were  placed  for  use  when  the  rooms  below  were  all  occupied,  which  was 
generally  the  case.  The  second  story  was  divided  into  single  and  double 
sleeping  rooms,  so  that  with  the  use  of  beds  and  cots  in  the  attic  about 
seventy-five  persons  could  be  cared  for  at  one  time.  At  the  rear  end  of 
the  main  building  was  the  kitchen,  12x24  f^^t  in  size.  In  the  southeast 
corner  of  the  main  building  and  adjoining  the  kitchen,  was  the  dining 
room  and  fronting  on  Main  street  was  the  ladies'  sitting  room,  11x20. 
The  hotel  office,  11x30,  was  in  the  northwest  corner.  The  hall  and  stair- 
way was  located  between  the  office  and  the  ladies'  sitting  room,  with 
doors  leading  into  both  and  opening  onto  the  Main  street  through  the 
front  door.  A  side  door  opening  on  to  2nd  street  was  near  the  northwest 
corner  of  the  office  room.  Two  more  sleeping  rooms,  designed  for  the 
use  of  the  proprietors,  were  situated  west  of  the  dining  room  and  south 
of  the  office.  The  hotel  was  heated  with  P.  P.  Stewart  hard  coal  burners 
in  the  office  and  sitting  room. 

Connected  with  the  hotel  by  a  covered  passage,  in  true  New  England 
style,  was  the  hotel  barn,  22x50,  with  an  addition  for  stable  room, 
14x30. 

While  the  hotel  was  being  built  Air.  Applegate,  of  Mitchell,  put  up 
and  inclosed  the  building  in  later  years  known  as  the  Carlton  House. 

In  the  month  of  June  and  the  forepart  of  July  the  proprietors  of  the 
Wessington  Springs  Herald  had  a  force  of  carpenters  at  work  putting 
up  the  building  used  afterward  by  them  as  a  printing  office  and  bank. 
July  2 1  St  the  Herald  was  issued  from  its  new  office  for  the  first  time. 

Nearly  all  of  the  lumber  used  in  the  construction  of  the  various  build- 
ings in  Wessington  Springs  and  vicinity  was  brought  with  teams  from 
Plankinton.  In  many  places,  where  the  trail  crossed  the  streams  and 
draws  it  was  in  dangerous  condition.     Especially  was  this  the  case  at  the 


6o 

crossing  of  what  was  then  termed  "The  Long-  Gully"  on  the  east  line  of 
section  i8 — 107 — 64. 

On  the  15th  of  May,  1S83,  Mr.  H.  Blowers,  who  had  been  elected  a 
road  supervisor  before  Jerauld  county  was  born,  called  on  the  neighbors 
and  spent  the  day  in  rolling  stone  into  the  streams  and  making  it  passable. 
That  was  probably  the  first  "road  work"  done  in  the  new  county. 

About  the  first  of  June  word  was  received  that  the  lumber  for  the 
church  had  arrived  at  Wessington  station  on  the  C.  &  N.  W.  Ry.  Hiram 
Blowers  and  R.  S.  Bateman  at  once  went  to  that  place  to  receive  and 
unload  the  material.  They  met  a  great  many  people  going  to  or  from  the 
station,  and  among  them  Mr.  Jefferson  Sickler,  then  living  at  Wessington 
Springs.  Mr.  Sickler  had  wath  him  a  wagon  and  a  yoke  of  oxen  and 
they  induced  him  to  haul  a  load  of  the  lumber  home  for  them.  That  was 
the  first  load  of  material  hauled  for  the  church  in  Wessington  Springs. 
On  the  5th  of  June  Blowers  and  Bateman  came  in  with  two  more  loads. 
The  church  building  committee  then  got  together  and  selected  the  block 
upon  which  the  Willard  Hotel  is  situated  as  the  site  for  the  church.  There 
the  lumber  was  unloaded  and  preparations  made  to  commence  work  on 
the  foundation,  but  at  the  request  of  the  townsite  company  the  location 
was  changed  to  the  block  south  and  to  it  the  society  received  a  deed  from 
the  company. 

It  was  a  long  ways  to  haul  the  lumber  and  the  roads,  in  places,  almost 
impassable.  Yet  the  frame  of  the  structure  was  up  and  inclosed  in  July 
and  on  the  26th  of  August  the  cornerstone  was  laid.  The  ceremony  of 
laying  the  stone  was  conducted  by  the  pastor,  Rev.  J.  W.  P.  Jordan,  as- 
sisted by  Rev.  J.  G.  Campbell.  The  sermon  was  preached  by  Rev.  W. 
H.  Hoadley  of  Huron. 

A  "mite  society"  had  been  organized  by  the  ladies  of  the  church  and 
on  the  evening  of  the  29th  of  August  they  held,  in  the  church  building, 
their  first  sociable. 

In  July  Mr.  Chas.  E.  Bourne,  of  Boston,  Mass.,  purchased  a  one-fourth 
interest  in  the  townsite,  and  was  henceforth  identified  with  the  growth 
and  development  of  the  town. 

In  the  early  spring  Jefferson  Sickler  put  up  a  rough  board  shanty, 
16x32.  a  little  south  of  where  the  Kinney  store  was  afterward  built,  and 
E.  L.  Smith  and  F.  Drake  later  put  up  another  small  shanty  west  of  the 
creek  and  both  of  these  buildings  were  used  as  temporary  residences. 
But  the  first  permanent  residence  in  the  town  was  built  by  R.  M.  Magee, 
in  August,  on  the  north  side  of  the  creek.  That  little  house  is  still  stand- 
ing on  the  ground  where  it  was  built  and  is  a  part  of  the  residence  of 
Mr.  James  Barr. 

During  the  same  month,  August,  J.  H.  Woodburn  and  L.  H.  Tarble 


6i 

"built  a  blacksmith  shop  where  F.  M.  Brown's  livery  barn  stands,  near  the 
alley  north  of  Vessey's  store. 

Two  lots  east  of  Morse  &  La  Point's  store,  E.  H.  Ford  built  a  small 
room  that  was  used  for  millinery,  restaurant,  printing  office  and  other 
purposes  in  the  years  that  followed. 

In  November  the  school  house,  built  by  subscription,  was  completed.- 

The  post  office  building,  west  of  the  Herald  office,  was  completed  the 
fore  part  of  November,  and  on  the  5th  of  the  month  Postmaster  Barrett 
moved  the  office  into  it  from  his   farm  at  the  mouth  of  the  gulch. 

At  the  same  time  J.  F.  Ford  and  I.  N.  Rich  began  the  construction  of 
a  law  and  real  estate  office,  which  is  now  used  by  Hermsen  for  a  barber 
shop. 


Chapter  16. 

But  other  matters  besides  the  erection  of  buildings  occupied  the  atten- 
tion of  the  people  of  the  town  of  Wessington  Springs  and  the  county 
generally. 

Among  the  immigrants  to  the  new  county  were  a  large  number  of  the 
survivors  of  the  Civil  war.  Of  these  veterans  fifteen  met  in  Stephens' 
Hall  in  Wesington  Springs  on  the  i6th  of  June,  1883,  to  take  steps 
toward  the  organization  of  a  G.  A.  R.  Post.  J.  M.  Spears  was  chairman 
of  the  meeting.  The  other  present  were  P.  R.  Bafrettt,  C.  W.  P.  Os- 
good, W.  T.  Hay,  C.  T.  Hall,  T.  Y.  Donovan,  H.  C.  Stephens,  C.  D. 
Brown,  J.  H.  Woodburn,  J.  G.  Good.  Wm.  Taylor,  C.  H.  Stephens,  Jno. 
R.  Francis,  Jas.  T.  Ferguson,  and  C.  M.  Chery.  At  this  meeting  it  was 
decided  to  organize  a  G.  A.  R.  Post,  to  be  named  in  honor  of  Gen.  E.  O. 
C.  Ord,  of  Pennsylvania.  A  charter  was  applied  for  and  granted.  The 
organization  was  completed  on  the  25th  of  August  with  H.  C.  Stephens, 
commander,  and  C.  W.  Hill,  adjutant. 

One  of  the  things  most  desired  by  the  people  at  the  Springs  was 
school  privileges  for  the  children.  To  meet  this  necessity  Miss  Jeanette 
Richardson  organized  a  school  in  September,  which  she  taught  several 
weeks.  The  author  has  been  unable  to  learn  in  what  room  this  school 
was  held,  nor  who  were  the  pupils  that  attended  it. 

For  several  years  the  people  of  the  Territory  of  Dakota  had  been 
asking  congress  for  division  into  North  and  South  Dakota  and  the  ad- 
mission of  both  into  the  Union  as  states.  In  the  spring  of  1883  a  large 
-number  of  the  advocates  of  division  and  admission  living  in  the  south 


62 

part  of  the  territory,  assembled  at  Huron  and  issued  a  call  for  a  consti- 
tutional convention  to  meet  in  the  city  of  Sioux  Falls  on  the  4th  day  of 
September,  1883.  In  that  call  Jerauld,  being  an  unorganized  county,  was 
allowed  but  one  delegate  to  the  convention. 

A  call  for  a  mass  convention  of  the  voters  of  the  county  was  pub- 
lished July  2 1st  to  be  held  on  the  25th  of  the  same  month  at  Stephens' 
Hall  to  consult  as  to  the  best  method  to  secure  representation  in  the 
Sioux  Falls  convention.  As  Jerauld  county  had  not  been  represented  in 
the  Huron  meeting  no  one  had  been  appointed  to  call  a  meeting  of  the 
voters  of  the  county,  so  this  notice  was  simply  signed  "By  Request." 

At  2  o'clock  on  the  afternoon  of  the  day  appointed  (Wednesday)  24 
voters  met  in  the  hall.  Mr.  R.  S.  Bateman  was  made  chairman  and  C. 
W.  McDonald,  clerk.  The  matter  before  the  meeting  was  fully  discussed 
and  at  length  it  was  determined  to  proceed  to  the  election  of  a  delegate. 
The  vote  was  by  ballot  with  the  following  result : 

C.  W.  McDonald,  17;  C.  W.  Hill,  2;  John  Chapman,  2:  J.  M.  Spears, 
2 ;  R.  S.  Bateman,  i. 

The  election  of  Mr.  JNIcDonald  was  then  made  unanimous. 

The  constitutional  convention  met  in  Sioux  Falls  on  the  4th  of  Sep- 
tember, 1883,  and  perfected  an  organization.  Bartlett  Tripp,  of  Yankton, 
was  made  chairman.  In  the  appointment  of  committees  the  member  from 
Jerauld  county  was  made  chairman  of  the  committee  on  printing. 

A  gentleman  named  George  Whalen  appeared  to  contest  the  place 
from  Jerauld  county.  His  notice  of  contest  was  presented  by  A.  Con- 
verse, a  member  from  Sanborn  county.  The  matter  was  referred  to  a 
committee  of  three,  who  reported  that  grave  irregularities  existed  in  the 
selection  of  both  delegates  and  therefore  it  was  recommended  that  both 
delegates  be  seated,  giving  Jerauld  county  two  representatives.  A.  C. 
Mellette  moved  that  both  be  seated  with  the  right  to  half  a  vote  each. 
Neither  plan  was  adopted,  and  Mv.  Whalen  retired  from  the  conven- 
tion, leaving  Mr.  McDonald  to  perform  his  duties  without  further  an- 
noyance. 

The  convention  was  in  session  for  several  weeks. 

People  generally  throughout  the  territory  gave  but  little  attention  to 
the  doings  of  the  convention.  Yet  some  of  he  leaders  of  certain  move- 
ments brought  forward  their  ideas  and  forced  them  upon  the  attention 
of  the  delegates. 

At  the  4th  (juarterly  meeting  of  the  M.  E.  church  at  Wessington 
Springs,  held  on  Sejit.  i^th,  for  the  year  1883.  the  services  were  held  in 
the  new  church.  Rev.  McCready.  of  Huron,  delivered  a  stirring  tem- 
perance address,  and  at  the  close  of  the  meeting  a  petition  was  circulated 
and  extensively  signed  asking  the  convention  in  session  at  Sioux  P'alls 


63 


E.  B.  On: 


D.  A.  Scott. 


Members  of  the  G.  A.  R. 


64 

to  incorporate  prohibition  in  the  constitution  they  were  framing.  This 
petition  with  another  asking  for  equal  suffrage,  was  given  to  Mr.  Con- 
verse to  be  presented  to  the  convention.  The  petitions  were  duly  pre- 
sented, but  both  were  rejected. 

The  constitutional  convention  of  1883  concluded  its  labors  by  the 
appointment  of  a  committee  in  each  county  having  authority  to  call  an 
election,  at  which  the  people  could  adopt  or  reject  the  proposed  consti- 
tution. The  committee  for  Jerauld  county  were  C.  W.  McDonald,  chair- 
man, and  J.  F.  Ford,  secretary. 

The  committee  called  the  election  for  Nov.  6th.  They  defined  the 
precincts  and  named  the  judges  of  election  as  follows : 

No.  I — All  of  township  108 — 63  and  that  part  of  108 — 64  lying  east 
of  the  bed  of  the  Firesteel  Creek  from  the  point  where  it  crosses  the 
south  line  of  the  township,  and  thence  north  through  the  channel  of  said 
creek,  to  the  east  line  of  section  16,  thence  north  to  the  county  line. 
Election  to  be  held  at  the  house  of  Mr.  Stewart.     No  judges  named. 

No.  2 — All  of  township  107 — 6^  and  that  part  of  107—64  lying  east 
of  the  Firesteel  Creek.  Election  to  be  held  at  the  residence  of  W.  P. 
Pierce.     No  officers  named. 

No.  3 — All  of  township  106 — 63  and  that  part  of  106 — 64  lying  east 
of  the  Firesteel  Creek.  Election  to  be  held  at  the  house  of  John  Ahlers. 
Judges,  Joseph  Steichen,   Henry  Walters,   Samuel   Swenson. 

No.  4 — All  of  township  106 — 64  lying  west  of 'the  Firesteel  Creek  and 
the  east  half  of  106 — 65.  Election  to  be  held  at  the  house  of  T.  K.  Ford. 
Judges,  T.  K.  Ford,  S.  S.  Moore  and  John  Phillips. 

No.  5 — All  of  township  107 — 64  lying  west  of  Firesteel  Creek  and 
the  east  half  of  107- — 65.  Election  to  be  held  at  the  Herald  office  in  the 
village  of  Wessington  Springs.  Judges,  H.  C.  Stephens,  P.  R.  Barrett, 
Hiram  Blowers. 

No.  6 — All  of  township  108 — 64  lying  west  of  precinct  No.  i,  and 
the  east  two-thirds  of  108 — 65.  Election  to  be  held  at  the  house  of  W. 
N.  Hill.    Judges,  H.  A.  Miller,  Jesse  Simons  and  H.  J.  Wallace. 

No.  7 — West  one-third  of  townships  108 — 65  and  all  of  108 — 66  and 
108 — 67.  Election  to  be  held  at  the  house  of  L  N.  Rich.  Judges,  C.  M. 
Chery,  O.  O.  England  and  I.  N.  Rich. 

No.  8 — The  west  one-half  of  towship  107 — 65  and  all  of  107 — 66  and 
107 — 67.  Election  to  be  held  at  the  house  of  John  Sullivan.  Judges, 
Mr.  Pryne,  Samuel  Marlenee  and  W.  Crittenden. 

No.  9 — The  west  one-half  of  township  106 — 65  and  all  of  106 — 66  and 
106 — 67.  Election  to  be  held  at  Crow  Lake  post  office.  Judges,  S.  H. 
Melcher,  Mr.  Jones  and  Joseph  O'Brien. 

Polls  to  be  kept  open  from  8  a.  m.  to  5  p.  m. 


65 

The  call  for  the  election  was  dated  October  20,  1883. 

To  get  the  constitution  before  the  voters  and  do  the  work  necessary 
to  be  done  before  the  day  of  election  a  constitutional  executive  committee 
was  appointed,  composed  of  C.  W.  McDonald,  chairman;  J.  F.  Ford, 
J.  M.  Spears,  Geo.  Whalen,  John  Sullivan,  C.  W.  Hill  and  R.  S.  Bate- 
man. 

Prior  to  the  call  of  the  election  a  number  of  the  prohibitionists  of  the 
proposed  state  met  at  Huron  and  organized  a  temperance  party  and  named 
it  "The  Prohibition  Home  Protection  Party  of  South  Dakota."  This 
meeting  was  held  on  the  loth  day  of  October.  A  platform  was  adopted 
and  a  committeeman  appointed  for  each  county.  Rev.  J.  G.  Campbell 
being  named  for  Jerauld  county.  Many  prominent  members  of  the  new- 
party  advocated  opposition  to  the  adoption  of  the  proposed  constitution, 
because  of  the  defeat  of  prohibition  and  equal  suffrage.  No  opposition 
was  made  in  Jerauld  county,  however,  and  the  election  came  on  without 
any  strenuous  campaigning. 

The  vote  on  the  constitution  in  the  county  was  light,  the  reports  from 
the  various  precincts  being  as  follows : 

No.  I — No  votes  cast. 

No.  2 — No  votes  cast. 

No.  3 — For  the  constitution,  7. 

No.  4 — No  votes  cast. 

No.  5 — For,  35;  against,  i. 

No.  6 — For,  31. 

No.  7 — For,  7 ;  against,  2. 

No.  8 — For,  32 ;  against,  5. 

No.  9 — For,  26 ;  against,  i . 

Total — For,  128;  against,  9. 

All  the  work  in  connection  with  the  proposed  constitution  had  been 
done  without  authority  of  law  and  neither  the  members  of  the  conven- 
tion nor  the  election  officers  received  any  compensation  for  their  services, 
nor  were  they  reimbursed  for  their  expenses. 

Throughout  the  proposed  state  the  vote  was  heavily  in  favor  of  the 
constitution. 

By  September,  1883,  a  number  of  Sunday  schools  had  been  organized 
in  the  county,  and  on  the  6th  of  the  month  a  county  picnic  was  held  at 
the  grove,  by  the  big  spring.  As  it  was  the  first  gathering  of  its  kind 
in  the  county  the  author  has  taken  the  time  and  space  to  insert  the  pro- 
gram in  full : 

PROGRAM. 

Music — Wessington  Springs  Sunday  School. 

Prayer — Rev.  J.  W.  P.  Jordan. 


•   66 

!Music — West  Valley  Union  Sunday  School, 
Address — Rev.  O.  E.  Murray. 
Song — By  all  the  schools. 
Basket  Dinner  and  Social  Hour. 

Afternoon,  2  O'clock. 
Children's  Meeting. 

^Nlusic — Quartette — West   A'alley    Sunday   School. 
Address— Prof.  W.  H.  Jordan. 
Music — Wessington  Springs  Sunday  School. 
Address — Air.   Huntley. 
Song-^West  \'alley  Sunday  School. 
Blackboard  Exercise — ]\I.  D.  Crow. 
Song — Wessington   Spring   Sunday   School. 
Closing  Remarks — Rev.  J.  G.  Campbell. 
Closing  Song  by  all  present. 

At  the  close  of  the  picnic  a  county  Sunday  school  organization  was 
perfected  with  the  following  officers : 

President,  J.  G.  Campbell ;  secretary,  T.  L.  Blank,  treasurer,  Airs.  E. 
L.  DeLine ;  executive  committee,  Harvey  Russ,  T.  L.  Blank,  C.  M.  Bar- 
ber, C.  C.  Wright,  J.  X.  Cross,  Airs.  D.  Whealand,  Lettie  Ford. 

This  was  followed  on  Nov.  2,  1883,  by  the  organization  of  a  County 
Sunday  School  association  with  AI.  D.  Crow,  president;  T.  L.  IMank, 
secretary,  and  R.  AI.  Alagee,  treasurer. 

In  September,  1883,  a  further  change  was  made  in  the  Wessmgton 
Springs  townsite  company  by  the  addition  of  Air.  P.  R.  Barrett,  who  sold 
to  D.  A.  Scott  the  480  acres  farm  at  the  mouth  of  Barrett's  gulch  for 
$1,000  and  an  undivided  one-fourth  interest  in  the  townsite. 


Chapter  17. 

When  the  first  settlers  in  the  three  eastern  townships  of  the  county 
located  there  it  was  expected  that  he  James  river  division  of  he  C.  AI. 
&  St.  P.  would  meet  the  Southern  Alinnesota  branch  of  the  same  system 
at  Milwaukee  Jimction,  a  little  town  that  had  been  platted  by  parties, 
not  connected  with-  the  railway  company,  about  five  miles  northeast  of 
Woonsocket. 

People  had  not  then  begun  to  realize  how  full}-  railroads  were  run 
primarily  in  the  interest  of  the  few  men  who  controlled  the  corporations. 


cv 


Isaac  Pcarcc. 


F.    IV.    Whitney 


Rev.   and  Mrs.   .S.   F.   Hiiiiflcv. 


Mrs.   Isaac  Pcarcc 


L.  ]\\  Casiloiuiii 


68 

They  did  not  know  that  townsite  companies,  organized  among  the  of- 
ficials of  the  road  were  platting  the  townsites  in  the  name  of  the  company 
and  that  private  parties  who  platted  land  were  given  no  consideration 
whatever. 

All  through  the  spring  and  early  summer  of  1883  there  were  rumors 
of  the  extension  of  the  line  north  from  Letcher,  but  where  it  would  go 
no  one  could  even  guess.  In  the  fore  part  of  June  one  of  the  Plankinton 
papers  stated  that  the  line  would  run  northwest  from  Letcher,  passing 
about  six  miles  east  of  Wessington  Springs.  It  was  not  until  about  the 
first  of  August  that  the  public  became  appraised  of  the  course  the  exten- 
sions would  take.  During  that  month  the  company  platted  the  town  of 
Woonsocket  in  Sanborn  county  and  in  September  iVlpena  was  platted  in 
the  northeast  part  of  Jerauld  county. 

Before  the  surveyors  had  completed  the  work  of  platting  the  town 
of  Alpena,  a  house  mounted  on  four  wagons  and  drawn  by  eight  horses 
appeared  in  the  southeast,  coming  across  the  prairie  from  the  direction 
of  Milwaukee  Junction.  As  the  moving  building  approached,  the  clear 
notes  of  a  cornet  floated  out  on  the  evening  air.  When  the  teams  had 
reached  a  point  near  what  is  now  the  main  street  of  the  town,  one  of  the 
teams  hesitated  and  seemed  about  to  stop.  At  that  instant  a  voice,  that 
for  two  decad.es  drove  things  in  the  village  and  county,  roared  out 
^'gedap."  It  was  the  first  word  spoken  in  the  town  by  an  actual  settler. 
The  teams  were  finally  halted  and  two  men — the  one  with  the  cornet 
and  the  one  with  the  voice — stepped  to  the  ground  and  became  from  that 
moment  the  first  settlers  of  the  village  of  Alpena. 

The  building  rested  on  the  four  wagons  until  the  next  morning 
when  the  surveyors  marked  out  a  lot  on  the  south  side  of  main  street 
and  then  the  structure  was  placed  on  its  temporary  foundation.  It  stands 
on  the  same  spot  to  this  day. 

L.  N.  Loomis  and  Wesley  L.  Davis,  the  two  men  who  arrived  m  the 
building  from  Milwaukee  Junction  at  once  engaged  in  the  real  estate 
business.  One  of  their  first  moves  was  to  purchase  a  printing  office  out- 
fit, which  they  hauled  from  Letcher  with  a  span  of  horses  and  on  the 
19th  day  of  September  they  issued  the  first  number  of  the  Jerauld  County 
Journal.  The  paper  is  still  in  existence,  but  now  under  the  name  of  the 
Alpena  Journal,  being  the  oldest  publication  in  the  county. 

Within  a  few  weeks  after  Loomis  &  Davis  placed  their  office  on  the 
townsite,  other  buildings  arrived  from  Milwaukee  Junction,  which  town 
had  by  this  time  disbanded,  so  to  speak,  part  of  it  going  to  the  new  town 
of  Woonsocket. 

O.  B.  Jessup  brought  a  building,  which  he  placed  on  the  north  side 


69 

of  Main  street  and  is  now  used  as  a  paint  shop.  Mr.  Richard  Davenport 
opened  a  restaurant  in  the  Jessup  building  soon  after  its  arrival. 

W.  L.  Arnold,  who  had  been  in  the  mercantile  business  in  the  now 
deserted  village  in  Sanborn  county  brought  to  Alpena  a  store  building 
which  he  used  that  winter  for  a  store,  and  in  which  Mr.  Jessup,  the  first 
postmaster  in  Alpena,  opened  the  post  office  about  the  middle  of  Decem- 
ber. The  building  has  since  been  used  for  a  drug  store,  first  by  Dr.  D. 
F.  Royer,  until  February  ist,  1891,  and  then  by  W.  W.  Hillis. 

A  residence  building  was  also  moved  to  Alpena  from  Milwaukee  Junc- 
tion by  W.  L.  Arnold. 

Isaac  Pearce,  who  owned  a  claim  a  mile  south  of  town,-  built  a  resi 
dence  and  restaurant  combined  on  the  south  side  of  Main  street  and  began 
doing  business  in  November. 

By  the  ist  of  October,  1883,  the  railroad  was  constructed  as  far  as 
Alpena  and  trains  were  running. 

About  the  same  time  F.  W.  Whitney  opened  a  hardware  store  in  the 
building  now  occupied  by  Grant  Anderson  on  the  northeast  corner  of 
Main  and  2nd  streets. 

Soon  after  the  completion  of  the  railroad  into  the  town  D.  F.  Royer 
and  V^m.  Walcott  started  a  lumber  yard  which  they  continued  as  partners 
until  the  spring  of  1884  when  Royer  drew  out  and  engaged  in  the  drug 
business. 

During  the  winter  of  1883  Dr.  Royer  built  a  residence  on  a  lot  south 
of  Main  street,  fronting  on  2nd  street. 

Before  the  winter  closed  in  Wallace  Linn  built  a  barn  for  a  livery 
business  and  established  a  dray  line. 

Soon  after  the  town  was  surveyed  John  Zimmerman  put  up  a  black- 
smith shop. 

In  the  township  107 — 63,  a  cemetery  was  located  at  the  northeast 
corner  of  the  NW  quarter  of  section  4,  then  known  as  the  Whiffin  claim. 
Here  Dr.  Whiffin  was  buried  in  the  fall  of  1883,  being  the  first  burial 
in  the  township.  A  lady  named  Quiven  was  also  buried  in  that  cemetery, 
but  in  1884  an  acre  was  platted  in  the  southwest  corner  of  section  2,3  and 
both  the  bodies  moved  there.  The  new  burial  ground  was  named  Fair- 
view  Cemetery,  and  is  controlled  by  a  corporation  known  as  the  Fairview 
Cemetery  Association. 

In  September,  1883,  a  postoffice  named  Starkey  was  established  on 
the  NE  of  35-107-64,  with  Wm.  Morrill  as  postmaster  and  supplied  by 
the  route  from  Mitchell  to  Elmer.  Morrill  retained  the  office  but  a  few 
weeks  and  then  turned  it  over  to  Ed  LaRue,  who  took  the  office  to  the 
NW  of  31-107-63,  but  soon  resigned  and  James  Johnson  was  oppointed. 
Johnson  kept  the  office  at  the  same  place  and  opened  a  little  candy  store 


70 

but  in  the  spring  of  1884  he  resigned  and  the  office  was  moved  to  the 
residence  of  W.  P.  Pierce,  who  retained  it  for  several  years. 

On  December  15th.  1833,  Guy  Posey  was  born,  being  the  first  birth 
in  township  107 — 63. 

The  location  of  the  new  town  over  the  line  in  Sanborn  county  was  a 
great  convenience  to  settlers  in  the  east  half  of  Jerauld  county.  As  soon 
as  the  new  town  became  a  fact  a  petition  was  circulated  in  Wessington 
Springs  and  vicinity  asking  for  a  daily  mail  connection. 

( )n  (  )ctober  loth,  1883,  E.  B.  Orr  put  on  a  stage  line  between  \\'es- 
sington  Springs  and  Woonsocket,  and  on  the  25th  of  the  same  month, 
-\.  Peck,  of  Woonsocket,  put  on  a  competing  line. 

Farmers  began  hauling  their  ])roduce  to  \\'oonsocket  before  a  ware- 
house or  elevator  had  been  built.  The  first  load  of  grain  taken  into  the 
new  town  was  a  load  of  flax  by  Rev.  J.  G.  Campbell.  The  man  who  had 
located  there  to  buy  grain  was  out  of  town  that  day.  but  Mr.  Campbell 
chanced  to  meet  John  T.  Kean,  a  lawyer,  who  purchased  it  rather  than 
see  the  first  load  of  grain  brought  to  the  town  hauled  awav  aeain. 


PART  TWO. 

Chapter  I. 


Many  years  ago  when  Dakota  Territory  began  to  take  political  shape 
the  part  now  known  as  Jerauld  county  was  in  the  western  part  of  Buf- 
falo county,  which  embraced  the  country  west  of  Minnehaha  and  north 
of  Yankton  counties. 

In  1873  the  legislature  created  the  county  of  Wetniore,  including  in 
it  the  west  half  of  what  is  now  Miner  county,  all  of  Sanborn,  all  of 
Jerauld,  except  the  three  west  townships  in  range  sixty-seven,  and  the 
north  tier  oi  townships  in  Arirora  county.  Wetmore  county  was  never 
organized  and  in  1879  it  was  cut  up  into  smaller  political  subdivisions, 
the  present  boundaries  of  Jerauld  county  being  attached  to  Crogin  county 
to  form  Aurora. 

The  creation  of  the  county  of  Jerauld  was  an  incident  of  the  capital 
iight  that  for  several  years  was  waged  with  great  bitterness  and  much  of 
political  intrigue  between  Yankton  and  Bismarck  in  the  old  territorial 
days. 

In  the  course  of  the  contest  many  towns  became  ambitious  of  capital 
honors,  and  many  local  jealousies  were  involved. 

The  men  who  controlled  the  contending  forces  were  masters  of  all  the 
arts  of  politics. 

A  history  of  that  contest  is  outside  the  purpose  of  this  volume,  except 
in  so  far  as  it  effects  the  subject  in  hand. 

One  of  the  methods  to  secure  votes  in  the  territorial  legislature  of 
1879,  1881  and  1883  upon  the  questions  involved  in  the  relocation  of  the 
capital,  was  the  creation  of  new  counties  and  naming  them  in  reward  for 
political  service  rendered  by  the  persons  whose  names  were  bestowed 
upon  the  various  political  subdivisions. 

In  some  instances  the  opposite  course  was  taken  and  a  county  would 
be  threatened  with  annihilation  (as  in  the  case  of  Davison  county)  in 
the  hope  of  whipping  an  obstinate  member  into  line. 

By  an  act  approved  February  22,  1879.  the  boundaries  of  the  county 
of  Hanson  were  extended  to  include  the  county  of  Davison,  the  latter 
countv  was  abolished  and  the  county  of  Aurora  was  created. 


72 

By  this  act  Aurora  county  extended  from  Douglas  county  on  the 
south  to  Beadle  and  Hand  counties  on  the  north  and  included  all  of 
townships  loi,  102,  103,  104,  105,  106,  107  and  108.  and  ranges  63, 
64,  65  and  66. 

This  act  placed  in  Aurora  county  all  of  what  is  now  Jerauld  county, 
except  the  townships  in  range  6^. 

Commissioners  for  Aurora  coimty  were  appointed  by  Gov.  Ordway 
in  the  summer  of  188 1. 

One  of  the  commissioners  appointed  was  A.  B.  Smart  of  township 
107 — 65,  now  of  Wessington  Springs,  Jerauld  county. 

In  the  organization  of  Aurora  county,  Mr.  Alden  Brown,  now  in  the 
Soldiers'  Home  at  Ouincy,  III,  but  then  a  resident  of  the  northwest 
quarter  of  section  6 — 107 — 64,  was  appointed  superintendent  of  schools. 
Mr.  Brown  served  but  a  few  months  and  resigned.  At  the  instance  of 
Mr.  Smart  the  board  then  appointed  C.  W.  McDonald,  of  section  13- — - 
107 — 65,  to  fill  the  vacancy. 

Another  act  approved  March  ist,  1881,  madS  Hanson  county  extend 
only  to  the  James  river,  on  the  west,  while  the  east  line  of  Aurora  county 
was  made  the  new  west  line  of  Hanson  county,  but  leaving  the  balance 
of  Aurora  county  the  same  as  designated  by  the  act  of  1879.  This  act, 
however,  provided  for  a  vote  of  the  people  of  Davison  county  on  the 
matter  of  annexation. 

By  an  act  approved  March  9th,  1883,  the  last  day  of  the  session,  a 
new  county  was  created  by  dividing  Aurora  county  on  the  line  between 
townships  105  and  106.  The  new  county  was  made  to  mclude  town- 
ships 106,  107  and  108  from  south  to  north,  and  ranges  63,  64,  65,  66 
and  67,  from  east  to  west.  The  new  county  was  named  Jerauld,  the 
name  of  a  member  of  the  territorial  council  from  Lincoln  county. 

The  townships  108 — 67,  107 — 67  and  106 — 67  had  formerly  been  a 
part  of  Buffalo  county. 

The  act  made  provision  for  an  election  on  the  question  of  division 
to  be  held  in  that  part  of  Jerauld  county  taken  from  Aurora,  which  elec- 
tion was  appointed  by  the  law  for  the  17th  day  of  April,  1883. 

The  act  also  provided  that  the  commissioners  of  Aurora  county  should 
appoint  judges  of  such  election  and  establish  precincts  tlierefor.  Pro- 
vision was  also  made  for  publication  of  notices  of  said  election  in  paper 
to  be  designated  by  the  Aurora  county  commissioners. 

After  the  creation  of  Brule  county  in  1879,  Buffalo  county  was  at- 
tached to  it  for  judicial  purposes.  At  the  next  session  of  the  territorial 
legislature,  1881,  an  act  was  passed  authorizing  the  filing  and  recording 
of  deeds  and  mortgages,  taken  in  unorganized  counties  in  the  county  to 
which  they  were  attached  for  judicial  purposes. 


72, 

As  Buffalo  county  was  then  attached  to  Brule  for  judicial  purposes, 
the  deeds  and  mortgages  and  other  conveyances  of  Buffalo  county  lands 
were  placed  on  the  record  books  of  Brule  county  at  Chamberlain. 

This  included  townships  io6 — dy,  107 — 67  and  108 — 6^,  which  were 
a  part  of  Buffalo  county  until  April  17th,  1883. 


Chapter  2. 

In  accordance  with  the  act  of  March  9th,  1883,  the  commissioners  of 
Aurora  county  caused  notice  of  the  election  for  April  17th  to  the  pub- 
lished in  the  Wessington  Springs  Herald  and  also  in  the  Aurora  County 
Standard.  Precincts  in  the  proposed  new  county  were  established  and 
judges  appointed  as  follows: 

No.  I — Townships  107  and  108,  range  63  and  the  two  east  tiers  of 
sections  in  township  107  and  108,  range  64.  Polling  place,  house  of  I. 
P.  Ray.     Judges,  J.  W.  Whiffin,  Hiram  Fisher  and  I.  P.  Ray. 

No.  2 — Townships  106,  range  63,  64  and  65.  Polling  place,  the  house 
of  Chas.  Walters.    Judges,  L.  G.  Wilson,  T.  K.  Ford  and  John  Steiner. 

No.  3 — Township  108,  range  65  and  66  and  township  107,  range  65, 
with  the  four  west  tiers  of  sections  in  townships  107  and  108,  range  64. 
Polling  place,  Elmer  P.  O.  Judges,  C.  W.  Hill,  Chas.  W.  McDonald 
and  A.  B.  Smart. 

No.  4 — Townships  106  and  107,  range  66.  Polling  place,  the  house 
of  Albert  Allyn.  Judges,  H.  F.  Brasch,  Albert  Allyn  and  Phillip  H. 
Best. 

Polls  to  remain  open  from  8  a.  m.  until  5  p.  m. 

The  election  was  a  victory  for  the  new  county.  The  vote  was  for 
division,  149;  against  division  25.  In  Wessington  Springs  precinct 
division  lacked  but  one  vote  of  being  unanimous. 

The  result  of  the  election  was  certified  to^  the  territorial  secretary  at 
Yankton  and  on  the  30th  day  of  September,  1883,  the  governor  appointed 
Hiram  D.  Fisher,  of  107 — 64,  Almona  B.  Smart,  of  107 — 65  and  Samuel 
H.  Melcher,  of  106 — 66,  commissioners  to  organize  Jerauld  county.  The 
commissions  were  sent  by  mail  to  Mr.  Melcher,  at  Crow  Lake,  who  for- 
warded the  commissions  for  Smart  and  Fisher  to  them  at  Wessington 
Springs  by  T.  H.  Null. 

In  the  division  of  the  county  of  Aurora  the  old  organization  retained 
all  the  property  and  assumed  all  the  debts.  Jerauld  county  started  with- 
out debt  and  without  money. 


74 

There  is  no  record  showing  when  the  commissioners  of  the  new  county 
took  the  oath  of  office,  or  that  they  ever  quahfied  in  the  legal  sense  of 
the  word  as  officials.  But,  l^e  that  as  it  may,  they  met  at  the  residence 
of  A.  B.  Smart  near  Wessington  Springs  and  organized  on  the  9th  da}' 
of  November,  1883,  by  electing  Mr.  Smart  chairman  of  the  board.  Mr. 
Smart  was  made  chairman  because  of  his  experience  as  a  member  of  the 
board  that  organized  Aurora  county. 

The  first  motion  made  and  carried  after  organization  was  to  the  effect 
that  at  the  close  of  this  first  session,  the  board  adjourn  until  the  first 
^londay  in  January,   1884,  which  would  come  on  the  7th  of  that  month. 

Some  time  prior  to  the  organization  of  the  board,  Mr.  Charles  W. 
McDonald  had  been  appointed  by  Judge  A.  J.  Egerton  to  be  clerk  of  the 
district  court  for  Jerauld  county.  Air.  McDonald  now  appeared  before 
the  board  and  filed  his  bond,  upon  which  appeared  the  names  of  Peter 
R.  Barrett  and  Robert  S.  Bateman  as  sureties.  The  bond  was  approved 
November  9th,  1883.  Mr.  McDonald  continued  to  hold  this  position 
until  the  admission  of  South  Dakota  as  a  state  in  1889. 

On  this  9th  day  of  November,  1883,  at  the  evening  session,  R.  Y. 
Hazard,  of  106 — 66,  was  appointed  to  be  the  first  school  superintendent 
of  Jerauld  county.  This  appointment  was  made  at  the  instance  of  Com. 
]\felcher.  A  candidate  in  opposition  to  Mr.  Hazard  was  a  man  named 
J.  T.  Johnston,  of  township  108 — 66,  who  was  elected  to  succeed  Mr. 
Hazard  at  the  first  regular  election  for  count}^  officers  held  in  Novem- 
ber, 1884. 

A  number  of  private  or  subscription  schools,  had  been  held  in  vari- 
ous parts  of  the  county  in  the  two  previous  years,  but  upon  IVIr.  Hazard 
devolved  the  responsibility  of  organizing  the  public  school  system  for 
the  county.  It  is  to  ]^  regretted  that  full  records  were  not  kept  and 
]^reserved. 

Aside  from  organizing  and  approving  Mr.  McDonald's  bond  as  clerk 
of  the  district  court,  but  little  was  done  during  the  first  day,  of  an  official 
character,  the  members  of  the  board  putting  in  most  of  the  time  in  talk- 
ing over  the  work  before  them  in  a  commendable  desire  to  get  a  full 
understanding  of  their  duties. 

Now  that  we  have  reached  the  point,  after  which  these  three  com- 
missioners must  always  hold  an  important  place  in  the  history  of  the 
county,  it  is  i)r()i)er  that  they,  individualh',  be  given  a  more  extended 
r.otice  than  it  is  .our  intention  to  give  to  persons,  in  the  preparation  of 
this  chronicle.  VVe  shall  hereafter  write  of  persons  only  in  connection 
with  events. 

Samuer  llenry  Melcher  was  born  at  Gilmantown,  New  Hampshire, 
( )ctobcr  30th,    1828.      He   was  a   student   in   the   medical   department   of 


75 


7.  L.  Blank. 


J.  E.  McNamam.  R.  Y.  Hazard. 


I^ly 

JS^ 

JBH 

^^^  1 

w% 

^ 

^^^^^^^^bA^— .^« 

F^vl^^^r 

k"^'ii 

wWA 

A.  B.  Smart. 


Ur.  S.  H.   Mclchcr. 


76 

Bowdoin  College,  Maine ;  and  also  in  the  Vermont  Medical  College.  He 
graduated  M.  D.  at  Dartmouth  College,  November  6th,  1850,  and  began 
practice  of  his  profession  as  house  surgeon  of  the  Cit}^  Hospital  in  South 
Boston,  remaining  there  during  the  winter  of  1850 — 51.  May  7th,  1861, 
he  was  made  assistant  surgeon  of  the  Fifth  Missouri  Volunteers  and 
served  with  that  regiment  at  the  battles  of  Carthage,  Mo.,  Dug  Springs 
and  Wilson  Creek.  Surgeon  Melcher  remained  on  the  battlefield  of  Wil- 
son Creek  until  all  the  other  Federal  officers  had  left,  and  obtained  from 
the  Confederate  General  Price  the  body  of  General  Lyon,  commander  of 
the  Union  forces  in  that  engagement,  who  was  killed  there,  and  brought 
it  to  Springfield,  Mo.,  accompanied  by  a  Confederate  escort,  furnished 
by  the  rebel  General  Rains.  The  term  of  service  of  the  regiment,  which 
had  enlisted  for  three  months,  had  now  expired  and  Mr.  Melcher 
volunteered  to  remain  in  Springfield  as  a  prisoner  to  care  for  the  wounded 
Union  soldiers,  numbering  over  500,  who  had  been  brought  there  from 
the  Wilson  Creek  battlefield.  The  people  of  Springfield  generously  fur- 
nished provisions  and  supplies  to  the  wounded  of  both  armies  until  Sur- 
geon Melcher  obtained  the  things  needed  from  the  headquarters  of  the 
Union  forces  at  Rolla.  He  was  at  his  post  in  the  hospital  on  the  25th 
of  October,  1861,  when  Fremont's  bodyguard,  under  the  gallant  Major 
Zagonyi,  made  its  memorable  charge  into  the  city  of  Springfield  and 
drove  out  the  confederate  forces.  The  wounded  survivors  of  that  battle 
were  gathered  at  the  court  house,  made  as  a  hospital,  and  on  the  morn- 
ing after  the  fight  Mr.  Melcher,  assisted  by  a  soldier  from  the  ist  Iowa 
V.  I.  and  another  from  ist  Missouri  V.  I.,  raised  the  stars  and  stripes 
over  the  old  court  house,  which  still  stands  in  the  center  of  the  square. 
In  November,  1861,  Surgeon  Melcher  removed  all  the  Wilson  Creek 
wounded  to  St.  Louis  and  on  Dec.  4th,  1861,  he  was  made  brigade  sur- 
geon of  the  First  Brigade  Mo.  S.  M.  Vol.  He  was  now  assigned  to  hos- 
pital duty  in  St.  Louis  on  the  stafif  of  Gen.  Schofield,  and  in  the  spring 
of  1862  he  at  one  time  had  charge  of  the  three  most  important  hospitals 
in  the  city.  For  his  efficient  services  in  the  supervision  of  these  hospitals 
he  was  made  the  recipient  of  a  testimonial  from  the  Western  Sanitary 
Commission  and  honorable  mention  by  the  Surgeon  General  of  the  United 
States.  He  was  then  made  a  member  of  the  commission  to  examine 
candidates  for  appointment  as  surgeon  of  state  troops.  Mr.  Melcher 
was  commissioned  Colonel  and  organized  and  equipped  the  32nd  E.  M. 
M.  In  October,  1862,  he  was  stationed  at  Springfield  and  organized 
the  medical  department  there.  On  the  night  of  January  7.  1863,  Col. 
Melcher  organized  a  force  of  the  convalescents  under  his  care,  chained 
three  old  iron  cannon  on  wagon  wheels  and  during  the  8th  rendered 
great  assistance  to  Gen.  Brown  in  driving  back  the  rebels  under  Marma- 


77 

duke.  Vol.  2,  part  2  of  the  Medical  History  of  the  War  of  the  Rebellion 
contains  an  account  of  an  operation  performed  by  Surgeon  Melcher  upon 
Gen.  Brown,  who  was  wounded  in  the  defense  of  Springfield,  January 
8th,  1863.  He  was  made  lieutenant  colonel  of  the  6th  cavalry  Mo.  S. 
M.  Vols,  in  1863,  and  in  1864  he  was  aide  de  camp  on  the  staff  of  Gen. 
Pleasanton  during  the  Price  raid  in  Missouri.  His  last  service  in  the 
army  was  as  post  commander  at  Jefferson  City,  Mo.  He  was  com- 
pelled to  resign  because  of  injury  to  his  sight  caused  by  a  bursting  shell 
at  the  battle  of  Springfield,  Jan.  8th,  1863,  and  which  has  since  resulted 
in  total  blindness. 

Mr.  A/[elcher  has  been  a  member  of  the  I.  O.  O.  F.  since  February 
10,  1892,  and  now  has  a  fifty-year  veteran  jewel  of  the  order.  He  is  a 
member  of  the  G.  A.  R.,  of  the  Society  of  the  Army  of  the  Frontier  and 
a  Companion  of  the  Military  Order  Loyal  Legion  of  the  United  States. 

Hiram  D.  Fisher  was  born  in  Hermon,  St.  Lawrence  county.  N.  Y., 
Oct.  14,  1847.  Later  in  life  he  became  a  resident  of  Rockford,  Iowa, 
and  in  1883  moved  to  Jerauld  county,  D.  T.  His  education  was  ob- 
tained in  the  common  schools.  Sept.  12,  1885,  he  married  Mrs.  Wilma 
Pinkman.  Mr.  Fisher  moved  back  to  Rockford,  Iowa,  in  1889,  where 
he  resided  until  his  death,  June  26,  1906. 

Almona  B.  Smart,  chairman  of  the  board,  was  a  Methodist  minister, 
who  had  graduated  from  Boston  University.  He  had  been  a  sailor  be- 
fore the  mast  and  as  such  visited  many  parts  of  the  world.  From  edu- 
cation and  observation  he  had  become  a  bitter  opponent  of  the  liquor 
traffic  in  all  its  forms  as  well  as  of  all  other  kinds  of  vice.  As  a  member 
of  the  board  of  commissioners  of  Aurora  county  he  had  kept  that  county 
free  from  saloons  and  been  at  all  times  a  tireless  and  vehement  worker 
in  the  cause  of  temperance.  In  his  work  as  a  minister  he  seemed  to  feel 
no  fatigue,  but  filled  appointments  at  Plankinton,  Mitchell,  Huron,  Miller 
and  intermediate  points,  as  well  as  at  numerous  dwelling  houses  in  his 
home  county. 

These  were  the  men  upon  whom  was  placed  the  burden  of  creating 
a  county  out  of  the  raw  material  at  hand.  They  represented  three  ut- 
terly distinct  types  of  men. 

Smart  was  a  man  of  much  learning,  possessed  of  great  tenacity  of 
opinion  and  a  disregard  of  public  clamor  that  has  at  times  made  him 
unpopular  with  the  people.  Yet,  probably  no  other  man  has  done  so 
much  for  the  general  welfare  of  the  county,  intellectually  and  morally, 
as  he. 

Melcher  was  a  man  of  pleasing  manners,  wide  experience,  cultured 
and  possessed  of  great  creative  and  executive  ability.     He,  more  than 


78        . 

any  other  member  of  the  board,  shaped  the  poHcy  that  has  been  pursued 
by  the  county  as  an  organization  ever  since. 

Fisher  was  a  man  who  typified  the  spirit  of  the  masses. 

Looking  back  at  their  work,  across  the  vista  of  twenty-five  years^ 
though  it  shows  crudeness  in  places,  yet,  in  view  of  the  many  perplexing 
and  annoying  occurrences  that  beset  them,  the  political  edifice  they  reared 
— temperate,  moral,  out  of  debt  and  never  bonded — look.";  well  beside 
its  fellows. 


Chapter  3. 

On  the  second  day  of  the  session  at  the  instance  of  j\lr.  Fisher,  J. 
F.  Ford  was  appointed  clerk  of  the  board  to  serve  until  such  time  as  a 
register  of  deeds  should  be  appointed,  the  law  at  that  time  making  that 
officer  ex-officio  clerk  for  the  county  commissioners. 

On  the  same  day  the  commissioners  gave  the  first  order  for  county 
supplies.  It  was  an  order  to  Perkins  Bros.,  of  Sioux  City,  for  jjlank 
books  to  the  amount  of  $282.00,  or  at  such  sum  as  any  other  "legitimate 
house  would  furnish  them,"  and  for  four  seals  at  $4.00  each  ;  all  to  be 
])aid  for  with  coimty  warrants,  payable  when  there  should  be  a  sufficient 
surplus  of  money  in  the  county  treasury.  The  warrants  were  taken 
at  par. 

During  this  second  day's  session  a  letter  from  E.  S.  Waterbur}-  was 
read  and  placed  on  file,  expressing  concurrence  and  asking  that  the  por- 
tion of  Buffalo  county  annexed  to  Jerauld  by  the  last  legislature  be 
recognized  in  the  organization  of  Jerauld  county. 

November  10,  1883,  F.  T.  Toffiemier,  J.  O.  Gray  and  Henry  Herring 
were  appointed  justices  of  the  peace  and  James  Paddock,  L.  W.  Castle- 
man  and  B.  l*".  Wiley  were  appointed  constables. 

The  board  finshed  the  appointment  of  judicial  officers  for  the  new 
county,  except  probate  judge,  on  the  loth  day  of  Noveml^er,  1883.  by 
giving  J.  M.  Spears  the  office  of  sheriflf. 

The  board  took  up  the  subject  of  bridges  on  the  2nd  day  of  the  ses- 
sion, and  authorized  Commissioner  Fisher  to  construct  a  bridge  on  the 
line  between  sections  14  and  2t,  in  107 — 64,  at  a  cost  to  the  count}-  not 
to  exceed  $100. 

The  board  closed  its  first  session  by  dividing  the  count}'  into  tiu'ee 
commissioner  districts  as  follows: 


79 

District  No.  !■ — All  that  part  of  the  county  lying-  east  of  the  I-'ire- 
steel  Creek. 

District  No.  2 — All  that  part  of  the  county  lying  between  the  Fire- 
steel  Creek  and  the  town  line  between  108 — 65  and   108 — 66. 

District  No.  3 — The  balance  of  the  county. 

Board  adjourned  to  meet  January  7th,  1884. 

The  second  meeting  of  the  board  was  held  on  the  evening  of  the  17th 
of  November,  1883,  when  Mr.  Melcher  and  Mr.  Smart  chanced  to  meet 
in  the  office  of  Dunham  &  Ingham,-  publishers  of  the  Jerauld  County 
News,  in  what  was  then  known  as  the  Applegate  building,  later  as  the 
Woodburn  Hotel,  but  now  as  the  old  Carlton  House.  Mr.  Smart  acted 
as  both  chairman  and  clerk  at  that  meeting. 

Nothing  of  importance  was  done  that  evening  but  the  next  day  ^Ir. 
Fisher  being  present  a  meeting  was  held  in  the  office  of  McDonald  & 
Bateman  with  Mr.  Ford  as  clerk.  At  this  meeting  Mr.  Smart  was 
authorized  to  construct  a  bridge  to  cost  not  to  exceed  $75  across  the 
gulch  on  the  line  between  sections  17  and  18 — 107 — 64.  The  board 
numbered  the  bridges  to  be  built  as  follows : 

No.  I — Across  the  Firesteel  between  sections  14  and  23 — 107 — 64. 
No.  2 — Across  the  gulch  between   17  and  18 — 107 — 64. 
No.  3 — On  line  between  sections  20  and  21 — 107 — 64. 
No.  4 — On  line  between  sections  28  and  29 — 107 — 67. 
No.  5 — On  line  between  sections  ;^2  and  33 — 107 — 67. 

Commissioner  Melcher  was  authorized  to  construct  bridges  No.  3.  4 
and  5  at  a  cost  of  not  to  exceed  $400  to  the  county. 

A  petition  was  read  from  the  people  of  Bufifalo  county  and  the 
v/estern  part  of  Jerauld  county  asking  for  the  appointment  of  a  probate 
judge  from  the  western  part  of  the  county. 

At  the  meeting  on  the  8th  of  January,  1884,  the  first  bill  against  the 
county  was  presented  by  W.  J.  Williams.  It  was  $15.00  for  hauling  the 
lumber  and  making  approaches  for  the  bridge,  authorized  on  the  loth 
of  November  to  be  built  across  the  Firesteel  Creek.  Warrant  No.  3 
was  afterward  issued  for  this  account. 

At  the  adjourned  meeting  on  the  7th  day  of  January,  1884,  the  board 
adopted  the  proceeding  of  the  meeting  held  on  the  17th  of  November 
and  made  the  minutes  of  that  meeting  a  part  of  the  record. 


8o 

Chapter  4. 

With  organization  came  a  multiplicity  of  matters,  great  and  small, 
to  vex  the  minds  of  the  county  commissioners,  and  arouse  the  good,  or 
ill  will  of  people  interested,  according  to  the  success  or  failure  of  their 
wishes.  The  offices  were  to  be  filled  and  for  each  of  several  positions 
there  were  numerous  applicants.  The  county  seat  must  be  located  tem- 
porarily, and  for  this  there  were  two  candidates.  Wessington  Spring  and 
Templeton.  Then  in  the  former  place  there  were  several  parties,  each 
wanting  the  county  building  located  on  their  particular  piece  of  property. 

The  Wessington  Springs  Townsite  company,  through  one  of  their 
number,  Mr.  D.  A.  Scott,  now  of  Sioux  Falls,  went  before  the  board  and 
offered  office  rooms  for  county  officers  free  of  rent  for  one  year,  if 
the  commissioners  would  locate  the  county  seat  temporarily  at  Wessing- 
ton Springs,  and  making  the  further  ofifer  that  if  that  place  should  be 
made  the  permanent  location  they  would  then  give  a  block  of  lots  for 
county  buildings  and  supply  the  buildings  with  water. 

J.  N.  Cross  of  Templeton,  sent  in  an  offer  of  "the  use  of  two  spacious 
rooms,  provided  with  stoves,  for  six  years,  and  two  blocks  of  lots  to  be 
selected  by  the  county  commissioners,"  if  the  county  capital  should  be 
located  on  his  farm,  the  NE  quarter  of  section  7 — 107 — 65  (Media).  In 
the  spring  and  summer  of  1883  Mr.  Cross  had  erected  a  large  two  story 
grout  building,  and  it  was  in  this  structure  that  he  offered  the  rooms. 
On  January  nth  Mr.  Cross  increased  his  offer  to  "every  third  block  to 
be  platted  on  the  N  half  of  the  NE  quarter  of  section  7 — 107 — 65,  one- 
half  to  be  delivered  for  immediate  use  and  the  balance  when  the  county 
seat  should  be  permanently  located  on  that  tract.  The  offer  was  never 
accepted,  and  inasmuch  as  the  large  grout  building  tumbled  to  a  heap 
of  ruins  three  years  later  it  was  probably  wise  to  reject  it 

The  matter  was  made  more  complicated,  and  the  inducements  of  the 
various  offers  somewhat  lessened,  by  various  propositions  from  other 
parties,  some  with  objects  to  be  gained  and  some  without.  Among  the 
latter  was  one  from  McDonald  &  Bateman,  publishers  of  the  Wessington 
Springs  Herald  and  proprietors  of  the  Jerauld  County  Bank,  offering 
"the  use  of  their  printing  office  and  banking  rooms''  in  the  building  later 
used  by  C.  W.  England  for  a  confectionary  and  tobacco  store  and  now 
by  Earl  Howthorne  as  living  rooms  in  connection  with  his  restaurant, 
for  use  of  the  clerk  of  the  district  court  and  the  county  commissioners 
free  of  rent,  and  furnish  lights  and  fuel  for  one  year.  As  Mr.  McDonald 
had  secured  the  office  he  desired,  and  Mr.  Bateman  was  not  a  candidate 
for  anything,  it  is  difficult  to  see  any  private  gain  for  them  in  the  ac- 
ceptance of  their  offer. 


8i 

J.  F.  Ford,  a  candidate  for  register  of  deeds,  "offered  the  county 
commissioners  the  use  of  his  office,  rent  free,  for  one  year."  His  office 
was  about  one-half  of  the  building  in  which  Hermson's  barber  shop  is 
now  located.  The  commissioners  availed  themselves  of  this  offer  for  a 
few  days  and  held  their  meetings  in  Mr.  Ford's  office  until  February 
19th,  1884,  but  without  indicating  at  the  time  of  acceptance  who  would 
be  their  choice  for  register  of  deeds. 

O.  V.  Harris,  another  candidate  for  that  office,  offered  to  perform 
the  duties  of  register  of  deeds  for  the  year  1884,  for  no  other  compensa- 
tion than  that  for  recording  instruments  and  furnish  rent,  lights,  fuel 
and  stationery  for  the  county. 

Commissioner  Smart  now  submitted  a  proposition  on  the  location  of 
the  county  seat,  which  was  "to-  furnish  land  and  material  for  court 
house  to  be  built  of  granite,  sandstone  and  limestone,  if  court  house  was 
located  on  the  SE  quarter  of  SE  quarter  of  section  12 — 107 — 65. 

On  the  3rd  day  of  this  session  the  board  fixed  the  amount  of  the 
official  bonds  of  county  officers  as  follows : 

Register  of  Deeds,  $1,000. 

Probate  Judge,  $1,000. 

Treasurer,  $4,000. 

Sheriff,  $2,000. 

County  Superintendent,  $1,000. 

Coroner,  $1,000. 

Justices,  $500. 

On  January  lotli  the  board  took  up  the  subject  of  school  townships, 
numbering  them  and  defining  their  boundaries.  This  duty  seems  to  have 
perplexed  and  bothered  the  commissioners  as  much  as  any  other  matter 
that  occupied  their  attention.  The  territorial  law  required  school  town- 
ships to  correspond  with  congressional  townships  except  in  case  where 
natural  obstacles  rendered  such  a  course  impracticable.  The  Firesteel 
Creek  was  looked  upon  by  the  board  as  such  an  obstable.  Yet  this  does 
not  account  for  all  of  the  actions  of  the  board  in  creating  school  town- 
ships. 

School  township  No.  i  was  made  to  comprise  congressional  township 
No.  108,  N  range  63  W.,  5th  P.  M. 

No.  2 — Township   108 — 64  and  the  east  half  of   108 — 65. 

No.  3 — The  west  half  of  108 — 65  and  all  of  108 — 66. 

No.  4 — All  of  108 — dy  and  all  of  107 — 67. 

No.  5 — All  of  107 — 66. 

No.  6 — All  of  107 — 65  and  five  tiers  of  sections  off  the  west  side 
of  107 — 64. 

No.  7 — One  tier  of  sections  off  the  east  side  of  107 — 64  and  all  of 
107—63. 


82 

No.  8 — All  of  io6 — 63  and  one  tier  of  sections  off  the  east  side  oi 
106 — 64. 

No.  9 — All  of  106 — 65  and  all  of  106 — 64  Iving  west  of  No.  8. 

No.  10— All  of  106—66. 

No.  II — All  of  106 — 67. 

The  next  day,  January  nth,  the  county  seat  matter  again  came  up. 
George  R.  Bateman  and  Hiram  Blowers,  who  owned  a  tract  of  land  north 
and  east  of  the  town,  offered  the  county  forty  acres,  if  the  court  house 
should  be  located  on  the  property,  and  all  the  stone  needed  to  be  de- 
livered within  one  mile  of  the  building.  This  offer  was  filed  with  the 
others  and  entered  in  the  minutes  of  the  meeting. 

At  the  meeting  on  January  12th  the  subject  of  appointing  an  official" 
county  paper  came  up.  There  were  then  five  newspapers  in  the  cotjnty: 
The  Buffalo  County  Herald,  published  at  Sulphur  Spring ;  The  News, 
published  at  Waterbury ;  the  Wessington  Springs  Herald,  and  the  Jerauld 
County  News,  published  at  Wessington  Springs  and  the  Journal,  pub- 
lished at  Alpena. 

McDonald  &  Bateman,  publishers  of  the  Herald,  at  Wessington 
Springs,  offered  to  publish  the  minutes  of  the  board  meetings  without 
cost  to  the  county,  if  their  paper  should  be  made  the  official  paper.  The 
offer  was  accepted. 

Saturday  afternoon,  January  12th,  the  county  seat  problem  was  again 
brought  forward,  this  time  in  a  definite  proposition.  Commissioner 
Fisher  voted  for  Wessington  Springs  and  Commissioner  Melcher  for 
Templeton,  the  name  given  to  the  postoffice  located  on  Mr.  Cross'  farm, 
before  mentioned.  The  vote  being  a  tie  the  chairman  declined  to  vote 
on  the  question  until  Monday,  that  course  being  in  accordance  with  the 
law  of  the  territory  and  now,  also,  of  the  state.  There  was  no  doubt 
as  to  how  Mr.  Smart  would  vote,  so  when  in  Monday's  session  he  voted 
with  Mr  .Fisher  for  Wessington  Springs,  no  one  was  surprised  or  dis- 
appointed. 

January  14th,  1884,  was  a  day  that  has  never  been  surpassed  in  the 
history  of  the  county  in  political  interest.  The  board  had  announced 
that  on  that  day  they  would  listen  to  representations,  from  the  dift'erent 
candidates  for  the  various  positions  to  be  filled  by  appointment.  The 
candidates  were  on  hand — all  in  person  and  some  with  attorney,  also 
— and  the  day  was  given  up  to  speech  making,  or  essay  readings  as  the 
reasons  why  this  one  or  that  one  should  be  appointed  were  laid  before 
the  board.  No  one  but  the  commissioners  then  knew  that  the  members 
of  the  board  had  held  a  secret  meeting  a  few  evenings  previously  in  the 
northwest  corner  room  on  the  second  floor  of  Tarbell's  hotel,  in  which 
they  had  agreed  upon  the  candidates  that  should  be  appointed. 


83 

Chapter  5. 

Among  the  candidates  who  appeared  before  the  board  that  day  were 
several  who  subsequently  became  prominent  in  the  affairs  of  the  county 
and  state. 

For  the  position  of  register  of  deeds  were  J.  F.  Ford,  now  of  Los 
Angeles,  California ;  T.  L.  Blank,  now  a  civil  engineer  of  Des  Moines, 
loAva;  O.  V.  Harris,  B.  F.  Swatman,  J.  R.  Francis,  afterward  justice  of 
the  peace,  and  for  many  years  district  attorney  and  probate  judge;  T. 
H.  Null,  for  some  time  attorney  for  the  state  board  of  railroad  commis- 
sioners, and  nov/  practicing  attorney  at  Huron,  and  A.  N.  Louder,  now 
a  merchant  at  Presho,  S.  D. 

For  probate  judge  the  candidates  were  R.  M.  Magee,  M.  C.  Ayers, 
afterward  state's  attorney  for  the  county,  and  H.  M.  Rice. 

For  assessor  the  candidates  were  L.  G.  Wilson,  afterward  county 
commissioner,  Geo.  Whealen,  and  M.  D.  Crow. 

For  treasurer  the  candidates  were  E.  V.  Miles,  elected  state  senator 
in  the  statehood  movement  in  1885,  P.  R.  Barrett,  postmaster  at  Wessing- 
ton  Springs  and  W.  J.  Williams. 

The  candidates  for  county  surveyor  were  H.  J.  Wallace,  afterward 
county  surveyor,  county  treasurer  and  state  surveyor,  and  J.  M.  Corbin, 
for  many  years  a  popular  instructor  among  the  Indians  at  Pine  Ridge 
and  Rosebud  agencies. 

This  performance  was  for  some  time  referred  to  as  "the  county's 
literarv  entertainment."  At  its  close  the  board  adjourned  without  an- 
nouncing any  appointments. 

The  next  morning,  Jan.  i6th,  the  board  announced  the  appoinment 
of  R.  M.  Magee,  of  the  firm  of  Drake  &  Magee,  attorney  for  Jerauld 
county  without  salary.  The  only  compensation  Mr.  Magee  ever  received 
from  this  appointment  was  $6.00  on  February  6th  and  $10  on  May  2, 
1884,  as  fees  for  consultations. 

On  the  same  day  a  petition  signed  by  26  electors  of  townships  108 — 
66  and  107- — 66  was  presented  to  the  board  by  L  N.  Rich,  asking  that 
those  two  townships  be  made  into  one  school  organization.  Another 
petition  was  presented  that  day  by  Mr.  Dean  of  107—66,  asking  that  that 
township  be  made  a  school  township  by  itself.  This  petition  was  signed 
by  42  electors.     The  petitions  Avere  filed  and  action  on  them  deferred. 

E.  S.  Waterbury  and  C.  V.  Martin  of  Crow  township,  appeared  before 
the  board  on  the  17th  and  protested  against  the  plan  adopted  by  the  com- 
missioners in  fixing  the  boundaries  of  the  school  townships.  The>-  asked 
that  for  the  west  side  of  the  county,  at  least,  the  school  and  congressional 
townships  should  embrace  the  same  territory.     The  board  then  took  up 


84 

the  subject  of  school  elections  and  commencing  with  io8 — 67  the  north- 
west corner  township,  they  changed  the  school  township  lines.  The  fol- 
lowing is  the  substance  of  the  order  made  January  17th. 

The  election  was  called  for  Feb.  23,  the  names  of  the  judges  and  the 
polling  places  being  stated  in  the  order. 

No.  I  (108 — 67) — ^Judges,  J.  M.  Corbin,  J.  J.  Groub  and  John  Cal- 
vert, at  the  residence  of  J.  J.  Groub. 

No.  2  (107 — (yj) — Judges,  E.  A.  Herman,  W.  J\I.  Cross  and  '\\.  E. 
Merwin.  at  the  store  of  Rice  &  Herring  in  the  town  of  Waterbury. 

No.  3  (106 — 67) — Judges,  W.  S.  Combs,  Wm.  Niemeyer  and  Z.  P. 
De  Forest,  at  Wm.  Niemeyer 's  residence. 

No.  4  (108 — 66) — Judges,  Chas.  Smith,  Moses  Rich  and  Daniel 
Mitchell,  at  the  residence  of  Moses  Rich. 

No.  5  (107 — 66) — Judges,  G.  W.  Stetson,  S.  Sourwine  and  J.  W. 
Todd,  the  house  of  S.  Sourwine. 

No.  6  (106 — 66) — Judges,  David  Moulton,  Frank  Spinier  and  E. 
H.  Grossman,  at  residence  of  Joseph  O'Brien. 

No.  7  (108 — 65  and  ^V-^  tiers  of  sections  on  the  west  side  of  108 — 
64) — Judges,  E.  V.  Miles,  Wm.  Hawthorne  and  Jorgen  Hansen.  Poll- 
ing place  the  office  of  Ford  &  Rich  in  Wessington  Springs. 

No.  9  (106 — 65  and  4I/0  tiers  of  sections  off  the  west  side  of  106 — 
64) — Judges,  Chas.  Walters.  A.  D.  Cady,  and  Wm.  Dixon,  at  house  of 
S.  S.  Moore. 

No.  10  (108 — 63  and  ii/o  tiers  of  sections  off  the  east  side  of  108 — 
64 — Judges,  Chas.  Eastman,  Jos.  Moore  and  Wm.  Arne,  at  the  office 
of  L.  N.  Loomis  in  the  town  of  Alpena. 

No.  II  (107 — 63  and  ji/o  tiers  of  sections  off  the  east  side  of  107 — 
64) — Judges,  Owen  Williams,  W\  P.  Pierce  and  Henry  Kineriem,  at 
residence  of  Wm.  Houmes. 

No.  12  (106 — 63  and  i^/o  tiers  of  sections  off  the  east  side  of  106 — • 
64) — Judges,  Henry  Walters,  Thos.  Biggar  and  Jos.  Steichen. 

The  commissioners  also  named  the  election  clerks  for  each  township, 
but  their  names  were  not  entered  in  the  book  containing  the  records  of 
the  commissioners'  proceedings.  The  clerks  named  by  the  board  were 
as  follows : 

No.  I — O.  G.  Emery.  James  Talbert. 

No.  2— W.  A.  Rex,  H.  W.  Austin. 

No.  3 — Jacob  Norin,  Amos  Gotwals, 

No.  4 — Wm.  Bremner,  Jeff  Sickler. 

No.   5— S.   F.   Huntley,   Mark  Williams. 

No.  6 — E.  L.  Sawyer,  Joseph  O'Brien. 

No.  7 — M.  A.  Schaefer,  A.  T.  Kerkman. 


.85 

No.  8— M.  C.  Ayers,  M.  D.  Crow. 

No.  9 — Fred   Burrows,   Wni.   Paganhart. 

No.  lo — Wesley  Davis,  Joel  Harding-. 

No.  II — K.  S.  Starkey,  Andrew  Olsen. 

No.  12 — Henry  Koonse,  Wm.  Daniels. 

The  affairs  of  the  county  now  reached  a  condition  where  it  was 
necessary  that  the  various  county  offices  should  be  filled  and  on  the  i8th 
of  January  the  following  appointments  were  announced : 

Surveyor — J.  A.  McFarlane. 

Treasurer — W.  J.  Williams. 

Assessor — L.  G.  Wilson. 

Probate  Judge — H.  M.  Rice. 

Register  of  Deeds — T.  L.  Blank. 

For  surveyor  the  appointee,  Mr.  McFarlane,  was  not  a  candidate  and 
declined  to  qualify. 

At  this  meeting  a  bill  for  $6.25,  express  charges  on  the  supplies  re- 
ceived from  Perkins  Bros.,  ordered  Nov.  10,  1883,  was  presented  by  C. 
W.  McDonald  and  allowed.  For  this  bill  warrant  No.  i  was  issued.  It 
was  cashed  by  Mr.  Melcher  at  par  and  was  paid  and  cancelled  a  few 
weeks  later  and  is  now  in  the  possession  of  Mr.  McDonald. 

The  county  seat  propositions  by  the  various  parties  was  combined 
and  presented  to  the  board  as  follows,  under  date  of  January  18,  1884: 

The  commissioners'  record  was  published  in  the  Wessington  Springs 
Herald  is  as  follows. 

"On  motion  the  combined  proposition  of  Mrs.  R.  J.  Smart  and  A.  B. 
Smart  and  D.  A.  Scott  on  the  part  of  the  townsite  proprietors  and  Hiram; 
Blowers  and  George  Bateman  was  accepted,"  but  the  acceptance  does  not 
appear  of  record. 

On  motion  the  county  attorney  was  instructed  to  draw  the  necessary- 
paper  in  reference  to  the  combined  proposition. 

COMBINED  PROPOSITION. 

Hiram  Blowers  offers  to  give  two  lots  to  the  county  to  be  selected  by 
the  commissioners  and  another  to  be  selected  by  himself.  George  Bate- 
man offers  to  give  one  acre  on  one  of  the  two  corners  nearest  the  town- 
site,  or  anywhere  along  the  west  line  of  the  NW  quarter  NE  quarter 
section  18,  township  107,  range  64,  to  be  selected  by  the  commissioners. 

Proposition  of  Smart  and  Scott^ — The  blocks  and  lots  to  be  given  are 
to  be  platted  and  numbered  so  as  to  make  block  A  as  the  court  house 
block  located  north  of  black  2,  SW  of  equal  size  with  it  the  south  part 
and  block  4  and  block  5  in  the  townsite  of  Wessington  Springs  to  be 
given  by  the  townsite  proprietors  and  the  north  part  of  block  C  together 


86 

with  block  1  and  three  on  the  SE  quarter  SE  quarter  section  12,  town- 
ship 107,  range  65  as  designated  by  the  plats  shown  in  connection  with 
the  proposition  offered,  the  stone  with  which  to  build  the  buildings, 
granite,  limestone,  sandstone,  to  be  given  by  A.  B.  Smart  and  Mrs.  R. 
J.  Smart,  all  this  property  used  only  for  the  purpose  of  providing  the 
county  with  a  proper  set  of  county  buildings.  These  buildings  to  be 
built  as  soon  as  practicable  in  the  judgment  of  the  commissioners. 

Provided,  that  if  any  part  of  the  above  specified  gifts  are  ever  used 
lor  the  purpose  of  buying,  selling,  manufacturing  or  using  intoxicants 
as  a  beverage  or  in  any  way  helping  the  same,  then,  in  that  case,  such 
part  shall  revert  to  the  original  donor. 

January  26th  the  board  estimated  that  the  cost  of  running  the  county 
one  year  would  be  between  $500  and  $1000,  and  instructed  the  chairman 
and  clerk  to  see  what  arrangements  could  be  made  to  get  banks  or  indi- 
viduals to  cash  warrants  for  current  expenses.  Though  no  arrangement 
was  perfected,  it  is  probable  that  the  eft'ort  kept  the  county  warrants 
at  a  reasonable  discount. 

The  board  now  began  to  look  about  for  a  building  to  be  used  by  the 
register  of  deeds  for  an  office,  and  for  general  county  purposes.  The 
chairman  was  authorized  to  receive  sealed  bids  for  the  construction  of 
a  building  12x20  feet  in  size,  with  8  foot  ceiling. 

On  Feb.  4th  the  first  petition  for  civil  township  organization  was 
presented  by  a  number  of  the  voters  of  township  108 — 65.  The  petition 
was  filed  and  never  heard  of  again. 

An  order  made  by  the  commissioners  on  the  5th  day  of  February 
established  the  road  districts  of  the  county  to  correspond  in  size  and 
number  with  the  school  townships  and  appointed  road  overseers  for  the 
different  districts  as  follows : 

No.  I— J.  M.  Corbin. 
No.  2 — E.  S.  Waterbury. 
No.  3^Wm.  Niemeyer. 
No  4— Jeff  Sickler. 
No.   5 — ^Mark  Williams. 
No.  6 — Elliott  L.  Sawyer. 
No  7— C.  W.  Hill. 
No.  8— H.  Blowers. 
No.  9— T.  K.  Ford. 
No.  10 — Isaac   Pearce. 
No.  II — Sever  Starkey. 
No.  12 — Nicholas  Steichen, 


87 

As  the  time  for  the  school  township  election  approached  the  matter 
of  providing  for  it  occupied  the  attention  of  the  board.  Twelve  ballot 
boxes  were  ordered  made  and  distributed  to  the  various  precincts.  Bal- 
lots also  were  ordered  printed  and  paid  for  by  the  county.  No  one 
seemed  to  think  but  that  the  county  having  ordered  the  election  and 
furnished  the  boxes,  was  logically  bound  to  provide  the  ballots.  So 
McDonald  &  Bateman  were  paid  five  dollars  to  print  looo  ballots  3x4 
inches  in  size  containing  the  following  printed   form : 

For  Name 


For   Director 

For    Clerk  — 

For    Treasurer  

They  had  no  thought  that  they  were  applying  the  fundamental  prin- 
ciple of  a  system  that  in  a  few  years  would  be  in  use  throughout  the 
nation. 

The  cattle  industry  of  the  county  had  by  this  time  become  so  im- 
portant that  the  stockgrowers  desired  the  appointment  of  a  branding  com- 
mittee. The  board  named  R.  S.  Vessey,  Joseph  O'Brien  and  the  register 
of  deeds,  who  entered  upon  their  duties  at  once. 

During  this  day's  session,  Feb.  5th,  the  first  negative  vote  by  a  mem- 
ber of  the  board  was  cast  by  the  chairman  on  the  proposition  to  instruct 
the  deputy  register  of  deeds  to  transcribe  records  of  the  commissioners' 
proceedings  into  the  book  procured  by  the  county  for  that  purpose.  The 
motion  carried  by  the  vote  of  the  other  members  of  the  board. 

At  this  time  there  was  located  on  the  ground  now  occupied  by  the 
Oliver  hotel,  a  small  building,  about  14x20  feet  in  size,  built  by  private 
subscription  in  the  summer  of  1883  for  school  purposes.  This  building 
was  oflfered  to  the  county  at  cost  by  the  builders  on  the  5th  day  of 
February,  1884.  On  the  6th  the  commisioners  closed  a  deal  for  the 
structure  and  the  school  which  was  then  in  progress  was  moved  to  the 
residence  of  Hiram  Blowers,  a  short  distance  northeast  of  town.  This 
was  the  first  building  owned  by  Jerauld  county  and  since  then  no  rent 
has  been  paid  for  court  room,  or  offices  for  public  officials. 

On  the  same  day  a  resolution  introduced  by  Mr.  Melcher  was 
Jidopted  unanimously  that  no  saloon  license  should  be  issued  during  the 
existence  of  that  board.  The  same  policy  was  pursued  by  each  succeed- 
ing board  until  1887,  and  has  been  the  general  policy  of  the  county  ever 
since.  The  prevailing  sentiment  of  this  people  has  been  that  any  com- 
munity that  depends  for  its  prosperity  upon  the  establishment  of  resorts 
of  vice  and  crime,  has  something  inately  wrong  in  its  make-up. 


Chapter  6. 

The  register  of  deeds  moved  into  the  school  hhouse  immediately  after 
its  purshace  by  the  commissioners  and  on  the  19th  day  af  February, 
1884,  the  board  held  its  first  meeting  there.  This  meeting  was  a  special 
one  called  by  the  county  clerk  for  the  purpose  of  appointing  a  surveyor, 
Mr.  McFarlane  having  declined  the  position. 

The  next  day,  the  20th,  on  the  motion  of  Mr.  Melcher,  H.  J.  Wallace 
was  given  the  appointment. 

The  next  meeting  of  the  board  was  on  March  5th  for  the  purpose  of 
canvassing  the  returns  of  the  elections  held  in  the  various  townships  on 
the  23rd  of  February.  The  following  is  the  result  in  the  various  town- 
ships : 

No.  I. — Director,  W.  S.  Scofield;  clerk,  J.  M.  Corbin;  treasurer,  Am- 
brose Baker.  All  the  officers  were  elected  without  opposition.  Name, 
Marlar,  13;  Rock,  8.  The  township  was  named  in  honor  of  Wm.  Marlar, 
one  of  the  first  settlers  in  the  township. 

No.  2. —  (The  board  made  the  following  minutes) :  The  election  was 
declared  void  on  account  of  returns,  showing  that  Henry  E.  Merwin  had 
served  both  as  judge  and  clerk  of  election;  also  the  returns  show  that 
there  is  a  tie  in  the  choice  of  name  for  the  township  and  by  affidavits 
received  at  this  office  the  clerk  elect  in  township  No.  2  was  not  eligible. 
Therefore  the  board  desires  that  the  people  settle  these  questions. 

No.  3. — J.  A.  Riegal  and  D.  B.  Paddock  each  received  five  votes,  but 
Paddock  declined  and  Riegal  qualified  as  director;  clerk,  H.  A.  Frick; 
treasurer,  J.  Long.  Name,  Lake  ,5;  May,  2;  Alexander,  2 ;  Banner,  i; 
Freemont,  i. 

No.  4. — Director,  O.  O.  England;  clerk,  Wm.  Murphy;  treasurer, 
C.  G.  Smith.  Name,  Harmony,  12;  Richland,  5;  Clyde,  i.  The  name 
was  proposed  by  J.  H.  Shepard,  who  at  that  time  had  a  pre-emption  resi- 
dence on  the  northwest  quarter  of  section  ten  of  that  township  (108 — - 
66).  Quite  a  little  friction  had  developed  among  the  settlers  of  that 
precinct  in  which  lived  a  good  many  Quakers.  The  name  "Harmony" 
appealed  to  their  love  of  peace  and  good  will  and  most  of  them  cast  their 
votes  accordingly.  It  was  afterward  learned  that  Mr.  Shepard  had 
proposed  the  name  in  honor  of  his  home  postoffice  in  Chautauqua  county. 
New  York. 

No.  5. — Director,  1.  Byam ;  clerk,  B.  R.  Shimp;  treasurer,  Samuel 
Marlenee.  Name,  Pleasant  Valley,  15;  Maud,  10;  Minnie  Todd,  3; 
Todd,  I ;  Minnie,  i ;  Columbia,  i ;  Excelsior,  i.  The  township  was  named 
"Pleasant  Valley"  because  of  the  fact  that  it  lies  across  one  of  the  most 
beautiful   and    fertile   valleys    in   the    whole   territory.       The     territorial 


89 

auditor,  when  the  name  was  certified  to  him,  rejected  it  as  too  long,  and 
the  board  struck  off  the  word  "Valley"  and  christened  the  township 
"Pleasant,"  by  which  name  it  has  since  been  officially  known. 

No.  6. — Director,  Joseph  O'Brien;  clerk,  B.  F.  Jones;  treasurer,  Z. 
S.  Moulton.     Name,  Custer,  23;  Crow  Lake,  15. 

No.  7. — Director,  W.  T.  Hay;  clerk,  G.  W.  Bartow;  treasurer,  E. 
W.  Chapman.  Name,  Dale,  29;  Chery,  14.  The  name  was  suggested 
by  Andrew  Mercer,  who  with  several  other  settlers  had  met  at  the 
residence  of  H.  J.  Wallace  on  the  morning  of  the  election  to  talk  mat- 
ters over.  During  the  talk  a  little  boy  in  knee  pants  was  playing  about 
the  house.  Mercer  inquired  the  name  of  the  boy.  Being  informed  that 
it  was  "Dale"  he  remarked,  "Boys,  that's  a  good  name  for  our  town- 
ship," and  the  name  was  adopted.  The  boy  was  Dale  C.  Wallace,  after- 
ward treasurer  and  still  a  resident  of  Jerauld  county. 

No.  8.- — Director,  J.  N.  Cross ;  clerk,  Geo.  R.  Bateman ;  treasurer, 
Wm.  Hawthorne.     Name,  Wessington  Springs,  39;  Springs,   i. 

The  name  was  derived  from  the  famous  springs  that  flow  from  the 
foot  of  the  hills.  Who  named  the  springs  is  not  known.  Wessington 
was  a  trapper  who  visited  the  hills  and  was  killed  in  1862  by  the  Indiaiis 
in  the  grove  by  the  big  spring.  Mr.  Cross,  after  qualifying  resigned  and 
on  the  24th  of  April  Mr.  Hazard  appointed  K.  S.  Starkey  in  his  place. 

No.  9. — Director,  Samuel  Moore ;  clerk,  Wm.  R.  Day ;  treasurer, 
Chas.  Walters.  Name,  Viola,  22;  Butler,  19;  Sabrina,  i.  The  name 
adopted  was  in  honor  of  Mrs.  Viola  Moss,  a  sister  of  Rev.  J.  N.  Smith. 

No.  10. — Director,  Walt  Suerth;  clerk,  Rueben  J.  Eastman;  treasurer, 
L.  N.  Loomis.  Name,  Alpena,  51;  Newside,  3;  Newark,  i.  The  town- 
ship was  named  from  the  village  located  there. 

No.  II. — Director,  Joseph  Doctor;  clerk,  David  M.  Black;  treasurer, 
W.  P.  Pierce.  Name,  Franklin,  27.  The  name  is  in  honor  of  Mr.  L.  E. 
Franklin,  one  of  the  early  settlers. 

No.  12. — Director,  A.  I.  Churchill;  clerk,  O.  A.  Knudtson ;  treasurer, 
Joseph  Steichen.     Name,  Lincoln,  51;  Washington,  2;  Black,  i. 

After  completing  the  canvass  of  the  returns  the  board  of  commis- 
sioners ordered  a  new  election  for  district  No.  2,  to  be  held  on  the  i8th 
of  March,  1884,  but  made  no  appointment  of  officers  of  election.  Polling 
place  again  designated  as  Herring  &  Rice's  store  in  the  town  of  Wa- 
terbury. 

Another  special  session  of  the  board  was  held  on  the  27th  day  of 
March  for  the  purpose  of  settling  with  C.  J.  Anderson,  register  of 
Aurora  county,  who  had  been  employed  by  the  board  to  transcribe  the 
records  of  Jerauld  county  property  from  the  books  of  Aurora   county 


go 

into  the  Jerauld  county  books.  The  work  was  accepted  and  Mr.  Ander- 
son was  given  a  warrant  for  $440.85. 

By  April  8th  five  separate  petitions  had  been  received  by  the  register 
of  deeds,  from  people  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  county,  asking  for  re- 
organization of  their  school  townships  on  the  lines  of  congressional  town- 
ships. It  was  apparent  that  the  plan  adopted  by  the  board  was  not  at 
all  satisfactory  and  so  the  petitions  w^ere  granted  and  the  following  order 
was  made: 

"The  nine  school  townships  east  of  the  line  between  ranges  65  and 
66  be  made  into  nine  school  townships,  according  to  congressional  lines, 
except  8  and  14,  and  numbered  as  follows : 

No.  13  shall  be  township  108 — 65. 

No.  14  shall  be  107 — 65  less  the  part  given  to  8. 

No.  15  shall  be  106 — 65. 

The  other  six  townships  east  will  retain  their  names  and  numbers  and 
the  superintendent  will  fill  the  vacancies  according  to  law,  as  they  may 
occur. 

No.  8  shall  also  include  the  east  half  of  sections  i,  12  and  13  of 
107-65." 

A  special  school  township  election  was  ordered  for  No.  13,  14  and 
15,  to  be  held  April  26th,  1884,  to  elect  officers  and  select  names. 

The  following  judges  were  appointed  for  these  special  elections: 

No.  13— C.  W.  Hill,  P.  B.  Davis  and  H.  J.  Wallace.  Polling  place, 
residence  of  W.  N.  Hill. 

No.  14. — Conway  Thompson,  B.  G.  Cummings,  and  Charles  lianson. 
Polling  place,  residence  of  Charles  Beach. 

No.  15. — O.  F.  Kellogg,  N.  E.  Williams  and  Gordon  AIcDonald. 
Polling  place,  residence  of  Don  C.  Needham. 

On  the  same  day,  April  8th,  it  being  found  necessary  to  fix  the  salary 
of  the  county  superintendent,  an  order  was  made  giving  that  officer  a 
salary  of  $200  per  year  and  paying  him  for  work  that  he  should  do, 
besides. 

The  returns  from  the  second  special  election  in  school  township  No. 
2,  held  on  March  i8th,  having  been  received,  the  board  counted  the 
votes  and  declared  the  following  result : 

Director,  Henry  Herring;  clerk,  Wm.  Austin;  tjreasurer,  W.  .F. 
Ponsford.  Name,  Crow,  21 ;  Buffalo,  4 :  Waterbuy,  3 ;  Spring  Vale,  i  ; 
Pleasant  Vale,  i. 

The  name  was  derived  from  the  creek  that  flows  across  the  township. 

Probably  because  of  some  possible  error  in  the  election,  all  of  the 
above  named  officers  were  appointed  to  their  positions  by  the  county 
superintendent,  May  27th,  1884. 


91 

Chapter  7. 

The  -county  organization  had  now  been  in  existence  three  months  and 
the  machinery  was  in  fair  working  order.  Nearly  all  the  officers  had 
been  appointed  and  qualified.  On  April  9th  J.  O.  Gray,  J.  P.,  residing 
in  Alpena  township,  made  the  first  quarterly  report  one  case,  and  a  fine 
of  $1.00  collected.  This  was  the  only  money  collected  in  court  for  dis- 
obedience of  the  law,  that  year,  and  in  fact  the  justices  of  the  peace  of 
the  county  have  not  in  all  the  25  years  of  the  county's  existence  imposed 
fines  enough  payable  to  the  county  to  pay  for  the  books  bought  for  their 
use  by  the  county,  during  its  first  year. 

At  this  session  D.  W.  Spaulding  of  Brule  county,  presented  his  bill 
for  transcribing  the  records  from  that  county  for  the  part  of  Buffalo  that 
had  been  annexed  to  Jerauld.  The  amount  was  only  $15.75.  The  records 
were  now  all  "at  home,"  but  unprotected  against  fire.  The  commis- 
sioners realized  the  necessity  for  a  safe  place  in  which  to  store  the 
records.  A  safe  was  purchased  and  Commissioner  Smart  employed  to 
bring  it  to  Wessington  Springs  from  Huron.  The  board  was  urged  to 
select  a  permanent  location  for  the  county  buildings  and  proceed  with 
the  erection  of  a  court  house  with  vaults  at  once.  Numerous  proposals 
had  been  received  and  more  offers  were  made.  In  one  case  the  county 
was  offered  land  to  the  amount  of  five  thousand  dollars  if  the  court 
house  should  be  located  on  the  tract  offered.  Of  course,  the  commis- 
sioner scould  do  nothing  about  a  final  location  of  the  buildings  until 
after  the  November  election,  at  which  time  the  county  seat  would  be 
permanently  fixed. 

Four  candidates  for  the  location  of  the  county  seat  were  before  the 
people,  Wessington  Springs,  Templeton,  Waterbury  and  Crow  Lake.  Mr. 
Ingham,  who  had  purchased  Mr.  Dunham's  interest  in  the  Jerauld 
County  News,  moved  the  paper  to  the  Templeton  postoffice  and  be^an 
urging  that  location  for  the  seat  of  county  government. 

In  the  spring  Mr.  Ingham  sold  the  paper  to  J.  E.  McNamara,  of 
Rock  Rapids,  Iowa,  a  man  of  considerable  ability  as  a  writer.  The 
greatest  drawback  to  the  Templeton  candidacy  was  the  want  of  water.  All 
the  water  for  use  at  the  postoffice,  store,  and  dwelling  had  to  be  drawn 
nearly  a  mile  from  a  well  near  the  south  line  of  the  section  on  M.  D. 
Crow's  homesetad.  Mr.  J.  N.  Cross,  the  owner  of  the  Templeton  quarter 
section — the  NE  of  7 — 107 — 65,  made  almost  frantic  efforts  to  find 
water.  D.  O.  Hewitt,  who  owned  a  well  augur,  bored  several  holes  a 
hundred  feet  deep  and  Wm.  Skinner  and  Joe  Collier,  with  carefully 
selected  twigs,  "witched"  for  water,  but  of  no  avail.  All  the  holes 
were  dry. 


92 

As  a  last  resort  the  advocates  of  Templeton  for  county  seat  abandoned 
that  place  and  had  a  town  surveyed  on  the  SW  of  24  in  township  107 
— 66,  which  they  named  Lyndale,  in  honor  of  the  man  who  permitted 
them  to  offer  his  farm  for  county  honors.  The  Jerauld  County  News 
was  moved  to  the  new  location  and  Mr.  H.  A.  Robinson  of  Logan  town- 
ship, put  up  a  store  building  and  opened  a  small  dry  goods  and  grocery 
store.  The  people  were  small  in  numbers  but  great  in  enthusiasm.  Had 
the  people  of  the  west  side  been  united  the  result  might  have  been  dif- 
ferent, but  with  three  candidates  in  the  two  west  tiers  of  townships  the 
contest  could  hardly  be  a  successful  one. 

In  view  of  all  the  county  seat  agitation  it  was  idle  to  think  of  locating 
the  county  buildings  until  after  the  people  had  decided  the  matter. 

In  the  meantime  the  commissioners  and  the  newly  appointed  officers 
went  ahead  with  the  county  affairs. 

The  two  officers  upon  whom  fell  the  most  arduous  labors  were  the 
assessor  and  school  superintindent.  The  latter  was  untiring  in  his  efforts 
to  perfect  the  school  system  of  the  county.  The  tow^nships  had  to  be 
organized,  the  officers  instructed  in  their  duties,  under  a  system  new  to 
them,  as  well  as  to  the  county  superintendent,  bonds  were  issued,  school 
houses  built,  teachers  examined,  schools  supplied  and  opened  and  a 
thousand  unmentioned  little  things  that  enter  into  the  duties  of  that  office, 
even  in  normal  condition,  multiplied  incessantly  in  the  establishment  of 
an  entirely  new  system.  Add  to  all  this  the  many  neighborhoor  quarrels 
over  school  locations  and  the  employment  of  teachers  that  were  sure  to 
bring  upon  him  the  censure  of  all  but  one  faction,  if  he  interfered,  and 
of  all,  if  he  did  not,  the  criticisms  of  political  rivals  and  factions — for 
politics  was  "red  hot"  in  those  days — and  only  the  experienced  can 
even  imagine  the  trials  Mr.  Hazard  encountered. 

'  During  the  fore  part  of  May,  1884,  Mr.  Wilson  appointed  as  deputy 
assessors,  B.  F.  Gough,  of  106 — 64;  M.  D.  Crow  of  Media,  and  George 
G.  Strong,  of  107 — 66.  Every  quarter  section  was  visited,  all  improve- 
ments inspected,  town  lots  examined  and  a  valuation,  necessarily  arbi- 
trary, placed  upon  all.  The  work  was  done  and  the  records  of  the  equali- 
zation board  show  less  of  complaints  than  any  other  assessment  in  the 
life  of  the  county. 

At  the  April  session,  1884,  the  board  fixed  the  compensation  of  the 
register  of  deeds  for  performing  the  duties  of  county  clerk,  now 
called  county  auditor,  at  $200  per  year. 


93 

Chapter  8. 

One  of  the  greatest  troubles  of  all  countries,  new  or  old,  is  the 
roads  and  of  this  the  first  board  of  Jerauld  county  commissioners  had 
their  share.  It  was  the  desire  of  this  body  of  men  to  plan  and  carry  out 
a  system  of  highways.  Mr.  Smart  remarked  that  all  roads  should  "lead 
to  Rome."  Mr.  Melcher  responded  that  "Crow  Lake  is  as  much  Rome 
as  Wessington  Springs."  The  result  of  this  undercurrent  of  strife  be- 
tween the  two  commissioners  was  that  two  systems  were  started,  having 
two  central  points  in  the  county.  Mr.  Fischer  was  satisfied  if  he  could 
get  a  road  near  his  farm  in  107 — 63.  This  satisfied  Mr.  Smart,  for  it 
made  Wessington  Springs  the  west  end  of  that  road.  The  only  town 
in  Mr.  Fischer's  part  of  the  county  was  left  to  get  on  as  best  it  could 
without  official  representation  on  the  county  board. 

The  road  district  overseers  that  had  been  appointed  on  the  5th  of 
February  had  done  nothing  because  of  a  misconception  of  the  law  then 
existing,  that  section  lines  were  not  highways  until  so  declared  by  the 
county  commissioners.  By  the  time  the  board  met  in  April  the  melting 
snow,  full-running  streams  and  numerous  water  holes  over  the  county, 
caused  a  deluge  of  petitions  for  established  roads  and  bridges. 

The  bridge  authorized  on  the  second  day  of  the  first  session  of  the 
board,  Nov.  10,  1883,  had  been  built  and  short  approaches  made,  but  it 
was  found  that  in  that  case  as  in  nearly  all  others  the  building  of  a 
bridge,  while  essential,  is  but  a  small  part  of  the  work  necessary  to  a  good 
crossing  of  a  stream.  A  high  hill,  or  bank,  on  the  east  side  of  the  Fire- 
steel  creek  must  be  cut  down  and  a  long  stretch  of  turnpike  made  on  the 
west  side. 

On  the  8th  day  of  April,  1884,  the  commissioners  appointed  Wm. 
Hawthorne,  Elza  J.  Meutzer  and  J.  M.  Corbin  viewers  to  report  on  the 
most  practicable  route  for  a  road  from  Wessington  Springs  to  Water- 
bury.  The  county  surveyor  was  ordered  to  find  the  most  practicable 
place  for  a  crossing  of  the  Firesteel  creek.  The  next  day  Messrs.  Mel- 
cher and  Fischer,  with  Surveyor  Wallace,  Sheriff  Spears,  Postmaster 
Barrett,  E.  B.  Orr  and  Silas  Kinney  went  to  the  Firesteel  and  examined 
the  section  hue  between  sections  14  and  23,  where  bridge  No.  i  had 
already  been  constructed.  There  they  met  Messrs.  Nave,  Haven  and 
Rumberger,  from  the  Woonsocket  board  of  trade.  They  found  bridge 
No.  I  surrounded  with  water,  but  unapproachable  because  of  the  soft 
condition  of  the  water-soaked  approaches.  After  floundering  through  the 
mud  and  water  on  this  line  they  examined  the  one  a  mile  further  north. 
This  looked  as  bad  as  the  other  and  they  decided  to  do  nothing  until  the 
surveyor  had  submitted  his  report. 


94 

The  next  day  the  surveyor  was  ordered  to  survey  crossmgs  on  Sand 
Creek  on  the  line  leading  to  Alpena  from  the  west  between  section  i  and 
T2 — io8 — 64,  also  the  crossing  on  the  line  between  26  and  27 — 108 — 63, 
also  the  crossing  of  Long  Slough  between  sections  10  and  3 — loS- — 63. 
He  was  also  instructed  to  go  to'  106 — 66  (Crow  Lake)  and  survey  a 
crossing  of  Smith  creek  between  sections  26  and  27. 

On  May  ist  the  surveyor  reported  on  the  first  three  of  the  crossings. 
He  said  the  crossing  between  sections  i  and  12 — 108 — 64  required  a 
bridge  64  feet  long  and  would  cost  about  $275.  That  the  bridge  be- 
tween sections  26  and  ^j — 108 — 63  should  be  60  feet  long  and  would 
cost  about  the  same.  He  reported  that  in  the  long  slough  the  citizens 
had  already  put  up  a  bridge  twenty  feet  in  length,  but  that  890  cubic 
yards  of  grading  was  needed. 

The  3rd  of  June  the  board  had  another  meeting  at  which  on  motion 
of  Mr.  Melcher,  Messrs.  Smart  and  Fischer  were  appointed  a  committee 
to  examine  the  proposed  Sand  creek  crossings,  and  intermediate  points, 
to  report  at  the  July  meeting.  There  is  no  record  of  any  report  having 
been  made,  except  to  number  the  bridge  between  10  and  11 — 108^ — 63  as 
No.  8.  On  July  loth  O.  F.  Woodruff,  who  owned  a  farm  on  the  south 
side  of  Sand  creek,  appeared  before  the  board  and  urged  the  immediate 
construction  of  the  bridges  across  that  stream  in  accordance  with  the 
numerous  petitions  that  had  been  filed. 

A  few  days  later,  July  i6th,  Commissioner  Fischer  was  authorized 
to  build  two  bridges  across  Sand  creek,  one  between  sections  i  and  12 — 
108 — 64  to  cost  not  to  exceed  $100,  and  one  on  the  line  between  sections 
20  and  21  to  cost  not  to  exceed  $150.  He  was  also  authorized  to  put  in 
a  bridge  across  the  Firesteel  on  the  line  between  sections  26  and  35 — 
106 — 64,  to  cost  not  over  $100. 

The  greater  part  of  the  July  session  was  devoted  to  the  subject  of 
roads  and  bridges.  ]\Iany  section  lines  were  declared- highways  and 
some  were  vacated,  some  of  the  "legal  advisers'"  of  whom  the  board  had 
many,  contending  that  all  section  lines  had  been  made  highways  by  acts 
of  congress  and  the  territorial  legislature.  In  106 — 67  (Logan)  the  fol- 
lowing lines  were  vacated :  Commencing  at  the  quarter  stake  between 
sections  33  and  34  running  north  one  and  one-half  mile  to  the  northwest 
corner  of  section  27;  also  commencing  at  the  southwest  corner  of  section 
28,  running  east  one  and  one-quarter  miles.  In  lieu  of  the  highway  so 
vacated  a  new  one  was  established  as  follows :  Commencing  at  the  south- 
east corner  of  section  33,  running  north  one-half  mile  to  the  quarter 
stake  between  sections  33  and  34,  thence  east  one-quarter  mile,  thence 
north  on  the  80  rod  line  and  one  and  one-half  miles  to  the  intersection 
with  the  east  and  west  road. 


95 

With  reference  to  the  highways  in  township  io6 — 66  it  was  ordered 
tl.iat  "all  roads  leading  from  Crow  Lake  shall  start  at  low  water  mark/' 

On  the  i6th  of  July  the  viewers  of  the  Waterbury  road  having  re- 
jiorted,  the  following  record  was  made :  "On  motion  the  report  of  the 
road  viewers  on  road  from  Wessington  Springs  to  Waterbury  was  ac- 
cepted and  a  road,  66  feet  in  width,  ordered  established."  This  does  not 
seem  to  have  settled  the  matter,  however,  for  a  year  later,  July  9th,  1885, 
we  find  the  county  commissioners  again  considering  the  best  route  for 
a  road  over  the  Wessington  hills. 

On  July  7th,  1884,  the  board  made  an  order  making  the  boundaries 
of  road  districts  identical  with  the  school  townships  and  appointing 
overseers  as  follows : 

Franklin — A.  L.  Eager. 
Anina — S.  S.  Moore. 
Logan — A.    S.    Fordham. 
Chery— W.  N.  Hill. 
Dale — Francis  Eastman. 
Blaine— J.  M.  Wheeler. 
Media — B.  F.  Swatman. 


Chapter  9. 

The  returns  having  been  received  from  the  special  election  held  April 
26th,  1884,  in  the  three  school  townships  numbered  13.  14  and  15  (Chery, 
Media  and  Anina)  the  board  on  the  ist  of  May  resolved  itself  into  a 
canvassing  board.     The  results  in  the  dififerent  townships  was : 

No.  13 — 

Director— C.  W.  Hill. 

Clerk— P.  B.  Davis. 

Treasurer — Michael  Schaefer. 

Name — Chery,  17;  Turtle  Valley,  15.  The  name  was  in  honor  of  Mr. 
C.  M.  Chery,  a  veteran  of  the  civil  war,  one  of  the  early  settlers  of  the 
township  and  a  man  respected  by  all  who  knew  him. 

No.  14 — 

Director — A.  S.  Beals, 

Clerk — E.  L.  DeLine. 

Treasurer — Theo. '  Dean. 

Name — Center,   12;  Emma,   10;  Templeton,  2. 


96 

No.  15— 

Director — Orzo  Kellogg. 

Clerk — ^Alonzo  Cady. 

Treasurer — S.  S.  Moore. 

Name — No   choice.      Four   votes   were   cast    for   "Butler,"    four     for 

"Prospect"  and  one  for  .     This  result  placed  the  duty  of  naming 

the  township  upon  the  county  commissioners.  When  the  matter  was 
brought  up  the  next  day  Commissioner  Melcher  remarked,  "Four  and 
four  make  eight  and  one  is  nine,  let's  name  it  Anina." 

The  naming  of  townships  was  again  before  the  board  on  the  /th  of 
July.  The  territorial  auditor  to  whom  the  names  had  been  certified,  had 
for  various  reasons  rejected  several  and  the  commissioners  were  in- 
structed to  substitute.  They  named  106 — 66  Crow  Lake,  instead  of 
Custer;  107 — 66  Pleasant,  instead  of  Pleasant  A^alley ;  106 — 67  Blaine, 
instead  of  Lincoln ;  106 — 67  Logan,  instead  of  Lake :  107 — 65  ]\fedia, 
instead  of  Center. 

Thereafter  the  townships  of  the  county  were  referred  to  by  their 
names  instead  of  numbers  in  official  proceedings. 

In  the  summer  of  1883  John  Lawton  settled  on  the  NW  quarter  of 
section  20,  in  Harmony  township.  With  him  was  his  wife  and  five  chil- 
dren. In  the  fore  part  of  April,  1884,  several  members  of  the  family 
were  taken  ill.  The  disease  soon  developed  into  diphteria.  The  house 
was  the  ordinary  claim  shanty,  everywhere  found  in  those  days  and  the 
means  of  caring  for  the  sick  were  extremely  limited.  Because  of  the 
dangers  of  spreading  the  terrible  contagion  the  neighbors  shrank  from 
visiting  them.  Almost  alone  and  unaided  the  mother  saw  her  husband 
and  children  sicken  and  die.  A  young  man  named  Anson  Beals,  living 
on  the  NW  of  section  30,  of  the  same  township,  with  a  courage  that 
won  the  admiration  of  all,  gave  his  entire  time  to  caring  for  the  stricken 
family.  He  cared  for  the  living  and  buried  the  dead.  When  the  malady 
had  run  its  course  five  new  made  graves,  but  a  short  distance  from  the 
shanty,  marked  the  resting  place  of  as  many  members  of  the  family. 
May  1st,  the  matter  being  brought  to  the  attention  of  the  board  of  com- 
missioners, Mr.  Fischer  and  Sherifif  Spears  were  appointed  a  committee 
to  investigate  the  case  and  make  report.  They  reported  on 
the  9th  that  they  had  inspected  the  premisses  and  found  that 
all  of  the  members  of  the  family  were  dead  but  two.  Mrs. 
Lawton  and  one  little  girl  had  escaped  the  disease.  They  had  instructed 
Anson  Beals  to  burn  the  building  and  contents,  Avhich  had  been  done. 
They  estimated  the  property  to  be  worth  $50.  The  board  issued  a  war- 
rant to  Mrs.  Lawton  to  compensate  her  for  the  loss  of  the  property. 
At  the  special  session  on  the  2nd  of  June,  1884,  the  board  ordered  a  war- 


97 

rant  for  $35  drawn  "in  favor  of  Anson  Beals  as  a  partial  recognition  of 
his  heroic  services  in  caring  for  the  Lawton  family"  and  on  Nov.  14 
following  the  board  rebated  his  tax  for  that  year  for  the  same  reason. 
Neither  the  warrant  nor  the  rebating  taxes  was  intended  as  compensation 
for  an  act  of  such  unselfish  heroism,  but  only  as  an  expression  of  the 
appreciation  by  the  public  of  what  the  young  man  had  done. 

On  June  4th  the  commissioners  appointed  a  board  of  insanity,  com- 
posed of  H.  M.  Rice,  probate  judge;  A.  M.  Mathias,  physician,  and  M. 
C.  Ayers,  lawyer.  The  appointment  of  this  board  was  occasioned  by 
the  mental  derangement  of  Emer  Berjelland  of  Blaine  township. 


Chapter  10. 

One  of  the  most  important  sessions  in  the  history  of  the  first  board 
was  the  one  which  began  on  the  7th  day  of  July.  In  addition  to  road 
and  bridge  matters  that  occupied  so  much  of  their  attention,  the  com- 
missioners had  before  them  the  work  of  equalizing  the  assessment  of 
the  county. 

The  board  of  equalization  was  formed  on  the  second  day  of  the 
session,  Mr.  Smart  continuing  as  chairman.  The  first  act  of  the  new 
board  was  to  exempt  from  taxation  the  property  of  Lettie  Berjelland, 
whose  husband  had  become  insane. 

Much  of  the  land  was  still  held  under  homestead  pre-emption  or 
timber  culture  entries  and  was  not  assessable.  In  the  four  villages  of 
^the  county  the  most  of  the  lots  shown  by  the  recorded  plats  were  held 
by  the  townsite  owners.  In  Wessington  Springs,  at  the  time  of  assess- 
ment, but  60  lots  had  been  sold,  the  balance  being  assessed  to  Scott. 
Burr,  Bowen  and  Barrett. 

In  Alpena  but  30  lots  had  been  sold,  the  remainder  standing  in  the 
name  of  the  C.  M.  &  St.  P.  Ry. 

In  Waterbury  32  lots  had  been  sold,  all  the  others  being  assessed 
to  E.  S.  and  D.  H.  Waterbury. 

Sulphur  Spring  was  all  assessed  to  Burrpee,  Miller  and  Cooley,  the 
townsite  company,  except  five  lots  that  had  been  sold. 

The  highest  assessments  in  Alpena  on  town  lots  were  on  two  lots, 
$350  each ;  one  being  lot  7,  block  8,  owned  by  the  railway  company,  and 
the  other  lot  14,  in  block  3,  owned  by  F.  W.  Whitney. 

In  Wessington  Springs  the  highest  assessment  on  a  single  lot  was 
$625  on  lot  16,  block  9,  owned  by  Sarah  L.  Barrett.  Lots  12,  13  and  14 
in  block  11.  ow^ned  bv  L.  H.  Tarbell,  were  assessed  together  at  $2300. 


98 

The  highest  valuation  put  by  the  assessor  upon  single  lots  in  Water- 
bury  was  on  lots  17  and  18  in  block  3,  both  owned  by  H.  M.  Rice. 
Two  hundred  and  thirty  dollars  on  the  hotel  property,  lot  8,  in  block 

6,  owned  by  C.  A.  Conrad  and  R.  A.  Wheeler,  was  the  highest  real 
estate  assessment  in  Sulphur  Springs. 

In  the  various  townships  of  the  county  the  highest  valuations  were 
as  follows: 

In  Alpena  township  the  following  lands  were  valued  at  $600  each : 

Edward  Barnes,  NE  of  14. 

Fred  Gewald,  SE  of  14. 

James  Gregory,  N  %  of  SE  15. 

Dan  A.  McKay,  NW  of  24. 

Isaac  Pearce,  SE  of  24. 

Blaine — NE  of  17,  $900,  tax  $27.27,  owned  by  John  Ahlers. 

Franklin — SE  of  14,  $650,  tax  $9.95.  owned  by  Andrew  Hessdorfer. 

Viola — NE  of  30,  $1135,  tax  $40.07,  owned  by  J.  A.  Tyner. 

Wessington  Springs— NW  of  SW  W  half  of  NW  and  NE  of  NW  of 

7,  $1,000,  tax  $35.30,  owned  by  Harmon  E.  Clendening. 

Dale — 21  quarters  were  assessed  at  $500  each,  the  tax  was  $22.65 
per  quarter. 

Anina — SE  of   18,  $1,000,  tax  $30.30,  owned  by  Joseph  Motl. 

Media — NE  of  7,  $2600,  tax,  $73.58,  owned  by  J.  N.  Cross. 

Chery — NE  of  19,  $563,  tax,  $14.26,  owned  by  Helen  L.  Thomas. 

Crow  Lake— N  half  SW  and  N  half  SE  of  23,  $1500,  tax,  $22.95, 
owned  by  Vauren  Dusek. 

Pleasant— SW  of  18,  owned  by  J.  M.  Maxwell.  $950,  and  N^^■  of 
23,  by  J.  E.  Sullivan.     Tax  on  each  $28.79. 

Harmony — NW  18,  $472,  tax  $7.21,  owned  by  Robert  D.  Titcomb. 

Logan — SW  5,  $652,  tax  $18.45,  owned  by  James  H.  Young. 

Crow — SE  28,  $723,  tax  $25.50,  owned  by  F.  Merwin. 

Marlar^ — SW  25,  $510,  tax  $12.91,  owned  by  J.  W.  Lamb. 

The  total  valuation  in  the  various  townships  was  as  follows : 

Per.  Prop.  Real  Prop.  Total 

Blaine 19,647  18,590  38.237 

Viola 22,522  12,825  35>347 

Anina 19,013  5o50  24.563 

Crow  Lake 12.874  23,025  35-899 

Logan 1 1,434  24,527  35,961 

Franklin 16,282  lo.ooo  26,682 

Wessington  Springs '2.2,'j:sii  27,590  ^<^-2,2t, 


HoSo 

30.154 

7,934 

25,863 

11,474 

27,194 

27,976 

47-729 

13,850 

23742 

21,437 

40,166 

8,617 

18,252 

4,217 

13,919 

99 

Media  .  .  .   .' : 15.574 

Pleasant 17,929 

Crow 1 5,720 

Alpena 19,753 

Dale 8,892 

Chery 18,729 

Harmony 9,605 

Marlar 9,702 

Totals 241,809  2T^2,22.2  474,031 

The  assessors'  returns  showed   1,1 11   voters   in  the  county. 

The  record  shows  that  in  Logan,  Crow,  Marlar,  Harmony  and  Chery 
the  board  reduced  the  valuation  of  land  owned  by  non-residents  10  per 
cent  and  that  owned  by  residents  20  per  cent. 

On  July  1 2th  the  board  settled  with  the  treasurer  and  made  the  fol- 
lowing report : : 

Receipts. 

Amount  received  from  Ter.  Treas.  tax  on  C.  M.  &  St.  P.  R..  .  $26.7 r 
By  J.  O.  Gray,  J.  P.  fine  collected i.oo 


Total - $27.71 

Expenditures. 

Amt.  paid  on  warrant,  No.  i    $6.34 

Treas.  fees i-io 


Total $7-44 


Balance  on  hand $20.27' 

On  the  first  day  of  Sept.,  1884,  the  board  fixed  the  rate  of  taxation 
for  the  county  as  follows : 

Road  fund,  2  mills. 

Bridge  fund,  2  mills. 

County  school  fund,  2  mills. 

Ordinary  county  fund,  6  mills. 

Total,  12  mills. 

The  Territorial  tax  had  been  already  levied  by  the  territorial  officer-, 
the  amount  being  3I/2  mills. 

Anina  township  filed  a  petition  on  the  2nd  of  September,  asking  for 
civil  township  government.     It  was  referred  and  never  heard  of  again. 


lOO 

On  Sept.  loth  the  board  fixed  the  polHng  places  and  appointed  the 
election  judges  for  the  first  general  election  in  the  county.  Again  there 
was  a  complete  change  in  the  boundaries  of  the  election  precincts.  The 
numbers  were  dropped  and  the  precincts  were  designated  by  the  names 
adopted  for  the  school  townships.  Each  precinct  was  named  from  the 
township  in  which  the  election  was  held.  For  this  election  the  precincts 
and  officers  were  as  follows : 

Blaine — and  all  of  \  iola  lying  east  of  Firesteel  creek,  at  residence  of 
Joseph  Steichen.  Judges,  J.  M.  Wheeler,  C.  C.  Wright  and  M.  W. 
Young. . 

Franklin' — and  all  of  Wessington  Springs,  lying  east  of  the  Firesteel 
creek,  at  residence  of  Wm.  Houmes.  Judges,  Owen  Williams,  Wm.  J. 
Houmes  and  W.  P.  Pierce. 

Alpena — At  F.  W.  ^Mlitney's  store.  Judges,  J.  O.  Gray,  Wm.  H. 
Arne  and  Chas.  Eastman. 

Mola — That  part  of  the  township  lying  west  of  the  Mresteel  creek, 
at  home  of  J.  N.  Smith.    Judges,  J.  N.  Smith,  B.  F.  Gough,  Jonas  Tyner. 

Wessington  Springs — All  that  part  of  the  township  lying  west  of  the 
Firesteel  creek,  also  the  east  one-half  of  sections  i,  12  and  13  of  Media 
and  all  that  part  of  Dale  township  lying  west  of  the  Firesteel  creek,  to 
be  held  at  the  court  house  (register  of  deeds  office)  in  Wessington 
Springs.     Judges,  Wm.  Hawthorne,  ^1.  C.  Ayers  and  E.  A'.  ]\Iiles. 

Dale — All  that  part  of  Dale  and  Chery  lying  east  of  the  Firesteel 
creek,  at  residence  of  A.  Alercer.  Judges,  A.  Mercer,  E.  A.  Palmer,  O. 
W.  Richardson. 

Anina — At  home  of  Ozro  Kellogg.  Judges,  A.  D.  Cady,  W.  R. 
Day. 

Media — All  except  that  part  given  to  Wesington  Springs,  at  home  of 
T.  A.  ]^IcGinnis.    Judges,  T.  A.  AIcGinnis,  Geo.  Bennett,  W.  L  Bateman. 

Chery — All  except  that  part  lying  east  of  Firesteel  creek,  at  home  of 
C.  W.  Hill.     Judges,  C.  W.  Hill,  J.  W.  McCullough,  C.  M.  Chery. 

Crow  Lake — At  home  of  L.  Deinderfer.  Judges,  Thos.  Henning. 
John  Conley,  B.  F.  Jones. 

Pleasant — At  home  of  O.  E.  Gaffin.  Judges,  O.  E.  Gaffin,  S.  Sower- 
wine,  John  E.   Sullivan. 

Harmony — At  home  of  L  N.  Rich.  Judges,  L  N.  Rich,  Wm.  Brim- 
ner,  J.  R.  Eddy. 

Logan — Home  of  H.  A.  Robinson.  Judges,  Wm.  Niemeyer,  A.  S. 
Fordham,  J.  B.  Long. 

Crow— At  office  of  A.  Remington  in  Waterbury.  Judges,  Wilber 
N.  Cross,  H.  E.  Merwin,  T.  E.  Herman. 


lOI 

Marlar— At  home  of  J.  J.  Groub.  Judges,  B.  F.  Alarlar.  J.  W. 
Lamb,  J.  J.  Groub. 

Acting  on  the  advice  of  the  attorney  general  of  the  Territory,  the 
board  on  the  6th  day  of  November  fixed  the  length  of  the  terms  of  their 
successors,  giving  the  one  receiving  the  highest  number  of  votes  the  three 
year  term;  next  two  years  and  the  lowest  one  year.  This  gave  Mr.  J. 
E.  Sullivan  the  long  term  and  Air.  Fischer  the  short  term. 

The  organization  of  the  county  was  now  complete.  Nothing  remained 
for  the  first  board  to  do.  On  the  3rd  day  of  January,  1885,  the  outgoing 
board  settled  with  the  treasurer  and  made  report  as  follows : 

Receipts. 
Taxes   collected    $622.39 

Expenditures. 

Receipts  and  warrants  redeemed $64.22 

Treas.  fees 24.89 

Total $89.11 

Cash  on  hand  .  .  .  .    $533-28 


Chapter  11. 

While  the  county  commissioners  were  striving  to  frame  a  county 
government  other  things  were  being  done  within  the  county  that  were 
of  at  least  equal  importance. 

On  the  28th  of  September,  1883,  a  meeting  had  been  held  at  the  in- 
stance of  Mr.  A.  B.  Smart,  to  offer  inducements  to  the  ~SL  E.  church  of 
Dakota  Territory  to  locate  their  university  at  Wessington  Springs.  The 
matter  was  earnestly  considered  and  a  proposition  made,  but  other  towns 
and  cities  were  in  the  field  to  get  the  much  desired  institution  and  Wes- 
sington Springs  failed  to  secure   it. 

In  the  fore  part  of  November  a  move  was  made  to  get  the  Erie  Tele- 
phone Co.  to  put  in  a  line  from  Wessington  Springs  to  Woonsocket. 
This  also  failed. 

About  the  first  of  September,  1883,  the  townsite  company  began 
putting  in  a  system  of  waterworks  connecting  the  big  spring  with  Alain 
street.  The  pipe  ran  east  from  the  spring  and  entered  2d  street  south 
of  the  Applegate  building  and  then  north  along  the  east  side  of  2(\  street 


102 

to  the  middle  of  INIain  street.  This  work  was  completed  about  the  mid- 
dle of  November.  A  pipe  coming  out  of  the  ground  at  the  end  of  the 
system  made  a  ver}-  pretty  fountain  that  for  two  years  poured  a  constant 
stream.  In  a  few  weeks  after  fountain  was  establisred  a  mound  of 
ice  was  formed  that  almost  rendered  the  street  impassable.  A  large 
reservoir  was  made  and  walled  up  with  stone  where  the  spring  came 
out  of  the  hill.  A  dam  was  put  across  the  lower  part  of  the  pond 
and  under  it  the  pipe  ran  that  carried  the  water  to  the  village.  A 
sluiceway  at  the  top  of  the  dam  carried  off  the  surplus  water  in  a  pretty 
cascade  into  the  little  creek  that  ran  down  through  the  grove.  The 
low  bushes  and  underbrush  were  cut  out  of  the  grove,  rustic  seats  built 
and  bridges  put  across  the  stream.  In  this  way  the  company  made  the 
beginning  of  what  they  intended  should  be  one  of  the  most  beautiful 
parks  in  the  territory.  For  a  number  of  years  the  grove  about  the  spring 
was  the  spot  to  w'hich  all  picnic  parties  came  from  all  parts  of  the 
county. 

In  October,  1883,  Rev.  J.  G.  Campbell,  then  one  of  the  ablest  preachers 
in  the  territory,  was  made  pa.stor  of  the  jNI.  E.  church  as  Wessington 
Springs.  Religious  services  were  thereafter  held  in  the  church  building, 
although  the  seats  were  made  of  boards. 

Strenuous  efforts  were  made  by  the  community  for  fitting  Christmas 
festivities.  On  the  24th  of  December  the  church  chairs  arrived  and  put 
in  place  for  the  people  who  that  evening  attended  the  Christmas  tree 
exercises  in  the  new  church.  The  new  church  building  was  dedicated 
Sept.  7th,  1884.  The  dedicatory  sermon  was  preached  by  Rev.  I.  N. 
Pardee.  The  building  was  entirely  paid  for  when  dedicated.  The  ladies' 
mite  society  had  bought  and  paid  for  a  carpet  that  cost  $44.25  and  had 
also  purchased  a  new^  organ  upon  which  they  had  paid  $28.79.  The 
building  committee  that  had  charge  of  the  church  construction  was  C.  W. 
McDonald,  president  of  the  board  of  trustees,  and  R.  S.  Bateman.  The 
church  trustees  at  this  time  were  Lucius  T.  Tarble,  Chas.  A\'.  ^McDonald. 
Silas  Kinney,  R.  S.  Bateman,  Harry  Russe,  F.  T.  Tofflemier. 

The  M.  E.  conference  in  October,  1884,  appointed  W.  D.  Luther  to 
succeed  Mr.  Campbell  as  pastor  of  the  church. 

Other  churches  were  organized  in  the  county  in  1884,  one  being  the 
M.  E.  church  at  Alpena  and  the  other  the  Friends  church  in  Harmony 
township.  The  names  of  the  charter  members  of  neither  of  these  organ- 
izations seem  to  be  obtainable.  The  church  at  Alpena  was  incorporated 
June  21st,  1884,  under  the  pastorate  of  Rev.  O.  E.  Hutchins.  Rev.  L.  C 
1  lurch  received  the  conference  appointment  for  this  church  in  October, 
1884. 


lO' 


Geo.'  R.  Batcinaii. 


James  A,  McDonald 


E.  r.  Miles.  Chas.   W.  McDonald. 


Ray  Barber. 


104 

At  Waterbury  and  Sulphur  Springs  the  religious  services  were  con- 
ducted by  Rev.  John  Cooley,  C.  V.  jNlartin,  Wm.  Paganhart,  S.  F.  Hunt- 
ley and  others.  The  Methodists  and  Presbyterians  each  had  a  church  or- 
ganization at  Waterbury,  but  the  records  seem  to  have  been  lost.  Neither 
society  had  a  church  building.  The  Sulphur  Springs  church  building 
which  had  not  been  completed  was  moved  to  Waterbury,  finished  and 
made  a  public  hall.  This  occurred  in  the  early  part  of  1884  and  ended 
the  church  history  of  Sulphur  Springs. 

Additional  Sunday  schools  were  organized  in  the  different  townships 
of  the  county  in  the  year  1884. 

In  the  Young  settlement  in  Blaine  township  near  Parsons  a  Sunday 
school  was  organized  on  the  20th  of  April,  with  Mr.  I.  Young,  supt. ; 
Fred  Kieser,  asst.  supt. ;  Henry  Wilson,  sec. ;  D.  W.  Young,  treas. 

In  Mola  township  religious  services  were  held  at  the  residence  of  J. 
N.  Smith  during  the  fall  and  winter  of  1884' — 85,  conducted  alternately 
by  Mr.  Smith  and  L.  F.  Daniels.     The  meetings  were  held  weekly. 

In  Anina  township  a  Sunday  School  was  organized  August  lothj 
1884,  at  the  residence  of  Mr.  Williams,  with  Gordon  McDonald  as  super- 
intendent. 

A  Sunday  School  was  organized  at  the  residence  of  S.  Souerwine 
in  Pleasant  township,  April  27th,  1884,  with  fifteen  members.  Supt.,  A. 
J.  Miller;  Ass't.  Supt.,  Mrs.  H.  C.  Sowerwine ;  Sec'y.,  Miss  Josie  Pryne  ; 
Treas.,  Gailey. 

In  Wessington  Springs  township  a  Sunday  School  was  conducted  at 
the  residence  of  Mrs.  Williams  on  the  east  side  of  Firesteel  creek,  until 
in  October,  1884,  when  it  was  changed  to  the  home  of  Wm.  Hawthorne. 

An  organization  by  the  name  of  Eden  Valley  Sunday  school  in  Alpena 
township,  was  conducted  there  the  winter  of  1884 — 85.  The  society  had 
thirty  members. 

In  Chery  township,  after  the  school  houses  were  built,  a  Sunday 
school  was  organized  by  T.  L.  White,  j\Ir.  and  Mrs.  Kinney,  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Georgia,  Mrs.  Townsend,  Ed  Linn,  W.  R.  Lanning  and  others,  at 
the  Kinney  school  house.  After  the  organization  of  the  Sabbath  school 
religious  services  were  held  at  this  school  house  regularly  with  preaching 
by  Mrs.  Huntley,  I.  N.  Rich,  F.  M.  Brown  and  others. 

As  we  have  already  seen,  temperance  work  in  Jerauld  county  began 
at  an  early  date  in. its  history.  Wessington  Springs  was  the  center  from 
which  this  influence  radiated  to  all  parts  of  the  county. 

It  is  certain  that  no  other  person  did  .so  much  to  create  a  sentiment 
agamst  the  establishment  of  saloons  in  the  county  as  Mrs.  A.  B.  Smart. 
She  was  a  member  of  the  territorial  W.  C.  T.  U.  and  vice  president  of 
that  organization  for  Jerauld  county.     On  the  28th  day  of  May,   1884, 


I05 

she  made  the  beginning  of  organized  temperance  work  in  the  county.  On 
that  day.  in  persuance  of  a  call  previously  issued,  she  entertained  a  num- 
ber of  ladies  at  her  residence  and  perfected  a  local  organization  which 
they  named  the  Pioneer  W.  C.  T.  U.  The  officers  of  this  society  were : 
Mrs.  C.  M.  Spears,  president;  Airs.  A.  O.  Jordan,  vice  president;  Mrs. 
L.  S.  Shryock,  recording  secretary ;  Mrs.  R.  J.  Smart,  corresponding  sec- 
retary ;  Mrs.  Jane  E.  Bateman,  treasurer. 

From  the  organization  of  the  Pioneer  W.  C.  T.  U.  dates  the  systematic 
nnd  aggressive  temperance   >vork  in  the  county. 

A  county  W.  C.  T.  U.  was  organized  Aug.  13,  1884,  with  Mrs.  Smart, 
president:  Mrs.  S.  F.  Huntley,  corresponding  secretary;  Miss  Dona, 
recording  secretary;  Mrs.  D.  W.  Shryock,  treasurer,  and  a  vice  president 
in  each  township. 

A  county  temperance  alliance  was  organized  with  R.  Y.  Hazard,  pre- 
sident ;  Wm.  Hawthorne,  vice  president,  and  S.  F.  Huntley,  secretary. 

On  the  day  preceding  that  on  which  these  two  county  organizations 
were  perfected  a  county  mass  convention  had  been  held  at  which  much 
enthusiasm  was  manifested. 

On  the  20th  of  June,  1884,  the  society  obtained  the  use  of  one  column 
of  the  Wessington  Springs  Herald  for  the  publication  of  temperance 
articles.  Thenceforth  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  column  was  a  regular  feature  of 
that  publication.  The  work  was  soon  extended  to  all  the  other  papers  in 
the  county  and  has  been  continued  to  the  present  time.  A  temperance 
alliance  society  was  formed  of  which  only  voters  were  members,  with 
Owen  Williams  as  vice  president,  for  Wessington  Springs  township.  In 
November,  1884,  a  temperance  circulating  library  was  established.  In 
December  of  that  year  a  temperance  literary  society  was  organized  in 
Franklin  township. 

Many  business  changes  occurred  in  the  county  during  the  year  1884. 

On  December  22,  1883,  the  Bender  drug  store,  that  had  up  to  that 
time  been  run  by  Chas.  P.  Taylor,  in  Wessington  Springs,  shut  up  shop 
and  left  the  town. 

In  March,  1884,  A.  E.  Smart  put  up  a  building  on  the  west  side  of 
3rd  street  a  few  blocks  north  of  Main  street  and  in  it  Dr.  A.  M.  Mathias 
of  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  opened  a  drug  store  in  May. 

Stephen  Bros,  went  out  of  business  in  the  winter  of  1883 — 84  and  in 
April,  18,84,  J.  J.  Barnes  of  Plankinton,  started  a  drug  store  in  the 
Stephens  building. 

Chas.  W.  McDonald  and  W.  I.  Bateman  organized  the  Jerauld  County 
Bank  in  March,  1884.  The  next  month  M.  D.  and  C.  E.  Thayer  visited 
Wessington  Springs  on  the  24th  to  look  over  the  situation  with  a  view 
to  starting  a  private  bank.     These  gentlemen  were  so  well  pleased  with 


io6 

the  location  that  they  returned  in  a  few  days  when  C.  E.  Thayer  arranged 
for  the  construction  of  a  residence  in  the  northwest  part  of  the  village, 
and  rented  of  a  lady  named  Ada  L.  Smith,  lot  12,  block  10,  on  the  north 
side  of  Alain  street  paying  therefor  a  rental  of  $6.00  per  year,  but  re- 
serving the  right  to  remove  such  improvements  as  he  might  make  thereon. 
He  then  erected  a  building  on  the  Smith  lot  at  a  cost  of  about  $50,  painted 
the  word  ''Bank"  across  the  front  of  the  structure,  and  on  the  25th  day 
of  July,    1884,  opened  his   institution   for  business. 

In  the  fore  part  of  Alay  J.  H.  Woodburn  purchased  the  Applegate 
building  and  made  it  into  a  hotel,  which  he  named  the  Woodburn  House. 

J.  H.  Vessey  and  Allan  Ransom  formed  a  partnership  and  began  a 
mercantile  business  on  the  31st  of  May,  that  under  different  managements 
has  continued  to  the  present  time.  In  October  this  firm  was  strengthened 
by  the  admission  of  S.  H.  Albert  and  R.  S.  Vessey  as  partners.  The 
firm  then  built  a  branch  store  at  Crow  Lake,  which  was  continued  for 
several  years. 

The  first  attempt  to  do  a  millinery  business  in  Wessington  Springs 
was  by  a  lady  named  Harris,  who  located  in  J.  F.  Ford's  office  on  the 
north  side  of  Main  street. 

On  August  20th  Silas  Kinney  sold  his  store  building  and  stock  of 
goods  to  N.  D.  Wilder,  who  continued  the  business  until  the  next  year. 

In  other  parts  of  the  county  business  matters  were  equally  active. 

At  Crow  Lake  a  firm  by  the  name  of  Lodge  &  Derrick  built  a  store 
building  and  put  in  a  stock  of  groceries.     This  was  done  in  June. 

In  April.  1884,  a  man  named  Mills,  who  had  worked  at  blacksmithing 
in  Wesington  Springs,  in  1883,  went  to  Crow  Lake  and  began  work  in  a 
shop  that  had  been  erected  for  him  there. 

At  Waterbury  the  postmaster,  E.  S.  Waterbury,  fitted  up  his  office 
with  the  fixtures  that  he  purchased  from  the  Kimball  office.  This  was 
in  March. 

About  May  ist  Rice  &  Herring  sold  their  mercantile  business  to 
Pritchard  &  Kethledge,  who  came  out  that  spring  from  some  point  in 
Iowa. 

On  July  4th  Waterbury  celebrated.  But  little  is  remembered,  even 
by  the  oldest  inhabitants,  of  the  events  of  that  day.  All  say,  however, 
that  the  festivities  were  worthy  of  the  time  and  place  although  Wessing- 
ton S])rings  enticed  their  band  away  from  them. 

l>y  this  time  Sulphur  Springs  had  lost  greatly  in  the  struggle  with  her 
rival  town  for  existence.  Her  church  and  blacksmith  shop  had  gone 
across  the  valley  to  Waterbury  and  in  the  latter  part  of  Julv  her  news- 
paper. "The  Buffalo  FTerald."  was  sold  to  M.  B.  McNeil,  who  moved  it 
to   Duncan   in   Buft'alo   countv   and   merged   it   in   the    American    Home, 


])ublished  at  that  place.      In   October  Mr.    McNeil  moved   his   printing- 
office  back  to  Waterbury,  which  gave  that  place  two  newspapers. 

On  August  15,  1884,  occurred  the  first  death  in  Waterbury.  A  young 
man  named  John  Murphy  was  digging  a  well  on  Henry  Herring's  resi- 
dence lot  east  of  Main  street.  When  he  entered  the  well  in  the  morning 
lie  was  overcome  by  foul  air  and  died  before  he  could  be  rescued.  A 
grab  hook  was  lowered  and  caught  into  the  dead  man's  clothing.  He  was 
drawn  about  half  way  to  the  surface  when  the  coat  in  which  the  hook 
was  fastened  appeared  to  be  slipping.  T.  H.  Null,  the  lawyer,  volunteered 
to  go  down  and  fasten  a  rope  about  the  body  to  prevent  it  falling  back 
to  the  bottom  of  the  well.  This  was  done.  After  an  appropriate  funeral 
ceremony  the  body  of  Murphy  was  buried  on  the  school  section  and  there 
with  one  other  victim  of  a  tragic  death  it  lies  to  this  day. 


Chapter  12. 

It  was  a  curious  and  anxious  company  that  gathered  about  Dement  & 
Leed's  blacksmith  shop  in  Waterbury  one  day  in  the  autumn  of  1883. 
For  several  days  the  two  smiths  had  been  busily  at  work  manufacturing 
a  piece  of  heavy  artillery.  Rumors  were  rife  that  great  flocks  of  ducks 
were  frequenting  Cottonwood  Lake  in  the  north  part  of  108 — 66.  No 
ordinary  shot  gun  was  considered  equal  to  the  opportunity  and  so  at  the 
instance  of  the  sporting  fraternity  of  the  village  the  attempt  had  been 
made  to  make  a  vertiable  cannon.  Taking  a  piece  of  gas  pipe  about  three 
feet  in  length  they  wound  it  with  what  wagonmakers  and  blacksmiths 
term  "stake"  iron.  It  is  one  inch  wide  and  one-quarter  inch  thick.  Hav- 
ing made  a  spiral  winding  with  the  stake  iron  solidly  welded  the  whole 
length  of  the  gas  pipe,  they  reversed  the  spiral  on  about  two  feet  of  the 
first  wniding  and  then  put  a  third  winding  over  about  a  foot  of  the 
breach  of  the  cannon,  making  the  gxm  as  they  believed,  strong  enough  to 
resist  the  explosive  power  of  any  load  of  powder  that  might  be  put  into 
it.  The  gas  pipe  was  then  bored  to  make  it  smooth,  a  touch  hole  drilled 
through  the  iron  casing  of  the  breach,  a  strong  breech  pin  put  on  and 
the  thing  was  done.  Now  it  was  to  be  tested  before  being  taken  to  the 
lake,  and  many  were  the  guesses  made  by  the  crowd  as  they  stood  about 
the  shop  to  see  the  wonderful  duck  gun  tried.  A  large  dry  goods  box 
was  set  up  at  a  distance  of  100  yards  and  the  gun  properly  loaded,  was 
trained  on  it  through  the  open  door  of  the  shop.  All  were  confident 
that  the  box  would  not  be  fit  for  ordinarv  kindling  wood  after  the  gun 


io8 

was  once  fired.  The  thing  was  securely  chained  to  a  heavy  saw-horse, 
when  some  one  suggested  tliat  it  might  "bust."  There  was  sufficient 
force  in  the  suggestion  to  cause  the  onlookers  to  gather  about  the  outside 
of  the  building  and  watch  the  result  by  peeping  through  cracks  and  knot 
holes.  A  long  iron  rod,  that  could  be  pushed  through  a  hole  in  the  side 
of  the  shop  to  the  forge  fire  and  then  swung  to  the  priming  of  the  gun. 
was  given  to  Joe  Herring  and  then  all  waited  for  the  iron  to  get  hot. 
At  last  the  end  of  the  rod  showed  a  tinge  of  red  and  Herring  swung  it 
to  the  touch  hole  of  the  gun.  The  noise  was  deafening.  The  great  saw 
horse  and  cannon  were  lifted  by  the  shock  nearly  to  the  joist  of  the  build- 
ing, but  the  gun  had  stood  the  strain,  and  so  had  the  box,  for  not  a  shot 
had  touched  it.  Afterward  the  cannon  was  provided  with  sights,  and 
mounted  on  a  frame  so  that  it  could  be  easily  trained  upon  any  object. 
It  afforded  much  amusement  in  the  hunting  seasons  and  abundance  of 
noise  on  succeeding  Fourth  of  July  celebrations  for  many  years.  Several 
of  these  miniature  canons  were  afterward  made,  one  of  which  is  now 
said  to  be  at  Gann  Valley. 

In  1884  the  business  houses  on  the  j\Iain  street  of  Waterbury  were 
arranged  about  as  follows : 

The  main,  or  business  street  of  the  town,  ran  north  and  south.  Start- 
ing at  the  north  end  of  Alain  street  and  going  down  the  west  side  the 
first  structure  was  a  tent  in  which  a  Mr.  Rowe  had  a  tin-type  gallery. 
Next  to  that,  on  the  south  and  at  the  corner  of  the  block  was  Airs. 
Rowe's  hotel,  the  Waterbury  House,  south  of  which  ran  an  east  and  west 
street.  A  few  years  later  this  hotel  was  torn  down  and  moved  to  Buf- 
falo county.  On  the  south  side  of  this  street  and  at  the  northeast  corner 
of  the  block  was  a  building  put  up  by  Alaj.  Rice,  afterward  Probate 
Judge,  and  Henry  Herring,  later  a  county  commissioner.  The  building 
was  two  story  30x40.  A  few  years  later  this  building  was  sold  to  Air. 
Wilbur  Doughty,  who  moved  it  to  the  old  C.  A'.  Alartin  farm  northeast 
of  town  and  made  it  a  part  of  a  mammoth  barn,  which  was  struck  by 
lightning  and  burned  some  time  in  the  later  '90s. 

Then  came  Alartin  &  Putnam's  law  office,  a  one  story  building,  which 
was  finally  made  a  part  of  Alartin's  house  on  his  farm. 

Next  came  .\llan  Snart's  grocery  store,  20x32,  afterward  used  for 
hardware  and  general  merchandise  by  John  Snart.  This  building  was 
burned  in  the  great  prairie  fire  of  April  28,  1809.  It  was  two  stories  in 
lieight. 

South  of  Snart's  store  stood  Bert  Brown's  residence,  a  small  building 
that  had  been  brought  from  Sulphur  Springs. 

The  next  structure  was  J.   AI.   Hull's  drug  store  and  general  mer- 


I09 

chandise  store,  afterward  owned  by  O.  P.  Hull,  and  finally  torn  down 
and  moved  to  Harvey,  a  suburb  of  Chicago,  where  it  yet  stands. 

The  "Michigan  Hotel,"  built  by  Light  and  Stanley,  stood  next  to 
Hull's  drug  store.  This  was  the  building  in  which  Chas.  Gingery  was 
cared  for  after  the  great  blizzard  of  1888.  It  was  finally  sold  to  Fred 
Holzer,  who  moved  it  to  a  farm  in  Bufifalo  county. 

At  the  southeast  corner  of  the  block  was  Geo.  N.  Price's  residence. 
This  was  the  hotel  put  up  by  Dr.  Jones  in  1883.  A  few  years  later  it 
was  sold  to  Bert  Healy,  who  moved  it  to  Wessington  Springs  and  now 
occupies  it  as  a  residence. 

On  the  northeast  corner  of  the  opposite  block  across  the  street  south 
stood  Price's  livery  barn.  It  also  was  later  moved  to  Wessington  Springs 
and  made  a  part  of  the  livery  barn  owned  by  Mr.  Price  at  that  place.  It 
is  now  occupied  by  H.  A.  Butler.  On  the  same  lot  a  few  years  later 
]\Ir.  Snart  also  built  a  barn  which  was  also  taken  to  the  county  seat. 

By  the  side  of  Price's  barn  Sam  Leeds'  blacksmith  shop  was  placed 
when  it  was  brought  over  from  Sulphur  Springs.  A  few  years  later 
Homer  \'rooman  bought  that  building  and  took  it  to  his  farm  in  the  east 
part  of  the  township. 

The  next  building  was  the  last  one  on  the  west  side  of  the  street.  It 
was  the  house,  or  shanty,  brought  out  from  Polo,  111.,  by  Ed  and  Dan 
Waterbury  in  February,  1883.  It  now  forms  a  part  of  Clark  Wetherell's 
house  at  the  Waterbury  P.  O. 

Then  crossing"  the  street  east  and  going  north  the  first  building  was  a 
barn  owned  by  E.  S.  Waterbury,  although  further  south,  where  the 
ground  begins  to  slope  ofif  into  the  valley,  J.  A.  Paddock  and  Rufus  \\'il- 
son  had  a  livery  barn,  built  into  the  side  hill. 

Fronting  on  the  street  about  the  middle  of  he  block  and  north  of 
Waterbury 's  barn,  was  Henry  Merwin's  wagon  shop. 

North  of  the  wagon  shop  stood  Wallace  DeMent's  blacksmith  shop, 
in  which  the  "canon"  was  made.  Both  these  buildings  were  afterward 
bought  by  E.  S.  Waterbury  and  made  a  part  of  the  barn  above  mentioned 
and  burned  in  the  fire  of  1899. 

On  the  northwest  corner  of  this  block  was  a  building  erected  by  John 
Eagan  and  Henry  Bass  for  a  flour  and  feed  store.  It  was  20x30  feet  in 
size,  one  and  one-half  stories  high.  Later  the  rooms  above  became 
bachelor  quarters  for*  8  or  10  young  fellows.  The  building  was  even- 
tually taken  away. 

Then  came  an  east  and  west  street.  On  the  north  side  of  this  street 
stood,  where  it  now  stands,  the  building  now  owned  by  W.  E.  Waterbury. 
The  main  part  was  used  for  a  feed  store,  and  contained  the  post  office. 
Upstairs  was  the  News  printing  office,   founded  by  Samuel   Dunlap  in 


no 

June,  1883.  This  paper  had  several  owners  in  the  next  few  years,  among^ 
them  being,  Remington,  Cross,  Dunlap  and  C.  V.  iSIartin,  the  latter  com- 
bining it  with  the  American  Home  and  the  name  was  then  changed  to 
"The  Waterbury  Home-News."  It  was  finally  sold  to  B.  B.  Blosser,  of 
the  True  Republican,  and  taken  into  that  office  at  Wessington  Springs. 

In  the  center  of  the  crossing  of  the  two  streets  a  well  was  dug  and 
walled  up  with  stone.  For  twenty-five  years  it  has  afforded  an  abun- 
dance of  the  best  of  water  for  every  thirsty  creature  that  has  passed  that 
way. 

North  of  the  post  office  was  an  implement  shed  where  E.  S.  Water- 
bury  sold  farm  implements  and  by  the  north  side  of  that  was  Frank 
and  Harry  Waterbury 's  meat  market.  Both  of  these  buildings  were  one 
story  structures.  The  machine  shed  was  finally  taken  to  E.  S.  Water- 
bury's  homestead  on  the  NE  of  28 — 107 — 67,  while  the  meat  market 
building  was  taken  to  Harry  Waterbury's  claim  in  Buffalo  county. 

Next  was  the  American  HonYe  printing  office  run  by  M.  B.  McNeil. 
That  structure  was  moved  by  E.  N.  Mount  to  a  claim  held  by  him  in 
Buffalo  county. 

Beside  the  American  Home  office  was  E.  N.  Mount's  harness  shop, 
in  later  years  purchased  by  W.  E.  Waterbury  for  use  on  his  homestead, 
the  NE  of  9 — 107 — 67,  where  it  stayed  until  "proof"  for  the  land  was 
made,  when  it  was  brought  back  to  town  and  sold  to  Bert  Healey.  He 
used  it  for  a  harness  shop  and  notion  store  in  Waterbury  for  some  time, 
finally  taking  it  to  Wessington  Springs,  where  he  continued  to  use  it  for 
the  same  purpose  until  it  was  burned  in  the  fire  that  destroyed  ]\I.  A. 
Schaefer's  drug  store  several  years  later. 

Then  came  A.  N.  Hill's  hardware  store,  a  two  story  building,  with 
living  rooms  up  stairs.  It  now  forms  a  part  of  Clark  Wetherell's 
barn  at  Waterbury  P.  O.,  on  the  NW  of  26 — 107 — 67. 

By  the  side  of  the  hardware  store  Mr.  Hill  put  up  a  building  intended 
for  a  temperance  pool  hall,  and  rented  it  to  Wm.  Eads.  The  enterprise 
was  a  failure  and  the  table  finally  broken  up.  The  building  was  moved 
away. 

The  next  was  a  two  story  structure  having  a  law  office  below,  where 
T.  H.  Null,  now  of  Huron,  S.  D.,  first  hung  out  his  sign  as  an  attorney 
at  law.  This  building  was  put  up  by  a  man  named  Bond.  In  the  room 
occupied  by  Null  in  1884  a  man  named  Hart  afterward  had  his  real 
estate  office  for  several  years.  In  the  rooms  up  stairs  C.  Y.  Martin,  a 
year  later  had  his  printing  office.  What  finally  became  of  the  building  is 
not  known. 

On  the  same  side  af  the  street  was  an  implement  shed  run  bv  Val 
Martin,  a  real  estate  office  by  Remington  and  Pound,  a  shoe  shop  oc- 


Ill 

cupied  by  Pat  Sweeney,  now  of  Sioux  City,  and  another  shoe  shop  run 
by  Chas.  Haas.  Somewhere  on  the  east  side  of  the  street  Will  Eads  had 
a  furniture  store,  probably  in  the  same  building  where  he  started  his 
pool  hall. 

Late  in  the  fall  a  public  school  house  was  built  a  few  rods  north  of 
the  business  part  of  the  town — about  forty  rods  from  the  Waterbury 
House. 

The  first  minister  located  at  Waterbury  was  a  man  named  Bain,  of 
the  Presbyterian  church.  He  was  in  almost  mortal  fear  of  Indians  and 
wolves.  He  took  a  claim  a  few  miles  from  town  and  had  a  shanty  built 
on  it.  During  the  first  night  of  his  stay  on  the  claim,  the  wolves  were 
so  noisy  and  came  so  close  to  his  shanty  that  he  never  repeated  the 
venture.  He  always  carried  with  him,  when  going  out  of  town,  a  brace 
of  revolvers  and  a  couple  of  knives.  He  stayed  only  long  enough  to 
"prove  up''  on  his  claim  and  then  returned  to  Ohio. 

While  business  was  developing  at  Waterbury,  J.  X.  Cross  was  trying 
to  establish  a  mercantile  business  at  Templeton,  but  with  poor  success. 

At  Alpena,  aided  by  the  railroad,-  the  business  interests  made  more 
rapid  growth. 

In  the  spring  of  1884,  W.  S.  Crowthers  started  a  livery  stable,  which 
he  continued  for  several  years. 

New  grain  houses  were  built  in  the  summer  of  1884,  one  by  D.  R. 
Putnam  &  Co.,  which  was  run  by  J.  T.  Johnston  and  one  by  Bassett, 
Hunting  &  Co.,  operated  by  a  young  man  named  ]\Iilham.  Both  these 
warehouses  were  afterwards  changed  to  elevators. 

In  this  year  Jack  Crawford  put  up  a  blacksmith  shop  where  he 
worked  for  a  year  or  more. 

On  the  19th  of  May,  1884,  Mrs.  Mary  Barber,  and  Miss  Betsy  Litch- 
field opened  a  hotel  in  the  building  that  had  been  formerly  used  as  a 
hardware  store  and  named  it  the  Revere  House. 

This  year  Chas.  R.  and  D.  S.  jNlarwaring  in  company  with  Wm.  \'oss, 
began  operating  a  lumber  yard  at  Alpena. 

On  the  northwest  corner  of  Main  and  2nd  streets  W.  L.  Arnold  built 
a  store  used  for  general  merchandise,  which  he  occupied  until  1886. 


112 

Chapter  13. 

Educational  work  in  the  county  began  in  1883,  with  the  numerous 
private,  or  subscription  schools  that  were  started  in  the  various  town- 
ships and  continued  until  the  public  schools  began  in  the  summer  and 
fall  of  1884. 

I  think  I  have  mentioned  all  the  private  schools  taught  in  the  county 
in  1883,  except  the  one  commenced  by  N.  J.  Diniham  in  the  latter  part 
of  December,  in  the  building  purchased  by  the  county  commissioners  in 
February,  1884,  for  the  register  of  deeds  office.  In  that  school  were  four 
of  Mr.  Kinney's  children,  five  of  Mrs.  Blowers',  two  of  J.  W.  Thomas', 
Lewis  Stephens,  Harry  Taylor,  now  mayor  of  Mellette,  S.  D.,  and  John 
Woodburn,  now  postmaster  at  Hinsdale,  Mass. 

On  January  14th,  1884,  Miss  Emma  Cady  began  a  private  school  with 
nineteen  scholars  in  Rev.  Wm.  Paganhart's  home  in  A'iola  township. 

In  the  spring  of  1884  Miss  Rachel  Crawford  opened  a  school  in  a 
building  near  where  the  Dale  Center  school  house  now  stands,  which  was 
attended  by  Mattie,  Nellie  and  Robert  Mercer,  John  and  Rose  Youngs, 
and  Sarah,  Alina  and  Lillie  Chapman. 

In  the  village  of  Waterbury  Miss  Hattie  Waterbury  taught  a  private 
school  in  the  summer  of  1884,  in  George  Waterbury's  house.  Among  the 
pupils  were  Clara  Leeds,  now  Airs.  Wm.  Fry  of  Aberdeen,  Grace  De 
Ment  and  children  from  the  Prue,  Rowe,  Herring  and  Merwin  families. 

In  the  summer  of  1884  Miss  Ida  ^Martin  taught  a  school  in  Anina 
township  that  closed  Aug.  23rd. 

Early  in  the  spring  of  1884  Miss  Helen  Cooley  taught  a  private  school 
in  a  claim  shanty  near  Sulphur  Springs. 

The  school  boards  of  some  of  the  townships  made  preparations  for 
starting  the  public  schools  as  soon  as  the  townships  were  organized  for 
school  purposes. 

Supt.  Hazard  appointed  the  1st  day  of  April,  1884,  for  the  examination 
of  teachers. 

The  first  public  school  to  be  opened  in  the  county  was  in  Pleasant 
township  on  the  5th  day  of  May,  1884,  with  A.  J.  IMiller  as  teacher. 

In  July,  1884,  the  old  log  house  that  Mr.  Smart  had  purchased  from 
Levi  Hain  several  years  before  was  repaired,  seats  and  desks,  of  rude 
make,  put  in  it,  and  there  Mrs.  E.  V.  Miles,  opened  the  first  public  school 
taught  in  the  present  limits  of  the  city  of  Wessington  Springs. 

The  county  school-text-book  committee,  composed  of  the  following- 
persons,  as  delegates  from  the  townships  of  the  county,  met  on  the  28th 
of  June,  1884,  at  the  county  building  in  the  county  seat  to  select  the 
lM)()ks  to  be  used  in  the  public  schools: 


113 

Alpena — L.  N.  Loomis. 

Custer  (Media) — Theo.  Dean. 

Pleasant  Valey — B.  R.  Shimp. 

Wessington  Springs — Wm.  Hawthorne. 

Lincoln   (Blaine) — L.  F.  Daniels. 

Viola — Fred  Kieser. 

Anina — A.  D.  Cady. 

Of  this  committee.  Supt.  Hazard  was  chairman  and  B.  R.  Shimp  was 
secretary. 

The  Pioneer  W.  C.  T.  U.  sent  to  attend  this  very  important  meeting 
a  committee  of  its  members  as  follows :  Mesdames  Hall,  Smart,  Spears 
and  Albert.  These  ladies  presented  a  petition  to  the  text-book  committee, 
asking  that  temperance  books  be  selected,  including  "Elementary  Tem- 
perance Lessons  for  the  Young"  and  "Steeles  Hygienic  Physiology."" 
which  were  adopted.  The  committee  then  selected,  "Robinson's  Arith- 
metic," "Swinton's  Geography,"  "Harvey's  Grammar,"  "Ridpath's  His- 
tory," and  "McGuffey's  Readers  and  Spellers." 

The  first  civil  action  brought  in  a  Jerauld  county  court  was  the  case 
of  T.  H.  Null  vs.  B.  R.  Shimp,  before  F.  T.  Tofflemier  in  the  spring  of 
1884.  N.  J.  Dunham  was  attorney  for  the  plaintiff  and  R.  M.  Magee 
for  the  defendant. 

The  first  tax  received  by  the  county  treasurer  was  from  the  C.  M.  & 
St.  P.  Ry.  in  the  month  of  March,  1884,  by  way  of  the  territorial  treasurer, 
$26.71  on  four  miles  of  track  in  Alpena  township. 

The  first  tax  paid  into  the  county  treasury  by  a  resident  of  the  county 
was  $1.00  school  poll,  by  S.  H.  Melcher. 

The  branding  committee  held  its  first  meeting  xA.pril  7th,  1884,  R.  S. 
"Vessey  was  elected  chairman.  No  records  can  be  found  of  any  of  the 
proceedings  of  this  committee. 

Between  May  2nd,  1883,  and  April  30th,  1884,  three  hundred  and 
forty-five  Jerauld  county  settlers  made  proof  at  the  Mitchell  U.  S.  Land 
Office  for  55,200  acres  of  land. 

The  first  matter  to  come  up  in  the  county  probate  court  was  the  ap- 
pointment of  an  administrator  for  the  estate  of  Chas.  Burger  of  Harmony 
township,  who  had  been  killed  by  lightning.  The  appointment  was  made 
May  5th,  1884. 

In  the  summer  and  fall  of  1884,  railroad  projects  were  numerous  and 
some  surveys  were  made.  One  was  a  line  known  as  the  Huron  &  South- 
western to  reach  the  Missouri  River  by  way  of  "Wessington  Springs. 

In  August  of  that  year  it  was  announced  that  a  road  would  be  built 
at  once  from  Sioux  Falls  to  the  Missouri  river,  going  through  Jerauld 
county  by  way  of  Crow  Lake  and  "VVaterbury  to  Fort  Thompson. 


114 

In  the  summer  of  1884  jNIr.  i\I.  W.  Young,  of  Blaine  township,  burned 
a  kiln  of  25,000  brick,  which  he  offered  for  sale.  This  was  the  first  and 
probably  the  only,  effort  ever  made  to  establish  a  brick  yard  in  the  county. 
He  took  one  wagon  load  to  Wessington  Springs  on  Sept.  loth,  and  for 
some  time  kept  a  notice  running  in  the  Herald  offering  the  brick  for 
sale  at  his  farm  in  Blaine  township. 

The  first  auction  sale  ever  held  in  the  county  was  at  the  farm  of  J. 
A.  McDonald,  south-east  of  \\>ssington  Springs,  by  Robert  Johnston, 
who  offered  for  sale  i  cow,  100  chickens,  i  Champion  mower,  some  car- 
penter tools  and  house-hold  goods.     N.  D.  Wilder  was  auctioneer. 

During  the  summer  and  fall  of  1884,  Hiram  Blowers  and  Calvin  Ott 
■were  dealing  in  grain  at  Wessington  Springs. 

The  first  coroner's  inquest  in  the  countv  was  on  the  body  of  Allan 
Brayton,  at  the  residence  of  ]Mr.  Barber  in  Franklin.  The  Coroner  was 
Dr.  D.  F.  Royer  and  the  jury  was  composed  of  Isaac  Pearce,  F.  W. 
Whitney  and  W.  C.  Corother.  The  date  of  the  inquest  was  ^lay  23rd, 
1884.     The  verdict  was,  death  by  accidental  shooting. 

F.  T.  Tofflemier  resigned  his  position  as  Justice  of  the  Peace  July  7, 
1884,  and  M.  C.  Ayers  was  appointed  to  fill  the  vacancy. 

In  November,  1884,  Airs.  Spears  began  building  the  office  part  of  the 
Willard  Hotel  on  the  corner  lot  south  of  W^ilder's  store. 

Several  changes  w^ere  made  in  the  mail  service  of  the  count}-  during 
the  year  1884.  On  the  ist  of  ]\Iarch  the  line  from  Elmer  (Wessington 
Springs),  to  Huron  was  discontinued  and  a  daily  line  established  between 
Elmer  and  Woonsocket. 

A  post  office  named  Gordon  was  located  in  October  at  the  residence 
of  Elijah  Aloon  on  section  twenty-six  in  Anina  township.  It  was  sup- 
plied by  the  Elmer-Plankinton  line. 

In  Chery  township  Stock  P.  O.  Avas  established  in  June,  with  M.  E. 
Small  as  postmaster. 

On  May  i,  1884,  the  Elmer-White  Lake  mail  line  was  changed  from 
a  weekly  to  a  semi-weekly  service,  leaving  Elmer  Tuesdays  and  Fridays, 
and  returning  Wednesdays  and  Saturdays. 

A  tri-weekly  mail  service  was  established  between  Elmer  and  \\'ater- 
bury,  on  July  ist,  Avith  G.  N.  Price  as  carrier.  The  round  trips  were 
made  on  Tuesdays,  Thursdays  and  Saturdays,  leaving  Elmer  in  the 
morning  and  returning  in  the  evening.  The  compensation  was  $390  per 
year. 

One  of  the  most  gratifying  things  done  for  the  people  of  Wessington 
Springs  by  tlie  Post  Office  Department  was  changing  the  name  of  the 
office  from  "Elmer"  to  that  of  the  town  in  which  it  was  situated.  For 
months  the  ]:>eople  had  petitioned  for  the  change  without  success.     ]\lanv 


Ii: 


had  despaired  of  getting  their  wish  granted.  But  Mr.  Peter  Barrett,  the 
postmaster  kept  up  hope  and  persevered.  At  a  meeting  of  the  board  of 
county  commissioners  in  the  summer  of  1884,  Mr.  Barrett  made  an  ofifer 
of  twenty-five  dollars  to  anyone  who  would  get  the  change  effected,  ]\Ir. 
Melcher,  one  of  the  commissioners,  told  him  to  renew  his  petition,  settting 
forth  in  it  that  the  school  township  and  the  platted  village  were  both 
named  Wessington  Spring,  that  the  newspaper  published  in  the  town  was 
named  the  Wessington  Springs  Herald,  then  have  it  signed  b}'  the 
county  officials  and  bring  it  to  him.  This  was  done.  Mr.  Melcher  then 
sent  the  petition  to  his  personal  friend,  Gen.  John  Eaton,  at  Washington., 
v/ith  a  letter  requesting  that  he  go  personally  to  the  Postmaster  General 
and  ask  that  the  change  be  made.  The  petition  was  granted  at  once  and 
the  change  made  to  take  effect  October  i,  1884.  Mr.  Barrett  paid  the 
twenty-five  dollars  by  giving  Mr.  Melcher  a  deed  to  a  lot  in  Wessington 
Springs,  which  he  held  for  several  years  and  then  sold  to  O.  J.  ^Marshall. 

In  the  wdnter  of  1883 — 84,  ]\Ir.  Stetson,  who  kept  the  Stetson  P.  O. 
in  106 — 66,  proved  up  on  his  land  and  then  resigned  his  position  as  post- 
master. The  office  was  then  moved  to  Chancy  Barber's  house  on  the 
NW  of  35,  wdiere  Mr.  Barber  kept  a  small  stock  of  groceries.  In  the 
latter  part  af  May,  1884,  Mrs.  O.  E.  Gaffin  became  postmisteress  and 
took  charge  of  the  office,  which  she  retained  until  the  office  was  moved 
to  Lyndale  and  the  name  changed,  March  i,  1885. 

In  May  1884,  the  people  of  Wessington  Springs  and  vicinity  began 
to  make  preparations  for  a  Fourth  of  July  celebration.  Mr.  T.  D. 
Kanouse,  one  of  the  foremost  orators  of  the  territory  was  engaged  to 
deliver  an  address;  the  Waterbury  brass  band  was  employed,  and  many 
games  advertised.  On  the  31st  of  May,  those  interested  in  the  base-ball 
held  a  meeting  and  organized  a  team,  with  J.  T.  Johnston  as  captain. 
The  team  began  practice  on  a  diamond  located  near  where  the  Univer- 
salist  church  stands.  In  June  a  challenge  was  sent  to  the  ball  nine  at 
Woonsocket  for  a  match  game  at  Wessington  Springs  on  July  4th.  The 
challenge  was  not  accepted  and  an  invitation  was  then  extended  to  Alpena. 
Here  they  found  a  team  willing  to  cross  bats  with  them  and  arrangements 
were  perfected. 

In  the  latter  part  of  June,  Mr.  A.  S.  Beals  and  Mr.  Hindman  were 
employed  to  make  a  liberty  pole  which  was  set  up  on  the  2nd  of  July,  at 
the  center  of  the  crossing  of  Main  and  Second  Streets. 

A  galvanized  iron  tank  made  by  Morse  and  LaPout  was  placed  over 
the  big  spring-  and  the  water  works  pipe  extended  into  it  so  that  people 
on  the  street  could  have  cold  water  direct  from  the  fountain  head. 

The  celebration  was  a  success,  for  although  a  storm  cut  short  the 
oration,  the  ball  game  was  won  by  the  home  nine  with  a  score  of  23  to 


ii6 

15.  This  was  the  beginning  of  ball  playing  in  the  county  and  led  to 
many  close  and  exciting  games  in  the  years  that  followed. 

A  county  fair  association  was  organized  June  4th,  1884,  with  O.  G. 
Woodrufif,  of  Alpena,  president  and  j\I.  D.  Crow,  of  ]\Iedia,  secretary. 
The  committee  on  bylaws  was  composed  of  J.  F.  Ford,  of  Wessington 
Springs,  H.  A.  Pierce,  of  Harmony  and  M.  D.  Crow.  At  the  organiza- 
tion twenty-six  shares  were  sold  at  $10  each.  This  amount  was  increased 
to  sixty  shares  on  July  i6th,  and  was  further  advanced  to  one  hundred 
on  July  23rd.  The  society  then  proceeded  to  incorporate  the  members 
mentioned  in  the  charter  being  E.  S.  Waterbury,  S.  H.  IN.Ielcher  and  J. 
F.  Ford.  After  incorporation  the  association  elected  permanent  officers 
as  follows : 

President — O.  G.  Woodrufif. 

Mce  President — E.  S.  Waterbury. 

Secretary — J.  F.  Ford. 

Treasurer — S.  H.  Melcher. 

Executive  Committee — W.  J.  Wiliams,  W.  I.  Bateman,  B.  G.  Cum- 
mings,  W.  T.  Hay,  and  Wm.  Austin. 

The  dates  set  for  the  fair  were  Tuesday,  Wednesday  and  Thursday, 
October  14th,  15th,  and  i6th,  1884.  For  exhibition  three  hundred  and 
forty-one  entries  were  made.     First  premiums  were  awarded  as  follows : 

S.  H.  Melcher — 2  yr.  grade  Durham  heifer;  Suffolk  sow  and  pigs; 
Sufifolk  sow ;  and  best  display  of  farm  products  and  garden  peas. 

M.  W.  Young — 2  yr.  bull ;  roadster  stallion ;  and  stallion  for  all 
purposes. 

C.  W.  Hill — Durham  cow ;  4  yr.  thorobred  bull ;  thorobred  Durham 
calf;  early  potatoes,  late  potatoes  and  pumpkins. 

O.  G.  Woodruff — Grade  Durham  bull  five  years  old. 

Mrs.  E.  H.  Wheeler — Thorobred  calf. 

L.  G.  Wilson — Six-year-old  Jersey  cow. 

B.  F.  Eagle — Two-year-old  stallion  ;  i  yr.  old  lilley  ;  and  carriage  team. 
W.  T.  Hay — One-year-old  horse  colt. 

L.  F.  Russell — Four-year-old  gelding ;  span  of  two-year-old  mares : 
three-year-old  mare ;  best  team  for  all  purposes. 

Ed  Dwyer — Spring  colt. 

E.  Nesmith — Three-year-old  stallion. 

O.  F.  Woodruff — Farm  or  draft  stallion. 

R.  Vanderveen — Draft  team. 

John  Dukes' — Two  coarse-wool  bucks;  two  coarse-wool  ewes:  i  yr. 
1.>uck  and  flock  of  five  sheep. 

C.  B.  Blake — Fine-wool  bucks ;  fine-wool  ewes. 
FT.  Blowers — Three  pigs. 


117 

W.  Brownell — One  boar  pig. 
M.  A.  Cummings — i  yr.  old  Berkshire  boar. 
R.  M.  Magee — Best  display  of  poultry. 
E.  H.  Ford — Plymouth  Rock  fowl. 
S.  Young — Pekin  ducks. 
J.  S.  Lynn — Flax. 
Wm.  Arne — Onions. 
W.  Towner — Squashes. 
J.  O.  Shryock — Cabbage. 
H.  Lowder — Field  corn. 
E.  L.  DeLine — Carrots. 

Lady  Equestrian — ist  prize,  Aland  Tofflemier;  2nd,  Mrs.  K.  Shryock. 
In  the  baby  show  W.  V.  Dixon's  baby  girl  won  ist  prize,  $io,  offered 
by  Mr.  P.  R.  Barrett. 


Chapter  14. 

Politics,  like  the  buffalo,  the  Indian  and  Coyotes,  seems  to  be  indigen- 
ous to  South  Dakota.  From  the  fact  that  white  men  seemed  to  become 
imbued  with  it  as  soon  as  they  crossed  the  boundary  line,  in  the  old  ter- 
ritorial days,  the  idea  has  become  prevalent  that  the  disease  was  here 
ahead  of  them. 

The  first  political  meeting  in  Jerauld  county,  after  its  organization, 
was  in  April,  1884.  The  occasion  was  the  election  of  one  delegate  tO' 
represent  the  county  at  the  territorial  republican  convention  called  to  meet 
at  Huron  April,  23,  to  select  delegates  to  the  national  convention. 

The  meeting  was  held  at  the  office  of  the  register  of  deeds,  April 
19th  and  was  a  "Masse"  affair  composed  of  eleven  or  twelve  voters,  N. 
J.  Dunham  was  selected  as  the  delegate. 

The  first  regular  caucus  held  in  the  county  was  the  one  which  met  at 
the  county  building  in  Wessington  Springs  on  Feb.  15th,  1884,  for  the 
purpose  of  nominating  school  officers  and  a  name  for  the  school  towai- 
ship.  The  first  motion  was  by  Mr.  A.  B.  Smart  in  nominating  W.  I. 
Bateman  for  the  chairmanship  of  the  meeting.  After  the  caucus  had 
disposed  of  the  business  pertaining  to  the  schools,  it  proceeded  to  elect 
a  county  committeeman  for  the  Republican  party  of  the  county,  that  was 
expected  to  be  formed  in  the  near  future,  and  also  a  Republican  township 
committee.     J.  F.  Ford  was  elected  to  the  county  committee,  and  E.  L. 


ii8 

TDeLine,  W.  I.  Bateman  and  C.  W.  McDonald  were  made  a  committee 
for  the  precinct. 

It  had  been  planned  to  have  the  same  course  followed  in  all  the  town- 
ships, but  some  neglected  it  and  only  the  following  members  were  elected 
to  the  county  committee. 

Wessington  Springs — J.   F.  Ford. 

Crow— U.  E.  Babb. 

Harmony — H.  A.  Pierce. 

Franklin — I.  P.  Ray. 

A  call  for  a  meeting  of  the  committee  to  be  held  on  May  4th,  1884, 
was  made  by  Mr.  Ford,  about  the  middle  of  May.  The  committee  met 
•at  the  time  appointed  and  preceeded  to  organize  the  party  for  the  county 
l)y  filling  the  vacancies  in  the  county  committee  and  appointing  a  com- 
mittee of  three  for  each  township.  J.  F.  Ford  was  elected  chairman  of 
the  county  committee  and  M.  D.  Crow,  secretary.  The  township  com- 
mittees were  as  follows : 

Marlar — J.  M.  Corbin,  Frank  Marlaur  and  C.  C.  Sapp. 

Crow— U.  E.  Babb,  E.  S.  Waterbury  and  C.  V.  Martin. 

Logan — James  Long,  William  Niemeyer  and  Z.  P.  DeForest. 

Harmony — O.  O.  England,  L  N.  Rich  and  N.  J.  Dunham. 

Pleasant— A.  W.  Dean,  O.  E.  Gaffin  and  John  Sullivan. 

Crow  Lake— D.  F.  Moulton,  R.  Y.  Hazard  and  S.  H.  Melcher. 

Chery— P.  B.  Davis,  H.  J.  Wallace  and  G.  W.  Bolton. 

jMedia — M.  D.  Crow,  Conway  Thompson  and  B.  G.  Cummings. 

Anina — S.  S.  Moore,  O.  F.  Kellogg  and  A.  D.  Cady. 

Dale — O.  W.  Richardson,  A.  Mercer  and  Frank  Eastman. 

W^essington  Springs — C.  W.  McDonald,  Wm.  Hawthorne  and  W.  I. 
Bateman. 

Viola — J.  M.  Primmer,  L.  G.  Wilson  and  Wm.  Dixon. 

Alpena^ — L.  N.  Loomis,  F.  W.  Whitney  and  D.  F.  Royer. 

Franklin' — ^Joseph  Doctor,  W.  P.  Pierce  and  D.  M.  Black. 

Blaine^B.  Wheeler — (probably  J.  M.  Wheeler).  M.  W.  Young  and 
Thos.  Bigger. 

On  August  1st  the  committee  called  the  first  delegate  republican  con- 
vention to  meet  at  the  county  building  in  Wessington  Springs  on  the 
6th  day  of  Sept.,  1884,  at  i  P.  M.  to  transact  the  following  business:  To 
elect  two  delegates  to  attend  the  congressional  convention  to  be  held  at 
Pierre  on  Sept.  17,  1884;  to  select  six  delegates  to  attend  the  legislative 
-convention  at  Mitchell,  Oct.  8th ;  to  nominate  county  officers  and  elect 
a  county  central  committee.  The  townships  were  given  representation 
as  follows : 

Blaine  three ;  Viola  three ;  Crow  Lake  three ;  Anina  two ;  Logan  three  ; 


119 

Franklin  three  ;  Wessington  Springs  two ;  Media  two ;  Dale  two ;  Pleasant 
three;  Crow  three;  Alpena  three;  Harmony  two;  Chery  two;  Marlar 
two ;  Making  a  total  of  thirty-eight. 

The  committee  also  appointed  a  committee  for  each  commissioner  dis- 
trict of  the  county  as  follows: 

No.  I — L.  N.  Loomis,  Albert  Gunderson  and  J.  M.  Wheeler. 

No.  2— J.  E.  McNamara,  A.  J.  Lowder  and  B.  F.  Goff. 

No.  3 — H.  A.  Pierce,  E.  S.  Waterbury  and  Joseph  O'Brien. 

In  1884,  Jerauld  county  had  no  regularly  elected  member  of  the 
district  legislative  committee,  but  when  the  committee  met  at  Mitchell  on 
July  31st,  O.  G.  Woodruff  of  Alpena,  attended  the  meeting  and  was 
permitted  to  represent  the  county. 

On  the  6th  day  of  Sept.",  1884,  the  first  delegate  convention  of  the 
Republican  party  of  Jerauld  county  met  according  to  the  call  of  the  com- 
mittee, and  organized  by  electing  Thos.  H.  Null,  of  Waterbury  as  botl' 
temporary  and  permanent  chairman,  F.  B.  Phillips,  of  Alpena  and  E.  J. 
Mentzer,  of  Crow  Lake,  were  elected  to  attend  the  congressional  con- 
vention, and  H.  Herring,  O.  W.  Richardson,  D.  F.  Royer,  G.  McDonald 
and  Joseph  O'Brien  were  sent  to  the  convention  at  Mitchell.  The  county 
ticket  nominated  was  as  follows : 

Register  of  Deeds — L.  N.  Loomis. 

Probate  Judge— T.  H.  Null. 

Clerk  of  Courts — Albert  Gunderson. 

County  Attorney — N.  J.  Dunham. 

Supt.  of  Schools — J.  T.  Johnston. 

County  Treasurer — H.  A.  Pierce. 

Assessor — R.  S.  Vessey.  1 

Coroner — D.   F.  Royer. 

Sheriff— J.  M.  Spears. 

Surveyor — J.  M.  Corbin. 

Justices' — ^O.  E.  Gaffin,  W.  L.  Davis,  H.  P.  Jones  and  C.  E.  Hackett. 

Constables — Jacob  Rosenthal,  W.  E.  Dement,  Mark  Williams  and  J. 
C.  Johnson. 

The  result  of  the  convention  was  very  unsatisfactory  to  a  large  num- 
ber of  people  of  the  county.  The  local  paper.  The  Herald,  refused  to 
publish  the  proceedings  of  the  convention  and  for  several  weeks  did  not 
even  print  the  ticket.  It  was  evident  from  the  date  of  the  convention 
that  a  bitter  fight  was  pending.  No  record  was  preserved  of  the  per- 
sonel  of  the  convention,  and  I  have  been  compelled  to  rely  upon  my  own 
memory  and  that  of  others  who  were  delegates,  or  attendants,  on  that 
memorable  occasion.  The  following  is  the  list  of  delegates  as  nearly 
correct  as  I  have  been  able  to  ascertain. 


I20 

Alpena— F.  B.  Philips,  O.  G.  Woodruff  and  D.  F.  Rover. 

Dale — ^John  Teasdale  and  O.  W.  Richardson. 

Chery — H.  A.  Miller  and — • — . 

Harmony — J.   R.   Eddy  and  Daniel   Alitchell. 

]\Iarlar — J.  AI.  Corbin  and  T.  J.  Hunt. 

Crow — T.  H.  Null,  H.  Herring  and  C.  V.  Martin. 

Pleasant' — S.  Marlenee,  James  Foster  and  Moses  Shaw. 

Media — Theo.  Dean  and  M.  D.  Crow. 

Wessington  Springs — J.  A.  McDonald  and  E.  L.   Smith. 

Franklin — W.  P.  Pierce,  O.  O.  Lindebak  and  L.  J.  Grisinger. 

Blaine — J.  M.  Wheeler,  Geo.  Rychman  and  Thos.  Bigger. 

Viola — J.  A.  Tyner,  M.  W.  Ncsmith  and  T.  K.  Ford. 

Anina — N.  E.  Williams  and  C.  E.  Little. 

Crow  Lake — ^Joseph  O'Brien,  Thos.  Henning  and  E.  J.  Mentzer. 

Logan^ — J.  A.  Riegal,  H.  A.  Robinson  and  H.  A.  Frick. 

Although  that  first  delegate  convention  was  charged  with  all  sorts 
of  political  chicanery,  it  was  probably  as  fair  as  any  that  have  followed. 
Each  candidate  did  his  best  to  win  and  to  accomplish  that  result  he  and 
his  friends  resorted  to  ever}'  available  known  political  maneuver.  Before 
the  day  of  the  convention  the  Republican  party  in  the  county  had  become 
divided  into  two  factions,  so  bitterly  opposed  that  reconsiliation  was  im- 
possible. The  defeated  candidates  went  out  of  the  meeting  firmly  deter- 
mined not  to  be  bound  by  the  result. 

Although  a  candidate  for  clerk  of  courts  had  been  nominated,  the 
nomination  was  in  no  way  effective,  for  the  supreme  court  decided,  a  few 
days  later,  that  that  officer  was  appointed  by  the  judges  in  the  different 
districts  and  not  elective. 

The  Democrats  of  the  county  met  at  the  Wessington  Springs  on  Sept. 
13th  to  organize  that  party.  John  N.  Dynes,  of  Dale  township,  was 
chairman  of  the  meeting  and  B.  R.  Shimp,  of  Pleasant,  secretary.  A 
county  committee  was  elected  consisting  of  one  member  from  each  town- 
ship, as  follows: 

Alpena — Geo.  D.  Canon. 

Dale — John  X.  Dynes. 

Chery — Ben  Drake. 

Harmony — Jeff'.  Sickler. 

Marlar • 

Crow — LT.  E.  Babb. 

Pleasant — B.  R.  Shimp. 

Media — John  Kugler. 

Wessington  Springs — R.  M.  Magee. 

Franklin^ — L  P.  Ray. 


121 


Blaine — 

Viola 

Anina 

Crow  Lake — Mr.  Hoffman. 

Logan 

Mr.  G.  D.  Canon  was  elected  chairman  of  the  committee.  The  fol- 
lowing resolution,  introduced  by  Mr.  Magee,  was  mianimously  adopted . 

"Resolved,  that  the  Democratic  party  of  Jerauld  county.  Dak.,  as 
organized  this  13th  day  of  Sept.,  1884,  is  in  favor  of  a  just  and  fair 
representation  of  all  the  legal  voters  of  the  county  in  the  selection  of 
county  officers,  and  declares  itself  opposed  to  all  rings  and  caprices 
gotten  up  by  any  party,  or  set  of  men,  for  the  purpose  of  benefiting  a 
few  favored  individuals." 

All  the  commissioner  district  conventions  were  held  on  the  27th  of 
Sept.  In  the  first  district  Mr.  Fisher  was  nominated,  without  opposition, 
to  succeed  himself.  In  the  second  district  Mr.  L.  G.  Wilson,  of  \'iola, 
was  nominated  at  Wessington  Springs,  to  succeed  Mr.  Smart.  In  the 
third  district  the  convention  was  held  at  Waterbury  and  was  the  most 
stubbornly  contested  of  any  convention  ever  held  in  the  county.  The 
convention  met  at  2  P.  M.  and  continued,  with  an  intermision  of  one 
hour  for  supper,  until  eleven  o'clock  that  night.  The  candidates  were 
S.  H.  Melcher  and  Joseph  O'Brien  of  Crow  Lake  and  J.  E.  Sullivan,  of 
Pleasant.  On  the  last  ballot  O'Brien's  strength  went  to  Sullivan  and 
he  was  nominated  with  one  majority.  Sixty-seight  ballots  were  taken. 
On  the  3rd  of  Oct.,  Chairman  Canon  published  the  first  call  for  a  de- 
mocratic nominating  convention,  to  meet  at  Wessington  Springs  on  Oc- 
tober nth. 

Meanwhile  the  trouble  in  the  Republican  ranks  was  taking  the  form 
of  organized  opposition. 

A  mass  convention  of  those  opposed  to  the  Republican  ticket  nomin- 
ated on  the  6th  of  Sept.  was  called  to  meet  Oct.  25th,  to  nominate  a 
people's  ticket  for  county  officers.  This  call  was  issued  Oct.  10,  and  was 
signed  as  follows : 

O.  O.  England,  I.  N.  Rich.  W.  A.  Miller,  O.  J.  :^Iarshall,  William 
Bremmer,  J.  O.  Grey,  E.  A  Sowerwine.  Gordon  McDonald,  X.  E.  Wil- 
liams and  M.  W.  Nesmith. 

The  Democrats  met  in  mass  convention  persuant  to  the  call  issued  by 
the  committee  chairman.  The  Waterbury  brass  band  was  engaged  for 
the  occassion.  A  motion  was  made  to  wait  until  the  meeting  of  the  dis- 
satisfied republicans  and  then  "fuse"  with  them,  but  it  was  voted  down 
and  the  convention  proceeded  to  put  in  nomination  a  full  county  ticket. 
The  candidates  named  were: 


•   122 

Register  of  Deeds — G.  D.  Canon. 

Sheriff- — G.  F.  Hodges. 

Clerk  District  Court^ — R.  M.  IMagee. 

Probate  Judge — H.  M.  Rice. 

Treasurer — C.   E.  Thayer. 

Coroner— Dr.  J.  U.  Hull. 

Surveyor — H.  J.  Wallace. 

Supt.  of  Schools — B.  R.  Shimp. 

Justices — U.  E.  Babb,  O.  E.  Gaffin,  M.  C.  Ayers  and  J.  O.  Gray. 

Constables — Henry  Krumwied,  ]\Iark  Williams,  John  Ivugier  and 
L.  W.  Castleman. 

On  October  24th,  Mr.  T.  L.  Blank  announced  in  the  Wessington 
Springs  Herald  that  he  was  an  independent  candidate  for  election  to  the 
position  he  then  held,  that  of  register  of  deeds. 

The  next  day,  Oct.  25th,  the  peoples  convention  met  at  the  county 
building  in  Wessington  Springs.  The  room  was  not  large  enough  to 
hold  the  enthusiastic  crowd.  O.  O.  England  called  the  meeting  to  order 
and  Thos.  Whiffin  was  made  chairman.  O.  J.  Marshall,  C.  E.  Thayer 
and  J.  A.  Tyner  were  appointed  a  committee  on  resolutions.  The  voting 
was  by  ballot  on  the  positions  of  register  of  deeds  and  county  treasurer. 
The  balance  of  the  ticket  was  nominated  by  acclamation.  On  the  position 
of  register  of  deeds  seventy-four  votes  were  cast,  of  which  T.  L.  Blank 
received  forty-six,  H.  C.  Stephens  fifteen  and  L.  N.  Loomis  thirteen. 
For  treasurer  W.  J.  Williams  received  sixty-nine  votes  and  C.  E.  Thayer 
nine.     When  completed  the  peoples  ticket  was  as  follows : 

Register  of  Deeds^ — T.  L.  Blank. 

Supt.  of  Schools — R.  Y.  Hazard. 

Sheriff — J.  M.  Spears. 

Probate  Judge — H.  M.  Rice. 

Treasurer — W.  J.  Williams. 

Assessor — R.  S.  Vessey. 

Coroner — M.  W.   Nesmith. 

Surveyor — J.  M.  Corbin. 

Justices' — Hirafti  Freeman,  E.  A.  Herman,  M.  C.  Ayers  and  J\I.  W. 
Young. 

Constables — Fred  Strasser,  H.  P.  Jones,  J.  C.  Johnson  and  L.  W. 
Castleman. 

The  committee  on  resolutions  made  the  following  report  which  was 
adopted : 

WHEREAS :  The  nominations  for  the  public  officers  of  this,  our 
home,  Jerauld  county,  have  to  a  certain  extent  been  made  by  a  ring  of 
political  tricksters,  instead  of  by  the  people  of  the  county,  be  it 


123 

Resolved,  The  people  of  Jerauld  county,  in  mass  convention,  do  here- 
by protest  against  all  such  dishonesty,  trading  or  trickery,  which  tends 
to  defeat  the  will  of  the  people. 

Resolved,  That  we  hereby  invite  all  those  interested  in  the  cause  of 
honest  politics,  irrespective  of  party,  to  join  us  in  the  coming  election, 
in  obtaining  a  fair  square  expression  of  the  true  will  of  the  voters  of 
Jerauld  county. 

Resolved,  That  we  do  not  advocate  the  creation  of  factions,  or  side 
issues,  but  demand  that  good  will  and  peace  may  be  united  in  securing 
the  express  will  of  the  people. 

On  October  31st  Mr.  Hazard  announced  himself  an  independent  can- 
didate for  the  position  of  Co.  Supt.  of  Schools. 

The  candidates  were  now  all  in  the  field  and  the  issue  fully  under- 
stood by  everybod}^  in  the  county,  which  was — who  shall  have  the  offices. 
To  this  was  added  a  quadrangular  fight  for  the  county  seat. 

Crow  Lake,  though  unplatted  as  a  town,  and  Waterbury,  had  both 
entered  the  race  as  avowed  candidates,  Lyndale  had  been  platted  in 
August,  and  was  making  a  hard  struggle. 

On  October  31st  the  Wessington  Springs  Herald  printed  a  bond  in 
the  sum  of  $2000  for  the  fufillment  of  the  "combined  proposition"  that 
bad  been  accepted  by  the  county  commissioners  on  Jan.  18,  1884.  To 
this  bond  was  attached  the  names  of  C.  S.  Burr,  D.  A.  Scott,  C.  E 
Bourne,  P.  R.  Barrett,  A.  B.  Smart  and  Mrs.  R.  J.  Smart.  The  election 
occurred  on  Nov.  4th.     The  bond  was  never  heard  of  again. 

The  contest  continued  until  the  last  vote  was  cast  on  election  day. 
The  result  was  as  follows: 

Register  of  Deeds — L.  N.  Loomis. 

Supt.  of  Schools — J.  T.  Johnson. 

Sherifif— J.  M.  Spears. 

Probate  Judge — H.  M.  Rice. 

Treasurer — W.  J.  Williams. 

Assessor — 'R.  S.  Vessey. 

Coroner — D.  F.  Royer. 

Surveyor — J.  M.  Corbin. 

County  Commissioners : 

1st  District — H.  D.  Fisher. 
2nd  District — L.  G.  Wilson. 
3rd  District — J.  E.  Sullivan. 

County  Seat — Wessington  Springs,  395  ;  Lyndale,  285  ;  Crow  Lake. 
71 ;  and  Waterbury,  64. 

For  Superintendent  of  Schools,  Mr.  Hazard  was  defeated  by  one  vote. 

On  Nov.  14th,  after  the  returns  of  the  election  had  been  canvassed 


124 

and  the  result  declared,  the  chairman  of  the  board  of  commissioners,  on 
motion  of  Mr.  Alelcher,  was  instructed  to  proceed  to  secure  title  to  the 
county  of  the  property  specified  in  the  "combined  proposition."  Nothing" 
further  was  ever  done  about  it. 

For  the  position  of  county  attorney  the  canvassing  board  refused  to 
count  the  vote,  on  the  ground  that  the  county  was  not  entitled  to  such 
an  officer.  The  matter  was  made  the  subject  of  a  good  deal  of  bitter 
discussion  for  several  months  and  finally  dropped. 


Chapter  15. 

After  the  excitement  engendered  by  the  political  campaign  of  1884 
had  subsided,  affairs  went  on  toward  the  development  of  the  county 
along  many  lines. 

In  the  latter  part  of  December,  1884,  Judge  A.  J.  Edgerton  of  the 
2nd  judical  district,  of  which  Jerauld  was  a  part,  made  an  order  attaching- 
that  county  to  Aurora  for  judicial  purposes. 

The  season  of  1884,  like  the  preceding  one,  was  propitious.  There 
was  no  frost  in  the  county  until  October  6th,  and  all  crops  were  secured 
in  excellent  condition. 

A  few  losses  had  been  occassioned  by  fires,  which  will  be  mentioned 
in  a  chapter  devoted  to  that  subject  exclusively. 

The  result  of  the  vote  on  the  location  of  the  county  seat,  of  course 
put  an  end  to  all  hope  of  making  a  town  at  Lyndale.  Within  a  few  weeks 
after  the  vote  was  taken  ]Mr.  McNamara  took  the  Jerauld  County  News 
back  to  Wessington  Springs  and  opened  a  printing  office  in  a  building" 
that  had  been  erected  for  him  about  where  the  fire  house  now  stands.  A 
few  months  later  the  building  in  which  the  paper  had  been  printed  at 
Lyndale  was  sold  to  E.  L.  Smith,  who  moved  it,  also,  to  Wessington 
Springs  and  placed  it  on  Blowers  addition  to  that  town. 

C.  E.  Thayer  was  appointed  deputy  treasurer  on  the  29th  day  of 
November,  1884,  by  W.  J.  \\'illiams.  ]\Ir.  Thayer  qualified  three  days 
later. 

In  1885  the  winter  set  in  on  the  6th  day  of  January,  and  continued 
very  cold  until  about  March  15th.  when  it  "broke,"  and  the  settlers  began 
their  spring  work. 

During  the  month  of  February,  1885,  E.  H.  Ford  had  a  notion  store 
in  his  building  on  the  south  side  of  Alain  St.  in  Wessington  Springs. 

In  March,  1885,  Vessey  Bros.,  Ransom  &  Co.  built  a  machiner}-  ware- 


125 


Mrs.  E.  V.  Miles. 


C.  E.  Hackett. 


IVessington  Springs  Band  at  Alpena,  July  4th,   1885. 


126 

house  on  the  northwest  corner  of  Main  and  2nd  Streets.     It  stood  until 
\'essey  Bros,  built  the  new  store  in  1903. 

During-  the  same  month  (March)  L.  N.  Loomis  began  hauling  lumber 
for  a  residence  on  College  Ave.  in  Smart's  Addition  to  Wessington 
Springs,  and  R.  S.  Vessey  began  excavating  for  his  house  in  the  county 
seat. 

About  the  ist  of  April,  John  Chapman  moved  his  blacksmith  tools 
from  his  farm  on  section  17 — 107 — 64,  into  a  new  shop  just  completed 
by  L.  H.  Tarble. 

About  the  same  time  the  teacher  and  pupils  in  District  No.  i  of  Wes- 
sington Springs  township,  set  out  twenty-eight  trees  furnished  them  by 
Mr.  Tofflemier,  and  Mr.  L.  G.  Wilson  of  Viola,  offered  a  tree  to  each 
pupil  in  the  township  if  they  would  plant  it  where  they  expected  to  attend 
school. 

In  the  second  week  in  June  a  culvert  was  put  in  the  ravine  on  Main 
St.  between  3rd  and  4th  Streets.  A  small  bridge  had  already  been  put 
across  the  ravine  in  the  block  east,  but  while  these  crossings  were  good 
enough  for  the  summer,  the  ice  in  winter  for  several  years  closed  the 
passage  and  formed  a  slippery  mound  tht  rendered  the  road  almost  im- 
passable during  the  cold  weather. 

On  June  i8th,  1885,  Vessey  Bros.,  Ransom  &  Co.  began  digging  the 
cellar  for  a  new  store  building  on  the  southwest  corner  of  ]\'Iain  and  2nd 
streets.  A  few  days  later  ]\Ir.  Marlenee  began  work  on  the  building, 
which  the  firm  occupied  Sept.  i,  1885. 

August  20th  of  that  year  two  young  men  came  to  Wessington  Springs 
from  New  Lisbon,  Wis.,  to  look  over  the  situation  with  a  view  to  locating. 
They  were  so  well  pleased  with  the  prospect  that  they  immediately  pur- 
chased the  stock  of  the  N.  D.  Wilder  store  and  a  week  later  the  adver- 
tisement of  Roth  Bros,  appeared  in  the  local  papers. 

The  county  commissioners  on  July  24th  let  to  W.  S.  Scofield  the  con- 
tract for  grading  the  road  located  by  the  county  over  the  hills  west  of 
town,  going  on  the  north  side  of  the  draw  west  of  the  big  spring.  The 
contract  price  for  the  work  was  $198.00  and  Mr.  Scofield  agreed  to  put 
in  the  culvert  provided  for  in  the  arrangement  with  ]Mr.  McDonald,  for 
$25.00.     The  work  was  completed  in  the  forepart  of  September. 

On  Sept.  13th  the  road  overseer  of  Wessington  Springs  township  be- 
gan the  first  work  on  the  Main  street  of  the  village. 

During  the  summer  a  census  of  the  county  was  taken,  which  gave 
the  county  a  population  of  2,103  and  Wessington  Springs  township  345. 

A  young  man  named  James  Waters  came  up  from  Sioux  City  in  the 
forepart  of  October,  1885,  and  opened  a  pool  hall  in  the  Housel  fr 
Arnold  building,  which  had  been  recently  vacated  by  Vessey  Bros.,  Ran- 


127 

som  &  Co.  This  building'  stood  on  the  south  side  of  Main  St.  where 
Shull's  drug  store  now  stands. 

In  November,  1885,  Thomas  Drake  put  up  the  building  on  the  north 
side  of  Alain  St.  in  Wessington  Springs,  now  occupied  by  Ausman  and 
Wallace. 

About  the  same  time  Airs.  Spears  moved  the  office  part  of  what  she 
afterwards  named  the  Willard  Hotel,  from  the  lot  south  of  Roth's  store, 
where  it  was  built,  to  the  ground  upon  which  it  now  stands. 

In  December  of  that  year,  J.  H.  Woodburn  and  F.  M.  Brown  formed 
a  partnership  to  do  blacksmithing  and  woodwork  in  a  shop  west  of  2nd 
street  and  north  of  Main  street  in  Wessington  Springs. 

At  Crow  Lake  Mr.  Lodge  dissolved  his  partnership  relation  with  Air. 
Derrick  and  formed  business  relations  with  Chas.  Ferguson.  This  con- 
tinued until  June  3rd,  1885,  when  the  firm  sold  out  to  J.  T.  Glasham, 
who  conducted  the  store  for  many  years,  x^bout  the  same  time  the  people 
of  Crow  Lake  and  vicinity  petitioned  the  county  commissioners  to  put  a 
public  highway  around  the  lake.     The  petition  was  dismissed. 

In  Alay  of  that  year  Airs.  Allyn  and  Air.  Lodge  employed  T.  L.  Blank 
to  survey  and  plat  the  townsite  of  Crow  Lake,  on  some  land  owned  by 
them  at  the  southwest  corner  of  the  lake. 

At  Lyndale  H.  A.  Robinson,  having  finished  his  building,  put  in  a 
stock  of  groceries  in  February,  1885,  and  kept  up  the  business  until  later 
m  the  year  he  sold  to  W.  A.  Pound. 

At  Alpena  a  number  of  business  changes  were  made  in  the  year  1885. 

Ray  Barber  engaged  in  livery  business,  using  the  barn  that  stood  back 
of  the  hotel. 

A  lady  named  Harris  purchased  the  building  formerly  occupied  by  R. 
Davenport  as  a  restaurant,  and  continued  the  business. 

J.  T.  Johnston,  County  Supt.,  built  the  third  grain  warehouse  and 
continued  to  do  grain  business  in  it  until  he  sold  to  McAIichael  in  1887. 
This  warehouse  was  changed  to  an  elevator  in'  1901. 

On  the  loth  day  of  December  occurred  one  of  the  most  important 
events  in  the  social  and  business  life  of  Alpena.  This  was  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  Independent  Order  of  Odd  Fellows.  The  charter  members 
of  the  lodge  were  seven  in  number:  Daniel  F.  Royer,  WilmotW.  Hillis, 
Charles  Davis,  Leopold  Dietz,  John  C.  Zimmerman,  W.  W.  Huxtable  and 
Andrew  Westdahl.  There  were  thirteen  initials  at  the  first  meeting  of 
the  lodge,  viz.:  W.  T.  Hay,  Ray  Barber,  L.  J.  Pratt,  F.  W.  Whitney, 
C.  R.  Alanwarning,  J.  R.  Alilliken,  E.  J.  Makemson,  W.  A.  Linn,  L.  H. 
AlcCarger,  R.  Davenport,  L.  J.  Ale  Williams,  Lewis  Fenstemaker,  and 
Frank  Adams.     Of  the  men  present  at  that  meeting  only  Ray  Barber 


128 

and  ^^'.  W.  Hillis  remain  in  the  town.    The  lodge  now  has  a  membership 
of  72,  while  the  Rebekah  lodge  has  nearly  100  members. 

About  the  first  of  January,  1885,  L.  N.  Loomis,  being  compelled  to 
spend  most  of  his  time  in  the  registers  office  at  Wessington  Springs.  W. 
L.  Davis  again  took  charge  of  the  Jerauld  County  Journal,  and  continued 
to  manage  the  paper  until  J\Ir.  Loomis  rented  the  Journal  office,  paper 
and  all,  to  L.  H.  ]\IcCarger,  July  25th,  1885. 

The  year  1884  had  seen  the  town  of  Sulphur  Springs  gradually  grow 
smaller  by  the  removal  of  one  building  after  another  until  with  the  close 
of  the  year  but  one  remained, — the  hotel  was  occupied  by  the  family  of 
R.  A.  Wheeler.  The  night  of  January  ist,  1885,  was  a  pleasant  one  and 
mild  for  that  time  of  the  year.  Sometime  in  the  night  a  fire  broke  out 
in  the  hotel  and  the  next  morning  but  a  heap  of  smouldering  embers 
market  the  spot  where  the  last  Sulphur  Springs  land  mark  had  dis- 
appeared. 

The  churches  of  the  county  had  more  trouble  during  the  year  1885 
than  other  institutions. 

At  Alpena,  L.  C.  Burch,  the  conference  appointee  for  reasons  best 
known  to  himself  and  the  church  left  his  charge  in  IMarch  and  was  suc- 
ceeded by  Rev.  W.  H.  Hoadley,  who  remained  until  the  close  of  the  con- 
ference year.  On  Oct.  -3th.  Rev.  J.  Trewartha  was  placed  at  Alpena 
and  Wessington  Springs  by  the  conference  and  proved  satisfactory  to  the 
people  and  the  church.  At  Wessington  Springs  the  year  was  welcomed 
at  a  watch  meeting  in  the  M.  E.  Church.  At  this  meeting  as  the  clock 
indicated  the  hour  of  midnight,  Mr.  C.  W.  McDonald  arose  and  in  a  ten 
minutes  talk  delivered  an  address  that  has  seldom,  if  ever,  been  ecjualed 
in  the  county. 

W.  D.  Luther,  appointed  by  the  conference  in  October,  1884,  to  suc- 
ceed Mr.  Campbell,  was  asked  before  spring  to  resign  the  charge  and 
seek  some  other  place.  Luther  was  succeeded  by  L.  F.  Daniels,  who  was 
confirmed  as  pastor  July  i6th,  1885,  put  shortly  after  resigned.  He  was 
followed  by  IMr.  W.  H.  Jordan,  who  supplied  the  place  until  i\Ir.  Tre- 
wartha came  at  the  beginning  of  the  conference  year  in  October. 

The  church  at  W^aterbury  had  lost  their  church  building,  but  the  public 
school  hou.se  aft'orded  them  ample  accommodation.  Thev  were  fortunate, 
however,  in  receiving  Rev.  Paganhart  as  the  appointee  from  the  con- 
ference. 

.At  the  residence  of  C.  G.  Smith  on  the  NE  of  35  in  Harmony,  the 
h'riends  began  holding  religious  services  and  Sunday  School  February 
1st.  1885. 

.\  few  days  later  Mrs.  C.  G.  Smith  began  teaching  a  private  school  at 


129 

her  home,  which  was  attended  by  her  daughter  Ora  and  by  Walter  and 
Marion  Grieve. 

About  the  same  time  Mrs.  S.  B.  Knowlton  began  a  school  at  the  home 
of  her  father,  Lewis  Nordyke  on  the  SW  of  17  in  Harmony  township, 
which  was  attended  by  her  brother  Charley  Nordyke,  her  daughters,  Ger- 
tie and  Ollie  Knowlton^,  and  Anna  Titus. 

April  nth,  1885,  the  Friends  began  holding  meetings  in  the  Grieve 
school  house  in  Harmony  township. 

Mrs.  S.  F.  Huntley,  of  Harmony  township,  was  recorded  in  the 
Friend's  Church  as  a  minister  of  that  denomination,  July  loth,  1885. 

In  1885,  from  the  house  of  Mr.  Huntley,  on  the  SE  of  Sec.  33 — 108 
-—66,  eighty-one  residences  could  be  counted. 

The  first  township  teachers  institutes  in  the  county  were  held  in  Chery 
and  Pleasant  townships  in  February,  1885.  Those  in  Chery  were  called 
by  C.  W.  Hill,  director,  and  those  in  Pleasant  by  G.  W.  Trollope,  town- 
ship school  clerk. 

The  new  board  of  county  commissioners,  J-  E.  Sullivan,  L.  G.  Wilson 
and  H.  D.  Fisher  took  the  oath  of  office  January  5th,  1885,  and  Mr. 
Fisher  was  made  chairman. 

January  6th,  1885,  the  treasurer's  bond  was  fixed  at  $20,000.  The 
next  day  the  Jerauld  County  News  was  made  official  paper  of  the  county. 

January  15th  the  county  clerk's  (register  of  deeds)  salary  was  in- 
■creased  to  $300  per  year  and  County  Supt.  to  $250.  On  the  same  day 
R.  S.  Vessey  and  Joseph  O'Brien  were  reappointed  members  of  the  county 
brand  committee.  The  board  made  Dr.  E.  L.  Turner  and  R.  M.  Magee 
members  of  the  board  of  insanity,  the  probate  judge,  H.  M.  Rice,  being 
the  other  member  by  virtue  of  his  office. 

On  April  28th,  1885,  the  townsite  company  and  Hiram  Blowers 
■ofifered  the  county  four  blocks  of  lots  if  the  commissioners  would  locate 
the  court  house  on  the  hill,  where  it  now  stands.  The  offer  was  accepted. 
There  is  nothing  to  indicate  that  this  was  in  any  manner  a  substitute  for 
the  "combined  proposition"  about  which  so  much  had  been  said  during 
the  year  1884. 

But  little,  aside  from  the  routine  work  of  the  county,  was  done  by 
the  commissioners  in  the  year  of  1885.  On  July  loth  the  board  requested 
Judge  Edgerton  to  make  Jerauld  county  a  judicial  subdivision.  The  re- 
quest was  granted  on  the  24th  of  the  same  month  and  the  order  detaching 
Jerauld  from  Aurora  county  was  entered  in  the  court  records  by  clerk 
McDonald,  Aug.  4th,  1885. 

August  26th  the  board  requested  Mr.  Samuel  Marlenee  to  prepare 
plans  for  a  court  house  and  vault,  and  instructed  the  clerk  to  advertise 


I30 

for  bids  for  building-  the  same,  the  bids  to  be  opened  the  first  Monday  in 
September. 

On  the  7th  of  Sept.  the  tax  levy  was  made  as  follows :  County  gen- 
eral fund,  6  mills ;  bridge  fund,  2  mills ;  road  fund,  2  mills ;  and  county 
school  fund,  2  mills.  The  territorial  levy  for  that  year  was  three  and 
seven  tenths  mills. 

The  bids  for  building  the  court  house  being  opened  on  the  day  ap- 
pointed, the  contract  was  let  to  Sam  Alarlenee.  The  plan,  called  for  a 
building  32x40  ft.,  two  stories  high.  The  vault  to  be  of  double  walls. 
8x6  ft.,  inside  measure.  The  structure  was  to  cost  not  to  exceed  $2,000, 
of  which  the  county  agreed  to  pay  $1,750  and  certain  persons  in  Wessing- 
ton  Springs  $250.  The  contract  required  the  completion  of  the  structure 
by  the  15th  of  Nov..  1885.  On  Sept.  2nd  Wm.  Brinner  began  building 
the  foundation  for  the  court  house  and  on  the  evening  of  Nov.  12th  a 
dedicatory  ball  in  the  court  room  celebrated  the  finishing  of  the  work. 

The  dance  at  the  new  court  room  on  the  12th  of  Nov.,  1885,  was  a 
notable  occasion.  People  were  in  attendance  from  all  parts  of  the  county. 
The  committees  were  as  follows : 

Arrangements — L.  N.  Loomis,  Theo.  Roth,  of  Wessington  Springs. 
L.  H.  McCarger.  of  Alpena,  Sam  ]\Iarlenee  of  Waterbury,  J.  E.  Sullivan, 
of  Lvndale. 

Invitation — R.  J.  Hughs,  Crow  Lake ;  Chas.  R.  Manwareing,  Alpena ; 
Geo.  Corkings,  Woonsocket  Spring;  and  Chas.    Hopkins  of  Waterbury. 

Reception — C.  E.  Thayer,  J.  T.  Johnston  and  Wm.   ■\Iundie. 

Eloor  Managers — G.  N.  Price,  C.  E.  Hackett,  W.  J.  Williams  and 
Allan  Ransom. 

The  commissioners  about  the  loth  of  Deceml^er  ordered  a  steel  cell 
that,  when  put  together  in  the  county  jai-1,  should  cost  not  to  exceed 
$1,025.  The  building  formerly  used  as  the  office  of  the  register  of  deeds., 
was  moved  on  to  the  hill  near  the  court  house  and  in  it  the  steel  cell  was 
placed. 

At  the  close  of  the  year  1885  the  county  treasurer  and  register  of 
deeds,  issued  a  statement  of  warrants  issued  and  taxes  collected  since  the 
organization  of  the  county.     The  statement  was  as   follows : 

1884,  warrants  issued   $6,539- 17 

1885.  warrants  issued $6,819.96 

Total $13,359-13 

1884  and  1885,  taxes  collected   $4,271.27 

1884  and  1885,  taxes  due $5,478.73 

Total $10,200.00 

Warrants  in  excess  of  resources  $3,159.13. 


131 

On  the  6th  day  of  November,  1885,  Mr.  James  A.  ^McDonald  drove 
his  steam  threshing  machine  engine  up  the  grade  over  the  Wessington 
Hills  about  11  :30  A.  J\I.,  and  when  he  reached  the  top  of  the  hill  beyond 
the  grade  he  stopped  and  opened  wide  the  whistle.  It  was  the  first  note 
of  its  kind  ever  heard  west  of  the  foot  hills  in  Jerauld  county. 

The  story  of  Jerauld  county  business  houses  will  not  be  complete 
without  at  least  mention  of  Ed  Leon,  oldest  traveling  salesmen  for  Shenk- 
berg  Co.,  Martin  Jaquemai,  salesman  for  Hornick,  Hess  &  Moore,  whole- 
sale druggists  since  1887,  and  Geo.  Rew,  for  Knapp  &  Spencer,  a  whole- 
sale hardware  firm,  all  of  Sioux  City.  During  near  to  a  quarter  of  a 
century  the}^  have  travelled  over  the  prairies  of  Jerauld  county,  in  heat 
and  in  cold ;  in  sunshine,  and  in  storm ;  by  livery  team,  by  stage  coach  and 
by  railroad  train  ;  always  a  good  word  for  the  county,  a  pleasant  smile 
and  a  cheering  word  for  their  customers,  these  men  of  the  grip  have  been 
through  all  that  time  a  force  for  the  development  and  welfare  of  the  ter- 
ritory over  which  their  work  carried  them.  With  the  exception  of  the 
Austin  failure  at  Waterbury,  in  1887,  when  Leon's  house  lost  between 
three  and  four  hundred  dollars,  these  men  have  not  sent  in  a  bad  order, 
nor  their  firms  lost  a  penny  in  the  county. 

Late  in  the  autumn  of  1884,  a  move  was  set  on  foot  at  Woonsocket, 
as  an  incident  of  the  Sanborn  comity  county-seat  fight  to  get  an  act  passed 
by  the  legislature  that  should  meet  at  Bismarck  in  January,  1885,  dividing 
Jerauld  county,  and  attaching  its  three  eastern  townships  to  Sanborn,  and 
to  compensate  Jerauld  county  for  its  loss  of  territory,  the  scheme  com- 
prehended the  annexation  of  Buft'alo  county  to  Jerauld.  The  move 
aroused  quick  and  furious  antagonism  in  both  Jerauld  and  Buffalo  coun- 
ties. A  meeting  was  held  at  Alpena  in  Januar}^,  attended  by  men  from 
all  parts  of  Jerauld  county,  and  Mr.  O.  G.  Woodruff',  of  Alpena,  was 
sent  to  Bismark  to  lobby  against  the  bill.  The  move  failed  and  the  county 
boundaries  were  not  disturbed. 

A  meeting  for  the  purpose  of  organizing  a  farmers"  alliance  was 
called  by  a  notice  published  in  the  county  papers  Feby.  13th,  1885.  The 
call  was  signed  by  Mr.  C.  W.  Hill,  of  Chery  township.  An  organization 
was  perfected,  having  an  alliance  in  each  township  with  a  central  county 
council.  For  several  years  this  society  was  of  immense  assistance  to  the 
farmers  of  the  county  in  selling  produce  and  in  obtaining  supplies.  At 
this  time  I  have  been  unable  to  get  any  trace  of  the  records  of  this 
organization. 

The  stock  holders  of  the  Jerauld  County  Fair  Association  met  at  Wes- 
sington Springs,  January  6th,  1885,  and  elected,  B.  G.  Cummings,  presi- 
dent; H.  E.  Merwin,  vice-president;  Allan  Ransom,  secretary,  and  S.  H. 
Melcher,  treasurer.     The  board  of  directors  was  composed  of  Richard 


132 

Vanderveen,  J.  M.  Corbin,  O.  G.  Woodruff,  H.  Blowers,  W.  R.  Day, 
M.  W.  Nesmith,  M.  W.  Young,  H.  A.  Aliller,  E.  S.  Waterbury,  W.  J. 
Williams  and  W.  T.  Hay.  The  executive  committee  was  composed  of 
C.  \\'.  Hill,  J.  F.  Ford,  L.  N.  Loomis,  W.  I.  Bateman  and  H.  W.  Lowder. 

The  legislature  that  adjourned  in  the  fore  part  of  Alarch,  1885,  by 
an  apportionment  act  made  the  eighth  council  and  representative  district 
to  consist  of  Jerauld,  Sanborn  and  Beadle  counties. 

Before  the  1885  session  of  the  territorial  legislature  had  adjourned  it 
was  apparent  that  another  effort  was  to  be  made  to  divide  the  territory 
and  induce  congress  to  admit  South  Dakota  into  the  union.  Provision 
was  made  for  a  constitutional  convention  and  $20,000  appropriated  out  of 
the  territorial  treasury  to  defray  the  expenses  there  of. 

In  Jerauld  county  the  statehood  movement  of  1885  was  taken  seri- 
ously by  the  politicians  of  both  parties.  The  county  was  accorded  two 
delegates  in  the  constitutional  convention  which  was  called  to  meet  at 
Sioux  Falls  in  September.  A  county  convention  was  called  for  June 
20th  and  S.  F.  Huntley,  of  Harmony  township  and  Albert  Gunderson 
of  Wessington  Springs  nominated  to  represent  Jerauld  county.  Two 
days  later  C.  W.  Hill  announced  himself  an  independent  candidate  for 
the  position  of  delegate  to  the  constitutional  convention.  In  his  announce- 
ment Mr.  Hill  declared  for  the  "initiative"'  in  legislation,  in  the  same 
form  in  which  it  was  adopted  into  the  state  constitution  in  1897.  He 
also  advocated  the  pure  food  law  as  it  passed  congress  twenty-one  years 
later.  The  election  of  delegates  occurred  June  30th,  Air.  Huntley  received 
237,  Air.  Gunderson  181  and  Air.  Hill  54  votes. 

At  no  time  in  the  history  of  the  county  has  temperance  work  been 
carried  on  more  energetically  than  during  the  few  months  prior  to  the 
special  election  of  November,  1885.  The  experience  of  1883  led  the  pro- 
hibitionists to  determined  and  systematic  work  all  over  the  proposed 
state.  From  the  beginning  they  had  the  campaign  in  Jerauld  county  well 
in  hand  and  practically  controlled  the  election.  The  result  was  not  as 
decisive  as  was  anticipated  because  of  the  small  vote  polled. 

This  time  both  prohibition  and  minorit}'  representation  were  suljmittcd 
to  the  people  to  be  voted  on  with  the  constitution.  By  the  middle  of 
October  a  full  set  of  state  legislative  and  judicial  candidates  had  been 
nominated.  For  the  purpose  of  this  election  Jerauld  and  Aurora  coun- 
ties were  placed  together  as  a  senatorial  district,  while  lerauld  stood 
alone  as  a  representative  district. 

A  senatorial  convention  held  at  Plankinton,  Octol^er  26th,  nominated 
E.  V.  Alilles,  of  Jerauld  Co.  as  the  Republican  candidate  for  senator.  For 
representative,  S.  F.  Huntley,  of  Harmony  township,  was  nominated  at 


^23 

a  convention  held  in  Wessington  Springs,  Oct.  17th.  At  the  same  time 
O.  G.  Woodruff,  of  Alpena  was  nominated  for  county  judge. 

The  Democratic  party  of  the  proposed  state  refused  to  have  anything 
to  do  with  the  election  for  state  and  county  officers  under  the  statehood 
movement.  Yet  Mr.  J.  W.  Harden  of  Franklin  township  became  a  demo- 
cratic candidate  for  the  legislature  and  M.  C.  Ayers  announced  himself  a 
candidate  for  county  judge. 

Anticipating  that  prohibition  would  be  submitted  to  the  people  of  the 
proposed  state  the  temperance  workers  became  active  early  in  the  season. 
On  July  4th,  1885,  the  band  of  hope,  a.  childrens  temperance  organization, 
had  a  membership  of  fifty-one  in  the  county.  The  work  of  extending-  this 
society  was  carried  on  by  Mrs.  Nettie  C.  Hall,  president  of  the  county  W. 
C.  T.  U.  July  17th,  forty-five  members  of  the  band  of  hope  met  at  the 
school  section  east  of  M'essington  Springs  and  were  taken  to  Woonsocket 
for  a  pleasant  da}^  with  the  organization  there.  ]\Ieetings  of  the  county 
W.  C.  T.  U.  were  held  at  different  parts  of  the  county.  One  meeting 
was  held  at  Waterbury,  another  at  Alpena  and  one  at  Wessington  Springs. 
July  26th  a  band  of  hope  was  organized  at  Dale  center  school  house,  an- 
other at  school  house  No.  4  in  Chery,  on  Aug.  2nd. 

A  Sunday  School  was  organized  at  the  Nelson  school  house  in  Anina 
township,  July  5th,  with  A.  Hodgson  Supt.,  E.  Moon,  Ass't.  Supt.,  and 
Ida  Kellogg  Sec.  and  Treas.  In  the  same  township  a  W.  C.  T.  U.  Society 
was  formed  in  the  latter  part  of  October  with  \lrs.  A.  D.  Cady  president. 

In  Viola  township  a  W.  C.  T.  U.  was  organized  in  October.  Mrs. 
Susan  Smith,  president. 

A  Band  of  Hope  was  organized  in  Wessington  Springs,  July  5th, 
under  the  superintendency  of  the  Pioneer  W.  C.  T.  U.  Mr.  John  Kugler 
was  engaged  to  make  twenty  wooden  guns  and  thirty  wands  for  the  chil- 
dren and  to  drill  them  in  certain  movements.  The  members  of  the  band 
were  supplied  with  caps  and  the  society  had  two  flags  that  they  carried 
on  all  gala  occasions. 

During  the  County  Fair  exhibition  in  September  the  members  of  the 
W.  R.  C.  and  the  Pioneer  W.  C.  T.  U.  maintained  a  "temperance  home" 
on  the  fair  grounds. 

On  the  20th  of  September  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  celebrated  the  centennial 
of  temperance  work  in  America. 

At  Alpena  a  local  W.  C.  T.  U.  was  organized  July  22,  Mrs.  Daniel 
Kint,  president ;  Mrs.  R.  Davenport,  vice  president ;  Mrs.  Wm.  Arne, 
secretary;  and  Mrs.  C.  D.  Worral,  treasurer.  August  i6th  was  a  notable 
day  because  of  the  large  crowd  that  gathered  to  witness  the  dedication 
of  the  M.  E.  Church  building. 

In  Harmony  township  a  W.  C.  T.  U.  was  formed  early  in  April. 


134 

On  the  Sabbath  evening-  prececHng  election  day  a  temperance  concert 
was  held  at  the  AI.  E.  Church,  which  was  announced  to  be  "free  and  no 
collection." 

Election  day  came  and  Pioneer  W.  C.  T.  U.  established  a  booth  near 
the  polls  where  hot  coffee  and  lur.ch  were  served  free  to  all  who  would 
eat. 

In  the  county  the  vote  polled  was  light.  The  constitution  was  elected 
by  563  to  41.  Prohibition  carried  by  ^zC^  to  302,  but  was  defeated  in  the 
following  townships : 

Alpena — 38  to  24. 

Franklin — 42  to  28. 

Blaine — 57  to  13. 

Dale — II  to  9. 

A'iola — 20  to  15. 

Logan — 24  to  6. 

INIarlar — 21  to  ii. 

Prohibition  carried  the  proposed  state  by  15.552  to  15,218. 

IMinority  representation  was  defeated  in  the  county  by  401  to  185,  but 
carried  in  the  following  townships: 

Blaine — 39  to  29. 

A'iola — 16  to  15. 

Chery — 12  to  9. 

Harmony — 17  to  8. 

l'\ir  capital  Pierre  carried  Jerauld  county  by  a  vote  of  494  to  188. 
In  the  townships  the  vote  for  Pierre  and  Huron  stood  as  follows  : 


\\'essington  Springs 

Alpena 

Franklin 

Blaine 

Dale 

A'iola 

Anina 

^lecha 

Chery 

Harmony 

Pleasant 

Crow  Lake 

^larlar 

Crow 

T,()Uan 


Pierre. 

Huron. 

50 

12 

2 

64 

36 

31 

38 

Z7 

3 

16 

32 

I 

42 

0 

31 

I 

15 

9 

25 

00 

41 

I 

ZZ 

I 

32 

00 

50 

00 

iT) 

13 

135 

In  the  county  the  vote  for  A.  C.  ^Mellette,  the  repubUcan  nominee  for 
governor  was  517  to  7  for  F.  i\I.  Ziebach,  the  democratic  canchdate. 

Robert  Dohard,  of  Scotland,  repubhcan  canchdate  for  attorney  general, 
carried  the  county  by  518  votes. 

For  Judges  of  the  Suprem.e  Court  the  vote  in  the  county  was  as 
follows : 

Dighton  Corson,  518;  A.  G.  Killam.  519:  and  John  E.  Bennett,  518. 

That  is  all  of  the  state  officers  who  were  elected  when  the  state  was 
admitted  in  1889.  C.  H.  Dillon,  of  jNIitchell.  was  elected  Judge  of  the 
Circuit  Court,  but  was  not  a  candidate  in  1889. 

The  vote  for  legislative  and  county  officers  was  as  follows : 

State  Senator — E.  V.  Miles,  Republican.  495  ;  Daniel  Webster,  Demo- 
crat, (of  Aurora)   J},. 

County  Judge — O.  G.  Woodrufif,  381  ;  ]\I.  C.  Ayers,  261. 

Representatives — S.  F.  Huntley,  405  ;  J.  W.  Harden.  232. 

A  natural  phenomenon  occurred  in  the  late  summer  and  early  autumn 
of  1885.  Up  to  that  time  every  lake  of  a  few  acres  in  extent  had  been 
dotted  all  over  with  cone  shaped  dwellings  of  muskrats.  In  August  of 
that  year,  though  there  was  abundance  of  water  in  the  lakes  and  ponds, 
the  little  animals  began  to  emigrate.  They  left  the  lakes  and  for  weeks 
were  scattered  over  the  dry  land,  evidently  leaving  the  country.  Before 
the  cold  weather  arrived  they  were  gone  and  for  fifteen  years  these  fur- 
bearing  animals  were  absent  from  the  county. 


Chapter  16. 
SOLOMON  TRIAL. 

Section  two  of  Logan  township  was  the  scene  of  the  most  tragic  event 
in  the  history  of  the  county.  This  chapter  will  have  only  to  do  with  that 
event  and  therefore  will  be  confined  to  the  NW  quarter  of  the  section. 
This  quarter  was  the  pre-emption  claim  of  Joseph  B.  Reaser,  who  made 
proof  for  it  on  the  29th  day  of  August,  1883.  January  7th,  1886,  he 
deeded  it  to  Wm.  S.  Combs.  It  became  a  part  of  the  Combs  &  Harris 
ranch,  however,  in  1883,  and  the  ranch  buildings  were  placed  there. 
Near  the  southeast  corner  of  the  quarter,  in  a  broad  level  valley  rises  a 
small  hill — what  is  often  termed  a  "sugar  loaf."  This  hill  is  about  30 
feet  in  height,  and  can  be  plainly  seen  from  all  the  country  surrounding 
the  valev.    For  a  long  time  in  the  vears  1883  and  1884  it  served  as  a  land 


136 

mark  for  people  passing  back  and  forth  through  that  portion  of  the 
county.  A  pole  20  or  25  feet  lang  had  been  erected  on  the  top  of  this 
knoll  and  from  it  floated  a  flag  from  which  the  rain  and  sun  at  length 
■vashed  and  faded  the  colors  until  finally  it  was  only  a  white  cloth,  whip- 
ped and  tattered  in  the  wind. 

The  pole  was  set  in  a  pit  about  five  feet  long,  four  feet  wide  and  four 
or  five  feet  deep,  around  which  a  dry  stone  wall  had  been  built.  It  is 
reported  that  the  hole  was  dug  by  Reaser  in  the  hope  of  finding  some- 
thing of  value  in  the  hill.  In  the  fall  of  1883  this  quarter  was  leased  by 
Reaser  to  Combs  &  Harris,  the  lease  containing  the  provision  that  the 
lesees  should  not  dig  into  nor  take  anything  from  the  hill.  The  general 
shape  of  the  hill  is  round.  At  the  southeast  part  of  the  base  a  hole  was 
dug  into  the  hillside,  and  into  it  a  shanty,  22x14  feet  with  7-foot  ceiling, 
was  built.  The  building  contained  but  one  room.  To  this  room  there 
were  two  doors,  one  at  the  south  end,  swinging  out  and  leading  out  doors 
and  the  other  at  the  north  end  leading  into  an  underground  cave  that 
had  been  dug  back  into  the  hill.  There  was  a  half  window  on  each  side 
of  the  room  and  one  at  the  south  end  above  the  ceiling. 

The  furniture  in  the  room  was  arranged  about  as  follows :  A  safe, 
or  cupboard,  stood  against  the  east  wall  of  the  room  near  the  southeast 
corner.  A  few  feet  north  of  the  cupboard  stood  a  leaf  table.  In  the 
northeast  corner,  and  also  in  the  northwest  corner,  was  a  bed,  made  of 
m.attresses  and  bedding  laid  upon  bed  springs,  which  rested  upon  the 
floor.  Near  the  center  of- the  room  stood  the  cook  stove,  the  pipe  going 
up  through  the  roof. 

About  30  or  40  yards  west  of  the  house  was  the  horse  stable,  also  set 
into  a  hole  dug  in  the  side  hill. 

About  25  yards  south  of  the  shanty  and  stable  was  the  corral  for  the 
horses  when  running-  out. 

The  road  from  Waterbury  to  Crow  Lake  passed  from  NW  to  SE 
going  but  a  few  rods  south  of  the  hill. 

The  ranch  contained  800  acres.  Combs  &  Harris,  the  partners  who 
owned  the  ranch,  came  from  St.  Louis  in  the  fall  of  1882  and  established 
themselves  on  this  tract.  These  men  were  both  frequently  away  from 
home  and  during  much  of  three  or  four  years  they  operated  the  place  it 
was  left  in  charge  of  the  hired  help. 

Many  wierd  and  dark  things  are  hinted  at  by  the  old  settlers  to  the 
things  done  at  that  isolated  ranch.  In  the  fall  of  1885  Peter  Rohbe  and 
Ben  L.  Solomon  were  employed  about  the  place.  Both  were  men  of 
strong  physique  and  quick  tempered.  Hard  stories  are  told  concerning 
each  of  them.  Rohbe  was  a  native  of  Sweden,  while  Solomon  was  born 
and  raised  at  Glenwood,  Mills  county,  Iowa.     Card  playing,  gambling 


137 

and  quarreling  seems  to  have  been  the  chief  amusement. 

One  evening  a  party,  inchiding  Solomon  and  Rohbe,  were  returning 
from  a  trip  to  White  Lake.  In  the  darkness  they  became  confused  and 
lost  their  way.  For  some  time  they  drove  on  without  knowing  in  what 
direction  they  were  going.  Rohbe  became  terribly  enraged  and  threat- 
ened them  all  with  the  direst  punishment  if  they  lost  him  out  there  on 
the  prairie.  They  arrived  at  home  safely,  however,  and  nothing  came 
of  Rohbe's  threats.  The  feeling  between  the  two  men  was  not  at  all 
kindly  and  on  several  occasions  Solomon  was  heard  to  say  that  he  "ex- 
pected he  would  have  to  kill  that  Swede." 

On  the  evening  of  the  i6th  of  November,  1886,  Z.  P.  DeForest  and 
A.  E.  Hanebuth,  who  lived  on  claims  near  to  the  Combs  &  Harris  ranch, 
chanced  to  meet  at  the  ranch  shanty  for  a  neighborly  visit.  In  the  course 
of  the  evening  Solomon  told  some  simple  story  which  in  no  way  reflected 
upon  any  one  present.  Rohbe  looked  Solomon  squajely  in  the  eye  and 
remarked,  "that  is  a  lie."  Solomon's  face  flushed,  but  he  controlled  him- 
self and  the  incident  passed. 

On  the  morning  of  the  i8th  of  November,  1885,  just  about  daybreak. 
Ben  Solomon  mounted  a  mule  at  the  Combs  &  Harris  ranch  and  started 
along  the  road  toward  Waterbury.  He  did  not  seem  to  be  in  any  great 
hurry,  nor  greatly  excited.  He  did  not  whip  the  mule,  but  rode  leisurely 
as  one  on  an  ordinary  ride  for  a  social  visit  with  a  neighbor.  His  ap- 
pearance was  not  ordinary.  One  side  of  his  face  was  covered  with  blood 
which  was  running  from  one  ear.  The  top  of  the  ear  had  been  cut  off. 
There  were  other  light  cuts  about  his  head  and  his  garments  were  stained 
with  blood  spots  in  several  places. 

Back  in  the  shanty  which  Ben  Solomon  had  just  left  lying  with  his 
back  to  the  floor  and  his  face  toward  the  ceiling,  a  bullet  hole  through  his 
right  arm,  a  bullet  hole  through  his  heart,  and  a  bullet  hole  through  his 
head,  was  the  body  of  Peter  Rohbe. 

Solomon  rode  leisurely  on  until  he  reached  the  residence  of  Lyman 
Goodrich,  on  the  SW  of  35  in  Crow  township,  where  he  met  Frank 
Engles,  who  got  another  animal,  and  together  they  rode  on  toward  Wa- 
terbury. 

When  they  reached  the  town  Solomon  inquired  for  a  constable  or 
sheriff.  Some  directed  him  to  H.  P.  Jones,  the  sheriff's  deputy,  and 
others  mentioned  Geo.  N.  Price,  the  county  constable.  In  a  few  minutes 
Price  appeared  and  Solomon  surrendered  himself  for  trial  for  justifiable 
homicide.  Of  course  great  excitement  grew  in  the  community  and  spread 
over  the  county.  H.  P.  Jones,  the  deputy  sheriff,  and  a  number  of  others, 
went  to  the  ranch  and  looked  at  the  corpse.  When  Jones  returned  to  town 
he  saw  Solomon  on  the  street  in  front  of  the  hotel.     "You  have  killed 


138 

him."  Jones  remarked.  "It  is  what  I  intended  to  do."  remarked  Ben, 
without  any  trace  of  emotion.  That  evening  O.  E.  Gaffin,  one  of  the 
countv  justices,  acting  as  coroner,  visited  the  shanty  on  the  ranch  and 
held  an  inquest.  The  verdict  accused  Solomon  of  the  crime  of  murder 
and  he  was  taken  to  Wessington  Sprmgs  and  lodged  in  the  county  jail. 

The  county  officials  who  had  to  do  with  the  trial  were,  Albert  Gun- 
derson,  district  attorney;  Chas.  W.  McDonald,  clerk  of  courts,  and  J.  M. 
Spears,  sheriff.  As  Mr.  Gunderson,  though  he  had  been  appointed  dis- 
trict attorney  by  the  county  commissioners,  had  not  then  been  admitted 
to  the  bar.  the  commissioners  employed  Attorneys  Dillon  &  Preston,  of 
Mitchell,  to  conduct  the  prosecution.  The  attorneys  for  the  defense  were 
the  firm  of  Goodykoontz,  Kellam  &  Porter,  of  Chamlerlain,  and  T.  H. 
Null,  then  of  Waterbury. 

The  preliminary  examination  was  held  before  C.  E.  Hackett,  County 
Justice  of  the  Peace  at  Wessington  Springs. 

The  legal  battle  was  long  and  hard.  At  the  term  of  court  called  for 
the  17th  of  March,  1886,  the  grand  jury  was  discharged  because  of  a 
technical  error  in  the  selection  of  names  from  which  it  was  drawn.  The 
presiding  judge  was  Bartlett  Tripp  of  Yankton,  one  of  the  ablest  jurists 
in  the  territory.  Court  convened  again  in  July  and  the  case  came  up  for 
trial.  Solomon  had  been  granted  the  right  to  give  bail  in  the  sum  of 
$10,000.  but  being  unable  to  get  the  sureties  had  remained  in  custody. 

The  jury,  composed  mostly  of  young  men,  was  finally  impaneled  and 
the  trial  began.  It  was  in  the  defense  of  this  case  that  Tom  Null  first 
gave  evidence  of  that  splendid  ability  that  has  since  made  him  one  of  the 
foremost  lawyers  of  the  state.  The  jury  reported  a  disagreement,  seven 
being  for  conviction  and  five  for  acquittal.  Ben  was  remanded  to  jail. 
The  defense  then  set  about  securing  a  change  of  venue.  One  of  the  local 
papers,  the  True  Republican,  then  edited  by  J.  E.  McNamara,  published 
a  full  account  of  the  trial  and  the  material  part  of  the  evidence.  This  was 
done  at  the  instance  of  the  defense.  Then  affidavits  on  both  sides  were 
taken  from  a  large  number  of  people.  D.  H.  Solomon,  a  prominent 
lawyer  of  Glenwood,  Iowa,  father  of  the  prisoner,  came  to  Jerauld  county 
immediately  after  the  killing  of  Rohbe  and  directed  the  long  and  skillful 
defense.  A  change  in  the  place  of  trial  was  granted  and  the  case  sent  to 
Sanborn  county.  The  trial  was  held  in  July,  1887.  and  Solomon  was  con- 
victed of  manslaughter  and  sentenced  to  the  penitentiary  for  two  years. 

The  story  of  the  crime,  if  crime  it  was,  has,  of  course  never  been  told 
by  any  one  but  Ben  Solomon.  In  the  course  of  the  legal  proceedings  he 
told  it  seven  times,  and  was  three  times  subjected  to  a  severe  cross- 
examination,  yet  in  no  particular  was  any  change  made  in  his  account  of 


139 

Ihe  tragedy  from  that  which  he  gave  to  the  coroner  on  the  evening  of 
the  1 8th  of  November,  1885. 

This  is  the  story  as  he  told  it  to  the  coroner : 

"My  name  is  Benjamin  Logan  Solomon.  I  am  27  years  old.  I  re- 
side on  the  NW  quarter  of  section  two  106 — 67  and  have  resided  there 
since  the  7th  day  of  April,  1883.  I  am  acquainted  with  Peter  J.  Rohbe. 
1  first  met  him  about  two  years  ago  while  he  was  working  for  Jacob 
Xorin.  I  have  been  intimately  acquainted  with  him  since  he  hired  to  Air. 
Harris,  which  was  about  last  May  or  June.  Since  that  time  J\Ir.  Rohbe 
and  myself  have  been  hired  on  the  farm  of  Harris  &  Combs.  The  last 
time  I  saw  P.  J.  Rohbe  was  on  the  morning  of  the  i8th  of  November, 
1885.  It  was  in  Harris  &  Comb's  house,  after  daylight.  I  can  not  tell 
the  time  exactly,  for  we  had  no  time  piece.  When  I  last  saw  him  he  was 
lying  on  the  floor. 

'T  arose  in  the  morning  as  usual,  built  a  fire  in  the  stove  and  went 
out  and  gave  the  mules  some  millet,  ^^'hen  I  left  the  house  Rohbe  was 
in  bed.  I  was  gone,  I  suppose,  from  20  minutes  to  half  an  hour.  When 
I  came  in  Rchbe  was  cooking  breakfast.  Air.  Comb's  pup  followed  me 
out  of  the  house  and  went  to  the  stable  and  followed  me  back.  I  entered 
the  house,  threw  ofl:'  my  coat  and  hat  to  prepare  for  breakfast.  I  threw 
my  coat  and  hat  on  my  bed  which  was  in  the  northwest  corner  of  the 
room.  Rohbe  immediately  began  calling  to  the  dog  to  get  out  and 
kicking  him  around  the  stove.  I  told  him  if  he  wanted  the  dog  out  to 
open  the  door  and  let  him  out.  He  then  picked  up  the  dog  by  the  back 
of  the  neck  and  began  beating  him  with  a  piece  of  2x4.  When  he  drop- 
ped the  dog  it  w'as  bleeding  at  the  mouth  and  nose.     I  said,  'Combs  will 

not  like  this.'     He  replied,  T  do  not  give  a what  Combs  likes.'     As 

the  dog  lay  upon  the  floor  I  thought  he  was  dead.  The  animal  was  a 
full-blooded,   red  colored  water  spaniel.      I   remarked,   'You   have   killed 

him.'     He  shouted,  T  will  kill  you,  too,  you ■ — .'     He  raised  the 

piece  of  2x4  and  came  at  me.  I  ran  in  on  him  and  wrenched  the  stick 
away,  and  we  clinched.  I  shoved  him  back  upon  the  table  wliere  he  had 
been  cutting  meat  for  breakfast.  About  the  time  his  hip  struck  the  table 
he  let  go  of  me  .  His  hand  dropped  to  the  table  and  he  picked  up  the 
butcher  knife,  and  began  hitting  me  on  the  head  with  it.  I  broke  away 
and  backed  into  the  southwest  corner  of  the  room :  he  followed  me  with 
the  knife,  madder  and  madder  all  the  time.  He  was  muttering  something 
in  a  language  I  could  not  understand.  I  saw  he  was  intending  to  kill  me 
and  I  picked  up  the  rifle  that  stood  in  that  corner  of  the  room.  I  tried 
to  bring  the  gun  to  bear  on  him  but  he  was  to  close.  He  struck  me  with 
the  knife  and  cut  off  my  ear.  When  I  got  the  gun  around  it  went  oft". 
He  paid  no  attention  to  it.     I  jerked  the  shell  out  as  quick  as  I  could. 


140 

then  dropped  the  gun  and  backed  into  the  northwest  corner  of  the  room 
and  he  after  me  with  the  knife  upHfted.  Under  the  pillow  of  my  bed 
was  a  revolver  that  Mr.  Combs  generally  carried,  but  this  time  he  had 
left  it.  I  picked  up  the  revolver.  There  was  an  isle  between  the  two 
beds.  When  I  reached  for  the  revolver  Rohbe  jumped  on  to  his  bed, 
turned  around  and  struck  at  me.  I  fired,  but  to  all  appearances  he  was 
not  hit.  He  paid  no  attention  to  the  shot  but  kept  coming  towards  me. 
I  fired  again  and  backed  on  the  west  side  of  the  stove  and  kept  on  firing. 
I  backed  around  to  the  east  side  of  the  south  door  which  was  closed.  I 
had  no  time  to  open  the  door.  If  I  could  have  done  so  I  would  have  got 
out  of  there  quick.  I  was  in  a  box  fighting  for  my  life  with  a  maniac. 
I  fired  the  last  shot  while  I  was  in  the  corner  by  the  door.  He  was  so 
close  to  me  that  the  flash  of  the  shot  burned  his  face.  The  bullet  hit  Him 
near  the  eye  and  he  fell.  I  dropped  the  revolver,  went  and  picked  up 
my  coat  and  hat  and  going  to  the  stable  I  took  a  mule  and  went  to  Wa- 
terbury  and  gave  myself  up  to  Air.  Price,  the  constable."' 

The  body  of  Rohbe  was  buried  on  the  school  section,  16,  in  Crow 
township.  An  unsuccessful  attempt  was  once  made  to  "snatch"  it,  and 
it  is  supposed  to  rest  where  it  was  buried. 

The  building  in  which  the  fight  occurred  was  purchased  by  Mr. 
Hanebuth  and  moved  to  his  farm  on  the  SW  of  i — 106 — 67. 

The  stove,  around  which  this  battle  occurred,  was  moved  to  Black 
Hawk,  Iowa,  where  it  is  used  to  warm  a  hen  house. 

What  became  of  "Doc,"  the  water  spaniel  is  not  known,  but  he  re- 
covered from  his  beating  and  it  is  thought  that  Combs  took  him  away. 

Combs  moved  to  Iowa,  and  from  there  to  Arkansas.  What  became 
of  Harris  is^  not  known. 

Solomon  served  his  term  and  then  left  the  state.  It  is  reported  that 
he  had  many  troubles  afterward  and  was  finally  killed. 


Chapter  17. 

In  the  1st  commissioner  district  the  republicans  had  nominated  Mr. 
O.  A.  Knudtson  of  Franklin  township,  to  succeed  Mr.  Fisher  as  count}' 
commissioner.  The  democrats  had  nominated  Mr.  Richard  Dalton,  of 
Blaine  township.     Air.  Knudtson  was  elected. 

As  an  auxiliary  to  the  G.  A.  R.  Post  at  Wessington  Springs,  a  W.  R- 
C.  was  organized  June  20,  1885. 


141 

W.  H.  L.  Wallace  G.  A.  R.  Post  was  organized  at  Alpena  on  Feb. 
14th,  1885,  with  the  following  charter  members 

Wm.  H.  Arne,  9th  N.  Y.  H.  Artillery. 

I.  Pearce,  4th  111.  Cavalry. 

F.  D.  Hubbard,  iiith  N.  Y.  Infantry. 

R.  Davenport,  4th  Iowa  Cavalry. 

C.  M.  Yakee,  ist  Colorado  Cavalry. 

M.  D.  Blank,  2nd  Iowa  Cavalry. 

O.  W.  Richardson,  12th  Illinois  Cavalry. 

B.  Gondit,  Gunboat  service. 

E.  J.  Cole,  2 1st  N.  Y.  Cavalry. 

H.  C.  Newmeyer,  153rd  Penn.  Infantry. 
J.  Hines,  117th  Ohio  Infantry. 
P.  Grey,  34th  Illinois  Infantry. 

C.  C.  Hubbard,  iiith  N.  Y.  Infantry. 

F.  C.  Phillips,  Mich.  B.  L.  Artillery. 

In  after  years  the  following  members  were  added  to  the  post: 

Lewis  Fenstemaker,  34th  Illinois  Infantry. 

Ruben  Eastman,  34th  Illinois  Infantry. 

Cyrus  E.  Tinnery,  124th  Illinois  Infantry. 

Childs  P.  Canon,  2nd  Nebr.  Cavalry. 

Solon  Palmer,  Gunboat. 

H.  M.  Arne,  9th  N.  Y.  H.  Artillery. 

B.  F.  Remore,  8ist  N.  Y.  Infantry. 

Charles  Davis,  50th  Wis.  Infantry. 

John  Teasdale,  37th  Wis.  Infantry. 

Wm.  H.  McDowell,  17th  Penn.  Mounted  Infantry. 

W.  T.  Hay,  —  Wis.  Infantry. 

R.  Butler,  6th  Iowa  Cavalry. 

Wm.  Orr,  44th  Illinois  Infantry. 

S.  C.  Weatherwax,  20th  Iowa  Infantry. 

J.  Rankin,  84th  Illinois  Infantry. 

M.  G.  Shull,  i6th  Wis.  Infantry. 

Theodore  Le  Master,  3rd  W.  Va.  Cavalry. 

Chas.  Fetterly,  4th  Mich.  Cavalry. 

Wm.  J.  Grace,  38th  Wis.  Infantry. 

May  20th  the  County  Commissioners  appointed  F.  A.  Wheelihan 
Justice  of  the  Peace  in  place  of  Wesley  L.  Davis,  resigned. 

Tune  loth,  1885,  L.  N.  Loomis  moved  his  family  to  Wessington 
Springs. 

In  August,  1885,  A.  Converse  purchased  a  farm  in  Anina  township 


142 

and  for  many  years  thereafter  was  one  of  the  most  prominent  citizens  of 
the  county. 

Until  the  summer  of  1885  the  only  water  used  on  the  townsite  of 
W'essington  Springs  was  from  the  big  spring.  Then  L.  H.  Tarble 
had  a  well  bored  on  the  R.  M.  ]\Iagee  property  (now  owned  by  James 
Barr).  The  water  from  this  well  was  so  excellent  that  other  wells 
were  put  down. 

August  8th,  1885,  all  the  G.  A.  R.  posts  of  the  county  observed  Grant 
Memorial  Day. 

Union  Cemetery  is  on  the  west  side  of  the  south-west  quarter  of  sec- 
tion 18  in  Viola  township.  It  was  purchased  and  platted  at  the  expense 
of  the  people  of  Viola  and  Anina  townships.  Several  of  the  residents  of 
these  two  townships  met  at  the  Ford  school  house  in  Violaj  Feb.  5th. 
1885.  J.  N.  Smith  was  made  chairman  of  the  meeting  and  Jonas  A. 
Tyner,  secretary.  The  purpose  was  the  organization  of  a  cemetery  asso- 
ciation. A  board  of  trustees  was  elected  composed  of  J.  N.  Smith  and 
J.  A.  Tyner  of  Viola,  and  S.  S.  Aloore  and  Asa  Hodgson  of  Anina. 
The  land  was  obtained  and  in  December  of  that  year  they  employed  T. 
L.  Blank,  of  Wessington  Springs,  to  survey  and  plat  it.  The  plat  con- 
sists of  four  blocks,  each  of  which  is  divided  into  thirty-six  lots,  which 
are  numbered  like  the  sections  in  congressional  townships.  At  a  meeting 
of  the  board  of  trustees  in  December,  1885,  twelve  lots  were  set  aside,  at 
the  suggestion  of  ~SIr.  Tyner,  for  a  "potters  field."  In  twenty-four  years 
no  one  has  found  a  burial  place  in  any  of  those  twelve  lots.  Articles  of 
incorporation  were  adopted  January  4th,  1886.  The  first  person  interred 
in  Union  cemetery  was  Mrs.  N.  G.  Rhodes,  a  sister  of  J.  A.  Ford,  of 
Viola  township. 

Charity  cemetery  is  located  on  the  NE  quarter  of  section  26,  in  \'iola 
township.  This  was  platted  in  188^ — -.  Mrs.  J.  G.  Kieser  was  the  first 
person  buried  in  that  church  yard.  The  next  seven  interments  were  of 
babies.  When  twenty-seven  graves  had  been  made  in  this  plat  only  three 
were  adults,  and  of  the  children  hurried  here  only  one  was  over  nine 
years  old,  and  twenty-three  were  less  than  three  years. 

The  school  bonds  voted  in  the  various  townships  in  1884 — 85  were 
a:s  follows : 

Alpena,  $4,000;  Dale,  $2,500;  Logan,  $1,500;  Anina,  $2,000;  Viola, 
$2,500;  Franklin,  $1,600;  Chery,  $3,000;  Marlar,  $1,500;  Wessington 
Springs,  $2,000;  Harmony,  $1,200;  Crow,  $1,500;  and  Pleasant,  $1,570. 

The  practice  act,  or  Code  of  Civil  Procedure,  of  Dakota  Territory 
abolished  all  "fictions''  of  the  law.  Yet  the  first  term  of  the  District 
Court  in  Jerauld  Co.,  was  by  virtue  of  an  order  of  chief  justice  Bartlett 
Tripp,  in  which  he  created  a  fiction  and  used  it.     The  order  was  made 


143 

Feb.   19,   1886,  calling  an  "additional"  term  of  the  court  to  convene  on 
the  1 6th  day  of  March. 

This  order  required  the  drawing  of  twenty  grand  jurors  and  twenty- 
four  petit  jurors,  to  be  drawn  by  the  clerk  and  sheriff  fom  a  list  to  be 
provided  by  the  county  commissioners.  This  term  of  court  was  ordered 
mainly  for  the  purpose  of  trying  B.  L.  Solomon,  then  lying  in  jail  on  a 
charge  of  murder. 

The  grand  jurors  drawn  were  as  follows:  H.  Blowers,  J.  H.  Farn- 
ham,  B.  F.  Gough,  E.  C.  La  Rue,  O.  Johanson,  Jas.  J.  Grace.  Otis 
Walker,  E.  T.  Harmen,  Andrew  Jacobsen,  J.  Zimmerman,  A.  Bywater, 
J.  W.  Wray,  W.  Steiner,  R.  Vanterveen,  W.  A.  Rex,  Henry  Kneiriem, 
J.  B.  Jacobs,  Calvin  Hane,  and  M.  Powell. 

The  following  is  a  list  of  the  petit  jurors:  O.  E.  Williams,  W.  S. 
Scofield,  R.  Hible,  Joseph  Steichen,  Joseph  Ponsford,  Fred  Hagenbrook, 
T.  L.  White,  Geo.  King,  H.  W.  Louder,  A.  S.  Beels,  J.  Wheeler.  Geo. 
Titus,  A.  L  Churchill,  R.  J.  Hughes,  Frank  Augustin,  W.  J.  Houmes, 
Thomas  Henning,  J.  B.  Neal,  C.  C.  Wright,  D.  M.  Black,  AL  H.  ^lartin, 
K.  S.  Starkey,  D.  Kint,  and  F.  W.  Whitney. 

Both  the  grand  and  petit  juries  were  drawn  on  the  24th  of  February. 

Of  the  grand  jurors  drawn  all  appeared  but  J.  H.  P'arnham  and  J. 
B.  Jacobs.  The  court  granted  the  request  of  J.  W.  Wray  to  be  excused, 
and  the  prosecution  in  the  Solomon  case  challenged  H.  Blowers.  A 
special  venire  was  then  issued  and  Wm.  Hawthorne,  H.  J.  Wallace,  J. 
N.  Dynes  and  A.  S.  Beals  were  summoned  by  the  sheriff  to  fill  the  grand 
jury.  The  defense  in  the  Solomon  case  then  challenged  the  grand  jury 
panel,  because  of  error  in  selecting  the  list  of  names  from  which  the  jury 
was  drawn,  by  the  clerk  and  sheriff.  The  challenge  was  sustained  and 
the  grand  jury  discharged. 

The  petit  jury  was  retained  and  then  court  proceeded  with  the  trial 
of  some  civil  cases. 

Before  the  trial  of  cases  began  Mr.  J.  F.  Ford  was  admitted  to  prac- 
tice as  an  attorney,  on  a  certificate  issued  by  the  district  court  in  Calhoun 
county,  Iowa. 

The  first  alien  admitted  to  citizenship  by  a  court  of  record  was  Peter 
Nening,  in  District  Court  March  17,  1886.  His  witnesses  were  Joseph 
Steichen  and  W.  J.  Williams. 

The  first  verdict  rendered  in  district  court  in  Jerauld  county  was  for 
the  defendant  in  the  case  of  Peter  Wieland  vs.  O.  E.  Gaffin.  Dunham 
and  Drake  attorneys  for  plaintiff,  and  T.  H.  Null  for  defendant.  The 
jury  that  tried  this  first  case  was  composed  of  the  following  men :  A. 
L  Churchill,  W.  S.  Scofield,  C.  C.  Wright,  Jos.  Ponsford,  Thos.  Henning, 


144 

H.  ^^^  Louder,  M.  H.  I^Iartin,  D.  Kint,  A.  S.  Beals,  F.  W.  Whitney,  R. 
Hible  and  Geo.  King. 

Another  term  of  court  was  called  for  June  29th.  On  the  2nd  day  of 
the  term  the  grand  jury  returned  an  indictment  against  B.  L.  Solomon 
to  which  he  pleaded  "not  guilty"  on  the  ist  of  July.  The  grand  jury 
that  returned  this  indictment,  the  first  in  the  county,  was  composed  of  the 
following  jurymen:  Theodore  Dean,  foreman,  Geo.  W.  Bolton,  James 
H.  "\^'aldron,  Geo.  Knieriem,  Wm.  Hill,  J.  W.  Shultz,  Peter  Klink,  Louis 
Jonker,  Julius  Hart,  A.  Gilbertson,  G.  S.  Brady,  G.  S.  Eddy,  H.  C. 
Stephens,  H.  B.  Faust,  J.  C.  Barr,  A.  B.  Easter,  J.  R.  Eddy  and  E.  J. 
I^Ientzer. 

The  trial  of  the  Solomon  case  began  on  the  7th  day  of  July,  before 
a  jury  which  consisted  of:  Patrick  Conlon,  J.  C.  Johnston,  S.  W.  Foster, 
M.  Flint,  E.  E.  Nesmith,  J.  R.  Nelson,  W.  Murphy,  J.  H.  Daniels,  W. 
L.  Holden,  Richard  Price,  J.  A.  Holcomb  and  E.  A.  Heaton. 

The  jury  disagreed  on  the  loth  of  July  and  were  discharged.  The 
case  was  then  taken  to  Sanborn  county,  where  the  prisoner  was  convicted 
and  sent  to  prison  for  two  years. 

Following  the  example  of  previous  years  no  detailed  statement  of 
county  finances,  was  shown  by  settlement  with  the  treasurer. 

On  January  5th,  1886,  the  following  record  appears  in  the  minutes 
of  the  board.  "The  balance  of  the  afternoon  was  spent  in  settling  with 
the  county  treasurer." 

On  January  12th,  1886,  Mr.  Fisher  retired  from  the  board  and  Mr. 
Knudtson  took  his  place.  The  new  board  organized  by  electing  J.  E. 
Sullivan  chairman. 

The  strife  over  the  position  of  official  county  paper  was  spirited  at 
the  meeting  of  the  county  commissioners  in  March,  1886.  The  following- 
offers  from  the  different  publishers  tell  how  anxious  they  were  in  those 
days  to  get  the  prestige  of  official  patronage. 

"The  Jerauld  County  News  will  publish  the  county  work  at  one-half 
legal  rates,  should  you  designate  it  the  official  paper  of  the  county. 

Very  Respectfully, 

News  Publishing  Co." 

"Communication  of  Co.  clerks  of  14th  inst.  rec'd.  I  will  make  formal 
bid  of  $26.00  to  print  Co.  Com's  proceedings  for  year  1886. 

Yours  truly, 

M.  B.  McNeil, 
Waterburv,  D.  T. 


145 

"Sirs : — I  hereby  agree  to  publish  the  proceedings  of  your  Hon.  body 
free  of  charge  for  one  year,  in  consideration  of  the  Wessington  Springs 
Herald  being  named  as  the  official  paper  of  Jerauld  county. 

Yours  respectfully, 

T.  L.  Blank, 
Pub.  Herald." 

"The  Jerauld  County  Journal,  of  Alpena,  will  pay  the  county  $2.00 
to  be  furnished  with  the  minutes  of  the  commissioners  meetings  during 
the  current  year,  also  publish  the  delinquent  tax  list  at  five  cents  per 
description,  publish  all  legal  notices  of  the  board  free  of  charge  and 
furnish  stationary  at  20  per  cent  below  regular  price. 

L.  H.  AlcCarger." 

"Received  of  L.  H.  McCarger  two  dollars  for  having  the  privilege 
of  county  board.     The  above  to  the  credit  of  county  fund. 

W.  J.  Willams,  County  Treasurer, 
Jerauld   Co.,   D.   T." 

On  March  5th,  1886,  the  county  board  accepted  the  steel  cell  which 
had  been  placed  in  the  old  county  building  ready  for  use,  allowing  $975 
therefor.  On  April  8th  they  settled  for  the  court  house  and  jail,  exclusive 
of  cell  at  $2,410.91.     Making  a  total  with  the  cell  of  $3,385.91. 

Franklin  township  filed  a  petition  on  July  5th,  1886,  asking  for  civil 
township  organization.  The  petition  was  laid  over  to  the  next  meeting. 
On  Oct.  5th  the  petition  was  denied. 

July  6th  the  board  passed  an  order  instructing  the  road  overseers  on 
the  west  side  of  the  county  to  work  the  west  county  line  from  the  north- 
west corner  of  section  6 — 108 — (ij  south  15  miles  to  the  northwest  corner 
of  the  NW  of  19 — 107 — 67,  Buffalo  county  having  agreed  to  work  the 
balance  south  of  that  point. 

In  calling  the  election  for  1886  the  board  renumbered  the  precincts, 
putting  each  township  by  itself  according  to  its  congressional  boundaries ; 
Alpena  being  No.  i,  Franklin  No.  6  and  Blaine  No.  11,  numbering  west 
across  the  county. 

At  the  September  session,  1886,  the  board  established  a  road  on  sec- 
tions 14  and  23  in  Marlar  township.  At  the  October  session  a  road  was 
established  at  the  foot  of  the  hills  in  Media  and  Chery  townships. 

The  county  tax  levy  in  1886  was  the  same  in  amount  as  the  two 
previous  years,  but  instead  of  levying  2  mills  road  tax  and  2  mills  bridge 
tax,  the  board  dropped  those  items  and  levied  a  4  mills  tax  for  a  sinking 
fund. 


146 

Nothing  further  of  special  interest  occurred  in  the  proceedings  of  the 
board  of  commissioners  during  the  year  1886. 

PoHtics,  as  usual,  was  a  matter  of  interest  to  all.  The  eighth  council 
and  representative  district,  composed  of  Beadle,  Sanborn  and  Jerauld 
counties  was  entitled  to  two  representatives  and  one  membei  of  the  ter- 
ritorial council.  Beadle  county  being  designated  by  the  appoitionment 
act  as  the  senior  county,  claimed  the  position  of  councilman,  and  nom- 
inated John  Cain  as  the  republican  candidate.  Sanborn  county  repub- 
licans brought  forward  Wilson  Wise  as  their  candidate  while  in  this 
county  D.  F.  Royer^  of  Alpena,  was  the  republican  nominee.  Against 
these  candidates  the  democrats  nominated  J.  W.  Harden,  of  Jerauld 
county  for  the  council,  and  C.  C.  Frost,  of  Beadle  county,  and  A.  K. 
Colton  of  Sanborn  county,  for  representatives. 

In  county  politics  the  bitterness  engendered  in  1884  seemed  to  have 
intensified  with  the  approach  of  another  election.  Three  tickets  were  put 
in  the  field  for  most  of  the  offices.  For  register  of  deeds  the  democrats 
and  independents  united  and  nominated  H.  C.  Stephens,  of  W^essington 
Springs,  against  L.  N.  Loomis,  who  was  a  candidate  for  re-election. 

The  various  candidates  were  as  follows : 

Register  of  Deeds — Republicans,  L.  N.  Loomis;  Dem.  and  Indepen- 
dent, H.  C.  Stephens. 

Dist.  Attorney— Republican,  C.  V.  Alartin ;  Democrat,  Thomas  Drake ; 
and  Ind.,  T.  H.  Null. 

Treasurer — Rep.,  W.  J.  Williams,  Dem.,  U.  E.  Babb ;  and  Ind.,  C. 
L.  Austin. 

Sherifif — J.  A.  Tyner;  Dem.,  Isaac  Pearce  ;  and  Ind.,  J.  M.  Spears. 

Probate  Judge' — Rep.,  H.  M.  Rice;  Dem.,  John  Chapman;  and  Ind.. 
A.  Converse. 

Assessor — Rep.,  J.  A.  Riegal ;  Dem.,  Geo.  Deindorfer;  and  Ind.,  J. 
O.  Gray. 

Coroner — Rep.,  E.  L.  Turner;  Ind.,  M.  W.  Nesmith. 

Surveyor — Rep.,  H.  J.  Wallace;  and  Dem..  B.  R.  Shimp. 

Supt.  of  Schools — Rep.,  I.  S.  Binford ;  and  Dem.  J.  J.  Stiner. 

The  result  at  the  polls  was  an  indication  of  what  happened  two  years 
later.  The  republican  convention  was  conducted  after  the  manner  of 
politics  in  those  days  and  a  good  deal  of  "trading"  and  "bartering*'  was 
done.  Whether  justly  or  not,  the  work  of  the  convention  was  charged, 
to  D.  F.  Royer,  candidate  for  the  legislature.  No  one  could  say  that  the 
ticket  nominated  was  not  made  up  of  good  men,  but  the  dissatisfied  ones 
worked  harder  against  Royer  than  against  any  other  man  on  the  ticket 
with  the  result  that  although  he  was  elected  in  the  district  he  was  de- 
feated in  his  home  county  by  a  vote  of  475  for  Frost  to  377  for  Royer. 


147 

The  county  ticket  was  somewhat  mixed  at  the  election.  The  following 
officers  were  elected: 

Register  of  Deeds^ — L.  N.  Loomis. 

District  Attorney — T.  H.  Null. 

Treasurer — W.  J.   Williams. 

Sheriff — J.  M.  Spears.  ■     • 

Probate  Judge- — H.  M.  Rice. 

Assessor' — J.  O.  Gray. 

Coroner — E.  L.  Turner. 

Surveyor — H.  J.  A\"allace. 

Supt.  of  Schools — L  S.  Binford. 

Co.   Commissioners — 3rd  Dist.,  Jefferson  Sickler. 

Justices  of  the  Peace^ — C.  E.  Hackett,  J.  R.  Francis,  J.  T.  McGlashan 
and  O.  O.  Lindebak. 

Constables — W.  W.  Huxtable.  J.  O.  Shryock,  Robt.  Flagg  and  John 
Eagan. 


Chapter  18. 

The  first  month  of  the  year  1886  was  one  of  intense  cold.  The  aver- 
age temperature  was  seven  degrees  below  zero.  The  first  frost  of  the 
preceding  autumn  had  come  on  the  morning  of  the  first  of  September  and 
been  followed  by  cold  weather  during  November,  though  December  had 
been  mild.  February,  1886,  was  also  a  month  of  zero  weather,  but  on 
the  loth  of  March  it  turned  warm  and  spring  weather  came  on  rapidly. 

Seeding  was  done  early  and  the  rains  were  frequent  and  copious. 
Crop  prospects  were  never  better  than  during  the  months  of  INIay  and 
June.  Ducks  were  nesting  in  the  numerous  lakes  and  ponds  scattered 
over  the  county. 

On  the  morning  of  the  4th  of  July  the  wind  changed  to  a  little  west 
of  south  and  by  noon  was  blowing  a  gale.  Through  the  afternoon  and 
all  night  the  wind  continued,  gradually  becoming  warmer.  On  the  morn- 
ing of  the  5th  the  air  was  filled  with  particles  of  dust  that  gave  it  a 
brownish  appearance,  and  by  noon  the  wind  was  coming  in  gusts  of  air 
hot  as  the  blasts  from  a  furnace.  People  who  went  out  of  doors  protected 
their  faces  from  the  heat  and  often  turned  from  the  wind  to  recover 
their  breath.  The  air  was  heated  to  suffocation.  Women  and  children 
found  refuge  from  the  hot  air  in  basements  and  storm  cellars.  No  one 
had  even  experienced  anything  like  it  before. 


148 

By  the  night  of  the  2nd  day  of  the  storm  all  vegetation  had  turned 
yellow  and  was  becoming  crisp  and  brittle  as  though  dried  and  baked  in 
a  hot  oven.  The  storm  of  hot  winds  lasted  three  days.  When  it  was 
over  the  crops  were  dead,  and  almost  white.  None  would  yield  enough 
of  grain  to  pay  the  cost  of  harvest.  The  simoon  had  been  as  destructive 
as  the  locusts  that  a  few  years  before  had  devastated  western  Iowa  and 
Alinnesota  and  eastern  Kansas  and  Nebraska.  The  prarie  grass  had 
while  standing  been  turned  into  uncut  hay.  The  water  in  the  lakes  and 
ponds  had  disappeared  leaving  the  beds  dry  and  dusty. 

Those  three  days  of  hot  winds  were  a  veritable  calamity  to  the  set- 
tlers. The  crops  upon  which  they  had  depended  were  utterly  destroyed. 
It  became  necessary  to  borrow  money  to  tide  them  over  until  another 
harvest.  The  money  could  be  obtained  only  at  the  small  private  banks,, 
of  which  there  were  one  or  two  in  every  village.  When  they  applied  for 
loans  the  people  were  astounded  to  find  that  they  must  give  a  chattel 
mortgage  upon  property  many  tinies  the  value  of  the  loan,  and  must 
pay  interest  at  the  rate  of  from  three  tO'  six  per  cent  a  month.  In  addi- 
tion to  that  the  money  lender  had  a  right  to  take  the  property  at  any 
time  he  "deemed  himself  insecure."  From  the  effects  of  the  storm  of  hot 
air  the  settlers  would  have  recovered  could  they  have  borrowed  money 
at  a  reasonable  rate  of  interest,  but  from  the  effect  of  the  loans,  at  the 
interest  rate  they  had  to  pay,  recovery  was  impossible.  Some  men  there 
were  who  did  a  legitimate  banking  business,  but  their  capital  was  limited. 
The  unscrupulous  men  who  charged  the  exorbitant  rates  of  interest  did 
more  to  impoverish  and  dishearten  the  early  settlers  than  all  the  climatic 
conditions  combined.  These  were  the  men  who  intensified  the  hard  times 
that  for  years  hung  like  the  black  pall  of  dispair  over  the  prairies  of 
Dakota. 

In  the  summer  of  1886  a  cemetery  association  was  organized  at  Alpena 
and  a  burial  place  selected  and  purchased  southeast  of  the  village.  This 
plat  is  now  owned  and  cared  for  by  the  I.  O.  O.  F.  of  Alpena. 

A  mail  route  between  Wessington  Springs  and  Alpena  was  established 
in  the  summer  of  1886  with  W.  S.  Corothers  as  carrier. 

A  change  of  postmasters  occurred  in  Alpena  in  1886,  Mr.  W.  L. 
Arnold  taking  the  post  office  in  place  of  D.  F.  Royer. 

Rev.  Geo.  F.  Bilber  was  appointed  by  the  conference  to  the  Alpena 
M.  E.  Church.  Oct.  i8th,  1886,  but  failed  to  fill  the  appoinment.  The 
church  was  supplied  by  Rev.  J.  G.  Campbell  until  the  appointment  of  W. 
S.  Underwood  Oct.  19th  the  following  year,  who  remained  until  1889. 

The  ministers  who  have  succeeded  Mr.  Underwood  to  the  present  time 
liave  been : 


149 

N.  P.  Steves— Oct.  19,  1887  to  Oct.  11,  1888,  (served  with  Mr.  Un- 
derwood, supplying-  the  country  appointments). 

Thos.  Carson' — Oct.  1889  to  Oct.  1890. 

T.  H.  Hendricks — Oct.  1890  to  Oct.  1893. 

J.  D.  AlHson — Oct.  1893  to  Oct.  1895. 

H.  S.  Coon — Oct.  14,  1895  to  Oct.  1898. 

R.  H.  Stokes — Oct.  15,  1898  to  Oct.  1900. 

W.  B.  Stewart — Oct.  17,  1900  to  Oct.  18,  1902. 

Jas.  T.  Gurney — Oct.  5,  1902  to  Oct.  18,  1903. 

Pierce  O.  Bunt — Oct.  18,  1903  to  Oct.  21,  1907. 

John  Kaye — Oct.  21,  1907. 

Rev.  Wm.  Paganhart,  who  had  been  preaching  for  the  church  at 
Waterbury  during  the  year  ending  October  23rd,  1886,  was  transferred 
by  the  conference  to  the  church  at  Wessington  Springs  for  the  year 
ending  Oct.  19,  1887.  The  ministers  of  the  AI.  E.  Church  at  Wessington 
Springs  since  Mr.  Paganhart,  have  been : 

Charles  A'essey,  Oct.  1887  to  Oct.   1890;  Joseph  Elgon  Norvell,  Oct. 

1890  to ;  J.  Wesley  Stokesbury,  Oct.   1895  to  April   1896;  J.   N. 

Smith,  April  1896  to  Oct.  1896;  James  Clullow,  Oct.  1896  to  Oct.  1897; 
S.  H.  Chappell,  Oct.  1897  to  Oct.  1899 ;  G.  D.  Brown,  Oct.  1899  to  Oct. 
1904;  J.  E.  Crowther,  Oct.  1904  to  Oct.  1906;  and  J.  M.  Tibbets,  Oct. 
1906  to  present  time. 

The  second  pool  and  billiard  hall  in  Alpena  was  run  by  Thos.  Bald- 
win, in  a  building  erected  by  him  in  1886,  until  the  summer  of  1887.  yir. 
Baldwin  then  went  to  ]\Iinneapolis,  where  he  still  lives.  In  1890  Geo. 
H.  Arne  went  into  mercantile  business  in  this  building  and  remained  here 
until  he  moved  out  in  1894  taking  his  stock  with  him.  In  1894  J.  R. 
Milliken  bought  a  stock  of  goods  of  J.  H.  Vessey  at  Wessington  Springs 
and  moved  it  to  the  room  vacated  by  Arne.  About  a  year  later  Milliken 
sold  his  stock  to  H.  A.  Miller,  of  Chery  township,  who  moved  it  back 
to  Wessington  Springs.  The  next  occupant  of  this  building  was  C.  C. 
isenbuth,  of  Huron,  in  1896.  He  sold  to  Franzwa  in  1902,  Franzwa  en- 
larged the  store  room,  raised  the  roof,  making  the  building  a  story  and  a 
half  high,  and  placed  in  front  of  it  the  first  cement  walk  laid  in  the  town. 
A  year  later  Franzwa  sold  his  stock  to  A.  N.  Louder,  who  conducted  the 
business  until  1905,  when  he  sold  to  Messrs.  Miles  &  Hunter.  Mr. 
Franzwa  repurchased  the  stock  and  building  in  1906,  and  built  an  addi- 
tion onto  the  east  side  of  the  store  room.  The  building  is  now  occupied 
by  Mr.  Schamber,  son  of  a  former  state  treasurer. 

On  November  ist,  1886,  Mrs.  Barber  and  Miss  Litchfield  sold  the 
hotel  in  Alpena  to  Ray  Barber,  who  remained  as  proprietor  until  J\Iay 
29,  1894.     Mrs.  Barber  and  Miss  Litchfield  then  took  charge  of  it  again 


I50 

and  retained  control  until  Sept.  ist,  1901.  It  was  then  sold  to  Chas.  Alil- 
ler,  who  run  it  about  a  year  and  sold  to  J.  T.  Fleming.  A  year  later  jNIr. 
Aliller  again  took  the  hotel,  but  in  ]\Iarch,  1903,  sold  it  to  Mrs.  A.  B. 
Smith.  February  ist,  1905,  Airs.  Smith  sold  the  property  to  W.  W. 
Hillis.     In  the  spring  of  1908  Flillis  sold  it  to  ]\lrs.  Niested  of  Huron. 

In  the  spring  of  1886,  Wm.  \'oss  sold  his  interest  in  the  lumber  yard 
at  Alpena  to  Chas.  R.  and  D.  S.  Manwarning.  They  conducted  the  busi- 
ness during  the  next  ten  years  and  on  Aug.  21st,  1898,  sold  the  property 
to  J.  D.  Chamberlain.  In  1901,  F.  D.  Anderson,  the  present  owner,  pur- 
chased it  from  Air.  Chamberlain. 

The  first  bank  in  Alpena  was  a  private  concern  managed  by  D.  F. 
Royer,  who  did  the  business  at  a  counter  behind  the  usual  screen  in  the 
back  end  of  the  front  room  of  his  drug  store.     This  was  in  1886. 

In  the  fall  of  this  year  W.  L.  Arnold  gave  up  mercantile  business  in 
Alpena  and  sold  his  stock  to  J.  R.  Alilliken.  retaining  the  position  of 
postmaster.  It  was  at  the  northwest  corner  of  INIain  and  2nd  Streets. 
Milliken  kept  the  store  until  the  next  year  and  then  sold  the  stock  to 
Roth  Bros.,  of  \\'essington  Springs.  They  continued  the  business  until 
1888  in  that  room  and  then  went  into  the  new  I.  O.  O.  F.  building  across 
the  street.  The  Arnold  lot  and  building  was  purchased  by  the  Pres- 
byterian church  organization  in  1892  and  used  by  them  for  a  meeting- 
house for  nine  years.  In  1904  J.  R.  Milliken  and  J.  D.  Chamberlain 
kept  a  general  store  in  this  building,  but  in  the  spring  of  1885  sold  a 
part  of  their  stock  of  goods  to  J.  H.  Creighton  of  Wessington  Springs, 
and  the  balance  to  Airs.  L.  W.  Castleman,  who  continues  the  business  at 
the  present  time. 

The  Jerauld  County  Agricultural  Society  had  a  meeting  on  the  2nd 
day  of  January,  1886,  at  which  they  reelected  Air.  B.  G.  Cummings.  pre- 
sident, and  R.  Vandervene,  vice-president,  H.  J.  Wallace,  secretary,  and 
W.  J.  Williams,  treasurer. 

On  January  20th  a  brass  band  was  organized  in  Wessington  Springs. 
A.  E.  Turrill,  leader.  The  other  members  of  the  band  were  Al  Sturgis, 
drum  major,  Jake  Rosenthall,  Augustin  La  Point,  G.  R.  Bateman,  A\'. 
I.  Bateman,  Ed  Campbell,  Bert  Campbell,  Omar  Schryock,  Chas.  Schry- 
ock,  Tommy  Schryock,  Geo.  Wicks,  Ed  Andrew  and  Will  B.  AlcDonald. 

Several  changes  were  made  in  the  management  of  the  newspapers  of 
the  county  during  1886.  D.  F.  Royer  became  the  owner  of  the  Jerauld 
Co.  Journal,  AlcDonald  and  Bateman  sold  the  \\'essington  Springs  Herald 
to  T.  L.  Blank  on  the  5th  of  February. 

O.  P.  FIull  became  owner  of  the  Waterbury  Alessenger,  successor  to 
the  Waterbury  News.  N.  J.  Dunham  became  editor  of  the  Jerauld 
County  Journal  April  ist. 


151 


Hoz^'ani  Pope.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ezra  J^oorhics.       Mrs.  Geo.  R.  Bafeiiia 


riiiaii. 


Isaac  P.  Byam.       j^  q_  pberhart  and  G.  N.  Price.        A'-  E.  JViUiai 


ta 

n 

Rolla  Gady.  Alpena  Farmer's  Elevator  1889.  Ghas  Gingery. 


152 

B.  B.  Blosser,  who  had  been  a  compositor  on  the  Woonsocket  Times 
for  several  years,  bought  the  True  RepubHcan  Dec.  lo,  1886,  and  for 
several  years  made  it  the  leading  paper  of  the  county. 

At  Waterbury  the  general  store  of  C.  L.  Austin  closed  on  Dec.  15, 
1886.  About  the  same  time  T.  H.  Null  moved  his  law  office  to  Wessing- 
ton  Springs  from  Waterbury.  During  the  same  month  Delos  Klink  and 
F.  G.  Vessey  bought  the  implement  business  from  Vessey  Bros.,  Ran- 
som &  Co. 

On  June  loth,  1886,  L.  N.  Loomis  rented  to  Jake  Rosenthal  lot  22 
in  block  4,  Alpena,  at  $5.00  per  month  for  use  as  a  meat  market,  lease 
to  take  effect  June  15th.  This  was  the  first  market  of  the  kind  in  the 
town. 

Since  Rosenthal  the  meat  market  business  in  Alpena  has  been  con- 
trolled in  succession  by  Ed.  Hinchliff,  J.  J.  Hillis,  Geo.  jMarsten  &  J. 
Venables,  John  Woods  (who  put  up  the  building  since  used  as  a  market), 
Andrew  Mercer  and  his  son  Robert,  W.  H.  McMillan  &  John  Chamber- 
lain, W.  H.  McMillan,  L.  W.  Castleman,  L.  W^  Castleman  &  C.  C.  Rohr, 
C.  C.  Rohr,  and  F.  Mann,  wdio  took  possession  March  25,  1908. 

In  1886  a  masonic  lodge  Avas  organized  at  Wessington  Springs.  The 
number  of  the  lodge  was  87  and  the  name  "Frontier."  The  charter  was 
granted  June  loth.     The  charter  members  were : 

Chas.  W.  McDonald,  W.  M. 
Cleveland  T.  Hall,  S.  W. 
W.  J.  Williams,  J.  W. 
J.  E.  Sullivan,  Treasurer. 
E.  G.  Williams,  Secretary. 
I.  H.  French,  S.  D. 
J.  T.  Ferguson,  J.  D. 
A.  S.  Beals,  Tyler, 
M.  A.  Shaw. 
E.  V.  Miles. 

The  first  new  member  of  the  masonic  lodge  at  Wessington  Springs 
was  O.  E.  Williams.    The  present  membership  numbers  42. 


153 

Chapter  19. 

Jefferson  Sickler  took  the  oath  of  office  as  a  county  commissioners  on 
the  4th  day  of  January,  1887.  Following  the  precedent  set  by  preceding 
commissioners  the  outgoing  board  settled  with  the  county  treasurer,  be- 
fore Mr.  Sickler  was  sworn  in.  Ever  since  then  the  settlement  has  been 
made  by  the  new  board. 

The  new  board  was  organized  by  the  election  of  Mr.  L.  G.  Wilson 
as  chairman. 

Mr.  Johnston,  the  outgoing  superintendent,  had  received  $1514.75  as 
fees  and  salary  during  the  two  years  of  his  term,  certainly  not  a  large 
compensation,  but  the  new  board  on  the  5th  of  January  reduced  the 
salary  of  that  office  to  $100  yer  year. 

The  True  Republican  was  made  the  official  paper  of  the  county  on 
condition  that  the  paper  should  publish  the  minutes  of  the  board  and  all 
notices  of  board  meetings  free  of  charge.  The  legislature  then  in  session 
passed  a  law  requiring  the  appointment  of  three  official  papers,  and  on 
the  5th  of  April  the  Jerauld  County  Journal  at  Alpena  and  The  Jerauld 
County  Messenger,  at  Waterbury,  were  also  made  official  papers,  with- 
out the  aforesaid  conditions. 

In  January  1887  several  townships  moved  for  civil  township  organ- 
ization. The  petition  in  all  but  one  (Blaine),  were  granted  and  elections 
called  for  February  ist  in  Franklin,  Marlar,  Alpena,  Crow,  Anina,  Chery 
and  Viola.  The  petition  from  Blaine  township  was  denied  because  a 
remonstrance  containing  more  names  than  were  attached  to  the  petition  was 
filed  before  the  board  had  acted  on  the  petition.  On  the  day  that  the 
petitions  were  granted  the  board  ordered  that  all  civil  township  names 
and  boundaries  should  be  the  same  as  the  school  townships. 

The  county  clerk's  salary  was  increased  to  $400  per  year. 

About  the  first  of  April,  1887,  the  county  treasurer  desired  to  resign 
his  office  and  asked  the  different  members  of  the  board  to  agree  to  ap- 
point C.  E.  Thayer  in  his  place.  The  commissioners  refused  and  Air. 
Williams  did  not  resign. 

A  petition  was  filed  with  the  county  board  on  the  4th  day  of  April 
asking  them  to  consent  to  a  change  in  the  place  of  trial  in  the  Solomon 
case.  After  some  hesitancy  they  granted  the  petition  on  assurance  that 
the  change  would  obviate  the  necessity  of  having  a  term  of  court  in 
Jerauld  county  that  year. 

April  5th  the  board  declared  mustard,  Canada  thistles  and  cockle  burs 
to  be  noxious  weeds. 

A  petition  signed  by  471  voters  was  laid  before  the  commissioners  on 
July  7th  asking  that  the  question  of  "local  option"  be  submited  to  the 


154 

people  at  the  next  November  election  which  was  granted.  A  territorial 
law  required  that  the  matter  of  division  of  the  territory  be  also  sub- 
mitted. 

On  July  9th,  1887,  H.  M.  Rice  resigned  his  office  of  Probate  Judge 
and  C.  E.  Kackett  was  appointed  to  the  vacancy.  i\Ir.  Hackett  resigned 
his  position  as  a  county  Justice  and  on  the  14th  Richard  Dalton,  of  Blaine 
township,  was  appointed  to  that  place. 

The  time  had  now  come  for  the  semi-annual  settlement  with  the 
treasurer,  but  the  treasurer  did  not  appear.  It  soon  became  known  that 
W.  J.  Williams  had  absconded.  The  commissioners  took  possession  of 
the  office.  They  found  in  the  safe  $189.74.  The  deputy  treasurer,  Mary 
Williams,  sister  of  the  treasurer,  gave  the  board  checks  for  the  amount 
in  the  local  bank,  which  was  $415.00.  The  shortage  was  estimated  at 
about  $4,500. 

Wlien  the  excitement  incident  to  this  affair  had  abated  a  little  the 
commissioners  declared  the  office  of  treasurer  vacant  and  each  member 
of  the  board  proposed  a  candidate.  Mr.  Knudtson  nominated  J.  M. 
Wheeler,  of  Blaine  township,  Mr.  Sickler  proposed  H.  A.  Peirce,  of  Har- 
mony township,  while  the  chairman  brought  forward  the  name  of  H.  J. 
Wallace,  of  Chery.  This  occurred  on  the  9th  of  July.  At  the  next  meet- 
ing, July  1 2th,  the  board  elected  Mr.  Wallace  county  treasurer  to  suc- 
ceed Williams. 

On  July  13th  the  board  published  a  statement  showing  the  financial 
condition  of  the  county.  l"he  public  debt  above  the  amount  due  from 
impaid  taxes,  etc.,  was  $10,153.27. 

On  the  19th  of  July  Mr.  Wallace  resigned  his  position  as  county  sur- 
veyor and  B.  R.  Shimp.  was  appointed  to  the  vacancy. 

The  tax  levy  was  made  as  follows  on  the  5th  of  September : 
County  school  2  mills.  County  bridge  I  mill,  county  road  i  mill,  sink- 
ing fund  4  mills  and  county  general  6  mills. 

The  territorial  tax  in  1887  was  three  and  six-tenths  nulls  and  in 
Jerauld  County  one  mill  extra  on  cattle,  horses  and  mules  to  pay  for 
animals  killed  by  the  state  veterinarian. 

A  petition  to  increase  the  number  of  members  of  the  board  from 
three  to  five,  signed  by  137  voters  was  filed  Sept.  6th,  but  was  denied 
because  of  it  not  having  a  sufficient  number  of  signers. 

The  Agricultural  society,  at  a  meeting  held  January  4th.  1887,  elected 
L.  N.  Loomis  president  and  H.  A.  Miller  secretary.  At  this  time  the 
society  was  about  $90  in  debt.  To  raise  money  with  which  to  pay  ofl:' 
its  obligations  the  plan  was  proposed  and  adopted  to  have  a  public  ball 
at  the  court  house  on  Feb.  22nd.  The  move  met  with  popular  favor  and 
$41   was  secured  for  that  purpose.     On  July  23rd  the   fair  dates  were 


155 

fixed  at  Sept.  21,  22  and  23.  The  result  was  a  successful  exhibit,  the 
society  closing  the  year  out  of  debt,  and  about  ten  dollars  in  the  treasury. 

Several  changes  were  made  in  the  newspaper  work  of  the  county  in 
1887.  The  first  was  the  purchase  of  the  Waterbury  Home-News  from 
I\I.  B.  McNeil,  in  January  by  O.  P.  Hull,  who  changed  the  name  of  the 
paper  to  "Jerauld  County  ]\Iessenger.'"  In  October  Mr.  Hull  bought  the 
Buffalo  County  Sentinel,  and  about  the  middle  of  December  he  bought 
AV.  R.  Pooley's  Crow  Lake  Homesteader.  Both  papers  were  consolidated 
with  the  iNIessenger.  April  ist,  N.  J.  Dunham  rented  the  Jerauld  County 
Journal  for  one  year. 

The  real  estate  firm  of  Hudson  &  Heart  at  Waterbury  dissolved  part- 
nership in  ]\Iarch,  1887,  Mr.  Hudson  retiring  from  the  business. 

Among  the  churches,  of  course,  some  changes  were  made  in  the  pas- 
torates. The  M.  E.  Conference  in  October  appointed  Rev.  Chas.  Vessey 
to  Wessington  Springs,  W.  H.  Underwood  to  Alpena,  and  D.  P.  Olin  to 
Waterbury.  At,  the  latter  place  C.  \\  ^Martin  had  been  employed  by  the 
people  to  preach  for  six  months,  commencing  in  March. 

The  County  S.  S.  Associaiton  held  its  meeting  at  Wessington  Springs, 
June  10. 

May  15th  a  Sunday  School  was  organized  at  school  house  No.  3  in 
Pleasant  township,  with  C.  D.  Coley,  Supt. 

The  Weslyan  Methodists  held  their  last  quarterly  meeting  for  that 
conference  year  in  a  large  tabernacle  erected  at  Lyndale,  Sept.  I7lh  and 
18th. 

In  !Media  township  a  union  Sunday  school  was  formed  at  the  school 
house  in  district  No.  2,  Mr.  A.  S.  Beals,  Supt. 

Quarterly  meeting  services  of  the  German  M.  E.  Church  were  held 
at  the  Nesmith  school  house.  May  29,  1887. 

A  union  Sabbath  school  was  held  at  Dale  Center  also  during  the  sum- 
mer of  1887. 

The  people  of  Mola  and  Anina  townships  observed  Arbor  Day  in 
1887,  by  planting  trees  and  laying  out  walks  in  Cnion  cemetery. 

I  have  been  unable  to  obtain  the  roll  of  the  G.  A.  R.  Post  at  AVater- 
bury,  but  it  is  probable  that  at  this  time  it  contained  the  following  mem- 
bers : 

A.  E.  White.  PI.  Merwin,  W.  A.  Rex,  E.  S.  Waterbury,  Geo.  N. 
Price,  J.  'M.  Corbin,  H.  i\I.  Rice,  H.  Herring,  H.  A.  Jones.  D.  F.  Jones, 
Henrv  Fogarty,  James  Long,  A.  S.  Fordham.  H.  Herman,  R.  S.  Russell, 
T.  y.  Hunt  and  Flavins  Curtis. 

A  creamery  had  been  established  in  Woonsocket  and  the  managers 
were  anxious  to  secure  the  trade  of  Jerauld  county.  In  ]\Iay  of  1887  an 
arrangement  was  made  with  Mr.  A.  B.  Smart  to  gather  cream  from  the 


156 

county  north,  west  and  south  of  the  Springs,  and  deliver  it  to  the  creamery 
wagon,  which  would  come  to  Wessington  Springs  for  it.  This  was  con- 
tinued through  the  summer  and  fall,  the  cream  checks  being  cashed  at 
the  local  stores.  It  was  so  successful  that  a  move  began  Oct.  29th  to 
establish  an  institution  of  that  kind  in  Wessington  Springs. 

In  April,  1887,  the  Woodburn  Hotel  changed  hands  and  Mr.  A.  B. 
Easter  became  proprietor.  He  continued  in  charge  of  it  until  about  the 
25th  of  Sept.,  when  Geo.  N.  Price,  of  Waterbury,  purchased  the  property 
and  on  Oct.  3rd,  1887,  moved  in  and  became  resident  of  the  county  seat. 
About  two  weeks  later  Mr.  Price  rented  the  livery  barn  in  Wessington 
Springs  owned  by  E.  B.  Orr.  The  Wessington  Springs-Woonsocket 
stage  line  had  been  purchased  by  j\Ir.  Price,  Aug.  16th,  and  A.  G.  Eber- 
hart  put  on  that  line  as  driver.  A  new  stage  wagon  with  a  canvas  cover 
was  provided  and  traveling  over  that  line  was  made  as  comfortable  as 
possible, — a  long  and  tedious  ride  at  the  best.  He  was  at  this  time  owner 
of  the  Woonsocket  line,  the  Crow  Lake  line,  which  became  a  daily  line 
June  1st,  the  Miller  line  and  Belford  line.  RoUa  Cady  drove  the  mail 
to  Miller,  Gehial  Barnum  to  Crow  Lake  and  Will  Moss  was  on  the  Bel- 
ford  line.  This  was  undoubtedly  the  severest  winter,  especially  for  stage 
drivers  in  the  history  of  the  county,  yet  Price  was  as  reliable  with  his 
mail  lines  as  was  the  famous  Ben  Halliday  with  his  pony  express. 
Storms  were  frec^uent  in  November  and  December,  blocking  the  trains 
and  obstructing  the  mails  on  all  railroads. 

On  October  ist  the  mail  route  between  Alpena  and  Wessington 
Springs  was  discontinued. 

The  first  "special  delivery"  letter  to  arrive  at  the  Wesington  Springs 
P.  O.  came  on  Monday,  Oct.  3,  1887.  It  was  addressed  to  C.  W.  Mc- 
Donald, clerk  of  courts,  and  was  delivered  by  Postmaster  Barrett. 

At  Alpena,  on  June  8,  1887,  L.  N.  Loomis  rented  Lot  2,  Block  7,  to 
F.  W.  Whitney  at  $75  per  year  for  use  as  a  post  office,  lease  to  take 
efifect  July  ist,  at  which  time  Mr.  Whitney  succeeded  W.  L.  Arnold  as 
postmaster. 

In  the  same  year  Geo.  Brooks  took  Frank  Wheelihan's  place  in  the 
depot  at  Alpena.  Since  then  the  station  agents  at  Alpena  have  been: 
M.  Mellette,  Renshaw,  A.  Amundson,  C.  G.  Boom  and  Mr.  Buechler. 

In  the  same  year  that  Whitney  took  the  Alpena  post  office  J.  A.  Craw- 
ford, who  with  his  blacksmith  shop  had  been  "holding  down  his  claim," 
the  SW  of  3  in  Dale  township,  for  several  months,  moved  his  shop  and 
his  residence  back  to  town  again. 

In  the  summer  of  1887,  J.  T.  Johnston  sold  his  Alpena  grain  ware- 
house to  McMichael,  who  made  an  elevator  of  it  in  1901.  Soon  after 
selling  his  warehouse  Johnston  became  interested  in  baseball.     He  took 


157 

charge  of  the  team  at  Alpena  and  arranged  for  a  game  with  the  Wcon- 
socket  nine  at  Wessington  Springs,  during  the  fair  week  in  September. 
An  immense  crowd  gathered  to  see  the  game  and  cheered  itself  hoarse 
Avhen  the  Alpena  boys  won  the  game. 

Some  business  changes  were  made  in  Wessington  Springs.  In  the 
forepart  of  February  Allan  Ransom  and  J.  H.  A^ssey,  the  founders  of 
the  business,  drew  out  of  the  company,  Vessey  Bros.,  Ransom  &  Co. 
Ransom  left  the  county,  but  Vessey  took  charge  of  the  Crow  Lake  store 
as  manager  on  a  salary. 

In  the  last  week  in  April,  ]Mr.  Blosser  moved  the  True  Republican 
office  into  the  Drake  building,  ^[r.  Drake  having  moved  to  Faulkton. 

Mr.  E.  H.  Ford  put  a  chair  in  the  front  room  of  his  building  on  the 
south  side  of  Main  street,  and  during  two  days  each  week  run  a  barber 
shop. 

Geo.  Bickford,  of  Woonsocket,  opened  a  meat  market  in  Wessington 
Springs  Aug.  8,  1887,  but  on  the  eighteenth  of  the  same  month  sold  out 
to  Geo.  R.  Bateman  and  E.  L.  Hinchliff. 

It  may  not  be  generally  known,  yet  it  is  a  fact  that  Jerauld  and  Aurora 
counties  in  1887  had  a  railroad  company,  all  their  own.  Mr.  Heintz  of 
White  Lake,  was  president,  J.  R.  Milliken,  of  Alpena,  was  treasurer  and 
T.  H.  Null,  of  Wessington  Springs  was  secretary.  The  name  of  the 
road  was  "The  Duluth,  Huron  and  Pacific."  The  plan  of  the  road  was 
to  connect  with  the  Great  Northern  at  Huron  and  cross  the  Missouri  at 
Wheeler,  in  Charles  J\Iix  county. 

The  building  of  the  Great  Northern  into  Huron  started  the  C.  M. 
&  St.  P.  in  the  construction  of  a  line  south  through  Faulk,  Hand,  Jerauld 
and  Aurora  counties  to  connect  with  a  line  extending  from  Tripp  in 
Hutchinson  county  to  Armour  in  Douglas  county.  The  contract  for  grad- 
ing the  line  through  Pleasant  and  Harmony  townships  was  let  to  the 
Murray  Bros.,  and  the  settlers  thought  their  days  of  waiting  for  railroad 
facilities  were  over.  The  Great  Northern  built  their  line  to  Huron  and 
stopped.  The  C.  M.  &  St.  P.  built  their  line  to  Orient,  in  Hand  county, 
and  stopped.  For  twenty-two  years  those  railroad  companies  have  been 
watching  each  other,  and  the  settlers  have  been  watching  them. 

On  July  26,  1887,  a  gun  club  was  organized  at  Wessington  Springs 
wath  A.  M.  Mathias,  president,  and  B.  B.  Blosser.  secretary.  The  object 
was  sport  and  enforcement  of  the  game  laws.  Several  contests  were 
had  with  sportsmen  from  Alpena  and  Waterbury,  but  no  one  was  prose- 
cuted for  violating  the  law. 

The  new  superintendent  of  schools  began  early  in  his  term  to  organize 
the  teachers  of  the  county  for  professional  w^ork.  In  February,  1887, 
township  institute  work  started  in  Pleasant  township  to  which  Media  and 


158 

Harmony  were  united  for  that  purpose.     They  were  continued  once    a 
month  till  the  close  of  the  school  year. 

With  the  heginning'  of  the  next  school  year  the  work  was  revived  and 
much  enthusiasm  put  into  the  meetings  which  were  held  on  the  3rd  Sa- 
turday of  each  month.  At  the  Trollope  school  house  an  institute  began 
on  the  19th  of  November  for  the  teachers  of  Logan,  Crow,  Pleasant  and 
Crow  Lake  townships.  The  next  Saturday,  Nov.  26th,  the  teachers  of 
Viola,  Anina,  Media,  and  Wessington  Springs  were  brought  together  for 
institute  work  at  the  Nesmith  school  house  in  Viola.  Dec.  3rd  an  insti- 
tute began  at  Dale  Center  school  house  for  Alpena,  Dale  and  Chery  town- 
ships. At  the  northwest  school  house  of  Blaine  township  a  similar  meet- 
ing was  arranged  on  Dec.  17th  for  Franklin  and  Blaine. 

On  the  24th  of  October,  a  county  teachers  institute  was  opened  at  the 
court  house  in  Wessington  Springs  with  J.  W.  Harden  as  inctructor. 
Twenty-nine  teachers  were  in  attendance.     The  list  follows : 

Mesdames  Anna  Tryon,  C.  A.  Dunham,  R.  A.  Gregory,  Misses  Mary 
Williams,  Minnie  Stanley,  Nellie  Jacobs,  Ella  Hewitt,  Kate  McLean, 
Addie  Powell,  May  Hunt,  Ella  Allyn,  Anna  Peterson,  Sarah  Fish,  Jennie 
Holcomb,  Jeanette  Richardson  and  Messrs.  Fred  Luke,  J.  A.  Ford,  T. 
L.  White,  B.  R.  Shimp,  A.  J.  Miller,  John  R.  Francis,  "w.  L.  Holden, 
John  F.  Wicks,  John  Holmes,  A.  H.  Elliott,  Chas.  Beach,  Geo.  O.  Wil- 
liams, Fred  Fisher,  and  N.  E.  Williams. 

On  the  evening  of  the  first  day  of  the  institute  a  reception  was  given 
the  teachers  by  the  people  of  Wessington  Springs.  It  was  arranged  by 
Mr.  Binford  and  it  was  a  very  pleasant  afifair. 

The  year  1887  was  a  year  of  abundant  harvest.  Some  authentic  re- 
ports were  made  of  yields  that  were  astonishing.  There  is  a  strip  of 
country  along  the  east  part  of  Alpena  township  that  has  never  suiTered 
loss  either  from  fire,  or  storm.  In  this  favored  region  Chas.  Bechtold 
raised  a  field  of  wheat  that  year  that  was  threshed  by  Ferguson  and  Mon- 
roe, who  produced  their  books  to  show  that  the  yield  was  forty-three 
bushels  per  acre. 


159 

Chapter  20. 

The  local  papers  at  Wessington  Spring's  on  the  28th  day  of  January, 
1887,  published  a  short  notice  calling  a  meeting  to  be  held  at  the  M.  E. 
Church  on  February  5th  to  consider  the  matter  of  securing  the  location 
of  a  Free  Methodist  seminary  at  Wessington  Springs.  The  meeting  was 
not  largely  attended.  It  had  been  called  at  the  instance  of  Rev.  A.  B. 
Smart.  Mr.  John  Chapman  was  elected  chairman  of  the  meeting  and 
Albert  Gunderson,  secretary.  A  committee  was  appointed  whose  duty 
was  to  solicit  aid  toward  securing  the  location  of  the  school  at  the  county 
seat  of  Jerauld  county.  The  committee  was  composed  of  M.  D.  Crow, 
I.  S.  Binford,  T.  K.  Ford,  A.  B.  Smart,  S.  F.  Huntley  and  J.  O.  Gray. 
But  few  of  the  men  appointed  to  that  committee  were  present  at  the 
meeting  which  named  them,  and  !Mr.  Smart  was  requested  to  notify  them 
of  their  appointment.  There  is  no  record  of  any  meeting  of  that  com- 
mittee and  in  all  probability  none  was  ever  held.  But  be  that  as  it  may, 
its  working  force  was  the  man  who  called  the  meeting  on  Feb.  5th.  In 
this  opportunity  Mr.  Smart  saw  the  fulfillment  of  a  plan  conceived, 
evolved  and  worked  out  to  the  minutest  detail,  during  the  years  of  his 
middle  life.  It  was  this  scheme,  that  had  beckoned  him,  with  all  the 
learning  got  at  two  colleges,  from  both  of  which  he  had  graduated  with 
honor,  to  bring  his  family  away  from  the  intellectual  and  social  culture 
of  New  England,  to  "set  his  stake"  in  an  uninhabited  wilderness.  For 
this  he  had  braved  everything,  privations  and  hardships  in  common  with 
the  poorest  and  most  ignorant  settler,  and  disappointments.  But  few  can 
imagine  the  eagerness  throbbing  in  his  brain  when  he  asked  the  news- 
paper man  to  publish  the  call  for  the  meeting.  To  him  it  meant  the 
achievement  of  an  ambition,  to  this  people  it  meant  the  acquisition  of 
possibilities  that  might  never  be  offered  them  again.  Of  all  those  present 
he  alone  was  the  man  who  could  do.  Yet  he  was  neither  made  presiding 
officer  of  the  meeting  nor  chairman  of  the  committee.  Another  date  was 
set,  Feb.  12th,  at  which  the  committee  should  report.  Because  of  a  storm 
the  meeting  to  be  held  at  that  time  was  postponed  until  the  19th. 

On  the  19th  of  February  the  location  committee  of  the  church  met  at 
Mitchell  to  discuss  the  site  for  the  school.  Mr.  Smart  was  there.  i\Ien 
from  several  cities  and  towns  were  there  urging  the  advantages  they 
could  ofifer  to  the  committee.  ^Nlany  places  could  ofifer  more  of  population 
and  greater  wealth,  but  Jerauld  county  had  an  asset  that  was  worth  more 
in  the  mind  of  the  committee  than  all  else  and  that  was  its  strong  moral 
and  temperance  sentiment.  Alone  Mr.  Smart  made  the  fight  and  won. 
He  got  from  the  church  committee  a  conditional  location  of  the  institu- 
tion at  Wessington   Springs.     True,   those  conditions  were   hard    for   a 


i6o 

town  of  less  than  200  population,  but  he  had  won  in  the  first  move  and 
felt  sure  of  success.  A  sub-committee  of  three  members,  with  I'ull  power 
to  locate  the  school  if  the  conditions  were  obtained  was  appointed  at 
Mitchell.  This  committee  was  composed  of  Rev.  J.  B.  Freeland,  G.  C. 
Cofifee  and  A.  W.  Hayes.  This  committee  met  at  the  Springs  on  the 
22nd,  Mr.  Smart  was  there.  He  secured  donations  of  land  amounting  to 
nearly  5000  acres,  giving  a  large  part  of  it  himself. 

The  plan  of  the  church  was  to  make  the  school  preparatory,  collegiate 
and  theological.  On  the  25th  of  March  Mr.  Smart  published  a  notice  to 
all  students  of  the  county  who  had  passed  the  grades  of  common  schools 
to  call  on  him  before  arranging  to  go  away  to  school.  The  purpose  of 
this  notice  was  to  interest  the  boys  and  girls,  and  through  them,  the 
parents  of  the  community,  in  the  proposed  home  school. 

About  the  midle  of  April  the  location  committee  made  their  final 
demand.  It  was  that  in  addition  to  the  land  already  pledged  the  people 
should  raise  for  the  school  $2,000  in  cash.  A.  B.  Smart  and  C.  G.  Coflr'ee 
were  apppointed  a  committee  to  solicit  subscriptions.  To  men  less  in 
earnest,  or  less  determined,  the  task  set  before  them  would  have  seemed 
impossible.  They  were  asked  to  get  for  the  school,  in  absolute  gifts  a 
sum  of  money  equal  to  about  one-twelfth  of  the  total  assessed  value  of 
all  the  personal  property  of  Wessington  Springs  township. 

On  the  31st  of  May  Mr.  Smart  reported  to  the  full  church  committee 
at  Mitchell,  and  was  rewarded  with  the  permanent  location  of  the  school 
at  Wessington  Springs.  The  grounds  of  the  seminary  campus  were 
surveyed  Sept.  ist  on  the  tract  at  the  foot  of  the  hills  donated  to  the 
school  by  Mr.  Smart.  During  that  week  the  trustees  of  the  school  held 
a  meeting  in  Wessington  Springs  and  selected  the  spot  upon  which  to 
erect  the  seminary  building.  At  this  meeting  they  let  the  contract  to 
Wm.  Bremner,  of  Harmony  township  to  build  the  foundation  wall  to  be 
40x60  feet,  and  11  feet  high,  2I/2  feet  thick  at  the  bottom  and  two  feet 
thick  at  the  top.  In  the  rear  of  this  wall  an  addition  must  be  built,  i6x 
24;  the  whole  to  be  completed  in  five  weeks.  They  arranged  to  open 
the  school  on  Nov.  8,  1887.  Later  it  was  found  necessary  to  change  the 
date  of  opening  the  school  to  Nov.  15th. 

When  the  wall  was  completed  a  roof  was  put  over  the  main  building 
and  the  addition,  and  covered  with  tar  paper.  The  structure,  when  com- 
pleted  ready  for  the  first  term  of  school,  (they  didn't  call  it  "semester" 
in  those  days)  had  very  much  the  appearance  of  a  farm  shed  for  animals, 
— so  much  so  that  for  several  years  it  was  referred  to  by  the  students 
as  "the  sheep  shed."  It  was  necessary  to  again  put  ofif  the  day  of 
opening. 


i6i 


John  F.  JVicks. 


T.  H.  Null. 


Samuel  Marl  CI  ice. 


Mi\  and  Mrs.  Richard  Daltou. 


l62 

The  faculty  secured  for  the  seminary  was  Rev.  J.  K.  Freeland,  prin- 
cipal, jVIrs.  J.  K.  Freeland,  preceptress,  Miss  Mary  Freeland,  teacher,  and 
Airs.  A.  B.  Smart,  teacher  of  music.  The  board  of  trustees  was  com- 
posed of  Rev.  J.  B.  Freeland,  president ;  Rev.  C.  G.  Coffee,  secretary  and 
financial  agent ;  A.  W.  Hayes,  treasurer,  and  W.  S.  Chamberlain,  Rev.  A. 
B.  Smart,  L  N.  Rich,  and  D.  :\I.  Lewis. 

The  formal  opening  occurred  on  the  29th  of  November,  1887.  The 
faculty  and  trustees  were  there  and  many  of  the  people  of  Wessington 
Springs.  The  first  hymn  sung  in  the  new  school  was  old  "Coronation." 
The  occasion  was,  of  course,  given  over  mainly  to  speech-making.  The 
prophecies  of  success  made  that  day  have  been  more  than  realized  in  the 
years  that  have  followed.  One  of  the  most  fitting  things  done  that  day 
was  the  tendering  of  public  thanks,  unanimously  by  a  rising  vote,  to  A. 
B.  Smart  for  securing  the  location  of  the  seminary  at  Wessington  Springs. 

On  December  ist,  1887,  the  following  named  students  were  enrolled: 

Miss  Mary  Piper,  Miss  Lulu  Smart,  Miss  Edith  Thomas,  Miss  Alice 
Fear,  R.  C.  Smith,  J.  W:  Osborne,  W.  E.  A.  Thornton,  W.  B.  Wilson, 
J.  E.  Bremner,  H.  C.  Fear,  x\lfred  C.  Thompson  and  Dale  C.  Wallace. 

A  few  days  later,  Dec.  17th,  the  "Alpha"  literary  society  was  or- 
ganized. 

The  legislature  of  1887  passed  an  act  providing  for  a  vote  on  the  sub- 
ject of  division  of  the  territory,  the  election  to  be  held  on  the  usual  elec- 
tion day^ — the  first  Tuesday  after  the  first  Monday  in  November. 

A  non-partizan  delegate  convention  had  been  called  to  meet  at  Huron 
in  July,  and  on  July  7th  a  mass  convention  was  held  at  the  court  house 
in  Wessington  Springs  to  elect  representatives  from  Jerauld  county. 
Chas.  Davis  of  Alpena  was  made  chairman  and  B.  B.  Blosser,  secretary 
of  the  meeting.  Delegates  to  the  Huron  convention  were  selected  as  fol- 
lows: D.  F.  Royer,  B.  B.  Blosser,  W.  R.  Day,  J.  W.  Harden,  B.  R. 
Shimp.  At  Huron  a  division  campaign  committee  was  appointed  for 
Jerauld  county,  composed  of  John  Chapman  and  H.  A.  Miller — one  de- 
mocrat and  one  republican.  The  county  committee  had  but  little  to  do, 
for  the  sentiment  in  favor  of  dividing  the  territory  and  admitting  it  into 
the  Union  as  two  states  was  nearly  unanimous. 

But  another  matter  that  interested  the  people  more  than  division  was 
coming  up  for  settlement  at  the  election  on  the  8th  of  November : 

The  petition  with  471  signers  asking  for  submission  of  the  local  op- 
tion question  was  not  forgotten.  Under  the  law  the  commissioners  were 
bound  to  submit  it,  and  the  temperance  people  began  to  prepare  for  the 
contest.  At  that  time  Mrs.  Nettie  C.  Hall  was  president  of  the  county 
W.  C.  T.  U.  and  Mrs.  E.  V.  Miles  was  at  the  head  of  the  Pioneer  W.  C. 
T.  U,     Both  were  well  qualified  to  conduct  a  contest  such  as  was  before 


i63 

them.  They  had  the  advantage  of  the  campaign  and  the  victory  of  two 
years  before.  Practically  the  same  methods  were  used.  A  law  and  order 
league  was  formed  with  I.  N.  Rich,  of  Harmony  township  as  president. 
During  October  prohibition  meetings  were  held  in  all  the  townships  of 
the  county.  A  lodge  of  the  I.  O.  G.  T.  was  organized  at  Wessington 
Springs  with  a  large  membership.  It  was  named  "Haddock  Lodge"  No. 
190.  The  officers  were:  A.  Sturgis,  C.  T. ;  Lillian  Bateman,  V.  T. ;  J. 
G.  Campbell,'  Chap. ;  B.  B.  Blosser,  Sec'y- ;  Eva  L.  Hawthorne,  A.  S. ; 
Maude  Campbell,  F.  S. ;  Mrs.  Mary  Bateman,  Treas. ;  Nate  Spears,  Sen.; 
H.  P.  Campbell,  Guard;  E.  S.  Campbell,  Mar.;  Minnie  Shryock,  Ass't. 
Mar. ;  Alary  Williams,  R.  S.  C.  T.,  and  Mrs.  J.  G.  Campbell,  L.  S.  C.  T. 

The  election  for  1887  was  called  by  the  county  commissioners,  Oct. 
5th.  The  precincts,  for  some  unknown  reason,  were  made  the  same  as 
those  for  the  school  election  in  February,  1884. 

A  county  commissioner  was  to  be  elected  in  the  2nd  district,  then 
composed  of  Anina.  Media,  Chery,  Viola  and  Wessington  Springs  town- 
ships. 

A  republican  convention  to  nominate  a  candidate  was  called  to  meet 
Oct.  29th.  It  was  a  delegate  convention  and  nominated  Alonzo  Con- 
verse, of  Anina  township.  On  the  surface  everything  seemed  to  be  satis- 
factory. The  candidate  was  known  to  be  both  honest  and  efficient.  He 
had  been  identified  with  the  "bolting"  movement  of  iJ 


On  the  evening  of  the  5th  of  November,  but  two  days  before  election,, 
a  party  of  politicians  gathered  in  the  office  of  the  True  Republican  at 
Wessington  Springs  to  discuss  the  situation,  and  devise  ways  and  means 
ro  encompass  the  defeat  of  Judge  Converse.  The  first  essential,  of  course,, 
v/as  an  opposing  candidate.  After  much  discussion  they  decided  upore 
Mr.  John  Grant,  a  farmer,  living  a  mile  south  of  Wessington  Springs.. 
Mr.  Grant  had  not  been  in  any  way  connected  with  either  faction,  but 
vv^as  known  to  be  a  firm  believer  in  Republican  principles.  They  deter- 
p-iined  to  make  him  their  candidate  and  take  the  chance  of  his  accepting 
the  office  if  elected.  Then  the  work  was  laid  out  for  each  man  to  do. 
The  party  broke  up  near  midnight  and  some  of  them  got  scarcely  a  wink 
of  sleep  until  the  polls  were  closed  on  the  next  Tuesday  evening.  The 
democrats  had  not  put  up  a  candidate  and  the  fight  was  wholly  among 
the  republicans.  The  supporters  of  Mr.  Converse  were  not  thoroughly 
aware  of  the  move  until  late  Monday  morning.  By  that  time  nearly 
every  man,  democrat  as  well  as  republican,  that  could  possibly  be  induced 
to  refrain  from  voting  for  the  regular  nominee  had  been  seen.  The  re- 
sult was  the  election  of  Mr.  Grant  by  a  vote  of  129  to  100,  and  the  elec- 
tion of  almost  the  entire  democratic  ticket  a  year  later. 


164 

On  the  questions  of  division  of  the  territory  but  few  votes  were  cast 
against  the  two-state  plan. 

On  the  sale  of  Hquor  in  the  county  the  vote  was  a  surprise.     In  the 
various  townships  the  result  was  as  follows : 

For  the  Against 

sale,  the  sale. 

Alpena  21  48 

Franklin  i  32 

Blaine                                                             ■  17  14 

Aiola  9  33 

Wessington  Springs  and  part  of  Dale  i  64 

Cher\'  10  29 

j\Iedia  2  27 

Anina  o  44 

Crow  Lake  12  21 

Pleasant  6  38 

Flarmony  6  30 

Marlar  9  22 

Crow  6  2t 

JLogan  9  12 


Totals 


109  439 


Chapter  21. 
THE  GREAT  BLIZZARD. 

The  winter  of  1887 — 88  was  one  of  unusual  severity.  The  storms 
began  in  November,  1887.  and  each  was  more  terrific  than  anv  that  had 
been  experienced  by  the  settlers  since  the  storm  of  1879,  when  Williams, 
the  mail  carrier,  was  so  nearly  frozen  to  death  on  Elm  Creek.  The 
weather  increased  in  severity  as  the  winter  advanced,  the  snow  getting 
deeper  and  the  cold  becoming  more  intense.  The  9th  of  January,  1888. 
was  very  cold  with  a  light  south  wind.  The  lOth  was  slightlv  warmer, 
Ijut  with  a  stronger  south  wind.  On  the  11th  the  wind  was  blowing  a 
gale  still  from  the  south  and  the  snow  was  drifting-  badly.  On  the  morn- 
ing of  Thursday,  the  12th  of  January,  the  wind  had  fallen  and  become 
■quite  warm.  The  snow  was  melting  a  little.  Great  banks  of  fog  fifteen  to 
twent\'  miles  wide  rested  across  the  prairies  from  the  vicinity  of  the  I'lack 


i65 

Hills  eastward  into  Minnesota.  Between  these  banks  of  fog  were  stretches 
of  country  from  thirty  to  forty  miles  in  width  where  the  sun  shone 
brightly.  One  of  these  fog  banks  ran  east  and  west  along  the  C.  &  N. 
W.  Ry.,  through  the  central  part  of  Beadle,  Hand  and  Hyde  counties. 
Over  all  of  Jerauld  county  the  morning  was  warm  and  bright. 

Farmers  took  advantage  of  the  pleasant  weather  to  go  to  town  or  to 
go  to  fetch  hay  from  the  prairie.  All  felt  a  relief  from  the  rigorous 
wintry  weather  that  had  preceded.  In  Jerauld  county  at  that  time  were 
1025  children  of  school  age.  Owing  to  the  balmy  condition  of  the  air, 
probably  a  greater  percentage  of  those  children  went  to  school  that  day 
than  on  any  previous  day  for  weeks. 

T.  L.  White,  who  lived  at  the  hills  in  Chery  township,  was  engaged 
as  teacher  in  what  was  then  known  as  the  Kinney  school,  which  stood 
on  the  southwest  corner  of  section  8.  On  the  morning  of  the  12th  of 
January  he  went  to  the  school  house  as  usual,  but  stopped  when  he 
arrived  at  the  top  of  the  range  of  hills  and  for  several  minutes  stood 
looking  ofif  over  the  Jim  River  valley,  enjo3ang  a  scene  and  a  morning  that 
were  simply  glorious.  Low  down  on  the  northern  and  southern  horizons 
were  dense,  black  cloud  banks,  while  all  about  him  and  away  over  the 
white  plain  at  his  feet,  were  the  busy  farm  homes  all  bathed  in  the  warm 
sunlight  and  fanned  b}'  the  warm  southern  breeze.  He  went  on  to  the 
school  house  and  kindled  the  fire.  The  children  came  in  one,  two,  or 
three,  at  a  time  until  nearly  the  whole  school  was  present.  It  was  too 
pleasant  to  stay  in  doors  and  at  the  forenoon  recess  all  were  out  running, 
shouting  and  playing  games. 

As  the  school  bell  rang  some  of  the  children  remarked  that  "the 
clouds  up  north  are  coming."  Mr.  Wihte  looked  from  the  window  just 
in  time  to  see  a  whirling  mass  come  rolling  down  upon  the  school  house. 
A  cold  wave  had  been  driven  by  a  furious  wind  into  the  most  northern 
of  the  fog  banks,  freezing  it  into  particles  fine  as  sifted  flour.  This 
liad  been  driven  at  the  rate  of  sixty  miles  an  hour  down  upon  the  next 
bank  where  the  same  thing  occurred.  So  one  after  another  those  great 
wind  rows  of  fog  were  picked  up  and  hurled  southward.  The  mass  was 
blinding,  suffocating,  freezing.  The  coal  house  of  the  Kinney  school  was 
but  a  few  feet  from  the  school  building,  but  yet  it  was  with  great  diffi- 
culty that  the  teacher  and  larger  pupils  succeeded  in  getting  enough  fuel 
to  keep  the  room  warm.  All  day  and  all  night  the  school  children  stayed 
with  Mr.  Wihte  in  the  school  house. 

As  the  storm  rushed  south  and  east,  picking  up  the  fog  banks,  one 
after  another,  it  became  more  and  more  stifling  and  fatal  to  people  or 
animals  caught  by  it.  The  death  rate  shows  a  steady  increase  as  the 
volume  of  wind,  cold  and  snow  swept  on.     In  Spink  county  three  were 


i66 

frozen;  in  Hand  6;  in  Jerauld  5;  in  Bon  Homme  19;  in  Lincoln  20;  in 
Turner  2T„  while  in  Iowa,  but  few  escaped  without  serious  injury  who 
were  caught  by  the  storm  where  there  were  no  fences  to  guide  them. 
The  great  blizzard,  spread  over  the  entire  Mississippi  Valley  and  at  nearly 
the  same  time  struck  the  coast  all  the  way  from  Galveston,  Texas,  to 
Boston,  Mass. 

But  the  foregoing  is  sufficient  to  show  the  nature  and  extent  of  the 
storm.     We  have  to  do  only  with  Jerauld  county. 


Chapter  22. 

Pleasant  Hill  school  house,  at  the  time  of  the  great  blizzard,  was 
located  on  the  north  line  of  section  27  in  Logan  township,  near  the  ceme- 
tery and  close  to  where  it  now  stands.  The  school  house  was  small  and 
the  nineteen  pupils  were  crowded  together — three  to  each  desk.  ,  The 
popularity  of  Mr.  John  Wicks  as  a  teacher  drew  to  this  school  nearly 
half  of  the  school  children  of  the  township.  Among  those  who  went  to 
his  school,  and  attended  on  the  12th  day  of  January,  1888,  were: 

Ernest  Bailey,  Edith  Bailey.  Guy  Frick,  Harry  K.  Frick,  Will  Heine- 
man,  August  Heineman,  Hattie  Krumwied,  Charles  Krumwied.  Minnie 
Meyers,  Henry  Meyers,  Herman  Meyers,  John  Meyers,  Lizzie  Pflaum, 
Andrew  Pflaum,  Minnie  Walters,  Henry  Walters,  Fred  Kappleman, 
August  Kappleman,  Minnie  Kappleman,  and  Lena  Kappleman. 

The  residence  of  August  Kappleman.  one  of  the  patrons  of  the  school, 
stood  about  150  yards  from  the  school  house. 

The  story  of  this  school  is  best  told  in  the  language  of  the  teacher, 
John  F.  Wicks,  who,  a  few  days  after  the  storm  wrote  a  full  account  of 
it  to  his  friend,  Mr.  Frank  D.  Scott,  at  Mt.  Zion,  111.  The  letter  was 
published  at  the  time  in  one  of  the  local  papers  of county.  111. 

"Now  for  the  story,  'My  First  Experience  in  a  Blizzard."  Date, 
January  12th,  1888. 

The  day  preceding  it  snowed  and  drifted  all  day,  wdnd  in  the  south. 
Thursday  morning  there  was  a  double  ring  visible  around  the  sun,  a 
light  wind  from  the  south,  a  dull,  obscure,  hazy  atmosphere,  with  the 
temperature  about  freezing.  The  children  all  reached  school  earlier  than 
usual  on  account  of  a  storm  coming  from  the  northwest,  working  up 
against  the  wind.  After  school  called  I  did  not  notice  the  storm  until 
it  struck  the  house.  The  wind  suddenly  shifted  to  the  northwest  and  in 
an  instant  we  were  in  a  fierce,  blinding  storm  of  snow  and  sleet.     Ten 


167 

feet  was  beyond  the  limit  of  vision  unless  you  looked  the  way  the  wind 
was  blowing.  The  temperature  fell  rapidly,  the  wind  blew  the  snow 
under  the  door,  up  from  the  floor,  in  the  windows  and  even  from  above, 
so  that  with  constant  and  careful  attention  the  room  was  kept  barely 
comfortable.  Noon  came,  no  abatement.  Very  few  ventured  out  of  the 
house.  Spent  all  noon  in  getting-  in  coal  and  shoveling  snow  from  the 
coal  house  which  was  nearly  full  of  snow.  Recess — gale  increased  if 
anything.  Night  came — no  stop  whatever  in  the  storm,  and  we  came  to 
the  conclusion  to  stay  in  the  school  house  all  night.  I  asked  the  boys  to 
help  'do  chores,'  bring  in  coal  enough  to  last  all  night,  while  I  went  to 
a  neighbor's  house  ( Kappleman's,  150  yards  away)  and  see  what  arrange- 
ments could  be  made,  leaving  orders  for  no  one  to  leave  the  house  till  I 
came  back.  Started  for  the  neighbor's  (side  wind)  which  I  reached  with- 
out difficulty,  obtained  wraps  for  the  children,  then  returned.  Travelled 
by  guess,  for  seeing  was  out  of  the  question ;  the  wind  was  no  guide — as 
shifting  and  deceitful  as  the  Will-o-the-wisp.  My  scheme  was  to  get 
the  girls  to  the  neighbor's,  and  the  boys  and  I  would  bunk  in  the  school 
house.  Told  the  boys  (12)  to  get  more  coal  in  so  not  to  go  out  in  the 
night,  and  be  sure  not  to  try  to  leave  the  house,  while  I  took  the  girls 
to  the  neighbor's.  Nine  girls  and  one  big  boy  (19  years  old)  joined 
hand-in-hand,  were  to  follow  me,  thus  leaving  me  free  to  lead  the  way, 
the  big  boy  behind. 

Half  way  over  I  turned  to  see  if  all  were  coming  and  found  the  line 
broken  and  children  scattered.  Stopped,  got  all  together  and  try  to 
keep  together,  but  by  turning  lost  my  bearing.  (Put  yourself  in  my 
place).  Placed  the  wraps  over  them  and  told  them  not  to  move  until 
we  knew  which  way  to  go.  In  a  few  moments  I  found  the  big  rocks. 
(130  feet  due  east  of  the  house)  and  moved  the  girls  there  and  bunched 
them  again.  They  were  crying  with  the  cold  then  and  the  big  boy  said 
he  was  freezing.  The  snow  and  sleet  would  cut  our  faces  so  we  would 
almost  smother  a.nd  not  see  a  particle ;  the  wind  would  whirl  every  way, 
yet  we  all  knew  we  were  less  than  150  feet  from  the  house.  But  which 
way  was  west.  Horror  or  horrors!  I  placed  the  boy  as  far  from  the 
girls  as  he  could  see  and  I  went  as  much  farther  from  him.  This  was 
done  several  times  in  different  directions  and  at  last  I  found  the  cuttings 
nearer  the  house ;  got  down  on  my  hands  and  knees,  found  a  row  and 
followed  that  until  I  knew  I  was  near,  or  ought  to  be  near,  the  house ; 
pulled  the  ice  from  my  face  and  beheld  the  house  not  more  than  twenty 
feet  from  where  I  stood.  I  lost  no  time  in  getting  the  children  in,  who 
were  all  crying  piteously  with  the  cold. 

We  were  out  about  fifteen  minutes,  but  nearly  all  were  frosted,  sev- 
eral pretty  badly,  so  much  so  that  fingers,  faces  and  feet  were  blistered. 


i68 

The  teacher  undid  the  wraps,  put  frozen  Hmbs  in  water  and  did  all  he 
could  before  he  knew  he  was  'touched.' 

The  lady  spread  bread  and  butter  for  the  boys,  and  we  started  back. 
While  these  doings  were  going  on  the  sun  had  gone  down,  the  boy  was 
afraid  to  go,  and  the  best  policy  being  not  to  risk  chances  again  of  a 
night  on  the  prairie,  with  the  snow  for  a  winding  sheet,  if  we  went  back. 
Nobody  cared  for  supper;  all  went  to  bed  to  keep  warm;  14  persons  in  a 
14x20  house;  sleep  was  out  of  the  question.  Between  12  and  i  A.  AI. 
the  wind  lulled  for  a  few  moments.  I  arose,  dressed  and  started  for  the 
school  house,  which  I  reached  without  mishap.  All  were  safe  around 
the  fire  where  we  stayed  till  broad  daylight.  The  thermometer  regis- 
tered 30  degrees  below  zero,  with  a  stiff  wind  blowing  from  the  north 
v/est.  A  truly  happy  boy,  thinking  what  was  and  what  might  have  been. 
I  thank  the  Father  of  all  Mercies  for  care  and  guidance.  My  mitten  had 
been  wet  while  shoveling  snow  and  getting  in  coal,  so  when  I  first  pulled 
it  off  became  as  a  board,  at  least  I  could  not  get  my  hand  in  it.  That 
hand,  the  right,  was  frozen  badly,  blisters  on  my  wrist  as  large  as  a 
dollar ;  face  'touched'  a  little,  hand  is  sore  yet,  hardly  use  it  with  any 
comfort  and  everything  hits  it.  Saturday  I  turned  out  to  help  hunt  for 
the  dead,  was  gone  all  day.  I\Ir.  Byers  (C.  H.  will  remember  him)  was 
found  four  miles  from  home  frozen  stiff.  John  F.  Wicks." 

The  experience  of  IVIiss  May  Hunt  and  her  pupils  of  the  Knieriem 
school  in  Harmony  township  was  still  more  terrible  and  would  have 
been  a  heart  rending  affair  but  for  the  fortitude  and  heroism  of  one  of 
the  scholars,  Fred  C.  Weeks.  I  am  able  to  give  two  views  of  the  storm 
in  that  school  district — one  from  the  parents  at  home  anxious  for  the 
safety  of  their  children,  who  for  aught  they  knew  were  lost  in  the  storm, 
and  tlie  other  that  of  the  school  huddled  in  a  little  pile  of  flax  straw  for 
twelve  hours,  while  the  terrible  fury  of  the  storm  raged  about  them.  A 
letter  by  Rev.  S.  F.  Huntley,  still  a  resident  of  Harmony  township,  writ- 
ten a  few  years  after  the  storm  to  a  friend  in  New  York,  is  before  me 
and  from  it  I  copy  the  following: 

"The  climate  is  somewhat  variable  and  it  is  not  always  possible  to 
tell  what  is  coming  next ;  pleasant  weather  is  the  rule  but  storms  are  not 
unknown.  On  the  12th  of  January,  1888,  a  blizzard  surprised  us;  we 
had  been  calling  every  storm  a  blizzard,  but  then  decided  that  we  had 
never  had  a  blizzard  before  and  never  wanted  one  again.  The 
morning  was  warm,  thawing,  and  the  wind  was  in  the  south. 
It  wheeled  suddenly  to  the  northwest  and  rolled  over  the  coun- 
try a  wave  of  frozen  mist  or  fine  snow,  like  flour,  so  dense 
that  one  could  not  see  four  feet.  In  fact  it  so  filled  the  eyes  that  one  could 
not  see  at  all.     It  penetrated  the  ears,  nose,  and  mouth,  and  clothes, 


169 

every  crevice  in  every  building,  knothole,  keyhole,  nail  hole,  and  crack 
that  the  air  would  go  through,  and  there  seemed  to  be  a  strong  draft  in- 
ward through  every  crevice.  Our  three  children  were  at  school,  and 
only  the  baby,  four  years  old,  at  home  with  us.  The  storm  struck  us  at 
about  10  A.  M.,  and  raged  till  the  next  morning  about  4  o'clock.  \Mien 
night  came  wife  was  very  uneasy  and  depressed^ — wondering  if  I  could 
not  go  for  the  children,  but  it  was  impossible ;  I  scarcely  made  the  house 
at  less  than  40  rods  away  when  the  store  struck,  and  the  children  were 
a  mile  away.  So  I  comforted  her  with  the  assurance  that  the  teacher 
would  stay  with  all  the  scholars  at  the  school  house,  and  if  they  should 
undertake  to  reach  her  boarding  place,  some  15  or  20  rods  away,  they 
could  probably  make  it.  We  commended  the  precious  ones  to  God  and 
waited.  So  confident  was  I  that  the  children  were  all  right  that  next 
morning  I  did  the  chores  the  first  thing;  they  were  left  undone  the  night 
before,  as  it  was  impossible  to  do  them.  The  weather  had  grown  rapidly 
colder ;  from  thawing  when  the  storm  started  till  now  the  mercury  stood 
30  degrees  below  zero,  and  a  stiff  northwest  wind,  but  the  sun  shone 
blight  and  clear.  I  was  warming  my  feet  at  the  stove  expecting  then 
to  go  after  the  children,  when  the  door  was  opened  and  in  rushed  a  neigh- 
bor without  rapping,  who  exclaimed  excitedly :  "You  better  be  seeing 
after  your  children;  they  stayed  in  a  straw-stack  last  night."  I  would 
not  have  been  more  astonished  if  I  had  been  assaulted.  "Are  they  alive?" 
I  demanded.  "I  don't  know,  I  didn't  hear  any  particular."  "How  do 
you  know  that  they  were  in  a  straw  stack  ?"  "Mr.  Knieriem  was  over  to 
Mr.  Dingle's  and  told  us."  "What  did  Mr.  Knieriem  want?  Did  he 
come  over  to  tell  you?"  "No,  he  came  after  same  beef's  gall."  "Were 
his  children  in  the  stack?"  "Yes,  the  teacher  and  all  the  scholars."  "Are 
any  of  them  alive  ?"  "I  don't  know  ;  I  didn't  hear  any  of  the  particulars." 
"Why  didn't  you  find  out  if  they  were  alive?"  "As  soon  as  he  told  us 
I  put  on  my  coat  and  came  right  over  to  let  you  know."  Wife  was  al- 
most frantic  with  anxiety  and  suspense.  I  could  only  comfort  her  with 
this  hope — they  cannot  be  all  dead  or  Mr.  Knieriem  would  have  no  use 
for  beef's  gall.  It  did  not  take  long  for  Mr.  Bartie  and  me  to  get  there 
with  my  fleetest  horse — he  took  care  of  the  animal  and  I  went  in.  They 
were  all  alive,  but  very  much  the  worse  for  their  contact  with  a  blizzard. 
All  were  frozen  more  or  less  but  only  one,  Addie  Knieriem,  sultered  per- 
manent injury;  she  lost  one  foot  and  the  toes  of  the  other.  Our  children 
escaped  most  easily.  ]\Iary  lost  the  cuticle  from  the  feet  to  her  knees, 
Mabelle  the  same  and  the  skin  from  one  heel.  They  undertook  to  go 
from  the  school  house  to  Mr.  Hinners,  a  distance  of  15  or  20  rods,  where 
the  teacher  boarded,  but  missed  the  house  and  ran  upon  a  pile  of  flax 
straw — a  couple  of  loads  he  had  hauled  up  for  fuel  as  near  to  the  door 


170 

as  he  thought  safe,  perhaps  4  or  5  rods.  Unable  to  find  the  house  or  to 
make  the  inmates  hear  they  dug  into  the  stack  and  stayed  till  morning. 
The  oldest  boy,  a  young  man  18  years  old,  as  soon  as  the  storm  subsided 
enough  so  that  he  could  see  the  house  hobbled  to  the  door  with  feet  and 
hands  frozen  and  aroused  Mr.  Hinners  who  came  out  and  helped  them 
in.  The  teacher  had  her  feet  badly  frozen,  but  had  been  keeping  up  the 
spirits  of  her  pupils  bravely  during  the  night  and  keeping  them  awake. 
Now  the  reaction  came  on,  and  when  I  came  in  she  cried  and  all  the 
scholars  with  her.  The  catastrophe,  the  feeling  of  responsibility,  and  the 
fear  of  being  blamed  were  too  much  for  her  and  she  gave  way.  She 
was  a  member  of  my  church,  as  were  also  the  parents  of  Addie  Knieriem. 
Wife  wanted  to  go  back  east  as  soon  as  possible — the  first  discontent  I 
had  heard  from  her  since  we  settled  here ;  but  a  little  later,  a  still  more 
destructive  blizzard  in  New  England  and  New  York  reconciled  her  again. 
Five  persons  lost  their  lives  in  that  storm  in  our  county ;  and  a  large 
number  of  horses,  hogs,  cattle  and  sheep,  I  never  learned  how  many.  I 
lost  one  heifer ;  she  could  not  make  her  way  to  the  barn,  40  rods,  although 
the  rest  got  in  safely.  I  was  out  watering  them  and  had  a  task  to  reach 
the  house.  There  were  many  narrow  escapes  and  it  seems  a  wonder  that 
only  five  perished.  A  genuine  blizzard  is  attended  with  electricity.  A 
person  would  receive  a  shock  from  the  stove  during  that  storm.  A.  high 
wind  usually  prevails." 

The  Knieriem  school  house  was  located  at  the  southeast  corner  of 
section  ;^2,  in  Harmony  township,  on  what  was  then  known  as  the  Clap- 
ham  land.  It  was  a  frame  building  12x16,  about  which  a  sod  wall  had 
been  built.  The  site  where  the  school  house  stood  is  still  plainly  discern- 
able  as  is  also  that  of  the  Hinner's  house,  which  stood  about  140  yards 
west  of  it  but  on  the  south  side  of  the  section  line  on  the  northeast  corner 
of  section  5  in  Pleasant  township.  Not  to  exceed  thirty  yards  west  of 
the  Hinner's  house  was  about  two  tons  of  flax  straw,  placed  there  by  Mr. 
Hinners  for  use  as  fuel.  Between  the  school  house  and  the  Hinners 
residence  was  a  gully  about  five  feet  deep,  with  steep  banks,  that  extended 
from  the  hills  on  the  north  to  the  valley  south  of  the  section  line.  Across 
this  gully  a  small  bridge  or  culvert  had  been  constructed  and  a  well  de- 
fined path  led  from  the  school  house  to  the  Hinner  place.  A  few  rows 
of  small  trees  had  been  planted  between  the  Hinner's  house  and  the  sec- 
tion line. 

Mr.  George  Knieriem  lived  a  mile  west  of  the  school  house,  Mr. 
Dingle  80  rods  east  of  it  and  Mr.  Huntley  three  fourths  of  a  mile  east 
of  Dingle's.  Mr.  Frank  Weeks'  residence  was  then  about  a  mile  north- 
east of  the  school  house. 

The  teacher  in  the  Knieriem  school  house  at  the  time  of  the  great 


171 

blizzard  was  Miss  May  Hunt,  a  sister  of  Mrs.  J.  H.  Vessey  of  Wessing- 
ton  Springs.  The  pupils  were  Fred  and  Charles  Weeks,  Mary,  Ernest 
and  Mabelle  Huntley,  and  Frank  and  Addie  Knieriem. 

On  the  morning  of  the  I2th  of  January,  1888,  all  the  pupils  arrived 
at  the  school  house  early  and  amused  themselves  coasting  down  the  steep 
hills  until  the  school  bell  rang.  A  short  time  after  the  children  were 
called  into  the  school  room  to  their  lessons  the  hills  and  valleys  were 
enveloped  in  the  frightful  storm. 

All  day  the  wind  continued  to  shake  the  little  shanty  and  its  sod  walls. 
Through  every  nail  hole  and  crack  it  drove  the  snow,  fine  as  flour,  siftirg 
it  onto  the  floor,  seats  and  desks.  The  children's  clothing  and  books  were 
powdered  white  and  the  stove  gave  ofif  a  constant  hissing  sound  as  the 
moisture  fell  upon  it.  The  school  work  continued  until  the  hour  for  dis- 
missal, though  but  little  could  be  done  because  of  the  terrible  din  of  the 
storm  howling  and  shrieking  without. 

By  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  the  fuel  supply  was  exhausted  and 
the  teacher  determined  to  take  the  pupils  to  the  Hinner's  house.  Twice 
Fred  Weeks  made  the  trip  to  the  bridge  across  the  gully  and  returned, 
just  to  see  if  it  was  possible  to  go  through  the  blinding  storm.  About 
half  past  four  the  whole  school  was  ready  to  make  the  effort.  Joining 
hands,  with  Fred  Weeks  in  the  lead  they  started.  Nothing  could  be  seen 
and  even  breathing  was  difficult.  They  soon  lost  the  path  to  the  bridge 
and  plunged  into  the  little  ravine  a  few  feet  south  of  the  line.  Here  the 
teacher's  veil  became  disarranged  and  an  efifort  was  made  to  replace  it. 
Then  all  started  again,  climbing  the  west  bank  of  the  gully  as  best  they 
could,  Addie  Knieriem  losing  the  wraps  that  were  tied  about  her  shoes 
in  doing  so.  They  passed  along  the  south  side  of  the  rows  of  trees, 
expecting  every  moment  to  reach  the  house.  The  snow  was  drifted  over 
the  path  and  they  could  not  find  it.  When  nearly  exhausted  from  their 
struggle  with  the  snow  and  wind  they  came  against  the  pile  of  flax  straw. 
They  had  passed  between  the  house  and  the  trees  missing  the  building 
by  not  to  exceed  six  feet.  Fortunately  they  found  a  pitch  fork  and  a 
lath  at  the  stack  and  with  these  Fred  and  Charles  began  with  furious 
energy  to  clear  away  the  snow  and  dig  a  hole  into  the  side  of  the  pile  of 
straw.  In  a  few  moments  they  had  made  a  place  large  enough  to  crowd 
the  teacher  and  pupils  in  out  of  the  sweep  of  the  wind. 

Having  provided  the  rest  of  the  school  with  a  shelter  the  three  older 
boys — Fred,  Ernest  and  Charles  now  endeavored  to  find  the  Hinner's 
residence.  Some  of  the  girls  had  worn  aprons  to  school  and  these  were 
lorn  into  strips  and  tied  into  a  long  string.  Taking  one  end  of  the  string 
Fred  went  out  into  the  storm  and  began  circling  about  in  hope  of  reach- 
ing, or  at  least  getting  in  sight  of  the  house.     It  was  no  use.     He  could 


172 

see  nothing.  The  storm  was  blinding,  suffocating  and  bewildering.  He 
followed  the  string  back  to  the  straw  pile.  Then  they  called,  shouted, 
screamed — singly  and  in  chorus,  but  there  was  little  chance  of  their 
being  heard  above  the  howling  of  the  wind.  They  now  made  prepara- 
tions to  spend  the  night  in  the  stack.  The  hole  was  dug  farther  back 
into  the  straw  and  all  crowded  into  it,  Fred  taking  his  place  at  the  en- 
trance. It  was  a  long  night.  They  told  stories,  they  sung,  every  few 
moments  the  roll  was  called.  There  was  but  little  complaining,  although 
some  were  freezing.  Fred  Weeks,  as  the  oldest  boy  in  the  school,  was 
looked  to  as  leader  and  he  felt  that  upon  him  rested  the  burden  of  bring- 
ing the  school  through  alive.  He  kept  the  others  awake  and  made  them 
talk,  and  sing  and  move  and  laugh,  although  occasionally  one  would  cry. 
So  the  storm  and  the  night  passed.  About  four  o'clock  in  the  morning 
the  twinkling  stars,  which  Frctl  saw  from  his  place  at  the  side  of  the 
stack,  told  him  the  storm  was  abating.  He  arose  and  looked  about.  The 
cold  was  intense  and  the  wind  still  blowing,  but  through  the  flying  snow 
he  caught  a  glimpse  of  the  Hinner's  residence,  but  a  short  distance  away. 
His  feet  were  badly  frozen  but  he  staggered  through  the  snow  until  he 
reached  the  house  and  aroused  the  inmates. 

The  teacher  and  pupils  were  taken  to  the  house,  all  more  or  less  frost 
bitten.  Addie  Knieriem  had  to  be  carried.  Her  feet  were  so  badly 
frozen  that  amputation  became  necessary.  Fred's  feet  were  so  badly 
frozen  that  the  flesh  dropped  off,  but  he  finally  recovered. 


Chapter  23. 

At  the  Young  school  house  in  Crow  township  Mrs.  C.  V.  INIartin  was 
the  teacher,  but  for  some  reason  she  was  late  that  morning  in  getting 
started  for  the  school  house.  The  storm  came  on  just  as  she  was  get- 
ting into  the  sleigh,  and  she  remained  at  her  boarding  place.  Of  the 
pupils  only  two,  Will  and  Wert  Berger  went  to  the  school  house  that 
morning.     They  remained  there  until  the  next  day. 

At  the  west  school  house  in  Dale  township  Fred  Dickerson  was 
teacher.  The  pupils  were  E.  K.  Robison  and  his  brother  Walter,  Bert 
and  Lary  Pinard  and  Clark,  Frank  and  John  Easter.  Aside  from  the 
inconvenience  of  sta}'ing  all  night  at  the  school  house  they  were  none  the 
worse  for  the  stor'u. 

At  the  time  of  the  great  blizzard  R.  J-  Miller  was  teaching  the  Bar- 
ber school,   located   at  the   northwest  corner   of   section  35   in   Pleasant 


1/3 

township.  The  pupils  in  attendance  on  the  12th  of  January,  1888,  were 
Emery,  Richard,  AmeHa,  Emma  and  Cora  Barber  and  Sarah  and  x\nna 
Ehnore.  A  young  man  named  Frank  Harrington  took  Mr.  Barber's 
team  that  morning  to  take  the  chiklren  to  the  school  house.  The  storm 
struck  when  they  were  but  a  few  yards  from  the  school.  They  reached 
the  house  safely,  but  were  compelled  to  stay  there  until  the  next  morning. 
Heavy  blankets  were  thrown  over  the  horses  and  tied  on  so  they  came 
through  the  storm  in  good  condition  though  badly  chilled. 

At  the  same  time  Miss  Alinnie  Stanley,  (now  Mrs.  S.  W.  Boyd  of 
Pleasant  township)  was  teaching  in  the  Waterbury  school.  This  school 
bouse  was  located  about  forty  rods  north  and  a  little  west  of  the  north 
end  of  the  Main  St.  of  the  town.  The  pupils  in  attendance  on  the  day 
of  the  great  blizzard  were,  Clara  Leeds,  Walter  Rowe,  Agnew  Hull, 
Elton  Hill,  Frank  and  Percy  Snart,  Frank,  Jennie  and  Clara  Hopkins, 
Elmer  and  ^Minnie  Waterbury,  Delia,  Ernest  and  Arthur  Herring  and 
Rasmus  Nelson. 

When  school  closed  at  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  the  teacher 
formed  the  pupils  in  line  holding  each  others  hands,  and  placing  herself 
at  the  head,  started  for  the  village.  She  had  placed  Percy  Snart,  the 
largest  of  the  boys,  the  last  in  the  line,  to  bring  up  any  who  might  falter 
or  break  away.  Nothing  serious  happened  until  they  reached  the  four 
corners  by  Herring  &  Rice's  store.  There  a  high  bank  of  snow  had 
formed  across  the  street.  Over  it  the  whole  line  tumbled  and  hand  clasps 
were  broken.  The  teacher  gathered  the  children  again  and  piloted  them 
to  Hart's  real  estate  office  and  got  them  in  out  of  the  storm.  But  in 
looking  them  over  in  the  office  she  found  that  Percy  Snart  was  missing. 
The  teacher  at  once  ran  to  Air.  Snart's  store  to  see  if  the  boy  had  gone 
there.  He  had  not  been  seen  and  the  alarm  was  at  once  given  that  he 
was  lost  in  the  blizzard.  A  few  men  rushed  out  calling  and  shouting 
the  boy's  name,  but  about  that  time  he  reached  one  of  the  office  rooms 
on  the  east  side  of  the  street  with  ears  and  face  badly  frozen.  He  had 
held  to  the  line  until  it  fell  over  the  snow  bank  and  then  became  be- 
wildered and  could  not  find  the  others.  He  wandered  about  until  he  ran 
mto  a  trench  that  had  beeen  cut  through  a  drift  to  E.  N.  JMount's  barn 
east  of  the  street. 

At  the  Needham  school  house  in  Anina  township  W.  L.  Holdcn  was 
teacher.  The  pupils  were  Ada  Needham,  Alex.  Truman  and  Ernest  A'es- 
sey.  School  started  that  morning  with  but  about  one  scuttle  of  coal  on 
hand.  About  two  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  the  room  became  so  cold  that 
the  teacher  determined  to  take  the  children  to  the  Needham  residence, 
about  80  rods  south.     Fortunately  the  road  had  been  well  traveled  and 


174 

the  snow  blew  out  of  it  so  that  they  were  enabled  to  follow  it  without 
difficulty. 

Frank  B.  Phillips  was  the  regular  teacher  at  the  Teasdale  school  house 
in  the  northeast  part  of  Dale  township.  Business  matters  called  him  away 
for  a  couple  of  days  and  his  mother  took  his  place  for  the  nth  and  12th. 
She  spent  the  night  of  the  nth  with  her  daughter,  Mrs.  B.  B.  Beadel, 
who  resided  on  the  Northeast  quarter  of  section  i  of  that  township.  On 
the  morning  of  the  12th  her  little  grandson,  Jesse  Beadel  took  her 
with  a  one-horse  sled  to  the  school  house.  A  few  moments  after  their 
arrival  the  storm  began.  They  remained  in  the  school  house  several 
hours  waiting  for  the  storm  to  abate.  The  horse,  still  hitched  to  the 
sleigh  stood  at  the  south  end  of  the  building,  but  the  whirling  snow  was 
fast  covering  it.  Pity  for  the  poor  horse  prompted  the  boy  and  his 
grandmother  to  attempt  to  go  to  her  home,  three  miles  southeast,  on  the 
NE  14  of  19  in  Alpena  township.  The  road  was  little  better  than  a  path 
across  the  prairie  and  could  not  be  followed.  When  about  a  mile  from 
home  they  entered  a  corn  field,  where  the  horse  fell  in  the  deep  snow. 
Jesse  got  out  and  unhitched  the  animal  and  assisted  it  to  its  feet, 
but  he  could  do  nothing  to  get  the  sled  out  of  the  snow. 
Walking  was  impossible  and  by  this  time  they  could  not  tell  which  way 
to  go.  The  boy  then  kicked  the  snow  away  from  the  sled  as  much  as 
possible  and  tipped  it  up  so  as  to  form  a  shelter  from  the  wind  and 
snow.  He  wrapped  the  robes  about  Mrs.  Phillips  so  as  to  keep  her  as 
warm  as  possible  and  then  crawled  down  beside  her  to  wait.  Darkness 
came  on  and  still  the  storm  raged.  About  daylight  the  next  morning 
Jessie  was  able  to  see  his  uncle's  house  about  half  a  mile  away  and  he 
told  his  grandmother  to  remain  under  the  sled  while  he  went  for  help. 
As  he  rose  from  his  cramped  position  he  saw  the  horse  a  few  rods  away. 
His  limbs  were  numb  and  he  could  scarcely  stand,  yet  he  made  a  brave 
efifort  and  staggered  along  toward  the  house  some  distance  before  he 
succumbed  to  the  intense  cold.  And  there  they  found  him  a  few  hours 
later.     Mrs.  Phillips  was  rescued,  but  terribly  chilled  and  badly  frozen. 

At  the  center  school  house  in  Viola  township  Mrs.  Wm.  Wagner  was 
teaching.  The  children  at  school  on  the  day  of  the  blizzard,  were  Frank 
Jonker,  Karl  Kruse,  George  Kruse,  Frank  and  Florence  Wagner.  Ferdi- 
nand, Anna  and  Celia  Clodt.  The  teacher  retained  the  whole  school  all 
night,  and  the  next  morning  Louis  Jonker  took  all  of  them  to  his  resi- 
dence for  breakfast. 

During  the  winter  of  the  great  storm  Miss  Anna  Groub  was  teacher 
in  the  Groub  school  house  in  Marlar  township.  It  was  located  about 
twenty  rods  southeast  of  her  father's  residence:  The  pupils  in  attendance 
on  the  1 2th  of  January  were  Wm.  James,  Ira  and  May  Gi-ace,  Allen  and 


175 

Frank  McLean,  Ed  and  Glen  Ketchem,  Zacharia  Groub  and  Arthur  Col- 
ley.  In  the  afternoon  John  Groub  undertook  to  bring  the  teacher  and 
scholars  from  the  school  house  to  the  Groub  residence  because  of  lack  of 
fuel  at  the  school.  He  made  several  trips  taking-  two  or  three  members 
of  the  school  each  time.  The  last  venture  was  with  his  brother  and  the 
two  McLean  boys.  He  kept  the  directions  all  right  but  got  confused  as 
to  the  distance.  When  he  had  gone  what  he  thought  was  but  little  more 
than  half  way  to  the  residence,  his  brother  Zacaria  ("Trix")  saw  the 
tracks  of  his  sled  where  he  had  been  sliding  down  a  large  snow  drift 
near  the  house  and  from  which  the  wind  was  blowing  the  snow.  He 
called  John's  attention  to  the  marks  on  the  snow  bank  and  insisted  they 
were  near  the  house.  John  thought  the  house  was  some  ways  off  and 
was  for  going  further.  At  that  instant  Anna,  the  teacher,  opened  the 
door  and  called.  Trix  was  right.  The  house  was  but  a  few  feet  away 
and  they  were  safe. 

The  Cady  school  in  Anina  township  was  taught  that  winter  by  Miss 
Sarah  Fish.  The  pupils  in  attendance  on  January  12th  were  George  and 
Jesse  Martin,  Jake  and  Lon  Winegaarden,  Dick,  Chas.  and  Leo  Lehmer, 
and  Tillie,  Galen,  Will  and  Grace  Shultz.  All  the  pupils  were  kept  at  the 
school  house  until  the  next  day. 

At  Crow  Lake  the  school  was  held  in  the  residence  of  Mrs.  A.  M. 
Allyn,  her  daughter  Ellen  being  the  teacher.  The  only  children  in  the 
school  Jan.  12th,  were  Frank  and  Joseph  Dusek.  They  stayed  at  the 
Allyn  house  all  night. 

In  Chery  township  M.  A.  Small  was  teaching  in  the  southeast  school. 
The  pupils  at  school  on  the  day  of  the  storm  were  Sarah,  Kate,  Maggie, 
Anna  and  Joe  Thomton,  and  Jesse  Small.  After  the  storm  began  Mr. 
Thornton  became  so  worried  about  the  children  that  he  started  out  and 
went  to  the  school  house,  half  a  mile  from  his  residence,  and  warned  the 
teacher  to  not  let  a  child  go  home  while  the  storm  continued.  He  then 
went  home  and  making  up  a  package  of  provisions  made  another  trip 
to  the  school. 

Mrs.  Rose  Gregory  was  teaching  during  that  winter  in  the  Dale  Cen- 
ter school.  At  the  school  on  the  12th  of  January,  1888,  were  the  teacher's 
three  children,  Bert,  Laura  and  Francis ;  Amanda  and  Lillabelle  Chap- 
man ;  Mary,  Dan  and  James  Tracy ;  Rosa  Youngs ;  Matie,  Nellie  and 
Robert  Mercer.  In  the  afternoon  ]\Ir.  fiercer,  who  lived  near  the  school 
house,  went  after  his  children  and  took  them  home,  but  the  risk  was  so 
great  that  he  refused  to  take  the  other  pupils  out  into  the  storm.  The 
teacher  remained  at  the  school  house  until  the  morning  of  the  13th. 

The  Kogle  school  in  Franklin  township  was  taught  by  Miss  R.  E. 
Havens,  now  Mrs.  L.  J.  Grisinger  of  Lane.     As  soon  as  the  storm  struck 


176 

she  took  a  number  of  scarfs,  tied  them  together  and  made  a  line  that 
would  reach  from  the  door  of  the  school  house  to  the  shed  in  which  the 
coal  was  kept  and  with  the  help  of  the  larger  boys  brought  enough  coal 
into  the  school  room  to  last  until  the  next  morning.  No  one  left  the 
school  house  until  the  blizzard  was  past. 

John  Francis,  who  was  teaching  in  the  Steichen  district  in  Blaine 
township,  remained  at  the  school  house  all  night  with  Chas.  McCune,  one 
of  his  pupils. 

J.  A.  Ford  stayed  all  night  with  his  school  at  the  Ford  school  house 
in  A'iola  township.  The  pupils  were  Howard  and  Susan  Phillips  ;  Lillie 
Ford,  and  Alable  Rhodes. 

Miss  Nellie  White,  who  was  employed  in  the  Flawthorne  district  of 
Wessington  Springs  township,  retained  her  pupils  at  the  school  house 
until  Friday  morning. 

Miss  Nettie  Miles,  w-ho  was  teaching  the  Rock  A'alley  school  in  Frank- 
lin township  that  winter  boarded  with  David  jMcDowall's  family.  On 
the  morning  of  the  12th  of  January  while  at  the  breakfast  table  Mr. 
McD.  told  of  some  of  the  storms  he  had  seen  in  Iowa,  and  then  said  to 
the  teacher,  "If  any  such  storm  comes  on  while  you  are  teaching,  don't 
let  a  child  start  for  home."  With  her  at  the  school  house  that  night 
stayed  Charles  and  Clarence  Black ;  William  McLean ;  May,  Maggie, 
Nell,  ^^'ill  and  Henry  Shanley,  and  Gilbert,  Margaret,  Anna  and  Allen 
McDowall.  The  next  morning  at  daylight  Mr.  McDowall  went  for  them 
and  had  the  whole  school  at  his  home  for  breakfast. 

]\Irs.  J.  W.  Harden,  during  the  winter  of  1888  taught  the  largest 
school  in  P>anklin  township  in  what  was  then  called  the  Larson  school 
house.  ^lany  of  her  pupils,  who  stayed  with  her  that  night,  are  now 
grown  and  still  living  in  Jerauld  county.  Among  them  were :  Andrew, 
David  and  Jennie  Reid ;  A\'m.  and  Robt.  Brownell ;  Oscar  and  Christ 
Lindel)ak ;  John  Volke ;  Emma  and  Lizzie  Forst ;  Henry  and  Christ 
Rcfvem  ;  John,  Angeline,  Christ,  and  Anna  Burg ;  Emma,  Dora.  Lydia, 
Henry.  ]\Iartha  and  John  Goll ;  Selma  Newman. 

N.  E.  Williams,  now  of  ^Mattock,  Iowa,  gives  the  following  account 
of  his  recollection  of  the  time  : 

''The  blizzard  of  1888  was  one  of  those  convulsions  of  nature  that  can 
only  occtu"  when  there  is  a  certain  combination  of  circumstances  and  con- 
ditions. 

Those  conditions  are  only  present  at  rare  intervals  and  such  a  storm 
may  not  occur  again  in  a  hundred  years  if  ever,  and  on  account  of  the 
thicker  settlement  of  the  county  and  the  presence  of  groves  and  fences 
to  serve  as  guides  to  the  bewildered,  such  a  storm  would  not  at  the 
present  time  be  nearly  so  calamitous. 

The  winter  of  1887 — 88  opened  with  unusual  severity.     All  through 


177 

December  and  the  early  part  of  January  the  snow  covered  the  ground 
deeply  and  the  cold  was  steady  and  intense. 

The  weather  being  so  cold  and  the  roads  so  bad  the  settlers  who  lived 
long  distances  from  town  had  remained  at  home  until  coal  and  provisions 
were  nearly  exhausted,  so  that  when  the  morning  of  January  12th  opened 
warm  and  balmy  some  one  from  nearly  every  home  started  for  town  to 
replenish  their  supplies.  Stock  that  had  been  shut  up  in  the  stable  for  a 
long  time  were  turned  out  to  feed  around  the  straw  piles  and  to  get  a 
little  needed  exercise.  Everything  was  in  just  the  condition  to  make  a 
sudden  storm  cause  the  greatest  amount  of  loss  and  suffering  possible. 

At  that  time  I  was  living  on  the  old  homestead  in  Anina  township, 
the  family  consisting  of  my  wife  and  one  little  daughter,  about  two  years 
old,  my  brother  Geo.  O.  Williams,  and  myself.  My  brother  was  teaching 
the  Moore  school  in  Anina  township  and  I  was  teaching  the  Nesmith 
school  over  in  the  edge  of  Viola.  We  were  short  of  provisions  and 
someone  had  to  go  to  town  for  more.  So  George  concluded  not  to  teach 
that  day  and  hitching  up  the  team  to  a  home-made  sled  he  started  for 
the  "Springs"  taking  me  with  him  as  far  as  the  schoolhouse  where  I 
taught.  Before  leaving  home  I  turned  the  cattle  out  into  the  yard,  which 
contained  a  large  straw  pile,  and  which  was  surrounded  by  a  good  high 
fence. 

It  was  somewhat  foggy  and  the  air  was  saturated  with  moisture,  the 
sun  showing  dimly  through  the  haze.  On  every  hand  we  could  see 
cattle  wandering  around  the  prairie  enjoying  the  unusual  warmth  and 
teams  going  across  the  plains  in  the  direction  of  Wessington  Springs 
and  Woonsocket. 

At  forenoon  recess  I  was  standing  in  front  of  the  school  house,  sur- 
rounded by  a  group  of  the  pupils  and  was  just  saying  that  I  ought  to 
dismiss  school  and  go  to  Woonsocket  for  coal  when  a  sudden  whiff  of 
cold  air  caused  us  all  to  turn  and  look  toward  the  north,  where  we  saw 
what  appeared  to  be  a  huge  cloud  rolling  over  and  over  along  the  ground, 
blotting  out  the  view  of  the  nearby  hills  and  covering  everything  in  that 
direction  as  with  a  blanket.  There  was  scarcely  time  to  exclaim  at  the 
unusual  appearance  when  the  cloud  struck  us  with  awful  violence  and  in 
an  instant  the  warm  and  quiet  day  was  changed  into  a  howling  pande- 
monium of  ice  and  snow. 

The  moisture  which  filled  the  air  was  changed  to  particles  of  ice,  and 
driven  by  a  wind  of  tremendous  velocity,  it  drifted  in  through  every 
crack  and  crevice  almost  up  to  the  stove  wdiich  we  kept  red  hot  to  drive 
away  the  fearful  chill  which  accompanied  the  storm.  The  noise  of  the 
storm  was  so  deafening  that  it  was  impossible  to  conduct  classes,  so  we 
passed  the  day  in  such  study  as  was  possible  under  the  circumstances.   My 


178 

mind,  meanwhile,  being  racked  with  anxiety  as  to  what  was  happening 
to  the  family  and  stock,  and  filled  with  fear  for  those  who  were  caught 
out  on  the  prairie.  I  had  heard  of  such  storms  lasting  for  three  or  four 
days  and  could  not  help  worrying  over  our  own  fate  if  such  should  be 
the  case  this  time,  twenty  of  us  shut  up  without  provisions  or  sufficient 
fuel  in  a  little  shack  on  the  prairie.  It  was  evident  that  our  safety  lay 
in  remaining  where  we  were  and  peremptory  orders  were  given  that  no 
one  should  leave  the  schoolhouse  for  any  purpose,  for  the  storm  was  so 
blinding,  bewildering  and  suffocating  that  one  could  uot  face  it  for  a 
moment  and  it  was  equally  dangerous  to  go  with  the  wind  without  any 
guide  or  landmark. 

As  night  drew  on  and  the  children  began  to  get  hungry,  there  were 
tears  on  the  part  of  the  younger  pupils  and  rebellion  on  the  part  of  the 
older  boys  who,  with  the  rashness  of  youth,  proposed  to  go  home  in  spite 
of  everything  but  I  would  not  allow  them  to  attempt  it  and  told  them 
that  they  must  stay  there  even  if  force  had  to  be  used  to  make  them  do  it. 
In  spite  of  this,  however,  two  of  the  big  boys  started  out  when  my  back 
was  turned  and  for  a  few  minutes  I  was  sick  with  anxiety,  but  they  soon 
came  in  again,  white  and  scared,  and  after  that  there  was  no  trouble,  all 
were  glad  enough  to  stay. 

It  soon  became  necessary  to  replenish  the  supply  of  coal.  The  coal 
house  stood  about  thirty  feet  west  of  the  school  house.  By  creeping  in 
the  shelter  of  the  west  side  of  the  house,  then  shutting  my  eyes  and  mak- 
ing a  dash  for  it  I  was  able  to  reach  the  coal  house  and  after  a  number 
of  such  trips  had  enough  coal  to  last  until  morning.  While  getting  in 
the  coal  I  first  fully  realized  the  awful  smothering  weight  of  the  blizzard. 
The  face  was  covered  with  ice  in  an  instant,  the  eyes  frozen  shut  and 
the  breath  taken  away  completely,  while  the  fine  particles  of  ice  were 
driven  into  the  clothing  until,  in  a  few  moments,  one  was  fairly  cased  in 
icy  armor.  There  were  electrical  phenomena  present  also  and  we  amused 
ourselves  by  putting  the  point  of  the  poker  to  the  stove  and  watching 
the  shower  of  sparks  leap  out  to  meet  it  and  by  passing  the  hand  over 
each  others  heads  which  would  crackle  and  snap  with  electric  energy. 

After  two  o'clock  the  wind  began  to  abate  somewhat  and  shortly  after 
that  time  j\Ir.  Frank  Voge,  who  had  children  in  the  school,  appeared  laden 
with  good  things  to  eat  for  us  all.  He  had  taken  sonsiderable  risk,  but 
traveling  with  the  storm  was  able  to  reach  us  in  safety.  All  through 
the  early  part  of  the  night  we  could  hear  the  low  moaning  bellowing  of 
Dr.  Nesmith's  cattle  which  were  caught  in  the  storm  while  near  the  school 
house  and  stood  there  slowly  freezing  through  the  night  and  when  morn- 
ing dawned  they  still  stood  there,  some  still  alive,  some  dead  on  their 
feet,  kept  from  falling  by  the  snow,  which  had  packed  around  them  to 


179 

the  knees  and  was  almost  as  hard  as  ice.  With  the  first  streak  of  dawn, 
by  which  time  the  blizzard  proper  was  over,  though  a  cutting  wind  still 
blew  from  the  N.  W.,  I  could  stand  it  no  longer  and  started  for  home. 
I  shall  never  forget  the  sensation  which  overpowered  mc  when  I  got  to 
the  top  of  the  ridge  which  divides  Hawkeye  \'alley  from  the  pairie  and 
saw  the  smoke  rising  from  the  chimneys  at  H.  C.  Stephens',  J.  A.  Swan's 
and  S.  S.  Moore's,  while  there  were  no  signs  of  life  at  the  Williams 
home. 

I  pictured  my  wife  frozen  to  death  while  trying  to  save  the  cattle,  the 
baby  dead  in  the  house  and  the  home  desolate.  But  my  fears  were 
groundless.  The  little  girl  was  snugly  wrapped  in  bed  and  the  good 
wife  was  vainly  trying  to  shovel  away  the  snow  from  the  barn  door  in 
order  to  get  in  a  couple  of  steers  which  had  saved  their  lives  by  getting 
in  the  lee  of  the  house  as  they  drifted  away  with  the  storm.  I  first  got 
my  half  frozen  wife  into  the  house,  started  a  good  fire  and  then  turned 
my  attention  to  saving  the  stock  and  succeeded  in  saving  three  out  of 
eleven  head  which  at  that  time  was  all  we  had.  It  seems  that  the  snow- 
had  drifted  over  the  barnyard  fence  and  packed  so  hard  that  the  cattle 
could  walk  over  it  and  the  silly  brutes,  instead  of  seeking  the  shelter 
of  the  straw  pile,  had  walked  over  the  fence  and  drifted  away  with  the 
storm.  The  cattle  that  were  saved  were  a  strange  sight  with  their  bodies 
completely  cased  in  ice,  their  heads,  masses  of  ice  -as  large  as  bushel 
baskets  from  the  congealed  breath  and,  unable  to  sustain  the  weight, 
resting  on  the  ground.  Hammering  ofif  the  ice  with  a  club  and  pushing 
them  around  to  restore  the  circulation  it  was  possible  after  a  time  to 
get  them  in  the  barn.  Their  ears  and  tails  were  frozen  and  afterward 
dropped  off.  I  think  there  were  more  bob-tailed  and  crop  eared  cattle 
in  Jerauld  county  after  the  blizzard  than  ever  before  or  since. 

^Jy  wife  had  passed  the  night  in  great  anxiety  and  suspense.  She 
knew  the  cattle  were  perishing  and  feared  that  I  had  left  the  school 
house  and  attempted  to  get  home.  Once  she  started  out  to  try  to  save 
the  cattle,  but  after  going  a  few  steps  realized  that  it  was  a  desperate 
venture  and  the  thought  of  what  would  become  of  the  little  girl  if  she 
were  lost  restrained  her  and  caused  her  to  return  to  the  house.  To  this 
she  undoubtedly  owes  her  life.  All  night  long  she  kept  up  as  much  fire 
as  the  short  supply  of  coal  would  permit  and  had  the  lamp  burning  in 
the  window  to  guide  me  in  case  I  had  tried  to  reach  home. 

Toward  noon  Bro.  George  appeared  with  the  team  and  relieved  our 
great  anxiety.  It  seems  that  he  got  to  the  "Springs"  just  as  the  blizzard 
struck  and  was  safely  housed  through  it  all.  Our  personal  losses  were 
small,  but  in  the  aggregate  the  losses  were  immense.     Dead  cattle  were 


i8o 

lying-  around  the  prairies  all  over  South  Dakota  and  here  and  there 
human  beings  were  frozen  to  death  or  maimed  for  life. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Davis  were  the  only  ones  who  lost  their  lives  in  our 
neighborhood.  They  perieshed  near  their  home,  a  short  distance  east 
of  the  school  house,  where  the  children  end  myself  spent  the  night.  Some 
men  made  considerable  journeys  safely  in  the  height  of  the  storm. 

^Ir.  John  Grant  went  from  the  "Springs"  to  his  home,  a  mile  south, 
and  arrived  all  right.  With  the  wind  in  one's  back  and  a  cool  head  it 
was  possible.  To  face  the  wind  was  out  of  the  question.  Genial  Mike 
Barr,  afterward  killed  by  lightning,  started  from  Judge  Converse's  for 
home,  became  bewildered,  and  finding  a  straw  pile,  crawled  into  it  for 
shelter.  In  the  middle  of  the  pile  he  found  a  huge  hog  that  had  taken 
refuge  there.  The  warmth  of  its  body  kept  JMike  from  freezing  and 
thereafter  it  was  never  safe  to  say  a  word  against  swine  in  his  presence. 

There  was  a  cruel  aftermath  to  the  blizzard,  funerals,  surgical  opera- 
tions, cripples,  fingers  with  first  joints  gone,  ears  without  rims,  and  some 
hke  poor  Will  Moss,  who  spent  the  night  on  the  prairie  in  the  shelter  of 
his  cutter,  and  supposed  that  he  had  escaped  without  damage,  afterward 
died  of  diseases  caused  by  the  exposure. 

Many  incidents  might  be  mentioned  but  space  forbids,  I  write  only 
of  personal  experiences  and  happenings  in  the  home  neighborhood.  The 
storm,  however,  was  not  confined  to  South  Dakota  alone.  It  swept  over 
northwestern  Iowa  with  ec|ual  violence.  Three  persons  lost  their  lives 
,  in  the  vicinity  of  Sheldon,  where  we  now  reside.  Such  a  calamity  is  no 
more  likely  to  occur  in  South  Dakota  than  in  any  other  prairie  state,  but 
those  who  passed  through  it  devoutly  ho])e  that  such  may  not  happen 
again  any  time  or  anywhere. 

Mrs.  Anna  Tryon  remained  all  night  with  her  school  in  the  Fauston 
school  house  in  Pleasant  township. 


Chapter  24. 

The  narrow  csca])cs  of  individuals  in  the  county,  if  told  with  fulness 
of  detail,  would  fill  a  volume.  I  have  gathered  a  few  that  can  be  verified, 
Init  many  ex])erienccs,  equally  hazardous  must  necessarilv  remain  un- 
told. 

In  the  winter  of  1888  E.  S.  W'aterbury  was  residing  on  his  homestead, 
the  XM  of  28  in  Crow  townshi]).  On  the  morning  of  the  12th  of  January 
he  drove  to  the  village,  of  W'aterbury.  taking  his  children,  ]\Iinnie  and 
I'.lmcr.  to  the  ])ul)lic  school.     .After  the  storm  set  in  Mr.  Waterburv  took 


i8i 

the  two  children  and  Rasmus  Xelson  and  started  for  home.  ]\Irs.  Water- 
bury  was  in  poor  health  and  at  the  homestead  alone.  Soon  after  starting 
the  team  got  oiTf  the  erack  and  plunged  into  a  snow  drift.  The  two  boys 
Elmer  and  Rasmus  then  went  ahead  of  the  horses,  pulled  them  back  to 
the  road  which  was  well  beaten,  and  joining  hands  were  able  to  follow 
the  track  until  they  ran  against  the  windmill  near  the  house.  They  had 
led  the  team  nearly  a  mile. 

Air.  Timothy  Tryon,  who  then  lived  on  the  S.  E.  of  26  in  Pleasant 
township,  was  on  his  way  to  the  home  of  C.  S.  Barber  on  the  NW  of  35, 
when  the  storm  came  on.  He  turned  about  and  attempted  to  go  back 
home  but  was  lost  and  wandered  about  for  several  hours.  By  the 
greatest  good  luck  he  chanced  to  run  against  Z.  S.  ]\Ioulton"s  house  in 
Crow  Lake  township  and  was  rescued,  but  badly  chilled. 

Isaac  Byam,  who  lived  on  the  XE  of  24  in  Pleasant  township,  was 
at  his  well  watering  the  cattle  when  the  strom  struck.  He  drove  the 
animals  into  shelter  and  then,  went  to  the  house.  In  the  afternoon  the 
coal  pile  was  so  covered  with  snow  that  he  could  not  find  it,  so  he  went 
to  the  gran.ary  and  brought  a  sack  of  corn.  He  made  a  second  trip,  but 
missed  the  granary  and  came  back.  He  tried  again  and  when  he  reached 
the  place  where  he  expected  to  find  the  building  he  could  see  nothing  of 
it.  He  stood  for  several  minutes  trying  to  see  the  granary,  which  he 
knew  could  not  be  far  from  him.  A  lull  in  the  wind,  no  longer  than  a 
flash,  gave  him  a  glimpse  of  a  dark  object.  He  reached  his  hand  toward 
it  and  touched  the  side  of  the  granary.  By  that  time  the  snow  had  sifted 
into  the  building  through  some  nail  holes  and  small  cracks  sufficiently 
to  block  the  door.  He  then  opened  the  window  and  climbed  in  that  way. 
He  filled  the  sack  with  corn  and  again  made  his  way  to  the  house,  a 
distance  of  about  twenty  rods. 

In  Viola  township  August  Schuttpelz  and  W.  P.  Shulz  were  at  work 
building  a  small  shanty.  They  had  boarded  up  one  side  of  it  when  the 
blizzard  came.  They  took  shelter  behind  the  side  of  the  shanty.  In  a 
few  moments  the  snow  began  piling  in  a  drift  about  them.  One  of  them 
took  a  scoop  shovel  they  had  brought  with  them  and  shoveled  it  away. 
The  snow  kept  piling  about  them  and  they  continued  to  throw  it  back, 
taking  turns  with  the  shovel.  So  all  day  and  all  night  they  fought  against 
being  buried  alive  in  a  snow  bank.  They  were  badly  chilled  but  came  out 
of  it  safe  and  soiuid. 

On  the  NW  of  13  in  Franklin  township  lived  Frank  Kutil,  on  land 
he  had  purchased  from  Joseph  Sucha.  Sucha  was  at  Kutil's  liouse  when 
the  storm  came.  Like  many  other  early  settlers,  Kutil  was  economizing, 
that  winter,  by  burning  hay,  instead  of  coal.  The  stack  was  about  twenty 
rods  northeast  of  the  house.  Several  times  that  day  Kutil  and  Sucha 
together  went  to  the  stack  for  fuel,  taking  a  rope  with  which  to  tie  the 


1 82 

hay  into  a  bundle.  After  the  bundle  was  formed  it  required  the  united 
strength  of  both  to  hold  it.  When,  they  thought  they  were  near  the  house 
they  would  stop  and  kneel  down  until  the)'  caught  a  glimpse  of  the  peak 
of  the  roof  and  then  go  on.  It  was  perilous  work,  but  there  was  no 
other  way. 

In  Chery  township  Mr.  M.  A.  Scheafer  was  in  his  stable  when  the 
blizzard  came  on.  He  tried  several  times  to  make  his  way,  against  the 
storm,  but  each  time  gave  it  up  and  returned  to  the  stable,  where  he  was 
compelled  to  remain  until  the  storm  was  over. 

At  Wessington  Springs  T.  L.  Blank,  who  was  then  publishing  the 
Wessington  Springs  Herald  left  his  printing  office,  located  near  where 
the  Oliver  hotel  now  stands,  and  made  his  way  along  the  foothills  to  his 
residence,  a  mile  northwest  of  town,  on  one  of  the  highest  points. 

On  the  night  of  the  blizzard  J.  H.  Woodburn,  who  was  then  boarding 
at  Price's  ohtel,  then  known  as  the  "Woodburn  House"  stepped  to  the 
door  to  look  out,  when  he  heard  some  one  who  was  lost  m  the  storm, 
calling  for  help.  Accompanied  by  J.  W.  Barnum  he  ran  across  the  street 
in  the  direction  of  the  voice.  They  found  L.  J.  Farnsworth  a  few  feet 
south  of  Tarbell's  hotel  barn  nearly  crazed  with  fear.  Woodburn  caught 
him  by  the  coat  and  dragged  him  to  the  barn  door  and  pushed  him  inside. 
As  he  opened  the  door  to  let  Farnsworth  in,  the  light  from  the  lantern 
tliat  hung  in  the  stable  flashed  upon  some  hideous  looking  objects  just 
outside  the  door.  Woodburn  knew  they  were  animals  of  some  sort  and 
calling  to  Barnum  they  drove  them  inside.  It  proved  to  be  three  oxen 
that  had  wandered  from  the  residence  of  Mr.  Cofifee  in  the  north  part  of 
town.  The  animals  were  sompletely  covered  with  snow  and  nearly  suf- 
focated with  the  great  balls  of  ice  that  had  formed  over  their  nostrils. 

August  Bachmore's  residence  in  Crow  Lake  township  was  on  section 
ten.  A  few  moments  before  the  storm  the  sheep,  about  a  hundred  of 
tlicm,  were  turned  out  of  the  stable.  The  cattle  shed  was  built  into  the 
side  hill,  with  a  hole  in  the  roof  for  convenience  in  getting  hay  to  the 
animals.  The  cattle  were  in  the  stable,  but  all  efforts  to  get  the  sheep 
into  shelter  failed  and  they  had  to  be  left  outside,  where  most  of  them 
v>ere  found  after  the  storm  suft'ocated  with  the  snow  and  ice  that  had 
formed  over  their  noses.  While  the  men  were  in  the  cattle  stable  making 
everything  as  comfortable  as  possible  for  the  inmates,  Frank  Sailer  came 
tumbling  th'rough  the  hole  in  the  roof.  He  had  been  caught  by  the  storm 
while  going  home  from  Crow  Lake  and  getting  lost  fate  had  guided  his 
stc])s  to  the  hole  in  the  roof  of  Bachmore's  shed. 

Vaurin  Dusek  then  lived  where  he  does  now,  on  the  north  bank  of 
Crow  Lake,  Crow  Lake  township.  He  had  taken  his  ax  to  the  lake  to 
cut  holes  in  the  ice  to  water  the  cattle,  while  his  daughter,  ]\rarv,  now 


i83 

Mrs.  Petrole,  drove  them  from  the  barn.  He  had  cut  but  one  hole  when 
he  became  enveloped  in  the  whirling  mass  of  wind  and  snow.  He  im- 
mediately left  the  lake  and  went  to  meet  his  daughter,  while  she  left  the 
cattle  and  ran  in  search  for  her  father.  As  luck  would  have  it  they 
bumped  against  each  other  about  half  w^ay  between  the  barn  and  the 
lake.  Together  they  made  their  way  from  one  object  to  another  until 
they  reached  the  house.  The  cattle,  i8  in  number,  all  crossed  to  the 
south  shore  of  the  lake  and  smothered  in  the  storm. 

C.  S.  Marvin  lived  on  the  NW  of  i8  in  Logan  township.  He  and 
his  boy  were  driving  his  cattle  to  the  residence  of  A.  S.  Fordham,  on 
section  17,  for  water,  when  they  were  caught  by  the  storm.  The  wind 
and  snow  hid  the  cattle  from  sight,  and  after  riding  about  in  a  vain 
endeavor  to  round  them  up  they  attempted  to  go  back  home.  That  was 
found  to  be  impossible  and  they  turned  toward  Fordham's  again.  As 
good  fortune  would  have  it  they  reached  the  barn  where  Mr.  IMarvin 
left  the  boy  and  groped  his  way  to  the  house.  Mr.  Fordham  at  once 
went  to  the  barn  and  took  care  of  the  animals.  He  then  told  the  boy 
to  take  hold  of  his  coat  tails  and  taking  the  direction  as  nearly  as  he 
could  judge  started  for  the  house.  They  were  passing  the  house  when 
they  tumbled  over  a  snow  bank  and  rolled  together  down  against  the 
building  and  were  safe. 

On  the  NE  af  32  in  Logan  township  a  son  of  Joseph  Byers  was  wa- 
tering the  cattle  at  a  pond  near  the  barn,  when  the  storm  came.  He 
attempted  to  drive  the  cattle  to  the  barn  against  the  wind.  Being  unable 
to  do  so  he  went  to  the  house  and  told  his  father.  Mr,  Byers  started  at 
once  to  take  care  of  the  animals.  The  neighbors  found  him  the  next  day 
about  four  miles  south  in  Brule  county,  frozen  to  death  beside  a  hay  stack, 
where  he  had  tried  to  find  shelter. 

Chas.  Kugler,  in  the  western  part  of  Media  township,  was  out  with 
his  team  of  oxen  and  hay  rack  getting  a  load  of  straw  from  a  stack  about 
forty  rods  from  his  house.  He  unhitched  the  team  from  the  wagon  and 
tried  to  get  back  to  the  buildings,  but  did  not  succeed.  They  found  his 
frozen  body  with  his  team,  near  the  residence  of  J.  T.  Ferguson  in  the 
northwest  part  of  Anina  township,  the  following  Sunday  afternoon. 

After  the  storm  a  boy  was  found  frozen  to  death  near  the  north  end 
of  Long  Lake  in  Harmony  township.  He  had  wandered  in  the  storm 
from  a  few  miles  south  of  Miller,  in  Hand  county,  to  where  he  dropped, 
overcome  by  the  cold  and  exhaustion, 

G.  R.  Bateman  and  William  Taylor  were  on  the  way  to  Woonsocket 
and  wandered  on  the  prairie  several  hours,  finally  getting  in  at  the  Haw- 
thorne residence  near  the  Firesteel  creek. 


i84 

A  man  named  James  Hutchinson  tried  to  go  from  his  house  to  the 
barn,  but  becoming  confused  he  sat  down  in  a  snow  bank  and  as  he 
phrased  it,  "Hollered  like  a  loon,"  until  his  wife,  thinking  she  heard  him 
call,  went  to  the  door  and  answered.  He  followed  toward  the  sound  of 
her  voice  and  reached  the  house. 

Andrew  Berg,  living  in  Franklin  township,  tried  to  get  a  pailof  water 
from  his  well  during  the  storm,  but  wandered  five  miles,  returning  hon.ie 
the  next  day. 

■Mr.  William  Davis,  an  elderly  gentleman  living  in  Mola  township, 
started  just  before  the  storm  to  go  southwest  across  a  quarter  section  to 
the  residence  of  J.  X.  Smith.  He  was  lost  near  the  barn  and  perished  but 
a  short  distance  from  home.  Mrs.  Davis  was  found  a  few  steps  from  the 
house  almost  dead.     She  died  a  few  minutes  after  being  taken  in. 

Mr.  Ezra  Voorhees,  of  ]\Iedia  township,  lived  on  the  NE  quarter  of 
35.  He  was  about  three  quarters  of  a  mile  south  of  his  house  with  Elmer 
Carpenter,  when  they  were  caught  in  the  storm.  They  immediately  started 
for  Mr.  \'.'s  residence.  His  dog  acted  as  guide.  The  intelligent  animal 
would  dash  off  into  the  storm  and  immediately  return,  as  if  to  see  if 
the  men  were  following.    This  he  continued  until  they  reached  the  house. 


Chapter  25. 
THE  MAIL  CARRIERS. 

Thursday,  the  1 2th  day  of  January,  1888,  was  strenuous  for  the 
stage  drivers  of  Jerauld  county,  all  but  two  of  whom  were  in  the  employ 
of  (t.  N.  Price.  His  drivers  were  A.  G.  Eberhart  on  the  Woonsocket 
line;  Rolla  Cady  on  the  Miller  line;  William  AIoss  on  the  Belford  line, 
and  also  on  the  Crow  Lake  line ;  Sam  Wilson  on  the  line  from  Crow  Lake 
to  White  Lake  with  jehial  Barnum  as  special,  or  supply,  but  usually 
employed  about  the  barn  at  Wessington  Springs. 

The  line  from  Wessington  Springs  to  Waterbury  was  driven  by  T. 
J.  Pressey,  and  the  line  from  Waterbury  to  Kimball  by  Chas.  Gingery, 
who  was  carrying  the  mail  for  A.  J.  Brown,  the  contractor. 

Mr.  Pressey  had  been  making  the  trips  between  W^essington  Springs 
and  \\'aterbury,  during  the  week  preceeding  the  12th  of  January,  by 
going  but  one  way  each  day.  On  Wednesday  he  made  the  trip  from  Wa- 
terbury to  Wessington  Springs,  and  on  Thursday  morning  started  back. 
He  was  near  the  residence  of  L  S.  Binford,  when  he  encountered    the 


i85 

storm,  and  was  enabled  to  get  in  without  misshap  and  remained  there 
until  it  was  over. 

The  route  driven  by  Charles  Gingery  took  him  from  the  village  of 
Waterbury  to  Gann  \'alley,  thence  to  Lyonville  and  from  there  to  Kim- 
ball. He  left  Waterbury  on  Thursday  morning  about  7  o'clock  accom- 
panied by  Miss  Addie  Ouim  as  a  passenger  to  Kimball  on  the  way  to 
her  old  home  in  Illinois.  They  had  passed  Gann  Valley,  in  Buffalo  county 
and  were  nearing  Lyonville,  Brule  county,  when  the  soft,  balmy  air  in 
which  they  had  been  riding  was  "in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye"  changed 
to  a  mass  of  blinding  snow.  The  horses  became  unmanageable  and  left 
the  road.  After  a  protracted  eft'ort  to  get  on  Gingery  loosed  the  horses 
from  the  sled,  a  box-like  concern,  wrapped  his  passenger  in  the  robes 
and  bidding  her  sit  down  he  tipped  the  vehicle  over  so  as  to  protect  her 
from  the  storm  as  much  as  possible  and  then  getting  in  beside  her  waited 
for  the  end.  The  day  and  night  were  passed  in  that  uncomfortable  posi- 
tion. When  daylight  came  Friday  morning  ne  saw  a  house  about  a  mile 
away  and  though  badly  frozen,  he  made  his  way  to  it  for  help.  They 
were  both  taken  to  Kimball,  where  the  lady  died  from  the  effects  of  her 
exposure.  Gingery,  though  a  cripple  for  life  lived  until  November,  1908, 
when  he  died  in  Ohio. 

RoUa  Cady  left  Wessington  Springs  on  the  Miller  line  Wednesday 
morning,  and  reached  the  north  end  of  the  route  that  night.  Thursday,  at 
the  usual  hour,  he  started  on  the  return  trip  and  had  driven  five  or  six 
miles,  when  the  blizzard  came  upon  him.  In  telling  the  story  afterwards 
he  said  he  knew  of  no  pleasanter  place  to  stay  during  a  severe  storm  than 
at  Green's  ranch  where  there  were  several  most  agreeable  young  ladies. 
That  ranch  was  five  miles  ahead  and  he  determined  to  try  for  it.  He 
succeeded  and  stayed  there  until  Saturday  morning  when  he  continued 
his  journey  home,  arriving  that  evening  in  good  condition. 

The  mail  line  between  Wessington  Springs  and  Woonsocket  was 
daily.  Al  Eberhart  left  Woonsocket  Thursday  morning  and  had  reached 
the  farm  of  Mr.  Boje  about  three  miles  west  of  the  county  line  when  he 
was  forced  to  seek  shelter.  He  stayed  with  the  farmer  until  Friday  morn- 
ing and  then  made  the  balance  of  the  trip  to  Wessington  Springs,  arriving 
at  noon. 

Sam  Wilson,  at  Crow  Lake,  went  to  the  barn  as  usual  on  Thursday 
morning  and  fed  and  cared  for  his  team  and  then  went  to  the  post  office 
and  told  the  postmaster  he  would  not  go  on  the  White  Lake  drive  that 
day  because  there  was  going  to  be  a  bad  storm.  No  amount  of  ridicule 
or  urging  would  induce  him  to  start.  He  remained  at  Crow  Lake  until 
the  storm  had  passed. 


i86 

The  Belford  line  was  a  semi-weekly,  and  supplied  Sullivan,  Parsons 
and  Belford  postoffices.  The  Sullivan  office  was- at  the  residence  of  W. 
W.  Goodwin  on  the  NE  of  32  in  Wessington  Springs  township  and  Par- 
sons was  on  the •  of  — ■ with  a  gentleman  named  Billings    as 

postmaster.  Will  Moss  had  passed  Parsons  postoffice  when  he  saw  the 
storm  coming.  He  whipped  up  the  team  in  an  effort  to  reach  a  farm 
house  a  short  distance  ahead.  The  family  at  the  house  saw  him  coming 
and  witnessed  the  race  until  Moss  became  enveloped  in  the  storm.  Long- 
after  the  blizzard  struck  the  house  members  of  the  family  stood  by  the 
door  and  called,  but  no  response  could  they  get.  Out  on  the  prairie 
Moss  was  struggling  to  get  his  team  through  the  deep  snow  and  the 
suffocating  storm,  but  the  effort  was  useless.  He  stopped  and  unhitched 
the  ponies  from  the  sled  and  wrapping  himself  in  the  robes  and  blankets, 
tipped  it  over  him  and  there  he  remained  until  the  next  morning,  not 
much  the  worse  for  his  experience.  He  returned  to  Wessington  Springs 
Monday,  leaving  one  of  the  ponies  frozen  to  death  near  where  he  had 
spent  the  night  on  the  prairie. 

A  singular  experience  befell  Howard  Pope,  who,  then  a  boy  of  but 
14  years,  was  driving  a  mail  line  from  Kimball,  in  Brule  county  to  Cas- 
talia  in  Charles  Mix  county.  While  the  event  about  to  be  related  occur- 
red outside  of  Jerauld  county,  yet  I  tell  it  because  Mr.  Pope  has  been  so 
long  identified  with  life  in  this  community.  Probably  no  man  in  the  state 
has  carried  mails  by  stage  as  many  miles  as  Howard  Pope.  All  told  he 
has  driven  mail  stage  in  Jerauld  and  near-by  counties  150,800  miles — 
enough  to  have  encircled  the  globe  over  six  times. 

On  the  morning  of  the  12th  of  January,  1888,  Howard,  wrapped  in  a 
long  fur  coat  with  a  very  high  collar,  and  otherwise  dressed  for  winter 
weather,  left  Kimball  postoffice  about  9  o'clock,  and  had  driven  about 
six  miles.  He  was  near  the  residence  of  a  farmer  named  Patteen.  When 
the  storm  began,  the  team  left  the  beaten  track  and  were  soon  flounder- 
ing in  a  snow  drift.  Howard  left  the  sleigh  and  Avent  around  the  horses 
unhitching  the  tugs.  In  trying  to  get  back  to  the  sleigh  he  became 
separated  from  the  team  and  after  that  could  find  neither  the  naimals 
nor  the  sled.  He  wandered  about  for  some  time  until  he  came  to  a  post 
in  a  wire  fence.  His  long  coat  prevented  his  getting  through  the  fence, 
so  he  attempted  to  crawl  under  it.  ^Vhile  under  the  fence  he  was  pro- 
tected from  the  wind  and  pulling  his  coat  collar  up  about  his  head  he 
lay  still  to  rest  and  get  his  breath.  He  was  so  warm  and  comfortable 
down  there  in  the  snow,  wrapped  in  his  great  coat,  which  covered  him 
completely,  from  head  to  foot,  that  he  stayed  longer  than  was  his  inten- 
tion when  he  stopped.  His  next  sensation  was  of  a  pressure  pressing  upon 
him.   He  struggled  and  finallv  threw  oft"  the  weight.   He  rose  to  his  feet. 


i87 

The  wind  had  stopped  blowing  but  the  air  was  intensely  cold.  He  saw  his 
sleigh  near  by  and  close  to  it  the  horses,  one  of  them  frozen  to  death. 
By  the  position  of  the  sun  he  knew  it  was  early  morning,  and  that  he 
had  lain  about  eighteen  hours  asleep  under  that  wire  fence.  He  went  to 
Mr.  Patteen's  house  and  told  his  story.  The  farmer  would  not  believe 
it  possible  until  he  had  been  to  the  fence  and  examined  the  hole  in  the 
snow.     Howard  was  not  even  chilled. 

Such  is  the  story  of  the  blizzard,  the  one  great  storm  of  thirty  years. 

Efforts  were  made  in  different  parts  of  the  county  to  assist  in  a  finan- 
cial way,  both  Addie  Knieriem  and  Mr.  Chas.  Gingery.  Blank  &  Blank, 
then  publishers  of  the  Wessington  Springs  Herald,  inaugurated  a  move 
to  provide  a  fund  for  Miss  Knieriem.  A  benefit  social  was  announced 
to  be  held  at  the  court  house  in  Wessington  Springs  on  the  22nd  of 
March.  A  committee  was  appointed  in  each  township  to  sell  tickets.  The 
result  was  $200,  besides  an  annuity  of  $600  a  year  donated  by  a  philan- 
trophist  of  Brooklyn.  N.  Y.,  through  the  influence  of  Dr.  A.  M.  Mathias. 
Other  entertainments  of  like  character  were  held  in  various  parts  of  the 
county;  one  at  C.  R.  Nelson's  in  Anina  township  raising  $11. 

For  Chas.  Gingery  a  social  in  Harmony  township  netted  $15  and  one 
at  Scofields,  in  Marlar  township  $30.  At  the  residence  of  B.  G.  Cum- 
mings,  in  Media  $37.50  was  raised,  $7.50  of  which  was  sent  by  people 
of  Franklin  township. 

In  the  forepart  of  March  Mr.  Cady  resigned  his  position  as  driver 
on  the  Miller  route  and  J.  W.  Barnum  took  his  place. 


Chapter  26. 

On  January  2nd,  1888,  John  Grant  took  the  oath  of  office  as  county 
commissioner,  and  the  new  board  organized  with  O.  A.  Knudtson  as 
chairman. 

In  June  another  move  was  made  in  the  county  to  increase  the  board 
of  commissioners  to  five  members,  but  failed. 

At  the  July  session  of  the  board  in  1888  a  full  report  of  receipts  and 
expenses  for  the  preceding  year  was  made.  From  it  the  statement  is 
made  that  the  total  expense  of  caring  for  the  poor  of  the  county  during 
that  year  was  but  $179.07.  Total  receipts,  $31,061.12;  total  expenditure 
$26,474.28.  The  entire  debt  of  the  county  at  that  time  was  $15,842.07. 
In  that  statement  no  account  was  taken  of  uncollected  taxes. 

On  the  5th  day  of  July,  1888.  T.  H.  Null  resigned  his  office  of  district 


i88 

attorney,  and  a  few  weeks  later  moved  to  Huron,  where  he  had  formed 
a  law  partnership.  On  the  lOth  of  July  the  board  appointed  A.  Converse 
to  the  position  made  vacant  by  the  resignation  of  ^Ir.  Null. 

The  county  tax  levy  made  by  the  county  board  in  1888  was:  County 
fund,  6  mills ;  road,  i  mill ;  bridge,  i  mill ;  sinking-  fund,  4  mills.  The 
territorial  tax  levy  was :  General  revenue,  3  and  one-tenth  mills  ;  bond 
interest,  four-tenths  mills  ;  stock  indemnity,  seven-tenths  ;  the  latter  to  be 
levied  only  on  cattle,  mules  and  horses. 

In  calling  the  election  of  1888  the  county  commissioners  bounded  the 
precincts  the  same  as  at  the  February  school  election  in  1884. 

The  legislature  of  1884  had  provided  for  the  election  of  county 
superintendents  in  June  with  a  view  of  taking  the  office  out  of  the  usual 
political  scramble.  On  the  19th  of  June,  1888,  I.  S.  Binford  was  re- 
elected, receiving  365  of  the  366  votes  cast  at  that  election.  During  all 
the  time  he  continued  in  office  Mr.  Binford  kept  alive  the  interest  in 
township  institute  Avork  among  the  teachers.  The  third  annual  count}- 
institute  was  held  Xov.  12  to  16,  1888,  with  C.  J.  Pickhart  as  conductor 
and  S.  F.  Huntley,  assistant.  At  that  institute  the  Jerauld  County  Teach- 
ers' Reading  Circle  was  organized  with  Fred  Luke  as  manager. 

On  February  25th,  1888,  the  Agricultural  Society  had  a  meeting,  at 
which  C.  W.  Hill  was  elected  president ;  R.  Vanderveen,  vicepresident ; 
J.  W.  Thomas,  secretary;  and  B.  J.  Cummings,  treasurer.  The  fair  that 
year  was  held  on  the  grounds  north  of  Wessington  Springs,  and  though 
not  a  success  financially,  yet  the  exhibits,  in  equality,  were  the  best  that 
had  been  made. 

The  crop  yield  in  that  year,  considering  the  methods  of  farming,  were 
good.  The  following  totals  compiled  by  John  F.  Wicks,  from  the  asses- 
sor's reports,  while  at  work,  at  that  time  in  the  county  clerk's  office,  show 
the  amounts  of  the  various  farm  products. 

Amount.  Leading  township. 

Corn 204,982,  Viola. 

Wheat 215,416  Viola. 

Barley 25,915  Viola. 

Potatoes  .  .  .  14)652  Viola. 

Butter    (lbs.) 99.27°  Viola. 

Oats 205,581  Alpena. 

Rye ,  10,048  Marlar. 

Flax 34,569  Pleasant. 

Cheese  (lbs.) 4.585  Wessington   Springs. 

Tame  hay  (tons)    2,003 

Wild  hay    (tons)    20,180 

Poultry $7^694 


1 89 

But  for  the  high  rates  of  interest  that  many  of  the  settlers  were  still 
paying,  the  county  would  have  been  placed  in  a  prosperous  condition. 

During  the  year  1888  a  railroad  project  from  Huron  southwest  was 
talked  of,  and  another  from  Pierre  southeast.  Both  cities  were  candi- 
dates for  capital  of  the  coming  state. 

Some  changes  were  made  this  year  in  the  management  of  the  news- 
papers in  the  county.  The  firm  of  Blank  &  Blank  leased  the  Herald  to 
W.  N.  Coffee,  who  assumed  control  of  the  paper  May  4th,  but  only 
continued  in  charge  until  the  last  issue  in  June. 

On  the  1st  of  April,  N.  J.  Dunham  retired  from  the  Journal  at  Alpena 
and  Lacy  F.  Shafer  took  the  editorial  management,  under  a  lease  from 
D.  F.  Royer,  but  purchased  the  paper  in  the  second  week  in  October. 

The  farmers"  alliance,  feeling  the  need  of  a  newspaper  in  its  work  in 
the  county,  leased  of  B.  B.  Blosser  one  column  of  the  True  Republican 
and  elected  O.  J.  Marshall  its  editor.  Mr.  Marshall'  began  furnishing 
"copy"  for  the  printer  on  the  20th  of  ^March,  and  during  the  next  year 
continued  to  make  it  one  of  the  most  influential  columns  published  in  the 
county. 

During  the  fall  campaign  Guy  McGlashan  published  a  paper  called 
The  Independent,  at  Crow  Lake,  but  suspended  the  publication  about 
January  15th,  1889. 

In  1888  the  first  bounty  for  growing  trees  received  by  any  citizen  of 
Jerauld  county  was  paid  by  the  territorial  treasurer  to  Mr.  L.  G.  Wilson, 
for  trees  grown  by  him  on  his  pre-emption  claim  in  A'iola  township. 

The  Fourth  of  July  celebrations  in  the  county  in  1888  were  at  Alpena 
and  Crow  Lake,  but  as  yet  I  have  been  unable  to  get  the  particulars  of 
either. 

During  the  winter  of  1888-89  a  debating  society  was  organized  at  the 
Grieve  school  house  in  Harmony  township  and  has  been  continued  ever 
since,  during  the  winter  months. 

In  September  of  1888  Mr.  G.  G.  Livermore,  of  Fairmount,  Minn., 
brought  to  Jerauld  county  seven  car  loads  of  sheep  which  he  leased  to 
settlers  in  Chery  and  Dale  townships  on  shares.  This  was  the  beginning 
of  a  business  that  paid  the  owner  of  the  sheep  a  nice  profit  and  enabled 
many  of  the  farmers  to  tide  over  the  hard  times  of  a  few  years  later. 

All  through  the  summer  and  fall  of  1887  the  farmers  of  Alpena  and 
the  country  tributary  to  that  station  had  been  discussing  the  subject  of 
building  a  farmers  elevator  there.  Application  was  made  to  the  railway 
company  for  a  site  for  the  building,  but  was  met  with  a  flat  refusal.  By 
the  spring  of  1888  the  farmers  had  become  determined  in  the  matter  and 
again  brought  it  to  the  attention  of  the  company.  This  time  a  meeting 
was  arranged  for  between  ]\Iessrs.  May,  Worrall  and  Teasdale  on  the 


190 

part  of  the  farmers  and  a  representative  of  the  railroad,  about  the  lirst 
of  April.  The  result  of  this  meeting  was  so  encouraging  that  a  call  was 
issued  for  those  interested  to  come  together  at  the  depot  in  Alpena  on 
April  1 2th  to  discuss  the  matter  more  fully.  Another  meeting  was  held 
on  the  15th  of  xA.pril  and  officers  of  a  temporary  organization  were  elected 
as  follows:  Pres.,  G.  J.  Royer;  Vice  Pres.,  O.  G.  Woodruff;  Secretary. 
John  Teasdale ;  Treas.,  C.  D.  Worrall.  On  June  30th  the  plans  had  been 
so  far  promoted  that  a  meeting  was  held  at  the  Alpena  school  house  to 
adopt  by-laws  of  a  corporation  and  elect  officers,  a  charter,  dated  June 
1 2th,  1888,  having  been  already  obtained.  The  work  of  selling  stock  and 
building  the  elevator  was  now  pushed  as  rapidly  as  possible  and  by  the. 
beginning  of  the  threshing  season  the  company  was  ready  to  receive 
grain,  John  Teasdale  being  the  buyer. 

In  the  autumn  of  1888,  L.  N.  Loomis,  who  was  about  to  retire  from 
the  office  of  register  of  deeds,  established  The  Bank  of  Alpena.  He  con- 
tinued as  sole  proprietor  of  the  institution  until  December  15th,  1891, 
when  he  took  D.  F.  Royer  and  H.  J.  Wallace  into  the  bank  with  him  and 
they  incorporated  it  with  a  capital  of  $6,000,  Air.  Loomis  still  being  the 
manager.  In  1902  the  building  now  occupied  by  the  bank  was  erected, 
and  in  January,  1903,  the  bank  and  building  were  sold  to  O.  L.  Branson. 
D.  T.  Gilman  and  J.  R.  Alilliken,  the  latter  being  the  resident  manager. 
Under  this  management  the  bank  continued  until  January  ist,  1907, 
when  it  passed  into  the  hands  of  the  present  owners,  who  have  increased 
its  capital  to  $12,000,  with  $3,000  surplus. 

After  the  dedication  of  the  I.  O.  O.  F.  Hall  on  July  4th.  1888,  Roth 
Bros,  opened  a  stock  of  general  merchandise  in  the  lower  room,  moving 
from  the  store  room  previously  occupied  by  them  on  the  opposite  side  of 
the  street.  They  continued  the  business  until  1891,  when  they  sold  to  D. 
S.  and  M.  A.  Alanwaring.  The  present  owner,  Mr.  A.  F.  Smith,  bought 
the  stock  and  business  from  jManwaring  Bros,  in  1897. 

Among  the  pioneers  of  the  county  who  died  in  1888  were  J.  O.  Gray, 
county  assessor,  on  Nov.  ist,  and  L.  H.  Tarbell,  proprietor  of  the  Wes- 
sington  Springs  Hotel,  on  March  22nd.  After  the  death  of  Mr.  Tarbell 
the  hotel  was  conducted  by  Miss  Lina  A.  French  until  the  appointment 
of  R.  S.  Vessey  as  adm.inistrator  of  the  Tarbell  estate. 

The  first  meat  market  in  Wessington  Springs  was  opened  by  Ed. 
Hinchlifif,  of  Woonsocket,  on  Monday,  April  9th,  1888,  but  the  enterprise 
was  not  long  lived. 

On  May  loth,  1888,  John  Grant  made  the  first  final  homestead  proof 
on  seven  year  residence  that  was  made  in  the  county.  The  land  was  the 
SE  of  19  in  Wessington  Springs  township. 


191 

Mrs.  Julius  Smith  opened  a  millinery  stock  May  23rd,  in  a  building 
owned  by  T.  H.  Null  west  of  ]yIorse  &  La  Font's  hardware  store,  but  it 
also  was  of  short  duration. 

The  closing  exercises  of  the  first  year  of  the  Seminary  occurred  en  the 
afternoon  of  June  14th,  1888.  The  students  who  had  a  part  in  these 
exercises  were  Dale  Wallace,  ]\Iaude  Spears,  Cora  Sickler,  Walter  Bate- 
man,  Gertie  Anderson,  Walter  Mathias,  Matie  Mercer,  F.  E.  Gaffin, 
Chas.  Ford,  Nellie  Vessey,  Effie  Crow,  Kara  Snart,  A.  C.  Thompson, 
Lena  Crow,  John  Bremner,  James  Osborne  and  Lulu  Smart. 

The  first  harness  shop  in  Wessington  Springs  was  started  by  R.  E. 
Ketchum  in  June,  1888.  Another  shop  was  opened  soon  after  by  C.  N. 
Hall  and  in  the  following  winter  ]\Ir.  Ketchum  moved  his  work  to  his 
home  on  Sec.  31  in  ]\Iarlar  township. 

December  5th,  1888.  Some  one  threw  a  burning  cigar  stub  into  the 
street.  A  strong  northwest  wind  picked  it  up  and  tumbled  it  into  a  pile 
of  street  refuse  that  had  accumulated  under  the  platform  in  front  of  Al- 
bert &  Vessey's  store. 

By  midnight  all  the  town  was  asleep — all  but  John  R.  Francis,  who, 
as  was  his  custom,  sat  in  the  office  of  the  Tarbell  hotel  reading  by  the 
light  of  a  kerosene  lamp.  About  2  o'clock  he  chanced  to  glance  out  of 
the  window  and  saw  a  small  jet  af  flame  leap  up  under  the  store  front. 
A  cup  of  water  would  have  extinguished  it.  He  sprang  to  the  water 
pail  that  usually  stood  on  the  wash  stand  in  the  hotel  office.  It  was 
empty.  He  shouted  "fire"  and  ran  to  the  kitchen  to  get  a  pail  of  water 
from  there.  That  pail  was  empty.  He  took  it  and  ran  to  the  east  door 
of  the  kitchen  to  get  water  from  the  barrels  that  usually  stood  just  out- 
side in  a  wagon.  The  door  was  locked  and  the  key  gone.  He  ran  out 
through  the  office  and  around  to  the  wagon,  still  shouting  ''fire !  fire !" 
The  barrels  were  empty.  Not  a  drop  of  water  nearer  than  the  creek. 
He  ran  to  that,  all  the  time  sounding  the  alarm.  As  he  passed  the  fire 
a  pail  full  of  water  would  have  put  it  out.  But  the  wind  was  fanning 
it  and  scattering  the  sparks.  By  the  time  he  returned  from  the  stream 
a  crowd  was  gathering,  but  the  flames  were  beyond  control.  In  an  hour 
the  store  was  in  ashes,  the  Tarbell  hotel  was  in  ruins  with  its  stables  and 
sheds,  together  with  Hackett's  real  estate  office  and  the  oil-shed  belonging 
to  the  hardware  store.  There  was  no  snow  on  the  ground  and  a  prairie 
fire  went  racing  off  southeast  before  the  wind.  The  hotel  was  never 
rebuilt.  The  mercantile  firm  went  into  the  Stephens'  building  and  was 
soon  doing  business  again. 


192 

Chapter  27. 

But  little  change  was  made  in  the  mail  service  of  the  county  during 
the  year.  Sept.  ist  the  Templeton  post  office  in  Media  was  discontinued 
and  in  the  same  month  Ada  P.  O.  was  established  at  the  residence  of  A. 
Converse  in  Anina  township.  This  office  was  named  in  honor  of  Miss 
Ada  Xeedham,  youngest  daughter  of  Don  C.  Needham  and  a  niece  of 
the  postmaster. 

In  February,  1888,  the  P.  O.  department  at  Washington,  on  its  own 
motion  changed  the  name  of  the  Lyndale  office  to  Fauston,  because  it 
was  so  often  mistaken  for  Tyndale  in  Bon  Homme  county. 

The  first  political  county  convention  in  1888  was  held  at  Wessington 
Springs  by  the  Democrats  on  the  25th  day  of  April,  with  John  R.  Francis 
as  chairman  and  J.  R.  Dalton,  of  Blaine  township,  secretary.  It  was 
held  for  the  purpose  of  selecting  delegates  to  the  Democratic  territorial 
convention  at  Watertown  to  elect  delegates  to  the  national  convention. 
The  delegates  selected  were  Pat  McDonald,  J.  R.  Dalton,  J.  J.  Steiner 
and  J.  R.  Francis.     This  was  a  mass  convention. 

The  Republican  convention  for  the  same  purpose  was  held  at  Wes- 
sington Springs,  May  12th,  with  C.  E.  Thayer,  chairman  and  F.  B.  Phil- 
lips, secretary.  The  delegates  chosen  at  this  meeting  were  L.  F.  Schaefer, 
B.  B.  Blosser,  W.  T.  Coffee  and  O.  P.  Hull,  all  newspaper  men,  sup- 
posed to  be  provided  with  railroad  passes,  according  to  the  custom  of 
those  days.     This,  also,  was  a  mass  convention. 

The  "line-up"  for  the  battle  in  the  county  began  with  the  meeting  of 
the  Republican  county  central  committee  at  Wessington  Springs  on  June 
23rd,  1888.  At  that  meeting  a  mass  convention  was  called  for  July  14th 
to  elect  delegates  to  the  territorial  convention  at  Watertown,  Aug.  22nd, 
to  nominate  a  delegate  to  congress.  The  committee  at  the  same  meeting 
issued  a  call  for  the  regular  county  convention  to  be  held  Sept.  29th,  at 
Wessington  Springs,  and  recommending  a  call  of  the  township  caucuses 
for  Saturday,  Sept.  22. 

In  July  the  Democrats  held  their  congressional  convention  at  James- 
town, at  which  J.  W.  Harden,  of  Jerauld  county,  was  nominated  for 
congress. 

At  the  Republican  convention  at  Watertown  George  IMatthews,  of 
Brookings, 'was  nominated  for  congress. 

The  call  for  township  caucuses  was  formally  issued  Sept.  7th,  with 
the  recommendation  that  all  caucuses  be  held  from  the  hour  2  p.  m.  to 
4  ]).  m.  and  be  conducted  like  general  elections,  the  township  committee- 
men to  act  as  judges.     This  method  of  holding  caucuses  was  adopted 


193 


H.  J.  Wallace. 


J.  IV.  Harden. 


Wessington  Springs  Stage  Coach  starting  for  Woonsockct. 


194 

and  continued  to  be  the  practice  in  Jerauld  county  until  the  adoption  of 
the  "honest  causes"  law  in  1906. 

Those  who  proposed  this  method  thought  its  absolute  fairness  would 
be  a  safeguard  against  the  feeling  of  dissatisfaction  that  had  in  former 
years,  followed  each  Republican  county  nominating  convention.  It  was 
found,  however,  that  shrewd  politicians  will  manipulate  any  convention 
and  that  disappointed  candidates  will  not  be  satisfied  with  the  results. 

The  county  convention  met  on  the  day  appointed  in  the  call,  and  John 
Teasdale,  of  Dale  township,  was  made  chairman,  with  E.  S.  Waterbury. 
of  Crow  township  for  secretary.  The  convention  nominated  D.  F.  Royer. 
of  Alpena,  for  councilman,  and  gave  him  the  privilege  of  selecting  the 
delegates  to  the  district  legislative  convention,  which  had  been  called  to 
meet  at  Alpena  on  October  2nd.  The  ticket  placed  in  nomination  was 
as  follows. 

Register  of  Deeds — J.  M.  Wheeler,  of  Blaine. 

Treasurer — H.  J.  Wallace,  of  Chery. 

Sherifif — Joseph  O'Brien,  of  Crow  Lake. 

Dist.  Attorney — C.  V.  Martin,  of  Crow. 

Probate  Judge — A.  Gunderson,  of  Wessington  Springs. 

Assessor — C.  S.  Richardson,  of  Harmony. 

Surveyor — J.  M.  Corbin,  of  Marlar. 

Croner — A.  M.  Mathias,  of  Wessington  Springs. 

Justices  and  constables  were  also  nominated. 

A  county  central  committee  was  named  as  follows :  J.  R.  Milliken. 
chairman,  H.  A.  Miller,  H.  A.  Peirce,  S.  S.  Vrooman,  R.  S.  Vessey,  S. 
H.  Melcher,  Fred  Luker.  At  the  conclusion  of  the  other  business  Royer 
announced  the  names  of  the  delegates  to  the  legislative  convention,  as 
follows:  J.  R.  Millikin,  O.  G.  Woodruiif,  R.  S.  Vessey,  S.  H.  Melcher 
and  H.  A.  Peirce. 

At  the  Alpena  convention  Oct.  2nd,  there  were  three  candidates  for 
territorial  councilman  from  this  district,  Lowry,  of  Beadle  county.  Price 
of  Sanborn,  and  Royer  of  Jerauld.  Twenty-six  ballots  were  taken  before 
any  candidate  received  a  majority.  Then  one  of  the  Jerauld  county  dele- 
gates voted  for  Lowry  and  he  was  nominated.  .The  convention  then 
named  Royer  and  Price  for  assemblymen  by  acclamation. 

Two  days  later,  Oct.  4th,  the  Democratic  legislative  convention  was 
held  at  Alpena.  Mr.  Davis,  of  Beadle  county  was  named  for  the  terri- 
torial council,  and  Frank  Anderson,  of  Sanborn  county,  and  A.  Converse, 
of  Jerauld  county,  for  the  assembly. 

The  Democratic  county  committee  met  at  Wessington  Springs  on  Oct. 
2nd  and  called  a  delegate  convention  for  that  party,  to  be  held  on  Oct. 
13th.     The  convention  met  at  the  time  appointed  and  was  called  to  order 


195 

by  Jefferson  Sickler,  committee  chairman.  Twenty-eight  delegates  were 
in  attendance,  John  Chapman,  of  Wessington  Springs,  was  made  chair- 
man. A  full  ticket  was  nominated,  although  a  part  of  the  Republican 
ticket  was  indorsed.     It  was  as  follows  : 

Register  of  Deeds — F.  W.  Whitney,  of  Alpena. 

Treasurer — H.  J.  Wallace,  Republican,  indorsed. 

Sheriff — Pat  McDonald,  of  Alpena. 

Dist.  Attorney — A.  Converse,  of  Anina. 

Probate  Judge — J.  R.   Francis,  of  Wessington   Springs. 

Assessor — Lsaac  Byam,  of  Pleasant. 

Surveyor — ?>.  R.   Shimp,  of  Pleasant. 

Coroner — John  .Steiner,  of  Blaine. 

Justices  and  constables  were  also  named. 

For  the  first  time  the  Democratic  party  organized  and  prepared  for 
hard  work.  They  felt  sure  of  the  support  of  that  part  of  the  Republicans 
who  h^d  been  defeated  at  previous  elections  and  especially  of  those  who 
remembered  the  defeat  of  ^Ir.  Converse  for  commissioner  the  year  before. 
These  dissatisfied  Republicans  now  saw  an  opportunity  to  "get  even" 
w'ith  those  who  had  controlled  the  party  since  its  organization,  and  ac- 
cordingly a  mass  convention  was  held  on  Oct.  24th.  A  new  ticket  made 
up  of  Republicans  and  Democrats  was  put  in  the  field  as  follows : 

Register  of  Deeds — F.  W.  Whitney.. 

Treasurer — H.  J.  Wallace. 

Sheriff — J.  M.  Spears. 

Dist.  Attorney — A.  Converse. 

Probate  Judge — AI.  C.  Ayers,  of  Wessington  Springs. 

Territorial  Council — Air.  Lowry. 

Territorial  Assembly — Anderson  and  Price. 

In  the  first  commissioner  district  the  Republicans  nominated  R.  J. 
Eastman,  of  Alpena,  and  the  Democrats,  Knute  S.  Starkey,  of  Franklin. 

The  young  voters  of  this,  and  future  generations,  will  hardly  credit 
the  story  of  how  their  fathers  carried  elections.  The  method  of  holding 
caucuses  adopted  in  Jerauld  county  in  1888  was  a  great  improvement 
over  prior  methods.  In  former  years  a  candidate  would  get  enough  of 
his  supporters  together  to  hold  a  caucus,  and  be  prompt  at  the  time  ?nd 
place  mentioned  in  the  "call.""  If  an  opposing  candidate  for  the  party 
nomination  was  present  with  his  supporters,  it  then  became  a  matter  of 
majority,  or  possibly  of  parliamentary  tactics.  If  the  opposition  was  a 
few  minutes  late  in  reaching  the  place  of  holding  the  caucus,  they  were 
liable  to  find  all  the  work  done,  the  delegates  elected  and  the  caucus  ad- 
journed. The  writer  has  known  instances  where  the  whole  work  of 
"expressing  the  will  of  the  people,"  in  a  populous  precinct  was  done  by  a: 


196 

half-dozen  men  in  three  minutes.  So  the  plan  of  holding  the  caucus  open 
for  two  hours  as  adopted  in  1888  was  looked  upon  with  much  favor.  But 
in  all  other  respects  the  campaign  was  in  accordance  with  "time  honored 
customs." 

During  the  last  two  weeks  of  the  campaign  business  w^as  almost  at  a 
stand-still.  Every  man  was  a  politician.  Day  and  night  the  contest  raged. 
The  farmer  was  called  from  his  bed  at  midnight  for  a  few  hurried  words 
and  the  messenger  sped  on  in  the  darkness,  to  be  followed  by  other  mes- 
sengers from  the  opposition  before  morning.  Tickets  were  printed  with 
a  party  name  at  the  head  but  possibly  containing  the  names  of  all  the 
opposing  candidates.  In  many  instances  tickets  with  "stickers"  pasted  on 
were  distributed  by  men  stationed  at  the  polls  for  that  purpose.  The 
"sticker"  was  a  narrow  strip  of  gummed  paper  upon  which  was  printed 
the  name  of  a  candidate.  These  strips  were  intended  to  be  put  on  the 
tickets  of  the  opposite  party  over  the  name  of  the  opposing  candidates. 
During  the  two  weeks  before  the  election  the  newspapers  of  the  county 
advertised  "stickers  for  sale  at  reasonable  prices."  Heated  political  dis- 
cussions, in  which  the  matter  in  dispute,  was  the  merits  of  a  party  or  a 
candidate  were  engaged  in  at  the  polling  places  and  participated  in  by 
the  judges  of  election  and  as  many  of  the  bystanders  as  cared  to  take  a 
part. 

The  election  occurred  on  the  6th  day  of  November  and  the  Repub- 
licans sustained  a  defeat  from  which  they  did  not  recover  for  several 
years. 

The  ticket  elected  was  as  follows : 

Register  of  Deeds — F.  W.  Whitney. 

Treasurer— H.  J.  Wallace. 

Dist.  Attorney — A.  Converse. 

Sheriff— Pat  McDonald. 

Assessor — C.  S.  Richardson. 

Probate  Judge — J.  R.  Francis. 

Surveyor — J.  M.  Corbin. 

Coroner — A.  JNI.  Mathias. 

Commissioner — R.  J.  Eastman. 

The  Republicans  elected  the  Justices  of  the  peace  and  constables,  and 
the  legislative  ticket. 

The  last  notable  event  of  1888  was  a  spirited  game  of  base  ball  at 
Wessington  Springs  on  Xmas  Day. 

Meanwhile  the  little  band  of  temperance  workers  in  the  county  kept 
a  watchful  eye  upon  political  affairs  and  prepared  for  the  statehood  cam- 
]iaign  that  everybody  knew  would  soon  come. 


197 

The  Sunday  school  convention  for  the  county  was  held  on  the  14th 
and  15th  of  ]May. 

August  3rd  a  W.  C.  T.  U.  society  was  organized  at  Alpena  with  Mrs. 
J.  R.  Milliken,  Mrs.  R.  Davenport,  Mrs.  F.  W.  Whitney,  Mrs.  Wm.  Arne, 
Mrs.  C.  D.  Woriall,  Mrs.  Daniel  Kint,  Mrs.  Underwood  and  Miss  Lizzie 
Crawford  as  charter  members. 


Chapter  28. 

Early  in  January,  1889,  B.  B.  Blosser,  editor  and  publisher  of  the 
True  Republican  began  planning  for  a  spelling  contest  to  be  participated 
in  by  all  the  public  schools  of  the  county,  the  prize  to  be  a  set  of  Alden's 
Encyclopedia  for  the  winning  school.  A  committee  of  arragenment  was 
appointed  composed  of  Mrs.  N.  J.  Dunham,  Mrs.  C.  V.  Martin,  Miss 
Kate  McLean,  B.  R.  Shimp,  J.  F.  Wicks,  N.  E.  Williams,  and  E.  C. 
Nordyke,  with  B.  B.  Blosser  and  Supt.  Binford. 

The  interest  of  the  schools  at  once  became  great.  Each  township  could 
be  represented  by  a  class  of  four  students  made  up  from  all  the  schools 
of  the  township,  the  classes  to  be  selected  at  township  contests  to  be  held 
on  the  2ncl  day  of  March.  The  township  contests  were  conducted  by 
educators  from  outside  the  township.  The  appointments  were  as  fol- 
lows : 

Alpena — F.  B.  Phillips,  of  Dale. 

Dale — ]\Irs.  N.  J.  Dunham,  of  Alpena. 

Chery — E.  F.  Harmston,  of  Dale. 

Harmony — B.  R.  Shimp,  of  Pleasant. 

Marlar^Mrs.  C.  V.  Martin,  of  Crow. 

Pleasant — F.  K.  Luke,  of  Pleasant. 

Media — N.  E.  Williams,  of  Anina. 

Wessington  Springs — E.  C.  Nordyke,  of  Wessington  Springs. 

Franklin — J.  F.  Wicks,  of  Logan. 

Blaine — Jesse  ]\Iorse,  of  Viola. 

Anina — ^vliss  Ida  Nesmith,  of  Viola. 

Crow  Lake — Supt.  Binford,  of  Pleasant. 

Logan — ]\Irs.  E.  G.  Will,  of  Logan. 

The  county  contest  occurred  on  the  9th  day  of  March  and  was  parti- 
cipated in  by  twelve  townships  represented  by  the  following  classes : 

Alpena — Abbie  Whitney,  James  Worrall,  R.  W.  Tennery  and  Edgar 
Beadell. 


198 

Dale — James  Tracy.  Daniel  Tracy.  Lora  Gregory  and  Rosa  Youngs. 

Chery — Grace  Lanning,  Clarence  Lanning,  Mary  jMiller,  and  Charles 
Miller. 

Harmony — Anna  Titus,  Ernest  Huntley,  Rena  Butterfield  and  Charles 
Weeks. 

Marlar — Rebecca  Ruan,  Laura  Ruan,  Grace  Ruan  and  Cora  Corbin. 

Pleasant — Sarah  Elmore,  Mabel  Holdridge,  Mary  Marlenee  and  RoUa 
Lynn. 

Media — Manly  Voorhees,  Clara  Voorhees,  Harry  Young  and  Louis 
Beels. 

Wessington  Springs — Edward  K.  Starkey,  Paulina  Mihawk,  Sever 
Starkey  and  Abe  Divick. 

Franklin— W.  N.  Zink,  H.  E.  Whiffin,  Mata  McCaul  and  Ira  Posey. 

Viola — Howard  Phillips,  Susie  Phillips,  Wesley  Paganhart  and  Myr- 
tle Moss. 

Anina — Geo.  Stevens,  Tommy  Day,  Harry  Nelson  and  Samuel  Nelson. 

Logan — Lewis  Pfaff,  J.  J.  Riegal,  Lewis  H.  Waterbury  and  Anna 
Hannebuth. 

Forty-eight  in  all. 

Blaine,  Crow  and  Crow  Lake  townships  were  not  represented. 

Supt.  Binford  pronounced  lOO  words  from  the  first  fifty  pages  of  Mc- 
Gufifey's  Speller.  The  words  were  written  by  the  contestants,  with  the 
following  results  in  words  missed : 

Alpena  2,  Anina  3,  Franklin  4,  Harmony  9,  Pleasant  11,  Logan  16, 
Viola  25,  Dale  40,  Marlar  40,  Media  47,  Chery  69,  and  Wessington 
Springs  75. 

Alpena  had  won  the  prize. 

In  an  oral  contest  that  followed  the  prize  was  won  by  Miss  Anna 
Hannebuth,  of  Logan  township. 

On  April  2nd  prairie  fires  raged  in  all  parts  of  the  territory,  accom- 
panied by  an  electric  wind  storm  of  great  violence.  The  loss  in  Jerauld 
county  was  estimated  at  $100,000.  Particulars  will  be  given  more  fully 
in  a  chapter  to  be  devoted  to  prairie  fires. 

In  business  matters  but  few  changes  were  made  during  the  year  and 
but  few  new  enterprises  started. 

The  territorial  farmers  Alliance  established  a  warehouse  at  Wessing- 
ton Springs  to  handle  farm  supplies.  This  institution  began  doing  busi- 
ness in  February,  with  W.  N.  Hill  as  manager. 

In  the  same  month  Mr.  L.  G.  Wilson,  of  Viola  township  called  the 
attention  of  the  farmers  to  the  large  number  of  silk  cocoons  that  were 
hanging  from  the  branches  of  small  trees  throughout  the  county  and  re- 
quested, through  the  newspapers,  that  a  quantity  be  gathered  and  brorght 


199 

to  him,  at  Wessington  Springs.  A  barrel  of  them  was  soon  at  his  dis- 
posal and  he  shipped  them  to  Paris  to  be  tested  as  to  their  value.  They 
were  found  to  be  of  good  quality,  but  could  never  afterward  be  found  in 
sufficient  quantities  to  pay  for  the  work  of  gathering  them. 

On  October  ist  G.  N.  Price  took  charge  of  the  Wessington  Springs- 
Waterbury  stage  line,  which  gave  him  control  of  all  the  mail  routes  of 
the  county. 

In  January,  1889,  Ed  Hinchliff  opened  a  meat  market  in  Alpena  and 
continued  the  business  until  the  following  July. 

In  Alarch  Ray  Barber  sold  the  hardware  business  in  Alpena  to  Grant 
McLean,  who  continued  it  about  a  year  and  then  sold  to  F.  B.  Phillips. 
In  1894  Phillips  sold  the  business  to  D.  H.  Wood.  In  June,  1900,  he  sold 
to  Grant  Anderson,  who  is  still  in  charge. 

In  the  forepart  of  January,  1889,  Isaac  Pearce  succeeded  F.  W.  \\  hit- 
ney  in  the  Alpena  post  office. 

During  the  same  month  Roth  Bros,  opened  The  Security  Bank  in 
their  store  at  Alpena. 

In  jNIarch  following  W.  F.  Cass  started  an  art  studio  in  Alpena. 

The  latter  part  of  July  D.  F.  Royer  repurchased  the  Journal  from 
Lacy  F.  Schaefer. 

At  Waterbury  no  changes  of  importance  occurred  in  1889  until  the 
forepart  of  November,  when  C.  M.  Hopkins  rented  his  hotel  to  Wm. 
Toaz. 

J.  H.  Vessey  moved  from  Crow  Lake  to  Wessington  Springs  about 
the  middle  of  January,  1889,  and  the  next  month  bought  the  mercantile 
business  of  Albert  &  Vessey. 

In  February,  1889,  Mrs.  Albert  Gunderson  opened  an  abstract  office 
in  the  rear  room  of  the  old  Herald  building. 

R.  S.  Vessey  and  C.  E.  Nordyke  formed  a  partnership  to  do  real 
estate  business  at  Wessington  Springs  and  opened  their  office  in  the 
building  erected  by  W.  J.  Williams  on  the  lot  owned  by  H.  Bakewell.  of 
Plankinton.     The  partnership  continued  until  Oct.  ist. 

D.  W.  Clink  and  F.  G.  Vessey  closed  up  their  farm  implement  busi- 
ness in  March,  leaving  the  field  open  to  the  Farmers'  Aliance  Co. 

A  restaurant  was  opened  by  Mrs.  Francis  Smith  in  the  forepart  of 
April,  in  a  building  put  up  by  Dr.  Turner  on  a  lot  west  of  Thayer's  bank. 

One  of  the  buildings  erected  in  Wessington  Springs  in  1889.  was  a 
stone  bath  house  in  July,  by  A.  C.  Thompson,  on  the  east  side  of  the 
creek  opposite  his  barn.  The  barn  is  now  owned  by  Mrs.  Eva  Whitney, 
but  the  bath  house  soon  fell  to  ruins. 


200 

Charles  E.  Thayer,  who  in  five  years  had  amassed  a  fortune  in  the 
banking  business  in  Wessington  Springs,  sold  his  institution  to  Charles 
W.  Lane,  who  took  charge  of  the  bank  Oct.  ist,  1889. 

About  the  middle  of  November,  1889,  Wm.  Skinner  and  C.  W.  Pet- 
tis started  a  meat  market  on  the  south  side  of  Main  street,  near  where 
Shull's  Drug  Store  now  stands. 

In  religious  matters  the  only  events  of  importance  in  the  county  in 
1889  were  the  first  Free  Methodist  camp  meeting,  which  began  June  12th 
and  lasted  one  week,  in  the  grove  by  the  big  spring,  and  the  county  Sun- 
day School  convention  which  was  held  May  23rd. 

At  Crow  Lake  Mrs.  Allyn's  vacant  store  building  was  used  during 
the  summer  for  church  and  Sunday  school  purposes. 

On  May  15th,  1889,  an  Epworth  League  was  organized  in  connection 
with  the  M.  E.  church  at  Wessington  Springs. 

Along  educational  lines  the  most  important  event  of  the  year  was  the 
organization  of  a  lecture  association  by  R.  S.  Vessey,  G.  R.  Bateman  and 
Prof.  J.  K.  Freeland.  Mr.  Vessey  was  made  the  president  of  the  society 
and  Mr.  Freeland  secretary.  The  society  is  still  alive.  Ehiring  the  years 
of  its  existence  it  has  brought  to  the  county  literary  men,  lecturers  and 
statesmen  of  world  wide  reputation.  Among  them  have  been  Joseph 
Cook,  the  eminent  Boston  divine,  Roswell  G.  Horr,  Michigan's  greatest 
congressman,  Joseph  Littell,  Col.  Sanford,  Maj.  Copeland;  besides  many 
other  scientists  and  scholars  from  all  parts  of  the  nation. 

In  July,  1889,  Dr.  C.  S.  Burr,  of  the  Wessington  Springs  Townsite 
Company  donated  to  the  Seminary  ten  lots  in  the  town.  A  few  days 
later  Samuel  Marlenee  was  employed  to  build  the  superstructure  on  the 
walls  of  the  Seminary,  and  the  work  was  done  in  August  of  that  year,  the 
building  being  veneered  with  brick.  It  was  in  the  chapel  room  of  the 
new  building  that  the  entertainments  provided  by  the  lecture  course  were 
held. 

Another  educational  enterprise  led  by  the  Pioneer  W.  C.  T.  L'.  was 
a  series  of  meetings  held  in  every  township  in  the  county  to  study  the 
proposed  Sioux  Falls  constitution  for  the  new  state. 

The  fourth  annual  teachers'  institute  was  held  Oct.  28th  to  Nov.  8th 
inclusive,  with  Prof.  Enos  as  conductor. 

In  the  line  of  amusements  in  1889,  one  of  the  notable  events  was  a 
sham  inaugural  in  Odd  Fellows  Hall  at  Alpena,  which  was  attended  by 
fun-loving  people  from  Woonsocket,  Wessington  Springs  and  all  parts 
of  the  county. 

On  what  was  then  known  as  the  White  tree  claim,  adjoining  Alpena 
on  the  south,  was  established  a  race  track  in  the  summer  of  1889.  Ray 
Barber  was  secretarv  of  the  association.     All  the  records  of  this  society 


201 

were  destroyed  in  a  fire  that  occurred  in  the  Journal  office  a  few  years 
later. 

The  crop  prospects  in  1889  were  good  until  the  13th  of  June,  when 
the  whole  country  was  visited  by  a  destructive  hot  wind  that  blew  from 
the  southwest  several  days.  Added  to  this  was  the  decline  in  the  market 
price  of  all  kinds  of  farm  products.  In  September  the  Chicago  price  of 
wheat  was  80  cents  per  bushel;  corn,  32c;  oats,  19c;  butter,  12c  per  lb.; 
eggs,  17c  per  doezn.  In  Sioux  city  hogs  were  sold  at  $3.82  per  cwt., 
fat  cattle  $2,65  to  $2.75,  stockers  $1.85  to  $2.35. 

And  people  w^ere  paying  from  three  to  seven  per  cent  a  month  on 
notes  secured  by  chattel  mortgages. 


Chapter  29. 

The  proceedings  of  the  county  commissioners  in  the  year  1889  con- 
tains but  little  of  interest. 

R.  J.  Eastman  became  a  member  of  the  board  on  January  7th  and 
Mr.  Sickler  was  made  chairman. 

On  the  same  day  F.  W.  Whitney  took  possession  of  the  office  of  reg- 
ister of  deeds,  and  two  days  later  the  official  bond  of  Pat  McDonald  as 
sherifif  was  approved. 

On  February  5th  a  resolution  was  adopted  by  the  board  fixing  the 
price  of  auctioneers'  license  at  $10  per  year. 

As  a  result  of  the  prairie  fires  that  had  devestated  the  county  on  April 
2nd,  the  county  board  on  April  15th  resolved  to  furnish  lumber  to  the 
amount  of  1,000  feet  to  people  who  had  suffered  loss  by  fire  and  25 
bushels  of  seed  grain  to  those  who  could  not  procure  it  otherwise. 

On  May  21st  the  board  decided  to  abandon  the  section  line  road  be- 
tween sections  24  and  25  in  Franklin  township  and  for  $75  purchased  of 
Mr.  McDowall  a  right  of  way  over  his  land  through  what  is  known  as 
"the  pony  hills." 

The  treasurer's  report,  made  the  forepart  of  July,  1889,  showed  that 
during  the  year  ending  June  30th  the  county  had  paid  for  pauper  support 
$96.20,  and  for  temporary  relief  of  the  poor  $193.64. 

The  county  tax  levy  made  Sept.  2nd  was,  county  general  fund,  6  mills ; 
sinking  fund,  3  mills ;  road  and  bridge,  i  mill.  The  territorial  levy  was, 
general  fund,  t,.S  mills;  bond  interest,  l/o  mill;  and  stock  indemnity, 
1/2  mill. 


202 

The  act  known  as  the  Omnibus  Bill,  which  enabled  South  Dakota  to 
prepare  for  statehood  passed  congress  on  the  14th  day  of  February.  1889, 
and  on  the  22nd  was  approved  and  signed  by  President  Cleveland.  That 
year  became  an  era  of  conventions.  Politics  of  many  different  brands 
became  the  pastime  of  "all  sorts  and  conditions  of  men." 

A  convention  at  Wessington  Springs,  January  12th,  elected  E.  V. 
Miles,  C.  H.  Stephens,  J.  M.  Spears  and  R.  W.  Probert  delegates  to  a 
statehood  convention  to  be  held  at  Huron  on  the  i6th. 

A  mass  temperance  convention  was  held  at  the  county  seat  on  March 
28th  to  prepare  for  the  statehood  campaign  which  was  now  on. 

Jerauld,  Buffalo  and  Hand  counties  were  made  the  nth  district  for 
representation  in  the  constitutional  convention  which  had  been  called  to 
meet  in  Sioux  Falls  on  July  4th,  1889.  and  were  entitled  to  two  delegates, 
to  be  elected  on  the  14th  of  May. 

The  Republican  district  convention  to  nominate  a  delegate  to  the  con- 
stitutional convention  was  called  to  meet  at  St.  Lawrence,  in  Hand  county 
on  May  7th. 

The  republican  county  convention  to  send  delegates  to  the  St.  Law- 
rence convention  was  held  at  Wessington  Springs,  May  4th,  and  S.  F. 
Huntley,  of  Harmony  township  received  an  indorsement  for  the  position 
of  delegate  to  the  Sioux  Falls  convention.  The  convention  voted  that  he 
should  select  his  own  delegates,  and  he  named  T.  L.  Blank,  E.  V.  Miles, 
J.  F.  Wicks,  E.  S.  Waterbury,  A.  L  Churchill  and  O.  G.  ^loodruff.  and 
C.  G.  Hartley,  of  Hand  county. 

Mr.  Huntley  and  C.  G.  Hartley,  of  Hand  county,  were  nominated  at 
the  St.  Lawrence  convention  and  at  the  election  Alay  14th  they  were 
elected  delegates  to  the  state  constitutional  convention. 

The  opposing  Democratic  candidates  were  Jeft'erson  Sickler,  of  Har- 
niony  township,  and  Mr.  Anderson,  of  Hand  county.  There  are  no  rec- 
ords of  the  conventions  at  which  these  gentlemen  were  nominated. 

No  change  was  made  in  the  election  precincts  for  the  May  election, 
but  for  that  to  be  held  on  Oct.  ist  each  township  was  made  a  precinct  b}' 
itself,  and  that  rule  has  been  followed  ever  since. 

In  the  constitutional  convention  Mr.  Huntley  was  a  member  of  the 
apportionment  committee  and  chairman  of  the  committee  on  expenses  of 
the  convention.  On  his  recommendation  Jerauld  and  Buft'alo  counties 
were  made  one  senatorial  district. 

On  July  20th  the  Republican  county  committee  called  two  county  con- 
ventions— one  for  Aug.  17th  to  select  four  delegates  to  the  state  conven- 
tion to  be  held  at  Huron  and  four  delegates  to  the  judicial  convention  to 
be  held  at  Mitchell,  the  other  to  be  held  Sept.  7th  to  put  in  noiuination 
a  county  ticket  and  select  delegates  to  the  disrict  legislative  convention. 


203 

On  July  26th  R.  S.  Vessey  announced  his  candidacy  for  the  legisla- 
ture on  the  Republican  ticket. 

At  the  convention  held  Aug".  17th  I.  N.  Rich  was  chairman  and  E. 
F.  Harmston  secretary.  Delegates  were  selected  to  both  the  state  and 
judicial  conventions,  those  to  the  latter  being  instructed  to  support  the 
■candidacy  of  A.  Converse  for  Judge  of  the  circuit  court. 

A  mass  convention  was  held  Aug.  19th  to  discuss  plans  for  getting 
aid  in  the  county  for  the  construction  on  the  Huron,  Chamberlain  &  Black 
Hills  railroad.  It  was  decided  to  ask  the  townships  through  which  it  was 
proposed  to  build  the  road  to  vote  a  tax.  Accordingly  a  petition  from 
Dale,  Wessington  Springs,  Media,  Crow  Lake  and  Logan  townships  was 
laid  before  the  county  commissioners  on  Sept.  12th  asking  that  the  mat- 
ter of  voting  a  tax  in  aid  of  the  road  be  submitted  to  the  people  of  those 
townships  at  an  early  date.  The  board  granted  the  request  and  called  the 
election  for  Oct.  ist,  the  day  set  for  the  statehood  election.  The  pro- 
moters of  the  project  at  once  put  in  the  field  a  party  of  surveyors,  con- 
sisting of: 

E.  F.  Harmston,  chief  engineer;  T.  L.  Blank,  transit  man;  A.  H.  West, 
leveler;  J.  A.  Calhoun,  topographer:  W.  W.  Hillis,  rodman ;  Chas.  Has- 
kins,  head  chain ;  Thos.  Day,  hind  chain ;  C.  Thompson,  axman ;  Chas. 
Whiffin,  back  flag;  J.  J.  Doctor,  cook;  and  M.  E.  Harmstan,  teamster. 

At  the  election  the  tax  was  voted  down  in  all  the  townships  but  Dale. 

On  the  same  day  a  meeting  was  held  to  take  measures  to  put  Wessing- 
ton Springs  in  the  race  for  state  capitol.  Five  thousand  acres  of  land 
were  pledged,  and  C.  E.  Thayer  elected  a  delegate  to  meet  representatives 
of  other  cities  at  Aberdeen.     That  was  the  end  of  it. 

At  the  Republican  convention  on  Sept.  7th  S.  F.  Huntley  was  in- 
dorsed for  state  senator,  by  acclamation.  On  the  36th  formal  ballot  V. 
L  Converse  was  nominated  for  the  legislature.  A.  L  Churchill  was  made 
the  nominee  for  county  Judge. 

The  Republican  district  senatorial  convention  was  held  in  the  Hop- 
kins house  at  Waterbury  on  Sept.  12th  and  Mr.  Huntley  was  nominated 
unanimously. 

Two  days  previously.  Sept.  10,  the  Democrats  had  held  a  county  con- 
vention at  Wessington  Springs  at  which  Jefferson  Sickler,  of  Harmony 
township,  was  nominated  for  the  legislature  and  J.  R.  Francis  for  county 
judge.     No  candidate  for  state  senator  was  named. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  county  commissioners  on  July  13th  the  county 
Avas  redistricted  for  the  election  of  members  of  the  board,  as  follows: 

1st  District — Alpena,  Franklin,  Blaine  and  Dale. 

2nd  District — Chery,  Wessington  Springs,  Viola,  Anina  and  Media. 

3rd  District — The  west  six  townships. 

A  convention  for  the  nomination  of  a  commissioner  for  the  3rd  dis- 


204 

Irict  was  held  at  Waterbury  Sept.  21st  and  Mr.  Henry  Herring  of  Crow 
township  made  the  nominee. 

As  in  all  former  elections,  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  organizations  of  the  county 
kept  careful  watch  over  the  temperance  sentiment.  The  constitutional 
convention  had  submitted  to  the  people  of  the  new  state  the  matter  of 
voting  prohibition  into  the  constitution.  At  the  head  of  the  county  organ- 
ization was  Mrs.  E.  V.  Miles,  of  Wessington  Springs  township,  a  lady 
of  strong  executive  ability,  and  with  her  were  Mrs.  Nettie  C.  Hall,  Mrs. 
J.  M.  Spears,  Mrs.  T.  L.  Blank,  Mrs.  F.  T.  Tofflemier,  and  several  others, 
all  determined,  earnest  women,  who  knew  no  such  thing  as  fatigue  in 
their  efforts  to  hold  Jerauld  county  in  the  temperance  column.  But  be- 
hind them  all,  guiding,  counseling,  working,  was  Mrs.  A.  B.  Smart,  the 
founder  of  the  Pioneer  W.  C.  T.  U. 

Old  Unions  were  reorganized  and  other  temperance  societies  formed. 
Meetings  were  held  everywhere  that  an  audience  could  be  gathered. 

At  Alpena  a  lodge  of  I.  O.  G.  T.  was  formed  May  3rd  with  John 
Teasdale,  chief  templar,  Mrs.  N.  J.  Dunham,  vice-templar,  Rev.  H.  H. 
Underwood,  chaplain,  L.  F.  Schaefer,  recording  secretary,  Ray  Barber, 
financial  secretary,  Maggie  Worrall,  treasurer.  The  lodge  had  21  mem- 
bers. 

Deraorest  Medal  contests  were  held  at  which  children  spoke  temper- 
ance pieces. 

The  election  occured  on  the  first  day  of  October,  with  the  following- 
results  : 

For  the  Constitution,  895. 

Against  the  Consitution,  17. 

For  Prohibition,  598. 

Against  Prohibition,  315. 

For  Minority  representation,  282. 

Against  Minority  representation,  586. 

Mitchell  for  capital,  54. 

Huron  for  capital,  290. 

Pierre  for  capital,  588. 

Sioux  Falls  for  capital, . 

Watertown  for  capital,  3. 

Wessington  Springs  for  capital.  2. 

Chamberlain  for  capital,  5. 

State  Senator — S.  F.  Huntley.  785. 

Representative — V.  I.  Converse,  500;  J.  Sickler,  427. 
.  County  Judge — A.  I.  Churchill. 

County  Commissioner — H.  Herring. 

On  Nov.  2nd,  1889,  at  3:40  p.  m.  at  the  city  of  Washington,  Presi- 
dent Harrison  attached  his  name  to  the  proclamation  declaring  South 
Dakota  a  member  of  the  Union  of  States. 


20: 


PART  THKEE. 

Chapter  I. 

The  first  event  in  the  county,  after  statehood,  was  a  farmers  institute 
on  Nov.  4th,  1889,  held  under  the  auspices  of  the  farmers'  alliance. 

On  Nov.  nth  N.  J.  Dunhani  was  appointed  clerk  of  courts  for  Jer- 
auld county. 

At  the  instance  of  Commissioner  Sickler  the  board  on  the  30th  of 
November,  vacated  the  highway  on  the  section  line  between  sections  4 
and  5  in  Harmony  township. 

HARD  TIMES. 

Those  who  have  followed  this  history  so  far  will  have  noticed  that 
the  people  who  took  the  lead  in  pushing  agricultural  civilization  out  into 
the  great  plains  of  the  northwest  had  prospered  in  five  years  as  much  as 
those  who  settled  Iowa,  Illinois,  Kansas,  Nebraska  and  the  other  states 
farther  east,  had  in  twenty.  The  railroads  in  advance  of  the  settlers  had 
relieved  the  settlers  of  Dakota  of  many  of  the  hardships  that  had  been 
endured  by  the  pioneers  of  the  other  states.  The  one  natural  hardship 
was  the  want  of  fuel.  But  the  prairies  were  covered  with  grass,  and  this 
cut,  dried  and  twisted  made  a  fuel  that  would  keep  people  as  warm  here 
as  it  did  the  pioneers  in  Iowa  or  Kansas.  In  all  other  respects  the  Da- 
kota settler  had  conditions  far  more  comfortable.  Their  homes  were 
Avarm ;  markets  nearer ;  schools  in  every  township,  as  many  as  were 
needed;  and  the  people  had  plenty  to  eat  and  to  wear.  Less  than  $100 
had  been  spent  by  the  county,  in  the  year  ending  June  30th,  1889,  in 
caring  for  the  very  poor,  and  but  $193.64  had  been  required  to  afford 
temporary  relief  to  the  sufferers  from  the  cyclone  of  fire  that  swept  the 
county  April  2nd.  The  climate  was  dry  and  healthy  and  sickness  rare. 
A  more  contented  people  never  dwelt  in  a  new  country  than  inhabited 
the  Dakota  prairies  during  the  80s. 

On  the  nth  of  November  the  county  commissioners  asked  the  C.  M. 
&  St.  P.  Ry.  Co.  to  rebate  the  freight  on  coal  brought  by  that  line  to 


2o6 

deserving  and  needy  settlers.     Not  a  single  person  entered  his  nan:e  in 
that  class. 

About  the  same  time  a  news  item  was  going  the  rounds  of  the  Euro- 
pean press  and  being  copied  in  the  papers  of  the  eastern  "^tates,  which 
read  as  follows : 

"Threatened  Famine  in  Dakota." 
"The  failure  of  the  harvest  in  Dakota  is  complete.  A  special  telec;rani 
reports  20,000  persons  are  in  danger  of  starvation.  The  St.  Paul  Cham- 
ber of  Commerce  is  organizing  for  relief.  A  committee  of  examination 
reports  that  the  distress  is  appalling.  No  food  is  to  be  obtained  at  any 
price,  and  no  money  wherewith  to  purchase,  if  there  were  any." 

Yet,  the  statistics  for  that  year  (18S9)  are  as  folows: 

Acreage.  Yield  in  bu. 

Wheat 4,609,717  44.009.092 

Oats 1,122,402  21,369.708 

Corn 814,677  22,832.073 

Barley 255,969  4.455.777 

Rye 17.754  301-107 

Potatoes 45.656  4,038.262 

Flax 403.314  3,288.115 

The  True  Republican  commenting  on  the  above  item  said  under  date 
of  Nov.  29th,  1889: 

"It  is  false.  Let  us  unite  in  refuting  it.  Write  to  your  friends  and 
give  them  the  situation  as  it  is.  The  truth  will  not  harm  us,  but  these 
exaggerated  reports  are  doing  incalculable  injury." 

During  several  weeks  prior  to  the  appearance  of  the  above  iten:s  in 
the  local  paper,  Roth  Bros.,  local  merchants,  had  been  advertising  in  the 
same  journal  the  following   household  supplies  for  sale: 

12  lbs.  granulated  sugar,  $1.00. 

22  lbs.  prunes,  $1.00. 

17  lbs.  evaporated  apples,  $1.00. 

20  lbs.  choice  white  fish,  $1.00. 

32  bars  good  soap,  $1.00. 

1  sack  Raker's  fiour,  $1.05. 

10  lbs.  choice  bacon,  $1.00. 

12  lbs.  sugar  cured  shoulders,  $1.00. 

16  yards  good  shirting,  $1.00. 

On  December  4th  occurred  an  event  that  changed  materially  the  con- 
dition of  affairs  in  Jerauld  county,  just  as  similar  events  changed  ccrdi- 
tions  in  other  counties  of  the  state. 


207 

On  the  afternoon  of  that  day  Gov.  A.  C.  Mellette  accompanied  by  Mr. 
Doane  Robinson,  present  state  historian,  arrived  in  Wessington  Springs, 
after  a  drive  through  Franklin,  Blaine  and  Viola  townships.  These  gentle- 
men were  unaccustomed  to  life  on  a  claim  in  the  true  sense  of  the  term. 
The  smell  of  hay  fuel  was  to  them  extremely  offensive.  In  fact,  hay 
burned  as  fuel  in  South  Dakota  created  just  as  great  a  stink  as  did  that 
in  Iowa  and  Kansas.  There  was  nothing  poisonous  about  it  and  people 
using  it  did  not  notice  the  offensive  odor.  But  to  the  -governor  it  seemed 
nothing  less  than  horrible.  In  homes  where  the  settler  burned  other  fuel 
common  at  that  time  the  condition  did  not  seem  so  bad — to  the  nose — 
but  was  more  shocking  to  the  eye. 

Immediately  after  his  arrival  in  town  the  governor  asked  for  a  meet- 
ing with  the  leading  citizens.  In  the  evening  all  who  had  heard  of  the 
request  assembled  in  the  office  of  the  register  of  deeds  at  the  court  house. 

All  were  surprised  and  astonished  at  the  governor's  tale  of  destitu- 
tion, but  when,  on  closer  questioning  it  was  found  that  the  principal  need 
was  better  fuel,  and  that  coal  could  be  obtained  without  freight  charges, 
it  was  concluded  to  organize  and  see  what  was  needed  and  what  could 
be  done.  A  county  relief  committee  was  formed  with  A  M.  Mathias, 
chairman;  C.  W.  McDonald,  secretary;  and  Mrs.  J.  M.  Spears,  treasurer. 
The  township  committee  was : 

Alpena — Mrs.  J.  R.  Milliken. 

Dale— O.  G.  Woodruff. 

Chery— C.  W.  Hill. 

Harmony — I.  N.  Rich. 

Marlar — Wm.  Orr. 

Franklin — Mrs.  J.  W.  Harden. 

Wessington  Springs — Mrs.  J.  M.  Spears. 

Media — Chas.  Hanson. 

Pleasant — J.  E.  Sullivan. 

Crow — E.  S.  Waterbury. 

Blaine— C.  C.  Wright. 

Viola— J.  N.  Smith. 

Anina — V.  I.  Converse. 

Crow  Lake — S.  H.  Melcher. 

Logan— H.  A.  Frick. 

This  committee  at  once  made  a  thorough  canvas  of  the  whole  county 
and  found  no  destitution  and  but  few  who  cared  to  accept  the  coal.  In 
all  of  the  county  only  94  tons  of  coal  were  requested.  The  county  com- 
missioners then  asked  the  C.  M.  &  St.  P.  Ry.  to  ship  in  two  hundred  tons 
of  coal  free  for  the  people  of  Jerauld  county,  but  the  company  refused. 


208 

saying-  they  could  not  afford  to  carry  any  more  coal  to  Dakota  free  of 
freight. 

And  so  the  year  1889  drew  on  to  its  close,  a  few  politicians  and  mis- 
guided philantropists  soliciting  charity  that  was  not  needed,  and  the 
people  getting  along  very  comfortably,  still  burning  such  fuel  as  the 
prairies  afforded.  There  was  no  suffering. 

While  the  events  above  mentioned  were  occurring  in  official  and 
philanthropic  circles  a  Dale  township  farmer,  of  German  birth,  was 
busy  doing  a  work  that  was  of  more  beneficial  influence  to  Jerauld  county 
and  the  James  River  Valley,  than  anything  done  by  all  the  politicians 
of  the  state.  Daniel  Schmidt  was  risking  his  all  in  putting  down  the 
first  artesian  well  in  the  county.  The  well  was  completed  in  the  latter 
part  of  December,  and  a  flow  of  fifty-two  gallons  a  minute  secured. 

A  mile  north  of  Schmidt's  farm  John  Teasdale  had  erected  a  feed  mill 
for  grinding  feed,  corn  meal  and  Graham  flour,  and  there  many  of  the 
settlers  had  their  grists  of  corn  and  wheat  ground. 

On  the  northwest  quarter  of  section  29,  in  Media  twsp.  Wm.  Brodkorb 
began  grinding  grain  for  the  people  of  that  vicinity  and  continued  the 
work  for  several  years.  In  1892  Mr.  Brodkorb  ground  over  3.000 
bushels.     The  nearest  flouring  mill  was  at  Woonsocket,  27  miles  away. 

In  the  latter  part  of  December,  1889,  Blank  &  Blank  purchased  the 
Waterbury  Messenger  of  O.  P.  Hull  and  united  it  with  their  Herald  office 
at  Wessington  Springs. 

On  Christmas  eve,  festivities  at  the  Grieve  school  house,  in  Harmony 
township,  attracted  a  good  attendance,  and  the  next  evening  a  dance  at 
the  court  house  hall  in  Wessington  Springs  was  attended  by  50  couples. 


Chapter  2. 

It  is  an  old  and  true  saying  that  a  well  man  can  be  made  ill  unto 
death  by  being  constantly  told  that  he  is  sick. 

The  treasurer's  report  made  to  the  county  commissioners  during  the 
second  week  in  January,  1890,  showed  that  the  amount  expended  by  the 
county  for  relief  of  the  poor  between  the  first  day  of  October,  and  the 
31st  day  of  December,  1889,  had  been  but  eight  dollars, — less  than  had 
been  expended  in  the  same  length  of  time  during  all  the  previous  his- 
tory of  the  county. 

The  committee  appointed  at  the  time  of  the  visit  of  Gov.  iMellette, 
Dec.  4th,  1889,  had  been  met  with  a  general  denial  of  the  need  of  charity. 


209 

In  many  instances  the  committee  actually  became  solicitors,  begging  peo- 
ple who  were  abundantly  able  to  care  for  themselves  to  accept  of  the 
proffered  aid.  Up  to  the  first  of  February  not  a  pound  of  donated  stuff 
had  reached  Jerauld  county  from  outside  its  borders.  In  the  forepart 
of  January  a  mercantile  firm  at  Wessington  Springs  had  donated  lOO 
sacks  of  flour  to  the  relief  committee  for  distribution.  By  the  20th  of 
February  only  30  of  them  had  been  taken. 

In  February  it  had  become  generally  known  that  Gov.  Mellette  had 
gone  east  to  solicit  aid  for  the  needy  people  of  the  state.  Hard  times 
became  the  general  topic  of  conversation,  and  the  people  of  Marlar  town- 
ship appointed  a  committee  of  four  to  go  east  and  solicit  aid  for  their 
community.  The  committee  was  composed  of  J.  C.  Longland,  Wm.  Orr, 
Wm.  Rainy,  and  Mrs.  Tillman  Hunt.  In  February  four  carloads  of  feed, 
fuel  and  provisions  had  arrived  at  St.  Lawrence  for  that  township,  and 
later  another  carload  was  received.  Then  people  began  to  go  out  on 
their  own  behalf.  In  one  township  three  farmers  made  up  a  purse  of 
one  hundred  dollars  and  sent  one  of  their  number  to  Iowa  to  solicit  aid 
which  was  divided  among  those  three. 

Through  the  urging  of  the  committe  three  hundred  families  had  ap- 
plied for  aid  in  one  form  or  another,  by  the  first  of  March.  It  was  a 
matter  of  common  knowledge  that  not  to  exceed  fifty  of  these  families 
were  in  need  of  help  and  they  the  county  was  abundantly  able  to  care  for. 

In  March  supplies  began  to  arrive  in  large  quantities  and  by  the  ist 
of  April  the  county  jail  was  filled  with  the  stores  sent  by  the  benevolent 
people  of  Iowa,  who  had  read  the  exaggerated  stories  of  the  needs  of 
the  people. 

Gov.  Mellette  returned  from  his  eastern  trip  the  forepart  of  March, 
in  time  to  attend  the  G.  A.  R.  encampment  at  Sioux  Falls.  There  he  met 
Gen.  Alger,  of  Michigan,  who  had  promised  to  give  $500,  if  he  found, 
on  personal  investigation,  that -the  reported  destitution  actually  existed. 
Before  leaving  the  state  he  refused  to  make  the  donation,  declaring  that 
the  conditions  did  not  justify  it.  United  States  Senator  Pettigrew  de- 
nounced the  expedition  of  the  governor,  in  unmeasured  terms,  as  un- 
called for  and  unwise.  Many  others  endeavored  to  correct  the  impres- 
sion that  had  gone  abroad  that  the  Dakotas  were  indeed  a  pa:rt  of  the 
great  American  Desert. 

In  February,  1890,  the  Sioux  City  Journal,  speaking  of  the  reported 
conditions  in  South  Dakota,  said:  "South  Dakota  has  made  incompar- 
ably more  rapid  progress  during  the  past  ten  years  as  a  territory  than 
Iowa  did  during  the  first  ten  years  of  its  history  as  a  state.  The  people 
of  South  Dakota  have  not  suft'ered  more  from  storms,  drought  and  failure 
of  crops  than  the  people  of  Iowa  did  at  the  corresponding  period  of  their 


2IO 

history — not  nearly  so  much.  The  people  of  South  Dakota  have  ac- 
cumulated more  wealth  and  at  a  vastly  more  rapid  rate  than  did  the 
people  of  Iowa  during  the  early  stages  of  their  settlement.  The  people 
of  South  Dakota  have  actually  taken  more  value  out  of  their  soil  than 
the  people  of  Iowa  were  able  to  do. 

It  is  doubtless  true  that  many  have  gone  to  South  Dakota  who  went 
unwisely,  who  might  have  done  better  elsewhere  and  who  ought  never  to 
have  tried  their  fortunes  in  the  new  northwest.  Precisely  the  same  thing 
happened  in  Iowa.  Improvident,  thriftless,  weak,  or  otherwise  unquali- 
fied men  always  rush  off  to  new  regions  and  when  they  fail,  they  return 
to  curse  the  country  for  their  own  fault.  Iowa  would  never  have  pros- 
pered if  it  had  been  judged  by  this  standard.  And  it  is  no  more  true  as 
applied  to  South  Dakota  now  than  it  would  have  been  as  applied  to 
Iowa  then." 

Albeit  the  state  of  South  Dakota  had  produced  more  wealth  per 
capita  than  any  other  state  in  the  union  in  1889  as  shown  by  the  official 
report,  yet  the  story  of  starvation  spread.  In  January  the  Bankers  Asso- 
ciation, in  session  at  Huron,  voted  to  raise  $10,000  for  the  needy  of  the 
state,  but  continued  the  rate  of  interest  at  from  .3  to  10  per  cent  a  month. 

Of  the  great  cjuantity  of  donated  clothing  sent  to  Jerauld  county  dur- 
ing February  and  March,  1890,  many  packages  were  never  used,  but 
years  afterwards  were  thrown  out  upon  the  prairie. 

In  February  the  attention  of  the  County  Commissioners  was  called 
to  the  necessity  for  seed  grain.  Each  member  was  made  a  committee  to 
investigate  the  matter  in  the  district  in  which  he  lived.  At  the  meeting 
March  5th  the  board  resolved  to  furnish  seed  grain  to  those,  who  w^ere 
actually  destitute  and  had  no  available  means  to  obtain  the  same ;  the 
amount  to  be  furnished  not  to  exceed  30  bushels  of  wheat.  30  bushels  of 
oats  and  four  bushels  of  corn  to  any  one  person. 

After  this  order  was  made  many  who  had  seed  to  sell  refused  to  sell 
except  to  the  county.  Thus  many  were  forced  to  apply  to  the  county 
for  seed  who  would  otherwise  have  been  able  to  obtain  it  on  their  own 
security.  The  result  was  that  by  the  middle  of  April  the  county  board 
had  issued  warrants  for  seed  grain  to  the  amount  of  $2,313.27,  nearly 
all  of  which  was  furnished  by  Jerauld  county  farmers.  Each  person  who 
obtained  seed  from  the  county  gave  his  note  with  one  other  person  as 
securtity,  payable  Oct.  ist.  Every  note  was  paid  before  the  county  re- 
deemed the  warrants. 

Gov.  Mellette  received  contributions  to  the  amount  of  $35,666.46. 
Out  of  this  Jerauld  county  received  five  carloads  of  corn  for  feed  and 
$335.35  in  money,  April  20th. 

Aside  from  the  talk  of  hard  times  as  already  related  affairs  in  the 
county  went  on  about  as  susual. 


211 

On  January  6th  Henry  Herring  qualified  as  a  member  of  the  board, 
and  John  Grant  was  made  chairman. 

Sept.  1st  the  board  levied  the  tax  for  1890,  at  6  mils  for  the  county 
general  fund,  i  mill  for  the  sinking  fund  and  2  mills  for  the  bridge  fund. 
The  state  tax  that  year  was  2  mills  for  general  fund  and  four-tenths  of  a 
mill  for  the  bond  interest  fund. 

About  the  middle  of  November,  Henry  Herring  resigned  his  position 
as  county  commissioner  and  with  his  family  removed  to  the  new  state 
of  Washington. 

The  C.  M.  &  St.  P.  Ry.  tax  for  1889  amounted  to  $132.44,  of  which 
the  first  half  was  paid  in  ]\Iarch,  1890. 

The  county  spelling  contest  was  held  March  8th  and  was  won  by 
Harmony  township  with  a  class  composed  of  the  following  pupils :  Mary 
Huntley  ,Rena  Butterfield,  Anna  Titus  and  H.  L.  Pfaff.  The  oral  con- 
test was  won  by  ]\Iay  Hobert  of  Pleasant  township. 

The  county  Sunday  School  convention  was  held  Sept.  3rd. 

The  teachers'  institute  for  the  county  was  held  Sept.  22nd  with  Prof. 
Clark  !M.  Young,  of  Tyndall,  conductor,  and  S.  F.  Huntley,  assistant. 

The  lecture  course  which  had  been  planned  during  the  latter  part  of 
1889,  opened  on  the  27th  of  January  with  a  lecture  by  Col.  Copeland, 
subject,  "Snobs  and  Snobbery."'  The  last  of  the  five  lectures  in  the  course 
was  on  ^^farch  7th.  These  lectures  were  attended  by  large  audiences  com- 
posed mainly  of  farmers  and  their  families,  some  of  whom  came  20  miles, 
driving  home  in  the  night  after  the  entertainment. 

On  April  4th  the  ladies  of  the  'M.  E.  Church  at  Wessington  Springs 
disbanded  their  missionary  society  and  reorganized  under  the  name  of 
The  M.  E.  Ladies'  Aid  Society,  with  Mrs.  E.  J.  Campbell,  Prest. ;  Mrs. 
Elizabeth  Tofflemier,  Vice  Prest. ;  Mrs.  L.  A.  Stephens,  Secretary ;  and 
Mrs.  Emma  Chapman,  Treasurer. 

At  the  instance  of  'Mr.  Blosser,  of  the  True  Republican,  a  horse  show 
was  held  at  Wessington  Springs,  May  3rd  at  which  1 1  fine  stallions  were 
exhibited.  The  sweepstake  rosette  was  awarded  to  F.  S.  Coggshall's 
imported  English  shire,  "J.  B.  Sensation." 

Some  farmers  of  Dale  and  Wessington  Springs  townships  organized 
a  company  ]\Iarch  22nd  to  buy  a  thorobred  stallion.  S.  H.  Albert  and 
L.  F.  Russell  were  commissioned  to  buy  the  animal.  They  visited  several 
points  in  Iowa.  ]\Iinnesota  and  South  Dakota,  and  returned  with  a  splendid 
Clydesdale  horse  named  "Up  to  time." 

]\Iay  3rd  a  baseball  club  was  organized  at  Wessington  Springs  for 
the  season.     Among  the  players  were  ]\I.  ^f.  Flint,  Capt.,  Will  and  Al 


212 

Zink,  Jas.  Osborne,  F.  G.  Yessey,  Nate  Spears,  Myron  Pratt  and  K.  W. 
Blanchard.  A  similar  organization  was  perfected  at  Alpena  and  also  at 
Waterbury.  In  the  latter  nine  were  Joe  Collier,  Capt.,  Oscar  and  John 
Hudson,  Clell  Titus,  John  Holzer,  Tom  Bishop,  Herb  Baker,  Harry  Rex 
and  Geo.  Backus.  In  the  Alpena  club  were  Sam  H.  iNIay,  Jeff  Hillis, 
Bert  Manwaring,  Fred  Phillips,  L.  W.  Castleman  and  enough  more  to 
fill  out  the  nine.  During  the  summer  many  hotly  contested  games  were 
played,  witnessed  by  crowds  gathered  from  all  parts  of  the  county.  At 
these  contests  hard  times  and  all  else  but  the  sport  of  the  day  were  for- 
gotten. 

On  the  4th  of  July  Wessington  Springs  celebrated.  It  seemed  that 
every  man,  woman  and  child  was  present.  Two  great  attractions  were 
the  ball  game  between  Alpena  and  Wessington  Springs  clubs,  and  the 
beef  killing  by  a  band  of  Crow  Creek  Indians,  although  there  was  much 
favorable  mention  of  a  speech  delivered  by  W.  B.  Sterling,  of  Huron. 

Great  interest  was  manifested  in  the  west  part  of  the  county  in  a 
series  of  Sunday  school  institutes  held  in  Pleasant  township. 

At  Alpena  the  race  track  commenced  the  year  before  was  completed 
and  on  the  23rd  of  July  the  first  racing  meet  was  held  there.  Horses 
were  entered  by  Ray  Barber,  Owen  Ferguson,  John  Chamberlain,  besides 
many  from  other  parts  of  the  state.  Centerville,  Aberdeen,  Groton.  Mil- 
ler, Rhee  Heights,  Pierre,  White  Lake  and  Springfield  were  all  repre- 
sented by  horses  at  the  Alpena  races  in  1890. 


Chapter  3. 

While  the  market  prices  in  1890  were  a  little  better  than  in  the  pre- 
ceding year,  yet  they  were  so  low  as  to  materially  eft'ect  activity  in  busi- 
ness matters.  In  Sioux  City  hogs  were  S3.62,  cattle  (stockers),  $2.65 
to  $3.15.  In  Chicago  the  price  of  wheat  was  $1.00,  oats  48c,  corn  50c, 
butter  9c  to  i/C,  and  eggs  i6c. 

In  February  Mr.  Herring,  a  merchant  at  Waterbury  took  to  \\'oon- 
socket  4000  pounds  of  dairy  butter  that  he  had  taken  in  at  his  store. 

April  1st  O.  P.  Hull,  a  merchant  of  Waterbury,  closed  a  deal  by 
which  he  became  proprietor  of  the  Roth  Bros,  store  at  W^essington 
Springs.  As  a  result  of  this  move  Mr.  Louis  Roth  took  charge  of  the 
store  at  Alpena,  and  Theo.  Roth  opened  a  store  at  West  Superior,  Wis. 

In  September  F.  B.  Phillips  purchased  a  half  interest  in  Grant  Mc- 
Lean's hardware  store  at  Alpena. 


213 


Jefferson  Sickler. 


C.   W.  England. 


F.  T.  Tofflemier. 


Mrs.  F.  T.  Tofflemier. 


Mr.   and  Mrs.  J.   R.  Edd\. 


IVm.  Webber.        D.  F.  Moulton.         IV.  F.  Yegge.  J,  N.  Smith. 


214 

July  ist  G.  N.  Price  retired  from  all  the  mail  routes  in  Jerauld  county 
and  a  change  was  made  in  driver  on  nearly  all  the  lines.  H.  D.  Howell 
of  Woonsocket,  took  the  Woonsocket  line.  George  A'anous,  the  Crow 
Lake  Line,  David  Glen  the  Waterbury  line,  while  E.  U.  Cummings  took 
the  lines  from  Miller  to  Mt.  Vernon. 

In  June  1890  the  county  was  again  visited  by  hot  winds  and  crops 
of  small  grain  badly  damaged.  The  hot  winds  are  often  confused  with 
the  idea  of  a  drouth,  but  in  fact  there  was  rain  in  both  1889  and  1890 
enough  to  have  matured  splendid  crops.  The  damage  was  owing  by  a 
few  days  of  hot  wind  each  year,  just  at  the  time  when  the  gram  was 
forming. 

The  Woodburn  building  in  Wessington  Springs,  which  was  built 
where  the  First  National  Bank  building  now  stands,  was  completed  by 
the  forepart  of, July  and  Albert  &  Vessey  took  possession  with  their 
stock.  This  firm  had  purchased  the  mercantile  stock  of  J.  H.  \'essey  in 
the  latter  part  of  April. 

On  April  23rd  Hinds  &  Anderson  of  Woonsocket  established  a  branch 
meat  market  in  Wessington  Springs,  but  a  few  weeks  later  sold  the  shop 
to  F.  E.  Caldwell  of  Sioux  Falls. 

Mrs.  J.  M.  Spears  began  work  on  the  addition.  20x46,  to  her  hotel 
on  March  28th,  S.  Marlenee  doing  the  work.  When  the  building  was 
completed  Mrs.  Spears  named  the  building  "The  \\'illard."  and  on  the 
south  side  of  the  office  she  planted  a  rose  bush  which  she  named  "The 
Willard  Rose."     Both  the  hotel  and  bush  are  still  thriving. 

Morse  &  La  Pont  dissolved  partnership  March  22nd,  ^^Ir.  Morse  con- 
tinuing the  hardware  business  and  La  Pont  retiring  because  of  failing 
health. 

In  April  Mrs.  Weddle  opened  a  millinery  shop  on  the  south  side  of 
Main  street,  which  she  conducted  during  the  summer. 

In  March  Wm.  Kline  began  business  as  a  blacksmith  in  what  was 
known  as  the  Woodburn  shop  and  a  few  weeks  later  F.  L.  Wood  moved 
to  Wessington  Springs  from  Crow  Lake  and  began  blacksmithing  in  a 
shop  owned  by  E.  L.  Smith. 

In  September  another  change  was  made  in  the  old  Roth  I'ros.  store, 
O.  P.  Hull  selling  the  stock  to  George  and  E.  E.  Burger. 

For  the  convenience  of  themselves  and  the  ])ublic  Albert  &  \'essey  put 
in  a  set  of  scales  on  the  west  side  of  the  street  oposite  the  Woodburn 
building.     This  was  done  in  November. 

In  the  spring  of  1890  a  board  of  trade  was  organized  in  Wessington 
Springs  that  was  of  great  benefit  in  keeping  up  the  business  interest  of 
the  village.  The  officers  of  this  association  were  C.  W.  Lane.  Pre^t. : 
y.  LI.  Woodburn.  \'.  Prest. :  E.  C.  Nord\-ke.  Sec. :  R.  S.  \'essev,  Treas. 


21! 


The  executive  committee  were  C.  H.  Stephens,  A.  M.  Mathias,  B.  B. 
Blosser,  W.  N.  Hill  and  P.  R.  Barrett  .  One  of  the  first  projects  that 
engaged  the  attention  of  the  board  was  the  establishment  of  a  creamery. 
On  Dec.  lo,  1890,  arrangements  were  completed  with  Mr.  J.  C.  Longland 
to  open  such  an  institution  in  the  spring  of  1891. 

On  January  8th,  1890,  Alpena  petitioned  the  board  of  county  commis- 
sioners for  permission  to  incorporate.  The  petition  was  granted  subject 
to  an  election  to  be  held  on  the  29th  of  April.  The  territory  to  be  em- 
braced within  .the  proposed  incorporation  is  described  as  follows :  Be- 
ginning at  the  southeast  corner  of  Section  11 — 108 — 63,  running  thence 
north  along  the  section  line  to  the  northeast  corner  of  the  SE  quarter  of 
Sec.  2,  thence  west  to  the  northwest  corner  of  the  SE  quarter  of  Sec.  3. 
thence  south  to  the  southwest  corner  of  the  SE  quarter  of  Sec.  10,  thence 
east  to  the  place  of  beginning.  At  the  election  the  people  of  the  territory 
described  voted  to  incorporate  and  at  the  election  for  municipal  officers, 
Isaac  Pearce,  Richard  Davenport,  and  L.  X.  Loomis  were  made  village 
trustees,  Ray  Barber,  clerk ;  Davids  Thumb,  assessor ;  D.  S.  IManwaring, 
treasurer;  David  Orwig,  marshall ;  and  W.  W.  Huxtable,  justice. 

In  June  1890  the  I.  O.  G.  T.  lodge  of  Alpena  had  nearly  100  mem- 
bers. C.  D.  Worral  and  W.  W.  Huxtable  were  sent  as  delegates  to  the 
grand  lodge,  which  met  at  Aberdeen.  At  this  meeting  Air.  Huxtable 
was  made  treasurer  of  the  grand  lodge  of  the  state. 

As  in  all  former  years,  so  in  1890,  politics  became  a  matter  of  most 
absorbing  interest.  In  Jerauld  county  the  politicians  were  confronted 
with  a  condition  that  had  never  existed  before.  It  was  nothing  less  than 
a  revolt  of  the  farmers  from  the  domination  of  the  so-called  "leaders"  in 
politics.  It  is  undoubtedly  true,  always,  that  in  the  game  of  politics  hard 
times  will  find  voters  associating  with  strange  playfellows. 

With  the  beginning  of  the  year  men  prominent  in  the  farmers'  alliance 
began  to  reorganize  the  societies  in  all  the  counties  of  the  state  and  mak- 
ing them  secret  organizations. 

A  meeting  of  the  state  alliance  about  the  middle  of  June  had  submitted 
to  the  various  county  alliances  the  question  of  joining  in  independent 
political  action.  The  Jerauld  county  alliance  at  a  meeting  held  June 
2 1  St  decided  to  join  the  movement  and  a  convention  was  called  for  Jul}- 
5th  to  elect  three  delegates  to  a  state  convention  to  be  held  July  9th  in 
the  city  of  Huron.  At  this  county  convention  S.  S.  Vrooman,  I.  H. 
French  and  C.  C.  Wright  were  elected  to  attend  the  convention  at  Huron. 
It  was  also  voted  to  put  a  full  county  ticket  in  the  field.  Every  township 
in  the  county,  except  Dale,  was  represented  with  full  delegations,  and 
every  member  a  farmer.  A  county  committee  composed  of  one  commit- 
teeman from  each  township,  was  elected  and  instructed  to  call  a  county 


2l6 

convention  to  be  held  before  either  of  the  old  parties  had  nominated  a 
county  ticket. 

The  township  committeemen  were  as  follows : 

Alpena,  W.  J.  Winters;  Anina,  J.  A.  Swan;  Blaine,  C.  W.  Parker; 
Chery,  W.  Horsley ;  Crow,  Wm.  Austin ;  Crow  Lake,  David  Moulton ; 
Dale,  Andrew  Mercer ;  Franklin,  A.  J.  Bevins ;  Harmony,  C.  W.  Mills ; 
Logan,  H.  A.  Frick ;  Alarlar,  J.  E.  Marshall;  Media,  W.  A.  Flousel ; 
Pleasant,  H.  P.  Faust;  Viola,  Chas.  Walters;  Wessington  Springs,  W. 
N.  Hill. 

Mr.  Hill  was  the  only  man  on  the  committee  who  was  not  a  farmer. 
He  was  elected  chairman  and  called  the  committee  together  immediately 
after  adjournment  of  the  convention.  They  called  a  county  nominating 
convention  for  Tuesday,  July  15th,  the  caucuses  to  be  held  on  Monday 
the  14th. 

At  the  convention  on  the  15th  the  Lidependents  put  in  nomination  the 
following  ticket : 

Representative — \'.  L  Converse. 

Register  of  Deeds — F.  W.  Whitney. 

Auditor — O.  J.  Marshall. 

Treasurer — P.  H.  Shultz. 

Sheriff— Pat  jMcDonald. 

County  Judge — A.  L  Churchill. 

District  Attorney — C.  W.  McDonald. 

Clerk  of  Courts — S.  S.  Vrooman. 

Supt.  of  Schools — Jennie  Miles. 

Assessor — H.  A.  Frick. 

Surveyor — B.  R.  Shimp. 

Coroner — John  Chapman. 

J.  N.  Smith,  of  Viola  township  was  indorsed  for  the  state  senate. 

On  July  19th  the  Republicans  held  their  county  convention  and  nom- 
inated the  following  candidates: 

Representative — John  Teasdale. 
Register  of  Deeds — A.  J.  Miller. 
Auditor — A.  Bywater. 
Treasurer — H.  J.  Wallace. 
County  Judge — A.  Converse. 
District  Attorney — E.  C.  Nordyke. 
Sherifif— J.  R.  Eddy. 
Clerk  of  Courts — N.  J.  Dunham. 
Supt.  of  Schools — Geo.  O.  Williams. 


217 

Assessor — D.  B.  Paddock. 

Surveyor — T.  L.  Blank. 

Coroner — A.  AI.  Mathias. 

S.  F.  Huntley  was  indorsed  for  the  state  senate. 

The  Democrats  held  a  county  convention  Sept.  4th  and  placed  the 
following  ticket  in  nomination: 

Representative — Jeff.  Sickler. 

Register  of  Deeds — F.  W.  Whitney., 

Auditor — S.  B.  Shimp. 

Treasurer — H.  J.  Wallace. 

Sheriff — Pat  McDonald. 

Judge — M.  C.  Ayers. 

Attorney — J.  R.  Francis.  v 

Clerk  of  Courts — W.  L.  Arnold. 

Supt.  of  Schools — Mary  A.  Williams. 

Assessor — Fred  Kater. 

Surveyor — B.  R.  Shimp. 

Coroner — E.  L.  Turner. 

At  the  district  senatorial  conventions,  both  of  which  were  held  at  Wa- 
terbury,  the  Independents  nominated  J.  N.  Smith  and  the  Republicans, 
S.  F.  Huntley. 

In  the  2nd  commissioner  district  the  Independents  nominated  M.  A. 
Schaefer  and  the  Republicans  renominated  John  Grant. 

All  through  the  campaign  the  Independents  showed  the  effects  of 
superior  organization.  The  Republicans  could  not  overcome  the  results 
of  the  factional  fighting  of  previous  years.  The  Democrats  made  no 
efforts  to  carry  their  ticket. 

Equal  suffrage  was  made  an  issue  in  the  campaign  but  was  not  taken 
seriously  by  the  voters  generally. 

The  election  came  on  Nov.  4th  and  resulted  in  the  overwhelming  de- 
feat of  the  Republican  ticket  except  as  to  treasurer,  superintendent  and 
assessor. 

The  alliance  had  won  in  the  political  battle  so  far  as  several  of  the 
counties  were  concerned,  but  the  Republicans  had  carried  the  state. 

The  first  term  of  Circuit  court  under  statehood  was  held  May  5,  1890, 
Hon.  Dick  Haney,  judge. 

In  the  campaign  of  1890  the  contestants  for  the  state  capital  were 
Pierre  and  Huron,  the  former  carrying  Jerauld  county  by  a  large  maj- 
ority. During  the  summer  Pierre  had  kept  two  squads  of  surveyors 
traversing  the  western  part  of  the  county  and  surveyed  two  lines  from 
northwest  to  southeast,  just  as  Huron  the  previous  year  had  surveyed 
pretended  railroad  lines  from  northeast  to  southwest. 


2l8 

Chapter  4. 

The' beginning  of  1891  found  a  feeling  of  depression  existing  among 
all  classes  of  people.  The  numerous  expeditions  in  search  of  charity,  in- 
dulged in  by  so  many  people  had  a  demoralizing  effect  upon  the  public 
generally,  and  to  this  was  added  the  effect  of  a  second  year  of  poor 
crops.  The  political  campaign  of  1890  had  been  fought  upon  the  propo- 
sition that  the  people  were  the  victims  of  great  governmental  wrongs,  and 
from  every  school  house  and  public  hall  they  constantly  heard  how  very 
poor  they  were.  The  result  was  a  feeling  of  unrest.  Many  sold  out  and 
moved  away,  some  moved  away  without  selling.  The  places  of  those  who 
left  were  in  many  instances,  taken  by  others  who  came,  some  from  Iowa, 
some  from  Illinois,  while  many  of  those  who  left  the  county  in  1891  re- 
turned in  that  or  succeeding  years  to  rent  the  former  home  or  other  land 
near  by.  Among  those  who  came  while  the  old  settlers  were  leaving  were 
Wm.  Webber,  who  bought  land  in  Viola  township,  Lewis  Haskins,  who 
purchased  the  old  Nordyke  farms  in  Harmony,  and  A.  ]\IcCloud,  to  buy 
a  home  in  Chery  township. 

January  3rd,  1891,  the  board  of  county  commissioners  met  in  special 
session  to  act  upon  the  resignation  of  H.  Herring,  of  the  3rd  district  and 
to  appoint  his  successor.  After  accepting  the  resignation  the  remaining 
members.  Grant  and  Eastman,  called  in  the  register  of  deeds,  F.  W.  Whit- 
ney, and  the  county  judge,  A.  I.  Churchill,  and  organized  a  board  to  ap- 
point a  new  member  in  place  of  Mr.  Herring.  The  appointing  board 
ballotted  several  times,  the  result  being  two  for  F.  S.  Coggshall  of 
Pleasant,  and  two  for  Jefferson  Sickler  of  Harmony.  The  county  treas- 
urer, H.  J.  Wallace,  was  then  called  in,  who  voted  for  ^Mr.  Coggshall, 
and  he  was  declared  elected. 

On  the  same  day  the  board  perfected  an  arrangement  by  which  the 
county  became  the  owner  of  a  quarter  section  of  land  in  Media  township, 
owned  by  Mrs.  Mary  Smith,  the  consideration  being  that  the  county 
should  provide  Mrs.  Smith  a  home  and  care  for  her  as  long  as  she 
should  live.  A  residence  was  accordingly  built  on  one  of  the  county  lots 
near  the  court  house,  and  in  it  the  aged  widow  found  a  home  for  several 
years.  This  event  in  the  county's  history  is  made  the  subject  of  a  touch- 
ing story  written  by  Mrs.  J\Iaud  Cotton,  formerly  Maud  Campbell,  a 
daughter  of  Rev.  J-  C.  Campbell.  The  story  appears  in  the  appendix 
to  this  volume. 

On  January  5th  M.  A.  Schaefer  took  the  oath  as  commissioner  to 
succeed  Mr.  Grant  from  the  2nd  district. 

Jerauld  Countv"?  first  installment  of  money  from  tlie  leasing  of  school 


219 


JVillard  Hotel  1890. 


Jl'oodbiirn  House  in  1886. 


220 

lands  of  the  state  came  on  the  14th  of  January,   1891,  and  amounted  ta 
$273-85. 

Following  the  precedent  of  the  previous  year  the  board  decided  to 
furnish  seed  grain  to  farmers  of  the  county  who  desired  it.  Accordingly^ 
on  the  20th  of  March  an  arrangement  was  made  with  L.  N.  Loomis  to 
furnish  grain,  not  to  exceed  $50  in  amount,  to  any  one  person,  at  the 
following  prices:  Wheat  92c  to  94c;  millet,  $1.00  to  $1.10;  flax,  $1.35; 
oats,  50c.  Some  grain  was  purchased  from  farmers  in  the  county  who 
had  a  surplus  on  hand.  The  total  amount  of  seed  grain  provided  by  the 
county  in  the  spring  of  1891  was  $6,936.98.  To  secure  payment  for  the 
grain  so  furnished  the  county  filed  liens  on  the  crops  sown.  On  April 
9th  122  seed  liens  were  filed. 

During  the  first  six  months  of  1891  the  county  expended  $508.11  in 
support  of  the  poor. 

As  usual  with  the  spring  rains  which  are  always  abundant,  hope  re- 
vived and  the  settlers  busied  themselves  with  putting  in  their  crops. 

A  few  had  been  furnished  with  a  small  amount  of  grain  by  societies 
of  which  they  w'ere  members.  The  I.  O.  O.  F.  secured  $100  to  be  ex- 
pended in  seed  grain  for  needy  members  of  the  order. 

The  State  Farmers'  Alliance  sent  1435  pounds  of  seed  grain  to  each 
of  the  14  alliances  in  the  county.  In  ]\Iarlar  township  the  alliance  mem- 
bers got  together  and  sowed  the  grain  thus  received  on  a  piece  of  corn 
ground  that  had  been  abandoned  by  some  discouraged  settler.  Together 
they  harvested  and  threshed  the  crop.  The  yield  was  262  bushels  of 
wheat  and  36  bushels  of  oats,  which  they  divided  equally. 

The  winter  of  1890-91  was  an  open  winter  and  very  mild,  but  little 
snow  falling  until  the  7th  of  February,  from  which  time  it  fell  heavih' 
until  spring,  when  it  was  followed  by  heavy  rains  until  about  the  ist  of 
May.  Then  it  stopped.  Probably  the  most  discouraging  period  in  the 
history  of  the  county  was  during  the  month  of  May,  1891.  The  surface 
of  the  ground  became  dry  and  dusty.  The  vegetation  turned  from  green 
to  brown  and  then  yellow.  By  the  25th  of  the  month  there  were  many 
fields  of  wheat  that  did  not  show  even  a  shade  of  green — the  plants  ap- 
peared to  be  dead.  In  the  corn  fields  and  late  sown  fields  of  small  grain, 
cut  worms  appeared  in  countless  numbers.  They  moved  across  fields 
like  an  army  devouring  every  green  thing. 

Some  farmers  gave  up  in  dispair  and  started  to  go.  They  knew  not 
where.     Then  the  rains  came. 

It  was  a  year  of  wonderful  crops.  All  over  Jerauld  county  the  rains 
came  as  needed.  On  some  abandoned  wheat  fields  of  the  year  before 
a  crop  volunteered  with  no  cultivation  and  yielded  8  to  10  bushels  per 
acre.     The  largest  yield  of  the  year — or  of  any  year — in  Jerauld  county,. 


221 


was  on  a  field  of  12  acres,  a  part  of  the  farm  of  D.  A.  Scott,  in  Media 
township  at  the  foot  of  the  hills,  on  section  i,  occupied  by  W.  L.  Arnold, 
v.'here  forty-seven  bushels  per  acre  was  harvested.  The  crop  of  over  100 
acres  made  an  average  yield  of  ^^  bushels  per  acre. 

In  Blaine  township  over  700  stacks  of  wheat  could  be  counted  from 
one  point,  besides  hundreds  of  acres  in  shock. ' 

And  the  prices  of  farm  produce,  too,  were  better.  In  Sioux  City  on 
Sept.  28th,  hogs  were  $4.50;  cattle  (stockers)  $2.00  to  $2.50.  In  Chi- 
cago wheat  was  96c;  corn  40c;  oats  26c;  flax  98;  butter  (creamery)  20c 
to  31C,  dairy  17c  to  19c;  eggs  17c  to  i8c.  On  April  loth,  the  local  paper 
thought  it  worthy  of  mention  that  granulated  sugar  had  come  down  to 
17  pounds  for  a  dollar. 

The  rate  of  interest  on  money  remained  at  from  three  to  ten  per  cent 
a  month. 

In  1 89 1  there  was  much  discussion  of  the  subject  of  sinking  artesian 
wells  in  various  townships  for  purpose  of  irrigation.  In  Media  township 
during  the  first  week  in  August,  County  Surveyor  Shimp  located  sites 
for  eight  such  wells.  The  matter  was  submitted  to  the  voters  of  the  town- 
ship on  December  22nd  and  voted  down. 

In  Viola  township  artesian  wells  became  a  matter  of  private  enter- 
prise and  were  contracted  for,  in  January,  by  Peter  Klink,  P.  H.  Shultz 
and  Chas.  Walters.  The  drillers  commenced  at  once  on  Klink's  farm 
and  pushed  the  work  as  rapidly  as  possible.  In  some  way  the  driller 
blundered  and  the  Klink  well  failed  after  striking  the  flow.  He  then 
abandoned  his  contracts. 

In  Anina  township  S.  S.  Moore  began  work  on  a  well  on  his  farm 
and  kept  at  it  all  summer  gaining  a  depth  of  over  1200  feet,  but  failed 
to  secure  a  flowing  well. 

In  this  year  it  was  proposed  to  issue  bonds  to  take  up  the  outstanding 
county  warrants,  which  were  selling  at  80  to  90  cents  on  the  dollar.  The 
county  was  now  receiving  more  from  taxes  than  was  required  to  pay 
running  expenses,  and  by  refunding  the  debt  which  amounted  to  about 
$16,000,  the  warrants  could  have  been  held  at  par.  The  project  was  de- 
feated however,  mainly  through  the  influence  of  speculators,  who  were 
dealing  in  county  warrants. 

The  farmers,  realizing  the  benefits  to  be  derived  from  the  operation 
of  the  farmers  elevator  at  Alpena,  pledged  2000  bushels  of  wheat  as  a 
fund  with  which  to  do  business.  Shares  of  stock  were  sold  and  the  debt 
of  the  institution  paid. 

In  January  plans  were  suggested  for  establishing  a  creamery  at  Wes- 
sington  Springs.  The  matter  was  taken  up  by  the  Wessington  Springs 
Board  of  Trade  and  in  February  arrangements  were  perfected  with  Mr. 


222 

j.  C.  Longland  to  put  in  a  plant.  The  old  agricultural  hall  was  moved  up 
from  the  fair  grounds  and  given  to  Mr.  Longland  as  a  bonus  and  with 
it  was  given  the  use  of  five  acres  of  ground  on  the  section  line  road  run- 
ning east  and  west  through  the  north  part  of  town.  Work  was  pushed 
as  fast  as  possible  and  in  May  Mr.  Longland  started  his  wagons  gather- 
ing the  cream  from  all  parts  of  the  county. 

The  True  Republican  annual  spelling  contest  occurred  at  Wessington 
Springs  on  the  14th  of  March,  1891.  The  first  grade  prize  for  written 
work  was  won  by  Samuel  Nelson,  Harry  Nelson  and  George  Stephens, 
tliey  forming  the  class  from  Anina  township.  The  second  grade  prize 
was  won  by  a  class  from  the  same  township  composed  of  Alex.  A'essey, 
Frank  and  Clarence  Moore.  The  prize  for  oral  spelling  was  won  by 
John  Riegal,  of  Logan  township. 

The  county  teachers  institute  began  on  the  7th  of  Sept.  and  continued 
one  week,  with  Prof.  Parker  as  conductor. 

^Monthly  Sunday  School  institutes  were  continued  in  the  west  part 
of  the  county  during  the  summer  and  autumn. 

The  annual  Sunday  School  convention  was  held  at  Wessington 
Springs  on  June  24th. 

In  Franklin  township  two  Sunday  Schools  were  organized  in  the 
spring  of  1891,  one  at  the  Kogle  school  house,  April  5th,  with  C.  M. 
Clark,  Supt.,  and  one  at  Rock  Valley  in  May. 

In  December  a  Christian  Endeavor  Society  was  organized  at  Wes- 
sington Springs,  the  officers  being,  T.  L.  Blank.  Prest.;  Mary  A.  Wil- 
liams, V.  Prest. ;  and  Anna  S.  Flannebuth,  Sec.  and  Treas. 

At  Alpena  a  Presbyterian  church  was  organized  by  Rev.  Hill,  synod- 
ical  missionary,  on  May  4th,  the  opening  sermon  being  preached  by  Rev. 
Edwin  Brown.  The  original  members  were  Mr.  and  Mrs.  C.  ]\I.'  Clark, 
by  letter  from  Woon socket  church ;  Mr.  John  Houmes  and  J\Iiss  Lena 
Houmes,  from  Rose  Hill  church ;  Airs.  Mary  Houmes,  from  Woon- 
socket  church;  Mr.  and  Mrs.  C.  D.  Worrall  and  their  sons;  Harry  E.. 
James  W.,  and  Charles  Worrall,  from  Rose  Hill;  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Wm. 
Strain,  by  profession.  During  the  first  two  years  of  its  existence  the 
church  was  supplied  by  Rev.  Hill,  as  minister,  helped  by  Rev.  Work. 
The  elders  of  the  new  church  were  C.  M.  Clark  and  C.  D.  Worrall.  The 
trustees  were  John  Houmes  and  O.  G.  Woodrufl^.  The  first  representa- 
tive to  presbytery  was  C.  M.  Clark ;  the  first  delegate  to  synod  was  C 
D.  Worrall. 

In  this  year  the  congregational  church  at  Templeton  disbanded  and 
tlie  membership  united  with  the  church  of  that  denomination  at  Wessing- 
ton Springs,  on  the  20th  day  of  September.  The  Wessington  Springs 
church  vv'as  then  under  the  pastorate  of  Rev.  C.  V.  Martin,  who  assumed 


223 

that  position  April  ist,  1891,  and  continued  until  Oct.  4th,  when  he  was 
succeeded  by  Rev.  Jeremiah  Kimball.  This  church  had  been  organized 
on  the  20th  day  of  June,  1886,  with  Rev.  S.  F.  Huntley,  pastor.  The 
original  members  were  Mr.  and  Mrs.  T.  L.  Blank,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  E.  V. 
?^liles,  Mr.  and  ]\Irs.  George  W.  Bennet  and  their  daughter  Minnie, 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  James  F.  Ford,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  F.  M.  Brown,  and  Mr.  C. 
M.  Chery.  Mr.  Huntley  remained  pastor  until  June  3rd,  1887,  when 
services  were  discontinued.  ]\Ir.  Kimball  had  charge  of  the  church  until 
June  1st,  1893,  when  Air.  Huntley  again  took  the  position  and  held  it 
until  Oct.  24,  1899,  during  which  time  a  church  and  parsonage  were 
built.  Rev.  Jesse  Buswell  was  then  pastor  until  June  23rd,  1900.  He 
was  succeeded  on  July  5th  by  Rev.  J.  B.  Reese,  who  had  charge  of  the 
church  until  Oct.  ist,  1901.  He  was  followed  by  Rev.  James  Davies  until 
July  1st,  1905.  Then  came  Rev.  John  E.  Hughes  till  July  ist,  1906, 
when  Rev.  Lauriston  Reynolds  took  the  pastorate. 

In  1 89 1  several  changes  were  made  in  the  newspaper  field.  On  April 
24th  O.  J.  Marshall  discontinued  the  alliance  column  in  the  True  Re- 
publican and  on  May  8th  a  stock  company,  known  as  the  Jerauld  County 
Publishing  Company  issued  the  first  number  of  "The  Dakota  Sieve,"  a 
paper  devoted  to  the  interest  of  the  Independent  party,  with  C.  W.  Hill, 
editor  and  B.  W.  Moore,  printer.  In  the  same  month.  May,  Messrs.  L. 
W.  Kreidler  and  H.  H.  Gunderson  leased  the  Herald  from  Blank  &  Blank 
for  three  years,  but  on  Dec.  i8th  j\Ir.  Blosser  announced  that  he  had 
purchased  that  paper  and  merged  it  with  the  True  Republican.  At  Al- 
pena, about  the  middle  of  January  Air.  Simpson  suddenly  abandoned  jour- 
nalistic work  in  Jerauld  county,  and  Mr.  Ray  Barber  took  editorial  charge 
of  the  Journal. 

In  the  postal  service  of  the  county  the  changes  made  were :  The  ap- 
pointment of  Airs.  P.  R.  Barrett  to  be  postmistress  at  Wessington  Springs. 
She  received  her  commission  on  Alay  5th.  In  Sept.  O.  G.  Woodruff,  of 
Alpena,  was  appointed  post  office  inspector  for  Jerauld  county. 

On  July  1st,  1891.  a  U.  S.  weather  reporting  station  was  located  at 
Wessington  Springs  with  Air.  Harvey  Russ,  reporter.  The  station  is 
still  maintained. 

In  the  forepart  of  Sept.  the  public  school  house  which,  according  to 
the  law  in  force  at  the  time  it  was  erected,  had  been  built  one  mile  east 
of  the  township  line,  was  moved  into  the  village  and  placed  near  where 
the  Oliver  Hotel  stands. 

In  business  afifairs  but  few  changes  were  made  in  the  county.  At 
Waterbury  O.  P.  Hull  tore  down  the  building  previously  occupied  by 
him  and  shipped  it  to  a  suburb  of  Chicago,  where  it  was  rebuilt.  In 
Wessington  Springs  in  Sept.  the  Wessington  Springs  Bank  was  incor- 


224 

porated  with  a  capital  of  $5,000.  The  incorporators  were  L.  L.  Lane,  of 
Rochester,  ]\linn.,  E.  J.  and  C.  W.  Lane,  of  Wessington  Springs. 

In  August  S.  T.  Leeds  moved  to  Wessington  Springs  and  began 
blacksmithing  in  a  shop  owned  by  G.  N.  Price. 

At  Alpena  J.  A.  Crawford  and  Isaac  Crawford  who  had  been  in 
partnership  as  blacksmiths  dissolved  the  firm  and  Isaac  continued  the 
business  alone.  About  the  same  time,  James  McDowell  and  E.  G.  Kins- 
man formed  a  partnership  and  for  two  years  operated  a  blacksmith  shop 
together. 

In  the  summer  of  1891  George  Arne  entered  the  mercantile  business 
in  Alpena  on  the  south  side  of  Main  street. 

About  the  same  time  F.  B.  Phillips  bought  Grant  McLean's  interest 
in  the  hardware  business,  and  Manwaring  Bros,  succeeded  Roth  Bros,  in 
general  merchandise  in  I.  O.  O.  F.  building. 

On  the  29th  of  August  the  whole  county  was  shocked  by  the  report 
that  Hon.  V.  I.  Converse  in  a  fit  of  temporary  insanity  had  committed 
suicide  by  hanging  himself  in  his  barn  at  his  home  in  Anina  township. 

Politics  attracted  but  little  attention  in  Jerauld  county  in  1891.  But 
one  count}'  officer  was  to  be  elected  and  that  was  a  commissioner  to  suc- 
ceed Mr.  Eastman  in  the  east  district.  The  Republicans  nominated  Mr. 
R.  Vanderveen,  of  Dale  township,  and  the  Independents,  Mr.  David  Mc- 
Dowall,  of  Franklin.  The  election  resulted  in  favor  of  the  Independents 
and  McDowall  was  elected. 

Mr.  John  R.  Gamble,  member  of  congress,  having  died,  an  election 
was  called  by  the  governor  to  fill  the  vacancy.  The  election  was  held  at 
the  usual  time  (the  first  Tuesday  after  the  first  INIonday  in  November), 
and  Col.  J.  L.  Jolly,  the  Republican  candidate,  carried  the  county  by  a 
plurality  of  six  votes.  The  election  was  held  under  the  provisions  of  the 
new  "Australian  ballot"  law. 


Chapter  5. 

If  the  history  of  South  Dakota  journalism  is  ever  written  the  year 
1892  will  be  pointed  to  as  the  time  when  journalistic  billingsgate  was 
most  in  use.  There  were  but  three  newspapers  in  the  county.  Mr.  Bar- 
ber, who  though  not  a  newspaper  man  by  profession  or  experience,  yet 
conducted  a  spicy  but  clean  paper,  turned  the  Journal  office  at  Alpena 
over  to  Mr.  Henry  T.  Griggs,  an  ex-preacher,  from  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 
The  character  of  the  paper  changed  materially.     At  Wessington  Springs 


22  = 


Mr.  Hull  left  the  Sieve  on  the  28th  of  July  after  having  made  of  it  one 
of  the  most  ably  edited  papers  ever  published  in  the  county.  Logical, 
fluent  and  witty,  yet  he  kept  his  publication  free  from  anything  that  could 
be  offensive  to  any  person's  sense  of  decency.  Blosser  continued  in 
charge  of  the  True  Republican.  He  was  a  printer  by  trade  and  a  thor- 
ough journalist  with  high  ideals.  Articles  with  anonymous  signatures 
that  made  detrimental  reference  to  any  person  were  refused  admission 
to  his  columns.  In  all  cases  he  insisted  upon  such  articles  being  signed 
by  the  writers  true  name.  What  he  termed  "gorrilla"  journalism  he 
would  not  tolerate. 

Probably  some  excuse  may  be  found  for  a  change  that  occurred  in 
the  tone  of  the  papers  in  the  fact  that  the  campaign  which  began  in  July 
became  one  of  the  most  personally  bitter  ones  imaginable.  Such  expres- 
sions as  dude,  liar,  suck  pump,  slush  bucket  and  kindred  expressions, 
were  in  common  use.  It  is  but  fair  to  Mr.  Blosser  to  say  that  he  main- 
tained for  his  paper  the  same  standard  of  excellence  during  all  the  years 
he  had  control  of  it. 

The  year  1892  was  presidential  election  time  and  the  work  began 
early.  The  Alliance  began  holding  political  meetings  in  February  and 
held  them  in  every  township  in  the  county.  After  the  Independents  and 
Republican  national  conventions  both  parties  held  enthusiastic  ratification 
meetings  at  Wessington  Springs.  But  two  county  tickets  were  put  in 
the  field.     The  Republicans  made  the  following  nominations : 

Register  of  Deeds — David  F.  Moulton. 

Auditor — W.  B.  Wilson. 

Treasurer — F.  S.  Coggshall. 

Sheriff— Wm.  Orr. 

County  Judge — Alonzo  Converse. 

District  x\ttorney — C.  W.  McDonald. 

Clerk  of  Courts — Geo.  R.  Bateman. 

Supt.  of  Schools — Mrs.  N.  J.  Dunham. 

Assessor — J.  C.  Longland. 

Surveyor — Adam  West. 

Legislative — Senate,  J.  B.  Milliken.  of  Alpena  and  Representative, 
Ezra  Cleveland,  of  Buftalo  county. 

The  Democrats  and  Independents  joined  forces  and  put  out  the  fol- 
lowing ticket : 

Register  of  Deeds — E.  G.  Will  I. 

Auditor — O.  J.  Marshall,  I. 

Treasurer— P.  H.  Shultz,  I. 

Sheriff— K.  S.  Starkey,  I. 

County  Judge — J.  R.  Francis,  D. 


226 

District  Attorney — M.  C.  Ayers,  D. 

Clerk  of  Courts — S.  S.  Vrooman,  I. 

Supt.  of  Schools— T.  L.  White,  D. 

Assessor — Jas.  McDonald,  I. 

Surveyor — B.  R.  Shimp,  D. 

Coroner — E.  L.  Turner. 

Legislative — Senate,  J.  N.  Smith,  of  Jerauld  county,  and  Representa- 
tive, James  Leach,  of  Buffalo  county. 

For  county  commissioner  for  the  3rd  district  the  Independents  nom- 
inated C.  S.  Barber,  of  Pleasant  township,  and  the  Republicans  D.  B. 
Paddock  of  Logan. 

For  the  first,  (and  only)  time  in  the  history  of  the  county,  the  teach- 
ers as  an  organized  body  took  a  hand  in  politics.  The  county  teachers' 
institute  met  on  Sept.  5th  and  continued  in  session  two  weeks,  Prof. 
Jones,  of  Chamberlain,  being  the  conductor.  During  this  institute  a 
teachers'  association  was  formed.  Mr.  Williams  during  his  term  as 
county  superintendent,  had  become  very  popular  with  the  educators  of 
the  county,  and  they  now,  with  but  few  exceptions  signed  a  request  to 
both  the  Independent  and  Republican  candidates  to  decline  the  nomina- 
tions that  had  been  tendered  them  and  allow  Mr.  Williams  a  clear  field 
as  a  candidate,  independent  of  party  politics.  Both  the  other  candidates 
submitted  the  matter  to  their  party  county  committees  and  the  request 
was  denied. 

The  teachers  then  urged  Mr.  Williams  to  become  a  third  candidate 
and  he  consented. 

The  election  was  held  on  Nov.  8th,  and  the  following  officers  were 
elected : 

Treasurer — F.  S.  Coggshall. 

Register  of  Deeds — David  F.  Moulton. 

Auditor— O.  J.  Marshall. 

Clerk  of  Courts — S.  S.  Vrooman. 

States  Attorney — M.  C.  Ayers. 

County  Judge — J.  R.  Francis. 

Sheriff— K.  S.  Starkey. 

Supt.  of  Schools— T.  L.  White, 

Surveyor — Adam  West. 

Coroner — E.  L.  Turner. 

Assessor — J.  C.  Longland. 

County  Commissioners,  3rd  district,  D.  B.  Paddock. 

Legislative,  Senate,  J.  R.  Milliken,  Representative,  Ezra  Cleveland. 

In  the  proceedings  of  the  county  commissioners  but  little  occurred 
outside  of  ordinary  routine.     The  seed  grain  notes  taken  by  the  county 


227 


1 

1 

■ 

»,  jx^ 

^H 

■ 

^H 

w 

^    ^^ 

^H 

*v 

^^H 

1^ 

^•H 

M 

il/rj.  /.  B.  Collins. 


S.  S.   Vrooman. 


M.  A.  Schacfcr 


JVm.  B rod k orb. 


228 

during  the  three  preceeding  years  had  nearly  all  been  paid, — only  $388.80 
remaining  uncollected  on  April  ist. 

The  expense  of  caring  for  the  poor  during  the  year  1892  was  but, 
$240.20. 

David  McDovvall  took  the  oath  as  a  member  of  the  board  on  January 
4th  and  the  new  board  made  F.  S.  Coggshall  chairman. 

The  people  of  the  northern  townships  petitioned  the  county  commis- 
sioners to  have  the  hill  road  west  from  Alpena  graded  for  the  benefit 
of  the  farmers  in  that  part  of  the  county  who  marketed  their  produce  and 
obtained  their  supplies  at  that  station.  The  petition  was  laid  over  and 
never  granted. 

The  east  half  of  sections  12  and  13  of  Media  township,  on  the  6th  of 
July,  were  made  a  part  of  Wessington  Springs  township,  and  on  July 
30th  the  commissioners  made  an  order  attaching  all  of  sections  i,  12  and 
13  of  IVIedia  township  to  Wessington  Springs  township  for  all  purposes. 

A  bridge  was  built  across  the  Firesteel  creek  in  the  northeast  corner 
of  Viola  township  and  one  over  Smith  creek  in  the  southern  part  of 
Logan. 

Judge  A.  I.  Churchill  died  on  June  19th,  and  on  petition  to  the  gov- 
ernor, Alonzo  Converse  was  appointed  to  fill  the  vacancy. 

About  May  ist  a  mass  meeting  was  held  at  Wessington  Springs  to 
arrange  for  soliciting  aid  for  the  people  of  Russia  who  were  suffering 
from  famine.  Over  $70  in  money  were  collected  at  the  meeting  and  com- 
mittees appointed  in  each  township  to  collect  money,  or  grain  to  be  for- 
warded to  the  national  committee  in  New  York  where  a  ship  was  waiting 
to  take  it  to  the  scene  of  destitution.  Several  hundred  dollars  were  col- 
lected, but  no  report  was  ever  made  of  the  exact  amount. 

■  Railroad  projects  were  again  rumored,  and  it  was  said  that  a  road 
known  as  the  Huron,  Wheeler  &  Denver  Ry.  was  to  be  pushed  through 
at  once  and  that  the  Great  Northern  Ry.  Co.  was  behind  the -move.  The 
story  of  the  Midland  Pacific  from  Sioux  Falls  west  was  revived  and 
people  thought  it  would  certainly  be  built. 

On  the  loth  of  February  a  mass  meeting  was  held  at  the  instance 
of  The  Goodland,  (Kan.)  Rain  Co.  to  take  action  on  a  proposition  to  be 
submitted  by  the  company  to  the  people  of  the  county.  The  company  for 
the  purposes  of  their  operations  had  divided  the  state  into  districts,  30X 
50  miles  in  extent.  Their  proposal  was  to  produce  from  one-half  to  two 
inches  of  rainfall  over  the  district  when  desired,  they  to  receive  $600 
therefor,  which  amount  they  were  willing  to  take  in  county  warrants. 
The  meeting  voted  to  ask  the  county  commissioners  to  issue  a  warrant 
for  $60,  being  Jerauld  county's  portion  for  the  preliminary  eft'ort.  The 
commissioners  refused  and  there  the  matter  ended. 


229 

Sunday  school  work  was  continued  as  usual  in  various  parts  of  the 
county.  The  county  convention  was  held  at  Wessington  Springs  on  July 
/th  and  the  monthly  institutes  continued  in  the  w-estern  townships.  In 
Wessington  Springs  a  Congregational  Sunday  School  was  organized  on 
April  3rd,  which  has  been  continued  to  the  present  time.  A  Sunday 
School  was  started  at  the  Dale  Center  school  house  and  continued  during 
the  summer. 

In  Pleasant  township  a  meeting  was  held  on  the  8th  of  ]\Iay  to  take 
steps  toward  erecting  a  Congregational  church  building  in  the  central 
part  of  the  township. 

A  district  W.  C.  T.  U.  convention  was  held  at  Wessington  Springs- 
on  ]\Iay  25th,  at  which  several  counties  were  represented. 

Entertainments  were  held  in  Alpena  and  Franklin  townships  to  prov- 
ide libraries  for  the  Liberty  and  Dry  Run  schools. 

A  company  of  farmers  was  formed  in  August  in  Alpena  and  Franklin 
townships  with  D.  P.  Burnison,  president,  and  Geo.  E.  Whitney,  secre- 
tary, to  hire  their  season's  threshing  done.  The  company  controlled 
about  1500  acres  of  grain. 

About  the  same  time  John  Sime  began  the  construction  of  the  large 
two  story  frame  house  that  for  years  stood  as  a  land  mark  in  the  north- 
west part  of  Franklin  township. 

In  Crow  Lake  township  a  gentleman  named  AVelsh,  a  teacher  of 
vocal  music,  opened  a  singing  school,  and  also  one  in  the  Kellogg  dis- 
trict in  Anina  township.     Both  were  a  success. 

At  Alpena  but  few  changes  occurred  in  business  matters.  The  Pres- 
byterian church  society  purchased  the  old  store  building  at  the  northwest 
corner  of  Main  and  2nd  streets.  The  society  continued  to  occupy  this 
building  until   1 901,  when  the  new  church  was  built. 

In  the  year  1892  J.  J.  Hillis  began  business  as  a  barber  and  continued 
it  until  1897  when  he  sold  to  L.  N.  Tillery.  In  1902  A.  AI.  Winters 
purchased  the  business  from  Tillery. 

On  Nov.  loth  a  change  w^as  made  in  station  masters,  Mr.  M.  J.  Rem- 
shaw  going  into  the  station  at  Aberdeen  and  A.  Amundson  taking  the 
vacancy  at  Alpena. 

In  January,  1892,  the  Bank  of  Alpena  incorporated  with  L.  N. 
Loomis,  D.  F.  Royer  and  H.  J.  Wallace,  owners  of  the  stock.  This  bank 
had  been  an  exception  among  the  banks  of  the  state  in  the  rates  of  in- 
terest charged,  and  with  the  change  to  a  corporation,  by  it  and  the  bank 
at  Wessington  Springs,  the  rate  began  to  be  lowered  in  all  the  surround- 
ing tovi^ns. 

At  Wessington  Springs,  several  changes  occurred  in  the  business 
interests. 


230 

After  the  death  of  Dr.  A.  M.  Mathias,  which  occurred  on  the  23rd 
of  January,  Mrs.  N.  C.  Hall  took  sole  charge  of  the  drug  store  and  in 
Alay  became  proprietor  of  it. 

About  the  first  of  May  R.  C.  Smith  opened  a  drug  store  in  the  old 
Stephens  building,  which  he  continued  until  the  next  year,  when  it  was 
destroyed  by  fire. 

In  January  W.  L.  Arnold  began  operating  a  feed  store  and  continued 
it  until  February  17th,  wdien  he  bought  the  stock  of  Berger  &  Son. 
About  the  loth  of  March  Mr.  Arnold  sold  his  stock  to  the  National  Union 
company,  he  remaining  as  manager.  The  plan  of  this  corporation  was 
to  secure  the  trade  of  members  of  the  farmers  alliance.  To  do  this  they 
offered  to  each  member  in  good  standing  (whose  dues  were  paid)  a  re- 
turn in  cash  at  the  end  of  six  months,  or  a  year,  an  amount  equal  to  two 
per  cent  of  the  total  sum  of  his  cash  purcha.ses,  and  in  addition  thereto  a 
share  in  the  company  protfis.  The  company  did  not  live  long  enough  to 
make  any  returns,  nor  divide  any  profits. 

About  the  20th  of  April  G.  N.  Price  and  J.  M.  Spears  made  a  deed, 
whereby  Price  quit  running  a  hotel  and  Spears  stopped  taking  teams  at 
the  hotel  bam. 

C.  W.  England  opened  a  tobacco  store  in  the  old  Herald  building  on 
the  north  side  of  Main  street,  and  Will  Spears  had  a  barber  shop  in 
several  different  rooms  along  Main  street. 

S.  T.  Leeds  purchased  the  old  machinery  building  on  the  northeast 
corner  of  Main  and  2nd  Sts.  and  about  the  first  of  September  began  work 
there  as  a  blacksmith. 

In  Alarch  Wm.  Kline  set  up  an  emery  wheel  in  his  shop,  probably  the 
first  wheel  of  its  kind  in  the  county. 

The  creamery  had  so  far  proved  a  great  help  to  the  farming  com- 
munity and  in  September  the  tread  wheel  which  had  furnished  the  power 
was  taken  out  and  a  steam  engine  put  in  its  place. 

At  the  Seminary  the  first  class  was  graduated  on  June  23rd.  The 
graduates  were  Misses  M.  Delia  England,  Ellen  M.  \^esscy  and  Anna 
M.  Mnrtin. 

The  Post  Office  became  a  money  order  office  in  March. 

The  price  of  wheat  had  dropped  to  43  cents  per  bushed  in  October. 


231 

Chapter  6. 

The  year  1893  will  be  remembered  by  men,  and  in  history,  as  the 
year  of  the  great  panic.  The  cause  of  it  will  probably  always  be  a  mat- 
ter for  discussion  by  politician,  statesmen,  economists  and  historians. 
But  that  is  a  part  of  it  with  which  this  chronicle  has  nothing  to  do.  We 
have  to  do  only  with  events  that  affected  Jerauld  county. 

People  were  recovering  from  the  disaster  of  two  years  before,  and 
many  who  had  left  the  county  then  were  returning  and  a  hopeful  spirit 
was  common.  Farm  produce  was  bringing  a  better  price;  hogs  $7  per 
hundred  weight;  cattle  $2.50  to  $4.00  for  stockers ;  wheat  60c  to  70c 
per  bushel,  and  there  was  an  activity  in  real  estate  that  had  not  been  seen 
for  ten  years.  A  large  acreage  of  all  kinds  of  grain  was  planted.  This 
condition  continued  until  June.  Then  the  crash  came.  Many  there  were 
who  said,  "We  told  you  so,"  but  they  obtained  little  heed.  Men  were 
too  astounded  and  stupified  to  care  for  that.  In  an  instant  a  cyclone  of 
adversity  had  swept  the  county  and  left  ruin  and  despair  everywhere. 

Dunn  &  Co.'s  commercial  agency  reported  16,650  failures  in  the  U. 
S.  with  aggregate  liabilities  amounting  to  $498,000,000  besides  the  liabil- 
ities of  railroads  in  the  hands  of  receivers,  which  amounted  to  $1,122, 
217,833,  with  millions  of  laborers  out  of  employment. 

By  October  wheat  was  selling  at  25  to  30  cents  per  bushel,  mixed 
cattle  $1.25  per  hundred  weight,  and  everything  else  in  proportion. 
Every  day  brought  news  of  additional  failures  and  additional  thousands 
of  workmen  out  of  employment.  Of  what  use  was  the  surplus  of  crop, 
when  there  was  no  busy  laborer  to  buy  it?  Jerauld  county  granaries  were 
well  filled,  and  the  herds  numerous,  but  these  products  of  the  farm  could 
not  be  sold  for  enough  to  pay  the  cost  of  production.  To  the  credit  of 
Jerauld  county  be  it  said  that  in  that  year  of  the  panic  and  the  years  that 
followed  but  two  business  houses  closed  their  doors  and  they  did  not 
have  the  aid  of  the  sheriff  nor  writs  of  attachments.  Like  wayfarers 
caught  in  a  storm,  the  people  adjusted  themselves  to  the  situation  as  best 
they  could  and  waited  for  the  tempest  to  pass. 

But  aside  from  the  effects  of  the  financial  difficulties  the  affairs  of 
Jerauld  county  and  its  people  kept  on  about  as  usual. 

The  new  commissioner,  D.  B.  Paddock,  took  the  official  oath  January 
3rd  and  the  board  organized  by  electing  Mr.  Schaefer  chairman. 

The  expense  to  the  county  of  relieving  the  poor  during  the  first 
quarter  of  the  year  was  $16.75  ;  during  the  second  quarter,  $64.85  ;  during 
the  third  quarter,  $193.89;  and  during  the  last  quarter,  $18.80.  Total 
for  year  $294.29. 

A  countv  bridge  was  built  bv  Daniel  Kint.  of  Alpena,  across  Sand 


232 

Creek  in  the  northeast  part  of  Dale  township  and  another  across  the 
same  stream  south  of  Alpena.  W.  N.  Hill  built  a  bridge  for  the  county 
at  the  west  end  of  Crow  Lake  across  Smith  Creek,  and  one  in  the  south- 
east corner  of  Logan  township  across  the  same  stream.  He  also  built  a 
county  bridge  across  the  Firesteel  in  the  northeast  part  of  Viola. 

So  the  work  of  the  county  board  was  performed  to  the  satisfaction 
of  everybody.  In  September  they  levied  the  usual  tax  for  the  different 
purposes  and  in  November  Air.  Schaefer  was  re-elected  from  the  middle 
district  over  J.  E.  White,  of  Wessington  Springs  township,  Mr.  Schaefer 
receiving  every  vote  in  his  home  precinct. 

During  the  summer  and  autumn  there  was  the  annual  rumor  about 
the  Midland  Pacific  Ry.,  but  it  ended  there.. 

The  yearly  Sunday  School  convention  was  held  on  the  6th  of  June, 
and  in  Sept.,  from  the  4th  to  the  15th.  the  county  teachers"  institute  was 
in  session  with  Prof.  Savage,  of  Kimball,  conductor,  and  Miss  Barber, 
of  Buft'alo  county,  for  the  third  time  assistant  conductor. 

On  January  1 8th  diptheria  made  its  appearance  among  the  students 
at  the  seminary,  and  quarantine  followed.  For  several  weeks  the  school 
was  closed  and  the  most  heroic  eft"orts  of  the  faculty  were  required  to 
care  for  the  sick.  Yet,  the  school  was  able  to  graduate  a  class  of  one 
student  at  the  regular  commencement  exercises  on  the  23rd  of  June, 
when  a  diploma  was  granted  to  Air.  N.  B.  Gormley.  During  the  spring 
months  the  students  at  the  seminary  prepared  exhibits  of  their  work, 
which  were  sent  to  the  educational  department  of  the  A\'orlds  Fair  at 
Chicago. 

On  the  evening  of  November  28  the  "Sunshine  Alakers,"  a  society  of 
children  organized  by  Aliss  Emma  Freeland,  one  of  the  seminary  teach- 
ers, celebrated  their  first  anniversary.  This  band  of  little  folks  had  been 
true  to  their  name  and  continued  so  for  several  years,  carrying  their 
bright,  cheerful  efforts  into  man}-  places  that  otherwise  would  have  been 
gloomy  enough. 

In  connection  with  the  Wessington  Springs  AI.  E.  Church  a  junior 
league  was  formed  Feb.  12th,  and  on  June  24th  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  organ- 
ized a  Loyal  Legion  with  seventeen  members. 

A  district  encampment  of  the  G.  A.  R.  was  held  at  Wessington 
Springs  on  the  3rd,  4th  and  5th  of  July,  which  was  attended  by  veterans 
of  the  civil  war  from  all  parts  of  the  state.  The  principal  speakers  were 
Gov.  C.  H.  Sheldon,  and  Congressman  W.  N.  Lucas.  On  the  next  day 
after  the  close  of  the  encampment  the  W.  R.  C.  was  reorganized  and  for 
several  years  thereafter  was  a  helpful  auxiliary  to  E.  O.  C.  Ord  G.  A. 
R.  Post. 


^2>Z 

The  Congregational  church  which  had  now  become  a  strong  society 
erected  a  parsonage,  completing  it  in  November. 

The  annual  county  spelling  contest  on  J\Iarch  nth,  was  won  by  the 
Franklin  township  class,  composed  of  the  following  students:  Misses 
Lena  Whiffin,  Julia  Doctor  and Atkinson. 

In  February  Mrs.  P.  R.  Barrett,  who  for  so  many  years  had  been 
the  efficient  postmistress  at  Wessington  Springs,  resigned  her  position 
and  G.  R.  Bateman  was  appointed  to  the  office. 

The  village  of  Wessington  Springs,  on  ]\Iay  3rd,  applied  to  the  county 
commissioners  for  permission  to  incorporate,  which  was  granted  subject 
to  an  election  called  for  May  15th.  The  vote  was  favorable  and  on  ^lay 
29th  the  following  officers  were  elected : 

Trustees — J.  H.  Woodburn,  F.  W.  Whitney  and  H.  J.  Wallace. 

Clerk — ^J.  K.  Freeland. 

Treasurer — F.  G.  Vessey. 

Assessor — D.  B.  Segar. 

Justice — Geo.  R.  Bateman. 

Marshall — H.  C.  Stephens. 

The  village  trustees  met  on  June  2nd  and  elected  J.  H.  W'oodburn 
president  of  the  board.  On  July  12th  the  county  commissioners  declared 
the  village  incorporated. 

In  the  autumn  the  village  trustees  awarded  to  Andrew  INIercer  the 
contract  for  making  a  stone  arch  in  each  of  the  two  gullies  that  crossed 
the  west  part  of  Main  street.  One  of  the  arches — the  west  one — was 
completed  in  December,  the  work  being  done  by  Anton  Reindl. 

The  only  change  among  the  newspapers  of  the  county  was  in  the 
Sieve  office — C.  W.  Hill  succeeding  B.  W.  Moore  as  editor. 

In  this  year,  1893,  several  changes  were  made  in  business  affairs  in 
the  county. 

W.  L.  Arnold,  having  cleared  himself  from  the  entanglements  of  the 
National  Union  Co.,  again  commenced  business  in  the  old  Kinny  building 
in  Wessington  Springs.  Later  in  the  season  he  purchased  the  building 
where  C.  N.  Hall  had  been  conducting  his  harness  business  and  moved 
m  there. 

]\Tr.  Hall  took  his  harness  work  out  to  his  farm  in  Media  township. 

J.  H.  Vessey  opened  a  general  stock  of  merchandise  in  the  room 
vacated  by  Mr.  Arnold  and  continued  the  business  until  December  when 
he  sold  the  stock  to  C.  W.  Lane. 

In  the  spring  ]\Ir.  Wm.  Brodkorb  began  running  a  meat  market 
in  the  old  Hackett  building  on  the  south  side  of  Main  street.  In  the  fall 
he  put  up  a  building  at  the  southeast  corner  of  Main  and  3rd  streets. 
This  was  the  first  permanent  market  in  Wessington  Springs. 


234 

J.  A.  Crawford  began  blacksmithing  in  a  new  shop  located  between 
Albert  &  Vessey's  store  and  Price's  livery  barn. 

About  March  ist  O.  O.  England  began  doing  a  hardware  business  on 
the  north  side  of  Main  street,  in  the  old  Herald  building.  This  business 
was  continued  by  Mr.  England  for  a  number  of  years. 

April  1st  Pat  McDonald  engaged  in  the  farm  implement  business  in 
Wessington  Springs. 

At  Waterbury  a  gentleman  named  Harris  rented  the  old  Rice  &  Her- 
ring building  and  in  March  opened  a  general  merchandise  store. 

At  Alpena  jMessrs.  E.  G.  Kinsman  and  James  McDowell  dissolved 
partnership  as  blacksmiths,  McDowell  going  to  Minnesota  and  Kinsman 
continuing  the  business  alone  until  1908,  when  he  sold  to  his  son  George 
and  a  newphew  of  the  same  name. 

Probably  the  most  important  event  in  Alpena  during  the  year  1893 
was  the  building  of  the  city  scales.  This  was  done  in  accordance  with  the 
statute  requiring  every  incorporated  town  in  the  state  to  provide  a  set 
of  public  scales  and  appoint  a  weighmaster  who  should  have  a  set  of  U. 
S.  standard  weights  and  measures  for  testing  all  weights  and  measures 
used  by  any  person  in  doing  business  with  the  public.  Senator  Milliken 
had  introduced  the  law-  and  had  it  passed  by  the  legislature  and  he 
insisted  upon  compliance  with  its  provisions. 


Chapter  7. 

Ihere  was  no  change  in  the  board  of  commissioners  in  January, 
1894,  but  they  reorganized  on  the  2nd  day  of  the  month  by  electing  David 
McDowall  chairman. 

Caring  for  the  poor  during  the  first  three  months  cost  the  county 
$40.12;  2nd  quarter,  $305.24;  3rd  quarter,  $145.00. 

A  steel  bridge  was  built  across  a  branch  of  Crow  Creek  in  Crow 
township  south  of  Waterbury  in  July,  the  work  being  done  by  W.  N. 
Hill.  In  the  village  of  Wessington  Springs  the  second  stone  arch  was 
completed  on  Main  street  between  2nd  and  3rd  streets. 

By  the  first  of  October  it  was  apparent  that  the  county  must  again 
furnish  seed  grain  to  some  of  the  farmers  of  the  county,  and  the  com- 
missioners requested  that  a  mass  meeting  be  held  in  each  township  to 
ascertain  the  amount  needed,  but  stating  that  not  more  than  fifty  bushels 
would  be  furnished  to  any  one  person.  The  meetings  were  held  and  the 
following  report  made  to  the  board : 


235 

Blaine,  1200  bu. ;  Anina,  100  bu. ;  Crow  Lake,  180  bu. ;  Logan,  60 
bu. ;  Franklin,  220  bu. ;  Wessington  Springs,  410  bu. ;  ]^Iedia,  825  bu. ; 
Pleasant,  578  bu. ;  Crow,  200  bu. ;  Alpena,  950  bu. ;  Dale,  850  bu. ;  Chery, 
900  bu. ;  Marlar,  500  bu. ;  Viola,  none;  and  Harmony  none.     Total  6973. 

Li  the  spelling  contest  that  occurred  on  the  17th  of  iMarch  the  class 
from  Blaine  township  made  a  tie  with  the  class  from  Franklin  township 
for  the  first  prize,  and  with  the  class  from  Alpena  township  for  the 
second  prize.     This  was  the  last  of  the  contests. 

The  county  teachers'  institute  was  held  July  9th  to  20th,  Mr.  A.  G. 
Savage,  of  Kimball  again  being  conductor,  assisted  by  J.  W.  Harden 
and  S.  F.  Huntley. 

On  the  13th  of  May  the  Wessington  Springs  Epworth  League,  which 
society  had  maintained  its  organization  since  1889,  celebrated  its  5th 
anniversary,  and  in  July  it  entertained  the  League's  state  convention. 

.   In  April  the  L^niversalists  began  holding  union  Sunday  School  at  the 
public'  school  building. 

Rev.  T.  Donoghue  accepted  the  position  of  pastor  of  the  Free  Me- 
thodist church  in  November. 

At  the  Wessington  Springs  Seminary  the  class  of  1894  received  its 
diplomas  at  the  June  commencement.  The  members  of  the  class  were 
Effie  and  Nellie  Reed,  Anna  S.  Hanebuth,  Leora  Smith.  \\'.  A.  Baldwin. 
George  H.  Grace  and  Thomas  V.  Fear. 

In  October  a  change  was  made  in  the  Wessington  Springs  mail  service 
by  the  appointment  of  Mrs.  Eva  V.  Whitney  to  the  position  of  post- 
mistress. 

On  the  night  of  Friday,  Jan.  12  the  old  Stephens  building,  then  oc- 
cupied by  R.  C.  Smith's  drug  store,  was  burned.  The  building  and  con- 
tents were  a  total  loss.  Mrs.  Anna  Hawley,  now  Mrs.  James  Weast. 
who  with  her  family  lived  in  the  upper  rooms,  lost  everything. 

Air.  J.  C.  Longland  sold  his  creamery  building  in  Wessington  Springs 
to  C.  W.  Lane,  in  February,  and  moved  to  Artesian. 

The  stock  of  merchandise  that  C.  W.  Lane  purchased  of  J.  H.  \^essey 
in  the  previous  December  was  sold  in  March  to  J.  R.  Alilliken,  who 
moved  it  to  Alpena. 

At  Waterbury  Levi  Harris,  who  had  been  in  mercantile  business  there 
a  little  over  a  year  sold  his  stock  and  moved  to  Aliller  in  Hand  county. 

At  Alpena  George  Arne  began  in  January  to  close  out  his  mercantile 
stock  and  in  February  moved  to  Iowa.  It  was  into  the  room  vacated  by 
Arne  that  j\Ir.  Milliken  moved  the  stock  he  purchased  from  Lane  at 
Wessington  Springs. 


236 

In  Jtme  a  very  enthusiastic  P'ree  Methodist  camp  meeting  was  held 
in  R.  J.  Eastmans  grove  four  miles  south  of  Alpena. 

In  September  W.  P.  Shulz,  who  had  built  a  machine  for  drilling  ar- 
terian  wells,  began  work  on  a  well  for  P.  H.  Shultz  on  the  latter's 
farm  in  Viola  township  and  in  November  the  well  was  completed. 

The  work  undertaken  by  Mr.  Shultz  was  so  highly  appreciated  by  the 
people  of  the  county,  that  the  well  machine  owned  by  him,  valued  at 
$4000,  has,  by  tacit  consent,  been  exempted  from  taxation,  and  never 
listed  by  the  assessors. 

i\bout  the  same  time  Wm.  Kline  and  Pat  McDonald  contracted  with 
S.  H.  Albert  to  put  down  an  artesian  well  on  his  farm  in  Chery  township. 
They  completed  the  well  the  next  summer. 

Politics  was  at  the  highest  pitch  of  excitement  almost  continuously 
from  1892  to  1896.  The  campaign  of  1894  was  probably  the  most  per- 
sonal of  any  the  county  ever  saw\  A  Jerauld  county  humorist  said  poli- 
tics was  '"epidemic;"  two  years  later  he  pronounced  it  "endemic."  The 
Independents  had  changed  their  name  to  "Populists"  and  the  contest  was 
between  them  and  the  Republicans. 

On  August  nth  the  Republicans  named  a  ticket  as  follows: 

Register  of  Deeds — D.  F.  Moulton. 

Treasurer — F.  S.  Coggshall. 

Auditor — B.  B.  Blosser. 

Sheriff — H.  C.  Stephens. 

Judge — C.  D.  Brown. 

Attorney— S.  B.  Tidd. 

Clerk  of  Courts — C.  G.  Smith. 

Supt.  of  Schools — S.  F.  Huntley. 

Surveyor — A.  H.  West. 

Coroner — E.  L.  Turner. 

State  Senator — J.  R.  Milliken,  of  Jerauld  county. 

Representative — B.  C.  Huddle,  of  Buffalo  county. 

The  Populists  held  their  convention  on  August  18th  and  nominated: 

Register  of  Deeds — P.  T.  Varnum. 

Treasurer — M.  A.   Schaefer. 

Auditor — J.  A.  Paddock. 

Sheriff — A.  Mercer. 

Judge — Wm.  Carroll. 

Attorney — Daniel  Mitchell. 

Clerk  of  Courts — S.  S.  Vrooman. 

Supt.  of  Schools — George  O.  Williams. 

Surveyor — Chas.  Whiffin. 

State  Senator — C.  C.  Wright,  of  Jerauld  county. 

Representative — Henry  KHndt,  of  Buffalo  county. 


237 


Bank  of  Alpena. 


J.  R.  Milliken. 


P.  H.  ShulL: 


238 

In  the  first  commissioner  district  the  Republicans  nominated  A.  Bran- 
denburg, of  Alpena  township,  and  the  Populists  re-nominated  David 
McDowall,  of  Franklin. 

The  election  occurred  on  the  6th  of  November  with  the  following 
result : 

State  Senator — C.  C.  Wright. 

Representative — Henry  Klindt. 

Register  of  Deeds — P.  T.  Varnum. 

Treasurer — M.  A.  Schaefer. 

Auditor — J.  A.  Paddock. 

Clerk  of  Courts- — S.  S.  Vrooman. 

County  Judge — C.  D.  Brown. 

Sheriff — A.  Mercer. 

Attorney — Daniel   Mitchell. 

County  Supt. — Geo  .O.  Williams. 
Surveyor — Chas.  Whiffin. 

Coroner — E.  L.  Turner. 

County  Commissioner,   ist  Dist. — D.  McDowall. 

At  this  election  the  commissioners  on  their  own  motion  had  submitted 
two  questions  to  the  people :  1st,  Shall  the  county  furnish  seed  grain  in 
the  spring  of  1895?  2nd,  Shall  security  other  than  a  lien  on  the  crop 
be  required?  On  the  first  of  these  questions  a  large  majority  votes  "yes;" 
on  the  2nd  an  equally  large  majority  voted  "no." 

On  the  i8th  of  December,  Mr.  Schaefer  having  resigned  his  position 
as  commissioner  from  the  middle  district,  P.  H.  Shultz,  of  Viola  town- 
ship was  appointed  to  fill  the  vacancy. 

THE  DROUTH. 

Maybe  it  is  in  accord  with  the  immutable  law  of  "survival  of  the 
fittest"  that  nature  tests,  by  disaster  and  adversity,  the  fitness  of  people 
to  inhabit  a  land  they  claim  as  their  own.  But  be  that  as  it  may,  certain 
it  is  that  the  people  of  the  Dakotas  had  enough  of  trials  in  the  90s. 

The  year  1893  with  its  panic  in  business  and  consequent  shrinkage  in 
values,  and  low  prices,  was  followed  in  1894  by  a  season  of  dry  weather 
that  in  heat  and  duration  had  never  been  equalled  before,  nor  never  has 
been  since,  in  the  territory  occupied  by  the  two  states.  Yet  it  was  but 
a  locality  in  a  drouth  that  extended  that  year,  from  the  Allegheny  to  the 
Rocky  mountains,  and  beyond. 

But  little  snow  fell  during  the  winter  of  1893-94  and  spring  came 
early.  A  few  encouraging  showers  came  in  April  and  the  forepart  of 
May,  and  then  stopped.     Not  enough  rain  to  beat  down  the  dust  felt 


239 

again  until  the  middle  of  September.  Yet  such  is  the  ability  of  the  Da- 
kota soil,  because  of  its  formation,  to  return  moisture  and  resist  the 
effects  of  drouth,  that  where  crops  were  properly  planted,  some  fair 
yields  were  obtained.  Deep  plowing  was  rare,  but  in  1894  its  value  Ayas 
demonstrated.  In  every  instance  where  the  ground  was  plowed  deep  and 
then  properh'  cultivated  a  fair  crop  was  harvested.  In  many  other  fields 
the  grain  did  not  form  a  kernel.  Prices  remained  the  same  as  in  the 
previous  year,  for  though  the  supply  of  farm  produce  was  but  about  one- 
half  of  previous  years,  in  the  nation  at  large,  yet  the  demand  for  it,  then, 
as  always,  was  measured  by  the  ability  to  buy.  Business  depression. 
closed  factories  and  idle  workmen  combined  to  keep  the  prices  down. 

In  August  the  people  began  to  inquire  about  some  place  to  go  to  get 
employment.  Some  suggested  one  thing,  some  another.  Some  prepared 
to  go  to  Wisconsin  and  Minnesota,  but  then  came  the  report  of  the 
drouth  and  terrible  forest  fires  there  where  over  three  hundred  people 
had  been  burned  to  death  in  a  single  county.  Senator  J.  N.  Smith  who 
was  on  a  visit  to  friends  in  Iowa  and  Nebraska  wrote  to  the  editor  of 
the  Sieve  at  Wessington  Springs  to  the  effect  that  the  drouth  there  was 
as  bad  as  in  South  Dakota.  Mr.  Frank  Kutil,  of  Franklin  township, 
started  for  Missouri,  but  when  he  reached  Council  Bluffs,  he  met  people 
from  that  state,  Kansas  and  other  localities  all  wandering  about  aimlessly 
in  different  directions  looking  for  employment.  He  crossed  the  river  to 
Omaha,  where  he  was  fortunate  in  finding  a  sympathetic  stranger  who 
helped  him  to  get  work  until  the  next  summer.  Then  he  received  infor- 
mation that  the  boys  had  raised  a  good  croop  on  the  home  farm  and  with 
his  wife  took  the  train  for  South  Dakota.  They  arrived  at  Woonsocket 
when  the  grain  along  the  way  was  turning  to  a  golden  yellow,  and  was 
met  with  the  news  that  a  terrific  hail  storm  had  swept  over  the  north 
part  of  Franklin  township  the  previous  night  and  the  crops  on  his  farm 
were  utterly  destroyed.  But  others  had  need  of  help  and  he  stayed.  Like 
thousands  more  he  prospered  in  the  years  that  followed. 

People  who  had  gathered  herds  of  cows  and  hogs  and  had  diversified 
their  farming  operations  were  in  better  condition  to  withstand  the  trials 
that  beset  them. 

But  the  people  will  become  accustomed  to  any  condition  if  long  enough 
continued,  and  what  at  first  seems  unbearable  will  eventually  be  borne 
with  some  degree  of  good  nature.  So  people  came  to  look  for  something 
to  laugh  at  even  in  their  doleful  situation.  The  droning  sound  of  the 
sheriff's  voice  as  he  read  a  foreclosure  sale  of  some  quarter  section  of 
land  became  so  common  that  it  Avas  unnoticed,  or  if  noticed  at  all  was 
made  the  subject  of  jest.  On  one  occasion  the  sheriff's  deputy  was  read- 
ing a  sale  with  no  thought  of  a  buyer  being  present,  when  some  one  called 


240 

out,  "Fifteen  dollars  for  the  whole  quarter."  "You  go  to  thunder,"  said 
the  deputy,  "there  ain't  to  be  no  interuptions  in  this  sale,"  and  no  further 
notice  was  taken  of  the  bid. 

People  danced,  played  ball,  ran  horses,  joked,  talked  politics  and  in 
many  ways  helped  each  other  to  pass  away  the  days  of  gloom,  knowing 
that  in  the  general  despondency  they  and  all  the  world  were  kin. 

So  the  year  drew  on  to  winter.  People  gathered  fuel  from  the 
prairies  and  made  themselves  as  comfortable  as  possible  for  the  mild 
winter  that  followed,  deriving  hope  from  the  fact  that  one  drouth  is 
seldom  followed  bv  another. 


Chapter  8. 

At  the  re-organization  of  the  board  of  county  commissioners,  on  the 
day  of  January,   1895,   D.   B.   Paddock  was  made   chairman,  but. 


under  a  change  in  the  law  the  new  auditor  did  not  take  his  position  until 
the  —  day  of  March. 

During  the  winter  many  of  the  farmers  had  sold  what  grain  they  had 
and  at  the  meeting  of  the  commissioners  on  the  9th  of  March  the  board 
found  that  the  demand  for  seed  grain  had  greatly  increased.  The  amount 
required  in  the  different  townships  now  was : 

Blaine,  2540  bu. ;  Viola,  1595;  Anina,  600;  Crow  Lake,  430;  Logan, 
785;  Franklin,  1770;  Wessington  Springs,  1195;  Media,  795;  Pleasant, 
1 128;  Crow,  125;  Alpena,  2124  ;Dale,  700;  Chery,  840;  Harmony,  660: 
and  Marlar,  770.     Total  16,107  bu. 

During  the  first  three  months  of  1895  relief  for  the  poor  cost  $165.01  : 
2nd  quarter,  $72.33;  3rd  quarter,  $266.55;  ^'"^d  the  last  quarter,  $41.65. 
Total  $545-57- 

Li  previous  winters  the  snow  had  drifted  over  the  hill  and  blocked 
the  road  which  had  been  graded  on  the  north  side  of  the  ravine  west  of 
town,  and  the  county  commissioners  decided  to  bridge  the  ravine  and 
put  the  road  on  the  south  side.  The  contract  was  let  April  26th  to  An- 
ton Reindl  to  build  a  stone  arch  similar  to  the  two  he  had  built  in  the 
town  of  Wessington  Springs.  The  contract  price  was  $295.  The  grading 
of  the  new  road  was  done  by  W.  B.  McDonald.  The  work  on  both  the 
arch  and  the  grade  was  accepted  by  the  board  at  its  July  meeting. 

The  claims  against  the  bondsmen  arising  out  of  the  Williams'  defal- 
cation, which  had  been  fought  through  the  circuit  and  supreme  courts  of 
the  state  were  settled  at  the  September  meeting  of  the  board  by  Mary 


241 


iJ^Sftfc, 


Daniel  Mitchell.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  C.  C.  JJ^rio^ht.  Alonzo  Converse. 


242 

Williams,   deeding  to  the   county  the   SW   quarter  of   3 — 107 — 64   and 
paying  the  county  $165.66  in  money. 

In  the  west  district,  as  the  time  approached  for  the  election  of  a  com- 
missioner to  succeed  Mr.  Paddock  on  the  county  board,  the  Populists 
nominated  Mr.  George  Burger,  of  Crow  township  and  the  Republicans 
re-nominated  Mr.  Paddock,  who  was  re-elected. 

The  county  Sunday  School  convention  was  held  ]\Iay  28th. 

The  commencement  exercises  at  the  Wessington  Springs  seminary 
occurred  on  the  8th  of  June,  when  the  following  students  were  graduated: 
Amy  ]\I.  R.  Amos,  Jennie  Barrett,  Addie  Knieriem,  and  Herbert  W. 
Emery. 

The  annual  teachers"  normal  institute  for  the  county  which  was  held 
Sept.  2nd  to  the  6th,  was  preceded  by  a  teachers'  school,  which  lasted 
two  weeks,  conducted  by  Supt.  Williams  and  Prof.  Jones. 

During  April,  May  and  June  the  rains  were  abundant  and  the  crop 
prospects  excellent,  but  the  afternoon  of  the  5th  of  July  the  wind  that 
had  been  in  the  southeast  for  several  days  swung  into  the  southwest  and 
became  intensely  hot.  Much  injury  was  done  to  the  late-planted  grain, 
but  as  a  Avhole  the  crops  in  the  county  were  fair.  That  was  the  last  of 
the  "hot  winds''  in  Jerauld  county.  But  prices  of  all  kinds  of  farm  pro- 
ducts were  improving  and  people  began  to  hope  for  the  immediate  return 
of  better  times. 

About  May  ist  Mr.  B.  B.  Blosser  sold  the  True  Republican  to  W. 
F.  Bancroft  and  went  to  Illinois  to  engage  in  newspaper  work  there. 

February  ist  C.  W.  Hill  retired  from  the  Sieve  and  was  succeeded 
by  W.  F.  Yege  in  the  editorial  management  of  the  paper. 

In  June  a  girls  baseball  club  was  organized  at  Wessington  Springs, 
composed  of  two  nines,  one  of  which  assumed  the  name  of  "Blue  Jays," 
the  other,  "Bobolinks."  For  several  weeks  a  good  deal  of  time  was 
deovted  to  practice,  to  the  great  amusement  of  the  girls  as  well  as  the 
"fans."  The  "Blue  Jays"  which  was  called  the  first  nine  had  as  members. 
Mary  Williams,  captain,  Mary  Huntley,  Alyrtle  Price,  Alillie  Price, 
Aletha  Johnson,  Eula  Wallace,  Nellie  Mercer,  Mathilda  Brodkorb  and 
Abbie  Whitney.  The  other  nine — the  "Bobolinks" — had  Eva  Whitney, 
captain,  Grace  Dunham,  Alice  Brodkorb,  ]\Iabelle  Huntley,  May  Lewis, 
Minnie  Lewis,  Cora  England,  Edith  Hill  and  Mabel  Seger.  The  fame 
of  this  club  spread  through  the  state  and  in  August  the  people  of  Ashton 
invited  the  "Blue  J^ys"  to  meet  a  similar  club  from  Faulkton  on  the 
Ashton  diamond.  The  invitation  was  accepted,  but  when  the  time  came 
for  the  game  the  Misses  Abbie  Whitney  and  Mathilda  Brodkorb  were 
unable  to  go  and  their  places  were  taken  by  Eva  Whitney  and  Mabelle 
Huntley,  of  the  "Bobolinks."     Of  course  there  was  much  discussion  in 


243 

the  town  as  to  the  propriety  of  letting  the  girls  go.  Nevertheless  they 
went,  in  charge  of  G.  N.  Price.  While  they  were  gone  but  little  else 
was  talked  about  by  the  people  at  home.  But  all  grumbling  ceased,  when, 
on  the  afternoon  of  the  game  Uncle  Charley  England  received  a  dispatch 
from  Mary  Huntley  announcing  a  victory  for  the  "Blue  Jays"  by  a  score 
of  21  to  13. 

In  January  the  Universalists  organized  a  society  at  AVessington 
Springs  and  began  holding  religious  services,  led  by  Air.  James  IMosher. 
The  meetings  were  held  at  the  residences  of  the  members. 

A  literary  and  debating  society  at  the  Dale  Center  school  house  during 
the  winter  of  1894-95  attracted  considerable  attention  and  was  well  at- 
tended by  people  in  that  part  of  the  county. 

A  Union  Sunday  School  with  33  members  was  organized  in  the  south- 
east part  of  Viola  township  on  March  24th  and  was  well  attended  through 
the  year. 

In  the  latter  part  of  February  the  farmers  of  Viola  township  held  a 
meeting  at  which  a  strong  sentiment  was  expressed  in  favor  of  bonding 
the  township  to  put  down  a  number  of  artesian  wells.  ]jut  a  few  days 
later  W.  P.  Shulz,  began  drilling  a  well  for  Charles  Walters,  and  after 
it  was  finished  he  put  down  one  for  Christopher  Clodt,  and  another  for 
Peter  Klink.     Nothing  further  was  done  about  bonding  the  township. 

In  September  Kline  and  McDonald  completed  the  Albert's  well  in 
Chery  township. 

In  the  summer  of  1895  ^^^^  Sullivan  P.  O.  was  changed  from  the 
residence  of  Mr.  W.  W.  Goodwin  in  the  southern  part  of  Wessington 
Springs  township  to  the  residence  of  Wm.  Webber  in  Anina. 

An  old  settlers  association  was  organized  on  June  25th,  at  a  picnic 
held  in  the  grove  at  Wessington  Springs.  F.  T.  Tofflemier  was  made 
president  and  Geo.  O.  Williams  secretary.  A  vice-president  of  the  asso- 
ciation was  elected  for  each  township,  Mr.  L.  G.  Wilson  was  elected 
historian. 

In  business  affairs  several  changes  were  made  in  the  year  1895. 

J.  R.  INIilliken  sold  his  Alpena  store  to  H.  A.  Miller  and  his  son 
Charles,  in  February  and  in  October  changed  his  residence  to  ^Mitchell. 
Miller  &  Son  moved  the  stock  of  goods  in  March  to  Wessington  Springs 
and  placed  it  on  one  side  of  the  store  room  occupied  by  W.  L.  Arnold. 
Arnold  sold  dry  goods  and  Miller  sold  groceries.  In  September  Arnold 
began  a  series  of  auction  sales  to  close  out  his  business,  and  in  November 
Millers  moved  their  stock  of  goods  to  their  farm  in  Chery  township. 

The  hardware  store  in  Alpena  w^as  sold  by  F.  B.  Phillips  to  D.  H. 
Wood  and  Phillips  moved  to  Oregon. 


244 

After  Miller  &  Son  moved  their  goods  to  Wessiiigton  Springs,  C.  C. 
Isenhuth,  who  had  been  running  a  store  at  \'irgil  moved  his  stock  to 
Alpena. 

On  December  27th,  1895,  a  notice  was  published  in  the  Alpena  Journal 
calling  a  meeting  for  December  31st,  at  Odd  Fellows  Hall  for  the  pur- 
pose of  forming  a  co-operative  creamery  company.  At  the  time  appointed 
a  large  number  of  farmers  assembled  and  took  an  earnest  part  in  the 
project.  D.  H.  Wood  was  made  chairman  of  the  meeting  and  Henry  T. 
Griggs  secretary.  A  preliminary  organization  was  perfected  and  23 
shares,  at  $50  each,  were  taken.  The  meeting  then  adjourned  to  Jan. 
7th.  This  was  one  of  the  most  important  events  in  the  history  of  the 
county.  It  may  properly  be  said  to  mark  the  end  of  the  hard  times,  in 
Jerauld  county. 

The  business  depression  that  followed  the  panic  of  1893  continued 
through  1896.  In  August  wheat  was  31c  to  36c  per  bushel;  oats  lOc;  rye 
15c:  flax  50c.  In  the  hope  of  bettering  their  condition  the  \\'illiams, 
^Nliles.  Shryock,  Hawthorne,  Hill,  Converse  and  other  families  moved 
into  southern  states,  some  going  to  Mississippi,  some  to  Georgia.  In 
January  }*lrs.  X.  C.  Hall  sold  her  drug  stock  in  Wessington  Springs, 
which  was  moved  to  Carthage,  and  later  she  removed  to  Fitzgerald, 
Georgia.  In  the  years  that  followed  several  of  these  families  returned 
to  Jerauld  county,  among  them  being,  Miles,  McDonald,  Williams  and 
Hawthorne. 

On  the  farms  the  crops  w-ere  good,  but  no  one  could  be  called  pros- 
perous because  of  the  miserably  low  prices. 

In  social,  religious  and  educational  matters  things  went  on  about 
as  usual. 

The  teachers'  institute  was  held  June  29th  to  July  9th  with  Prof.  Jones 
of  Chamberlain,  again  conductor,  and  Miss  Conley,  of  Woonsocket, 
assistant. 

The  Sunday  School  convention  was  held  April  30th. 

In  ( )ctober  the  pastor  of  the  J\I.  E.  church  reported  a  membership  of 
127  in  the  societies  of  that  denomination  in  Wessington  Sj^rings.  Mola 
and  ]\Iedia  townships,  with  10  probationers. 

(^n  Sept.  1 8th  an  agricultural  exhibit  was  held  at  Wessington  Springs, 
that  was  well  attended  from  all  parts  of  the  county.  The  vegetable  and 
household  exhibits  were  in  a  large  tent  that  had  been  secured  for  the 
occasion.  .\  ])ony  race,  foot  race  and  liall  game  were  parts  of  the  enter- 
tainment. The  pony  race  was  won  by  Marion  Corbin's  pony  "White 
Stocking."  The  foot  race  was  won  by  S.  E.  Pflamn  of  Logan  township. 
The  ])all  game  was  won  by  the  Artesian  team  over  the  \\  essington 
Springs  nine. 


^45 

May  1st  G.  N.  Price  again  took  possession  of  the  Waterbury  stage 
route. 

The  board  of  county  commissioners  re-organized  January  6th  with 
P.  H.  Shultz  as  chairman.  Nothing  but  the  merest  routine  business  was 
done  by  the  board  during  the  year.    Not  a  single  special  session  was  held. 

The  only  change  among  the  newspapers  of  the  county  was  in  the 
Sieve  office  Feb.  ist,  W.  F.  Yegge  retiring  to  be  succeeded  by  G.  W. 
Backus.  ]\Ir.  Yegge  began  publishing  "The  Local  Press"  at  his  farm  in 
Chery  township. 

In  March  i\F  S.  Cowman,  who  had  been  a  resident  of  Yankton  Co., 
Dakota,  since  the  year  1868  moved  up  from  Gayville,  S.  D.,  and  rented 
the  Parkhurst  ranch,  which  extended  across  the  Bateman  Gulch  south 
of  Wessington  Springs. 

In  April  the  bottom  lands  along  Crow  Creek  were  flooded  for  a  few 
days  by  the  spring  rains. 

On  June  12th  the  old  settlers  of  Western  Jerauld  county  had  their 
annual  picnic  at  Waterbury,  and  on  the  23rd  the  prohibitionists  had  a 
political  rally  at  the  same  place. 

Later  in  the  season  the  old  Herring  store  building  was  torn  down 
and  the  material  used  in  the  construction  of  a  barn  on  what  was  then 
known  as  the  Martin  ranch  northeast  of  Waterbury. 

On  March  30th  the  farmers  of  Logan  township  met  at  the  Glen  post 
office  to  discuss  the  matter  of  establishing  a  co-operative  creamery  at 
that  point. 

In  February,  1896,  D.  F.  Royer  sold  to  L.  N.  Loomis  his  interest  in 
the  Bank  of  Alpena. 

May  5th  was  one  of  the  most  important  days  in  the  history  of  the 
northeast  portion  of  the  county,  for  on  that  day  the  Alpena  co-operative 
creamery  began  doing  business. 

The  first  graduating  exercises  of  the  Alpena  public  schools  occurred 
on  May  22nd,  Supt.  Williams  presenting  the  diplomas  to  a  class,  com- 
posed of  Gertrude  Pearce,  Ethel  Davenport,  W^ena  and  Carrie  Xolt.  and 
Hattie  Strain. 

In  Blaine  township  an  artesian  well  was  completed  on  the  Frank- 
Campbell  farm  in  June  by  K.  S.  Starkey. 

In  Dale  township  arrangements  were  made  for  a  series  of  revival 
meetings  to  be  held  at  the  Center  school  house,  beginning  in  December. 
Rev.  Jensen,  of  Bates,  Hand  county,  was  engaged  to  conduct  the  meet- 
ings. The  extremel}^  severe  winter  prevented  the  plan  being  carried  ort 
successfully. 

As  the  winter,  which  began  in  October,  increased  in  severity  and  the 
snow  continued  to  fall  and  pile  up  in  great  drifts,  the  jack  ralibits  gath- 


246 

ered  in  droves  about  the  tree  claims  and  groves.  It  was  no  unusual  thing 
to  see  several  hundred  of  them  in  a  single  grove.  The  grass  and  un- 
husked  corn  was  deep  under  the  snow  and  only  the  trees  were  left  for 
them  to  eat.  The  snow  was  from  ten  to  twenty  feet  deep  in  all  groves 
and  this  enabled  the  rabbits  to  reach  the  young  and  tender  limbs.  On 
the  branches  and  bark  of  the  trees  the  animals  fed.  The  damage  was 
great.  Hunting  parties  were  formed  and  large  numbers  of  rabbits  killed 
to  save  the  trees. 

In  Chery  township  a  series  of  Demorest  medal,  contests  were  held 
during  the  forepart  of  the  year  and  created  great  interest. 

In  the  latter  part  of  October,  the  Stock  P.  O.  was  discontinued  for  a 
time  because  the  postmaster  resigned  and  moved  away. 

The  Templeton  post  office  which  had  in  the  spring  of  1889  been  re- 
located on  the  northeast  corner  of  section  35  in  Harmony  township,  at 
the  residence  of  C.  G.  Smith,  postmaster,  changed  hands  in  the  spring 
of  1896.  by  the  resignation  of  Mr.  Smith.  Mr.  J.  R.  Eddy,  the  new 
postmaster,  purchased  the  house  in  which  the  office  had  been  kept  and 
moved  it  a  half  mile  east  where  it  was  held  until  he  could  get  permis- 
sion from  the  government  to  take  it  to  his  residence  on  the  east  side  of 
section  25  of  the  same  township.  The  permission  was  granted  in  June 
and  the  office  continued  its  journey  to  the  new  postmaster's  home.  Mr. 
Eddy  then  purchased  a  stock  of  goods  and  opened  what  has  even  since 
been  known  as  the  Templeton  store. 

The  commencement  exercises  of  1896  at  the  Seminary  occurred  on 
June  loth.  The  class  had  as  members,  Mary  E.  Huntley,  F.  Loren  Kent, 
Roy  Campbell,  and  Cora  Sickler. 

About  April  ist  C.  W.  Lane  sold  his  Bank  of  Wessington  Springs  to 
H.  J.  Wallace  and  L.  N.  Loomis. 

The  diploma  and  bronze  medal,  won  by  the  Wessington  Springs  Sem- 
inary at  the  Chicago  Worlds'  Fair  was  received  by  the  institution  about 
the  20th  of  June.  These  mementos  are  still  preserved  among  the  treas- 
ures of  the  school. 

In  August  a  co-operative  grain  company  was  formed  at  Wessington 
Springs  with  O.  O.  England,  Prest.,  and  R.  S.  Vessey,  Sec;  The  purpose 
of  this  company  was  to  furnish  a  grain  and  coal  market  in  Wessington 
Springs  during  the  fall  and  winter.  In  the  following  April  the  company 
dissolved,  having  accomplished  its  purpose.  It  had  purchased  over 
25,000  bu.  of  grain  and  handled  435  tons  of  coal.  During  the  long,  hard 
winter  of  1896-97  the  local  market  for  coal  afforded  by  this  company  re- 
lieved distress  in  hundreds  of  instances. 

On  account  of  failing  health  Mr.  and  Mrs.  J.  K.  Freeland  resigned 
from  the  Seminary  faculty  in  July  and  moved  to  California. 


247 

About  June  25th  R.  C.  Smith  opened  a  drug  store  at  Wessington 
Springs,  and  also  put  in  a  stock  of  groceries. 

In  July  Mrs.  J.  M.  Spears  leased  the  Willard  hotel  to  W.  H.  Rogers. 

After  the  death  of  Dr.  E.  L.  Turner  Wessington  Springs  was  with- 
out a  physician  until  Aug.  17,  1896,  when  Dr.  G.  S.  Eddy  located  there. 

Sept.  15th  J.  W.  Snart,  who  had  been  in  business  in  Waterbury  for 
a  number  of  years  purchased  the  J.  D.  Morse  hardware  business  and 
building  in  Wessington  Springs. 

During  the  first  week  in  September  the  Congregationalist  society 
began  soliciting  subscriptions  with  which  to  build  a  church  in  W^essington 
Springs. 

On  Oct.  29th  a  strong  M.  W.  A.  camp  was  organized  at  Wessington 
Springs. 

About  Nov.  20th  F.  M.  Brown  bought  the  J.  A.  Crawford  black- 
smith shop. 

November  27th  was  a  cold,  w^indy  day  and  the  air  was  full  of  drifting" 
snow.  But  few  people  were  on  the  streets  of  Wessington  Springs  and 
those  fe^v  were  hurrying  to  get  in  somewhere.  In  the  afternoon  one  after 
another  of  the  business  men  dropped  in  at  Albert  &  Vessey's  store  to 
chat  and  while  away  the  time.  In  the  course  of  the  conversation  the 
subject  of  a  co-operative  creamery  was  mentioned  and  preliminary  steps 
were  taken  to  form  a  company  and  get  the  concern  in  operation.  Again, 
on  Dec.  26th,  another  meeting  was  held,  this  time  called  for  the  purpose 
and  a  temporary  organization  perfected. 

By  December  7th  the  snow  had  been  blown  about  until  it  lay  in 
ridges  and  drifts  everywhere.  The  roads  had  been  worn  full  of  what 
was  termed  "chuck-holes"  into  which  sleighs  would  plunge  with  great 
force,  sometimes  jerking  the  horses  out  of  the  road  into  the  deep  snow, 
or  throwing  the  driver  from  his  seat.  The  grade  over  the  hills  west  of 
Wessington  Springs  had  become  badly  cut  up  with  these  holes.  On  the 
day  mentioned  Geo.  Homewood  was  driving  down  the  grade  with  a 
sleigh  load  of 'sacks  filled  with  wheat.  As  the  sled  pitched  into  one  of  the 
numerous  holes  some  of  the  sacks  were  thrown  forward  on  to  the  whiffle- 
trees.  The  team  became  frightened  and  instantly  broke  into  a  run.  A 
moment  later  George  was  thrown  from  the  load  and  the  team  crashed 
against  the  east  side  of  the  stone  bridge  and  went  over  taking  the  load 
with  them  to  the  bottom  of  the  ravine  about  twenty  feet  below.  George 
escaped  without  injury,  but  one  of  the  horses  was  killed  by  the  fall. 

In  1896  interest  in  politics  became  intense.  Every  man  was  a  politi- 
cian. Free  silver  vs.  gold  standard  was  discussed  at  public  meetings  in 
halls,  in  tents,  in  the  open  air.  People  gathered  on  the  street  corners 
and  sidewalks  in  twos,  threes  and  dozens  and  asserted  or  denied  many 


248 

things  about  which  they  knew  but  little.  It  was  talked  in  the  stores  and 
shops,  in  the  churches  and  homes,  by  the  road  side  and  in  the  fields.  It 
was  indeed  a  campaign  of  education.  Men  who  had  graduated  from  the 
best  colleges  in  the  land,  and  who  could  describe  nearly  every  great  cam- 
paign from  the  "retreat  of  the  ten  thousand,"  to  the  surrender  of  Lee  at 
Appomottox  found  themselves  confronted  suddenly  with  a  great  national 
question,  involving  the  civil  and  commercial  history  of  the  world.  In  a 
short  time  nearly  all  were  compelled  to  admit  their  ignorance  of  the  sub- 
ject and  then  they  began  to  study.  Probably  at  no  other  time  in  the 
history  of  the  world  have  the  voters  given  such  earnest  attention  to  a 
great  public  question  as  was  given  by  the  American  people  to  the  issues 
involved  in  the  campaign  of  1896. 

But  two  tickets  were  put  in  the  field  in  Jerauld  county.  The  populists 
held  their  convention  on  the  12th  of  September  and  after  recommending 
the  nomination  of  Jefferson  Sickler  of  Harmony  township  for  state  sen- 
ator, put  out  the  following  county  ticket : 

County  Judge — J.  H.  May. 

Register  of  Deeds — P.  T.  Wirnum. 

Auditor — J.  A.  Paddock. 

Treasurer — M.  A.  Schaefer. 

Sheriff — A.  Mercer. 

Clerk — S.  S.  Vrooman. 

Attorneys — J.  R.  Francis. 

Supt.  of  Schools — T.  L.  Wlute. 

Surveyor — O.  J.  Marshall. 

Coroner — F.  T.  Tofflemire. 

On  the  same  day  the  commissioners  district  convention  for  the  2nd 
district  nominated  P.  H.  Shultz,  of  A^iola  township  for  commissioner. 

Later  at  the  legislative  convention  Mr.  Sickler  was  nominated  for  the 
house  of  representatives. 

The  Republicans  named  T.  W.  Lane,  of  Crow  ti^wnship.  for  the  senate 
and  O.  T.  Dye,  of  Buffalo  county,  for  tlie  house.  For  the  count}-  ticket 
they  named  for 

Auditor — Ray  Barber. 

Register  of  Deeds — D.  F.  Moulton. 

Sheriff— John  E.  White. 

Judge — C.  D.  Brown. 

Attorney — C.  W.  McDonald. 

Clerk  of  Courts — W.  F.  Bancroft. 

Supt.  of  Schools — Miss  Anna  Hanebuth, 

Treasurer — S.  B.  Tidd. 

Surveyor — H.  J.  Wallace. 


249 

Coroner — Dr.  G.  S.  Eddy. 

County  Commissioner  of  2nd  district — H.  C.  Lyle  of  Anina  township. 

The  election  was  held  Nov.  3rd  and  the  entire  Republican  county 
ticket  was  defeated  except  D.  F.  Moulton,  for  register  of  deeds. 

J.  W.  Harden,  of  Franklin  township,  was  named  for  secretary  of 
state  on  the  populist  ticket,  but  shortly  after  receiving  the  nomination  he 
suffered  a  stroke  of  paralysis  which  prevented  his  taking  an  active  part 
in  the  campaign.  Mr.  Harden  was  one  of  the  ablest  debaters  in  the  state 
and  but  for  his  unfortunate  illness  would  probably  have  been  elected. 


Chapter  9. 

The  winter  which  began  Oct.  29,  1896,  held  with  almost  unbroken 
vigor  until  the  first  of  April,  1897,  the  thermometer  registering  17  below 
zero  on  the  17th  of  March. 

During  the  winter  there  had  been  storms  besides  many  days  that  were 
unpleasant.  Many  animals  w'ere  lost  for  want  of  hay  that  was  buried 
under  the  great  drifts  of  snow.  In  many  cases  the  stacks  of  hay  were 
buried  and  not  found  until  the  snow  melted  in  the  spring.  Then  man\- 
of  the  stacks  were  surrounded  by  water  and  ruined.  As  the  snow 
melted  every  rivulet  became  a  river  in  size.  The  trains  of  the  James 
River  division  of  the  C.  M.  &  St.  P.  were  abandoned  for  several  weeks. 
-Vt  Alpena  the  mail  was  brought  from  Woonsocket  on  a  hand  car  run 
by  business  men  of  the  place.  The  mail  and  passengers  from  Woonsocket 
to  Wessington  Springs  were  carried  across  the  Firesteel  in  a  boat.  ^Ir. 
Geo.  Backus,  publisher  of  the  Sieve  at  Wessington  Springs,  printed  his 
issue  for  April  2nd  on  any  kind  of  paper  he  could  get  for  the  purpose, 
because  his  ready-prints  could  not  be  brought  over  the  Firesteel.  Ihe 
April  meeting  of  the  county  commissioners  was  postponed  because  the 
high  water  rendered  the  roads  impassable. 

With  the  new  year  prices  of  farm  products  and  other  commodities 
began  to  show  an  upward  tendency.  In  March  wheat  was  bringing  65c. 
oats  15c,  and  corn  20c;  by  the  close  of  the  year  wheat  had  arisen  to  70c 
per  bushel. 

On  January  6th,  1897,  the  board  of  county  comiuissioners  organized 
for  the  year  by  electing  David  McDowall  chairman.  During  the  sum- 
mer two  bridges  were  built  across  Sand  Creek  in  Alpena  township  by 
the  county,  one  on  the  line  between  sections  18  and  19  and  the  other 
between  sections  20  and  21. 


250 

At  the  meeting  of  the  commissioners  in  September,  the  annual 
estimate  for  county  expenses  for  the  ensuing  year  was  made  at  $8502.10. 

On  November  i6th  and  17th  a  two-days  woman's  suffrage  conven- 
tion was  held  at  Wessington  Springs.  This  was  a  county  aft'air,  papers 
being  read  and  addresses  made  by  residents  of  the  county.  Only  one 
address  being  made  by  a  non-resident  speaker. 

In  July  F.  M.  Steere  moved  into  the  county  with  1600  head  of  sheep 
and  rented  the  S.  H.  Albert  farm  and  the  school  section  in  Wessington 
Springs  township. 

On  August  15th  the  county  court  house  was  struck  by  lightning. 
The  bolt  hit  the  flag  staff  that  stood  on  the  center  of  the  roof  and  went 
through  the  lower  flor  of  the  building  in  two  rooms  but  made  no  marks 
except  a  small  hole  in  the  center  of  the  state  attorney's  office,  and  a  little 
splintering  of  the  floor  in  the  office  of  the  state  attorney  and  county 
superintendent.  The  wires  that  held  up  the  stove  pipes  in  these  two 
rooms  Avere  melted.  It  was  on  Sunday  and  no  one  was  in  the  building. 
Xot  a  shingle  on  the  roof  was  injured,  although  the  flag-staff  was  shat- 
tered. 

The  old  settlers  picnic  for  the  western  part  of  Jerauld  county  was 
again  held  at  Waterbury,  on  the  nth  of  June. 

At  the  election  held  in  November  but  one  county  officer  was  elected 
and  that  was  a  commissioner  from  the  first  district.  The  populists  nom- 
inated Air.  F.  A.  Olin,  of  Blaine  township,  and  the  Republicans  named 
y.  E.  Reynolds  of  Franklin.  But  little  interest  was  taken  in  the  election, 
pjut  little  more  than  half  of  the  populist  vote  was  pooled  in  the  four 
townships,  otherwise  their  candidate  would  have  been  elected. 

At  the  close  of  the  spring  term  of  the  public  school  at  xA.lpena  Prof. 
O.  W.  Coursey  presented  diplomas  to  the  graduating  class  in  which  were 
Misses  Alinnie  Yegge,  Effie  Barber,  Fannie  PogiKey,  Lottie  Pogney,  May 
Royer  and  Mr.  John  Knolt. 

The  county  normal  institute  was  held  July  5th  to  15th  at  Wessington 
Springs,  Prof.  J.  W.  Jones,  jr.,  being  the  conductor,  assisted  by  Geo. 
0-  Williams  and  O.  W.  Coursey,  principal  of  the  Alpena  school. 

A  few  days  after  the  close  of  the  county  institute  Mr.  Coursey  opened 
a  normal  school  at  Alpena,  which  he  conducted  until  the  ist  of  Sep- 
tember. 

One  of  the  great  events  of  the  year  in  the  county  was  the  G.  A.  R. 
district  encampment  which  was  held  at  Wessington  Springs  on  the  2nd. 
3rd,  and  4th  of  July. 

In  January  Bert  Healey,  who*  had  for  several  years  been  proprietor 
of  a  grocery  store  at  Waterbury  opened  a  harness  shop  in  J.  W.  Snart's 
hardware  store.  In  July  Mr.  Healey  moved  his  building  and  stock  from 
Waterbury  to  Wessington  Springs  and  started  what  he  afterward  devel- 


251 


The  "Blue  Jays." 


The  Bobolinks. 


252 

oped  into  one  of  the  most  complete  racket  stores  in  this  part  of  the  state. 
This  ended  the  commercial  life  of  the  old  town  of  Waterbury. 

Wessington  Springs  seems  to  have  had  a  hard  time  of  it  in  getting"  a 
co-operative  creamery  established.  Another  meeting  to  discuss  the  sub- 
ject was  held  on  the  14th  of  Jvily,  but  with  no  immediate  results. 

In  Logan  township  the  creamery  project  was  pushed  and  by  the  close 
of  the  year  arrangements  had  been  completed  for  the  establishment  of 
a  strictly  modern  creamery  early  in  the  succeeding  spring.  The  foundation 
for  the  building  was  finished  during  the  forepart  of  December,  and  the 
building  material  purchased  and  during  the  winter  placed  on  the  ground 
at  Glen.  The  mason  work  for  the  structure  was  done  by  Anton  Reindl 
of  Crow  Lake  township. 

In  August,  1897,  J.  W.  Snart  having  resigned  the  position  of  post- 
master at  Waterbury,  Mr.  W.  E.  Waterbury  was  appointed  to  the  posi- 
tion.    'Mr.  Snart  had  held  the  position  since  the  17th  day  of  March,  1886. 

At  Alpena  Richard  Davenport  succeeded  Geo.  D.  Canon  as  postmaster 
on  May  8th. 

Mr.  A.  F.  Smith  purchased  the  mercantile  business  of  Manwaring" 
Bros.,  taking  possession  Dec.  ist. 

In  Viola  township  the  German  church  society  began  work  on  the 
foundation  of  their  church  building  in  December. 

The  Wessington  Springs  Seminary  graduated  the  class  of  1897  on 
the  8th  day  of  June.  The  members  were  Myrtle  G.  Price.  Abbie  F. 
A\'hitney.  Esther  V.  Danburg,  Lucy  A.  Hartman,  \'ivian  Hill,  William 
F.  Adabar,  Simeon  J.  Whitney  and  Parker  F.  Whitney. 

During  the  year  1897  F.  M.  Brown  and  N.  P.  Peterson  worked  at 
the  blacksmith  business  as  partners  in  Wessington  Springs. 

About  the, middle  of  June  R.  C.  Smith  sold  his  drug  and  grocery  stock 
to  Charles  Jewell  and  M.  A,  Schaefer. 

In  the  spring  Mr.  R.  Vanderveen  succeeded  to  the  business  of  the 
Co-operative  Grain  Co.  at  Wessington  Springs  and  added  a  stock  of 
lumber.  About  the  same  time  W.  N.  Flill,  also  began  handling  grain, 
coal  and  lumber. 

In  Julv  C.  N.  Hall  purcliased  the  stock  of  confectionery  of  A\'.  F. 
Taylor. 

In  the  same  month  a  camp  of  Sons  of  Veterans  was  established  in 
Wessington  Springs. 

About  the  ist  of  October  C.  S.  Jacobs  began  work  at  the  harness 
Imsiness  in  the  building  built  by  Jas.  F.  Ford  in  1883.  This  is  now  man- 
aged by  ^Ir.  Jacobs'  son.     C.  L.  Jacobs  in  another  Imilding. 

The  Free  Methodist  conference  of  the  state  was  held  at  Wessington 
Springs,  beginning  Oct.  6th. 


253 

Dr.  G.  S.  Eddy  changed  his  location  in  October  from  Wessington 
Springs  to  Anaheim.  CaHfornia,  and  the  county  seat  was  again  without 
a  physician. 

On  November  27th  the  UniversaUsts,  who  had  been  holding  their 
services  in  the  school  house,  held  a  meeting  to  mature  their  plans  for 
building  a  church.  A  location  committee  was  appointed  and  the  taking 
of  subscriptions  carried  on. 

During  the  year  the  Wessington  Springs  ball  nine  played  a  number 
of  games  with  teams  from  surrounding  towns  and  made  a  record  of 
which  the  community  was  very  proud.  The  team  attended  the  tourna- 
ment at  Kimball  and  won  the  first  prize,  defeating  the  club  from  Plankin- 
ton  and  also  the  one  from  Gann  Valley. 

In  the  latter  part  of  April  W.  H.  Rogers  closed  the  Willard  Hotel  at 
AVessington  Springs  and  the  building  was  then  rented  by  Wm.  Brodkorb. 
who  took  possesion  about  the  first  of  ~Slay. 


Chapter  10. 

1898.  The  new  board  of  county  commissioners  was  organized  on 
January  3rd  by  the  election  of  D.  B.  Paddock,  of  the  third  district, 
chairman. 

Some  idea  of  the  rental  value  of  Jerauld  county  wild  land  at  this  time 
may  be  obtained  from  the  fact  that  240  acres  owned  by  the  county  in 
sections  27  and  28  in  Media  township  were  leased  by  the  board  to  J.  ^^'- 
Barnum  in  April  for  a  term  of  three  years  at  five  dollars  per  annum. 
There  seemed  to  be  no  basis  from  which  to  fix  values  of  any  kind  of 
property.  Wheat,  in  March,  sold  at  80  cents  per  bushel  and  soon  after 
went  to  $1.00,  but  in  September  it  was  selling  at  45c  to  50c.  A  horse 
for  a  cow  was  considered  a  good  trade.  Yet  in  the  month  of  February 
the  county  treasurer  collected  $10,000  in  taxes,  the  largest  sum  ever  col- 
lected in  one  month  up  to  that  time,  in  the  history  of  the  county.  The 
assessors'  returns  from  the  various  townships  reported  the  total  valuation 
of  real  and  personal  property  in  the  county  at  $1,001,339.  Upon  this 
amount  the  county  board,  in  September,  levied  a  tax  of,  county  fund,  7 
mills :  bridge  fund,  2  mills ;  sinking  fund,  2  mills ;  general  county  fund. 
2  mills ;  state  tax,  3  mills ;  making  a  total  of  16  mills.  The  county  debt 
was  rapidly  decreasing  and  warrants  rose  to  98  cents  on  the  dollar.  At 
the  September  meeting  the  county  commissioners  transferred  $1000  from 
the  bridge  fund  to  the  general  county  fund. 


254 

In  the  mail  service  of  the  county  some  changes  were  made  during 
the  year.  The  contracts  for  carrying  the  mail  over  the  different  routes 
leading  from  Wessington  Springs  were  let  iy  January,  to  take  effect  the 
first  of  July.  The  route  to  Woonsocket,  daily,  was  let  to  Wm.  Keene  at 
$120  per  year;  to  Aliller,  N.  J.  Tutts,  twice  a  week,  $386;  to  Crow  Lake, 
twice  a  week,  G.  Cowles,  $194.59;  to  Waterbur}^,  daily,  G.  Cowles,. 
$414.59;  to  Mount  Vernon,  twice  a  week,  J.  E.  Franklin,  $308.07.  ~\Ir. 
Franklin  failed  to  meet  the  requirements  of  his  contract  on  the  first  of 
July  and  G.  X.  Price  continued  the  service  until  the  first  of  September, 
when  Andrew  Mercer  took  the  route,  which  had  been  changed  from  Mt. 
Vernon  to  Mitchell.  A  new  route  was  established  between  Crow  Lake 
and  Glen  with  H.  P.  Will  of  Logan  township,  carrier. 

On  October  ist  W.  F.  Bancroft  succeeded  Mrs.  Eva  Whitneiy  as  post- 
master in  the  Wessington  Springs  office. 

The  only  change  among  the  newspapers  of  the  county  in  the  year 
1898  was  at  Alpena,  where  ]\Ir.  Lou  Knowles  succeeded  H.  T.  Griggs. 
Sept.  9th  as  publisher  of  the  Journal. 

The  county  teachers'  institute  was  held  at  the  Seminary  chapel  in 
Wessington  Springs  June  13th  to  i8th,  with  A.  H.  Avery,  of  Woon- 
socket, conductor,  and  Geo.  O.  Williams  and  Miss  White  as  assistants. 

The  old  settlers'  picnic  was  held  at  the  farm  of  Geo.  W.  Burger  in 
Crow  township  on  June  24. 

During  the  year  the  Alpena  co-operative  creamery  had  been  a  great 
success.  The  manager's  report  showed  that  from  Dec.  ist,  1897  to  Dec. 
I,  1898,  the  creamery  had  taken  in  1,149,618  pounds  of  milk,  made  50,364 
pounds  of  butter,  for  which  it  had  received  $7,853.44  and  paid  to  its 
patrons  $6,087.07.  The  farmers  elevator  company  had  been  equally  suc- 
cessful and  during  the  season  shipped  fifty  cars  of  grain  and  paid  to  its 
patrons  $16,500. 

At  Wessington  Springs,  during  the  fourteen  months  that  followed 
tlie  meeting  at  Albert  &  Vessey's  store  on  the  27th  of  November,  1896, 
Geo.  W.  Backus,  editor  of  the  Sieve,  continually  agitated  the  subject  of 
establishing  a  creamery  at  that  place.  At  length  he  succeeded  in  getting 
the  business  men  sufficiently  interested  to  form  an  organization,  and  in 
January  and  February,  1898,  arrangements  were  completed  for  building- 
and  equipping  a  co-operative  creamery  at  Wessington  Springs,  with  a 
capital  stock  of  $8,000.00.  The  first  regular  meeting  of  the  stock  holders 
was  held  February  10,  1898,  when  Chas.  Walters.  C.  S.  Barber,  H.  C. 
Lyle,  Richard  Vanderveen,  W.  H.  McMillan,  C.  Knudson  and  Geo. 
Home  wood  were  made  directors,  T.  L.  White,  manager,  H.  J.  W^allace, 
treasurer,  and  C.  ,S.  Barber,  president.  On  the  22nd  of  February  Mr. 
White    resigned   as   manager   and   R.   Vanderveen   was    elected    to    the 


Second  Graduating  Class  at  Alpena. 


T.  L.  White. 


C.   S.  Jacobs. 


256 

vacancy,  Mr.  Vanderveen  resigned  as  director,  and  Geo.  R.  Bateman  was 
put  in  his  place.  The  contract  for  putting  up  the  building  was  made  with 
E.  L.  Smith.  The  total  cost  of  the  plant  when  completed  was  $2,679.21. 
The  institution  was  opened  for  business  on  the  i6th  day  of  May. 

At  Glen  P.  O.,  in  Logan  township,  the  people  pushed  forward  their 
creamery  project  with  a  good  deal  of  energy  and  by  the  first  of  April  the 
plans  were  all  completed  and  they  were  waiting  for  warmer  weather  to 
commence  operations.  Mr.  T.  A.  Butterfield,  of  Burt,  Iowa,  was  em- 
ployed as  butter-maker,  and  on  May  3rd  the  first  milk  was  received. 

In  March  a  creamery  skimming  station  was  established  at  Campbell's 
artesian  well  in  Blaine  township  with  Wm.  Brownell  as  manager.  It 
was  run  in  connection  with  the  Woonsocket  creamery. 

In  January,  1898,  R.  S.  Vessey,  of  Wessington  Springs  and  J.  D. 
Chamberlain,  of  Alpena,  began  a  move  to  get  a  telephone  line  extended 
from  Woonsocket  to  both  the  Jerauld  county  towns,  but  the  plan  was 
not  put  in  operation  until  the  next  year. 

The  year  1898  saw  young  cattle  advance  to  prices  that  bordered  on 
the  ridiculous.  It  was  not  uncommon  to  see  yearling  animals  sell  for 
$23  to  $28  per  head.  Large  numbers  of  steers  were  brought  into  the 
country  and  sold  to  farmers,  .  on  contract,  and  at  prices  that 
almost  rendered  a  profitable  deal  impossible.  Whole  train  loads 
at  a  time  were  brought  into  Alpena  and  contracted,  50  to  100 
in  a  bunch  to  any  one  who  could  get  control  of  range  enough  for  grazing. 
Before  winter  set  in  thousands  of  animals  were  delivered  back  to  the 
companies  from  whom  they  had  been  obtained,  but  not  often  with  any 
profit  to  the  man  who  had  cared  for  the  cattle  during  the  summer  months. 
From  Alpena,  alone,  165  cars  of  cattle  were  shipped  to  Sioux  City  and 
other  markets.  The  same  business  was  continued  during  the  succeeding 
two  years. 

During  the  forepart  of  the  year  several  literary  societies  were  con- 
ducted in  the  county  districts.  In  Chery  township  these,  entertainments 
took  the  form  of  "spelling  schools."  At  the  Webber  school  in  Anina 
township,  and  also  in  Blaine  township  the  societies  were  for  the  purposes 
of  debates  and  recitations.  In  Alpena  township  at  the  Sand  Creek  school 
house  a  night  school  for  the  study  of  German  language  was  held  every 
Monday  and  Tuesday  evening.  At  Wessington  Springs  a  literary  society 
was  organized  that  was  continued  during  several  winters. 

In  the  church  circles  of  the  county  there  was  considerable  activity 
during  the  year.  In  Viola  township  the  German  M.  E.  building  was  com- 
pleted by  the  middle  of  February  and  a  few  weeks  later  a  fine  bell  was 
sending  forth  its  tones  from  the  belfry  arch.  The  building  was  dedicated 
June  1 2th,  Rev.  Hein  pastor.     The  dedicatory  sermon  was  by  Rev.  Kaste, 


257 

of  Redfield,  presiding  elder,  and  sermons  were  also  preached  by  Rev.  C. 
Schiilz,  of  Charles  City,  Iowa,  and  Dr.  McLean.  The  congregation  de- 
rived great  satisfaction  from  the  fact  that  the  building  was  dedicated 
free  of  debt.  On  the  i6th  of  the  following  October  Rev.  Hein  was  suc- 
ceeded as  pastor  by  Rev.  Westphal. 

At  Alpena  a  ladies  aid  society  was  organized  in  connection  with  the 
M.  E.  church,  Dec.  30th,  with  Mrs.  Davenport,  president.  The  charter 
members  were  Mrs.  R.  Davenport,  Mrs.  A.  F.  Smith,  Mrs.  R.  H.  Stokes, 
Mrs.  T.  Welch,  Mrs.  Alice  Smith,  Mrs.  T.  A.  Thompson  and  Mrs.  R. 
T.  Blank. 

In  Marlar  township  Sabbath  School  was  re-organized  on  March  6th 
at  school  house  No.  i. 

On  March  26th  the  Free  Methodist  church  formed  a  new  conference 
district,  composed  of  the  Alpena,  Bates,  Sweetland  and  Wessington 
Springs  circuits. 

On  March  ist  W.  W.  Smith  located  at  Wessington  Springs  and  re- 
mained the  local  physician  for  several  years. 

A  fire  company  was  organized  at  Wessington  Springs  in  April  with 
W.  F.  Bancroft  as  chief.  This  was  the  first  organized  fire  company  in 
the  county. 

May  30th,  Decoration  Day,  had  from  the  first  organization  of  the  G. 
A.  R.  in  the  county  been  duly  observed  at  Alpena,  Waterbury  and  Wes- 
sington Springs.  But  up  to  this  time  Alpena  had  felt  the  want  of  a 
suitable  place  upon  which  to  raise  the  national  colors.  It  was  therefore 
determined  to  erect  a  flag  pole  in  the  main  street  of  the  village.  A  pole 
was  prepared  and  on  the  morning  of  Decoration  Day  it  was  put  in  place 
and  the  flag  hung  at  halfmast  in  honor  of  the  nation's  hero  dead. 

The  Congregationalists  and  the  Universalists  each  began  building  a 
foundation  for  a  church  at  Wessington  Springs  in  July.  The  former 
laid  the  cornerstone  of  their  edifice  on  July  23rd,  but  did  not  begin  work 
on  the  superstructure  until  in  September.  The  Universalists  had  com- 
pleted their  building  and  held  the  first  services  therein  on  Nov.  27th. 
The  Congregationalists  held  watch  meeting  in  their  new  church  Dec. 
31st. 

About  the  15th  of  February  L.  N.  Loomis  sold  his  interest  in  the  Bank 
of  Wessington  Springs  to  H.  J.  Wallace,  who  took  his  son  D.  C.  Wal- 
lace into  the  business,  the  banking  firm  being  thereafter  known  as  H.  J. 
Wallace  &  Son. 

The  commencement  exercises  of  the  Wessington  Springs  Seminar}- 
for  the  class  of  1898  were  held  on  June  7th.  Diplomas  were  granted  to 
Edith  H.   Hill.   Fannie   C.   Miller,   Cora   I.   Horsley.   Fred   N.    Dunham, 


Sadie  E.  Dixon,  Edith  E.  Whitney,  Edith  J.  Vrooman,  IMabelle  E.  Hunt- 
ley, Anton  P.  Matson  and  Delia  L.  Harlow. 

May  2 1  St  a  meeting-  was  held  at  Woodburn  Hall  to  organize  a  military 
company  to  be  in  readiness  for  a  further  call  for  soldiers  in  case  one 
should  be  made  for  service  in  the  war  with  Spain,  which  had  been  de- 
clared in  April.  As  a  result  of  this  meeting  a  company  was  formed  with 
51  members,  T.  L.  White,  captain;  Criss  Spears,  ist  Lieutenant  and  Wm. 
Brodkorb,  2nd  Lieutenant. 

At  Alpena  O.  W.  Coursey  resigned  his  position  in  the  public  school 
and  accompanied  by  Jerry  Turman,  went  to  Sioux  Falls  as  soon  as  the 
president  issued  the  call  for  troops,  and  became  members  of  the  ist 
South  Dakota  Regiment,  which  rendered  distinguished  service  in  the 
Philipine  Islands. 

Although  neither  of  the  villages  in  Jerauld  county  celebrated  the 
national  holiday,  yet  the  day  was  generally  observed.  At  Crow  Lake 
the  people  gathered  at  the  residence  of  Dr.  S.  H.  Melcher  for  a  picnic 
celebration.  In  Viola  township  a  large  crowd  gathered  at  the  P.  H.  Shultz 
homestead  and  enjoyed  a  picnic  celebration.  The  same  observance  of 
the  day  occurred  in  Harmony  township  at  the  residence  of  Eugene  Cole- 
man. At  Glen,  in  Logan  township,  a  large  concourse  assembled  and 
enjoyed  races,  ball  games  and  other  sports.  In  Franklin  township  a 
picnic  was  held  at  the  residence  of  J.  W.  Harden.  At  Wessington  Springs 
two  celebrations  were  in  progress  at  the  same  time.  The  LTniversalists 
had  a  large  tent  near  the  grove  in  which  patriotic  speeches  were  made. 
followed  by  a  picnic  dinner  while  a  number  of  Sabbath  schools  united  in 
a  celebration  in  the  Bateman  Gulch  south  of  town.  The  day  passed  with 
no  extreme  manifestation  of  enthusiasm  until  the  stage  driver  in  the 
evening  brought  the  news  of  the  naval  victory  at  Santiago.  Then  the 
bonfires  flamed,  the  anvils  roared,  the  rockets  pierced  the  sky  and  the  great 
event  was  celebrated  as  fully  as  it  was  possible  to  do  in  a  little  country 
village  in  the  heart  of  the  great  plains. 

On  June  21st,  22nd  and  23rd  the  Epworth  League  held  a  sub-district 
convention  at  Wessington  Springs. 

Sept.  1st  Andrew  Mercer  retired  from  the  Woodburn  House  at  Wes- 
sington Springs  and  was  succeeded  by  J.  J.  Hillis  of  Alpena. 

F.  M.  Brown  purchased  of  Wm.  Kline  his  blacksmith  shop,  and  barn 
Sept.  loth.  This  building  Mr.  Brown  afterward  enlarged  and  made  into 
the  livery  barn  that  now  stands  on  the  east  side  of  2nd  street  north  of 
Vessey  Bros,  store. 

About  the  15th  of  October  R.  M.  McNeil  bought  the  J.  W.  Snart 
hardware  store.  A  few  days  later  Bert  Healey  moved  his  harness  shop 
and  notion  goods  to  a  small  building  he  had  moved  from  Waterbury  to 


259 

Wessington  Springs  and  placed  it  on  the  south  side  of  Alain  Street  west 
of  2nd  street. 

In  poHtics  the  situation  began  early  in  the  season  to  show  symptoms 
of  change.  In  September  both  parties  put  tickets  in  the  field.  The 
populist  ticket  was  as  follows : 

Senator — J.   AI.   Spears. 

Representative — G.  S.  Xelson. 

Register  of  Deeds — Gus  Johnson. 

Treasurer — T.  L.  White. 

Sheriff — Pat  McDonald. 

Auditor — Wra.  Zink. 

Clerk  of  Courts — S.   S.  A'rooman. 

Judge— J.  H.  Alay. 

Attorney — J.  R.  Francis. 

County  Superintendent — Geo.  O.  Williams. 

Coroner — W.  W.  Smith. 

Surveyor — O.  J.   ■Marshall. 

County  Com..  3rd  district. — B.  R.   Shimp. 

The  Republican  ticket  named  for 

Senator — L.  N.  Loomis. 

Representative — J.  V.  Drips. 

Treasurer — F.  S.  Coggshall. 

Auditor — D.  B.  Paddock. 

Register  of  Deeds — D.  F.  Moulton. 

Sherifif— John  E.  White. 

Clerk  of  Courts — W.  F.  Taylor. 

Attorney — C.  W.   McDonald. 

County  Supt.  E.  H.  Wood. 

Judge — C.  D.  Brown. 

Coroner — W.  W.  Smith. 

Surveyor — H.  J.  Wallace. 

County  Com.,  3rd  Dist. — M.  A.  Shaw. 

The  election  was  held  on  the  8th  of  November  with  the  following- 
result  : 

Senator — L.  N.  Loomis. 

Representative — G.   S.   Nelson. 

Treasurer — T.  L.  White. 

Auditor — Wm.  Zink. 

Register  of  Deeds — D.  F.  Moulton. 

Sherifif— Pat  McDonald. 

County  Supt. — E.  H.  Wood. 


26o 

Attorney — C.  W.  McDonald. 
Clerk  of  Courts — W.  F.  Taylor. 
Judge — C.  D.  Brown. 
Coroner — W.  W.  Smith. 
Surveyor — H.  J.  Wallace. 
County  Commissioner — AI.  A.  Shaw. 

Equal   sufifrage,    which   was    submitted    at    this    election,    carried    the 
county  by  218  to  150. 

Dispensary  Liquor  Law  carried  the  county  by  243  to  132. 
Initiative  and  Referendum  carried  the  county  by  270  to  96. 


Chapter  II. 

The  county  commissioners  did  little  but  routine  work  in  the  year 
1899.  During  that  time  Treasurer  T.  L.  White  called  in  all  the  out- 
standing warrants,  and  as  there  were  no  bonds  outstanding  the  county 
began  doing  business  on  a  cash  basis.  The  board  re-organized  on  the 
/th  of  January  by  electing  P.  H.  Shultz,  of  the  2nd  commissioner  district, 
chairman. 

April  4th  the  board  granted  to  the  Dakota  Southern  Telephone  Co. 
the  right  to  set  telephone  poles  on  the  edges  of  the  highways  of  the 
county,  but  not  so  as  to  obstruct  the  use  of  the  public  roads.  On  April 
10th  the  work  of  setting  poles  for  the  line  from  Woonsocket  to  Wessing- 
ton  Springs  commenced  and  was  completed  in  August. 

At  a  special  meeting  the  forepart  of  May  the  commissioners  appropri- 
ated S600  to  be  loaned  to  people  who  had  suffered  loss  by  the  terrible 
prairie  fires  that  raged  during  the  latter  part  of  April,  and  later  ap- 
propriated $100  to  help  pay  the  expense  of  bringing  the  ist  South  Da- 
kota Regiment  home  from  San  Francisco. 

During  the  year  the  Jerauld  county  board  arranged  with  the  com- 
missioners of  Brule  county  to  put  in  a  fifty-four  foot  steel  bridge  across 
Smith  Creek  on  the  south  line  of  Logan  township  to  cost  $100,  each 
county  paying  one  half  the  expense.  The  bridge  was  completed  in 
Xovember. 

On  Sept.  5th  the  board  made  the  lowest  tax  levy  in  the  history  of 
the  county  as  follows :  State  tax  2  and  two-fifths  mills  ;  county  general. 
6  mills;  bridge  fund,  i  mill;  sinking  fund,  i  mill. 

On  April  7th  and  again  on  Oct.  7th  the  board  transferred  $1000  from 
the  bridge  fund  to  the  county  general  fund. 


26 1 


Raising  the  Flag  Pole  in  Alpena  1898. 


'"J—^ 

^|.-wr 

H|B        Br' 

-   °    •    1  * 

&^' 

.'Upeiia   1908. 


262 

Politics  attracted  but  little  attention  in  1899  as  only  a  county  com- 
missioner from  the  2nd  district  was  to  be  elected.  The  populists  re- 
nominated P.  H.  Shultz  of  A^'iola  township  and  the  republicans  named 
John  Grant  of  Wessington  Springs  township.     ]Mr.  Shultz  was  re-elected. 

The  county  teachers'  institute  began  August  21st  and  continued  two 
weeks. 

June  13th  the  old  settlers  picnic  was  held  at  the  residence  of  O.  O. 
England  in  Harmony  township. 

Among  the  newspapers  of  the  county  two  changes  were  made  during 
the  year.  J.  W.  Sheppard  succeeding  G.  W.  Backus  in  the  editorial  man- 
agement of  the  Sieve  on  February  loth,  and  E.  M.  Cochran  following 
Lou  Knowles  on  the  Alpena  Journal  Dec.  29th. 

As  the  flocks  of  sheep  enabled  many  settlers  to  retain  their  home 
during  the  hard  times,  so  the  creameries  slowly  but  surely  started  the 
farming  communities  on  the  way  to  prosperity.  A  few  cows  living  on  the 
prairie  grass,  furnished  milk  that,  sold  to  a  creamery,  enabled  the  farmer 
to  keep  up  his  bills  at  the  local  store  and  meet  his  small  necessary  cash 
outlay.  All  through  the  year  1899  grain  prices  continued  low,  wheat 
about  50  cents,  and  corn  15  to  20  cents  per  bushel.  In  December  wheat 
at  Alpena  was  selling  at  49  cents  per  bushel,  while  a  dollar  would  only 
purchase  sixteen  pounds  of  sugar.  Wages  of  all  kinds  were  correspond- 
ingly low.  The  average  teacher's  wages  for  the  county  including  the 
village  schools  was  but  $29  per  month.  The  cattle  business  reached  its 
highest  point  that  year  (1899),  over  4000  head  being  contracted  to  farm- 
ers at  Alpena  alone  between  January  ist  and  April  ist.  But  while  the 
cattle  business  was  speculative  and  unprofitable,  in  the  way  it  was  con- 
ducted, dairying  was  a  legitimate  part  of  farm  industry. 

The  Alpena  and  Glen  creameries  were  kept  in  operation  all  through 
the  winter  of  1898-99,  but  the  one  at  Wessington  Springs  was  closed 
during  the  cold  season.  A  skimming  station  was  established  at  Charles 
\A'alter"s  artesian  well  in  A'iola  township  and  another  at  Albert's  artesian 
well  in  Chery  township,  both  being  in  connection  with  the  W^essington 
.Si)rings  creamery,  and  both  rvm  by  well  power. 

On  January  i6th  A.  M.  Slocum  opened  a  photograjDh  gallery  at  Wes- 
sington Springs.     This  was  the  first  permanent  studio  in  the  county. 

Among  the  mail  carriers  some  changes  were  made  during  the  year. 
About  x\pril  15th  James  Weast  took  the  route  from  Wessington  Springs 
to  Waterbury,  In  June  Howard  Pope  became  proprietor  of  the  Woon- 
socket  stage  line,  but  sold  it  to  W.  V.  Dixon  about  August  15th. 

Sometime  in  the  forepart  of  May  Wm.  Brodkorb  returned  to  his 
grocery  business  at  the  corner  of  ]\Iain  and  3rd  streets,  and  was  succeeded 
in  the  Willard  Hotel  by  his  son  Herman.     About  the  first  of  July  the 


263 

hotel  was  leased  to  J.  J.  Hillis,  who  ran  it  in  connection  with  the  Wood- 
burn  House.  At  this  time  Herman  Brodkorb  purchased  his  father's 
grocery  business,,  and  on  the  evening  of  the  4th  of  July  Wm.  Brodkorb, 
Sr..  started  on  a  trip  to  his  Fatherland  with  no  definite  plans  as  to  wdien 
he  would  return.  He  was  absent  from  Wessington  Springs  just  ten 
weeks. 

Both,  the  Congregational  and  Universalist  churches  were  dedicated 
this  year,  the  former  on  the  i8th  of  October,  and  the  latter  on  the  i8th 
of  June. 

The  class  of  1899  was  graduated  from  the  Seminary  June  21st.  The 
members  were  James  H.  Hall,  Eva  J.  Whitney,  Lawrence  A.  Pinard,  J. 
Irving  McNeil,  Edna  R.  Vroomann  and  W.  A.  Harden. 

By  this  time  the  Wessington  Springs  public  school  had  grown  until 
the  school  building  erected  by  E.'  L.  Smith  in  1884  was  too  small  to  ac- 
commodate the  number  of  pupils.  On  the  30th  of  August  the  people 
voted  to  build  another  and  larger  school  house  and  bonds  were  issued  for 
that  purpose.  The  new  house  was  built  on  the  east  side  of  3rd  street  op- 
posite the  Universalist  church,  by  Mr.  C.  P.  Christensen,  and  the  school 
took  possession  of  it  Dec.  i8th.  The  old  school  house  was  sold  for  $151 
to  the  German  Lutheran  church  of  Alpena  and  Franklin  townships,  who 
moved  and  used  it  for  religious  purposes.  After  the  founding  of  the 
town  of  Lane  the  old  school  house  was  moved  to  that  place,  where  it  is 
still  in  use  as  a  church. 

On  the  2nd  of  September  the  whole  county  was  shocked  and  grieved 
by  the  sudden  death  of  H.  J.  Wallace,  the  W^essington  Springs  banker. 
After  the  death  of  Mr.  Wallace  the  bank  was  continued  by  his  son  D.  C. 
Wallace,  until  September  20th,  when  the  institution  was  purchased  by  R. 
S.  Vessey,  J.  H.  Woodburn  and  F.  G.  Vessey. 

The  principal  celebrations  in  the  county  on  the  4th  of  July  were  at 
Glen,  in  Logan  township,  and  at  Chas.  Walter's  residence  in  Viola. 

At  Alpena  J.  D.  Chamberlain  engaged  in  the  farm  implement  business 
and  in  the  course  of  the  year  put  up  a  warehouse  for  his  stock  of  ma- 
chinery and  later  put  up  another  building  in  which  he  placed  a  stock  of 
furniture.  That  was  the  beginning  of  the  furniture  business  in  Alpena. 
In  November  he  sold  a  half  interest  in  the  machinery  business  to  Her- 
man Scheel. 

July  15th  was  a  "red  letter"  day  for  Alpena  school  township.  In 
March  the  treasurer  had  called  in  all  the  outstanding  school  warrants, 
and  on  this  day  in  July  the  board  had  obtained  possession  of  all  school 
township  bonds  and  with  appropriate  ceremony  all  the  old  warrants  and 
bonds  were  publicly  burned.     The  school  township  was  free  from  debt. 


264 

In  February  a  series  of  revival  meetings  were  held  by  Rev.  T.  Do- 
noghne  at  the  Eastman  school  house  in  the  southern  part  of  Alpena  town- 
ship. 

In  Dale  township  Mr.  Ernest  Schmidt  had  employed  W.  P.  Shulz  to 
put  down  an  artesian  well  which  was  completed  in  November. 

Sometime  in  April  Dr.  J.  E.  Shull  opened  an  office  in  Alpena  and 
was  soon  after  joined  by  his  partner  Dr.  Bullock.  The  firm  continued 
until  about  Aug.  ist,  when  Dr.  Bullock  retired  from  the  practice  in  Al- 
pena. 


Chapter  12. 

(1900). 

The  year  that  closed  the  19th  century  began  i'l  an  exc-cdingly  mild 
and  open  winter.  No  snow  and  but  little  cold  wea+her.  '^ev^ral  games 
of  baseball  were  played  in  different  parts  of  the  county  during  Jariuary 
and  February.  In  many  of  the  business  houses  the  files  ^v•ere  allowed  to 
go  out  and  the  outer  doors  left  open.  No  one  in  Jerauld  county  had  a 
sleigh  ride  that  winter. 

The  County  commissioners  reorganized  January  2nd  by  electing  J. 
E.  Reynolds,  of  the  first  district,  as  chairman.  In  August  Mr.  Reynolds 
was  taken  with  a  very  severe  attack  of  typhoid  fever  that  incapacitated 
him  for  any  further  service  on  the  board. 

In  the  forepart  of  January  the  board  made  an  agreement  with  R. 
S.  Vessey,  manager  of  the  Dakota  Southern  Telephone  Company,  to  put 
a  'phone  in  the  county  treasurer's  office,  to  be  used  by  all  county  officials 
and  the  public  in  the  village  of  Wessington  Springs,  for  a  rental  of  $20 
per  year. 

At  Alpena  the  first  farmers  institute  in  the  county,  under  the  auspices 
of  the  state,  was  held  January  30th  and  31st. 

On  ]\Iay  14th  Joseph  Ponsford  was  given  a  contract  for  the  con- 
struction of  a  bridge  across  Crow  Creek  in  Crow  township.  The  work 
was  completed  in  time  to  be  accepted  by  the  count}-  commissioners  and 
paid  for  at  the  meeting  in  September. 

The  county  commissioners  on  Oct.  3rd,  acting  under  a  law,  the  enact- 
ment of  which  had  been  secured  by  Senator  Loomis  in  1898,  reduced  the 
salary  of  the  county  attorney  for  the  next  two  years  to  $100  per  year. 

About  three  o'clock  in  the  morning  of  October  13,  fire  was  discovered 
in  the  county  jail  and  the  building  was  soon  destroyed.  The  origin  of  the 
fire,  though  strongly  suspected,   was  never  certainly  known. 


265 


Robt.  E.  Dye. 


Dr.  J.  E.  ShuU. 


Joseph  H.   May. 


L.  X.  Eoouiis. 


O.    O.   Eiio-laiid. 


266 

The  assessors"  returns  from  the  various  townships  gave  the  assessed 
valuation  of  all  the  real  estate  and  personal  property  of  the  county  in  1900 
at  $1,102,536.  The  tax  levy  for  the  years  was  as  follows:  State  2  seven- 
tenths  mills  ;  county  3  mills ;  bridge  five-tenths  mills ;  insane  i  mill. 

The  total  number  of  school  children  in  the  county  at  this  time  was 
909;  school  houses,  57,  and  the  cost  of  schools,  $25,200.57. 

The  county  teachers'  institute  began  June  i8th  and  continued  two 
weeks  with  Prof.  Doderer  as  conductor. 

The  old  settlers'  picnic  was  held  June  26th  at  Foster  Grove  in 
Pleasant  township,  on  section  five. 

During  the  year  the  prices  of  farm  produce  remained  low,  but  land 
values  began  to  show  a  decided  advance.  In  the  east  part  of  the  county 
several  quarter  sections  were  sold  at  from  $800  to  $1,500  per  quarter. 
At  this  time  the  only  real  estate  man  in  the  county  actively  engaged  in 
the  business,  was  O.  J.  Marshall,  who  was  also  a  bonded  abstractor. 

Late  in  the  autumn  a  disease,  known  as  the  cornstalk  disease,  broke 
out  among  the  farm  herds  of  cattle,  all  over  the  northwestern  states. 
In  Jerauld  county  the  loss  was  quite  heavy. 

August  loth  the  governor  appointed  ]\Ir.  N.  AI.  Thompson  of  Alpena 
game  warden  for  Jerauld  county  to  serve  one  year. 

Business  changes  were  few  in  the  county  during  the  year  1900,  and 
but  few  improvements  of  any  kind  were  made.  In  Chery  township  Wm. 
Kline,  assisted  by  W.  P.  Shulz,  completed  Iris  artesian  well  about  Dec. 
1st  and  in  Marlar  Dr.  J.  E.  Shull  began  the  task  of  drilling  a  similar  well 
on  his  ranch  in  the  northeast  part  of  the  township.  This  last  effort  con- 
tinued for  many  months  and  was  finally  abandoned  after  the  drill  had 
been  driven  to  a  depth  of  over  1,725  feet. 

In  Chery  Township  a  new  school  house  was  built  to  replace  the  one 
that  had  been  destroyed  by  fire  in  April.  1899. 

In  the  mail  service  of  the  county  but  little  change  was  made.  The 
Sullivan  P.  O.  in  Anina  Township  was  discontinued.  In  the  west  part 
of  the  county  a  short  star  route  was  established  from  Waterbury  to 
Gann  A^alley  with  Mark  Abermathy  as  mail  carrier.  April  ist  A.  ]\I. 
Slocum  became  mail  carrier  on  the  Wessington  Springs-W'aterbury  route. 

The  Woodburn  House,  at  Wessington  Springs,  was  purchased  by 
Carl  Hall  Feb.  5th,  and  the  name  changed  to  "The  Carlton  House." 
Hall  retained  charge  of  the  hotel  until  April  17th,  when  Miss  Chandler 
and  her  mother  rented  it  and  cantinued  its  management  until  the  fore- 
part of  Sept.,  when  it  passed  into  the  hands  of  A.  C.  Parfitt.  About  Dec. 
15th  A.  J.  Evans  became  landlord  of  the  Carlton  House  and  remained  in 
charge  of  it  for  several  months. 


267 

On  I'>briiary  23rd,  1900,  J.  W.  Sheppard  retired  from  the  editorial 
management  of  "The  Sieve"  and  was  succeeded  by  A.  J.  Evans. 

About  the  first  of  March  Mr.  O.  O.  England  purchased  a  carload  of 
furniture,  and  with  his  son  and  daughter,  G.  T.  England,  and  M.  Delia 
England,  opened  a  furniture  store  in  a  building  erected  by  Joseph  Wei- 
bold  on  the  southwest  corner  of  I\Iain  and  Third  streets.  This  was  the 
beginning  of  the  furniture  and  undertaking  business  in  Wessington 
Springs  which  with  careful  management  has  now  become  large  and 
profitable. 

Sometime  in  January  Nate  Spears  bought  the  confectionery  business 
of  Howard  Pope  and  for  a  short  time  thereafter  ran  it  in  connection  with 
his  barber  shop. 

On  ]\Iay  7th  C.  W.  England  sold  to  D.  B.  Olson  his  tobacco  and 
■confectioner}'  business  and  retired  from  business  in  Jerauld  county. 

A  district  encampment  of  the  G.  A.  R.  occurred  at  Wessington  Springs 
on  July  3rd,  4th  and  5th. 

At  that  time  there  were  standing  on  the  south  side  of  INIain  Street 
between. 2nd  and  3rd  streets  the  old  Thayer  Bank  building,  occupied  by 
C.  W.  AIcDonald,  Bert  Healey's  notion  store,  M.  A.  Schafer's  drug  and 
grocery  store  and  two  small  office  buildings.  Before  daylight  on  the 
morning  of  the  6th  of  July  fire  broke  out  in  the  Schaefer  building.  It 
with  all  the  other  buildings  in  the  row  were  destroyed.  A  few  months 
later  E.  L.  Smith  and  O.  J.  Marshall  put  up  a  double  store  building  on 
the  ground  where  the  burned  structures  had  stood.  Into  one  room  of 
the  new  building  Mr.  Healey  again  opened  a  notion  store  on  Dec.  ist, 
1900.  and  about  the  same  time  Air.  Bancroft  moved  the  post  office  and 
the  True  Republican  printing  office  into  the  other  room. 

The  Willard  Hotel  was  rented  about  the  15th  of  July  by  Mrs.  Coffin, 
who  occupied  it  during  the  ensuing  year. 

The  state  conference  of  the  Free  Methodist  Church  was  held  at  Wes- 
sington Springs  Oct.  3rd  to  7th. 

About  November  ist  O.  O.  England  sold  his  hardware  store  building 
and  stock  to  Wm.  Kennedy  and  son,  Alexander- 
December  1st  HQward  Pope  and  Air.  Mennill  opened  a  blacksmith 
and  woodwork  shop  in  a  building  then  standing  on  the  south  side  of  Main 
street  east  of  the  Vessey  store.  They  set  up  a  feed  mill,  which  was  run 
with  power  furnished  by  a  geared  windmill. 

At  Alpena  J.  D.  Chamberlain  opened  a  hardware  store  with  a  stock 
he  had  obtained  in  a  real  estate  deal.  The  D.  H.  Wood  hardware  store 
was  sold  by  that  gentleman  on  July  i6th  to  Grant  Anderson,  who  has 
continued  the  business  to  the  present  time. 


268 

On  June  i6th  Andrew  ^Mercer  purchased  of  John  Woods  the  Alpena 
meat  market. 

At  7  o'clock  on  Wednesday  evening,  Dec.  5th,  1900,  the  first  ring  of 
a  telephone  bell  was  heard  in  Alpena  and  the  village  was  then  in  close 
touch  with  all  the  surrounding  towns. 

In  the  fall  of  the  year  the  Sioux  Falls  brewing  company  attempted 
to  establish  a  wholesale  and  retail  liquor  store  in  Alpena,  but  the  concern 
was  of  short  duration. 

The  Wessington  Springs  school  house  which  had  been  purchased  for 
church  purpose  by  the  Ev.  Luth.  Zion  Church  and  moved  to  the  south 
part  of  Alpena  Township,  was  dedicated  Alay  13th,  1900,  with  Rev.  Lack 
as  pastor. 

Rev.  R.  A.  Brough  was  engaged  as  pastor  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 
in  Alpena,  beginning  his  work  on  ]\Iay  13th.  The  conference  appointee 
for  the  M.  E.  Church,  made  in  October,  was  Rev.  W.  B.  Stewart. 

The  year  1900  being  the  time  for  a  presidential  election  the  Repub- 
licans of  Jerauld  County  hoped  to  recover  some  more  of  the  political 
field  that  had  so  long  been  occupied  by  their  opponents.  The  election, 
though  lacking  much  of  the  bitterness  that  had  characterized  former  cam- 
paigns, was  hotly  contested  for  the  more  important  offices.  The  tickets 
placed  in  nomination  were  as  follows : 

Republican : 

Senator — L.  N.  Loomis. 

Representative — A.  J.  Wooledge. 

Treasurer — Geo.  R.  Bateman. 

Auditor— W.  H.  McIMillan. 

Register  of  Deeds — W.  B.  Wilson.  ' 

Attorney — N.  J.  Dunham. 

Sherifif — Wm.  Brodkorb. 

Judge— C.  W.  McDonald. 

Clerk  of  Courts — W.  F.  Taylor. 

County  Supt. — E.  H.  W^ood. 

Coroner — Dr.  J.  E.  Shull. 

Commissioner,  ist  Dist. — Gus.  A.  Newman. 

Populists: 

Senator — Jefferson  Sickler. 

Representative — G.    S.    Nelson. 

Treasurer — T.  L.  White. 

Auditor — Wm.  Zuik. 

Register  of  Deeds — Weslev  Brownell. 


269 

Sheriff — Chas.  A.  Knudson. 

Clerk  of  Courts — S.  S.  Vrooman. 

Judge — Daniel   Mitchell. 

County  Supt. — Abbie  Whitney.' 

Attorney — John  R.  Francis. 

Coroner — J.  E.  Shull. 

County  Com.,   ist  Dist. — R.   J.  Tracy. 

The  election  occurred  on  Nov.  6th,  with  the  result  that  the  Populists 
retained  the  offices  of  Treasurer,  Auditor,  Sheriff  and  Attorney.  The 
balance  of  the  places  were  filled  by  the  Republicans.  The  Prohibitionists 
had  nominated  a  full  legislative  and  county  ticket  but  practically  dropped 
the  contest  in  the  early  part  of  the  campaign. 


Chapter  13. 

(1901). 

With  the  beginning  of  the  century  an  era  of  business  activity  set  in 
that,  probably,  has  never  been  equaled.  In  the  Dakotas  this  was  most 
noticable  in  the  rapid  selling  of  real  estate.  Land  prices  doubled  and 
doubled  again,  before  people  began  to  realize  that  the  long  deferred 
"boom"  had  struck  the  great  prairie  country.  Men  who  had  complained 
that  they  were  "land  poor"  suddenly  found  themselves  rich  beyond  their 
most  optimistic  dreams.  But  few  people  realize  how  much  of  this  was 
due  to  the  real  estate  men.  Every  village  and  city  became  the  head- 
quarters of  from  two  to  a  dozen  dealers  in  South  Dakota  land.  Prior  to 
1901  nearly  all  the  real  estate  business  of  the  county  had  been  done  by 
O.  J.  Alarshall  of  Wessington  Springs ;  but  during  that  year  D.  C.  Wal- 
lace, located  at  Alpena,  and  F.  M.  Steere,  at  Wessington  Springs,  formed 
a  partnership  in  the  real  estate  business  and  during  the  year  sold  an 
immense  acreage  to  buyers  from  other  states.  John  Chamberlain,  L.  N. 
Loomis  and  Ray  Barber,  all  of  Alpena,  engaged  actively  in  the  business 
at  that  point,  while  D.  F.  Moulton  and  R.  S.  Vessey  each  had  an  office 
at  the  county  seat.  Later  the  National  Land  Co.  oi^ened  office  at  Alpena 
with  L.  Elliott  and  A.  C.  Doubenmier,  managers.  The  method  of  hand- 
ling was  such  as  to  force  the  price  upward.  The  agent  required  the 
owner  to  put  a  net  price  on  his  land.  The  real  estate  broker  then  sold 
the  land  at  whatever  he  could  get  above  the  owner's  ])rice,  taking  the 
excess  as  commission.  In  this  way  fortunes  were  made  in  a  few  years  by 
both  buvers  and  brokers. 


270 

The  rapid  sales  of  land  called  for  men  to  do  abstracing,  and  bonded 
abstractors  were  located  in  every  county  seat.  In  Jerauld  County  C.  W. 
McDonald  filed  his  bond  as  an  abstractor  in  April  and  soon  had  all  he 
could  do  it  that  line.  In  July  the  Jerauld  County  Abstract  Co.  was 
formed. 

The  numerous  land  deals  were  of  great  benefit  to  the  county  in  the 
collection  of  delinquent  personal  and  real  estate  taxes,  which  were  a  lien 
on  the  land  and  must  be  paid  before  an  abstract  could  show  a  clear  title. 

But  land  prices  were  not  the  only  evidences  of  prosperity.  Mortgage 
sales  of  all  kinds  ceased  almost  entirely  except  in  a  few  cases  where  fore- 
closure was  necessary  to  perfect  a  land  title.  The  price  of  farm  products 
began  to  go  up.  In  October  wheat  was  selling  at  52c ;  corn  40c ;  hogs 
$6.10;  butter  13c;  eggs  15c.  The  creameries  were  the  greatest  sources  of 
wealth  aside  from  the  rise  in  the  value  of  land.  At  Alpena  the  creamery 
took  in  over  two  million  pounds  of  milk  and  made  almost  89,000  pounds 
of  butter  during  the  year  1901.  In  January,  1901,  the  Glen  Creamery 
reported  that  during  the  preceeding  year  it  had  paid  to  its  patrons 
$11,836.13,  while  the  institution  at  Wessington  Springs  did  an  equally 
good  business.  In  the  banks  of  the  county  the  deposits  increased  to 
^■22.00  per  capita  of  the  county  population.  In  Alpena,  for  the  first  time 
in  several  years  all  four  grain  elevators  were  in  operation  handling  the 
immense  crop  produced  that  year.  The  county  treasurer's  report  made 
in  January,  1901,  showed  that  during  the  preceeding  three  months  the 
county  had  not  paid  out  a  dollar  for  relief  of  the  poor  and  during  the 
next  three  months  the  amount  expended  for  that  purpose  was  but  $7.65- 

At  Glen,  in  Logan  Township,  !Mr.  Frick  was  compelled  to  add  twenty 
feet  to  the  length  of  his  store  building  to  accommodate  his  growing  busi- 
ness. At  the  Walter's  skimming  station  in  Viola  Township  ]\Ir.  Otto 
Wagner  built  a  store  in  the  forepart  of  the  season  and  for  some  time 
drove  a  good  trade  in  such  articles  as  the  farmers  needed. 

In  county  matters  but  little  occurred  outside  of  routine  business.  The 
board  reorganized  January  3rd,  by  electing  P.  H.  Shultz,  commissiouor 
from  the  second  district,  chairman.  At  this  meeting  the  board  decided  to 
build  an  addition  to  the  court  house  and  put  in  another  vault.  It  was  als<-> 
necessary  to  rebuild  the  jail  and  repair  the  cells.  The  contract  for  put- 
ting up  the  two  buildings  was  let  to  Samuel  Marlenee,  the  total  cost  being 
about  $2,500.  It  was  planned  to  build  the  new  jail  on  ■^"'e  block  south 
of  the  Willard  Hotel,  but  a  strongly  signed  petition  from  the  people  of 
the  town  resulted  in  placing  the  building  on  the  hill  near  the  coutt  hotise. 
where- it  now  stands. 

On  November  i8th,  1901,  the  county  commissioners  acting  c.>  road 
viewers  reported  in  favor  of  opening  a  highway  beginning  at  the  half- 


2/1 


Alpena  1899. 


Alpena  Band. 


272 

section  corner  post  between  sections  20  and  21  in  Media  Township  and 
running  east  through  the  center  of  sections  21,  22  and  23  to  half -section 
corner  post  between  sections  23  and  24,  thence  north  one  mile,  thence  east 
80  rods  to  end  of  lane,  which  is  80  rods  east  of  half-section  corner  be- 
tween 13  and  14.  They  also  reported  in  favor  of  abandoning  the  high- 
way between  sections  16  and  21 ;  15  and  22;  14  and  23;  21  and  28;  22 
and  27. 

On  the  evening  of  April  22nd  a  young  man,  riding  one  horse  and 
leading  another,  arrived  at  Wessington  Springs  and  stayed  over  night. 
The  animals  were  valuable  ones  and  the  young  fellow  was  anxious  to 
sell  one  of  them.  He  offered  the  horse  at  a  price  so  low  that  Mr.  Price, 
the  liveryman,  became  suspicious  that  all  was  not  right.  In  the  morning 
the  man  departed  taking  the  horses  with  him.  About  an  hour  after  he 
had  left  the  town  a  telephone  message  was  received  from  Huron  telling 
the  sheriff,  Chas.  Knudson,  to  look  out  for  a  man  who  had  stolen  a  team 
of  horses  near  that  place  and  was  supposed  to  be  somewhere  in  the 
vicinity  of  Wessington  Springs.  The  sheriff  invited  Mr.  Price  to  go  with 
him  and  together  they  set  out  in  pursuit  of  the  man  with  the  animals. 
They  overtook  him  at  the  residence  of  J.  A.  Paddock  in  Crow  Township. 
They  were  close  upon  the  fellow  before  he  discoverede  that  he  was  being 
pursued.  He  was  requesting  Mr.  Paddock  to  open  a.  gate  that  stretched 
across  the  road,  when  that  gentleman  remarked  that  "Those  men  who 
are  following  seem  to  think  otherwise."  The  young  man  released  the 
led  horse  and  attempted  to  escape  on  the  other.  Mr.  Price  drew  a  revolver 
and  began  firing.  The  horseman  immediately  stopped  and  surrendered. 
He  proved  to  be  the  man  wanted  by  the  Huron  parties. 

In  November  a  man  named  Rornboldt  stole  a  span  of  heavy  draft 
horses  from  Ray  Barber  at  Alpena,  but  was  captured  with  the  stolen 
property.  At  the  request  of  States  Attorney  Francis,  a  special  term  of 
the  circuit  court  was  called  and  the  prisoner  was  sentenced  to  two  years 
in  the  penitentiary  on  a  plea  of  guilty.  This  ended  the  perpetration  of 
crimes  of  that  character  in  the  county. 

The  annual  picnic  of  the  old  settlers"  association  of  western  Jerauld 
County  was  held  at  Pierce's  grove,  two  miles  west  of  Templeton,  on  the 
14th  of  June.  This  grove  then  became  the  meeting  place  for  the  associa- 
tion in  subsequent  years. 

On  May  15th  a  district  W.  C.  T.  U.  convention  was  held  at  Wessing- 
ton Springs  in  the  Congregational  Church.  This  was  followed  on  June 
28th  by  a  county  Sunday  School  convention  in  the  same  church. 

On  June  12th  the  Wessington  Springs  Seminary  graduated  a  class  of 
twelve  members  as  follows :     Harrv  Lackwood.  Mav  Cook.  Clara  Phil- 


273 

lips,  Stephen  Dixon,  Carry  Talbot,  Carrie  Allen,  Roy  McNeil,  Frank 
Shultz,  Ethel  White,  Hattie  Esmay,  Alex.  Kennedy,  Geraldine  Heath. 

The  county  teachers'"  institute  was  opened  June  17th  and  continued 
two  weeks  in  the  Seminary  Chapel,  Prof.  Doderer,  of  Chamberlain,  con- 
ductor. 

A  state  conference  of  the  Universalist  Churches  of  South  Dakota  was 
held  at  Wessington  Springs  on  June  20th. 

On  July  3rd,  4th  and  5th  a  district  G.  A.  R.  re-union  was  held  in 
White's  Grove  at  Alpena.  Like  all  such  gatherings,  the  old  veterans  were 
greeted  with  an  immense  concourse  of  people  from  Jerauld,  Sanborn  and 
Beadle  Counties. 

The  Fourth  of  July  was  also  celebrated  at  Glen,  Gordon  P.  O.  and 
the  Solberg  Church  in  Viola  Township. 

The  only  change  made  in  the  mail  service  in  the  county  was  in  A'iola 
Township,  where  the  Ada  post  office  was  re-established,  with  Mr.  J.  C. 
Miller  as  P.  M.    This  occurred  in  April. 

Among  the  churches  and  societies  some  changes  and  additions  were 
made.  In  Pleasant  Township  a  Farmers'  Club  was  organized  that  so- 
cially was  a  great  help  to  the  west  side  of  the  count3\  On  June  30th  a 
Congregational  Church  was  organized  at  Fauston  and  on  July  7th  it  was 
received  into  the  fellowship  of  churches.  The  new  church  started  out 
with  22  members.  In  the  autumn  the  society  employed  Samuel  Mar- 
lenee  to  put  up  a  church  edifice  for  them  and  on  the  7th  of  November  the 
corner  stone  was  laid. 

At  Alpena  the  Presbyterian  society  began  the  construction  of  a  new 
church  building.  The  contract  for  the  carpenter  work  was  given  to 
Samuel  Marlenee,  who  began  work  on  the  7th  of  November.  A  lodge  of 
"Brotherhood  of  America"  with  21  charter  members  was  organized  in 
January  and  the  "Royal  Neighbors"  in  August.  These  were  fraternal 
insurance  societies. 

May  5th  the  German  Lutherans  dedicated  a  new  organ  which  they 
had  purchased  for  their  church  in  the  south  part  of  Alpena  township.  A 
sermon  in  the  German  language  was  preached  by  Rev.  Gebhardt.  of 
Conova.  and  one  in  English  by  Rev.  Lack,  the  local  pastor.  Rev.  Lack 
resigned  as  pastor  in  December. 

On  November  30th  a  brass  band  was  organized  at  Alpena  with  15 
pieces,  to  which  seven  more  instruments  were  added  the  next  week. 
This  organization  became  one  of  the  prominent  musical  aggregations  of 
the  state. 

The  only  change  among  the  newspapers  of  the  county  was  in  Alpena, 
when  R.  E.  Dye  on  April  5th  succeeded  E.  M.  Cochran  in  the  office  of 
the  Tournal. 


274 

Business  changes  in  the  county  in  1901  were  numerous. 

About  the  first  of  June  Ray  Barber  began. building-  at  Alpena  one  of 
the  finest  livery  barns  in  the  state.  It  was  42,  feet  wide  by  96  feet  in 
length. 

Sept.  1st  C.  W.  Miller  purchased  the  Alpena  hotel  of  Airs.  Barber  and 
Mrs.  Thompson  and  took  possession.  At  about  the  same  time  the  C.  L. 
Coleman  Lumber  Co.  established  a  yard  at  Alpena. 

During  the  first  week  in  December  W.  H.  JNIcMillan  and  J.  D.  Cham- 
berlain purchased  the  Alpena  meat  market  of  Andrew  Mercei,  and  a  few 
days  later  W.  R.  Wiley  bought  the  furniture  store  and  business  at  Alpena 
of  J.  D.  Chamberlain. 

In  August  Mr.  Chamberlain  had  purchased  the  Presbyterian  Church 
building  on  the  north  side  of  Main  street  in  Alpena,  opposite  Odd  Fel- 
lows Hall  and  fitted  it  up  for  use  as  a  general  store. 

At  Wessington  Springs  the  first  business  transaction  of  the  year  was 
the  sale  of  the  local  telephone  company's  line  to  the  Dakota  Central  Tele- 
phone Co.     This  occurred  on  January  ist,  1901. 

A  few  days  later  Mr.  Vanderveen  sold  his  lumber  stock  and  business 
to  E.  B.  Paddock,  who  ran  the  business  alone  until  September,  when  he 
sold  a  half  interest  to  W.  T.  McConnell. 

The  latter  part  of  ]\Iarch  Homer  Hackett  began  the  erection  of  a 
building  for  use  of  the  England  furniture  company.  G.  T.  England, 
successor  to  the  company,  still  occupies  the  building,  which  he  has  since 
purchased. 

In  April  W.  T.  George  and  W.  T.  McConnell  located  in  Wessington 
Springs  to  engage  in  business.  The  coming  of  these  gentlemen  was 
probably  the  first  step  in  the  making  of  a  greater  W^essington  Springs. 
Air.  George  purchased  a  half  interest  in  the  Vessey  store,  which  then 
took  the  name  of  Vessey-George  Alercantile  Co.,  and  Air.  AlcConnell  be- 
came president  of  the  Bank  of  Wessington  Springs. 

On  Alay  3rd  E.  AI.  Cochran  rented  and  took  possession  of  the  Carlton 
House  in  Wessington  Springs,  but  retired  from  it  in  October  and  was 
succeeded  in  its  management  by  C.  N.  Hall,  the  owner. 

Howard  Pope  sold  his  interest  in  the  blacksmith  business  to  which  he 
and  A4r.  Alinnill  had  added  feed  grinding.  This  .change  occurred  in  Alay 
and  a  little  later  Mr.  Alennill  sold  a  half  interest  in  the  business  to  Homer 
Hackett. 

In  August  A.  AT.  Slocum  built  a  photograph  gallery  on  the  northwest 
corner  of  Alain  and  Third  streets. 

The  next  month  (Sept.  1901)  Mrs.  Alinnie  Easton  took  charge  of  the 
millinery  department  in  the  Vessey-George  store. 


2/5 

About  the  first  of  October  Dr.  Smith  and  Prof.  E.  G.  Burritt  opened 
a.  drug-  store  in  the  Weibold  building  on  the  southwest  corner  of  Main 
and  3rd  streets. 

On  November  15th  Steere  &  Wallace  began  building  a  two-story  mer- 
cantile structure  on  the  northwest  corner  of  Main  and  2nd  streets. 

Sometime  in  the  forepart  of  the  year  Mr.  M.  Kieffer,  undoubtedly 
one  of  the  most  skillful  masons  in  the  state,  located  at  Wessington  Springs 
and  began  working  at  his  trade. 

Among  the  prominent  people  of  the  county  who  died  during  the  year 
were  Ambrose  Baker  of  Marlar  township ;  J.  H.  May,  of  Alpena  town- 
ship and  C.  M.  Chery  and  :\Irs.  C.  M.  Spears  of  Wessington  Springs. 


Chapter  14. 

( 1902). 

On  January  7th,  1902,  the  county  commissioners  re-elected  P.  H. 
Shultz  chairman  of  the  board,  being  the  only  time  in  the  history  of  the 
county  that  a  member  has  been  given  that  position  two  times  in  succes- 
sion. 

On  Alarch  ist  of  that  year  the  cash  in  the  hands  of  the  treasurer  was 
a  little  more  than  $20,000.  Never  before  had  the  county  funds  reached 
so  high  a  figure. 

In  July  the  county  purchased  of  ^Irs.  Johanna  McDowall  a  tract  of 
land  for  a  road  through  the  hills  on  the  east  line  of  the.  county.  In 
August  the  board  took  up  for  final  adjustment  the  matter  of  a  highway 
through  Media  township  west  from  the  end  of  the  grade  west  of  Wes- 
sington Springs.  For  many  years  this  had  been  a  vexatious  subject. 
Alany  "views"  and  surveys  had  been  made,  but  with  no  practical  results. 
But  this  time  a  survey  was  made,  the  notes  recorded  and  the  land  pur- 
chased for  the  road  that  now  extends  from  the  county  seat  to  where  it 
strikes  the  section  line  road  between  sections  8  and  17  in  Media  township. 

Nothing  else  was  done  by  the  county  board  during  the  year  except  the 
ordinary  routine  work. 

On  July  28th  the  county  teachers"  institute  began  a  two-weeks  session 
with  Prof.  C.  W.  Martindale,  of  Yankton,  conductor. 

The  County  Sunday  School  convention  was  held  Sept.  7th  in  the 
Grisinger  grove  in  Franklin  township. 

As  the  time  for  the  bienniel  election  approached  the  parties  prepared 
for  the  contest.     The  Republican  party  put  forth  the  following  ticket : 


2/6 

Senator — T.  W.  Lane. 

Representative — H.  B.  Ferren. 

Treasurer — D.   C.  Wallace. 

Register  of  Deeds — W.  B.  Wilson. 

Auditor — J.  D.  Powell. 

Sheriff— G.  N.  Price. 

Judge— C.  W.  McDonald. 

Clerk— W.  F.  Taylor. 

County  Supt. — A.  V.  Hall. 

Coroner — J.  E.  Shull. 

County  Com.,  2nd  District — Geo.  C.  ^Martin. 

County  Co.,  3rd  District — O.  C).  England. 

The  Populist  party  nominated : 

For  Senator — J.  A.  Eberly. 

Representative — N.  A.  Keeler. 

Treasurer — M.  A.  Shaefer. 

Auditor— R.  W.  Wiley. 

Register  of  Deeds — J.  A.  Ford. 

Sheriff — Chas.  A.  Knudson. 

Attorney — C.  C.  Gleim. 

Clerk — J.  W.  Snart. 

County  Supt. — Geo.  O.  Williams. 

Coroner — Pat  McDonald. 

County  Com.,  2nd  Dist. — P.  H.  Shultz. 

County  Co.,  3rd  Dist. — H.  T.  Gilbert. 

The  Prohibition  party  also  had  a  ticket  in  the  field. 

The  result  was  the  election  of  the  entire  Republican  ticket  except  the 
candidate  for  sheriff.  This  was  the  first  sweeping  victory  of  the  Repub- 
licans in  twelve  years. 

In  1892  the  government  established  a  post  office  at  the  sod  house  of 
Jacob  Stickley  in  Pleasant  township.  There  O.  E.  Corwin  opened  a  store 
at  the  same  time.     Both  continued  about  a  year. 

In  February  the  government  contracted  with  the  following  mail  car- 
riers:  Crow  Lake  and  Mt.  Vernon  routes.  J.  H.  Vessey;  jMiller  route. 
W.  Spain ;  Woonsocket,  Wm.  Keene.  All  these  routes  started  from  Wes- 
sington  Springs. 

In  March  the  county  furnished  the  plank  and  street  commissioner  Wm. 
Hawthorne  for  the  village  of  Wessington  Springs  laid  a  sidewalk  from  the 
Willard  Hotel  to  the  court  house. 

The  Fourth  of  July  celebrations  in  1902  were  at  Chas.  \\'alter's  grove 


277 


/['.  B.  Wilson. 


Win.  F.   Tayloi 


G.    T.   Ew-dand.  Dale  C.   Jl'allacc.  Mrs.  Minnie  Easton. 


278 

in  A'iola;  at  Glen  P.  O.  in  Logan;  at  Peirce's  Grove  in  Harmony  and  at 
AA'essington  Springs. 

A  month  later,  Aug.  3rd,  the  new  Congregational  Church  at  Fauston 
was  dedicated  and  on  Sept.  21  the  same  ceremony  was  conducted  for  the 
new  Alpena  Presbyterian  Church.  On  October  19th  the  Alpena  ]\I.  E. 
Church  was  out  of  debt  and  celebrated  the  occasion  by  publicly  burning 
the  mortgage  that  had  rested  on  the  church  so  many  years.  In  connec- 
tion with  the  same  church  a  charter  was  granted  to  a  Junior  E])worth 
League  society  on  Dec.  15,  1902. 

Early  in  1902  the  ]\L  E.  Society  at  AA'essington  Springs  decided  to 
erect  a  larger  church  building  on  Fourth  Street,  a  block  north  of  Main 
Street  and  offered  the  old  church,  built  by  the  early  settlers  in  1883,  for 
sale.  It  was  purchased  by  the  Solberg  Swedish  Lutheran  Society  of  the 
south  lYdrt  of  Franklin  township,  but  was  not  moved  to  its  new  location 
until  1904.  The  ^Methodist  Church  at  W'essington  Springs  began  the 
erection  of  their  new  building  in  the  summer  of  1902,  but  it  was  not 
completed  until  the  next  year.  In  the  meantime  the  society  obtained  the 
use  of  the  Universalist  building. 

The  Society  of  Friends  in  Harmony  Township  moved  a  building 
owned  by  them  in  Hand  County  to  a  location  they  had  obtained  on  the 
south  side  of  Peirce's  Grove,  two  miles  west  of  Templeton,-  and  establishetl 
that  as  their  meeting  place  in  the  county. 

During  the  first  week  in  January,  1902,  R.  E.  Dye  succeeded  Richard 
Davenport  as  postmaster  at  Alpena.  Later  in  the  season  the  postofhce 
and  printing  office  were  placed  under  one  roof  at  their  present  location. 

Nov.  29th  the  Stock  P.  O.  in  Chery  township  was  discontinued. 

April  I  St  W.  E.  W'aterbury  gave  up  the  old  Waterbury  P.  O.  and  it 
was  moved  three  miles  east  to  the  residence  of  Clark  W'etherell  who  had 
been  appointed  P.  M. 

About  the  middle  of  December  O.  O.  luigland  bought  the  J.  R.  luldy 
juercantile  stock  at  Templeton  and  became  postmaster  at  that  office. 

In  the  fall  of  this  year,  (1902),  a  fire  company  w^as  organized  in 
Crow  Lake  township  for  protection  against  prairie  fires.  The  officers 
were  I.  C.  Russell,  Joseph  OTh-ien  and  !>.  Weibold.;  Each  member  of  the 
cumpan}'  was  required  to  ecjuip  himself  with  certain  means  for  fighting- 
fire  and  to  respond  immediately  to  an  alarm. 

.C)n  March  24th  lohn  Sime  completed  his  artesian  well  on  the  south- 
west cjuarter  of  section iseven  in  Franklin  township  at  a  depth  of  830  feet. 

Numerous  changes  were  made  in  the  banking  institutions  of  the  county 
■during  the  year.  The  I>ank  of  Al])ena  on  the  22nd  of  Jul}-  increased  its 
cai)ital  stock  to  $12,000  and  alxnit  the  same  time  began  the  construction 


279 


F.  G.   Vcsscx. 


A.  R.  McConncU. 


M.  S.   Ccm'inaii.  /.  Ff.  Jl'oodbuni.  E.  B.  Maris. 


28o 

of  a  brick  building  for  use  of  the  institution  at  the  southeast  corner  of 
]\Iain  and  2nd  streets. 

The  organization  of  the  Alpena  State  Bank  was  completed  Aug.  22nd. 
The  incorporators  were  D.  S.  Alanwaring  and  Frank  Baker  of  Alpena 
and  C.  R.  and  M.  A.  Manwaring  of  Atwood,  Iowa,  with  F.  E.  Alanning 
as  cashier.  The  capital  stock  was  $10,000.  The  bank  was  formally 
opened  for  business  Sept.  ist.  The  deposits  in  this  institution  during  the 
first  three  weeks  of  its  existence  was  $23,000. 

In  the  latter  part  of  December,  D.  C.  Wallace  resigned  his  position  as 
cashier  of  the  Bank  of  Alpena  and  moved  to  Wessington  Springs  to 
enter  upon  his  duties  as  county  treasurer. 

On  Sept.  17th  R.  S.  and  F.  G.  Vessey  became 'owners  of  the  stock 
of  the  Wessington  Springs  State  Bank  with  T.  F.  A'essey.  F.  AI.  Steere, 
John  R.  Francis  and  Gilmore  Robins,  the  latter  being  of  Grinnell,  Iowa. 

The  First  National  Bank  of  Wessington  Springs  was  authorized  Sept. 
25th  and  opened  for  business  on  the  first  day  of  Oct.  The  first  issue  of 
its  currency  was  on  November  19th.  The  stockholders  of  the  new  bank 
were, J.  H.  Woodburn,  John  Grant,  W.  T.  George,  E.  B.  Maris,  W.  T. 
McConnell,  A.  R.  McConnell,  O.  J.  Marshall,  Sarah  AlcConnell,  J.  B. 
Collins,  W.  H.  Sutton  and  C.  R.  Cornelius,  all  but  the  last  four  being- 
directors.  The  officers  were  W.  T.  McConnell,  president,  J.  H.  Wood- 
burn,  vice-president  and  E.  B.  Maris,  cashier.  The  capital  stock  was 
$25,000,  upon  which  semi-annual  devidends  have  been  paid  each  year 
since  the  opening  of  the  bank.  At  the  close  of  this  history,  January  ist, 
1909,  the  bank's  surplus  and  undivided  profits  exceeded  $10,000.  The  new 
institution  began  business  in  the  little  frame  building  formerly  occupied 
as  a  hardware  store  on  the  north  side  of  Alain  street,  three  doors  west 
of  2nd  street.  The  directors  immediately  began  preparations  for  a  brick 
building  on  the  corner  of  Main  and  2nd  streets  on  the  ground  where  the 
Woodburn  store  building  stood.  The  store  building  they  moved  one  lot 
east.  Work  on  the  new  building  commenced  Dec.  9th,  but  it  was  not 
completed  until  the  next  year. 

The  year  1902  was  one  of  much  business  activity  in  both  Wessington 
Springs  and  Alpena.  At  the  latter  place  Grant  Anderson  started  a  har- 
ness shop  in  his  hardware  store  in  January,  and  the  next  month  C.  S. 
Jacobs  opened  a  harness  shop  on  the  north  side  of  Main  street,  with  his 
son  Louis  Jacobs  as  manager.  About  the  first  of  August,  however,  Mr. 
Jacobs  sold  his  business  to  Mr.  Anderson,  who  has  since  done  the  business 
for  that  part  of  the  county. 

C.  C.  Isenbuth  sold  his  mercantile  store  and  business  in  January  to 
F.  A.  Franzwa,  who  took  possession  February  ist.  In  May  Mr.  Franzwa 
had  the  first  cement  walk  in  the  town  laid  in  front  of  his  store  and    in 


28 1 


Jacob  Sicklcy's  Sod  House. 


Sticklcv's  Martial  Baud. 


282 

Aug"ust  remodeled  and  enlarged  the  building,  adding  another  story  for 
living  rooms. 

In  February  George  Hatch  began  building  a  new  livery, barn,  which 
was  completed  in  early  spring.  He  later  in  the  summer  purchased  the 
barn  and  livery  stock  of  Ray  Barber  taking  possession  in  August. 

T.  L.  White  and  \Vm.  Zink  of  Wessington  Springs  put  in  a  stock  of 
farm  machinery  at  Alpena  in  Januarv  and  employed  Pat  ]\IcDonald  as 
salesman.  In  October  Mr.  White  sold  his  interest  in  the  business  to  Mr. 
Zink.  who  continued  alone  to  the  close  of  the  year. 

In  April  and  Alay  Andrew  fiercer  built  a  restaurant  building  on  the 
south  side  of  Main  street,  but  in  October  sold  the  building"  and  business 
to  G.  Evenson. 

A.  Amundson,  who  for  several  years  had  been  in  charge  of  the  C. 
2\L  &  St.  P.  Ry.  station  at  Alpena,  resigned  on  ]\Iay  1st  and  was  suc- 
ceeded by  C.  G.  Boom. 

July  1st,  J.  R.  !Milliken  purchased  of  L.  X.  Loomis  his  real  estate 
business  and  a  few  days  later  the  latter  moved  to  Minneapolis. 

A  change  was  made  in  the  barber  shop  in  the  latter  part  of  August 
when  Art  Winters  and  Frank  Eastman  bought  the  business  of  L.  N. 
Tillery. 

In  the  same  month  W.  H.  McMillan  purchased  J.  D.  Chamberlain's 
interest  in  the  meat  market. 

In  the  fall  of  1902  Dr.  H.  E.  Jenkinson  located  in  Alpena  to  take  up 
the  practice  of  his  profession. 

To  the  real  estate  men  more  than  all  others,  probably,  was  due  the 
mcreased  activity  in  the  various  lines  of  business.  At  Alpena  fifteen  cars 
of  immigrants  arrived  on  Feb.  21,  brought  by  the  National  Land  Co., 
and  the  next  week  twelve  cars  came,  independent  of  local  agents.  The 
state  was  litterally  overrun  with  real  estate  men  taking  prospective  buyers 
to  dilTerent  counties  to  look  at  land.  In  November  J.  W-  Doubenmier 
came  to  Alpena  to  take  charge  of  the  business  of  the  National  Land  Co. 
in  place  of  A.  C.  Doubenmier. 

At  Wessington  Springs  W.  FI.  Sutton  purchased  the  Kennedy  hard- 
ware stock  the  latter  part  of  January  and  later  moved  it  into  the  Steerc 
&  Wallace  building  on  the  corner  of  Main  and  2nd  streets. 

Early  in  the  year  White  &  Zink  built  a  machinery  warehouse  on  the 
north  side  of  Main  street  between  First  and  Second. 

March  ist  Hugh  Personius  of  Woonsocket  rented  the  Carlton  House. 
T)ut  in  the  latter  part  of  March  sold  to  F.  W.  Dodge.  About  the  first  of 
Sept.  Mr.  Personius  purchased  the  Willard  Hotel,  but  a  few  days  later 
sold  that,  also,  to  Mr.  Dodge. 


283 

In  April  R.  A'anderveen  re-purchased  of  Messrs.  Paddock  and  Mc- 
lonnell  the  lumber  business  in  Wessington  Springs. 

A  month  later  J.  B.  Collins  established  a  lumber  and  coal  yard  in  Wes- 
sington Springs,  which  became  the  first  permanent  yard  in  the  town, 
being  purchased  March  23rd,  1904,  by  the  W.  W.  Johnson  Lumber  Co. 

In  Jul}'  C.  C.  Gleim,  an  attorney  from  Artesian,  located  in  Wessington 
.Springs  to  practice  law. 

August  1st  W.  T.  George  retired  from  the  A'essey-George  Mercantile 
Co.,  and  the  business  again  passed  under  the  name  of  Vessey  Bros.,  man- 
aged by  T.  F.  \>ssey.  On  the  8th  of  Sept.  A'essey  Bros,  began  putting 
up  a  two-story  building  on  the  northeast  corner  of  2nd  and  Main  streets. 
Into  this  building  they  moved  their  mercantile  stock  on  Dec.  8th  and  had 
an  "opening"  for  the  entertainment  of  their  customers  on  Dec.   i8th. 

In  Sept.  E.  L.  Smith  erected  a  store  building  on  the  lot  east  of  Brod- 
korb's  meat  market,  on  the  south  side  of  .Main  street  for  use  of  X.  M. 
S])ears  with  his  grocery  stock. 

C  )ctober  ist  J.  W.  Shull  bought  and  took  possession  of  the  Pioneer 
Drug  Store. 

Dr.  C.  E.' Stewart  located  in  Wessington  Springs  in  the  summer  to 
practice  medicine  with  his  brother  Dr.  F.  H.  Stewart. 

])Ut  many  things  occurred  this  year  tending  toward  the  advancement 
of  general  business  and  social  afil'airs  of  the  county,  aside  from  individual 
business  matters. 

On  March  8th  the  Alpena  band,  \\  hich  had  now  become  a  very  efficient 
musical  organization,  made  its  first  public  appearance  and  soon  became 
noted  in  this  part  of  the  state. 

The  Alpena  Gun  Club  had  its  first  contest  vrith  outside  marksmen 
on  March  20th  and  won  the  game.  The  Alpena  shooters  were  C.  W. 
Miller,  R.  fiercer,  C.  G.  Haskins,  J.  E.  Shull  and  J.  H.  Verry. 

In  the  early  spring;  of  1902  the  village  of  Alpena  found  itself  entirely 
free  from  debt  and  a  strong  demand  being  made  for  better  school  facili- 
ties. An  election  was  therefore  held  on  April  5th  to  vote  on  the  matter 
of  creating  an  independent  school  district  three  miles  square  in  the 
northeast  corner  of  the  township.  The  proposition  carried  and  the  new 
district  at  once  set  about  the  building  of  an  addition  to  the  old  school 
house.  Fifteen  hundred  dollars  bonds  were  voted  and  issued  for  the 
improvements.  On  ( )ct.  26  school  was  opened  with  100  ]:)upils  divided 
into  three  schools. 

In  August  the  Alpena  Epworth  League  arranged  for  a  lecture  course 
for  the  ensuing  winter.  This  was  the  beginning  of  a  course  that  has  been 
continued  ever  since. 

At  the  Wessington  Springs  Seminary  the  graduating  exercises  occur- 


284 

red  on  June  i8th  for  a  class  of  six;  B.  I.  Hubbard,  G.  Benton  Ingram, 
Mary  M.  Nelson,  Odell  K.  Whitney,  Ara  B.  George  and  Ruth  Cook. 

In  both  Alpena  and  Wessington  Springs  the  subject  of  better  protec- 
tion against  fire  began  to  be  seriously  considered.  Both  towns  were 
"talking"  artesian  well,  and  on  Dec.  ist  the  county  seat  voted  bonds  in 
the  sum  of  $2,500  to  carry  out  the  project.  Alpena  postponed  the  ques- 
tion until  the  next  season. 

For  twenty  years  Wessington  Springs  had  been  waiting  for  a   rail- 
road.   Each  year  there  had  been  rumors  of  railway  communication,  some- 
times in  one  direction  and  sometimes  in  another.     But  now  the  people 
determined  to  do  something  to  remedy  the  methods  of  transportation.     A 
league  of  business  men  was  formed  in  February  17th,  1902,  to  consider 
all  matters  pertaining  to  the  welfare  of  the  town.     An  organization  was 
perfected  with  C.  S.  Jacobs,  president;  W.  T.  INIcConnell,  vice-president; 
E.  G.  Burritt,  secretary  and  Jefif.  Sickler,  treasurer.     These  officers  were 
members  of  an  executive  committee  to  which  was  also  added  R.  S.  \'es- 
sey,  O.  J.  Marshall  and  F.  \I.  Steere.     A  few  days  later  a  company  was 
incorporated  under  the  name  of  the  W^essington  Springs  and  W^oonsocket 
Electric  Railway  Company.     A  good  deal  of  correspondence  was  had  by 
the  league  with  civil  engineers  and  capitalists  during  the  next  few  weeks. 
On  May  9th  a  couple  of  railway  officials  of  the  C.  M.  &  St.  P.  came  to 
Wessington   Springs  and  engaged  a  livery  team  with  G.   N.   Price    as 
driver.     They  visited  the  west  part  of  the  county  and  spent  the  night  at 
Richards  P.  O.  in  Buffalo  county.    The  next  day  they  returned  and  went 
on  to  the  railroad.     What  would  come  of  this  visit  no  one  would  guess. 
Disappointments  from  that  source  had  been  so  many  that  none  would 
risk  a  hope.     A  meeting  was  called  to  consider  the  feasibility  of  putting 
an  automobile  line  in  operation  between  Wessington  Springs  and  ^^'oon- 
socket.     While  that  was  under  consideration  by  the  people  of  the  town, 
the  C.  M.  &  St.  P.  on  June  6th  began  surveying  from  Woonsocket  west. 
One  line  was  run  straight  toward  the  court  house  in  W^essington  Springs 
and  another  toward  the  Wallace  gulch  three  miles  north.    Then  the  days, 
weeks  and  months  dragged  wearily  on  and  all  thought  this  railroad  rumor 
had  gone  like  the  others.     December  came,  and  on  the  9th  of  that  month 
Mr.  B.  H.  Eldridge,  civil  engineer,  in  the  employ  of  the  C.  M.  &  St.  P. 
Co.  arrived  in  Wessington  Springs  with  a  full  crew  of  surveyors.     They 
secured  board  at  the  Willard  Hotel  and  obtained  the  use  of  the  office 
room  of  the  old  Carlton  House  for  headquarters.     It  then  became  known 
that  a  final  survey  was  to  be  made  for  a  line  between  Wessington  Springs 
and  Woonsocket  and  that  a  railroad  was  to  be  built  from  Woonsocket  to 
the  Wessington  Hills.     But,  would  it  be  run  to  Wessington  Springs,  or 
would  the  company  destroy  the  town  that  the  people  had  kept  alive,  with 


285 

hope,  for  so  many  years.  The  year  1902  drew  to  a  close,  and  one  of  the 
hardest  winters  in  the  history  of  the  county  settled  down  over  the  prai- 
ries, leaving  the  important  question  unanswered. 

On  Dec.  13th,  1902,  snow  began  falling  in  large  flakes  and  continued 
two  days  and  two  nights  without  stopping.  There  was  no  wind  and  the 
flakes  rested  where  they  fell.  The  weather  was  just  cold  enough  to  keep 
the  snow  from  changing  to  rain  until  the  evening  of  the  i6th,  then  for  a 
few  minutes  the  rain  fell  in  torrehts.  This  was  followed  by  a  cold  wave 
with  a  northwest  wind.  The  snow  was  too  wet  to  drift  and  the  crust  of 
water  froze  until  all  over  the  prairie,  on  hill  and  in  valley,  rested  a  coating 
of  ice  from  a  half  inch  to  an  inch  in  thickness.  It  was  impossible  to  drive 
animals  through  the  snow  because  the  ice  crust  cut  their  legs  like  glass. 
To  make  a  road  men  had  to  go  ahead  and  break  the  ice  so  the  teams 
could  follow.  This  winter,  though  not  so  cold  as  some,  was  one  of  the 
hardest  in  which  to  do  farm  work,  that  has  even  been  experienced  in  the 
Dakotas. 


Chapter  15. 

(1903)- 

The  surveyors  that  had  established  headquarters  in  the  old  Carlton 
House  at  Wessington  Springs  in  the  last  week  in  December,  1902,  con- 
tinued their  work  during  the  first  week  of  January,  1903,  and  ran  several 
lines  from  the  Firesteel  Creek  to  the  hills.  On  February  19th  the  rail- 
way company  notified  the  people  of  the  town  that  the  nearest  approach 
they  could  make  to  the  town  was  the  line  over  which  the  track  was  even- 
tually built.  They  also  requested  the  people  to  donate  the  land  needed 
for  depot  and  terminal  facilities.  The  amount  thought  necessary  was  16 
or  18  acres.  This,  Mr.  B.  F.  Hubbard,  who  owned  the  land,  offered  to 
sell  at  $75  per  acre.  A  meeting  of  the  Business  Men's  League  was  held 
on  the  2 1  St,  at  which  it  was  voted  unanimously  to  comply  with  the  request 
and  to  raise  the  money  by  popular  subscription.  Before  the  land  was 
deeded  to  the  company  the  request  was  reduced  by  about  11  acres  so  that 
only  about  seven  acres  were  desired  by  the  company.  This  change  was 
made  in  the  forepart  of  May.  At  another  public  meeting  held  March 
30th,  it  had  been  voted  to  ask  the  village  trustees  to  levy  a  tax  to  pay 
for  the  terminal  ground.  The  tax  was  levied,  but  its  collection  was  en- 
joined by  the  circuit  court.     The  money  had  already  been  paid,  however. 


286 

by  subscription,  and  the  expense  of  providing-  the  depot  and  other 
grounds  fell  upon  a  few  individuals. 

The  work  of  buying  the  right-of-way  for  the  railroad  began  on  March 
13th,  the  company  paying  therefor  $30.00  per  acre.  On  May  6th  Mr. 
Kennedy,  a  railway  contractor,  arrived  with  a  large  force  of  graders  and 
pitched  his  camp  about  a  mile  east  of  town,  near  the  right-of-way.  The 
grading  was  divided  into  two  contracts  and  was  pushed  as  is  the  case 
with  all  such  contract  work.  By  September  ist  the  grade  was  completed 
from  Wessington  Springs  to  Woonsocket  and  laying  ties  and  rails  com- 
menced. On  September  20th  the  long  looked  for  day  arrived  when  the 
construction  train  reached  the  end  of  the  line  and  Wessington  Springs 
had  a  railroad. 

With  the  railroad  came  a  new  influence,  before  unknown  to  the  village 
by  the  hills.  In  all  the  years  of  its  history  Wessington  Springs  had  been 
strict  in  its  observance  of  the  Sabbath.  By  ordinance  the  village  trustees 
had  imposed  a  fine  upon  any  business  man  who  sold  goods  on  Sundav, 
except  the  meat  market  man,  who  was  permitted  to  keep  his  shop  open  on 
Sunday  until  10  o'clock  A.  AI. 

But  the  railroad  threatened  to  revolutionize  the  old  town  in  regard 
to  Sabbath  observance.  The  first  passenger  train  to  be  pulled  out  of 
Wessington  Springs  was  an  excursion  on  Sunday  Sept.  27th,  G.  A. 
Lawler,  conductor,  and  A.  Martins,  engineer,  to  the  Corn  Palace  at 
Mitchell.  A  great  many  Wessington  Springs  people  went  on  that  train. 
The  puritanic  sentiment  of  those  who  stayed  at  home  was  greatly  shocked. 
A  petition  in  the  nature  of  a  protest  was  liberally  signed  and  forwarded 
to  the  officials  of  the  company,  requesting  that  they  desist  from  running- 
Sunday  excursions  to,  or  from,  Wessington  Springs.  At  first  but  little 
attention  was  paid  to  the  petition,  but  at  length  the  expressed  public 
opinion  had  its  effect  and  the  practice  of  running  Sunday  trains  unneces- 
sarily was  abandoned. 

The  next  day,  Sept.  28th,  the  railway  company  began  running  a  mixed 
train  daily  to  Wessington  Springs,  where  they  had  left  a  box  car  to  be 
used  as  a  depot  in  charge  of  Mr.  Earl,  the  first  station  agent.  A  few  days 
later  the  long  distance  telephone  line  was  extended  to  the  depot  box  car 
for  use  of  the  station  agent  until  the  telegraph  line  could  be  brought  in. 
The  phone  is  still  in  use. 

On  Oct.  2nd  Car  No.  46574  was  loaded  by  J.'  B.  Collins  with  996 
Imshels  of  No.  i  hard  wheat.  There  being  no  agent  at  Wessington  Springs 
at  that  time,  the  car  was  taken  to  Woonsocket  by  the  construction  train 
and  there  billed  to  the  Van  Dusen-Harring^on  Co.,  at  Minneapolis.  This 
was  the  first  car  of  grain  shipped  from  Wessington  Springs.  The  price 
was  79  cents  per  bushel.     The  proceeds  of  the  grain  was  $78^). 84. 


287 


H.  A.  Frick  and  his  tico  sons  Gnx 
and  Harry  R.  Frick. 


Mr.  and  Mrs.  E.  H.   Wood. 


C.  J.  Ffaff. 


IF.   T.   McConncU. 


J.  G.  Bradford. 


288 

Before  the  first  of  October  Gotwals  &  Russell,  stockbuyers  at  Wes- 
sington  Springs  shipped  the  first  carload  of  cattle  over  the  new  road. 
The  stock  yards  were  completed  in  November,  and  when,  on  the  15th  of 
December  the  mail  began  coming  to  \\'essington  Springs  by  rail  the  town 
felt  its  connection  with  the  world  was  complete. 

STARTING  A  NEW  TOWN. 

When  it  became  certain  that  the  C.  M.  &  St.  P.  was  going  to  build 
Avest  from  Woonsocket,  L.  N.  Loomis  and  T.  W.  Lane  purchased  the 
south  half  of  section  17,  of  Franklin  township  and  gave  the  railway  town- 
site  company  a  half  interest  in  the  land  in  consideration  of  it  being  made 
the  site  of  the  town  to  be  located  between  Wessington  Springs  and  Woon- 
socket. A  few  days  later,  May  15th,  Mr.  Franzwa,  who  had  sold  his  store 
at  Alpena,  began  building  a  store  on  the  railway  right  of  way  near  where 
the  depot  now  stands. 

About  a  week  later  E.  H.  Wood  and  F.  G.  Vessey  of  Wessington 
Springs  borrowed  a  small  safe  which  they  placed  in  Franzwa's  store 
building  and  started  "The  Farmers  State  Bank,"  as  a  partnership.  About 
the  same  time  the  Fullerton  Lumber  Co.  put  up  a  small  office  building  as 
the  beginning  of  the  first  lumber  yard  in  Lane,  with  G.  S.  \A'arren  agent. 

Before  the  roof  had  been  put  over  the  Fullerton  office  building  the 
First  National  Bank  people  of  Wessington  Springs  took  steps  toward  the 
incorporation  of  another  bank,  also  having  the  name  "Farmers  State 
Bank."  The  articles  were  prepared  and  sent  to  Pierre  to  be  filed  with 
the  secretary  of  state,  and  Carl  Lange,  cashier,  procured  a  dry  goods  box 
for  a  desk  and  a  cracker  box  for  a  seat.  By  permission,  he  placed  them 
both  in  the  roofless  lumber  office,  and  placing  himself  behind  one  and 
upon  the  other,  was  also  ready  to  do  a  banking  business  in  the  name  of 
'The  Farmers  State  Bank."  But  Vessey  &  W^ood  had  by  this  time  learned 
of  the  move  of  the  rival  bank,  and  had  drawn  up  articles  of  incorporation 
which  they  had  recorded.  Mr.  Wood  then  took  the  papers  for  his  bank 
and  went  to  Pierre.  The  articles  of  the  opposing  bank  were  sent  to  the 
state  capital  on  the  same  train.  Arrived  at  the  office  of  the  secretary  of 
state  both  sets  of  papers  were  presented  for  filing.  The  secretary  looked 
over  the  documents  and  rejected  the  one  presented  by  First  National  Bank 
because  it  had  not  been  recorded  at  W^essington  Springs.  He  then  took 
up  Mr.  Wood's  articles  of  incorporation  and  rejected  them  because  the 
notary  in  his  hurry  had  neglected  to  affix  his  official  seal.  It  was  to  be 
a  race  for  the  name  of  the  bank.  One  set  of  papers  must  be  recorded, 
and  the  other  must  be  sealed.  Mr.  Wood  was  probably  never  more  thank- 
ful for  a  long  distance  'phone.     He  called  up  the  notary  at  Wessington 


289 

Springs  and  told  him  to  come  to  Pierre  at  once  and  bring  his  Notarial 
Seal.  It  is  needless  to  say  that  Vessey  &  Wood  became  officers  of 
"The  Farmers  State  Bank"  of  Lane.  The  other  bank  became  incorpor- 
ated, but  under  the  name  of  "The  Security  Bank/'  of  Lane. 

About  the  same  time  that  the  race  for  the  name  of  the  bank  was  going 
on  Mr.  Franzwa  forwarded  to  the  post  office  department  at  Washington 
an  application  for  the  establishment  of  a  post  office  at  Lane  and  that  he 
be  made  the  first  postmaster.  During  this  time  a  ball  nine  and  a  gun 
club  were  organized  composed  of  sportsmen  living  in  the  vicinty  of  the 
new  station.  No  records  have  been  preserved  of  the  achievements  of 
the  gun  club,  but  the  ball  nine  distinguished  itself  by  defeating  all  the 
neighboring  teams  that  crossed  bats  with  it.  As  yet  the  town  had  not 
been  platted  and  persons  established  on  the  proposed  townsite  were  only 
"squatters"  with  no  priority  of  right. 

On  the  i6th  of  July  the  "Jerauld  County  News,"  published  by  R.  B. 
Smith,  was  issued  from  an  office  located  in  a  granary  on  the  northeast 
c|uarter  of  section  19 — the  old  L.  E.  Franklin  homestead.  The  paper  was 
a  six-column  folio  and  announced  decided  opposition  to  saloons.  The 
first  subscription  order  received  by  the  publisher  was  from  Mr.  John 
Klem. 

The  town  was  platted  about  the  middle  of  July  and  on  the  31st  the 
company  sold  the  lots  at  public  auction.  Mr.  Franzwa  received  his  com- 
mission and  began  to  do  business  as  postmaster  on  the  day  of  the  town 
lot  sale. 

By  this  time  both  banks  were  duly  incorporated  and  doing  business. 
The  directors  of  the  Security  Bank  were  W.  T.  McConnell,  J.  FL  Wood- 
burn,  E.  B.  Maris,  O.  J.  Marshall,  O.  O.  Lindebak  and  F.  A.  Franzwa.. 
The  officers  of  the  Farmers  State  Bank  were  F.  G.  Vessey,  president ;  D. 
H.  Wood,  vice  president  and  E.  H.  Wood,  cashier.  I^)Ut  as  it  was  thought 
the  business  of  the  town  would  not  warrant  the  continuance  of  two  banks 
the  Security  sold  its  business  and  outfit  to  the  rival  institution  on  the 
first  day  of  August. 

All  was  now  hustle  and  hurry  in  the  new  town.  Hammers  and  saws 
sounded  from  daylight  until  long  after  nightfall  in  strenuous  preparation 
for  the  approaching  winter.  In  the  first  days  of  August  the  foundation 
for  the  bank  building  was  completed  and  the  superstructure  erected  upon 
it  in  time  to  make  it  the  first  permanent  building  of  the  town. 

On  Sept.  1st  L.  W.  Casteman,  of  Alpena,  began  .selling  meat  in  Lane, 
and  on  the  12th  the  railroad  construction  train  arrived.  About  the  same 
time  work  on  the  L.  N.  Loomis  elevator  commenced  and  in  one  month 
it  was  readv  to  receive  grain. 


2go 

Carl  L.  Strieve  and  Fred  Seifkin  were  both  buying  stock  at  Lane 
during  September  and  October,  1903. 

On  Sept.  6th  a  large  tent  was  set  up  at  Lane  and  an  enthusiastic  Sun- 
day School  rally  held. 

By  Sept.  24th  the  weather  had  become  so  cold  that  the  open  granary 
from  which  the  newspaper  had  been  issued  was  no  longer  habitable  for  a 
printing  office.  There  was  no  room  that  could  be  rented  and  the  editor 
was  forced  to  suspend  publication  until  a  building  could  be  erected  and  a 
room  prepared.  Between  Sept.  24th  and  October  22nd  no  paper  was 
issued.  The  paper  then  resumed  regular  issue.  On  November  12th 
the  name  of  the  paper  was  changed  to  "The  Lane  Pioneer  News"  and  as 
such  it  has  made  its  weekly  visit  to  its  readers  ever  since. 

About  the  ist  of  November  W.  L.  Smith  became  local  agent  for  the 
Fullerton  Lumber  Co.  at  Lane,  and  has  held  the  position  to  the  present 
time. 

On  November  27th  two  things  happened  of  widely  different  natures ; 
one  was  the  organization  of  The  Ladies'  Aid  Society  with  Mrs.  L.  J. 
Grisinger,  president;  Mrs.  George  E.  Whitney,  vice  president;  Mrs.  R. 
B.  Smith,  secretary;  and  Mrs.  R.  Nesbit,  treasurer;  the  other  was  a  peti- 
tion by  Nick  Wicker  to  the  township  board  to  call  a  special  election  to 
vote  on  the  saloon  question. 

By  November  24th  a  forge  had  been  set  up  in  the  smithy  and  Samuel 
Feistner  lighted  the  first  forge  fire  and  repaired  a  "throw-oft'""  lever  for 
the  News  job  press.     This  occurred  in  Feistner  Bros.  shop. 

Ed.  Eaton  named  his  restaurant  "The  Star"'  and  served  the  first 
meal  in  it  at  noon  on  the  last  day  of  November  in  the  building  put  up 
by  Mr.  Franzwa  about  the  middle  of  May.  Up  to  that  time  the  room 
had  been  used  as  a  general  merchandise  store  but  these  Mr.  Franzwa 
began  moving  into  his  new  store  on  the  corner  which  he  formall}- 
"opened"  on  the  12th  of  December. 

One  of  the  most  important  events  in  November  was  the  sinking  oi 
an  artesian  well,  which  has  since  supplied  the  town  with  water. 

On  Dec.  4th  D.  P.  Ryan,  as  buyer,  opened  the  Cargill  grain  elevatt)r 
for  business,  a-iid  on  Dec.  22nd  H.  PL  Fetterly  opened  a  barber  shop. 

During  all  this  hurly-burly  of  building,  moving  and  getting  ready  for 
winter  probaly  no  man  was  of  greater  assistance  to  all  than  Oscar  Lin- 
debak  who  began  doing  a  dray  and  livery  business  in  November. 

Although  trains  began  running  into  Lane  regularly  on  Sept.  28th 
and  received  and  delivered  freight  at  that  place  the  railway  company  had 
no  depot  until  the  next  year  nor  no  regular  agent.  Sometimes  Mr. 
Franzwa  receipted  for  outgoing  freight  and  stored  it  in  his  store,  or  in 


291 

the   company's   tool   house,   built   in    November,   and   sometimes    it    was 
receipted  for  by  the  conductor. 

But  while  Lane  was  coming  into  existence  and  Wessington  Springs 
was  trying  to  adjust  itself  to  railway  conditions,  the  town  of  Alpena  was 
ec[ually  busy  in  taking  care  of  the  business  demands  that  were  going  that 
way. 

The  Bank  of  Alpena  moved  into  its  new  building  during  the  first 
week  in  January.  Fred  Ferguson  and  ]Mason  Smith  were  granted  a 
franchise  for  a  telephone  exchange  in  the  town  on  February  12th  "to  con- 
tinue as  long  as  they  do  business  under, the  same  name  and  management." 
The  telephone  exchange  was  not  put  in,  however,  until  in  Nov.  when 
the  work  was  done  by  Bert  Pinard,  of  Wessington  Springs  for  another 
company  composed  of  A.  F.  Smith,  J.  E.  Shull,  J.  M.  Johnson,  D.  S. 
Manwaring  and  R.  E.  Dye.     At  that  time  40  phones  were  installed. 

C.  W.  Miller  sold  and  gave  possession  of  the  Reveve  House  to  Mason 
Smith  IMarch  2nd,  and  about  a  month  later  A.  N.  Louder  purchased  the 
Franzwa  store  and  business. 

In  April  Grant  Anderson  increased  the  length  of  his  store  building 
making  it  140  feet  long  by  24  feet  in  width. 

Dr.  Jenkinson  closed  his  partnership  relations  with  Dr.  Shull  in  May 
and  in  August  purchased  the  practice  of  Dr.  Stewart  at  Wessington 
Springs  and  located  there. 

The  Alpena  Investment  Co.  was  organized  in  !May  with  J.  D.  Cham- 
berlain as  president  and  A.  S.  Cory  as  secretary  and  treasurer.  This 
company  a  few  days  later  (May  24th)  received  of  C.  H.  Prior  a  deed  for 
a  strip  of  land  66  feet  wide  by  2,100  feet  long  on  the  east  side  of  the 
platted  portion  of  the  town,  for  use  as  a  public  street. 

In  April  a  petition  was  filed  with  the  town  trustees  asking  that  the 
establishment  of  a  saloon  in  Alpena  be  submitted  to  the  voters  of  the 
town  at  the  next  election.  The  vote  was  taken  May  4th  and  the  saloon 
was  voted  in  by  12  majority.  C.  J.  Vandergrift  applied  for  license  to 
sell  liquor  and  the  application  was  granted.  On  June  loth  the  county 
commissioners  held  a  special  session  and  approved  the  saloon  bond. 

A  meeting  was  held  May  25th  to  consider  the  subject  of  putting  down 
an  artesian  well  in  Alpena.  A  contract  was  entered  into  with  Redfield 
])arties  to  drill  a  three-inch  welLand  on  August  15th  the  work  was  com- 
lileted  at  a  depth  of  713  feet,  having  a  flow  of  over  600  gallons  per 
minute.  A  contract  was  made  September  i8th  for  laying  the  mains  for  a 
village  water  system,  which  was  completed  November  i8th  and  a  water 
tank  for  public  use  placed  on  the  north  side  of  Main  street  between  the 
hotel  and  the  depot. 

On  June  24th  the  largest  Rebekah  lodge  in  the  state  was  organized 


292 

at  Alpena  with  84  members,  and  named  "Echo  Lodge."  The  officers 
were,  Airs.  Ella  V.  Milliken,  N.  G.;  Mrs.  Mattie  Hillis,  \'.  G. ;  A.  S. 
Cory,  Sec. ;  Miss  Blanche  Hatch,  Treas. 

W.  H.  McMillan  sold  his  meat  market  to  Geo.  Marston  June  23rd. 
About  the  same  time  J.  S.  Tripp  opened  a  drugstore  on  the  north  side  of 
Main  street  west  of  Chamberlain's  store. 

A  few  days  later,  the  forepart  of  July,  Ray  Barber  purchased  of 
George  Hatch  both  livery  barns  and  the  stock  which  he  continued  to  own 
until  the  next  year. 

August  10th  E.  F.  Allen  came  up  from  Woonsocket  and  took  the 
management  of  the  Columbia  Company's  elevator  and  has  retained  the 
position  to  the  present  time. 

About  the  middle  of  August  L.  W.  Castleman  purchased  the  meat 
market,  and  K.  O.  Kettleson  of  Woonsocket  bought  G.  Everson's  restau- 
rant building  and  business. 

About  the  20th  of  August  T.  L.  White  bought  an  interest  in  the 
Bank  of  Alpena  and  became  its  cashier,  and  about  the  same  time  M.  G. 
Shull  and  J.  W.  Doubenmier  opened  a  pool  and  billiard  hall  on  the  north 
side  of  Main  street. 

In  the  forepart  of  September  L.  D.  Miller  built  a  photograph  gallery 
in  the  west  part  of  the  business  portion  of  Main  street  and  T.  \\.  Yegge 
put  up  a  new  store  building  west  of  the  Revere  House. 

On  September  loth  the  Alpena  creamery  that  had  started  many  a 
poor  farmer  on  the  road  to  prosperity  was  changed  to  a  mere  skimming 
station  and  the  cream  was  thereafter  sold  to  a  cold  storage  company  at 
Mitchell. 

In  the  latter  part  of  October,  at  the  order  of  the  village  council  a 
combined  calaboose  and  hose  house  was  built. 

During  the  year  1903  the  demand  for  millinery  goods  at  Alpena  was 
supplied  by  Mrs.  Minnie  Easton,  of  Wessington  Springs. 

,In  the  first  week  in  December  R.  W.  Wiley  bought  the  restaurant 
property  of  K.  ( ).  Kettleson  and  sold  to  him  the  furniture  business. 

And  during  the  year  things  were  ha])pening  in  other  parts  of  the 
county. 

The  W^essington  Springs  creamery,  that  had.  the  year  before,  closed 
lis  skimming  station  at  the  Albert  well,  in  Chery  township,  this  year 
closed  the  station  at  Walters'  well  in  Viola.  The  cold  storage  companies 
were  gradually  choking  the  life  out  of  the  co-operative  creameries.     . 

At  Glen  H.  A.  Frick  sold  his  interest  in  the  store  to  Wm.  Barker 
who  then  became  ])Ostmaster.  The  business  was  continued  under  the 
firm  name  of  Eberly  &  l>arker. 

On  the  Reese   farm   in   the   northwest   i)art  of  Crow    Lake   townshij) 


293 

another  attempt  was  made  to  get  an  artesian  well  in  the  west  part  of  the 
county.  The  flow  was  struck  and  the  water  came  to  within  32  feet  of 
the  top  of  the  casing  and  there  stopped. 

In  Chery  township  artesian  wells  were  completed  for  R.  W.  Johnson, 
Geo.  McGregor,  C.  H.  La  Bau,  B.  Horsley,  and  also  on  the  old  Wallace 
farm.  The  well  of  B.  Horsley  was  completed  at  a  depth  of  883  feet  in 
three  days  from  the  time  the  drill  started  into  the  ground.  In  Viola 
township  P.  H.  Shultz  finished  his  second  well,  and  Thos.  Shryock 
obtained  one  near  Wessington  Springs. 

About  the  middle  of  March  O.  O.  England  moved  the  Templeton 
store  and  post  office  to  the  northwest  corner  of  section  36.  There  it 
stood  until  the  night  of  the  24th  of  November  when  it  was  destroyed  by 
fire.     It  was  rebuilt  at  once  and  the  business  continued. 

In  Blaine  township  the  Parsons  postoffice,  which  had  been  under  the 
management  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ole  Johnson  for  a  good  many  years  was 
discontinued  on  March  31st. 

In  Pleasant  township  a  Sunday  School  convention  was  held  June 
2 1  St.  A  state  conference  of  the  Universalist  church  was  held  at  Wes- 
sington Springs  Sept.  loth  and  the  Free  Methodists  held  their  state  con- 
ference at  the  same  town  on  Sept.  30th. 

A  labor  union  was  organized  in  February  at  Wessington  Springs  with 
J.  A.  Houseman,  president. 

A  town  meeting  was  held  February  i6t]i  to  decide  upon  a  location  for 
the  artesian  well.  The  meeting  voted  to  request  the  village  council  to 
locate  the  well  on  the  block  south  of  the  Willard  Hotel.  Work  on  the 
well  began  March  31st  and  continued  until  June  9th  when  it  was  aban- 
doned, the  town  paying  the  drillers  $1,000  and  buying  the  casing  that  had 
been  put  in  the  well.  The  drill  had  been  lost  in  the  first  hole,  but  the 
second  one  had  been  pushed  down  to  over  1,200  feet  when  water  rose  to 
within  a  few  feet  of  the  surface.  The  town  then  planned  to  use  it  for  a 
pump  well,  and  in  the  latter  part  of  the  season  mains  were  laid  from  the 
well  to  ]\Iain  Street  and  the  machinery  purchased  to  make  use  of  the 
well  for  protection  against  fire.  This  plan  was  never  a  success.  While 
drilling  for  the  artesian  well  a  flowing  stream  was  found  at  about  60 
feet  which  landlord  Dodge  piped  into  the  Willard  Hotel,  in  July.  About 
the  first  of  July  Mr.  Jensen  of  Woonsocket,  began  drilling  an  artesian 
well  on  Miles  &  Hunter's  Addition  to  Wessington  Springs  and  on  the 
19th  of  that  month  the  well  was  finished  with  a  good  flow. 

The  town  on  February  2nd  granted  to  D.  C.  Wallace,  J.  B.  Collins 
and  F.  M.  Steere  a  twenty-year  franchise  for  use  of  the  streets  and 
alleys  of  Wessington  Springs  for  telephone  system.  In  the  first  half  of 
May  the  exchange  system  was  completed  with  about  80  phones.     The 


2Q4 

central  office  was  located  in  a  room  on  the  2nd  floor  at  the  north  end  of 
the  Steere  &  Wallace  building. 

In  February  the  Colman  Lumber  Co.  purchased  the  \anderveen 
lumber  business  and  established  a  yard  on  3rd  Street  north  of  the  public 
school  building,  where  it  is  still  located.  J\Ir.  Vanderveen  was  retained 
by  the  company  as  their  local  agent. 

On  January  loth  the  W.  T.  George  Co.  opened  their  general  store  in 
the  room  vacated  by  Vessey  Bros,  in  December. 

In  the  latter  part  of  January  \Vm.  Zink  sold  his  Alpena  implement 
business  to  Pat  McDonald  and  took  John  Farrington  in  as  a  partner  in 
his  Wessington  Springs  business. 

On  March  6th  another  change  was  made  in  the  office  of  The  Dakota 
Sieve,  when  Geo.  W.  Backus  again  took  control  of  the  paper 

T.  F.  A^essey,  village  treasurer,  called  in  all  outstanding  village  war- 
rants, on  March  12th.     The  village  was  then  practically  free  from  "debt. 
About  JNIarch  i8th  R.  S.  Vessey  and  C.  E.  Gingery  formed  a  partner- 
ship in  real  estate  business  and  on  April   ist  Dr.  John  Cooper,  of  Des 
Moines,  Iowa,  located  his  office  in  Wessington   Springs. 

Near  the  middle  of  April  Miles  &  Hunter's  addition  to  W^essington 
Springs  was  laid  out  in  town  lots,  and  about  the  same  time  Vessey  Bros, 
bought  Mrs.  Barrett's  one-fourth  interest  in  the  old  townsite. 

In  May  money  was  raised  by  subscription  to  buy  the  land  necessary 
to  extend  Main  street  east  to  the  section  line,  but  the  project  was  not 
carried  out  until  November  5th. 

The  lots  on  Court  House  Hill  that  had  been  obtained  by  the  county 
from  the  townsite  company  and  the  people  of  Wessington  Springs  in 
1885  as  the  result  of  locating  the  court  house  there,  were  sold  at  auction 
May  nth,  1903,  the  amount  received  being  $2,016.00. 

On  June  21st  Children's  Day  was  celebrated  in  the  new  M.  E.  church 
building.  This  was  the  first  regular  service  in  the  building,  which  was 
dedicated  July   12th. 

The  Fullertons,  who  bought  a  yard  at  the  east  end  of  Main  Street, 
in  May,  was  the  second  great  lumber  company,  to  locate  in  Wessington 
Springs. 

The  First  National  Bank  moved  iuto  their  new  bank  building  on  July 
1st.  The  old  building  vacated  by  the  bank,  was  at  once  moved  to  the 
south  side  of  Main  Street  about  opposite  the  new  P.  O.  building  and  in 
it  Henry  Pfaff  opened  a  restaurant. 

July  2nd  the  True  Republican  printing  office  was  moved  into  the 
Jacobs-Bancroft  building  on  the  north  side  of  Main  Street,  built  by  C. 
S.  Jacobs  and  W.  F.  Bancroft.  A  few  days  later  the  post  office  moved 
into  the  same  room  and  was   followed  by  the  harness   sliop  which    Mr. 


295 

Jacobs  moved  into  the  west  room  of  the  building  during  the  latter  part 
(if  the  month. 

During  the  summer  Amos  Gotwals  erected  a  building  on  the  east 
side  of  Zink  &  Farrington's  warehouse,  which  was  rented  by  Frank  Linn 
for  a  confectionery  store. 

About  the  same  time  E.  L.  Smith  built  an  office  building  with  two 
rooms  on  the  south  side  af  jMain  Street  between  2nd  and  3rd  streets. 

About  Oct.  15  G.  T.  England  bought  the  interest  of  the  other  mem- 
bers in  the  furniture  company  and  became  sole  proprietor  of  the  business. 

In  October  two  dray  lines  were  started  in  Wessington  Springs,  one 
by  L.  R.  Theeler  and  one  by  Walter  Bateman. 

For  several  months  P.  H.  Hackett  and  Homer  Hackett  had  been  run- 
ning the  feed  mill  that  was  formerly  owned  by  Howard  Pope  and  Joe 
Mennill  and  also  selling  farm  implements.  J.  W.  Snart  now  bought  P. 
H.  Hackett's  interest  in  the  business,  and  it  became  known  as  the  Hackett 
Implement  Co. 

Bert  Healy  early  in  the  year  had  purchased  a  lot  east  of  the  Jacobs- 
Bancroft  building  and  put  up  a  one  stor}-  building  into  which  he  moved 
his  notion  store  the  latter  part  of  October. 

The  Sioux  City  Cold  Storage  Co.  built  a  small  building  for  their  use 
near  the  railroad  track,  in  the  first  week  of  November.  The  Wessington 
Springs  Creamery,  like  the  one  at  Alpena,  was  doomed. 

The  Hyde  and  Loomis  elevators  were  opened  for  business  the  fore- 
part of  November,  and  the  Lane  elevator  the  3rd  day  of  December.  The 
latter  building  w^as  seld  as  soon  as  completed  to  the  Khewise-Moven  Ele- 
vator Co. 

A.  W.  Richardson  began  his  livery  business  in  Wessington  Springs 
the  first  week  in  December. 

Matters  educational  as  well  as  things  amusing  were  not  neglected  in 
the  busy  year  of  1903.  A  gun  club  was  organized  at  Wessington  Springs 
as  was  also  a  baseball  nine.  The  ball  nine  distinguished  itself  in  a  series 
of  games  with  the  Plankinton  team.  In  none  of  these  games  did  the 
score  exceed  six  on  a  side  until  the  last  game  when  the  Plankinton  team 
won  its  only  victory  in  the  series  with  a  score  of  8  to  4.  This  last  game 
was  at  the  Wessington  Springs  fair  and  field  day  October  9th.  On  that 
occasion  the  home  gun  club  was  also  defeated  by  the  marksmen  from 
Plankinton. 

The  rapid  growth  of  the  town  necessitated  increased  school  facilities 
and  in  July  and  August  the  roof  of  the  school  building  was  raised  and 
another  story  with  two  rooms  added. 

The   teachers'  institute  was  held  August   17th  to  28th.   Prof.   S..  K. 


296 

Clark,  conductor,  assisted  by  John  F.  Wicks,  Miss  Irma  Hall  and  Miss 
Alto  M.  Harris. 

A  county  meeting  of  school  district  officers  was  held  at  Wessington 
Springs  on  the  last  Saturday  in  March  at  which  a  resolution  was  passed 
recommending  that  the  teachers  of  the  county  be  paid  from  $25  to  ^;^S 
per  month. 

For  the  first  time  in  the  history  of  the  county  the  banks  on  the  first 
of  April  began  paying  interest  on  deposits  of  county  funds. 

The  June  commencement  at  the  Seminary  placed  diplomas  in  the 
hands  of  the  following  graduates :  Dora  Shull,  Allie  McClelland,  Earnest 
Vennard,  Pearl  Jackson,  Charles  Keller.  Jesse  Morehead,  Florence 
Moulton. 

The  county  commisioners"  records  for  the  year  contain  but  little  aside 
from  ordinary  work.  At  the  January  meeting  Commissioner  R.  J.  Tracy 
was  made  chairman. 

At  their  meeting  on  May  19th  the  commissioners  changed  and  estab- 
lished highways  in  Marlar  and  Harmony  townships  as  follows : 

"Commencing  at  a  point  34  rods  east  of  the  corner  of  section  30  on 
south  line  of  Harmony  township  and  running  northwest  45  rods,  thence 
west  150  rods,  thence  west  of  south  21  rods,  thence  south  west  87  rods, 
to  a  point  27  rods  west  of  the  half  section  corner  on  the  south  side  of 
section  36  in  Marlar  township.  Commencing  at  a  point  125  rods  north 
of  northwest  corner  of  section  36  in  Marlar  township  and  running  south- 
west 96  rods,  thence  south  93  rods,  thence  42  rods  to  a  point  yy  rods  south 
of  the  northwest  corner  of  section  36  in  Marlar  township." 


Chapter  16. 

(1904). 

After  the  bustle  and  hurry  in  business  matters  at  the  county  seat, 
incident  to  the  coming  of  the  railroad  had  subsided  the  town  settled  down 
to  a  steady  growth.  The  greatest  work  in  1904  was  the  building  of 
homes  for  the  people  brought  in  by  the  rapid  increase  of  the  various  lines 
of  work.  The  number  of  residences  built  each  year  has  increased  to  the 
present  time. 

The  railway  company  began  work  on  the  engine  stall  the  first  week 
in  January  and  on  the  15th  started  the  carpenters  at  work  on  the  per- 
manent deix)t.     On  the  same  day  the  old  box  car  that  had  been  in  use 


297 

as  a  station  house  caught  fire  and  the  contents  badly  damaged.  A  month 
later  a  dkily  passenger  service  was  established  and  the  freight  train  began 
running  tri-weekly.     The  depot  was  completed  the  latter  part  of  March. 

In  January  E.  V.  Miles  and  his  son,  Leon,  opened  the  depot  hotel 
and  a  grocery  store  beside  it.  The  store  was  continued  until  August, 
when  the  stock  was  sold  to  W.  F.  Yegge  who  moved  it  to  his  store  in 
Chery  township.     The  hotel  is  still  in  use. 

The  report  of  the  management  of  the  creamery  at  the  annual  meet- 
ing in  January  showed  that  the  cold  storage  companies  were  making 
serious  inroads  upon  its  patronage.  In  June  the  Hanford  Produce  Co.. 
of  Mitchell,  rented  a  room  on  Main  street  and  began  buying  cream  at 
Wessington  Springs,  J.  H.  Weast  being  the  local  buyer. 

In  January  J.  W.  Snart  bought  Homer  Hackett's  interest  in  the 
feed  mill  and  for  some  time  ran  the  business  alone. 

During  the  forepart  of  1904  E.  R.  Bateman  and  J.  W.  Cowman  con- 
ducted a  meat  market  which  Mr.  Riggs  had  established  the  previous  fall 
in  a  building  put  up  by  O.  J.  Marshall  on  the  north  side  of  Main  Street 
near  Third  street. 

About  the  20th  of  January  the  town  council  thought  to  make  use  of 
the  vein  of  water  found  while  drilling  the  artesian  well.  A  man  with  a 
well  agur  was  employed  to  bore  down  to  the  vein.  The  man  went  at 
work  and  when  down  about  forty  feet  stopped  for  the  night.  The  next 
morning  the  hole  was  full  of  water  and  the  walls  of  the  hole  caved  in. 
The  water  had  broken  through  from  the  artesian  well,  outside  the  casing 
of  which  the  water  had  been  rising  for  some  time.  In  Sept.  another 
effort  was  made  to  utilize  the  same  vein.  Robert  McDonald  was  em- 
ployed to  bore  to  the  stream  with  a  well  augur.  He  put  the  hole  down 
yi)  feet  and  cased  it.  The  water  came  to  the  top  and  ran  over,  but  the 
village  had  no  money  with  which  to  construct  a  system  of  water  works 
and  so  that  scheme  failed. 

An  earnest  move  was  now  made  to  incorporate  the  town  as  a  city  of 
the  third  class.     The  effort  did  not  succeed,  however,  until  the  next  year. 

During  the  forepart  of  the  year  a  woman  named  Rice  put  up  a  build- 
ing on  the  south  side  of  Main  street,  opposite  the  Jacobs  Bancroft  build- 
ing, for  a  millinery  shop,  but  never  carried  out  the  plan. 

About  March  ist  Geo.  Nelson  purchased  an  interest  in  the  Sutton 
jewelry  stock  and  moved  it  into  the  building  put  up  the  previous  autumn 
by  J.  A.  Housman,  on  the  north  side  of  Main  street  between  Second  and 
Third  streets.  The  business  was  continued  there  until  in  October  when 
Mr.  Nelson  and  his  sister,  Mrs.  Sutton,  moved  the  stock  into  a  brick 
two-story   building   they   had   built    between    the    Gotwals    confectionery 


298 

store  and  Jacobs'  harness  shop.  The  upper  rooms  of  this  brick  building 
were  occupied  by  Dr.  H.  E.  Jenkinson,  and  Dr.  Wetherll,  the  dentist. 

During  the  forepart  of  the  year  Zink  and  Farrington  conducted  a 
hardware  business  in  the  Steere-Wallace  building,  with  the  stock  they 
had  purchased  on  the  death  of  W.  H.  Sutton.  T.  L.  White  bought  an 
interest  in  the  business  in  March  and  the  firm  then  became  known  as 
White,  Zink  8z  Farrington.  In  the  summer  the  firm  moved  into  their 
new  store  on  the  north  side  of  Main  street. 

The  blacksmith  work  this  year,  (1904),  was  done  by  J.  A.  Zink,  who 
had  a  shop  on  the  west  side  of  2nd  street,  and  S.  T.  Leeds,  who  had  a 
shop  in  the  south  end  of  Snart's  feed  building. 

In  April  Mrs.  R.  W.  Probert  and  her  brother,  E.  U.  Cummings, 
built  and  equipped  a  steam  laundry  on  the  west  side  of  2nd  street,  which 
still  continues,  one  of  the  most  useful  institutions  in  the  city. 

On  March  29th,  the  old  M.  E.  Church  was  moved  to  the  NW  quarter 
of  section  19  in  Blaine  township  for  the  use  of  the  Solberg  Swedish 
Lutheran  Society. 

In  IMay  K.  S.  Starkey  drilled  an  artesian  well  on  a  lot  owned  by  him 
in  the  north  part  of  the  town. 

During  the  first  week  in  July  J.  G.  Bradford  located  in  Wessington 
Springs  to  practice  law. 

F.  W.  Dodge  sold  the  Willard  Hotel  about  the  loth  of  July,  but  did 
not  give  possession  until  the  forepart  of  October,  when  Mrs.  Gehan  and 
her  son  John  became  owners  of  the  property. 

In  July  Dr.  O.  C.  Hicks,  vetrinarian,  built  a  dipping  tank  near  the 
stock  yards. 

In  August  N.  M.  Spears  packed  up  his  stock  of  goods  and  moved  to 
Lyman  county.  His  place  was  taken  by  C.  A.  Voorhees  with  a  stock  of 
groceries.  Mr.  Voorhees  had  for  some  time  been  doing  a  confectionery 
business  in  the  old  building  erected  by  Peter  Barrett  in  1883.  This  left 
the  confectionery  business  in  the  hands  of  Frank  Linn  and  Amos  Gotwals 
who  sold  their  business  to  A.  V.  Hall  in  October. 

The  Sidnam  elevator  was  completed  in  August  being  the  largest  of 
the  four  then  in  operation. 

A  few  days  later  A.  L.  Jenkins  became  the  resident  agent  of  the  W. 
AV.  Johnson  Lumber  Co.  at  Wessington  Springs. 

In  November  Dr.  Cooper  completed  and  moved  into  his  office  rooms 
on  the  north  side  of  Main  street  between  Second  and  Third. 

From  the  Wessington  Springs  Seminary,  on  June  15th,  was  gradu- 
ated a  class  of  four  students,  Rosa  B.  Marshall,  J.  Mae  Russell,  August 
M.  Anderson  and  O.  Jesse  Morehead. 

Among  the  graduates  of  the  county  public  schools  was  Malcolm  E. 


299 


Mr.  and  Mrs.  L.  J.  Grisiiigcr.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  O.  W.  Morehead. 


L.  A.  Pinard.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  L.  R.  lliulcr.  L.  E.  Aiismmi. 


James  J V cast. 


Geo.  A'.  Price. 


300 

White,  the  12  year  old  son  of  T.  L.  White,  one  of  the  youngest  graduates 
ever  given  a  diploma  in  the  county.  One  other  student,  Miss  Mona  Mc- 
Donald had  graduated  at  the  same  age  a  couple  of  years  before. 

In  May  the  old  flag  pole  that  had  for  so  many  years  stood  in  the 
center  of  the  crossing  of  Main  and  2nd  streets  was  cut  down  and  another 
put  in  its  place,  for  use  on  Decoration  Day  and  in  the  Fourth  of  July 
celebration  that  followed. 

The  Gun  Club  was  re-organized  in  May. 

On  October  ist  the  Wessington  Springs  post  office  became  a  presi- 
dential office  and  also  an  international  money  order  office. 

While  the  foregoing  events  were  occuring  in  the  county  seat.  Lane 
was  being  pushed  forward  with  that  energy  characteristic  of  new  western 
towns. 

On  the  2nd  of  January  the  newspaper  at  Lane  was  admitted  to  the 
mails  as  second  class  matter.  About  the  same  time  Henry  Hatch  of 
Alpena,  and  Haynes  Cunningham  bought  the  Lane  livery  stable  and  stock. 
but  Mr.  Hatch  sold  his  interest  in  the  business  to  R.  ]\fcCurdy  about 
February  25th. 

During  the  forepart  of  the  year  L.  W\  Castleman  supplied  fresh  meat 
to  the  people  of  Lane  from  his  market  at  Alpena.  But  in  March  and 
April  he  put  up  a  building,  16x20,  one  half  of  which  he  used  as  a  meat 
market  and  rented  the  other  half  for  use  as  a  barber  shop.  He  sold  the 
meat  market  to  Ira  McCaul  in  December. 

In  May  L.  J.  Grisinger  began  building  a  store  on  the  corner  south  of 
The  Fanners  State  Bank  to  be  used  by  Geo.  E.  Whitney  for  a  hardware 
store.  June  8th  the  hardware  stock  had  arrived  and  in  the  latter  part 
of  June  Franzwa  sold  to  Mr.  Wliitney  his  hardware  stock.  About  the 
same  time  Mr.  McCaul  became  a  partner  in  the  hardware  business  with 
Whitney  and  the  store  was  opened.  This  firm  sold  their  stock  to  A. 
Harris  about  the  middle  of  December,  who  took  possession  the  first  of  the 
following  March. 

C.  A.  Pray  purchased  the  Star  restaurant  of  Ed  Eaton  on  March 
15th,  and  June  20th  sold  it  to  Henry  Koemn,  of  Plankinton.  The  build- 
ing in  which  this  restaurant  was  located  was  owned  by  ]\Ir.  Franzwa. 
who  added  eight  bedrooms  to  it  in  July.  Not  long  after  this  addition  was 
made  the  restaurant  was  sold  to  Mr.  Shaw,  who  in  December  sold  it  to 
Carr  &  Kingsbury,  from  Woonsocket.  The  name  was  then  changed  to 
'The  Owl." 

In  the  latter  part  of  May  Frank  McCurdy  began  putting  up  a  double 
two-story  building  on  the  west  side  of  Main  street  in  which  he  opened  a 
large  stock  of  general  merchandise  on  July  15th. 

R.  L.  Goodwin  began  work  in  his  blacksmith  shop  about  June  20th. 


30I 

and  in  December  AIcRoberts  Bros,  of  Woonsocket,  engaged  in  the  same 
business  in  Lane. 

In  July  Stakke  Bros.,  of  Woonsocket,  put  in  a  line  of  farm  machinery 
at  Lane,  as  a  branch  of  their  business  at  Woonsocket. 

Sometime  in  May  a  company  was  formed  with  L.  J.  Grisinger,  presi- 
dent, to  take  care  of  the  water  from  the  artesian  well.  By  means  of  small 
surface  pipes,  by  July  the  water  was  conducted  into  nearly  every  resi- 
dence and  business  house  in  town. 

The  railway  depot  was  completed  about  the  middle  of  June,  and 
about  the  same  time  preparations  began  for  celebrating  the  first  anni- 
versary of  the  birth  of  the  town, — July  30th,  the  date  on  which  the  town- 
lot  sale  occurred,  the  previous  year. 

June  28th  the  trustees  of  Franklin  township  approved  Nick  Weckers' 
application  to  open  a  saloon  in  the  town  of  Lane,  but  the  institution  was 
not  established  because  the  county  commissioners  refused  to  approve  the 
bond. 

Work  on  the  German   Methodist  parsonage  began  April    19th.' 

Mr.  Joseph  Kutil,  the  only  station  agent  Lane  has  had,  opened  the 
C.  M.  &  St.  P.  depot  on  August  i6th. 

July  8th  R.  B.  Smith  succeeded  Mr.  Franzvva  as  postmaster  at  Lane, 
and  in  October  the  office  was  made  a  money  order  office. 

A  Modern  Woodman  camp  was  formed  at  Lane  on  July  22nd  with  25 
members  and  a  lodge  of  Royal  Neighbors,  with  20  members,  was  organ- 
ized the  following  October. 

In  the  autumn  of  the  year,  (1904),  the  German  Lutheran  Societies 
north  and  south  of  Lane  united  and  moved  their  church  building  from 
the  southern  part  of  Alpena  township  into  town. 

During  the  summer  the  first  cement  walk  in  Lane  was  built  by  F.  A. 
Franzwa  in  front  of  his  store  building. 

Shultz  &  Starkey,  after  working  five  days  and  four  nights,  completed 
a  well  for  D.  P.  Burnison  a  short  distance  north  of  Lane  on  Dec.  loth. 

In  Viola  township  O.  W.  Morehead  and  Louis  Villbrandt  had  arte- 
sian wells  completed  in  October,  both  by  Starkey  &  Shultz. 

In  Chery  township  the  same  drillers  in  June  and  July  made  good, 
strong  wells  for  L.  A.  Pinard  and  W.  T.  McConnell. 

In  April  a  strong  artesian  well  was  struck  on  the  T.  W\  Lane  ranch 
in  Crow  township,  and  a  couple  of  weeks  later  a  good  well  was  drilled  at 
the  Frick  farm,  near  Glen,  in  Logan  township. 

The  Glen  creamery  that  had  done  so  much  to  enhance  the  prosperity 
of  the  farmers  in  that  vicinity,  was  rented  to  the  Turner  Produce  Co., 
of  Mitchell,  in  June,  1904,  and  in  August  a  still  further  change  was  made 


302 

in  business  matters  at  that  place  by  the  retirement  of  Mr.  Eberly  fronii 
the  firm  of  Eberly  &  Barker. 

G.  M.  Titus  bought  the  Templeton  store  in  March.  1905,  of  O.  O.. 
England  and  was  appointed  P.  M.  at  that  office. 

At  Alpena  on  January  ist,  1904,  ]\I.  S.  Rahn  leased  the  restaurant  of 
R.  \\\  Wiley,  and  took  possession  the  same  day.  Since  then  this  property 
has  changed  hands  so  often  that  it  is  almost  impossible  to  give  a  com- 
plete record  of  it. 

In  the  forepart  of  March  T.  B.  Yegge  traded  his  stock  of  merchandise 
to  J.  R.  Alilliken  for  a  quarter  section  of  land  in  Dale  township. 

About  May  20  another  restaurant  named  "The  Bon-ton"  was  opened 
at  Alpena  by  a  gentleman  named  Badger. 

May  25tli  J.  R.  IMilliken  and  J.  D.  Chamberlain  had  an  opening  of 
their  store  in  the  old  store  room  opposite  the  L  O.  O.  F.  hall. 

In  the  spring  of  the  year  Mrs.  James  Eastman  began  doing  a  milli- 
nery business  in  Alpena.  This  was  the  first  permanent  business  of  the 
kind  in  the  town. 

At  the  village  election,  IMarch  15th,  the  saloon  license  was  upheld  by 
a  majority  of  one  vote.  The  institution  did  not  live  until  the  next  year, 
however,  because  of  legal  complications  arising  from  the  sale  of  the  con- 
cern by  its  proprietor,  to  parties  who  had  given  no  bond,  nor  made  appli- 
cation for  a  license. 

Some  time  in  June  Mr.  J.  F.  Spencer  came  to  Alpena  and  bought 
John  Doubenmier's  pool  hall. 

In  October  A.  Mercer  finished  a  dipping  tank  at  Alpena  and  began 
operations  on  the  15th  of  the  month  by  dipping  116  head  of  cattle. 

A  few  days  later  Milliken  &  Chamberlain,  who  were  actively  engaged 
in  real  estate  business,  brought  to  Alpena  a  number  of  automobiles,  the 
first  to  be  owned  in  the  town  and  probably  the  first  in  the  county.  One 
of  these  machines  was  sold  to  D.  C.  Wallace,  of  Wessington  Springs. 

In  the  summer  C.  C.  Rohr  bought  an  interest  with  Castleman  in  the 
Alpena  meat  market. 

On  February  25th  a  Women's  Relief  Corps  was  organized  at  Alpena 
in  connection  with  W.  H.  L.  Wallace  G.  A.  R.  post. 

A  Yeoman  lodge,  with  30  members,  was  formed  at  Alpena  about  the 
20th  of  April,  and  about  the  same  time  a  fire  company  with  ten  members- 
was  formed. 

Memorial  Day  exercises  were  held  at  the  German  Lutheran  Churcli 
in  the  south  part  of  Alpena  township. 

A  Congregational  Church  was  built  in  Anina  township  during  the 
summer,  to  be  supplied  by  the  church  at  Wessington  Springs. 

The  County  teachers'  institute  was  held  August  22  to  Sept.  2,  con- 


303 


/.   J!'.  Douhenmier. 


F.  E.  Manning. 


Sam  H.  May. 


N.  B.  En  inland. 


304 

ducted  by  Prof.  T.  H.  Hoff,  assisted  by  John  F.  Wicks,  Miss  Irma  Hall 
and  Mrs.  Ida  Baker. 

During  the  summer  a  rural  telephone  line  was  established  from  Wes- 
sington  Springs  south  into  Viola  township. 

In  July,  and  the  only  time  in  the  history  of  the  county,  a  dense  fog 
in  heavy  banks  rolled  over  the  state  and  all  the  northwest  country  west 
of  the  Mississippi  river  and  blighted  the  wheat  with  black  rust.  No  wind 
■\vas  blowing  and  the  heat  of  the  sun  poured  in  between  the  fog  banks 
burst  the  wheat  straw  and  in  two  hours  time  the  immense  crop  was  ruined. 
The  yield  of  wheat  was  light  and  of  poor  quality,  but  the  damage  was 
somewhat  retrieved  by  good  prices.  For  the  first  time  in  years  the  price 
of  wheat  reached  one  dollar  per  bushel. 

The  most  important  work  of  the  county  board  was  making  the  banks 
of  the  county  depositories  of  county  money  requiring  a  bond  for  safe 
keeping  of  funds  and  payment  of  four  per  cent  interest  on  daily  balances. 

At  the  April  meeting  the  places  for  conducting  chattel  mortgage  sales 
Avere  fixed  at  Alpena,  Wessington  Springs  and  the  Fauston  P.  O. 

In  politics  the  principal  matter  of  interest  was  the  election  of  a  state 
capital.  As  the  campaign  progressed  people  in  many  cases  dropped  all 
kinds  of  work  and  spent  their  time  riding  from  one  candidate  city  to  the 
other.  No  fare  was  charged  and  riding  was  unrestricted.  The  railway 
coaches  were  so  packed  with  people  that  the  conductors  could  not  force 
their  way  through,  and  did  not  try. 

In  county  matters  three  tickets  were  in  the  field.  Republican,  Citizens 
and  Prohibition.  Of  the  Republican  candidates,  Theo.  Dean,  nominated 
for  Co.  Supt.,  refused  the  nomination  and  the  county  committee  named 
W.  B.  Wilson  for  the  vacancy  on  the  ticket,  so  the  tickets  presented  to 
the  voters  were  as  follows: 

Republican  Ticket. 

Senator — R.  S.  Vessey. 
Representative — J.  Jorgenson. 
Treasurer — D.  C.  Wallace. 
Auditor — J.  D.  Powell. 
Register  of  Deeds — C.  J.  Prafif. 
Co.  Supt.— W.  B.  Wilson. 
Sheriff — J.  D.  Chamberlain. 
Judge — C.  W.  McDonald. 
Clerk— W.  F.  Taylor. 
.'\ttorney — C.  C.  Gleim. 
Coronor — H.  E.  Jenkinson. 
Co.  Com.,   1st  Dist. — L.  J.  Grisinger. 


305 

Citizens  Ticket. 
Senator — T.  L.  White. 
Representative — Henry  Klindt. 
Treasurer — Chas.  Knudson. 
Auditor — J.  A.  Paddock. 
Register  of  Deeds — S.  E.  Pflamn. 
Clerk— H.  A.  Adebar. 
Sheriff— J.  A.  Zink. 
Co.  Supt. — Geo.  O.  WilHams. 
Coronor — J.  E.  Shull. 
Co.  Com.,  1st  Dist. — R.  J.  Tracy. 
Independent  candidate  for  Co.  Supt. — A.  V.  Hall. 

The  result  of  the  election  was  a  Republican  victory  for  everv  pos'lio'.i 
except  sheriff. 


Chapter  17. 

(1905)- 

The  beginning  of  the  year  1905  found  the  people  of  Jerauld  coun'y 
still  hustling  to  keep  pace  with  the  prosperity  that  had  come  upon  them. 
More  residences  must  be  built  in  both  town  and  country ;  more  prairie 
must  be  broken,  and  more  crops  grown.  The  increasing  value  of  land 
seemed  at  first  to  be  only  speculative,  but  the  advance  in  the  market  price 
of  cattle,  hogs  and  grain,  with  the  productiveness  of  the  soil  under  pn.per 
cultivation  together  with  the  improved  market  facilities  made  the  vahn.-s 
real.  Land  that  a  few  years  before  could  not  be  sold  at  any  price  vva> 
now  sold  at  from  $15  to  $20  per  acre,  and  most  astonishing  of  all,  paid 
for  with  a  single  crop  of  any  kind  of  grain.  New  life  was  infused  into 
the  people  and  they  bestirred  themselves  to  take  advantage  of  the  favor- 
alle  opportunities. 

The  great  lumber  companies  with  yards  at  Wessington  Springs  re- 
ported more  lumber  sold  at  that  station  than  any  where  else  on  their  lines. 
At  Lane,  W.  L.  Smith,  local  agent  for  the  Fullerton  Lumber  Company, 
received  the  company's  prize  of  $100  for  having  the  smallest  percentage 
of  unpaid  accounts  at  the  close  of  the  year,  of  any  of  their  agents.  Not 
only  were  business  collections  generally  good,  but  interest  and  taxes 
were  promptly  paid. 


3o6 

During  the  conference  year  of  1905  the  M.  E.  Church  at  Wessington 
Springs,  Rev.  Crowther,  pastor,  raised  $500  for  missionary  work.  The 
next  year,  1906,  same  pastor,  the  amount  was  increased  to  $1,600;  in 
1907  Rev.  J.  M.  Tibbetts,  pastor,  $1,700  and  in  1908,  same  pastor,  $1,800. 

In  January,  Dr.  Martin  located  at  Lane,  the  Lane  Pioneer  News  was 
made  one  of  the  county  official  papers  and  a  pool  hall  was  built  and  ready 
for  business  by  the  first  of  February. 

In  March  David  Ried  bought  an  interest  in  the  livery  stable  of  which 
be  became  sole  owner  in  May.  The  township  of  Franklin  voted  saloon 
license  by  30  majority  and  granted  franchise  for  local  telephone  exchange 
to  the  Wessington  Springs  company.  No  exchange  was  put  in,  however, 
until  in  August,  when  F.  McCurdy  obtained  a  franchise  and  installed  25 
'phones  in  the  town.  The  line  had  been  extended  south  from  Lane  to 
Gordon  P.  O.  in  July,  where  it  connected  with  the  Wessington  Springs 
line,  which  had  been  built  to  that  point  in  June.  March  25th  the  town- 
ship board  granted  the  application  of  H.  H.  Fetterly  and  Fred  Seifkin, 
but  the  bond  was  rejected  by  the  county  commissioners.  Later,  on 
August  1 2th,  the  commissioners  approved  the  bond  of  Fred  Seifken,  by 
a  divided  vote,  O.  O.  England  voting  no  and  L.  J.  Grisinger  and  Geo. 
C.  Martin  voting  yes.  The  bond  of  Joseph  Diedrich  at  Alpena  was  ap- 
proved on  September  22nd  by  the  same  vote. 

In  April  Sever  Starkey  started  .in  the  implement  business  in  Lane, 
and  about  the  same  time  the  "Owl"  restaurant  was  sold  to  Fred  Oddy 
and  the  name  changed  to  "The  Hotel  restaurant.""  In  the  sam.e  month  a 
drug  stock  was  brought  to  Lane  and  purchased  by  F.  McCurdy  who 
placed  it  in  the  large  double  building  he  had  completed  a  short  time  be- 
fore. In  May  Mr.  McCurdy  began  the  construction  of  another  building" 
south  of  his  general  store  for  use  of  the  drug  stock  alone.  The  building 
was  completed  and  occupied  in  November  by  W^alter  ]\TcCurdy,  in  charge 
of  the  drug  department. 

The  W.  W.  Johnson  Lumber  Co.  located  a  yard  in  Lane  in  April 
with  H.  O.  Refvem,  agent,  and  in  the  latter  part  of  the  month  Wm.  P)rod- 
korb  purchased  the  meat  market.  The  last  of  the  month  work  began  on 
the  Whitney  two  story  building.  This  structure  was  intended  for  a  pool 
hall  in  the  basement,  and  to  it  that  sport  was  moved  about  the  15th  of 
August,  the  first  floor  for  a  hardware  and  the  2nd  story  for  a  public  hall, 
which  plan  was  carried  out.  In  December  David  Reid  built  a  pool  hall 
on  the  east  side  of  Main  street  and  that  has  been  the  location  of  the 
games  of  pool  and  billiards  ever  since. 

In  May  the  water  mains  were  laid  deep  in  the  ground  and  a  system 
of  waterworks  permanently  established. 

The  German  Lutheran  Church  in  Lane  was  dedicated  Mav  21st,  and 


307 

a  few  days  later  the  German  and  English  Epworth  Leagues  were  united. 

The  two  events  in  June  that  attracted  greatest  local  interest  at  Lane 
were  the  establishment  of  a  furniture  store  by  G.  T.  England,  of  W'essing- 
ton  Springs,  and  a  game  of  ball  with  the  Alpena  nine  in  which  the  Lane 
players  were  victorious  by  a  score  of  6  to  5.  This  practically  established 
the  prestige  of  the  Lane  ball  nine,  a  distinction "  in  the  county  which 
they  have  maintained  to  the  present  time. 

In  August  N.  P.  Petersen  began  work  in  Lane  as  a  blacksmith.  Mr. 
Lewis  Hare  opened  a  barber  shop  and  Airs.  Hare  established  a  millinery 
shop. 

On  Sept.  1 2th  The  Citizens  State  Bank  of  Lane  was  organized  with 
a  capital  of  $5,000;  E.  Soper,  Jr.,  president;  L.  J.  Grisinger,  vice-presi- 
dent; Carl  Klippin,  cashier.  The  directors  were  A.  Strub,  F.  McCurdy 
and  Noah  Kellar. 

This  bank  began  doing  business  in  the  Grisinger  building  on  the 
corner  south  from  the  Farmers  State  Bank.  Mr.  Whitney  had  moved 
the  hardware  stock  across  the  street  west  into  the  building  he  had  put 
up  on  that  corner. 

On  October  22nd  Rev.  John  E.  Hughes,  Pastor,  laid  the  corner  stone 
of  the  first  Congregational  Church  building  at  Lane.  This  church  had 
been  formed  in  1903  with  14  members,  with  Rev.  Reese  of  Wessington 
Springs  supply.  First  pastor  was  Rev.  Jas.  Davies,  1903  to  1905.  Third 
pastor,  John  E.  Hughes,  1905  to  1907,  followed  by  S.  T.  Beatty. 

In  July  C.  A.  Voorhees  moved  his  stock  of  groceries  to  Lane  from 
Wessington  Springs,  but  in  the  autumn  sold  the  business  to  H.  D.  But- 
terfield  of  Mitchell  who  placed  J.  H.  Miller  in  charge. 

Sometime  during  the  summer,  or  fall,  Hayes  Cunningham  and  Linde- 
bak  bought  the  livery  business  again. 

About  the  middle  of  December  F.  E.  Poole  bought  the  barber  busi- 
ness of  Mr.  Hare  and  has  conducted  the  business  ever  since. 

In  March  of  this  year  Shultz  and  Starkey,  the  artesian  well  men, 
completed  a  well  for  Henry  Keiriem  at  727  feet,  in  Franklin  township. 

In  Chery  township  two  more  wells  were  completed  during  Julv — 
one  for  E.  S.  Dowling  and  one  for  M.  Brenneman. 

On  the  old  John  Teasdale  farm  in  Dale  township,  now  owned  bv 
Michael  Wahl,  a  well  was  put  down  by  Jensen  in  May,  810  feet.  The 
work  was  done  in  four  days. 

The  Fourth  of  July  celebrations  this  year,  (1905)  were  at  Peirce's 
Grove  in  Harmony  township,  and  the  G.  A.  R.  celebration  July  3rd.  4th 
and  5th  at  Alpena. 

In  1905  W.  S.  Crist  brought  some  registered  Durham  cattle  to  Jer- 
auld county  and  located  in  Crow  Lake  township.    This  herd  was  gathered 


3o8 

in  Shelby  county.  Iowa,  and  contained  some  of  the  best  bred  short  horns 
in  that  state. 

In  Viola  township  a  Sunday  School  and  Epworth  League  convention 
was  held  at  the  German  Methodist  Church,  commencing  February  15th 
and  continuing  one  week. 

The  postmaster  at  Gordon  resigned  in  July. 

In  Anina  township  the  Congregational  Church  was  dedicated  May 
7th.  During  the  summer  the  telephone  line  was  extended  west  from  the 
Kellogg  farm  in  Anina  to  the  A^essey  farm  in  Crow  Lake  township. 

In  the  summer  of  1905  a  meeting  was  held  at  the  residence  of  An- 
drew Pflamn  in  Logan  township,  by  a  few  members  of  the  Catholic 
Church  at  which  it  was  decided  to  build  a  church  edifice  on  section  20 
in  Crow  Lake  township,  to  cost  about  $1,500.  At  the  meeting  mentioned 
$600  was  subscribed.  Work  on  the  church  commenced  at  once  and 
mainly  through  the  efforts  of  Anton  Reindl  the  money  was  raised  and 
the  building  completed.  The  church  was  ready  for  dedication  in  the  late 
autumn  of  that  year.  It  was  named  "St.  Marys."  It  stands  near  the 
south  line  of  section  20  and  is  surrounded  by  a  cleanly  kept,  beautiful 
church  yard.  In  the  cemetery  are  two  graves,  (1908),  one  that  of  an 
infant  child  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Petroski,  but  has  no  inscription  on  the  head 
board.  On  the  other  grave  stands  a  pretty  monument.  In  German  text, 
on  a  white  plate,  is  this  inscription.  "Heir  richt  Anton  Reindl,  geb  zu 
Reitz  in  Osteweich  den  10  Juni,  1848,  gest  in  Crow  Lake,  So.  Dak.  den 
7  Juli,  1905."  On  a  lower  plate  are  the  words,  also  in  German  text, 
"Nur  in  der  Kirche  ist  Mein  Heil." 

The  last  work  of  Anton  Reindl  was  building  the  foundation  of  this 
church.  While  engaged  in  that  work  he  contracted  the  sickness  from 
which  he  died  before  the  edifice  was  completed.  The  church  society  was 
organized  by  Father  O'Flaherty,  of  the  Kimball  parish. 

In  April  a  cream  buying  station  was  established  at  Crow  Lake  by 
Turner  &  Son,  of  Mitchell. 

On  July  6th  while  helping  to  dip  cattle  at  a  dipping  tank  located  at 
Frank  Smith's  farm  in  Pleasant  township,  D.  B.  Paddock,  of  Logan  town- 
ship, ex-county  commissioner,  was  struck  by  lightning  and  killed  in- 
stantly. A  few  weeks  later,  Sept.  i6th,  Ludwig  Pfaff,  of  Crow  town- 
ship, was  also  killed  by  lightning. 

At  Alpena  Castleman  and  Rohr  dissolved  partnership  January  ist. 
the  latter  remaining  in  charge  of  the  market  at  Alpena  and  the  former 
retaining  the  business  at  Lane  until  he  sold  to  Wm.  r)rodkorb  in  April. 

In  the  second  week  in  Januarv  Mason  Smith  sold  the  Revere  House 
to  W.  W.  Ilillis. 

Chamljerlain  &  Milliken  sold  part  of  their  mercantile  stock  to  J.  H. 


309 

Creighton  the  latter  part  of  January  to  be  moved  to  \\'essington  Springs, 
and  the  balance  to  J\Irs.  L.  W.  Castleman. 

On  January  20th  a  lodge  of  Home  Guardians  with  22,  members  was 
organized. 

About  the  20th  of  ]\Iarch  Frank  C.  Wood  bought  tht  Alpena  res- 
taurant of  H.  A.  Leighton. 

In  the  early  autumn  Airs.  ^^'.  G.  ]\Iilliken  purchased  I\Irs.  Eastman's 
millinery  business. 

In  October  A.  N.  Louder  sold  his  mercantile  business  to  E.  \\  ]\Iiles 
and  E.  E.  Hunter. 

During  the  same  year  August  Holmes  opened  a  jewelry  store  in 
Alpena. 

In  December,  1905,  Pat  ]\IcDonald  began  building  an  implement 
warehouse  on  the  north  side  of  ]Main  street  west  of  Tripp's  drug  store. 

From  the  public  schools  of  Alpena  four  young  ladies  graduated  on 
-May  25th.  The  class  was  composed  of  Misses  Gertrude  and  May  Cham- 
berlain, Lizzie  Smith  and  IMattie  Hatch. 

This  year  another  move  was  made  by  parties  from  Sanborn  county  to 
divide  Jerauld  county  so  as  to  add  Alpena,  Blaine  and  Franklin  town- 
ships to  the  county  on  the  east.  The  move  failed  and  now  that  Woon- 
socket  has  a  new  court  house  the  attempt  will  probably  never  be  made 
again. 

On  June  14th  a  swarm  of  bees  alighted  in  Mr.  A.  F.  Smith's  yard 
and  were  captured  and  hived  by  H.  C.  Newmier.  From  whence  the  little 
strangers  came  no  one  could  imagine. 

In  Sept.  a  star  postal  route  was  established  running  east  from  Alpena 
with  W.  H.  Mc^NIillan  carrier. 

About  $900  W'Cre  spent  during  the  summer  in  repairing  and  reseating 
the  Alpena  M.  E.  Church. 

At  Wessington  Springs : 

F.  M.  Steere  sold  to  J.  B.  Collins  his  interest  in  the  telephone  ex- 
change in  January  and  in  the  same  month  the  Wessington  Springs 
creamery  was  leased  to  the  Turner  Produce  Co.  of  Mitchell. 

In  February  J.  H.  Creighthon  opened  a  store  on  the  northeast  corner 
of  Main  and  2nd  streets. 

About  the  middle  of  the  month  Mrs.  Minnie  Easton  moved  her  milli- 
nery stock  into  the  Housman  building  adjoining  Dr.  Cooper's  office  and 
established  the  first  permanent  independent  millinery  shop  in  the  town. 

The  White,  Zink  &  Farrington  warehouse  north  of  Main  street,  on 
First  street,  was  completed  in  March.  In  August,  however,  Mr.  White 
retired  from  the  firm  and  bought  the  R.  M.  McNeil  stock  and  building 
on  the  south  side  of  Main  street, 


3IO 

In  March  and  April  the  local  telephone  company  extended  their  line 
east  and  north. 

March  21st  W'essington  Springs  incorporated  as  a  city  of  the  third 
class  and  the  first  meeting  of  the  city  council  was  on  the  evening  of 
May  1st. 

In  April  B.  D.  Olson  sold  his  barber  shop  to  Herbert  Hryson  and 
Ensley  Shaw,  and  during  the  same  month  C.  S.  Jacobs  formed  a  part- 
nership with  his  two  sons,  Howard  and  Lewis,  in  the  harness  business. 

K.  S.  Starkey  put  up  a  store  building  on  Second  Street  at  the  crossing 
of  the  section  line  road  and  in  November  filled  it  with  a  stock  of  mer- 
chandise. 

In  Jul}-  Gus  Xordlie.  a  tailor,  located  in  Wessington  Springs  and 
o])ened  a  shop.  In  the  same  month  J.  I*".  Spencer  bought  the  Bateman 
meat  market. 

August  3rd  Wm.  Brimner  began  work  on  the  foundation  of  the  opera 
liouse.  The  building  was  completed  and  opened  for  amusements  on  the 
3rd  of  November. 

Sept.  1st  L.  E.  Ausman  located  at  Wessington  Springs  and  engaged 
in  real  estate  business  with  F.  M.  Steere. 

On  October  2nd  work  was  commenced  on  the  Catholic  Church  in 
^^'essington  Springs. 

The  State  Bank  began  work  on  their  brick  building  at  the  southwest 
corner  of  Second  and  Main  streets  in  the  early  fall  and  continued  to  the 
close  of  the  year. 

John  W.  Snart  put  up  a  building  on  Third  street  in  which  R.  A. 
Bushnell  subsequently  started  his  electric  light  plant,  and  on  Oct.  nth 
Ijegan  grinding  feed  there.  In  the  same  month  Martin  jjjorlo  became 
owner  of  the  Slocum  studio  and  a  few  days  later  L.  R.  Theeler  bought 
the  Clark  dray  line. 

December  21st  an  Eastern  Star  Chai)ter  with  20  members  was  formed 
at  Wessington   Springs. 

On  December  31st  G.  W.  Bakus  retired  from  the  Dakota  Sieve  and 
was  succeeded  by  Fred  N.  Dunham  to  whom  he  had  sold  the  jjaper  a 
few  weeks  before.     The  paper  was  changed  to  Republican  in  politics. 

In  the  proceedings  of  the  county  board  but  little  of  interest  occurred. 
.Kt  the  January  meeting  Geo.  C.  Martin  was  made  chairman.  ( )n  March 
i<Sth  at  a  meeting  of  the  cattle  owners  of  the  county,  called  by  the  county 
auditor,  L.  F.  Russell,  was  elected  cattle  inspector.  Then  the  county  com- 
missioners went  at  work  to  aid  the  inspector  to  stamp  out  a  disease  that 
had  appeared  among  the  livestock.  Dipping  tanks  were  built  in  various 
parts  of  the  county,  iat  public  expense  and  some  of  those  already  erected 
were  purchased.     It  was  expensive  work  but  so  thoroughly  did  Mr.  Rus- 


311 

sell  and  his  assistants  do  their  duty  that  in  two  years  the  quarantine  was 
lifted. 

On  April  7th  the  Wessington  Springs  telephone  company  was  granted 
permission  to  set  poles  along  the  public  highways  of  the  county. 

August  1 2th  the  commissioners  re-districted  the  county  into  the  fol- 
lowing commissioner  districts : 

1st  District — Blaine,  Franklin,  Alpena. 

2nd  District^ — Viola,  Wessington  Springs,  Dale. 

3rd  District^ — All  the  balance  of  the  county. 

During  the  year  ending  April  ist,  1905,  the  banks  paid  interest  money 
to  the  amount  of  $415.96  on  county  deposits. 

The  teachers'  county  institute  was  held  the  21st  of  August  and  con- 
tinued two  weeks  with  Prof.  J.  Jones,  Jr.,  conductor,  assisted  by  John  F. 
Wicks  and  Miss  Westcott. 

At  the  Wessington  ^Springs  Seminary  the  graduating  class  was  Mabel 
Seger,  Bertha  Starkey,  Wilson  Slocum,  Ethel  Seacord,  A.  D.  Sprouse, 
Charles  Cook,  Hugh  Short,  Olaf  Rosengren,  Roy  Eagle,  Leonard  Hitch- 
man,  Val  La  Bau. 

The  Mt.  Vernon  mail  route  was  discontinued  June  ist  and  the  mail 
carried  oniy  to  Gordon  P.  O.  A.  V.  Hall  became  the  driver  on  this 
route,  while  J.  H.  Vessey  took  the  route  from  Wessington  Springs  to 
Waterbury. 

Charles  Walters,  the  postmaster  at  Gordon,  resigned  Sept.  2nd  and 
on  the  19th  of  the  same  month  he  turned  the  office  over  to  Fred  Kieser, 
his  successor.  Ten  days  later,  (Sept.  29th),  the  postmaster  at  Wessing- 
ton Springs  was  authorized  by  the  department  at  Washington  to  establish 
Dec.  1st,  1905,  Rural  Free  Delivery,  Route  No.  i  from  that  office  as  fol- 
lows :  Go  east  from  the  Wessington  Springs  office  to  the  section  line, 
then  south  5  %  miles  to  the  southeast  corner  of  section  7 ;  then  west  2 
miles  to  the  southeast  corner  of  section  1 1  ;  then  south  3  miles  to  the 
southeast  corner  of  section  26 ;  then  east  4  miles  to  the  southeast  corner 
of  section  28;  then  north  4  miles  to  the  south  east  corner  of  section  4; 
then  east  i  mile  to  the  southeast  corner  of  section  3 ;  then  north  5  miles 
to  the  southeast  corner  of  section  10;  then  west  and  south  4  miles  to  the 
Wessington  Springs  P.  O.,  making  a  total  distance  of  29%  miles.  An 
examination  for  carrier  was  held  and  Jay  Dodge  was  given  the  position 
at  $750  per  year,  including  horse  hire. 

A  census  of  the  county  taken  by  the  assessors  in  June  showed  but 
1,152  children  in  the  county  of  school  age — but  127  more  than  at  the 
time  of  the  great  blizzard  in  i5 


312 

Chapter  18. 

(1906).  — 

The  year  1906  was  ushered  in  with  an  exceedingly  mild  winter.  While 
the  states  east  and  south  were  suffering  the  severities  of  vigorous  cold 
the  plains  of  Dakota  seemed  the  abode  of  summer.  On  the  i8th  of 
February  the  writer  found  great  numbers  of  grasshoppers,  alive  and 
jumping,  on  one  of  the  highest  points  of  the  Wessington  Hills.  But 
little  snow  fell  during  the  wdnter  and  there  was  no  sleighing.  The  never- 
failing  April  storm  came,  however,  with  more  than  its  usual  amount  of 
wind  and  snow.  But  as  people  had  learned  to  guard  against  this  spring 
storm,  only  sleight  damage  was  done. 

In  March  Supt.  Wilson  began  preparation  for  a  county  spelling  con- 
test to  be  held  on  the  7th  of  April.  One  thousand  words  were  printed 
and  distributed  among  the  children  of  the  county  public  schools.  Each 
school  had  its  trial  of  skill  and  sent  its  champion  to  the  county  contest. 
Numerous  prizes  were  offered  and  the  interest  was  great.  The  first  prize 
was  won  by  Miss  Allie  Nesmith,  of  Viola  township.  The  judges  could  not 
say,  however,  that  Miss  Alarie  Davis  of  the  same  township  had  missed  a 
single  word.  Miss  Nesmith  had  certainly  not  missed  any  and  so  the 
decission  turned  on  the  penmanship.  One  letter  in  Miss  Davis  manuscript 
was  doubtful,  therefore,  she  was  given  the  second  prize.  A  free-for-all 
contest  was  then  held  for  a  set  of  books  offered  b}-  the  Jerauld  Count}' 
Review.  For  this  prize  Miss  Allie  Nesmith.  of  A'iola  township,  and 
Earnest  Simmons,  of  Dale  township,  were  a  tie  and  the  set  of  books  was 
divided. 

In  April  two  steam  breaking  outfits  were  started  in  W^essington 
Springs  township — one  by  J.  A.  Zink  with  two  3-plow  gangs,  on  the  C. 
E.  Baker  farm  and  the  other  by  Leo  Richardson,  one  four-plow  gang,  on 
the  farm  of  Lewis  Tofflemeier. 

The  teachers'  county  institute  w^as  held  during  the  two  weeks  com- 
mencing June  18th,  Prof.  Jones,  conductor.  This  had  the  largest  attend- 
ance of  any  institute  ever  held  in  the  county — the  enrollment  being  165. 
John  Wicks  was  again  one  of  the  assistant  conductors. 

The  total  assessed  valuation  of  the  county  this  year  was  $2,520,530. 
In  March  there  were  but  541  farms  in  the  county  having  63,778  cultivated 
acres,  over  one-sixth  of  which  was  in  Blaine  township  and  but  740  in 
Crow  township. 

On  Sept.  18,  19  and  20  a  county  fair  was  held  at  Wessington  Springs 
and  was  largely  attended. 

About  the  middle  of  July  the  Alpena  Telephone  Co.  was  granted  a 
right  to  set  poles  along  the  county  highways. 


313 

A  farmers  telephone  company  was  incorporated  about  May  ist  to 
construct  a  line  west  from  Alpena  to  the  west  line  of  the  county.  The 
officers  were  Will  Linn,  president;  Peter  Alyron,  secretary;  Michael 
Wahl,  treasurer.  The  directors  were  F.  M.  Shull,  A.  McLoud,  Will 
Linn,  Henry  Beck,  Harry  Shefield.  Work  on  this  line  began  about  the 
middle  of  June  and  was  completed  about  the  middle  of  August.  It  was 
connected  at  D.  M.  Brenneman's  with  line  from  Wesington  Springs. 
The  telephone  line  running  northeast  from  Alpena  was  put  in  working 
order  about  the  15th  of  July. 

On  May  24th  the  people  of  the  west  half  of  the  county  enjoyed  a  pic- 
nic at  Crow  Lake  for  the  benefit  of  the  Catholic  Church  in  that  township. 
Financially  it  was  a  success.  Father  O'Flaherty,  of  the  Kimball  parish, 
delivered  an  address  on  patriotism  that  has  probably  never  been  excelled 
in  the  county.  On  the  12th  of  Sept.  St.  Mary's  Church  was  dedicated, 
according  to  the  rites  of  the  society. 

x^t  Lane  the  Congregational  Church  building  was  dedicated  free  from 
debt.     The  dedication  sermon  was  by  Mrs.  Abi  T.  Huntley. 

Sept.  1st  Rev.  Greve  resigned  from  the  Lane  German  Lutheran 
Church  and  was  succeeded  Oct.  loth  by  Rev.  Sclinski. 

In  the  first  week  of  January  A.  H.  Hawley  purchased  the  England 
stock  of  furniture  at  Lane,  but  three  months  later  sold  it  to  D.  J.  Walker. 
About  the  same  time  that  Hawley  bought  the  furniture  business  Mr. 
C.  A.  Voorhees  became  proprietor  of  the  McCurdy  hotel  at  Lane,  and  on 
January  25th  Mr.  Poole  bought  Dave  Reid's  pool  hall.  Dave  Reid  then 
purchased  the  dray  line  from  Cunningham  &  Lindebak  and  took  Andrew 
Reid  in  as  a  partner.  They  continued  the  business  until  Nov.  ist  when 
they  sold  to  Goll  &  Jonker. 

On  February  3rd  a  deal  was  made  between  F.  A.  Franzwa  and  A.  J. 
Brandenburg  and  his  son.  Otto,  by  which  the  two  latter  became  owners 
of  the  formers  building  and  mercantile  stock  which  they  managed  until 
November  19th  of  the  same  year,  when  they  sold  the  stock  to  Messrs. 
Burton  &  Craft,  of  Mitchell,  but  retained  title  to  the  building. 

About   October   ist   Henry   Schoen  bought   an   interest   in   the    meat 

market. 

At  the  spring  election  the  license  question  was  before  the  people  again 
and  the  saloon  was  sustained  by  a  vote  of  32  to  15. 

Geo.  Nelson  bought  the  blacksmith  business  of  N.  P.  Petersen  about 
the  first  of  September  and  the  latter  then  turned  his  attention  to  the  imple- 
ment business. 

On  October  nth  Dr.  Martin  left  Lane  to  seek  another  location.  On 
Oct.  25th  Dr.  Burleigh  located  in  Lane  and  soon  after  built  an  office  at 
the  south  end  of  Main  street. 


314 

W'.  Z.  Sharpe,  of  Artesian,  built  an  elevator  at  Lane  during  the  sum- 
mer, completing  it  in  time  for  the  fall  business. 

In  Chery  township  C.  J.  Bliss  tried  a  novel  experiment  on  his  ranch. 
He  was  fatting  a  couple  of  car  loads  of  cattle  for  the  eastern  market. 
Instead  of  turning  hogs  in  the  yards  with  the  steers  he  bought  500  turkeys 
and  turned  them  in.  It  was  a  great  success.  In  January  he  shipped  two 
tons  of  dressed  turkeys  to  Boston,  after  having  fed  them  but  a  few  weeks 
with  the  cattle. 

H.  P.  Will,  of  Logan  township,  was  elected  cattle  inspector  January 
17th,  1906. 

In  Blaine  township  John  Steichen  completed  his  artesian  well  in  July. 

In  the  summer  of  this  year  L.  N.  Nesselroad  located  at  Wessington 
Springs  with  a  herd  of  registered  Durham  and  Hereford  cattle.  From 
this  herd  many  of  the  highest  types  of  animals  were  sold  to  different 
parts  of  South  Dakota  and  adjoining  states. 

Among  the  business  changes  at  Alpena  was  one  by  which  John 
Schamber,  former  state  treasurer,  became  vice  president  of  the  Bank  of 
Alpena,  his  son,  R.  E.  Schamber,  cashier,  and  J.  R.  Milliken,  president. 

Wm.  Scheel  bought  the  furniture  business  on  the  6th  day  of  March. 

Dr.  P.  E.  Burns,  from  Hornick,  Iowa,  located  in  Alpena,  in  fune,  to 
practice  medicine  in  partnership  with  Dr.  J.  E.  Shull. 

In  September  J.  W.  Doubenmier  and  F.  E.  Manning  formed  a  part- 
nership to  do  real  estate  business  in  the  name  of  the  Alpena  and  Western 
Land  Co. 

About  the  same  time  W.  W.  Hillis  leased  the  Revere  House  to  Mrs. 
G.  W.  Phillips. 

On  Nov.  7  Sunday  trains  began  running  between  Aberdeen  and 
Sioux  City. 

Dec.  15th  Geo.  Hatch  sold  his  livery  barn  and  stock  to  Thompson 
Bros. 

Business  changes  at  Wessington  Springs  were  also  quite  numerous. 
In  January  Wm.  Burger  purchased  the  A.  V.  Hall  confectionery  busi- 
ness, and  in  February  the  creamery  was  sold  to  Turner  Produce  Co.,  of 
Mitchell. 

The  name  of  The  Dakota  Sieve  was  changed  on  March  ist  to  "Jer- 
auld County  Review."  In  the  same  month  the  Wessington  Springs  State 
Bank  moved  into  its  new  brick  building  on  the  southwest  corner  of  Main 
and  2nd  streets.  About  the  same  time  Henry  Hermsen,  of  Coon  Rapids. 
Iowa,  bought  the  Bryson-Shaw  barber  shop. 

In  March,  also,  R.  A.  Bushnell  took  charge  of  the  feed  mill  he  had 
purchased  from  J.  W.  Snart.  Later  in  the  year,  (in  Dec.)  Mr.  Bushnell 
obtained   from  the  city  council  a   franchise  to  operate  an  electric  light 


3^5 


R.  A.  BushncU.       TIws.  Shryock.       Joint  Alouiisey.   Otto  Bnindenhuri 


H.  B.  Fern 


Fred  X .  Dunham  H.  O.  Refvem. 


310 

system  in  Wessington  Spring's,  the  power  being  furnished  from  the 
engines  in  his  feed  mill. 

It  was  during  the  month  of  ]March,  too,  that  Mrs.  Gehan  and  her 
son,  John,  sold  the  Willard  Hotel  to  Air.  John  Yerry,  who  took  possession 
the  first  of  the  following  October. 

In  the  same  month  Mrs.  N.  B.  England  opened  a  millinery  shop  on 
the  south  side  of  Main  St.,  east  of  the  Brodkorb  store. 

About  this  time  a  man  named  Love  came  from  Madison  and  organized 
a  branch  of  the  American  Society  of  Equity  with  35  members,  John 
Mounsey,  president;  J.  A.  Paddock,  secretary.  The  purpose  of  this 
organization  was  to  regulate  the  price  of  farm  products.  As  yet  its  efifect 
has  not  been  materially  felt. 

At  the  commencement  exercises  on  June  6th  the  seminary  granted 
diplomas  to  Amy  A.  Cook,  Ethel  V.  Ford,  George  Hubbard,  Sylvia  Mc- 
Clellan,  Geo.  Kennedy,  May  Cook  and  Alice  Vennard. 

In  July  Bert  Healy  sold  his  rackett-store  to  R.  M.  McNeil  and  J.  H. 
Creighton  made  a  deal  with  Harry  Webber  by  which  the  latter  became 
the  owner  of  the  former's  mercantile  business  in  Wessington  Springs. 
In  the  same  month  Norman  Zink  bought  an  interest  in  the  A.  W. 
Richardson  livery  business  and  started  a  bus  line. 

About  the  first  of  August  Alden  Cutler,  an  attorney,  of  Ames,  Iowa, 
established  a  law  office  in  Wessington  Springs. 

During  the  last  week  in  August  the  W.  T.  George  Co.  sold  their 
mercantile  stock  to  Miles  &  Hunter,  who  had  sold  their  Alpena  store  to 
F.  A.  Franzwa. 

Dr.  G.  H.  Richards  located  in  Wessington  Springs  about  September 
1st. 

In  Nov.  C.  T.  Christenson  put  up  a  building  adjoining  the  Brodkorb 
building  on  the  east. 

On  November  20th  a  special  election  was  held  to  vote  bonds  m  tht^ 
sum  of  $2,150  to  buy  the  site  for  the  present  public  school  building,  at  a 
cost  of  $2,000. 

L.  A.  Mead  began  operations  as  a  stock  buyer  at  Wessington  Springs 
in  November. 

Dr.  Burleigh,  of  Lane,  in  November  and  December  built  a  drug  store 
building  on  the  north  side  of  Main  street,  adjoining  Mrs.  Easton's  millinery 
store  on  the  east,  and  in  it  Harry  Frick  began  business  as  a  druggist  just 
before  the  holidays. 

A  P.  E.  O.  society  was  formed  October  24th.  This  is  a  secret  organ- 
ization, to  a  membership  in  which  only  ladies  are  eligible.  The  organiza- 
tion was  the  fourth  of  its  kind  in  the  state.  The  charter  members  were 
Mrs.  Cora  Miller,  president,  Miss  Edna  Butterfield,  Miss  Florence  Moul- 


3^7 

ton,  Airs.  Sarah  Jacobs,  Miss  Cora  England,  ]\Iiss  Myrtle  McCray,  ]\Irs. 
Mae  Vessey,  Mrs.  Eva  Campbell,  Miss  Myrtle  Clark  and  Mrs.  Roy  Mc- 
Neil.    Its  name  was  "Chapter  E." 

At  Alpena  work  on  the  Presbyterian  parsonage  began  in  May. 

At  the  close  of  the  spring  term  of  the  Alpena  school  the  following 
class  was  graduated :  Percy  Collier,  Fred  Hatch,  Floyd  Barber,  Lea 
Grace. 

Probably  at  no  time  since  the  days  of  the  old  Waterbury  ball  team, 
had  so  much  interest  centered  about  the  national  game  in  Jerauld  county 
as  during  the  year  1906.  The  sport  commenced  when  the  Lane  nine  de- 
feated Woonsocket  May  20th.    • 

The  next  game  was  on  June  8th  when  Alpena  was  defeated  by  Wes- 
sington  Springs,  score  3  to  2.  The  winning  "team  in  this  game  played 
Lane  on  June  12th  and  won  6  to  4.  Then  came  the  game  at  the  old 
settlers'  picnic,  always  a  game  of  great  interest,  when  the  Lane  team  de- 
feated Wessington  Springs,  in  a  very  close  score.  On  June  20th  Wes- 
sington  Springs  played  Artesian  and  won  8  to  i. 

On  June  30th  Messrs.  S.  C.  Scott,  Chas.  B.  Marquis  and  W.  H. 
Childs,  of  Lyons,  Iowa,  and  E.  H.  Wood,  real  estate  dealers,  who  had 
bought  and  sold  a  great  deal  of  Jerauld  county  land,  offered  for  sale  at 
auction  a  large  number  of  town  lots  that  they  had  platted  on  some  land 
ad  joining,  the  town  of  Lane.  The  land  they  had  purchased  embraced  the 
Grisinger  grove  which  was  christened  "Marquis  Park."  In  preparing  for 
this  town  lot  sale  a  game  of  ball  between  the  Wessington  Springs  and 
Lane  teams  was  planned.  The  game  was  a  most  interesting  one  and 
resulted  in  a  victory  for  Lane  by  a  score  of  3  to  i. 

Four  days  later  the  same  teams  crossed  bats  at  the  Wessington  Springs 
celebration  w^iere  the  score  was  3  to  o  in  favor  of  Wessington  Springs. 
On  July  7th  Lane  again  defeated  Wessington  Springs  by  a  score  of  3 
to  I. 

July  1 8th  Lane  again  defeated  Woonsocket  by  a  score  of  7  to  2. 

July  nth  Wessington  Springs  defeated  Howard  by  a  score  of  4  to  o, 
and  a  few  days  later  in  a  close  game  between  the  same  teams  at  Howard 
at  the  end  of  ten  innings  the  score  stood  2  to  i  in  favor  of  the  Jerauld 
county  team.  There  followed  a  series  of  games  by  the  Wessington 
Springs  team  with  one  from  Letcher.  Five  games  were  played  of  which 
Letcher  won  three.  Two  of  these  games  were  played  on  August  24th 
and  25th  at  Wessington  Springs.  So  great  was  the  interest  that  all 
business  houses  in  Wessington  Springs  were  closed  during  the  games. 
The  game  on  the  24th  resulted  5  to  3  for  Letcher,  but  the  one  on  the 
25th  was  won  by  the  home  team  i  to  o — the  only  "shut-out"  of  the 
series. 


3i8 

The  Wessington  Springs  team  was  made  up  of  the  following  players : 
Chas.  Debenham,  pitcher ;  S.  E.  Pflamn,  pitcher ;  Frank  Dickerson. 
catcher ;  S.  J.  Whitney,  T.  F.  Vessey,  Earnest  Vessey,  Wm.  Zink,  Fred 
N.  Dunham,  C.  R.  Wetherell,  Emil  Swanson. 

In  politics  a  good  deal  of  interest  centered  about  the  election  as  usual. 
The  tickets  were  as  follows : 

Republican. 

State  Senator — R.  S.  Vessey. 

Representative — H.  B.  Ferren. 

Treasurer — L.  F.  Russell. 

Auditor — H.  O.  Refvem. 

Register  of  Deeds— C.  J.  Pfaff. 

County  Superintendent — W.   B.  Wilson. 

Sheriff— H.  A.  Butler. 

Judge — C.  C.  Gleim. 

Clerk  of  Courts — W.  F.  Taylor. 

Attorney — J.  G.  Bradford. 

Coronor — P.  E.  Burns. 

Co.  Com.,  2nd  Dist. — O.  O.  England. 

Co.  Com.,  3rd  Dist. — Theo.  Dean. 

Devwcratic. 

State  Senator — Geo.  Sickler. 
Representative — \Vm.  Zink. 
Treasurer — John  Steichen. 
Auditor — G.  W.  Backus. 
Register  of  Deeds — G.  C.  Scofield. 
Sheriff— J.  A.  Zink. 
Clerk  of  Courts — Joseph  Sailer. 
•  Co.  Supt. — Dora  Shull. 
Coronor — O.  J.  Marshall. 
Co.  Co.,  2nd  Dist. — R.  J.  Tracy. 
Co.  Com.,  3rd  Dist. — M.  A.  Schaefer. 

Wm.  Zink  for  representative  and  J.  A.  Zink  for  sheriff  were  both 
elected,  all  the  other  positions  were  caried  by  the  Republicans. 

Before  entering  upon  his  duties  as  county  treasurer  Mr.  Russell  sold 
his  herd  of  Hereford  cattle  to  L.  A.  Pinard  of  Chery  township.  This  herd 
had  been  started  by  Mr.  Pinard  and  Mr.  Russell  in  partnership  in  1893. 
In  1900  they  divided  the  herd  each  taking  half.  The  cattle  were  now 
united  again  under  the  ownership  of  Mr.  Pinard,  and  comprised  some  of 
the  best  animals  ever  brought  on  to  the  plains. 


3^9 


Mr.  and  Airs.  Jos.  T.  Ferguson. 


L.   X.   Xcssclroad. 


H.  P.   Will. 


Miss  Dora  Shull. 


Aldcn  Cutler 


320 

Chapter  19. 

(1907). 

At  the  first  meeting  in  January  the  county  commissioners  elected  L. 
J.  Grisinger   chairman  of  the  board  for  the  ensuing  two  years. 

On  July  8th  W.  F.  Taylor  resigned  his  position  as  clerk  of  courts 
and  C.  W.  McDonald  was  appointed  to  fill  the  vacancy.  At  the  same 
meeting  the  board  appropriated  $600  to  complete  the  grading  of  the 
county  road  extending  from  the  top  of  the  grade  west  of  Wessington 
Springs  to  the  top  of  the  hill  west  of  the  Schubert  residence  in  Media 
township  which  had  become  almost  impassable  because  of  the  heavy  rains. 

There  was  considerable  activity  in  religious  matters  in  the  county 
during  the  year  1907.  A  district  convention  of  foreign  missionary  socie- 
ties was  held  at  Alpena  on  June  21st  and  22nd. 

A  Free  Methodist  Sunday  School  convention  was  held  in  April  on 
the  4th  and  5th  of  the  month. 

In  May  a  missionary  society  was  formed  by  the  Friends"  church  in 
Harmony  township. 

In  Viola  township  a  Methodist  church  was  erected  in  August  and 
September  and  named  Tibbetts  Chapel  in  honor  of  the  minister  who  then 
had  the  Wessington  Springs  pastorate.  This  building  was  dedicated 
October  27th.  The  Solberg  Lutheran  edifice  was  dedicated  Sept.  22nd 
in  the  nortwest  part  of  Blaine  township. 

The  Lutheran  Church,  of  the  Missouri  synod,  which  since  1902  had 
been  holding  its  meetings  at  the  Meyers  School  house  in  Blaine  township, 
built  a  church  at  Lane,  laying  the  foundation  in  June  and  completing  the 
structure  in  October.  They  began  holding  meetings  in  the  new  church  in 
November.  This  society  had  been  organized  by  Rev.  R.  Ulhman,  in 
1902,  with  16  charter  members. 

The  annual  state  conference  of  the  Free  Methodist  church  occurred 
at  Wessington  Springs,  Sept.  25th  to  30th. 

A  county  Sunday  school  convention  was  held  at  the  same  place  on 
October  8th. 

About  July  25th  Rev.  S.  F.  Beatty  became  pastor  of  the  Lane  Con- 
gregational church. 

In  business  circles  there  was  the  usual  activity.  On  January  1st  J. 
R.  Milliken,  who  had  previously  bought  Schamber's  interest  in  tlie  Bank 
of  Alpena,  sold  that  institution  to  J.  E.  Schull,  who  became  its  president, 
J.  W.  Doubenmier,  vice-president,  and  F.  E.  Manning,  cashier. 

At  the  railway  depot  in  Alpena,  C.  G.  Boom  having  been  transferred 
to  Groton,  Theo.  Beuhler  was  put  in  his  place  the  latter  part  of  January. 


321 

In  April  the  business  men  of  Alpena  formed  the  Alpena  Improvement 
Association,  which  was  incorporated  May  14th.  Twenty  acres  were 
bought  in  the  west  part  of  the  village  and  on  it  a  race  track  was  prepared. 
The  first  racing  meet  occurred  on  Sept.  4th,  5th  and  6th.  Horses  were 
entered  from  Huron,  Carthage,  Plankinton  and  Alpena.  The  first  trot- 
ting race  was  won  by  W.  H.  McMillan's  horse,  "Dan  Sprague,"  and  the 
first  running  race  by  Frank  Shull's  gelding,  Ukiah. 

In  the  school  at  Alpena,  on  May  22nd  Beulah  Milliken,  Susie  Rankin, 
Grace  Ketchum,  Flossie  Hillis,  Jessie  Beals  and. Matthew  Smith  gradu- 
ated from  the  high  school  department,  the  teacher  being  Prof.  Hendrick- 
son.  In  the  autumn  this  educator  accepted  a  position  as  teacher  of 
mathematics  in  the  Wessington  Springs  Seminary. 

In  the  last  week  of  August  W.  W.  Hillis  bought  Tripp's  drug  stock 
and  business,  and  united  the  two  stocks. 

Oct.  24th  W.  W.  Hillis  again  took  charge  of  the  Revere  House. 

About  the  first  of  November  Mason  and  Manzo  Smith  bought  the  A. 
W.  Holmes  jewelry  business. 

C.  W.  Miller  became  proprietor  of  the  Alpena  Owl  Restaurant  in  the 
fall  of  the  year  and  retained  it  until  early  in  the  next  year  when  he  sold 
it  to  Mrs.  G.  C.  Haskins. 

About  the  first  of  December  a  tri-weekly  rural  route  was  established 
to  run  south  and  west  from  Alpena  with  Joseph  Baldwin,  driver,  at  a 
salary  of  $540  per  year. 

At  Lane  J.  W.  Mueller  purchased  the  stock  of  goods  owned  by  H.  D. 
Butterfield,  and  took  Mr.  W.  Wood  in  as  a  partner.  This  deal  was  made 
about  January  loth. 

About  the  same  time  Mrs.  A.  M.  Johnson  sold  her  millinery  stock 
to  Mrs.  Shreve. 

February  ist  the  Farmers'  State  Bank  at  Lane  increased  its  capital 
to  $12,000. 

On  February  27th  the  town  of  Lane  voted  to  incorporate,  taking  in 
the  south  half  of  section  17  and  the  north  half  of  section  20. 

In  March  Mr.  F.  McCurdy  sold  his  mercantile  business  to  Ira  Stim- 
son  and  a  gentleman  named  Organ,  both  from  Dubuque,  Iowa. 

About  March  5th  F.  C.  Wood  succeeded  Mr.  Oddy  as  proprietor  of 
the  restaurant. 

In  May  Mrs.  Phillip  became  proprietor  of  the  hotel  business  in  Lane, 
succeeding  David  Reid. 

On  June  20  an  I.  O.  O.  F.  lodge  with  24  members  was  organized  with 
Dr.  Burleigh,  N.  G. ;  C.  Fetzmer,  V.  G. ;  C.  A.  Kleppin,  Sec. ;  L.  J. 
Grisinger,  Treas. 


322 

June  29th  was  Lane's  day  of  field  sports  in  which  all  of  the  east  half 
of  the  county  participated. 

On  July  1st  the  Lane  saloon  closed  its  doors. 

August  17th  the  independent  school  district  of  Lane  voted  to  issue 
$3,000  of  bonds  to  build  a  new  school  house. 

A  month  later,  Sept.  17th,  work  was  commenced  on  the  Citizens  State 
Bank  building  on  the  east  side  of  Main  street  and  a  week  later  work  be- 
gan on  the  new  school  house. 

The  next  month  Mr.  Towsley  bought  the  pool  hall  and  contents  of 
Mr.  Poole. 

On  October  19th  Craft  and  Burton  sold  their  stock  of  merchandise 
to  J.  J.  Fitzgerald  &  Son,  who  on  the  7th  of  December  sold  the  same 
property  to  A.  J.  Brandenburg  and  his  son,  Otto  Brandenburg. 

In  the  latter  part  of  October  Anderson  Harris  sold  the  Lane  hardware 
stock  to  Oliver  Anderson,  to  give  possession  Jan.  ist,  1908. 

In  November  R.  H.  Crerar  bought  the  furniture  business  of  D.  J. 
Walker. 

In  Chery  township  a  branch  of  Wessington  Springs  telephone  line 
was  built  from  Arthur  Beers'  farm  north  to  connect  with  the  Alpena  line. 

The  county  teachers  institute  began  a  one  week  session  on  July  8th. 

Beginning  in  the  forepart  of  December  teachers'  institutes  were  held 
during  the  following  winter  in  most  of  the  townships  of  the  county. 

For  many  years  it  had  been  the  custom  of  some  one  of  the  settlers 
who  came  to  the  county  before  the  rush  of  1883  to  give  a  "pioneer"  din- 
ner on  Thanksgiving  day  to  the  others  of  those  who  came  in  1880,  188 1 
or  1882.  In  1907  this  dinner  was  given  by  Rev.  J.  G.  Campbell.  Besides 
the  family  of  the  host  there  were  present  the- families  of  Thos.  Shryock. 
Rev.  A.  B.  Snart,  M.  Sheppard,  C.  W.  McDonald.  Louis  Tofflemier,  E. 
W.  Simmons  and  John  Francis. 

A  bowling  alley  was  put  in  operation  at  Wessington  Springs  in 
January. 

In  the  same  month  a  farmers*  institute  by  authority  of  the  state  was 
conducted  at  Wessington  Springs  for  two  days  by  A.  E.  Chamberlain,  a 
lawyer,  of  Howard. 

On  March  ist  W.  F.  Bancroft  sold  the  "True  Republican"  to  L.  S. 
Dubois,  of  Huron. 

On  March  nth,  A.  V.  Hall  began  carrying  the  mail  over  rural  route 
No.  I,  in  place  of  Jay  Dodge  who  had  resigned. 

Ten  days  later  R.  A.  Bushnell  placed  an  engine  in  his  feed  mill  and 
prepared  to  give  the  city  a  system  of  electric  lights.  The  lights  were 
first  utrned  on  in  May. 


323 


R.   S.    P^csscy. 


324 

Zink  &  Richardson  dissolved  partnership  the  ist  of  May,  Zink  con- 
tinuing the  dray  and  bus  Hne  and  Richardson  retaining  the  Hvery. 

At  the  Seminary  commencement  exercises  held  on  June  nth  the 
graduating  class  were,  Susie  B.  Kennedy,  Mamie  A.  Reid,  Eva  G.  Gil- 
fillan,  and  Minnie  C.  Donaghue. 

The  Congregational  churches  in  Lane  and  Anina  townships  were 
united  under  one  pastorate  in  the  early  summer,  Rev.  Beatty,  minister, 
and  at  the  same  time  the  churches  of  that  denomination  at  Wessington 
Springs  and  Fauston  were  united  under  Rev.  Reynolds  as  pastor,  though 
each  church  retained  its  separate  organization. 

In  July  the  city  made  another  effort  to  obtain  means  of  protection 
against  fire.  An  agent  visited  Wessington  Springs  and  demonstrated  how 
easily  a  chemical  engine  would  extinguish  the  fiercest  fire.  The  council, 
acting  on  the  advise  of  almost  everybody,  bought  one. 

A  farmers'  elevator  company  with  $25,000  authorized  capital  was 
formed  July  26th  with  John  Mounsey,  president.  The  directors  were 
E.  B.  Orr,  John  Mounsey,  C.  M.  Brenneman,  E.  B.  Maris,  O.  W.  Alore- 
head,  Geo.  C.  Martin  and  J.  L.  Sedgwick.  The  company  purchased  the 
Hyde  elevator,  taking  possession  August  15th. 

By  August  the  Wessington  Springs  Telephone  Company  had  mcreased 
its  system,  until  it  had  fifteen  lines  extending  to  different  parts  of  the 
county.  The  next  month  the  company  built  an  office  on  the  west  side  of 
2nd  street  on  the  alley  south  of  the  State  Bank. 

Sept.  21  St  the  business  men  of  Wessington  Springs  raised  a  bonus  of 
$2,000  and  arranged  with  J.  L.  Coram  to  put  up  a  hotel  such  as  the 
growing  importance  of  the  town  demanded.  Work  on  the  new  hotel 
began  about  the  middle  of  October. 

On  December  23rd  the  people  of  the  indepedendent  school  district 
voted  bonds  in  the  sum  of  $10,000  with  which  to  build  a  new  brick 
school  house. 

Early  in  the  summer  of  1907  the  business  men  of  Wessington  Springs 
employed  a  team  of  ball  players  which  they  named  "The  Cowboys"  and 
sent  them  out  on  a  tour  of  eastern  South  Dakota,  and  Iowa  and  Illinois. 
It  was  an  advertising  project  for  the  town  and  as  such  it  was  a  success — 
though  expensive.  The  team  visited  Sioux  Falls  and  Canton  in  this 
state,  and  then  went  to  Sheldon,  Spencer,  Soo  Rapids,  Ft.  Dodge,  Hum- 
boldt, Britt,  Forest  City,  Garner,  Mason  City,  Osage,  Charles  City, 
Clarksville,  Waverly,  Elizabeth,  Davenport,  Sabula  and  Charlotte,  in 
Iowa  and  Savana,  Galena  and  Dixon  in  Illinois.  They  plyed  thirty-two 
games  with  the  most  skillful  teams  in  the  country  through  which  they 
traveled,  winning  twenty-three  of  them. 


325 

In  May  the  Alpena  ball  team  played  three  games  with  Woonsocket 
winning  all  of  them,  and  on  June  ist  played  with  Letcher,  being  beaten 
by  a  score  of  i  to  o.  During  the  Alpena  field  days  in  September  the  Alpena 
team  defeated  Wessington  Springs  by  a  score  of  6  to  2,  and  Cavour  3  to  o. 

In  October  the  markets  had  improved  so  that  wheat  sold  at  95c,  oats 
41,  barley  82,  shelled  corn  46c,  flax  $1.05  and  hogs  $5.20. 

In  Viola  township  O.  W.  Morehead  and  Chas.  Wood  secured  ar- 
tesian M^ells  in  August. 

The  only  thing  occurring  this  year  to  effect  political  matters  in  Jerauld 
county,  was  an  act  passed  by  the  legislature  of  1907  placing  Jerauld  and 
Sanborn  counties  together  in  one  senatorial  district. 

Another  event  of  a  political  nature  that  occurred  in  Jerauld  county, 
but  only  affecting  state  affairs,  was  the  announcement  in  December  of 
R.  S.  Vessey's  candidacy  for  the  position  of  governor. 

The  financial  panic  of  1907  came  in  October  and  was  a  surprise  to 
the  banks  of  Jerauld  county  as  well  as  to  other  institutions  throughout 
the  country.  But  not  a  failure  occurred.  While  at  Wessington  Springs 
the  banks  paid  but  $25.00  on  any  one  check  in  a  day,  no  cashier's  certi- 
ficates were  issued  by  either  of  the  banks.  At  Alpena  and  Lane  all 
checks  were  paid  in  full  as  presented. 


Chapter  20. 

(1908). 

Of  the  events  of  local  importance  that  occurred  in  different  parts  of 
the  county,  one  was  the  opening  of  a  catechism  school  by  Rev.  Witter, 
of  Lane,  in  the  Shultz  school  house  in  Viola  township. 

On  July  4th  the  German  and  English  Sunday  schools  of  Viola  town- 
ship united  for  a  celebration  at  Clodt's  grove. 

In  Logan  township  the  most  important  events  of  a  public  nature  were 
the  completion  of  the  telephone  line  from  Kimball  to  Glen  which  was 
done  in  July.  The  P.  O.  at  Glen  was  discontinued  and  a  R.  F.  D.  route 
was  established  in  February. 

In  Anina  township  on  July  nth,  Jas.  T.  Ferguson,  treasurer,  paid  off 
the  last  of  the  debt  contracted  in  1884  to  build  the  school  houses. 

On  October  Walter  A.  Hyde  bought  the  Templeton  store  of  G.  M. 
Titus  and  became  postmaster  at  that  office. 


326 


'30 

o 


G 


Q. 


ci. 


O 


3-^7 


328 

In  Marlar  township  C.  F.  Scofield  resigned  as  postmaster  at  Hyde 
postoffice  and  the  office  was  moved  to  the  residence  of  L.  W.  Kreidler 
on  Feb.  21. 

In  the  town  of  Lane  the  building  for  the  Citizens  State  Bank,  on 
West  side  of  Main  street,  was  completed  in  January  and  became  the  home 
of  that  institution. 

On  the  first  day  of  the  same  month  W.  R.  Hubbard  became  part 
owner  and  cashier  of  the  Farmers'  State  Bank. 

On  the  15th  of  January  the  public  school  moved  into  the  new  school 
building. 

Mr.  J.  H.  Mueller,  of  the  firm  of  Mueller  &  Wood  committed  suicide 
on  the  2nd  day  of  January  and  on  the  19th  of  March,  Ira  Stunson  pur- 
chased their  stock  of  goods. 

On  December  3rd,  the  first  church  bell  in  the  town  of  Lane  was  put 
in  position  in  the  Congregational  church. 

At  Alpena  Mason  and  Manzo  Smith  sold  their  stock  of  jewelry  to 
Loren  Laghry,  on  January  ist. 

In  connection  with  the  Presbyterian  church,  a  Y.  P.  S.  C.  E.  was 
organized  on  January  20th. 

A  daily  rural  free  delivery  route  Avas  established  February  ist  run- 
ning south  and  west  with  J.  F.  Baldwin  carrier. 

M.  G.  Shull,  who  had  purchased  in  1906,  the  pool  hall  from  J.  F. 
Spencer,  sold  that  institution  to  Roy  Triplett  during  the  first  week  in 
February. 

A  few  days  later  C.  C.  Rohr  sold  the  Alpena  meat  market  to  F. 
Mann,  of  Iroquois. 

On  March  loth  Dr.  D.  D.  Burns  formed  a  partnership  with  his 
brother,  Dr.  P.  E.  Burns,  and  located  in  Alpena  to  practice  his  profession. 

In  the  Presbyterian  church  Rev.  Williamson  resigned  his  pastorate 
April  5th  and  was  succeeded  by  Rev.  D.  J.  McLeod. 

In  April  a  rural  free  delivery  route  was  established  to  run  northeast 
of  Alpena  with  Edgar  Wales  as  carrier.  He  was  succeeded  in  July  by 
E.  P.  Kelly. 

During  the  night  of  June  i6th  occurred  one  of  the  most  remarkable 
things  in  the  history  of  the  country.  Shortly  after  midnight  there  came 
a  terrific  down  pour  of  rain.  In  the  morning  every  little  pool  that  con- 
tained a  bucketful  of  water  had  in  it  from  one  to  a  dozen  or  more  pickerel 
minnows,  all  about  two  inches  in  length. 

Alpena  had  a  celebration  on  the  3rd  and  4th  of  July  at  which  the 
races  on  the  course  were  excellent. 

An  exceptionally  pleasing  feature  of  the  two-days  of  sport  was  the 
Shetland  pony  race.    The  animals  were  all  owned  in  Alpena.     Five  ponies 


329 


^ 


to 


■^ 

^ 


330 

entered  the  race ;  Topsy,  owned  by  Roy  Millhause ;  Crickett,  owned  by 
LaRne  Manwaring;  Silver  Bell,  owned  by  Mary  Castleman;  Gold  Dust, 
by  Cleo  Castleman ;  Dandy,  by  L.  W.  Castleman.  They  made  the  quarter- 
mile  dash  in  a  bunch.  The  first  heat  was  won  by  Crickett,  Everett  Has- 
kins,  rider;  but  the  little  mare  Topsy,  ridden  by  Orville  Eaton,  was  so 
close  a  second  that  interest  in  the  second  heat  ran  high.  Again  the  bunch 
of  boys  and  girls  and  ponies  came  over  the  course,  all  close  together,  and 
Topsy  won  by  half  a  length.  It  was  evident  by  this  time  that  the  first 
place  lay  between  Topsy  and  Crickett.  In  the  third  heat  the  line  of 
racers  was  more  extended,  but  the  little  mare  and  her  small  competitor 
came  in  neck  and  neck,  each  little  rider  doing  his  best  to  win.  The  most 
frantic  cheering  of  the  whole  celebration  occurred  when  little  Topsy 
passed  under  the  wire  a  neck  ahead.  Gold  Dust  was  ridden  by  Cleo 
Castleman ;  Silver  Bell  by  Mary  Castleman,  and  Dandy  by  Marshall 
Corbin. 

On  November  i8th,  F.  A.  Franzwa  made  an  assignment  for  the  benefit 
of  his  creditors.  All  were  paid  in  full,  the  liabilities  being  about  $14,000 
and  the  assets  $17,000,  besides  his  two  store  buildings,  at  Lane  and  Al- 
pena. 

About  the  first  of  December,  Mrs.  W.  G.  Milliken  purchased  Mrs. 
A'an  Houten's  millinery  stock  and  business. 

In  January,  two  petitions  asking  for  free  rural  mail  routes  from  Wes- 
sington  Springs  were  circulated  one  for  a  route  running  north,  circulated 
by  J.  H.  McVey  and  the  other  circulated  by  Henry  L.  England,  of  Har- 
mony township  for  a  route  running  west. 

At  noon  on  Janitary  22nd,  the  alarm  of  fire  was  given  in  Wessington 
Springs,  for  the  old  Seminary  was  burning.  The  chemical  engine  proved 
worthless  in  that  emergency,  because  of  the  location  of  the  fire,  which 
had  started  in  the  coal  bin  of  the  laundry.  The  building  fell  in  about  an 
hour  after  the  fire  was  discovered.  In  February  enough  money  had  been 
subscribed  to  build  another,  and  far  better,  seminary  and  the  architect's 
plans  accepted.  At  the  same  time  the  same  architect  submitted  plans  for 
the  new  public  school  building  which  was  also  accepted.  The  contracts 
for  both  buildings  were  let  to  the  same  man  and  work  commenced  June 
1 2th.  While  the  new  building  was  being  arranged  for  and  built,  the 
Avork  of  the  seminary  was  carried  on  at  the  court  house.  In  July  the 
building  that  had  been  used  for  the  public  school  was  sold  to  the  seminary 
and  moved  to  the  campus  for  use  as  a  dormitory.  Both  the  new  buildings 
— the  .seminary  and  the  public  school — were  completed  ready  for  use  in 
November. 

The  city  voted  in  January  to  issue  bonds  in  the  sum  of  $23,500  to 
build  a  svstem  of  waterworks  by  utilizing  the  big  spring.   On  Marcli  15th. 


3.^1 


K     Er)icst   J'csscw 


Prof,  and  AJrs.  J.  K.  F  re  eland. 


C^3 


W.  R.  Hubbard. 


Chas.  IV.  Miller. 


Milo  Putiicv. 


Burning  of  the  Seminary. 


The  Ne-a'  Seminary 


332 

a  contract  was  made  with  the  Western  Engineering  Co.,  W.  L.  Bruce, 
engineer,  to  complete  the  work,  as  it  now  exists.  A  deed  to  the  big 
spring  and  the  land  needed  was  obtained  from  the  old  townsite  company 
for  $3000. 

One  of  the  most  important  of  the  many  great  things  done  for  Wes- 
sington  Springs  in  the  year  1908,  was  the  opening  of  the  Oliver  Hotel, 
J.  L.  Coram,  proprietor,  which  occurred  on  February  28th. 

The  hook  and  ladder  trucks  arrived  in  February  the  necessity  for  it 
having  been  demonstrated  by  the  burning  of  the  seminary. 

In  March  arrangements  were  made  with  the  government  weather 
bureau  office  at  Huron  by  which  the  predictions  were  each  day  phoned 
to  the  central  office  at  Wessington  Springs  and  by  it  sent  over  its  vari- 
ous lines. 

On  March  3rd,  President  Roosevelt  nominated  to  the  U.  S.  Senate. 
Fred  A.  Dunham  to  be  postmaster  at  Wessington  Springs.  This  appoint- 
ment was  confirmed  on  May  22nd  and  he  became  postmaster  on  July  ist 
in  place  of  W.  F.  Bancroft,  who  had  resigned.  About  the  same  time  he 
purchased  Mr.  Bancroft's  interest  in  the  Jacobs-Bancroft  building  and 
moved  his  paper,  the  Jerauld  county  Review,  to  the  rear  of  the  room  oc- 
cupied by  the  post  office. 

Henry  Pfaff  re-opened  his  bakery  in  April  in  the  building  west  of 
Dr.  Cooper's  office. 

In  the  same  month  a  Rebekah  lodge  with  44  members  was  established 
at  Wessington  Springs  with  Mrs.  Louise  Gregory,  N.  G. 

About  the  same  time  the  W.  W.  Johnson  Lumber  Co.  sold  its  }'ards 
in  Jerauld  county  to  the  Hayes-Lucas  Lumber  Co. 

It  was  in  April  also  that  Miss  Goldie  Atkins  opened  the  Cozy  Cafe 
in  the  old  Herald  building  on  the  north  side  of  Main  street.  She  sold  the 
business  to  Earl  Hawthorne  in  October. 

On  May  5th  M.  Lawson,  of  Parker,  S.  D.,  rented  Bjorlo's  studio  and 
located  in  Wessington  Springs. 

The  Wessington  Springs  Seminary  on  June  3rd  granted  diplomas  to 
its  graduating  class — A-Iary  L.  Thompson,  Leonard  Y.  Hitchman.  Jennie 
L.  Dolliver,  Gottfrid  Bern  and  Mable  F.  Remster. 

About  the  first  of  September,  James  Greenlee,  from  Coon  Rapids, Iowa, 
bought  an  interest  in  Hermsen's  barber  shop,  located  in  the  old  building 
where  Ford  and  Rich  had  their  "law  and  land  office"  twenty-five  years 
before. 

In  the  same  month,  L.  S.  DuBois  sold  The  True  Republican  to  H.  A. 
Short. 

Dr.  Keene  located  in  Wessington  Springs  to  practice  medicine,  also 
in  September. 


Jerauld  County  Court  House. 


Wessington  Springs  1899. 


334 

In  October  the  firm  of  Dill  &  Reese  purchased  the  Herman  Brod- 
korb  grocery  stock  and  building  and  began  to  do  a  general  bakery  busi- 
ness. Mr.  Brodkorb  retained  his  meat  market  business  until  the  latter 
part  of  December  when  he  sold  it  to  Messrs.  Hutchinson  &  Sleeper,  of 
Lincoln,  Nebraska. 

On  the  1 6th  and  17th,  of  October,  the  Catholic  ladies  of  Wessington 
Springs  and  vicinity  held  a  church  fair  which  produced  a  net  income  of 
over  $500. 

During  many  years  the  contests  in  temperance  oratory  had  been  con- 
tinued. Of  the  young  people  of  Jerauld  county  who  had  won  prizes  in 
local  and  district  contests  Philip  and  Florence  Moulton,  Airs.  W.  F. 
Bancroft  and  Laura  Easton,  all  of  Wessington  Springs,  had  each  .won 
diamond  medals. 

In  the  same  month  occurred  the  first  game  of  foot  ball  ever  played  in 
Wessington  Springs.  The  players  were  the  Woonsocket  high  school 
eleven  and  the  Seminary.  The  result  was  a  victory  for  Woonsocket  15 
to  2,  but  in  December  another  game  was  played  in  which  Woonsocket 
was  defeated  11  to  o. 

In  October  Mrs.  Esmay  purchased  the  millinery  business  of  Mrs.  N. 
B.  England. 

About  the  middle  of  November  the  Wessington  Springs  Hardware 
and  Implement  Company,  a  corporation  was  formed.  It  took  in  the  stock 
of  both  hardware  stores  and  the  stock  of  T.  L.  White  was  moved  across 
the  street  to  the  Zink  &  Farrington  building.  The  president  of  this  com- 
pany was  Joseph  O'Brien  and  the  directors  were  P.  H.  Shultz.  N.  15. 
England,  Wm.  Zink,  J.  H.  Farrington  and  T.  L.  White. 

The  new  brick  school  house  at  Wessington  Springs  w^as  dedicated 
November  20th. 

In  December  Mr.  Bruce  Bruntlett,  of  Kimball,  built  the  Wessington 
Springs  mill  and  about  the  same  time  A.  M.  Rasmussen  opened  a  shoe 
store  in  the  room  vacated  by  the  White  hardware  store. 

In  the  month  of  December  S.  T.  Leeds,  who  had  set  some  traps  b> 
the  lakes  in  Media  township  was  greatly  surprised  to  find  two  jack  snipes 
caught  in  the  traps  he  had  set  for  mink. 

Among  the  matters  of  county  importance  was  the  Free  Methodist 
Sunday  school  convention  held  in  February. 

April  9th  the  county  commissioners  changed  the  places  for  selling 
property  at  chattel  mortgage  sales  to  H.  A.  Butler's  livery  barn  in  Wes- 
sington Springs,  Thompson's  livery  barn  in  Alpena  and  Cunningham  &- 
Clodt's  livery  barn  in  Lane. 

Early  in  the  year  a  petition  was  circulated,  to  which  the  required 
number  of  signatures  were  obtained,  asking  for  an  increase  of  the  num- 


335 


Scco)id  JJ^cssiiii^foii  Sf^rin_s^s  School  House. 


First   Wessington  Springs  School  House. 


336 

ber  of  commissioners  from  three  to  five.  On  the  22nd  of  April  the  board 
called  in  the  county  auditor  and  the  county  judge  and  divided  the  county 
into  five  districts,  as  follows : 

1st  Dist.— Franklin  and  Blaine  townships. 
2nd  Dist. — Alpena,  Dale  and  Chery  townships. 
3rd  Dist. — The  city  of  Wessington  Springs. 
4th  Dist. — Anina,  Viola  and  Wessington  Springs  townships. 
5th  Dist. — The  balance  of  the  county  not  included  in  the  other  four 
districts. 

For  the  extra  commissioners  they  appointed  W.  H.  McMillan  of 
Alpena  for  the  2nd  district  and  Herman  C.  Lyle  of  Anina  township  for 
the  4th  district.  Mr.  McMillan  afterwards  declined  the  position  and 
Ray  Barber,  also  of  Alpena,  was  given  the  office. 

The  county  teachers'  institute  began  August  17th  and  continued  two 
weeks  with  Prof.  Ramer  of  Mitchell  as  conductor. 

The  legislature  of  1907  had  enacted  a  primary  election  law  and  the 
old  time  caucus,  unregulated  by  law,  was  gone  forever.  For  the  first 
time  in  the  history  of  the  state,  all  the  people  had  a  direct  voice  in  the 
nomination  of  candidates.  The  primary,  or  nominating,  election  had 
been  held  in  June  by  the  Republicans  and  the  following  ticket  put  in 
the  field : 

Senator — A.  Williamson  of  Sanborn  county. 

Representative — W.  H.  McMillan. 

Treasurer — L.  F.  Russell. 

Auditor — H.  O.  Refrem. 

Clerk  of  Courts — Jas.  T.  Ferguson. 

Register  of  Deeds- — Chas.  H.  Hyde. 

Attorney — J.  G.  Bradford. 

Sherifif— C.  W.  Miller. 

County  Supt. — John  F.  Wicks. 

Judge — C.  C.  Gleim. 

County  Com.,  ist  Dist. — Geo.  E.  Whitney. 

County  Com.,  2nd  Dist. — Ray  Barber. 

County  Com.,  3rd  Dist. — H.  C.  Lyle. 

On  the  state  ticket  R.  S.  Vessey  was  nominated  for  governor. 

The  Democratic  party  took  no  part  in  the  primary  election,  but 
nominated  the  following  ticket  by  petition: 

Senator — Noah  Keller,  of  Sanborn  county. 
Representative — T.  L.  White. 
Treasurer — G.  W.  Backus. 


ZZ7 


Reservoir  at  the  Big  Spring 


The  Beginning  of  the  Wessington  Sp7'ings  Seminary. 


338 

Auditor — W.  F.  Yegge. 

Register  of  Deeds — S.  E.  Pflaum. 

County  Supt. — Dora  M.  Shull. 

Sheriff — Nels  Petersen. 

Clerk  of  Courts — Geo.  W.  Titus. 

County  Com.,  ist  Dist. — Jos.  Steichen. 

County  Com.,  2nd  Dist. — T.  M.  Thompson. 

County  Com.,  3rd  Dist. — P.  Christensen. 

At  the  election  in  November  1129  votes  were  polled  and  all  the  Re- 
publican candidates  were  elected  except  the  candidates  for  Co.  Supt.  and 
Representative.     Mr.  Vessey  was  elected  governor  of  the  state. 

On  December  4th,  just  prior  to  his  removal  to  Pierre  the  governor- 
elect  was  given  a  splendid  reception  in  the  new  high  school  building  b}' 
the  people  of  the  county. 

In  compiling  this  history  of  the  county,  I  have  not  been  able  to  give 
a  complete  account  of  the  artesian  wells  that  have  been  put  down  in  the 
county,  because  some  of  the  well  drillers  have  kept  no  record  of  their 
work.  Mr.  W.  P.  Shultz,  of  Viola  township  has  furnished  me  with  a 
complete  list  of  the  wells  drilled  by  him  prior  to  January  ist.  1909.  It 
is  as  follows : 

George  Clodt,  Sec.  17,  Viola,  1894,  800  feet  deep. 
P.  H.  Shultz,  Sec.  9,  Viola,  1894,  880  feet  deep. 
Chas.  Walters,  Sec.  15,  Viola,  1895,  830  feet  deep. 
Mr.  Campbell,  .Sec.  6,  Blaine,  1896,  725  feet  deep. 
Carl  Beug,  Sec.  25,  Viola,  1898,  760  feet  deep. 
Earnest  Schmidt,  Sec.  14,  Dale,  1899,  817  feet  deep. 
Wm.  Klein,  Sec.  25,  Chery,  1900,  920  feet  deep. 

Up  to  this  time  Mr.  Shultz  had  worked  with  a  machine  driven  by 
horse  power.     Afterward  the  work  was  done  with  an  engine. 

J.  E.  Shull,  Sec.  2,  Marlar,  1900,  1725  feet  deep.     (No  water). 

K.  S.  Starkey,  Sec.  26.  Wessington  Springs,  1903,  800  feet  deep. 

P.  H.  Shultz,  Sec.  29,  Viola,  1903,  810  feet  deep. 

Frank  Villbrandt,  Sec.  20,  Viola,  1903,  890  feet  deep. 

Wm.  Daleske,  Sec.   14,  Dale.  1903,  816  feet  deep. 

Earnest  Villbrandt,  Sec.  2,  Viola,  1903,  725  feet  deep. 

Ole  Solburg,  Sec.   i,  Viola,  1904.  735  feet  deep. 

Jos.  Steichen,  Sec.  27,  Blaine,  1904,  725  feet  deep. 

K.  S.  Starkey,  in  Wessington  Springs  City,  1904,  1030  feet  deep. 

W.  T.  McConncll,  Sec.  12,  Chery,  1904,  800  feet  deep. 

Larry  A.  Pinard,  Sec.  i,  Chery,  1904.  88  feet  deep. 


339 


Jas.   R.  Daltou. 


J.   B.   Collins. 


'fr^ ■       1 

BHi 

^^^^H 

^'   ^           ">T^    ^^^H 

I0 

V 

Thco.  Dean. 


IV.   P.   Shulz. 


340 

Louis  Hillbrandt,  Sec.  3,  Viola,  1904,  840  feet  deep. 

O.  W.  Morehead,  Sec.  10,  Viola,  1904,  860  feet  deep. 

W.  P.  Shultz,  Sec.  27,  Viola,  1904,  830  feet  deep. 

J.  N.  Smith,  Sec.  17,  Viola,  1904,  840  feet  deep. 

David  Burnison,  Sec.  4,  Franklin,  1904,  740  feet  deep. 

Henry  Kneiriem,  Sec.  8,  Franklin,  1905,  750  feet  deep. 

Paul  Kleppin,  Sec.  32,  Wessington  Springs,  1905,  repair,  1098  ft.  deep. 

H.  F.  Shultz,  Sec.  9,  Viola,  1905,  890  feet  deep. 

Geo.  Clodt,  Sec.  17,  Mola,  1905,  940  feet  deep. 

Aug.  Scheel  estate.  Sec.  31,  Alpena,  1906,  715  feet  deep. 

Adebar  Bros.,  Sec  25,  Dale,  1906,  800  feet  deep. 

Justin  Schmidt,  Sec.  25,  Wessington  Springs,  1906,  725  feet  deep. 

yir.  Friest,  Sec.  5,  Blaine,  1906,  780  feet  deep. 

L.  D.  R.  Kruse,  Sec.  14,  Viola,  1907,  730  feet  deep. 

O.  F.  Kieser,  Sec.  35,  Mola,  1907,  780  feet  deep. 

Max  Wetzel,  Sec.  26,  Viola,  1907.  776  feet  deep. 

O.  W.  Morehead,  Sec.  28,  Wess.  Sprs.  Twp.,  1907,  930  feet  deep. 

B.  F.  Wood,  Sec.  28,  Wess.  Sprs.  Twp.,  1907,  780  feet  deep. 

S.  T.  Smith,  Sec.  18,  Viola,  1907,  930  feet  deep. 


Chapter  21. 

PRAIKIE  FIRES. 

Because  of  the  great  number  of  prairie  fires  that  have  devastated 
Jerauld  county  during  the  past  twenty-five  years  I  have  seen  fit  to  put 
the  record  of  those  events  in  a  chapter  set  apart  to  that  purpose. 

The  following  account  of  a  fire  that  occurred  March  26th,  1885,  is 
taken  from  an  old  copy  of  the  Waterbury  News  then  edited  by  C.  V. 
Martin. 

"The  most  destructive  fire  that  has  swept  the  beautiful  prairies  about 
Waterbury,  occurred  on  Thursday  of  this  week.  About  noon  a  black 
cloud  of  smoke  was  observed  off  to  the  northwest,  being  swept  south  by 
a  perfect  gale  of  wind.  Little  by  little  the  wind  veered  around  more  into 
the  west  and  soon  the  flames  could  be  seen  darting  up  all  over  the  neigh- 
boring hills.  Nearly  every  man  and  boy  in  Waterbury  then  armed  them- 
selves with  wet  blankets  and  other  weapons  to  fight  the  flames  and  struck 
out  into  the  country  to  help  some  of  the  neighbors  who  were  unprotected. 
The  fire  in  the  mean  time  was  going  at  the  rate  of  twenty  miles  an  hour 


341 

down  Crow  Creek  Valley,  licking  up  hay  stacks  and  stables  in  its  path 
as  if  they  had  been  so  much  tinder. 

When  the  fire  reached  Clay  Platner's  old  place  (the  NE  of  Sec.  19), 
Stillman  Moulton  and  brother,  who  had  gone  a  little  beyond,  to  try  to 
save  a  haystack  belonging  to  them,  were  caught  in  the  flames  and  their 
faces,  hands  and  feet  were  fearfully  burned — so  badly  that  the  skin  on 
Still's  face  and  hands  had  fallen  off  in  places,  before  he  reached  town. 
The  boys  suffered  terribly,  but  Dr.  IMiller,  their  physician,  thinks  they 
will  pull  through  all  O.  K.  if  they  are  careful  of  themselves. 

At  Joseph  Ponsford's  place  the  fire  destroyed  his  hay  stable  and  grain, 
but  he  managed  to  save  his  stock,  though  he  was  slightly  burned  in  doing 
so.  On  the  wild  fire  sped  across  the  Crow  Creek  Valley  and  up  to  R.  A. 
Wheeler's  stock  farm,  and  here  the  worst  damage  to  stock  was  done.  The 
stock  yards  had  been  protected  last  fall  by  a  slight  firebreak,  but  owing 
to  the  dryness  of  the  grass  and  the  high  wind,  this  break  w-as  altogether 
insufficient,  although  the  grass  was  small  and  stubby  on  the  knoll  where 
the  yards  were  built.  This  fact  was  realized  by  the  men  about  the  place 
as  soon  as  the  fire  was  seen  coming  and  they  immediately  went  to  en- 
larging the  firebreak,  but  they  had  commenced  too  late,  and  before  they 
had  accomplished  anything,  scarcely,  the  fire  was  upon  them.  It  jumped 
the  break  as  easily  as  if  there  had  been  none  in  the  way,  and  caught  in 
the  yards  and  stables  where  45  head  of  fine  young  cattle  were  penned 
up.  The  poor  creatures  ran  bellowing  into  the  stable  where  in  a  perfect 
pandemonium  of  bellows,  which  their  suffering  elicited,  they  were  burned 
alive. 

The  wagons,  plows  and  other  farming  machinery  belonging  to  the 
farm  were  either  all,  or  in  part,  burned  up.  This  is  a  most  disastrous 
blow  on  the  most  estimable,  but  unlucky,  Wheeler.  Last  winter  his  home 
with  its  contents  was  devoured  by  the  flames,  and  now  a  greater  calamity 
has  befallen  him.  Not  only  is  his  stock  and  machinery  gone,  but  his  wife 
in  her  heroic  endeavor  to  save  their  little  property,  was  dreadfully  burned. 
This  terrible  fortune  can  not  always  follow  and  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Wheeler 
should  not  be  entirely  discouraged,  as  people  of  their  industry  will  soon 
recover,  even  from  their  great  loss. 

The  town  of  Waterbury  was  at  one  time  during  the  day  in  great 
danger,  but  by  the  united  and  energetic  effort  of  the  citizens  it  was  soon 
secure  from  any  danger  of  the  fire." 

A  few  days  later,  April  ist,  during  a  heavy  southwest  wind  a  fire 
started  near  Crow  Lake  and  burned  among  the  hills  to  a  point  near  Turtle 
Peak  northwest  of  Wessington  Springs.  The  wind  then  turned  to  the 
west  and  the  fire  was  blown  down  into  the  valley  until  it  reached  the  line 
between  Chery  and  Dale  townships.    The  wind  then  shifted  into  the  north 


342 

and  drove  the  long  line  of  flames  straight  at  the  town.  There  was  quick 
work  at  the  county  seat  that  afternoon  to  save  the  town  from  destruction. 
A  firebreak  was  made  by  backfiring  along  a  wagon  tract  from  the  resi- 
dence of  Hiram  Blowers  to  Dr.  Mathias'  drug  store,  which  checked  the 
head  fire  and  the  side  fires  were  soon  extinguished. 

In  March  of  the  previous  year  a  fire  in  Dale  township  had  burned  a 
barn  and  two  cows  owned  by  Chas.  Eastman  and  a  barn  each  for  Ed. 
Harmston  and  O.  W.  Richardson. 

In  Viola  township,  on  Sept.  4th,  1884,  Ered  Kieser's  barn  and  about 
40  tons  of  hay  were  burned,  and  on  the  7th  Mr.  Palowski's  wheat  stacks 
were  burned.  ( )n  the  24th  of  the  same  month  a  prairie  fire  swept  over 
the  northwest  part  of  Viola  township  destroying  about  100  hundred  tons 
of  hay  for  Dr.  Nesmith.  On  September  20th  of  the  year  following  fire 
again  visited  Ered  Kieser,  this  time  set  by  a  steam  thresher,  and  burned 
about  75  bushels  of  flax,  a  large  amount  of  hay  and  his  cattle  and  sheej) 
sheds. 

In  Al^Dena  township  a  prairie  fire  in  November,  1883,  burned  over 
sections  9  and  10  in  Alpena  township,  destroying  some  hay.  a.  stable  and 
a  cow  belonging  to  the  Campbell  boys. 

In  the  fall  of  1884  a  shanty  on  E.  T.  Bowen's  claim  in  Anina  town- 
ship was  burned  together  with  about  50  tons  of  hay  ow-ned  by  A.  D. 
Cady  and  a  stack  belonging  to  E.  B.  Orr. 

On  April  24th,  1888,  a  fire,  driven  by  a  strong  south  wind.  swe])t 
across  Chery  township  from  the  north  part  of  Media  and  burned  large 
quantities  of  hay  for  E.  M.  Brown,  M.  S.  Thornton,  M.  E.  Small.  K. 
Blanchard,  L.  E.  Russell  and  Roth  Bros.  On  the  same  day  a  prairie 
fire  in  Eranklin  township  destroyed  a  stable  owned  by  Mr.  Goll. 

In  Crow  township,  in  1886,  J.  A.  Paddock's  house  was  burned  in  a 
prairie  fire  and  the  next  year  his  stables  and  granary  were  destroyed  with 
all  his  seed  corn  and  500  bushels  of  oats. 

There  have  been  innumerable  prairie  fires  of  which  no  record  has 
been  kept,  and  of  which  no  one  has  more  than  a  vague  remembrance,  in 
M'hich  no  damage  was  done,  except  to  destroy  the  grass  and  take  from 
the  ground  the  natural  covering  that  conserved  moisture.  But  the  year 
1889.  probably  witnessed  more  destruction  by  fire,  not  only  in  the  state 
at  large,  but  more  particularly  in  Jerauld  county,  than  in  any  other  year 
in  its  history. 

The  fires  began  raging  in  March.  On  the  22nd  of  that  month  a  fire 
came  from  Hand  county  and  burned  over  a  portion  of  the  north  part 
of  Marlar  township.  Two  days  later  the  residence  of  Sidney  McElwain, 
in  Pleasant  township,  was  destroyed.  The  next  day.  March  25th,  another 
fire  from  Hand  county  swept  through,  west  of  the  central  part  of  Har- 


343 

mony  township  and  also  of  Pleasant  to  the  north  line  of  Crow  Lake 
township. 

On  the  28th  of  March  a  fire  started  on  Section  10  in  Harmony  town- 
ship and  burned  southeast  destroying  all  but  the  houses  for  N.  J-  Dun- 
ham, I.  N.  Rich,  A.  G.  Snyder  and  H.  L.  England. 

The  2nd  day  of  April,  1889,  will  never  be  forgotten  by  any  one  who 
was  in  any  part  of  South  Dakota  on  that  day.  Early  in  the  morning  a 
strong  wind,  accompanied  by  electric  currents,  began  blowing  and  soon 
increased  to  a  furious  gale,  having  a  speed  of  over  80  miles  per  hour. 
There  had  been  but  little  rain  during  the  previous  autumn,  light  snow  in 
the  winter  and  the  spring  rains  had  not  yet  come.     Everything  was  dry. 

In  Hand  county,  near  Ree  Heights,  on  the  NE  quarter  of  section  17 
— 112 — 72  lived  a  man  named  Ingram.  On  the  morning  of  April  2nd, 
1889,  while  standing  near  his  stable  he  lit  his  pipe  and  threw  the  match 
down  on  a  pile  of  dry  manure.,  Mr.  Louis  Kreidler,  now  of  Hyde  P.  O., 
this  county,  saw  the  fire  leap  up  from  the  spot  where  the  match  was 
thrown  and  start  on  its  career  of  destruction.  Directly  in  its  course  lay 
all  of  the  western  half  of  Jerauld  county.  With  a  head  fire  miles  in 
length  it  reached  Marlar  township  about  noon.  It  struck  the  township 
at  the  extreme  northwest  corner  where  Nathan  Mighell  lived  on  the  NW 
quarter  of  section  6.  All  his  buildings  were  destroyed  in  a  few  moments. 
On  the  NE  quarter  of  the  same  section  Kane  Marlar's  buildings  were  all 
burned,  and  the  same  fate  befell  the  residence  of  Arthur  Hudson  on  sec- 
tion 5,  B.  F.  Marlar  on  section  4  and  Frank  Bemis  on  the  SW  quarter  of 
section  3.  So  suddenly  did  the  fire  come  and  so  great  was  its  extent 
that  the  people  had  no  opportunity  to  help  each  other.  As  the  flames 
swept  southward  the  destruction  was  terrible.  The  general  course  was  a 
little  east  of  south  touching  the  east  side  of  the  claims  of  Wm.  Grace  and 
Zachariah  and  John  Groub.  A  few  sections  in  the  southwest  corner  of 
Marlar  township  was  all  the  unburned  prairie  left  for  pasture  in  that 
part  of  the  county.  To, the  eastward  of  the  Grace  farm  J.  M.  Corbin  lost 
his  stables  and  live  stock.  His  house  was  saved  by  Mrs.  Corbin,  who 
carriet  dry  dirt  and  threw  it  upon  each  spark  as  it  caugt  upon  the  roof  and 
sides  of  the  bilding.  Henry  Daniels  lost  his  buildings  and  hay.  Wm. 
and  Frank  Scofield  lost  20  head  of  cattle  and  the  large  barn  on  Wm. 
Scofield's  claim  .  Mark  Scofield.  who  lived  on  section  26,  lost  everything. 
On  section  11  John  Ruan  lost  his  barn,  while  Tillman  Hunt,  on  section  31, 
lost  all  his  buildings.  On  the  same  section  Mrs.  Rosa  Knight  lost  her 
stable.  Fearing  that  the  house  would  also  be  destroyed  she  carried  her 
furniture  out  on  to  the  garden  spot,  but  as  luck  would  have  it,  some 
sparks  caught  in  the  furniture  and  it  was  burned,  while  the  house  was 
saved.     On  section  29  Wm.  McLain  lost  all  but  his  house  and  on  the  next 


344 

section  28,  John  Buchanan  lost  everything.  The  claim  of  Morris  Curtis, 
the  SW  quarter  of  ^^,  was  swept  clear  of  all  buildings,  while  Mr.  Land- 
caster  on  SW  quarter  of  32  lost  all  his  stables  and  hay.  Mr.  Hillman 
lost  his  stables  and  Calvin  Hain  and  Frank  Danburg  lost  all  they  had. 

When  the  flames  left  Marlar  township  only  five  stables  were  standing 
within  its  limits  and  ten  houses  and  been  burned.  The  fire  struck  Crow 
township  just  west  of  the  Martin  ranch,  where  the  stables,  hay  and  grain 
v/ere  lost.  By  this  time  the  fury  of  the  gale  filled  the  air  with  dust, 
smoke,  ashes,  bits  of  grass  and  flying  debris  of  every  description,  to  such 
an  extent  that  the  smoke  could  not  be  distinguished,  except  by  the  smell, 
and  the  flames  could  not  be  seen  at  a  distance  of  one  hundred  yards. 
Shingles,  light  boards  and  wisps  of  hay  carried  fire  though  the  air  and 
lighted  a  fire  far  ahead  of  the  main  conflagration.  A  board  set  fire  to  the 
grass  near  J.  A.  Paddock's  farm  in  Crow  township  after  having  been 
carried  by  the  wind  over  two  miles.  He  lost  two  small  stables.  South  of 
Paddock's  in  Logan  township  lived  J.  A.  Riegal.  He  was  at  one  of  the 
neighbors  in  the  forenoon  when  he  became  alarmed  by  the  smell  of  smoke 
and  hurried  home.  In  a  few  moments  the  fire  was  all  about  the  buildings. 
Mrs.  Riegel  assisted  in  fighting  the  fire  until  all  seemed  lost  when  she 
took  her  little  child  and  ran  to  the  garden  spot  where  she  knelt  and  pro- 
tected the  infant  as  best  she  could  until  the  fearful  holocaust  was  past. 
The  house  was  saved  and  the  animals,  that  had  gathered  on  a  plowed 
field,  were  also  saved.    The  out  buildings  were  all  burned. 

All  that  part  of  Pleasant  township  lying  west  of  the  strip  burned  on 
March  25th,  was  swept  by  the  flames.  In  this  part  of  the  township  lived 
Frank  Smith,  E.  J.  Holdridge,  B.  R.  Shimp,  W.  A.  Dean?  J.  W. 
Barnum  and  others.  The  fire  made  a  clean  sweep  and  left  nothing  except 
the  claim  shanty  of  Miss  Kate  Salter.  The  fire  traversed  nearly  all  of 
the  center  and  west  half  of  Crow  Lake  township,  reaching  the  lake  at  the 
Dusek  farm,  about  1 130  P.  M.  At  the  Sailer  farm  Ed.  and  Bymo  were 
badly  burned  while  trying  to  save  their  property  from  the  flames.  John 
Vanous,  on  section  9  lost  his  barn  and  team.  The  flames  passed  around 
the  lake  and  spread  out  over  a  large  part  of  Aurora  county. 

But  the  fire  did  so  much  damage  in  Marlar,  Crow,  Pleasant  and 
Crow  Lake  townships  was  not  the  only  one  to  rage  in  Jerauld  county  that 
day.  There  were  so  many,  in  fact,  that  it  has  been  impossible  to  trace 
the  origin  of  them  all.  Some  were  started  from  burning  straw  stacks, 
some  by  people  trying  to  burn  around  their  stacks  or  buildings  to 
protect  them  from  an  approaching  fire.  The  latter  was  the  case  with  Mr. 
Pryne,  of  Pleasant  township,  who  tried  to  burn  about  his  hay  stacks  to 
save  them  from  a  fire  he  feared  was  coming.    The  neighbors  extinguished 


345 

the  approaching  flames,  but  the  conflagration  he  started  escaped  from  his 
control  and  destroyed  all  of  his  stacks. 

The  numerous  fires  that  occurred  in  March  served  as  a  warning  to 
the  people  of  Chery  township,  and  Messrs.  Hill,  Horsley,  Shaefer,  Lewis, 
McCullough  and  others,  burned  a  firebreak  along  the  foot  of  the  hills  in 
that  township.  This  enabled  them  to  fight  the  blaze  ofif  from  their  valley 
farms,  but  it  swept  southward  among  the  hills.  In  Media  township 
George  Dean  lost  all  but  his  team  and  threshing  machine  not  even  being 
able  to  save  his  clothing  or  furniture. 

Jas.  T.  Ferguson,  in  Anina  township,  having  his  own  place  reasonably 
well  portected,  brought  his  team  from  the  stable  to  take  a  barrel  of  water 
to  the  assistance  of  some  of  his  neighbors.  While  hitching  the  horses  to 
the  stoneboat  the  wind  picked  it  up  and  hurled  it  with  terrific  force 
against  Ferguson,  cracking  his  skull,  breaking  his  chest  bone  and  one 
rib.  Frank  Voge  lost  everything  but  his  house ;  John  Shultz  lost  a  valu- 
able patch  of  small  fruit ;  George  Kalb  lost  his  machinery  and  stables ;  E. 
J.  Gates  saved  everything  but  his  hay,  but  came  near  losing  his  life ; 
Geo.  Winegarden  lost  his  barn,  stock,  hay,  grain  and  machinery;  E.  H. 
Ford  lost  his  claim  shanty  and  its  contents  and  Chas.  Ferguson  had  his 
cattle,  sheep  and  corral  burned. 

In  Viola  township  the  Houseman  school  house  was  burned ;  Chas.  H. 
Stephens  lost  his  barn  and  all  his  hay.  W.  W.  Goodwin  lost  his  stables 
and  a  number  of  animals,  and  John  Phillips  saved  nothing  but  a  few 
cattle. 

Mr.    Mihawk,   in   Wessington     Springs    township,     had      everj^thing 

burned. 

In  the  northeast  part  of  Franklin  township  the  flames  destroyed  all 
buildings  owned  by  Wm.  Posey  except  his  house,  and  also  his  animals 
and  poultry. 

In  Alpena  township  the  Woodruff  ranch  was  swept  clean  of  all 
buildings;  Fred  Heller  saved  nothing,  but  one  team  and  harness;  R.  J. 
Eastman  lost  his  barn,  hay,  grain  and  some  stock  and  his  father  lost  his 

house. 

The  foregoing  is  but  a  partial  account  of  the  losses  sustained  in  Jer- 
auld county  on  the  2nd  day  of  April,  1889.  The  total  damage  in  the 
county  was  estimated,  at  the  time,  at  $100,000. 

As  in  all  great  calamities,  many  remarkable  things  occulred,  but  only 
a  few  can  be  mentioned  here.  In  Marlar  township,  the  families  of  Till- 
man Hunt  and  some  of  his  neighbors,  being  driven  from  their  homes 
took  refuge  on  a  plowed  field  between  two  ridges  of  high  hills.  The 
flames  jumped  across  the  valley  and  then  drawn  together  came  rushing 
toward  the  narrow  field  from  both  sides.     For  a  moment  the  heat  was 


346 

intense  and  the  people  on  the  field  suffered  greatly,  but  escaped  with  only 
a  few  blisters. 

During  the  years  that  followed  many  fires  were  started  by  people  who 
without  proper  care  attempted  to  burn  fire  breaks  about  their  buildings, 
or  stacks,  and  allowed  it  to  escape.  On  May  8th,  1893,  a  fire  started  in 
that  way  in  the  north  part  of  Anina  township,  burned  south  to  Horse 
Shoe  Lake  destroying  some  buildings  and  a  large  amount  of  hay. 

On  the  23rd  of  April,  1892,  Frank  Weeks,  in  Harmony  township, 
lost  all  his  farming  tools  and  some  of  his  buildings  by  a  fire  that  came 
from  the  south,  W.  C.  Grieve  lost  ten  acres  of  trees  that  were  burned  by 
the  same  fire. 

All  the  grain  and  all  buildings  except  his  house  were  burned  by  a 
Xjrairie  fire,  for  Peter  Klink  in  Viola  township  in  Sept.  1891,  and  on  the 
same  day  Mr.  Kasulka  lost  a  bin,  containing  several  hundred  bushels 
of  grain,  by  the  same  fire. 

On  Aug.  13th,  1895,  during  a  spell  of  dry  weather,  lightning  set  fire 
to  the  prairie  grass  and  much  of  the  west  part  of  Anina  township  was 
swept  by  the  flames. 

More  than  the  usual  number  of  fires  occurred  in  the  year  1898,  about 
the  first  of  which  was  started  a  few  miles  south  of  Wessington  Springs  on 
the  20th  of  March,  and  burned  over  a  great  extent  of  pasture  land. 

Another  fire  came  into  Jerauld  county  on  April  4th,  1898,  at  the 
northwest  corner  of  Chery  township,  and  burned  to  near  Templeton  be- 
fore it  was  extinguished.  A  few  days  later  a  fire  escaped  from  a  burning 
stubble  field  and  burned  over  several  sections  in  Media  township.  But 
little  damage  was  done  by  either  of  these  fires  except  to  the  prairie  grass 
land. 

On  April  3rd,  1898,  a  fire  started  from  the  old  P.  B.  Davis  farm  in 
Chery  township  and  was  driven  by  a  strong  northwest  wind  until  it  had 
destroyed  a  large  quantity  of  hay  belonging  to  Joseph  and  John  Brown. 
On  Sept.  I  St  of  the  same  year  a  fire  started  north-east  of  Templeton  and 
burned  southeast  destroying  hay  for  a  number  of  settlers.  F.  M.  Brown 
and  W.  H.  Coggshall  lost  most  heavily. 

The  year  1899  was  another  season  of  heavy  fire  losses.  About  April 
loth  two  fires  were  started  near  Alpena  by  sparks  being  blown  from 
burning  straw  stacks  to  adjacent  prairie  grass.  In  one  instance  the  stack 
had  been  burning  over  two  weeks.  A  great  quantity  of  hay  was  de- 
stroyed. 

A  fire  started  from  a  burning  straw  stack  in  the  eastern  part  of  Har- 
mony on  April  17th,  burned  with  a  hard  west  wind  to  the  railroad  track 


347 

north  of  Alpena,  destroying  a  large  amount  of  property  on  the  way.  One 
of  the  Chery  township  school  houses  was  destroyed  by  this  fire.  z\aron 
McCloud,  whose  residence  was  directly  in  the  course  of  the  flames  at- 
tempted to  save  his  buildings,  but  the  back  fire  he  started  jumped  past 
him  and  destroyed  everything  he  owned  but  his  land.  The  fire  he  was 
trying  to  guard  against  burned  on  both  sides  of  the  spot  where  his  build- 
ings had  stood.  On  the  same  day  a  fire  in  Franklin  township  again 
burned  the  property  on  the  Wm.  Posey  farm. 

April  28th,  1899.  Another  day  long  to  be  remembered  by  the  people 
of  Logan,  Crow,  Pleasant  and  Crow  Lake  townships.  About  the  middle 
of  the  forenoon  a  dense  cloud  of  smoke  appeared  in  the  south  along  the 
road  toward  Kimball.  Some  one,  too  indolent  to  have  a  due  regard  for 
the  welfare  of  his  neighbors,  had  applied  a  match  to  a  field  of  dried 
weeds  he  had  permitted  to  grow  during  the  previous  season.  A  strong 
south  wind  increased  as  the  fire  advanced.  There  was  not  a  moment's 
pause  at  Smith  Creek  south  of  the  old  town  of  Waterbury.  Here  was 
located  one  of  the  best  bridges  in  the  county.  The  structure  would  have 
been  destroyed  but  for  the  heroic  efforts  of  little  Katie  Main,  who  kept 
the  fire  away.  The  county  board  rewarded  her  with  a  ten  dollar  warrant 
and  a  vote  of  thanks.  The  wind  carried  the  blazing  grass  across  the 
creek  and  straight  toward  the  almost  deserted  village  on  section  21. 
There  was  no  one  in  the  town  but  W.  E.  Waterbury  and  the  mail  carrier 
from  Wessington  Springs.  Waterbury  met  the  fire  in  the  valley  south 
of  the  tO'wnsite  and  succeeded  in  keeping  it  on  the  west  side  of  the  road 
until  it  was  well  past  the  village.  Then  the  unexpected  happened.  The 
wind  which  had  been  blowing  a  gale  suddenly  shifted  into  the  northwest 
and  doubled  its  volocity.  The  blazing  grass  and  refuse  of  the  prairie 
were  hurled  across  the  road  and  again  the  fire  was  racing  straight  at  the 
deserted  buildings,  landmarks  of  a  once  thriving  market  place.  Soon 
but  two  structures  were  left  to  tell  where  the  street  of  the  village  had 
been. 

Being  thus  doubled  back  upon  itself  the  fire  soon  burned  itself  out 
in  Crow  township  except  a  backfire  which  was  soon  subdued. 

When  the  wind  changed  a  black  strip,  about  three  miles  wide,  ex- 
tended from  the  south  line  of  Logan  township  to  near  the  center  of  Crow. 
On  each  side  of  the  blackened  prairie  side  fires  were  burning  and  eating 
into  the  dry,  standing  grass.  Now  the  line  of  fire  on  the  west  became  a 
backfire  working  slowly  against  the  wind.  But  all  that  long  line  on  the 
east  became  a  head  fire.  At  this  time  there  were  less  than  a  thousand 
acres  of  cultivated  land  in  either  of  the  townships  crossed  by  the  fire. 


348 

Neither  in  Logan  or  Crow  township  was  there  as  much  as  a  section  of 
plowed  land,  all  told.  So  there  was  but  small  chance  of  stopping  the  line 
of  head  fire,  now  many  miles  in  length  that  was  rapidly  charging  east- 
ward. At  the  residence  of  Henry  P.  Will,  the  bulk  of  the  property  was 
saved,  but  Mrs.  Will  was  caught  in  the  fiames  and  seriously  injured. 

On  its  way  north  the  fire  had  destroyed  the  Fordham  and  Long  resi- 
dence, in  Logan  township,  and  after  the  wind  changed  the  houses  of 
Meyers,  Pflamn  and  others  in  the  same  township  were  destroyed.  The 
old  Combs  and  Harris  shanty  in  which  Peter  J.  Rhobe  was  killed  by 
Ben.  Solomon  several  years  before,  had  been  moved  to  the  residence  of 
A.  E.  Hanebuth  in  Logan  township,  and,  it  also,  was  burned. 

In  Pleasant  township  a  great  deal  of  property  was  destroyed.  In 
Crow  Lake  township  Geo.  Deindorfer,  who  lived  on  section  lo  lost  all 
his  buildings,  while  on  the  old  Menzer  ranch,  west  of  Crow  Lake  a  man 
named  Russell  saw  his  corral,  sheds  and  iioo  head  of  sheep  destroyed 
by  the  fire. 

In  the  autumn  of  the  same  year  the  residence  of  Earnest  Schmidt  in 
Dale  township  was  destroyed  by  fire.  Two  years  later,  on  April  20th,  a 
fire  started  from  a  straw  stack,  that  for  several  days  had  been  burning 
on  the  NE  quarter  of  section  22  in  Harmony  township,  was  driven  north 
into  Hand  county.  In  this  fire  a  man  named  Hanks,  living  just  over  the 
line,  in  Hand  county,  was  surrounded  by  the  blazing  prairie  and  burned 
to  death.  On  the  same  day  a  fire  started  from  near  the  center  of  Dale 
township  and  burned  north  about  twenty  miles  into  Beadle  county. 

In  1903  a  fire  started  in  the  northwest  part  of  Crow  Lake  township 
and  burned  south  and  east  until  stopped  by  the  township  fireguards  that 
had  been  made  through  the  center  of  the  township. 

In  Dale  township  on  Sept.  9,  1904,  a  fire  destroyed  a  large  quantity 
of  hay  belonging  to  L.  F.  and  A.  Russell  and  a  lot  of  fencing  on  the  old 
Vanderveen  farm.  On  the  27th  of  the  same  month  lightning  started  a  fire 
in  the  same  township  that  destroyed  many  stacks  of  hay  on  the  Firesteel 
bottom. 

On  November  3rd,  1906,  some  section  men,  who  were  burning  of^^ 
the  right  of  way  to  prevent  fires  being  started  by  passing  engines,  allowed 
the  flames  to  get  away  from  them.  About  80  tons  of  hay  were  destroyed 
of  which  fifty  belonged  to  Paul  Kleppin. 

In  November,  1907,  a  prairie  fire  in  the  southern  part  of  Logan  town- 
ship burned  ten  stacks  of  hay  owned  by  H.  P.  Will. 

Last  spring,  (1908),  sparks  from  a  stack  that  had  been  burning  two 
weeks,  in  the  northwestern  part  of  Blaine  township,  were  blown  into  the 
adjoining  prairie  grass  and  started  a  fire  that  did  immense  damage  in 
the  southern  part  of  the  township  and  in  Sanborn  and  Aurora  counties. 


349 


KETKOSPECTIVE. 

When  the  -author  started  out  to  gather  the  material  for  this  history 
he  began  to  learn  to  ride  a  bicycle.  This  search  for  incidents  and  anec- 
dotes brought  up  many  recollections  which  were  set  down  in  a  series  of 
articles  entitled  "Among  Review  Readers,"  which  were  published  from 
week  to  week  in  the  Jerauld  County  Review.  This  chapter  is  composed 
of  extracts  from  those  articles,  which  were  historical  in  character. 

I  left  Wessington  Springs  Monday  afternoon  April  12th,  1908,  and 
led  my  wheel  to  the  top  of  the  grade  west  of  town,  and  then,  for  want 
of  a  track  smooth  and  wide,  I  led  it  on  down  into  Hay  Valley.  There  I 
got  a  chance  to  "spin,"  which  I  did — till  I  was  dizzy — the  wheel  seem- 
ingly being  made  to  roll  toward  town.  I  took  the  wire  caps  off  the  pedals 
and  then  got  on  very  well — leading  the  "bike"  along  the  pike. 

A  heavy  smoke  to  the  southwest  attracted  my  attention  and  I  kept 
on  in  that  direction  until  I  reached  the  corner  of  the  old  McGinnis  place 
and  then  the  smoke  having  subsided,  I  turned  north  to  the  residence 
formerly  occupied  by  Jos.  Rumelhart,  and  got  a  drink  of  splendid  water. 
It  is  now  owned  by  Mr.  Carl  Rott,  who  moved  onto  it  the  first  of  March 
from  Audubon  county,  Iowa.  From  there  I  went  west  to  where  young 
Mr.  Barnes  was  busy  at  work  putting  in  wheat  on  a  farm  his  father  had 
rented  from  Amos  Gotwals. 

I  continued  the  wrestle  with  the  wheel  and  worked  on  west  till  I 
reached  the  beautiful  home  of  Jas.  Rundle.  Here  I  took  another  drink 
of  the  cool,  pure  water  that  one  finds  everywhere  in  this  county.  This 
quarter  section  was  taken  by  M.  D.  Crow  as  a  homestead  in  the  spring 
of  1883.  The  remains  of  his  sod  house  now  constitutes  a  black  mound  in 
a  cultivated  field  at  the  northeast  corner  of  the  farm.  Ray  Holtry  was 
earning  his  wages  from  Mr.  Rundle  in  a  desperate  effort  to  make  a  walk- 
ing plow  scour. 

I  leaned  my  wheel  against  the  fence  and  took  a  walk  into  the  field 
south  of  the  Rundle  farm  to  the  spot  where  Chas.  Kugler  built  his  shanty 
in  the  spring  of  1884.  He  lived  on  that  place  as  his  homestead  till  the 
1 2th  of  January.  1888.    The  next  day  he  and  his  yoke  of  oxen  were  found 


350 

frozen  to  death  near  the  residence  of  James  T.  Ferguson  in  Anina  town- 
ship.    He  was  lost  in  the  great  storm. 

From  the  site  of  the  Kugler  shanty  I  could  see  the  old  house  with  the 
stone  basement,  where  Gil  Albert  assumed  the  judicial  ermine  and  with 
magisterial  dignity  conducted  the  examination  in  the  then  interesting  case 
of  the  Territory  of  Dakota  vs.  Herb  Gailey.  I  appeared  as  attorney  for 
the  prosecution,  and  C.  \'.  Martin  and  E.  C.  Nordyke  for  the  defense. 
Geo.  N.  Price  was  constable.  For  two  days  and  one  night  the  combat 
raged.  This  was  in  April,  1889.  This  case  closed  at  about  8  o'clock  in 
the  evening  of  the  second  day  in  the  midst  of  a  violent  snow  storm.  The 
case  being  closed  and  the  defendant  being  held  to  court,  the  attorneys, 
witnesses  and  prisoner  piled  into  'Mr.  Price's  two-seated  buggy  and 
started  for  the  Springs.  On  the  way  we  met  C.  W.  McDonald  and  E. 
L.  Smith,  wading  though  the  snow  going  to  court  in  obedience  to  a  sub- 
poena issued  by  Justice  Albert  in  the  morning. 

Breaking  away  from  these  reflections  I  came  back  into  the  road. 
seized  the  refractory  wheel  and  set  off  north,  past  the  old  J.  N.  Cross 
place  with  its  reminders  of  early  days.  A  peep  into  the  now  open  cellar 
of  the  old  grout  house  for  which  hopes  of  county  seat  honors  were  once 
entertained,  and  a  pleasant  thought  of  the  days  when  Will  Ingham  and 
J.  E.  McNamara  ran  the  Jerauld  County  News  in  an  office  room  on  the 
.second  floor,  while  the  aged  friend  of  Whittier  and  Longfellow,  Rev. 
John  Cross,  whiled  away  his  time  in  his  library  below.  I  picked  up  the 
wheel  and  wrestled  on  north  till  I  met  Mr.  Leander  Bennett  on  the 
quarter-section  taken  by  E.  L.  DeLine  as  a  homestead  in  1883.  Mr. 
Bennett  has  the  place  rented  for  this  year,  but  will  go  to  Wyoming  as 
soon  as  seeding  is  done  to  visit  his  son  and  look  for  a  farm  on  Uncle 
vSam's  domain. 

At  D.  O.  Eddy's  home  I  stopped  for  the  night,  finding  that  the  wheel, 
as  well  as  myself,  was  somewhat  wobbly.  Dick  has  one  of  the  best  farms 
on  the  westside.  good  building,  plenty  of  horses,  cattle,  and  hogs,  a 
half-section  of  land  and  his  seeding  well  along.  He  and  his  excellent 
wife  have  demonstrated  what  a  young  couple  can  do  by  grit  and  industry 
on  South  Dakota  soil.    The  next  morning  I  went  on  as  far  as  Templeton. 

A  fierce  north  wind  put  out  of  the  question,  the  plan  of  going  in  that 
direction  any  further  Tuesday  evening,  so  I  jumped  on  the  wheel  (two 
or  three  times),  and  went  to  the  home  of  Mr.  M.  E.  Fee,  where  I  had  a. 
really  pleasant  time  in  comparing  twenty  years  ago  in  Dakota  with  the 
same  time  in  Nebraska.  Both  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Fee  had  interesting  exper- 
iences in  the  great  blizzard  of  Jan.  12th,  1888,  which  reached  their  homes 
in  Antelope  county  about  one  o'clock  in  the  afternoon.  Mr.  Fee  was  at 
Necly.  Neb.,  assisting  a  neighbor  to  make  final  proof  on  a  homestead  and 


351 


352 

was  held  by  the  storm  until  the  13th.  Mrs.  Fee,  then  a  school  girl,  was 
attending  a  school  taught  by  Miss  Fee,  now  Mrs.  Ray  of  this  township, 
about  a  half  mile  from  Elgin,  Neb.  She  made  her  way  home,  about  a 
mile,  through  the  storm,  but  will  never  forget  the  experience. 

Wednesday  noon  I  jumped  on  the  wheel  again  and  walked  to  the  old 
Jimmy  Hoar  place  where  he  settled  in  the  spring  of  1883.  He  had  moved 
there  from  Earlville,  111.,  and  built  the  house  that  now  stands  on  the 
farm.  Here  his  wife  died,  his  daughter  was  married,  and  his  son  died. 
Uncle  Jimmy  then  went  to  California  to  live  with  his  daughther,  Mrs. 
G.  S.  Eddy,  where  he  still  makes  his  home. 

I  then  wrestled  with  the  wheel  to  the  old  J.  M.  Hanson  place,  at  the 
head  of  Long  Lake.  This  is  where  Mr.  Hanson  settled  as  a  homesteader 
in  1883,  abandoning  his  occupation  as  a  sailor  on  the  Great  Lakes  to  be- 
come a  Dakota  farmer.    He  lived  here  until  he  died,  about  1898. 

Literally  working  my  way  along  with  the  wheel,  I  passed  the  well 
known  residence  of  Allan  G.  Snyder,  who  could  not  repress  a  few  pointed 
jokes  at  the  combination  of  myself  and  the  wheel.  He  enjoyed  this  all 
the  more  because  of  a  prolonged  wrestle  I  had  with  the  machine  just  be- 
fore I  arrived  at  his  house.  I  rode  and  led  the  wheel,  by  turns,  until  I 
had  passed  around  the  south  end  of  the  lake  and  reached  the  home  of 
H.  L.  England,  where  I  received  a  hearty  welcome  and  gladly  accepted 
his  invitation  to  stay  the  night.  Mr.  England's  comfortable  home,  a  view 
of  which  appeared  in  this  journal  a  few  month  ago,  needs  no  description. 
Suffice  it  to  say  that  sitting  in  his  well  furnished  rooms  made  pleasanter 
the  reminiscences  of  the  old  times  when  things  were  different. 

Thursday  morning  I  rode  as  far  as  T.  D.  William's  bachelor  residence 
on  Sec.  13  and  got  the  use  of  his  phone  to  tell  the  "Review"  office  who 
were  new  subscribers.  For  twenty-five  years  Mr.  Williams  has  lived  on 
this  land,  raising  grain  and  cattle,  independent  and  happy,  monarch  of 
all  he  surveyed.  He  has  the  best  marked  herd  of  Herefords  in  the 
county,  numbering  102  head,  all  his  own  raising. 

The  next  place  I  visited  was  L.  G.  McLoud's,  who,  working  alone, 
can,  year  after  year,  put  in  as  much  crop  and  get  as  big  a  yield  as  any 
other  man  in  the  county  who  gets  along  without  other  help.  He  was 
almost  done  putting  in  130  acres  of  small  grain  and  will  soon  commence 
plowing  for  corn.  For  fourteen  years  Mr.  McL.  has  farmed  this  place 
and  never  had  a  bad  crop. 

A  few  steps  further  and  we  found  Will  Davis  pushing  the  work  on 
the  old  Louis  Nordyke  homestead,  the  SW  of  17.  Mr.  Davis  is  living 
on  the  John  Gilbert  farm,  the  NE  of  17,  where  that  pioneer  lived  for 
twenty-four  years  the  lonely  life  of  a  bachelor,  but  by  hard   work  ac- 


353  ' 

cumulated  a  competence.  In  far  away  Oregon  he  now  resides  with  his 
brother,  H.  T.  Gilbert. 

Down  in  the  valley  to  the  south  half  of  18,  I  went  and  found  Scott 
Starrett  and  his  son-in-law,  Earl  Tripp,  living  on  the  quarter  section  that 
during  the  hard  times  of  years  ago  was  the  abiding  place  of  G.  W.  Titus, 
who  is  now  a  retired  farmer  at  the  county  seat.  Another  order  for  the 
paper  and  I  wrestled  on  against  wind  and  wheel  till  I  reached  the  cosy 
domicil  of  that  prince  of  good  fellows,  Lyman  Butterfield.  Old  times, 
jokes  and  politics,  all  in  jolly  good-nature,  till  eleven  o'clock  and  then  I 
went  to  sleep  to  dream  of  continuous  wrestling,  catch-as-catch-can,  with 
ii  bicycle. 

Friday  morning,  bidding  adieu  to  Lyman  and  his  good  wife,  I  climbed 
to  the  top  of  the  hill  and  then  getting  a  "hip-lock"  on  that  "infernal"  ma- 
chine I  mastered  it  and  in  the  still  morning  air  and  over  the  smooth 
roads  I  had  a  delightful  ride.  In  a  few  minutes  I  passed  the  former 
home  of  B.  S.  Butterfield  where  the  old  veteran  and  his  aged  companion 
celebrated  their  golden  wedding  a  few  years  ago. 

At  Schuberts  hill,  three  miles  west  of  town  named  from  a  German 
farmer,  father  of  Oscar  Schubert,  who  had  a  homestead  there  several 
years  ago.  I  turned  northwest  and  past  the  Dr.  Mathias  tree  claim.  Will 
Spears  and  Myron  Pratts  80  acre  homesteads,  Conway  Thompson's  pre- 
emption, homestead  and  tree  claim ;  past  Harl  Stowell's  old  homestead, 
where  John  Brown  now  raises  mighty  good  crops  every  year ;  past  Geo. 
Pratts  quarter  where  he  had  a  claim  many  years  ago ;  then  by  Doc  Harris 
mile-long  homestead  filed  in  1883,  and  so  on,  memory  stirred  by  the  things 
a  quarter  of  a  century  old.  I  found  INIr.  P.  A.  Thompson,  who  has  rented 
the  O.  O.  England  ranch,  in  Harmony.  He  was  hurrying  to  get  his  50 
acres  of  small  grain  sown  before  the  rain  came,  so  as  to  be  ready  to  com- 
mence breaking  50  acres  of  sod  for  flax.  This  land  was  taken  by  O.  O. 
and  C.  W.  England  when  there  was  not  another  ranch  between  James 
River  and  Fort  Thompson.  They  brought  a  thousand  head  of  sheep  with 
them  and  made  shelter  for  their  flock  by  stripping  up  the  sod  from  the 
prairie  and  building  sheds  covered  with  hay.  A  rough  claim  shanty  com- 
pleted the  pioneering  outfit.  Here  they  continued  the  sheep  and  cattle 
industry  until  from  the  profits  of  the  business  a  fine  farm  house  and  good 
sheep  and  cattle  barns  were  erected  on  what  is  known  as  one  of  the  best 
farms  in  the  county.  O.  O.  England,  now  a  county  commissioner,  lives 
in  Wessington  Springs  while  uncle  Charley  enjoys  continuous  summer  in 
California. 

After  taking  i\Ir.  Thompson's  subscription  I  rolled  on  north  past  the 
house  built  by  John  Murphy,  of  Amboy,  111.,  in  the  summer  1883.  He 
came  to  this  county  with  J.  R.  Eddy  and  located  his  homestead  here. 


354 

Wednesday  noon  I  took  dinner  with  Joe  Hunt,  who  Hves  on  the  old 
Fizenmeier  claim  in  the  northwest  corner  of  Harmony  township.  The 
house  in  which  the  old  German  lived  is  gone,  but  a  new  and  commodious 
house  stands  on  the  hill,  near  by.  Another  old  building,  now  used  as  a 
granary  stands  near  the  site  of  the  old  claim  shant)^,  and  was  made  by 
moving  the  house  from  the  Orcutt  farm  over  the  way  to  'which  an  addi- 
tion was  built. 

In  my  trip  about  the  township  I  was  surprised  to  find  that  only  two 
of  the  settlers  who  located  here  in  1883,  are  still  residing  in  the  town- 
ship— T.  D.  Williams  and  A.  G.  Snyder.  Of  the  others,  some  have  re- 
tired from  farming  and  live  at  the  county  seat  and  some  have  left  the 
state. 

After  dinner^  April  22nd,  I  left  Joe  Hunt's  and  crossing  the  road 
entered  Marlar  township  at  the  farm  of  Edward  Tiede,  located  in  section 
one.  Two  new  barns  and  a  granary  have  been  added  to  the  improvements 
since  Mr.  Tiede  came  on  here  in  the  fall  of  1906.  This  season  he  will 
have  90  acres  of  old  ground  in  small-grain,  besides  all  the  breaking  he 
can  do.  Part  of  this  farm  was  entered  as  a  homestead  by  Al.  Seizer  in 
1883,  and  later  was  all  included  in  the  Shull  ranch.  The  balance  of  the 
Shull  ranch  is  now  owned  by  Gustave  Tiede,  brother  of  Edward,  and 
Wm.  Tiede  father  of  both.  New  buildings,  new  fences,  new  breaking, 
and  excellent  farming  are  features  of  their  work.  Gustave's  new  house, 
a  two-story  structure  newly  plainted  outside  and  finished  inside  with  hard 
oil,  is  certainly  a  beautiful  home.  In  1883  this  was  Hub  Emery's  home- 
stead. 

South  of  Wm.  Tiede's  is  the  new  640-acre  farm  of  Jacob  Hasz.  Every- 
thing shows  the  marks  of  industry  and  good  farming.  A  fine  grove  pro- 
tects the  farm  buildings  from  the  cold  of  winter  and  heat  of  siunmer. 
This  grove  was  set  out  by  Mr.  Bemis  on  his  tree  claim  in  the  8o's. 

About  the  middle  of  the  afternoon  I  reached  the  home  of  J.  M.  Cor- 
bin.  ]Mr.  Corbin  has  for  many  years  been  a  teacher  among  the  Indians  on 
the  western  reservations,  but  has  retained  his  residence  in  Marlar  town- 
ship. The  boys,  Cass,  Marion  and  Sidney,  with  their  sisters,  made  my 
visit  a  very  enjoyable  one.  My  last  visit  to  this  family  was  in  1884, 
twenty-four  years  ago.  At  that  time  they  were  new  comers,  and  like 
nearly  all  others,  were  experiencing  the  discomforts  of  pioneering.  Then 
they  lived  in  a  "dug-out,"  of  which  only  the  spot  now  remains.  On  this 
visit  we  entered  a  large  well  furnished  house  and  about  supper  time  were 
joined  by  Mr.  Verry  of  the  AVillard  hotel,  and  Mrs.  Louis  Mead,  also  of 
Wessington  Springs.  During  the  evening  J  listened  to  some  really  excel- 
lent music ;  Mrs.  Dickinson,  the  oldest  sister,  at  the  piano,  her  inisband 
Mr.  Dickinson,  last  year  in  the  Springs  ball  nine,  playing  the  guitar,  and 


355 

Mr.  Mead  pla3-ing  on  the  violin.  All  the  instruments  are  high  priced  and 
the  players  evinced  a  skill  hard  to  excell.  The  entertainment  was  closed 
by  a  few  pieces  with  Marion  at  the  piano  and  Mrs.  Dickinson  playing  the 
violin.  But  few  times  in  my  life  have  I  heard  better  music.  Verily, 
twenty-five  3''ears  in  Dakota,  though  twenty-five  miles  from  a  railroad,  have 
wrought  wonders. 

I  then  started  on  my  return  to  Wessington  Springs,  and  passed  the 
old  home  of  Uncle  Billy  Orr,  who  was  for  many  years  the  representative 
of  that  township  at  the  republican  county  conventions,  and  for  a  while 
the  only  republican  voter  there.  He  was  proud  of  the  fact  that  he  had 
not  "scratched"  a  ticket  in  thirty  years. 

After  my  return  from  Marlar  township  I  went  to  Franklin. 

On  the  NW  quarter,  17 — 107—63,  Mr.  T.  Chandler,  who  came  here 
from  near  Woodward  in  Boone  county,  Iowa,  in  the  spring  of  1906,  has 
built  a  fine  new  house  and  barn,  and  has  a  comfortable  home.  This  is 
part  of  the  land  patented  to  Will  Houmes  by  President  Harrison  nearly 
twenty  years  ago. 

On  another  one  of  the  old  Houmes  quarters,  the  SE  of  8,  in  In-ank- 
lin  township,  lives  Paul  Kleppin  and  his  wife,  formerly  Tillie  Brodkorb 
of  the  Springs.  They  have  a  good  new  house  and  barn  and  their  pros- 
pects are  good. 

The  old  Zink  farm  in  north  Franklin  was  purchased  by  Mr.  Hoff- 
man who  came  from  Wisconsin,  in  1897.  New  buildings  have  been  built 
for  all  farm  purposes  and  he  now  has  valuable  property.  A  half-mile 
further  north  L  P.  Ray  settled  a  quarter  of  a  century  ago  and  lived  on 
his  land  until  he  was  offered  $10  per  acre  and  then  sold  and  went  to 
Kansas.  The  same  land  is  now  owned  by  Mr.  Hoolihan  and  would  be 
called  cheap  at  $45. 

Good  improvements  of  every  description  are  on  the  farm  of  Jacob 
Mees,  the  NE  of  5.  He  moved  on  this  place  April  4th.  1885,  paying 
$1000  for  a  relinquishment.  Last  summer  he  refused  an  offer  of  $55  per 
acre.  While  I  was  chatting  with  him  he  was  setting  out  a  large  straw- 
berry bed. 

Across  the  line  and  I  was  in  Alpena  township  at  thel  old  Gorman  tree 
claim  which  is  still  owned  by  the  man  who  "took"  it  from  the  goverr.- 
ment.     At  the  south  west  corner  of  this  quarter  is  Fairview  cemetery. 

I  have  often  thought  that  the  history  of  a  community  might  be  very 
well  written  in  its  cemetery.  I  leaned  the  wheel  against  the  iron  gate  and 
spent  a  half  hour  among  these  memories  of  the  past.  The  spot  is  beauti- 
fully located  and  well  kept. 


356 

On  variously  colored  head  stones  I  read  the  following  inscriptions  of 
long  ago: 

"Jennie  N.  Harmon,  wife  of  Z.  T.  Harmon."     Beside  the  mother,  in 
a  thicket  of  rose  bushes  were  two  little  graves  each  marked  "Our  Baby." 
"James  Otis   Gray"'   is   another   name   of  the   early  times.      He   died 
Nov.  I  St,  1888.     He  was  one  of  the  first  magistrates  of  the  county. 

Another  stone  brings  thoughts  of  the  fatherland  across  the  sea.  It 
reads  as  follows : 

"SOPHIA  SELZ, 

Geb 

July  28,  1837. 

Gest 
Feb'y  24,  1907. 
Christus  ist  mein  leben  und  ster  ben  mein  gev/inn  ich  habe  lust  abzushei- 
den  und  bei  Christ  zu  sein." 

The  name  of  August  Scheel  calls  to  mind  a  sad  accident  on  the  19th 
day  of  ]^Iay  fourteen  years  ago. 

A  plain  stone,  bearing  the  inscription,  "A.  L.  Eager,  Co.  B.,  3rd  Wis. 
Inf.,"  nothing  more,  is  rich  ^\ith  thoughts  of  other  scenes  and  other  days. 
The  story  of  that  regiment  is  all  the  encomium,  desired  by  the  simple  sol- 
dier, who  rests  here,  alone,  far  from  the  comrades  who  marched  with  him 
in  the  campaigns  of  the  army  of  the  Patomac. 

Many  are  here  of  more  recent  burial,  but  space  is  limited  and  I  must 
go  on. 

C)n  the  S  half  of  32 — 108 — 63,  I  met  William  Brandenburg,  one  of 
the  earliest  settlers  of  the  county,  who  has  a  magnificent  farm,  and  ha? 
found  that  Dakota,  as  territory  and  state,  has  been  a  good  country  in 
which  to  live.  His  son,  Fred,  living  a  short  distance  further  north  was 
the  second  child  born  in  the  township;  the  first  being,  J\Iiss  Scheel,  now 
the  wife  of  William  Ahart. 

In  Alpena  the  changes  have  been  so  many,  that  I  cannot  mention  all. 

Of  those  who  spent  the  winter  of  1883  in  the  village  of  Alpena,  W. 
AV.  Hillis,  the  druggist,  alone  remains.  He  has  prospered  in  the  years 
that  have  silvered  his  hair.  He  always  has  a  good  word  for  the  town  in 
which  he  lives.  For  24  years  the  drug  store  has  been  in  the  same  build- 
ing, and  during  23  years  of  that  time  ^^^illis  has  been  behind  the  cour.ter, 
either  as  clerk  or  proprietor. 

Of  the  rest,  many  are  gone  out  of  the  knowledge  of  those  who  kucw 
them  here.  W.  H.  Arne,  upon  whose  pre-emption  claim  the  town  is 
located,  is  living  at  Cottage  Grove,  Oregon,  where  his  son-in-law,  T^-ank 
Phillips,  also  resides. 


.V:>7 


s 
e 

i 


o 

d 


35« 

Jeff  Hillis,  the  last  of  the  '83  settlers  to  leave  Alpena,  now  lives  at 
Hillsdale,  Oregon,  a  neighbor  of  Andrew  IMercer,  an  early  settler  of  Dale 
and  who  proposed  the  name  adopted  by  that  township,  in  1884. 

Ray  Barber,  at  different  times,  hotel  keeper,  hardware  merchant  and 
liveryman,  is  now  devoting  his  time  exclusively  to  real  estate,  and  the 
care  of  the  several  farms  he  owns  in  this  vicinty. 

An  issue  of  the  Jerauld  County  Journal,  under  date  of  February  22nd, 
1884.  published  by  Loomis  &  Davis  was  loaned  to  me  by  Air.  J.  D.  Cham- 
berlain. From  it  I  quote  the  following  items  that  were  of  interest  to  the 
pioneers  of  that  day: 

'"Linn  commences  that  livery  and  feed  stable  next  week,  we  under- 
stand." 

"Frank  Wheelihan  proves  up  on  his  dirt  next  week.  No  more  visits 
to  the  claim  for  him." 

Among  the  list  of  final  proof  notices  I  found  the  names  of  John  Dukes 
and  Sgt.  John  McKown.  whose  names  I  saw  yesterday  on  the  headstones 
in  the  cemetery.  Other  names  in  the  list  were  George  Whealen,  Fred 
Busse,  John  E.  Cook  and  Henry  C.  Neumeyer. 

The  issue  of  April  9,  1897,  of  the  paper,  the  name  of  which  had  now 
been  changed  to  "The  Alpena  Journal,"  contains  the  following  interesting 
notes : 

"A  vote  of  thanks  is  due  L.  N.  Loomis  for  walking  to  Woonsocket 
last  Friday  and  returning  on  Saturday  with  the  mail  pouches." 

"The  Dakota  Sieve,  of  this  county,  came  out  last  week  printed  on  the 
official  blank  ballots,  the  'insides'  not  having  arrived,  on  account  of 
wash-outs." 

The  livery  business  that  has  been  run  by  numerous  owners  since  the 
days  in  1884  when  Wallace  Linn  hired  broncho's,  broken  and  unbroken, 
to  traveling  customers,  is  now  controlled  by  Thompson  Bros,  who  own 
as  fine  a  livery  property  as  the  state  aft'ords. 

The  NW  of  7 — 108 — 63  and  the  NE  of  12 — 108 — 64.  is  a  half  section 
upon  which  Pat  McDonald,  for  several  years  sheriff  of  Jerauld  county, 
kept  a  bachelor  establishment  in  the  '80s  and  early  '90s. 

The  SW  of  6  was  for  many  years  the  homestead  and  residence  of  J. 
H.  Alay,  a  judge  of  the  probate  court,  and  for  several  years  county  and 
township  justice.  The  farm  is  now  the  property  of  Fred  Brandd,  but 
is  being  cultivated  by  Rob't  Richey,  who  is  also  tilling  the  NW  of  7. 

I  had  reached  the  west  line  of  the  township  and,  leading  the  wheel 
through  the  prairie  grass,  along  a  "blind  trail,"  I  bent  my  steps  toward 
the  home  of  Mr.  H.  C.  Newmeyer,  a  grand  army  veteran,  where  I  hoped 
to  get  the  records  of  W.  H.  L.  Wallace  Post.  The  indications  of  rain 
were  strong  but  the  wheel  and  T  kept  up  our  usual  speed,  when  walkiTig. 


359 

To  ride  the  bike  up  and  down  the  steep  hills  and  gullies  that  cross  the 
township  line,  and  through  the  heavy  grass,  was  impossible.  Just  as  the 
big  drops  began  to  fall  I  arrived  at  the  door  of  the  hospitable  Pennsyl- 
vanian,  and  then  for  several  hours  watched  one  of  the  heaviest  rainstorms 
I  ever  saw.  While  the  rain  was  falling  I  obtained  from  the  G.  A.  R. 
records  the  extracts  that  I  wanted,  and  then  spent  a  very  pleasant  even- 
ing with  Mr.  Newmeyer  and  his  son. 

The  SW  of  i8 — io8 — 63  and  the  NE  of  13 — 108 — 64,  has  been  for 
nine  years  the  home  of  Geo.  Reinhart.  He  has  90  acres  in  to  crop,  and 
was  hurrying  the  breaking  plow  to  get  more  land  on  the  NE  of  13  under 
cultivation.  On  this  quarter-section  Jesse  Beadell  and  his  grandmother, 
Mrs.  Phillips,  spent  the  night  of  Jan.  12th,  1888,  under  an  overturned 
sled.  The  next  morning  the  lad  started  for  assistance,  but  did  not  go  far 
before  he  succumbed  to  the  intense  cold.  Relatives,  a  little  later,  found 
his  lifeless  body,  and  rescued  the  old  lady  badly  chilled. 

Prank  Phillips  lived  for  several  years  on  the  north  half  of  19 — 108 — ■ 
6^,  and  secured  title  to  it  from  the  United  States.  The  NW  quarter  of 
this  section  is  now  owned  by  Dr.  Shull,  of  Alpena,  who  also  owns  the 
SE  of  13  in  Dale  township.  From  the  Phillips  quarter  the  buildings  have 
been  removed,  but  good  ones  stand  on  the  quarter  across  the  road  where 
the  Doctor  has  made  his  improvements. 

The  other  Phillips  quarter,  and  the  south  half  of  the  section,  together 
with  a  fine  quarter  in  section  24,  of  Dale,  is  now  owned  and  occupied  by 
H.  A.  Munson,  formerly  of  LaFayette  Co.,  Wis.  His  farm  extends  across 
Sand  Creek,  affording  running  water  in  his  pasture,  while  a  strong  arte- 
sian well  furnishes  the  same  for  the  farm  yards. 

The  north  half  of  Pat  Conlon's  old  homestead,  the  SE  of  18,  and  the 
north  half  of  Jim  Conlon's  homestead,  which  was  a  mile  long  on  the  west 
side  of  17  and  also  the  homesteads  of  Hugh  and  Mike  Moran,  comprising 
all  of  the  north  half  of  18,  are  now  owned  by  Albert  Krueger,  who  came 
bere  from  Buft'alo  county  and  b}'  energy  and  economy  has  built  up  a 
splendid  home.     He  has  in  175  acres  of  crop. 

On  the  20th  day  of  May  I  got  back  to  Wessington  Springs,  having 
led  the  bike  all  the  way  from  Lane  in  the  face  of  a  strong  west  wind. 
But  I  reached  the  "hub  of  the  universe"  at  last  and  stopped  for  a  moment 
in  front  of  the  First  National  Bank,  and  my  weariness  brought  to  my 
mind  one  day  twenty-five  years  ago  when  footsore,  tired  and  hungry  I 
stopped  at  that  same  spot  in  front  of  Tarbell's  hotel.  Then  I  had  walked 
from  H.  D.  Fisher's  claim  in  Franklin-  township,  in  October  snow  and 
mud.  Then  the  twenty  feet  of  board  floor  to  the  hotel  porch  was  the 
only  piece  of  sidewalk  in  the  town.  The  hotel  was  owned  and  run  by  L. 
H.  Tarbell  and  T-  H.  Woodburn. 


36o 

East  of  the  hotel  was  the  building  that  now  stands  on  the  west  side 
of  T.  L.  White's  hardware  store,  but  then  only  reaching  back  to  the  win- 
dow. In  that  building  Morse  &  La  Pont  lived  and  kept  a  hardware  store. 
In  the  building  where  Mr.  White  now  stores  machinery,  east  of  Alden 
Cutler's  law  office,  Silas  Kinny  kept  a  general  store,  using  the  back  part 
for  a  residence. 

Opposite  Kinny 's  store  and  a  little  east,  stood  Stevens  Bros.'  general 
store,  a  one  and  one-half  story  building,  the  upper  story  being  occupied 
for  living  rooms.  West  of  this  stood  the  building  now  occupied  by  Henry 
Hermsen  for  a  barber  shop.  Over  its  door  was  nailed  a  sign  which  read. 
"Ford  &  Rich,  Law  and  Land  Office,"  painted  by  J.  H.  Kugler. 

Still  further  west,  in  the  room  now  used  by  S.  T.  Leeds  for  his  Cozy 
Cafe,  was  the  printing  office  of  McDonald  and  Bateman  in  which  was 
published  the  Wessington  Springs  Herald,  the  first  Jerauld  county  news- 
paper. 

On  the  ground  where  Ausman  &  Wallace  now  have  their  real  estate 
office,  stood  the  law  and  land  office  of  Drake  &  Magee.  The  little  build- 
ing in  which  the  pioneer  firm  did  business  now  stands  in  the  rear  of  the 
present  office,  which  was  built  by  Mr.  Drake  in  1885. 

On  the  south  side  of  the  street,  on  the  now  vacant  lot  adjoining  Shull's 
drug  store  on  the  east,  stood  the  law  and  land  office  of  Dunn  &  Hackett. 

On  the  lot  now  occupied  by  the  west  side  of  Shull's  drug  store,  stood 
Bender's  drug  store  managed  by  Chas.  P.  Taylor. 

On  the  lots  now  owned  by  Geo.  N.  Price,  south  of  the  city  hall,  stood 
the  livery,  feed  and  sale  stable  owned  and  operated  by  Bert  Orr,  now  of 
Pleasant  township.  Near  where  the  hotel  Oliver  now  stands  was  a 
school  house  built  by  private  subscription. 

A  blacksmith  shop  owned  and  run  by  J.  H.  \\'oodburn,  had  l^een 
erected  on  the  ground  now  occupied  by  F.  M.  Brown's  livery  barn. 

One  more  building,  what  is  now  the  old  Carlton  House,  then  known 
as  the  Applegate  building,  and  in  which  the  True  Republican  was  started 
in  November,  1883,  by  W.  S.  Ingham  and  myself,  completed  what  con- 
stituted the  business  district  of  Wessington  Springs. 

The  residences  of  Rob't  Bateman,  C.  W.  McDonald,  R.  M.  Magee. 
A.  B.  Smart  and  H.  Blowers  were  the  homes  of  the  city  aside  from  the 
business  houses.  Of  these  oldtimers,  McDonald,  Smart,  A\'oodburn  and 
Orr  alone,  remain  in  the  county. 

That  was  Wessington  Springs  the  first  time  I  saw  it.  The  origin. 
growth  and  development  of  the  town  will  be  much  more  fully  given  in 
the  history  of  the  county. 


3f)i 

Of  the  men  who  were  m  business  in  Wessington  Springs  in  October, 
1883,  except  as  before  mentioned,  the  following  is  the  record  as  nearly  as 
I  can  ascertain : 

L.  H.  Tarbell  and  Agustine  La  Pont  are  dead. 

J.  D.  Morse  is  at  Boulder,  Colo. 

C.  H.  Stevens  is  at  Athens,  Penn. 

H.  C.  Stevens  is  in  Colorado. 

Silas  Kinny  moved  from  Jerauld  county  to  Sioux  City. 

Thos.  Drake  moved  from  here  to  Faulkton,  then  to  Redfield,  next  to 
Pierre  and  last  to  Seattle,  Wash.  His  partner,  R.  M.  Magee,  is  at 
Chadron,  Neb. 

Wm.  Bateman  is  in  the  government  printing  office  in  Washington, 
D.  C. 

Chas.  P.  Taylor  is  in  Minneapolis. 

Jas.  T.  Ford  is  living  in  Los  Angeles,  California. 

L  N.  Rich  is  in  general  merchandise  business  at  Hubbard,  Iowa. 

Thos.  Dunn  is  said  to  be  at  San  Francisco  and  Collins  E.  Hackett  is 
at  Friday  Harbor,  Wash. 

Rob't  Bateman  is  in  the  pension  department  at  Washington,  D.  C. 

W.  S.  Ingham  is  running  a  newspaper  in  Butte  county,  S.  D. 

Hiram  Blowers  died  of  tuberculosis  somewhere  in  Minnesota. 

On  June  27th  I  started  north  from  Wessington  Springs  along  the 
line  between  Dale  and  Chery  townships. 

Out  of  the  center  of  the  north  half  of  thirty-one  Maj.  Wallace  took 
his  pre-emption  claim.  He  made  a  tree-claim  out  of  the  center  of  the 
south  half  of  30,  leaving  a  strip  a  mile  long  and  eighty  rods  wide  extend- 
ing along  the  town  line  from  the  west  quarter-corner  of  31  to  the  cor- 
responding corner  of  30.  This  strip  was  afterwards  taken  by  a  widow 
named  Mrs.  Baker. 

The  east  half  of  the  NE  31,  with  the  west  half  of  the  NW  32  was 
homesteaded  by  C.  D.  Brown,  who  was  the  first  man  to  bring  a  family 
into  Dale  township. 

The  east  half  of  the  SE  30  was  thus  left  as  an  isolated  80,  and  upon 
this  E.  Taylor,  a  son  of  W.  F.  Taylor,  filed  a  declaratory  statement. 

All  of  section  30  is  now  owned  by  Mr.  W.  F.  Harding,  but  is  occupied 
by  Mr.  J.  Barber,  who  came  from  Henry  county,  Illinois,  and  rented  the 
farm  the  first  of  March,  this  year.  Fie  and  his  two  nephews  ha^-e  in  300 
acres  of  crop  that  bid  fair  to  reward  them  well  for  their  labors. 

The  north  half  of  30,  a  quarter  of  a  century  ago,  was  the  home  of 
Dr.  E.  L.  Turner  and  his  father.  The  doctor  had  the  NE  quarter  and 
the  old  gentleman  the  northwest.  E.  L.  Turner  was  an  excellent  physician, 
good  hearted,  kind  and  faithful.     Reticent  by  nature,  he  shrank  from  the 


362 

prying  of  the  curious  and,  when  not  ministering  to  the  wants  of  his 
patients,  would  sit  for  hours  brooding  over  the  wrongs  that  had  ruined 
his  family  and  his  life. 

North  of  the  Turner  land  is  the  SW  of  19  where  Will  Eagle  had  a 
tree  claim  when  the  settlements  were  new.  On  this  quarter,  in  1889, 
ended  an  event  which  has  never  been  told.  A  young  fellow  had  been 
arrested  on  a  far-fetched  charge  of  house  breaking.  The  case  was  com- 
menced before  C.  W.  Hill,  at  that  time  a  justice  of  the  peace  of  Chery 
township.  A  change  of  the  place  of  trial  was  taken  and  the  case  went 
before  Squire  Van  Voorhis,  of  the  same  township.  A  contest  over  a 
technicality  in  the  complaint  resulted  in  a  dismissal  of  the  action.  He 
Avas  immediately  rearrested,  on  the  same  charge,  on  a  warrant  issued  by 
G.  R.  Bateman,  a  magistrate  of  Wessington  Springs.  The  district  attor- 
ney. A.  Converse,  had  now  taken  hold  of  the  case.  Again  the  quibling 
over  the  papers  resulted  in  the  discharge  of  the  prisoner,  who  was  allowed 
liis  liberty  while  the  district  attorney  made  a  new  complaint.  A  new  war- 
want  was  issued  and  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  sheriff.  The  attorneys 
and  justice  remained  in  the  court"  room  while  waiting  for  the  officer  to 
bring  in  the  defendant.  The  minutes  dragged  on  into  hours  and  supper 
time  approached.  J.  R.  Francis  entered  the  room  from  his  office  and 
after  looking  about  for  a  minute,  remarked,  "What  are  you  fellows  wait- 
ing for?"  "We're  waiting  for  the  prisoner,"  replied  the  justice.  "Well," 
said  Francis,  "I  saw  him  about  two  hours  ago,  with  his  coat  over  his 
shoulder  making  good  time  toward  the  hills.  You  fellows  might  as  well 
go  home."  "It's  a  trick,"  said  the  district  attorney,  "but  I'll  have  that 
fellow  'bound  up'  to  court  if  I  have  to  follow  him  to  Kingdom  Come." 
A  few  minutes  later  the  boy's  father  and  attorney  were  in  a  lumber  wagon 
driving  north  along  the  road  at  the  foot  of  the  hills.  A  short  distance 
north  of  the  Wallace  gulch  the  boy  ran  down  from  the  hills  and  climbed 
into  the  wagon.  The  team  was  then  turned  east  for  Alpena.  W'hen  they 
reached  the  SW  19  they  saw  a  single  rig  approaching  from  the  south, 
and  so  close  that  it  was  impossible  to  escape,  if  the  rig  contained  any 
one  interested  in  knowing  who  was  in  the  wagon.  The  boy  leaped  out 
and,  running  a  few  yards,  threw  himself  clown  in  the  short  grass,  where 
be  ke])t  his  head  bobbing  up  and  down  to  see  who  was  coming  and 
whether  he  was  discovered.  Sure  enough,  the  buggy  contained  the 
sheriff,  who  drove  up  to  the  wagon,  stopped  a  few  moments,  remarked 
about  the  crops,  thought  maybe  it  would  rain,  though  it  was  one  of  the 
dry  years  of  early  days,  and  then  drove  ofif,  passing  within  ten  feet  of  the 
bobbing  head  without  once  looking  toward  it.  The  boy,  terribly  frighten- 
ed, climbed  to  his  seat  in  the  wagon  and  silently  rode  away  into  the  night. 
He  has  never  been  .seen  in  the  countv  since. 


36.3 


^^^B;''';)Vr''^'' 

VH 

Mt«^|H 

^  ..-^^B 

w^-f  •*  Cm 

L'JJH 

H.  A.  Short. 


Dr.  M.    JV.  Ncsmith. 


M.  A.  Shaii'. 


Frank  ami   Will  Eagle.  Mrs.  M.  A.  Slum 


364 

Across  the  road,  west,  in  Chery  township,  on  the  SE  of  24,  now  owned 
by  F.  Spears,  Will  Eagle  had  a  pre-emption  claim  in  1884 — 85.  He 
bought  a  relinquishment  of  Ole  Nelson,  a  Norwegian. 

Three  cottonwood  trees  grew  for  years  near  where  the  claim  shant}" 

stood.     One  of  the  trees  has  died  and  fallen.     The  heat  was  intense  when 

* 

I  reached  this  point  and  I  thought  to  sit  on  the  trunk  of  the  dead  tree, 
in  the  shade  of  the  live  ones,  and  write  up  the  notes  of  the  road  thus  far. 
The  only  things  left  on  this  quarter  to  mark  the  early  habitation,  are  the 
trees,  the  rank  grass,  a  few  stones  with  which  an  attempt  had  been  made 
to  dam  the  little  run,  in  which  water  sometimes  flowed,  and  the  mos- 
quitoes, of  prodigious  size,  full  grown  I  think,  probably  the  same  that 
drove  the  hardy  Norseman  to  sell  his  claim.  I  postponed  the  note  writing 
and  moved  on. 

A  short  distance  further  north  I  saw  an  argument,  big  as  a  load  of 
hay,  in  favor  of  better  roads.  It  was  left  there  by  Ed.  Dwyer,  who  lives 
on  the  W.  T.  McConnell  farm  in  Dale,  which  comprises  all  of  section 
seven.  About  two  miles  of  the  best  improved  highway  is  needed  on  the 
township  line  across  the  Firesteel  bottomi. 

The  north  half  of  19  in  Dale  was  taken  by  L.  F.  Russell,  present 
county  treasurer,  and  his  father,  Lawrence  Russell,  as  pre-emption  claims. 

The  SE  19  was  the  homestead  of  Marc.  Thomas,  a  young  man  well 
known  to  all  the  early  settlers  of  the  township.    He  now  lives  in  Missouri. 

After  passing  Ed.  Dwyer's  load  of  hay,  I  led  the  wheel  north  over 
the  partially  dried  road,  past  the  SW  18  where  Hale  Cleveland  had  his 
quarter  of  government  land,  and  also  past  the  NW  of  the  same  section. 
where  W.  H.  Robeson,  from  Davenport,  Iowa,  "held  down''  a  home- 
stead claim. 

At  the  Tracy  school  house,  which  stands  on  the  southwest  corner  of 
section  8,  I  stopped  and  entered.  The  doors  were  unlocked  and  the  room 
looked  as  though  a  town  meeting  had  been  recently  held  there.  The 
building  is  in  fair  condition,  considering  its  age,  24  years,  but  the  founda- 
tion needs  attention.  '  Good  firebreaks  surround  it  and  but  little  trouble 
would  be  experienced  in  protecting  the  house  from  prairie  fires. 

From  there  I  walked  south,  most  of  the  time  in  Eagle's  pasture,  in 
17,  because  of  the  moist  condition  of  the  road.  When  almost  at  the  next 
section  line,  I  came  to  the  Firesteel  Creek,  which  had  "tumbled  out  of 
bed,"  and  lay  spread  out  considerably.  No  bridge  or  turnpike,  there  was 
nothing  to  do  but  turn  back  to  the  school  house.  All  of  section  17  is 
owned  by  B.  F.  Eagle,  who  has  it  fenced  in  for  pasture  and  it  makes  a 
good  one,  plenty  of  grass  and  watered  by  two  artesian  wells  located  on 
adjoining  land. 


3C^5 

The  SW  of  8,  was  the  residence  of  Jake  Rosenthal  and  his  wife,  a 
couple  who  20  years  ago  were  well  known  in  Jerauld,  Sanborn  and  Beadle 
counties. 

Turning  east  along  the  south  line  of  section  8,  I  soon  reached  another 
stream,  which  George  Washington  could  have  jumped  before  he  became 
president.  But  I  am  not  a  George  Washington,  and  besides  he  couldn't 
have  done  it  with  a  bicycle.  Across  the  little  stream,  on  the  SE  of  8  is 
the  substantial  home  of  John  Scott.  I  saw-  Mr.  S.  north  of  a  good  sized 
hog  pasture  plowing  corn.  I  lifted  the  bike  over  the  fence,  passed  over 
the  creek  on  a  stone  crossing,  swung  the  wheel  over  another  fence  and 
got  from  Air.  Scott  the  story  of  his  farm.  But  he  informed  me  that  the 
bridge  was  gone  from  where  the  creek  crossed  the  road  on  the  east  side 
of  17,  and  that  my  surest  way  to  get  south  was  to  go  back  through  the 
hog  pasture  to  the  road,  get  over  the  fence  into  Eagle's  pasture  again, 
and  strike  the  east  line  of  17  south  of  the  stream.  I  did  so  but  had  to 
spend  considerable  time  in  repeatedly  driving  off  the  herd  of  cattle  in  the 
pasture.  The  wheel  aroused  their  curiosity  and  they  seemed  determined 
TO  examine  it  too  closely. 

It  was  in  this  same  pasture  that  Peter  Wieland  had  trouble,  in  1885, 
with  a  large  bunch  of  curious  cattle.  Peter  was  driving  a  one  horse 
wagon  with  a  cow  tied  behind  it.  The  cattle  surrounded  him,  overturned 
the  wagon,  threw  down  and  trampled  on  the  horse  and  the  cow,  while 
Peter  himself  had  to  run  to  escape  serious  injury. 

My  troubles  in  getting  on  reminded  me  of  the  difficulties  of  some 
other  men  on  that  road  a  number  of  years  ago,  in  which  animal  curiosity 
cut  cjuite  a  figure.     But  thereby  hangs  a.  tale.     See  winter  of  1896-7. 

On  Monday  morning,  July  27th,  I  brought  out  the  bike,  inflated  the 
wheels,  and  then  finding  that  the  wind  was  in  the  north  I  turned  the  ma- 
chine toward  Viola  township. 

My  first  stop  was  at  the  residence  of  Nathan  Shuey  who  lives  on  the 
quarter  where  John  Grant  made  his  homestead  entry.  May  14th,  1881, 
the  SE  of  19,  of  Wessington  Springs  township.  At  the  time  of  making 
his  entry  on  the  SE  of  19,  Mr.  Grant  also  filed  a  tree  claim  entry  on  the 
NE  quarter  of  the  same  section.  Here  he  lived,  making  the  place  famous 
for  its  orchard  of  splendid  fruit  and  many  improvements,  including  a 
good  well,  fine  grove  and  delightful  shade.  The  farm  now  includes  the 
AI.  C.  Ayers  quarter,  which  stretches  a  quarter  of  a- mile  in  width,  along 
the  north  line  of  section  30. 

Across  the  way,  east,  lies  the  S.  W.  of  20.  Here  John  R.  I'>ancis 
filed  his  soldiers  declaratory  and  made  proof  for  it  as  his  homestead. 
Prior  to  making  his  home  on  this  land  he  had  lived  at  Sheldon,  Iowa. 
W'hen  his  six  months,  allowed  by  law,  for  establishing  his  residence,  had 


366 

nearly  expired  he  came  to  the  territory  again,  and  for  a  few  days  re- 
mained at  Plankinton,  waiting  for  a  chance  to  ride  out  with  some  settler, 
to  his  claim.  On  the  day  that  his  six  months  would  expire  Ed.  Williams, 
a  friend  and  neighbor,  drove  to  Plankinton  and  brought  Francis  home. 
In  some  way,  before  he  arrived  at  his  claim,  upon  which  no  buildings  had 
yet  been  erected  he  learned  that  some  strangers  had  planned  to  go  to  the 
Mitchell  land  office  the  next  morning  and  institute  a  contest  against  his 
entry.  As  soon  as  he  arrived  at  his  claim  he  went  to  John  and  Newell 
Grant,  who  were  then  living  together  on  Newell's  claim  the  NW  of  19, 
and  told  them  of  his  danger.  It  was  late  at  night  and  the  country  covered 
with  snow.  But  the  Grants  are  not  men  to  stop  at  untried  obstacles  when 
a  friend  needs  help.  No  sooner  was  the  story  told  than  the  three  men 
set  to  work.  A  small  shanty  owned  by  the  Grants,  was  placed  on  timbers 
and  drawn  over  the  section  line  and  placed,  as  the  required  improvement, 
on  Francis'  land.  A  stove  and  pipe  were  furnished,  fuel  provided,  and  on 
the  next  morning  when  the  strangers  arose  to  prepare  for  their  trip,  the 
old  soldier  had  so  black  a  smoke  rolling  out  of  the  shanty  that  the  whole 
13th  N.  Y.  Heav)^  might  have  been  there,  and  there  could  be  no  doubt 
about  a  residence  having  been  established.  The  claim  was  saved.  A  few 
willows  planted  by  Francis  along  the  highway  are  now  large  trees,  but 
their  verdue  is  no  greener  than  his  memory  among  the  people  with  whom 
he  lived  for  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century.  He  later  sold  his  land  to 
John  McDonald  now  of  Alpena. 

The  Francis  quarter  was  purchased  in  1898  by  Mr.  C.  P.  Christenson, 
who  has  built  upon  it  a  fine  home  and  has  added  to  it,  in  one  good  farm, 
the  SE  of  20,  held  in  the  early  days  by  J.  W.  Wright  and  also  purchased 
by  H.  Bloodgood.  Mr.  Christenson  has  also  purchased  the  NW  of  20. 
once  owned  by  Rev.  J.  G.  Campbell  as  a  timber  claim. 

John  A.  McCarter  who  was  here  before  other  people  came  had  a  pre- 
emption and  homestead  on  the  west  half  of  29,  while  James,  one  of  the 
boys,  had  a  homestead  on  the  SW  of  30.  These  early  settlers  went  out 
in  the  hegira  that  occurred  during  the  "years  of  hard  times.'"  Their  old- 
time  holdings  are  now  the  property  of  others. 

Carl  Kleppin,  Sr.,  has  800  acres  which  includes  the  McCarter  SW  of 
29  and  the  north  half  and  south  east  quarter  of  31  and  SW  of  28.  Of 
this  land  the  north  half  of  32  was  once  the  home  of  Jas.  Houseman  now 
in  the  Balck  Hills  country.  The  SE  of  2)2  '^vas  a  pre-emption  owned  by 
G.  A.  Groves. 

The  SW  of  32  which  is  now  owned  by  Paul  Kleppin,  of  near  Lane, 
was  in  1883  the  homestead  of  W.  W.  Goodwin,  who  was  one  of  those 
who  came  to  this  township  first,  and  stayed.  Here  was  located  old  Sul- 
livan post  office,  where  Mr.  Goodwin  was  the  postmaster.     All  the  Klep- 


36/ 

pin  land  is  now  in  charge  of  two  of  the  young  men,  George  and  Henry;, 
who  are  cultivating  this  year  450  acres. 

Across  the  way  to  the  west  lie  two  quarters  upon  which  are  no  build- 
ings, the  NE  of  31,  a  pre-emption  taken  by  Ed  Lowe  and  the  south  east 
quarter  of  the  same  section  taken  as  a  pre-emption  by  C.  A.  Groves.  At 
the  NE  corner  of  6,  I  crossed  the  line  into  Viola  township  a  country  fair 
indeed,  and  I  was  literally  "among  Review  readers." 

I  entered  Viola  township  one  mile  east  of  its  west  line  and  the  same 
distance  from  the  hill  tops  over  which  the  town  line  runs.  Because  of  the 
roughness  of  the  country,  the  highway  between  Viola  and  Anina  is  trav- 
eled but  little,  and  in  some  places  is  practically  abandoned.  On  this  slope, 
lying  at  the  foot  of  the  hills,  is  some  of  the  richest  soil  in  the  state. 

On  the  west  side  of  the  road,  and  including  the  northeast  quarter  of 
6,  and  also  the  east  half  of  the  west  half  of  the  same  section,  is  the  new 
residence  of  J.  P.  Eberhard,  a  man  who  started  in  life  as  a  pioneer.  He 
lived  38  years  on  his  father's  homestead,  entered  in  1868,  in  Plymouth 
county,  Iowa.  Two  years  ago  he  left  the  old  home  and,  with  his  smalL 
family  settled  here.  He  has  a  good  new  house  and  other  improvements, 
which,  with  his  75  acres  of  excellent  crop  makes  him  feel  that  he  made 
no  mistake  in  coming  to  the  foot  of  the  hills. 

Twenty  six  years  ago  Miss  Emma  Cady  taught  the  first  school  ever 
taught  in  this  township.  It  was  a  subscription  school  and  held  in  the 
basement  of  the  dwelling  house  built  by  Rev.  .Wm.  Paganheart,  a  kind 
hearted  German  minister,  who  held  as  pre-emption  and  homestead,  all  of 
the  east  half  of  section  6.  The  teacher,  the  minister  and  the  house  have 
all  diseappeared  from  Jerauld  county.  Her  brother,  RoUa  Cady,  was  also 
a  printer,  on  the  Wessington  Springs  Herald,  in  the  old  days  but  is  now 
living  in  Fargo,  N.  D.,  a  conductor  on  the  Great  Northern  Railway.  But 
I  am  letting  my  pencil  wander  a  long  way  from  Viola  township. 

On  the  old  Voge  farm  across  the  way,  the  NW  of  5,  Will  Annis  lives. 
He  came  to  the  territory  in  1884  and  settled  in  Crow  Lake  township.  He 
lived  there  eleven  years  and  then  moved  to  the  Dr.  Nesmith  farm,  the 
NE  of  7,  in  this  township.  Then  for  a  few  years  he  occupied  the  Kalb 
farm,  among  the  hills  on  the  west  line  of  6.  By  hard  work  and  close 
economy  he  was  enabled,  in  1905,  to  purchase  the  farm  upon  which  he 
now  resides. 

The  next  quarter  upon  this  side  of  the  road,  the  SVV  of  5,  with  the 
quarter  opposite,  the  SE  of  6,  constitute  the  farm  of  E.  E.  Nesmith  and 
his  wife.  In  1883  he  settled  on  the  SE  of  5,  taking  it  as  a  homestead.  He 
sold  that  and  bought  his  present  location  in  1887.  Late  in  the  fall  of  that 
year  he  began  preparations  for  building  a  new  house.  At  odd  spells, 
when  the  weather  would  permit,  he  worked  at  the  building.     In  the  fore- 


368 

part  of  January,  1888,  the  house  was  inclosed,  except  the  windows  and 
he  began  the  work  of  finishing.  On  the  morning  of  January  12th  he  got 
Henry  Stephens  to  assist  him  in  putting  on  the  casings.  The  weather  was 
mild,  with  the  wind  in  the  southeast.  They  were  making  good  progress 
when,  suddenly,  about  ten  o'clock,  the  wind  changed  to  the  northwest 
and  the  room  was  instantly  filled  with  snow,  fine  as  flour.  A  dense  fog, 
struck  by  a  cold  wave  and  frozen  in  its  minutest  particles  was  being  driven 
by  a  whirling,  furious  northwest  wind.  The  great  blizzard  was  on.  With 
much  difficulty  they  boarded  up  the  openings  and  finally  shut  out  the 
storm.  But  it  was  dangerous  work,  getting  fuel  from  the  straw  pile  a 
few  rods  distant.  All  day  the  two  men  listened  to  the  howling  of  the 
storm.  Sunset  came  and  darkness  added  to  their  unpleasant  situation. 
Getting  fuel,  which  had  been  hazardous  in  the  day-time,  was  doubly 
dangerous  in  the  night.  About  midnight,  tiring  of  the  frequent  trips, 
necessary  to  keep  the  stove  going,  Elmer  declared  his  intention  of  going 
to  the  school  house,  .then,  as  now,  located  at  the  southeast  corner  of  the 
SE  of  6,  and  about  90  rods  south  of  the  house  they  were  building.  Henry 
was  opposed  to  the  attempt,  but  Elmer,  who  had  successfully  made  all 
the  trips  to  the  straw  pile,  felt  confident  of  being  successful  in  the  greater 
undertaking,  and  telling  his  companion  to  go  or  stay,  as  he  pleased,  set 
out.  Henry  followed  close  at  his  heels  and  together  they  reached  the 
school  house  in  safety.  A  fire  was  soon  roaring  in  the  coal  stove.  After 
getting  warm  and  rested,  Elmer  determined  to  try  to  reach  his  father's 
house,  80  rods  west  of  the  school  house,  but  Henry  refused  to  venture 
further  and  putting  more  coal  in  the  stove,  settled  down  to  wait  for  day- 
light. Nesmith,  however,  buttoned  his  coat  a  little  tighter,  tied  up  his 
ears  a  little  closer,  and  made  the  dangerous  try — how  dangerous  he  did 
not  fully  realize  imtil  several  days  later,  when  the  death  list  came  in.  He 
succeeded,  but  he  would  not  try  it  now.  The  grit  that  enabled  him  to 
face  the  blizzard,  brought  him,  and  his  no  less  gritty  wife,  through  the 
years  of  hard  times  and  discouragement  that  followed.  Today  they  have 
a  comfortable  home,  with  a  large  herd,  good  crops  and  many  indications 
of  prosperity. 

My  next  stopping  place  was  the  farm  of  S.  T.  Smith,  who  has  480 
acres  of  excellent  land  in  section  18.  He  moved  on  to  this  farm  in  March 
a  year  ago,  having  purchased  it  of  John  Grant.  On  this  farm  is  a  fine 
spring  and  I  think  one  of  the  best  artesian  wells  in  the  state.  The  water 
is  cold  and  free  from  the  peculiar  taste  characterstic  of  the  water  in  most 
deep  wells.  A  fifteen  acre  field  of  sod  corn,  planted  on  the  loth  day  of 
June  was  in  tassel  at  the  time  of  my  visit,  the  27th  day  of  July.  Other 
crops  were  doing  equally  well.  Mr.  Smith  has  had  varied  experience  in 
Dakota.     His  first  venture  was  in  Beadle  countv  where  he  lost  over  a 


369 

hundred  head  of  cattle  in  the  great  bHzzard  of  1888.  He  went  into  the 
>heep  raising  business  in  Anina  township  in  1897,  at  one  time  having  over 
3000  head.  A  few  years  ago  he  returned  to  his  home  in  Winnebago 
county,  III,  but  became  convinced  that  the  northwest  afforded  better  op- 
portunities for  the  man  with  limited  means,  and  came  back  again  and 
purchased  the  home  where  he  now  lives.  Upon  this  quarter  section  and 
on  almost  the  same  spot  where  the  buildings  now  stand,  John  Phillips, 
who  took  it  for  his  homestead,  had  his  house  and  stable.  On  the  2nd 
day  of  April,  1889,  a  tornado  of  fire  swept  over  this  tract,  destroying  every 
vestige  of  improvements  that  Phillips  had  built. 

At  the  old  home  of  T.  K.  Ford,  I  stopped  again.  This  old  pioneer 
residence  is  rich  with  interesting  memories  of  the  beginning  of  a  county. 
It  was  the  meeting  place  for  discussion  of  all  matters  of  local  importance. 
On  it  the  first  religious  services  of  the  township  were  held,  conducted  by 
Rev.  Jordan.  Once  started  the  services  were  continued  during  the  months 
to  come,  before  the  school  house,  built  in  1884,  afforded  a  more  com- 
modious place.  The  early  settlers  listened  here  to  the  earnest  teachings 
of  Revs.  Vessey,  Daniels,  Paganhart,  Jordan  and  Smith.  Here  the  first 
Sunday  school  was  organized.  The  hardy  old  pioneer  has  done  his  work 
and  in  gone.  The  world  is  surely  better  for  his  having  lived  in  it.  But 
two  of  his  children  are  now  residing  in  this  county,  a  daughter  Mrs.  E. 
E.  Nesmith  and  a  son,  Mr.  J.  A.  Ford.  The  latter  is  living  in  the  his- 
toric house,  wdiile  waiting  for  the  completion  of  his  new  house,  on  the 
NE  of  18,  at  one  time  held  as  a  tree  claim  by  a  lady  named  Prior.  Mr. 
Ford  is  clerk  of  the  civil  township,  and  he  and  his  wife  being  both  among 
the  earliest  of  the  early  settlers,  I  was  enabled  to  get  from  them  a  fund 
of  information  concerning  the  early  times  in  that  part  of  the  county. 

At  the  NE  corner  of  19  stands  the  Ford  school  house.  It  w^as  properly 
named,  though  it  had  no  formal  christening.  The  SE  of  18  was  owned 
by  T.  K.  Ford,  the  SW  of  17  by  J.  A.  Ford;  the  NW  of  20  by  T.  K. 
Ford;  the  SW  of  20  by  Mary  Ford  and  the  NE  of  19  is  now  the  property 
of  J.  A.  Ford. 

Twentv-five  years  ago  J.  M.  Simpson  had  a  homestead  entry  on  the 
NW  of  19.  This  quarter  is  now  owned  by  Edward  Curl,  who  came  here 
from  Manilla,  Iowa,  three  years  ago  and  set  to  work  to  open  up  a  new 
farm,  for  Simpson  had  done  but  little  in  the  matter  of  making  improve- 
ments. Mr.  Curl  has  broken  up  and  put  to  crop  about  60  acres  on  his 
own  farm  and  also  put  out  100  acres  on  rented  land.  His  crops  are  good 
and  his  prospects  encouraging.  On  the  quarter  north,  the  SW  18,  at 
the  southwest  corner  is  located  Union  cemetery,  owned  by  people  of 
A^iola  and  Anina  townships.     In  the  beginning  12  lots  were  set  apart  as 


370 

a  potter's  field.    They  are  all  vacant  yet.    The  plan  of  this  cemetery  was 
drawn  by  J.  A.  Tyner.     The  surveying  was  done  by  T.  L.  Blank. 

J.  A.  Tyner  was  one  of  the  early  settlers  in  the  west  part  of  Viola 
township.  He  was  prominent  in  all  affairs  of  the  township  and  was  at 
one  time  a  candidate  on  the  republican  ticket  for  the  position  of  sheriff'. 
Like  all  candidates  on  the  G.  O.  P.  ticket  for  that  office  in  this  county. 
in  the  past,  he  didn't  "get  there.''  His  farm  was  the  one  upon  which  Al- 
bert Ankrum  has  been  living  during  the  last  five  years,  the  NE  of  30. 
Mr.  Ankrum  came  from  Woodbury  county,  Iowa,  and  is  well  pleased  with 
his  investment.  He  has  been  paying  considerable  attention  to  Duroc 
Jerseys  with  ver}'  satisfactory  results.  In  1889  this  farm  was  occupied 
by  S.  T.  Smith.  On  the  2nd  of  April,  of  that  year,  it,  like  all  others  in 
that  vicinity,  was  swept  by  the  fire  that  made  that  day  one  to  be  remem- 
bered. Smith  saved  his  buildings  and  the  most  of  his  animals.  One 
cow,  with  a  small  calf,  was  out  on  the  prairie,  and  was  supposed  to  be 
lost.  On  the  morning  of  the  3rd  of  April  Mr.  Smith  was  looking  about 
the  farm  when  he  saw  the  cow  coming  towards  the  buildings.  All  her 
hair  was  singed  off  and  she  was  badly  burned.  At  a  distance  he  saw  the 
calf.  It  was  well  and  sound  as  any  calf,  and  had  not  been  schorched  in 
the  least.  It  was  one  of  the  things  unaccountable  that  happen  in  all  great 
catastrophies.     It  was  interesting  only  from  its  strangeness. 

On  what  was  known  in  the  early  days  as  the  Will  Dixon  farm,  the 
NW  of  30,  Mr.  S.  H.  LeValley,  Jr.,  has  as  fine  a  crop  prospect  as  will 
often  be  found.  He  came  here  with  his  father,  S.  H.  LeA'alley,  Sr..  who 
lives  across  the  way,  on  the  old  Christ.  Johnson  place,  the  SW  of  19. 
in  the  fall  of  1906.  At  the  time  of  my  call  at  the  residence  of  Mr.  Le- 
Valley, Sr.,  the  household  was  busy  preparing  for  the  wedding  reception 
to  be  given  that  evening  to  their  son  and  his  bride,  in  honor  of  their  mar- 
riage, an  account  of  which  appeared  in  the  columns  of  "The  Review"  at 
the  time  of  the  occurrence.  Friends  were  to  be  there  from  Viola  and 
Anina  townships,  as  well  as  from  a  distance,  for  the  young  man  had 
brought  home  one  of  the  most  popular  girls  in  Hawkeye  A'alley.  I  made 
my  visit  short  as  possible — only  long  enough,  in  fact,  to  ask  a  few  ques- 
tions, from  which  I  learned,  among  other  things,  that  this  family  came 
from  Walforth  county.  Wis.,  and  are  pleased  beyond  their  expectations 
with  their  South  Dakota  home. 

On  the  SE  of  32  I  found  J.  M.  Dougan  "keeping  bach  in  a  splendid 
'hair  "  on  a  fine  farm  of  960  acres.  It  incluacv.  the  NE  of  33,  once  owned 
by  Eliza  Ellison,  the  C.  E.  Walker  farm,  the  SW  of  33.  and  the  NW  of 
the  same  section,  formerly,  for  a  short  time,  the  home  of  Louis  Desteiger, 
and  a  half  section  in  the  county  across  the  line.  Mr.  Dougan  was  born 
in  Mason  City,  Iowa,  and  never  spent  a  day  on  a  farm  until  he  came  here 


37i 

eight  yearsago  and  purchased  this  tract.  He  has  stayed  right  on  this  farm 
ever  since.  In  that  time  his  riches  have  increased  rapidly.  Last  winter 
he  kept,  without  any  losses,  400  cattle  and  100  horses.  The  cattle  will 
all  be  '^ feeders"  this  season  and  he  has  80  of  the  horses  left,  having  sold 
twenty  of  them  this  spring.  The  horses  are  of  the  Percheron  breed  and 
all  young  animals.  The  cattle  are  all  steers  except  thirty  cows  and 
heifers.  Last  year  he  sold  $2,000  worth  of  hogs  and  has  120  head  on  the 
farm  now.     They  are  all  Poland  Chinas. 

After  a  good  dinner  with  bachelor  Dougan  I  rode  and  walked  east, 
for  the  way  was  not  good  for  wheeling,  until  I  reached  the  quarter  sec- 
tion, the  SE  of  33,  where  26  years  ago  H.  H.  Kieser  settled  as  one  of 
the  first  settlers  in  this  part  of  Jerauld  county.  In  the  fall  of  the  year 
before,  1881,  he  and  his  brother  John  had  visited  this  region,  then  a  part 
of  Aurora  county,  and  made  timber  culture  entries — H.  H.  Kieser  taking 
the  SE  of  33  and  John  taking  the  SW  of  34.  Through  good  times  and 
hard  times,  wet  times  and  dry  times,  Mr.  Kieser  has  stuck  to  his  land ; 
he  stayed  with  it  when  it  was  worth  but  $5  per  acre  and  de  still  keeps 
it  when  he  could  easily  get  $45.  He  now  has  the  south  half  of  34  and  the 
SE  of  33.  He  came  to  Viola  township,  when  it  was  only  known  as  "106 
— 64,"  from  Kansas.  In  1903  he  put  down  an  artesian  well,  and  last  year 
built  a  new  house  that  is  a  credit  to  the  township.  He  is  rich  in  this 
world's  goods,  having  on  this  splendid  farm  90  acres  of  corn,  105  acres  of 
wheat,  13  acres  of  oats,  65  head  of  cattle,  20  horses  and  70  hogs.  i\Ir. 
Kieser's  brothers  also  have  good  farms  in  this  vicinity  which  I  will  men- 
tion hereafter. 

At  the  NE  of  27  I  met  Mr.  August  Schuttpelz,  who,  in  company  with 
Mr.  Wm.  Wetzel  came  here  in  1883,  and  filed  on  this  quarter  for  a  home- 
stead. Mr.  Wetzel  took  the  quarter  across  the  road  east.  After  living 
on  this  land  until  he  made  proof  Mr.  Shuttpelz  sold  his  land  to  Herman 
Heinz  and  went  back  to  Hancock  county,  Iowa.  Twelve  years  he  re- 
mained there  and  then  once  more  came  to  Dakota,  to  repurchase  his  old 
residence.  He  has  developed  and  improved  his  farm  until  now  he  is  the 
happy  owner  of  a  home  that  ought  to  content  any  one. 

Mr.  Wetsel,  who  came  with  Mr.  Schuttpelz  in  1883,  has  lived  one- 
score-and-five  years  on  the  homestead  the  government  gave  him  at  that 
time.  The  farm  now  includes  the  whole  west  half  of  section  26  and  he 
and  his  sons  are  prospering  to  their  hearts'  content.  The  buildings  are 
good,  the  soil  is  of  the  best  and  the  crops  can  not  be  beaten  in  any  state. 
An  artesian  well  supplies  abundance  of  water  for  all  purposes,  and  with 
rural  telephone  and  mail  delivery,  what  more  can  any  one  want.  The  old 
home  quarter  is  now  owned  by  one  of  the  boys,  INIax  Wetzel,  who  married 
Bertha  Klink  last  March. 


3/2 

Max  Wetzel  I  found  harvesting  a  fine  crop  of  grain  on  the  west  half 
of  2^.  Peter  Klink,  who  lived  on  this  half-section,  w'as  well  known  to 
all  the  early  settlers  and  was  interested  in  the  organization  of  the  town- 
ship. He  died  ten  years  ago.  ISIrs.  Klink  continued  to  live  on  the  farm 
until  two  years  ago,  when  she  moved  into  Lane,  wdiere  she  still  resides. 

Lest  some  of  the  "Review"  readers  who  live  out  of  the  county,  or  out 
of  the  state,  and  have  not  seen  the  prosperity  that  has  come  upon  the 
people  among  whom  I  have  been  "a  wheeling,"  should  think  that  I  am 
out  on  a  bouquet-throwing  expedition,  I  want  to  say,  before  writing  more 
of  my  trips  about  the  county,  that  I  have  during  the  past  three  years,  been 
over  a  large  portion  of  Iowa  and  Illinois,  two  as  good  states  as  there  are 
in  the  Union,  and  I  have  no  where  seen  farmers  any  more  prosperous  than 
they  are  in  Jerauld  county.  Land  that  in  the  older  states  is  selling  at 
from  ^loo  to  $150  per  acre  gives  no  better  returns  than  the  farmers  here 
get  on  land  that  is  selling  at  $35  to  $50.  To  those  of  the  readers  who 
have  never  been  here  I  say,  come  and  see ;  to  thos  who  came  early  and 
left  in  "the  hard  times"  I  say,  come  again  for  the  sake  of  "auld  lang 
syne"  and  see  what  has  come  to  those  who  couldn't  go  wdien  you  did. 
These  articles  are  not  "knockers,"  neither  are  they  "boosters,"  but  they 
are  intended  to  be  truthfully  descriptive  of  the  country  and  the  people, 
as  I  have  known  them  in  the  past  twenty-five  years.  So  far  I  have  said 
nothing  of  the  "hot  winds"  that  devastated  this  country  as  the  grasshop- 
pers did  Iowa,  Kansas,  Nebraska  and  Minnesota,  or  as  the  chintz  bug. 
weewil  and  cutworms  did  the  states  of  Illinois,  Michigan  and  Indiana ; 
but  before  I  am  done  I  shall  tell  it  all  in  the  history  of  the  "hard  times  in 
Dakota,"  about  which  so  much  has  been  said. 

Chas.  Walters  has  a  good  farmstead  on  the  XE  40  of  the  KW  of  22. 
A  house  that  would  be  a  credit  to  any  farm  in  the  older  states,  a  large  and 
commodious  barn,  with  convenient  outbuildings,  cattle  and  hogs,  whose 
numbers  he  doesn't  know.  Charlie,  as  he  is  familiarly  known,  is  happy 
in  the  enjoyment  of  the  fruits  of  his  years  of  pioneering.  About  his 
buildings  is  a  fine  grove,  planted  years  ago  when  he  first  settled  on  this 
land,  for  this  was  Mr.  Walter's  homestead.  A  shallow  well  that  furnishes 
the  best  of  cold  water,  has  been  known  to  the  people  for  miles  around 
during  all  the  years  that  he  has  lived  here.  For  several  years  it  afforded 
drinking  water  for  all  the  settlers  in  the  central  part  of  the  township. 
People  would  drive  past  other  wells  for  miles  around  to  slake  their  thirst 
at  this  famous  well.  It  still  furnishes  abundance  of  water,  but  people 
have  become  accustomed  to  the  taste  of  the  water  from  artesian  wells,  of 
which  there  are  twenty-one  in  the  township  and  so  do  not  take  the  trouble 
to  go  so  far  to  get  the  better  water  at  Charlie's  place.  The  years  have 
prospered  well  with  Mr.  A\''alters.     He  now  has  just  one  thousand  acres 


?>7Z 


Mr.  and  Mrs.  A.  E.  Haiicbuth.  Kcv.  and  Mrs.  Charles  /  'csscv. 


E.   E.  Nc smith. 


W.  H.  McMillan. 


John  Coulcv. 


Sylvester  T.  Smith         Mr.  and  Mrs.  Geo.  Kino;.         Charles  Walters. 


374 

in  his  splendid  farm.  He  made  his  homestead  entry  on  three  forties  in 
section  15  and  this  one  forty  in  22.  His  pre-emption  right  he  filed  on 
the  SE  of  15  and  afterward  purchased  the  NW  of  15,  the  Mike  Houk 
homestead,  where  Chas.  Walters,  Jr.,  now  resides.  He  also  owns  the  SW. 
of  28,  the  old  Primmer  homestead  and  the  SW  of  32.  The  NW  of  14, 
where  Mr.  Moss  had  his  homestead  claim,  has  also  been  added  to  Mr. 
Walter's  farm.  Mr.  W.  came  here  in  1881.  His  artesian  well  was  the 
second  one  to  be  put  down  in  Viola  township. 

In  i88_|  the  Villbrandt  family  came  to  Viola  township  direct  from  the 
fatherland.  They  rented  the  NE  2  and  afterward  bought  it  for  four 
hundred  dollars,  paying  one  hundred  down,  and  then  all  went  to  work  to 
clear  off  the  three  hundred  dollar  mortgage.  Almost  incessantly  the 
wdiole  family  worked.  Fate  was  against  them.  Their  experience  was  the 
same  as  hundreds  of  others  who  were  here  in  the  '"hard  times"' — they 
couldn't  pay  the  interest  and  taxes.  The  mortgage  worked  more  eft'ec- 
tually  than  they  could  and  it  took  the  farm.  William  afterwards  bought 
the  farm  back  for  $800  and  paid  for  it,  while  Frank  Villbrandt  pur- 
chased the  old  Nate  Rhodes  farm  the  NE  of  20.  It  hardly  seems  cred- 
ible that  he  should  have  had  the  courage  to  make  another  effort  in  the 
immediate  vicinity  of  the  land  upon  which  he  and  his  brothers  had  so 
signally  failed.  But  he  did,  and  I  found  him  looking  at  the  carpenters 
who  were  rapidly  bringing  to  completion  another  of  those  elegant  houses 
of  which  so  many  are  to  be  found  in  Jerauld  county.  He  was  badly 
crippled  with  a  sudden  attack  of  sciatica,  but  there  was  a  look  of  satis- 
faction on  his  face  as  he  told  me  of  his  hardships  and  trials  and  his  ulti- 
mate success.  He  has  a  good  barn  (anyone  acquainted  with  German 
families  knows  what  that  means)  a  strong  artesian  well,  120  acres  in 
cultivation,  farm  well  fenced  and  to  this  he  has  added  another  160  acres, 
the  NW  of  28,  a  quarter  section  once  held  as  a  homestead  by  Chas. 
Towner. 

(jeorge  Clodt  has  the  south  half  and  the  northwest  quarter  of  section 
77.  He  was  but  15  years  of  age  when  he  came  to  Dakota  Territory,  and 
when  he  became  of  age  he  purchased  relinquishments  and  placed  his 
homestead,  pre-emption  and  tree  claim  rights  on  the  SE  of  17,  which  car- 
ried hitii  through  the  hard,  times  without  a  heavy  incumberance  on  the 
land.  He  then  bought  the  other  two  quarters  the  John  M.  Primmer  pre- 
emption and  the  J.  A.  Ford  homestead.  The  three  quarters  make  one  of 
the  best  farms  of  the  county.  A  large  white  farm  house,  a  large  red  barn 
and  other  improvements  necessary  to  the  convenience  of  a  farm.  He  has 
had  poor  luck  with  his  artesian  wells.  He  has  put  down  two,  but  both 
have  gone  dry.     With   true   Dakota   pluck,   however,  he  will   try   again. 


375 

One  special  feature  of  his  farm  of  which  he  is  justly  proud,  is  a  fine 
young  orchard. 

At  the  Kleppin  mail  box  I  met  A.  V.  Hall,  also  on  a  wheel,  carrying 
the  mail,  which  was  light  that  morning,  down  into  the  country  where  I 
had  been  since  Monday  morning.  He  delivers  every  day  at  seventy-four 
boxes,  the  letters  and  papers  addressed  to  ninety-seven  persons.  The  wheel 
was  heavily  loaded,  but  he  was  making  good  time. 

On  the  31st  day  of  July  the  wind  being  in  the  S\\',  I  decided  to  take 
a  run  through  Dale  township  and  as  I  thought  of  the  deep  pools  of  Sand 
Creek,  lying  along  the  east  side  of  that  township,  I  tied  my  fish  pole  on 
the  "bike"  and  headed  in  that  direction.  Harvesting  was  everywhere  in 
full  swing,  and  in  some  places  the  thresher  had  commenced  his  work.  I 
did  not  stop  until  I  reached  a  knoll  near  the  north  line  of  Wessington 
Springs  township.  It  was  covered  with  a  thick  growth  of  ash  trees 
planted  long  ago  by  F.  T.  Tofflemier,  and  known  as  "Ash  Knoll." 

Probably  no  man  in  Jerauld  county  was  better  or  more  favorably 
known  tlian  he.  In  November,  1881,  he  came  to  the  Territory  of  Dakota 
and  filed  his  homestead  on  the  NW  of  5  in  Wessington  Springs  township 
and  made  a  timber  culture  entry  on  the  SW  of  33  in  Dale.  In  March  the 
next  year  he  brought  his  family  and  began  a  residence  on  the  land  se- 
lected for  his  home,  which  continued  until  the  time  of  his  death,  October 
22,  1905.  He  and  his  good  wife  lived  long  enough  to  know  that  their  life 
work  had  been  a  success.  A  large  family  of  splendid  boys  and  girls  grew 
up  around  them.  Today  those  children  are  scattered  far  and  wide,  but 
wherever  they  are  each  one  in  his  or  her  place  is  a  credit  to  the  name  of 
Tofflemier.  The  mother  survived  the  father  but  a  few  days.  Of  the 
children.  Tell  and  Ross  are  in  Lyman  county,  this  state,  although  50  miles 
apart.  Maud  is  in  Michigan,  Floyd  is  in  Red  Lands,  California.  Ruth  is 
in  Winona,  Minn.,  Ollie  has  a  good  home  in  Missouri,  Lou  lives  at  Custer, 
S.  D.,  while  Fanny,  Louis  and  Kate  still  have  their  postoffice  at  Wessing- 
ton Springs.  Louis  lives  on  the  old  farm.  Sufifering  from  an  operation 
for  appendicitis.  Louis  has  been  compelled  to  hire  most  of  his  farm  work 
done,  but  has  managed  so  well  that  the  year  has  been  to  him  a  very  profit- 
able one. 

At  no  place  in  my  travels  awheel  have  I  met  more  gratifying  evidence 
of  what  energy  and  perseverance  can  accomplish,  even  in  the  face  of 
manifold  discouragements,  than  on  the  NE  of  32,  the  C.  D.  Brown  claim 
of  twenty-five  years  ago.  E.  W.  Simmons,  and  his  determined  wife,  after 
long  years  of  hard  work  and  adversity,  in  which  they  had  tried  claim- 
holding,  farming,  renting  and  "working  out"  three  years  ago  found  them- 
selves in  position  to  buy  this  quarter  and  again  start  farming  "on  their  own 
Tiook."    They  won,  with  the  help  of  the  boys,  and  last  spring  added  to  the 


3/6 

farm  the  E  half  of  the  SE  of  30.  They  rented  other  land  and  have  450 
acres  of  crop  that  will  place  them  among  the  people  on  "Easy  Street." 
At  last  they  have  a  home  of  their  own.     It's  a  "dandy,"  and  not  for  sale. 

A  few  rods  further  north  and  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  road,  in  a 
fine  grove  of  trees,  stands  the  dwelling  of  Mr.  Christiansen,  the  school 
clerk  of  Dale  township.  He  came  from  Minnesota  in  1904  and  purchased 
the  south  half  of  29  and  the  old  Elmer  Taylor  80  in  the  SE  of  30.  The 
latter  tract  he  sold  to  Mr.  Simmons  last  spring.  He  has  120  acres  to  crop 
on  the  S  half  of  29.  It  is  fine  grain  and  he  is  content.  The  early  map 
of  the  county  says  but  Httle  of  this  half  section.  On  the  SW  quarter  ap- 
pears the  name  Beal  and  on  the  SE  is  the  name  Miller,  and  on  each  is  the 
letter  "D,"  indicating  that  at  the  time  the  map  was  made  both  quarters 
were  deeded  land. 

I  went  on  north  past  the  Chas.  Smith  homestead,  the  NW  of  29,  past 
the  Sarah  Brown  tree  claim,  the  SW  of  20,  and  turned  the  corner  at  the 
north  side  of  that  section,  where  Lawrence  Russell  had  a  homestead  when 
wild  antelope  looked  from  the  top  of  the  Wessington  Hills  at  the  canvas 
tops  of  the  settlers'  wagons  that  dotted  the  Jim  river  valley.  In  the  road 
near  the  corner  on  the  west  side  of  the  section  stood  Jim  La  Ban's 
engine  and  separator.  That  night  some  one  set  fire  to  the  separator  and 
it  was  utterly  destroyed.  Who  did  it  is  one  of  the  mysteries  that  will 
probably  never  be  solved. 

John  Doctor  lives  with  his  mother  on  the  Lawrence  Russell  quarter 
and  though  a  bachelor,  seems  as  happ)^  and  contented  as  any  benedict  in 
the  land.  His  crops  are  good  and  the  acreage  large  enough  to  keep  him 
busy. 

I  went  east  past  Frank  Eagle's  place  and  turned  north  along  the  west 
line  of  the  school  section,  but  crossed  the  NW  quarter  to  where  R.  T- 
Tracy,  ex-county  commissioner — "ex"  simply  because  he  is  a  democrat 
and  the  republicans  had  the  most  votes — was  making  extensive  improve- 
ments to  his  already  commodious  house.  He  has  960  acres  in  his  farm. 
^vhich  includes  the  SE  of  9,  where  John  Dynes  had  his  homestead ;  the 
SW  of  9,  where  Adam  Graham  had  a  tree  claim  entry;  James  Eastman's 
old  pre-emption,  the  NE  of  9;  Wm.  Burn's  pre-emption  and  the  John 
Maxon  tree  claim,  these  two  quarters  giving  him  the  west  half  of  ten.  and 
his  own  homestead,  the  NW  of  15,  entered  at  the  Mitchell  land  office  in 
May,  1883.  A  large  herd  of  fine  cattle  and  300  acres  of  good  crops  with 
old  corn  in  the  crib,  "Rob"  is  "fixed"  well  enough.  He  went  through  the 
hard  times  and  stayed,  while  those  who  took  the  land  from  the  govern- 
ment left  and  endured  the  hard  times  somewhere  else.  With  some  of 
them  the  complaint  became  chronic  and  they  will  have  "hard  times"  as 


377 

long  as  they  stay  in  this  world  and  nothing  but  universalism  can  help  them 
in  the  next. 

After  leaving  Tracy's  land  I  turned  northeast  across  the  quarter  at 
one  time  held  by  Solon  Palmer,  as  a  homestead ;  to  the  northwest  corner 
of  Lewis  Fenstimaker's  homestead ;  then  north  between  Wm.  J.  Reese's 
pre-emption  and  Ed  Palmer's  homestead,  until  I  reached  the  SE  corner 
of  the  claim  held  by  Henrietta  M.  Arne  as  a  tree  claim,  the  SE  of  3.  Wm. 
J.  Reese  had  another  claim,  the  SW  of  2,  and  after  rolling  along  past  that 
I  came  to  John  Teasdale's  milelong  homestead.  It  took  in  the  south  half 
of  the  SE  of  2  and  the  south  half  of  the  SW  of  i.  Mrs.  Teasdale's  father, 
Chas.  Dawson,  had  a  claim  on  the  north  80  of  the  SE  of  2. 

At  the  southeast  corner  of  the  Teasdale  land  stands  the  school  house 
that  bears  his  name.  This  building  is  unlocked  and  destitute  of  furniture, 
but  is  to  be  fitted  up  for  school  again  this  year. 

The  Teasdale  land  is  now  owned  and  occupied  by  Michael  Wahl,  a 
Russian  gentleman,  who  has  added  greatly  to  the  improvements  and  ex- 
tended the  limits  of  the  farm,  which  now  includes  the  Teasdale  homestead 
the  SE  of  I ;  the  S  half  of  NE  of  i  ;  the  S  half  of  2,  and  a  quarter  section 
in  Beadle  county.  An  artesian  well  affords  abundance  of  water  for  his 
125  head  of  cattle,  while  400  acres  of  good  crops  insure  ample  forage  and 
grain  for  the  coming  winter. 

Harry  Sheffield  owns  240  acres  in  the  north  half  of  section  one  in  Dale 
township.  A  part  of  this  farm  was  once  owned  by  B.  B.  Beadel  and  part 
by  Anthony  C.  Bixler.  Both  of  them  left  the  state  about  the  time  it  was 
admitted  to  the  Union  and  their  land  was  used  by  different  persons  for 
various  purposes  untid  1901  when  Mr.  Sheffield  bought  it.  Since  then  the 
Anglo-Saxon  grit  and  untiring  energy  of  this  English  lad  has  made  it 
bring  forth  the  crops  that  have  made  him  prosperous  and  independent. 
He  has  been  for  several  years  the  clerk  of  the  civil  township  of  Dale. 
Several  weeks  ago,  when  writing  of  a  trip  through  Alpena  township  I 
mentioned  the  trip  made  by  Mrs.  Sheffield  from  England  with  her  boys 
to  join  her  husband  who  had  come  on  some  months  before.  Harry  was 
one  of  the  bovs.  His  farm  is  a  good  one  and  at  the  time  of  my  visit  he 
was  softly  and  carefully  uttering  ejaculations  at  the  perversity  of  a  twine 
binder  that  seemed  to  object  to  doing  just  one  more  harvest  before  going 
to  that  rest  accorded  to  all  good  binders  when  their  days  of  work  are 
done. 

The  sun  was  just  sinking  behind  the  hills  as  I  left  Mr.  Sheffield's 
place  to  retrace  my  way  to  the  banks  of  Sand  Creek  to  angle  \\ith  hook 
and  fly  for  the  speckled  trout,  that  I  knew  was  not  there.  A  few  chubs, 
shiners,  crawfish  and  bullheads  were  landed  and  then,  after  eating  a  lunch 


378 

to  dispel  a  part  of  my  "fisherman's  luck,"  I  climbed  to  the  top  of  a  hay 
stack  and  slept  soundly  until  morning. 

Across  the  road,  south,  is  the  quarter  section  where  Wood  Richardson 
had  his  soldier's  homestead.  He  was  a  good  fellow,  but  like  many  an- 
other good  fellow  he  got  disgusted  with  the  "hard  times"  and  went  away 
practically  abandoning  land  that  today  is  worth  half  a  hundred  dollars  per 
acre.     This  land  is  the  NE  of  24. 

The  NW  of  24  was  a  tree  claim,  held  by  A.  Huxtable,  who  never  did 
anything  with  it.  It  is  now  one  of  the  many  valuable  quarters  in  the 
township. 

Without  stopping  again  I  went  on  past  the  SE  of  14  where  S.  E.  Mann 
had  a  timber  culture  entry  in  the  early  days ;  past  the  NE  of  26,  once 
owned  by  Mike  Lynch ;  along  the  south  line  of  the  land  held  when  the 
country  was  new  by  Ed  Crawford,  and  where  the  first  school  in  the  town- 
ship was  taught,  until  I  reached  the  corners  at  the  Dale  Center  school 
liouse.  These  corners  are  interesting.  The  NW  of  23  is  owned  and  oc- 
cupied by  Geo.  H.  Young,  one  of  the  few  men  in  the  county  who  are  still 
living  on  the  land  they  got  from  Uncle  Sam  26  years  ago.  He  owns  a 
half  section,  having  purchased  the  NW  of  14  in  1895,  upon  which  proof 
was  made  by  Mrs.  Ed  Eddy  of  Chery  township.  Mr.  Young  has  good 
soil  on  his  farm  and  knows  how  to  make  the  best  of  it.  He  cultivates  160 
acres  of  his  land,  using  the  balance  for  meadows  and  pasture. 

NE  of  22  was  obtained  from  the  government  by  Andrew  Mercer,  for 
four  years  sheriff  of  the  county  and  the  man  who  proposed  the  name 
adopted  for  this  township. 

The  SE  of  15  was  where  Ely  W.  Chapman  made  his  homestead  entry 
in  1882.  He  held  on  as  long  as  he  could  and  then  quit.  He  had  the  dis- 
tinction of  being  the  only  man  to  be  convicted  of  a  crime  in  Jerauld  county 
on  a  plea  of  "not  guilty."  It  was  one  of  those  court  mistakes  that  do  some- 
times occur.  There  is  no  question  now  but  that  E.  W.  Chapman  was  not 
guilty  of  the  crime  with  which  he  was  charged.  In  1894  this  farm  was 
purchased  by  J.  H.  Young,  a  son  of  Geo.  H.  Young.  He  is  a  good  deal 
of  a  horticulturist  and  besides  other  fruits  has  an  acre  of  grape  vines 
growing  in  good  condition.  I  stayed  with  George  Young  over  night  and 
the  next  morning  started  back  east  to  take  a  look  at  some  farms  of 
especial  interest,  one  of  which  I  had  passed  the  previous  evening. 

A  mile  east  of  the  Dale  Center  school  house  is  a  beautiful  pond,  com- 
paratively deep,  with  high  banks.  It  stretches  across  the  section  line  and 
so  the  road  curves  to  the  south  onto  the  NE  of  23.  This  pond,  or  lake, 
furnishes  the  best  of  fish,  bull-heads,  for  many  families  in  the  neighbor- 
hood. Although  it  is  but  two  miles  from  Sand  Creek  its  fish  are  so  much 
better  in  firmness  and  taste  that  they  are  sought  in  preference  to  those  in 


379 

tlie  stream.  The  lake  covers  about  eight  or  ten  acres  and  lies  mostly  on 
the  farm  of  Wm.  Daleske,  who  settled  on  the  SE  of  14  in  1893  and  put 
down  an  artesian  well.  The  well  supplies  the  water  for  the  lake.  The 
iish  were  put  in  the  pond  as  soon  as  it  was  filled  with  water  and  now  the 
supply  of  them  is  abundant.  All  the  improvements  on  this  farm  are  good. 
This  thrifty  farmer  owns  the  SW  of  14,  the  SW  of  13,  and  the  NE  of 
23,  in  addition  to  the  quarter  upon  which  his  buildings  are  located,  making 
a  full  section  in  all. 

Nearly  a  mile  north  of  the  residence  of  Mr.  Daleske,  but  on  the  NE 
of  the  same  section  is  the  dwelling  "of  Ernest  Schmidt.  He  has  three 
quarters  but  the  land  is  not  all  together.  In  addition  to  the  NE  of  14  he 
owns  the  NE  of  15  and  the  NW  of  24.  Of  this  land  160  acres  are  in 
crop  this  year.  He  also  has  a  good  artesian  well  which  affords  abundance 
of  water  for  all  purposes  on  the  farm,  and  fills  a  deep  valley  in  which  large 
numbers  of  fish  can  be  taken  at  any  time.  This  well  was  drilled  in  1898. 
Mr.  Schmidt  took  the  NE  of  14  in  1883,  as  a  homestead,  and  has  resided 
there  ever  since. 

Across  the  road  north  from  Ernest  Schmidt  is  the  homestead  of  his 
brother,  Dan  Schmidt.  The  two  brothers  came  to  the  Territory  of  Da- 
kota at  nearly  the  same  time  and  took  as  homesteads,  quarters  lying  side 
by  side.  Dan  also  took  the  SW  of  12,  putting  upon  it  his  tree  claim  right. 
At  that  time  Dr.  Wheelan  had  a  filing  on  the  NW  of  13,  and  Mr.  Fenste- 
niaker  on  the  SW  of  11.  These  two  tracts  Dan  Schmidt  has  added  to  his 
farm  and  also  the  NW  of  11,  and  the  NE  of  24.  A  detached  quarter, 
the  SW  of  24,  is  also  owned  by  Mr.  Schmidt,  but  is  occupied  by  his  son- 
in-law,  Frank  Detleff.  Dan  Schmidt  has  the  honor  of  being  the  first  to 
j/ut  down  an  artesian  well  in  Jerauld  county.  It  was  an  expensive  venture 
in  those  days,  but  he  was  full  of  the  confidence  that  he  still  has  in  South 
Dakota.  He  made  the  try  and  won.  Since  then  hundreds  of  wells  have 
been  dug  in  the  adjacent  country.  Dan  Schmidt's  success  in  getting  a 
deep  well  gave  renewed  hope  to  liis  neighbors  and  revived  their  confi- 
<Ience  in  the  wealth  hidden  in  the  earth  if  they  would  but  go  after  it.  The 
creameries,  stock-raising,  sheep  raising  and  the  ultimate  success  in  all 
lines  of  agriculture,  that  has  prevailed  in  this  and  adjoining  counties  are 
in  a  great  measure  due  to  the  success  of  this  German  farmer  in  his  eiTorts 
to  get  a  supply  of  water  from  the  deep-hidden  streams  of  the  earth.  I 
drank  from  the  well.  The  water  is  cool  and  refreshing,  and  the  supply 
as  abundant  as  when  the  drill  point  first  tapped  the  fountain  in  1886.  This 
is  a  German  home,  retaining  many  of  the  customs  of  the  fatherland.  It 
was  about  ten  o'clock  in  the  forenoon  when  I  arrived  on  my  wheel  at  the 
farm.  I  met  a  sweet-faced  German  lassie  taking  a  generous  mid-fore- 
iioon  lunch  to  the  men  in  the  harvest  field.    With  his  fertile  fields,  his  large 


38o 

herds,  his  private  fishing  pond  and  his  beautiful  home  Dan  Schmidt  is 
enjoying  a  quiet  prosperity  that  any  one  might  envy. 

From  here  I  wheeled  north  on  a  fairly  good  road  to  Wahls  farm  and 
then  took  the  hill  road  west.  On  one  of  the  highest  points  I  stopped  a 
few  moments  and  looked  over  the  ground  where  Jack  Crawford,  now  of 
Watertown,  had  his  residence  and  blacksmith  shop  at  the  time  he  was 
"holding  down"  the  SE  of  3.  The  shop  was  near  the  highway  and 
passing  teamsters  could,  early  and  late,  hear  the  clang  of  hammer  and 
anvil  long  before  they  reached  the  shop.  The  light  of  his  forge  could  be 
seen  by  the  settlers  miles  around  long  after  the  shades  of  night  had  set- 
tled over  the  lonely  hill  tops.  Jack  was  a  busy  workman  and  hundreds  of 
acres  of  prairie  sod  where  broken  up  with  the  lays  he  sharpened. 

A  mile  and  a  half  further  west  and  I  stopped  to  have  a  look  at  a 
new  home  located  on  the  SW  of  4,  where  four  years  ago  was  nothing  but 
raw  prairie.  Tom  Yegge,  a  son  of  C.  M.  Cegge,  whose  farm  near  Al- 
pena I  had  visited  a  few  weeks  before,  came  on  to  this  quarter  in  1905. 
now  has  a  good  start  made  toward  making  a  fine  place.  Tom  is  a  "chip 
ofT  the  old  block."  His  beginning  with  fruit  is  great.  The  late  frost  last 
spring  destroyed  the  fruit  crop  for  this  year,  but  that  occurs  so  seldom 
that  he  is  not  in  the  least  discouraged.  If  I  am  not  mistaken.  Tom  Yegge 
and  John  Young  will  show  to  the  rising  generation  as  fine  grapes,  pears 
and  apples  as  can  be  grown  in  any  of  the  northern  states.  But  Tom  has 
not  devoted  all  his  time  to  horticulture.  A  small,  but  comfortable  house, 
good  stables  and  65  acres  of  good  crops  are  other  results  of  his  three 
years  work  on  this  quarter  section. 

I  then  turned  south  on  the  road  between  sections  8  and  9,  toward 
Wessington  Springs.  Years  ago  Frank  Eastman  had  a  pre-emption, 
filing  on  the  NVV  of  9,  and  as  such  proved  up  on  it  and  got  a  patent  signed 
by  Grover  Cleveland.  That  was  all  that  Frank  did  with  it  except  to  add 
a  mortgage.  In  1902  Ernest  Scott  came  to  South  Dakota  with  his  father, 
John  Scott,  and  settled  on  this  quarter.  Now  a  neat  new  house,  com- 
fortable outbuildings  and  80  acres  of  cultivation  are  indications  of  the 
prosperity  that  has  attended  the  young  farmer's  efforts. 

Again  I  passed  along  the  west  side  of  the  school  section  and  saw  the 
same  little  pile  of  lumber  lying  just  as  it  did  when  I  came  this  way  in  May. 
But  there  is  no  water  in  the  creek,  now,  (that's  an  Irish  bull)  and  so  the 
crossing  is  good  enough.     It  reminded  me  of  the  xA.rkansas  Traveler. 

On  section  21  are  two  good  new  houses.  B.  F.  Gebhart  is  on  the  N^\' 
quarter  and  his  father-in-law,  W.  R.  Winter,  has  the  south  half.  They 
came  on  here  last  year  from  Buffalo  county  and  began  to  develop  the 
farms.  No  one  in  the  county  has  done  better  than  they.  The  substantial 
buildings  and  other  improvements  show  that  they  have  been  busy. 


3Bi 

Away  back  in  the  '80s  and  '90s  Joe  Scott  tried  hard  on  the  NE  of  29 
to  battle  against  adversity  in  the  form  of  poor  crops  and  low  prices.  After 
a  long-  struggle  in  which  he  won  the  respect  of  all  his  neighbors  and 
acquaintances,  he  gave  it  up  and  moved  away.  In  the  spring  of  1907  a 
gentleman  named  J.  H.  McVey,  came  here  from  Montezuma,  Iowa,  in 
search  of  a  new  home.  He  saw  this  tract  and  determined  to  make  his  try 
on  it.  When  I  called  there  I  found  him  on  a  binder  harvesting  a  splendid 
crop  and  ready  to  compare  his  farm  as  to  intrinsic  value,  with  anything 
anywhere.  He  has  added  to  the  Scott  farm  the  E  half  of  the  NW  of  the 
same  section  and  he  certainly  has  a  farm  hard  to  beat. 

At  supper  time  I  again  rolled  into  Wessington  Springs. 

One  morning  in  September  I  mounted  the  bike  and  started  out  to 
follow  the  wind  in  a  run  up  through  Chery  township  to  spend  a  day  about 
the  lakes  in  the  north  part  of  Harmony,  said  to  be  "aUve  with  ducks." 
As  much  as  possible,  I  followed  the  old  road  along  the  foot  of  the  hills. 
I  "hit"  it  occassionally  until  I  reached  the  first  site  of  the  old  Elmer  post- 
office.  Here  I  received  the  first  letters  addressed  to  me  in  Dakota  Terri- 
tory, in  November,  1883.  It  was  the  P.  O.  for  the  village  of  Wessington 
S]3rings  and  vicinity  for  several  months.  An  assistant  post  master  general 
under  Arthur  wanted  the  office  to  bear  his  name,  and  so  designated  it, 
giving  the  name  of  Wessington  to  a  new  office  on  the  C.  &  N.  W.  Ry.  in 
Beadle  county,  at  the  north  end  of  the  range  of  hills.  The  name  of  Elmer 
v\as  finally  dropped,  at  the  earnest  request  of  the  office  patrons  and  it 
has  ever  since  been  Wessington  Springs.  The  two  names,  Wessington  and 
Wessington  Springs,  cause  no  end  of  trouble  to  mail  agents  and  postmas- 
ters, for  people  will  not  remember  that  one  place  is  not  the  other. 

When  I  arrived  at  the  place  where  Uncle  Peter  and  Aunt  Sarah 
dwelt,  long  before  the  town,  now  with  its  thousand  inhabitants,  was 
thought  of.  I  had  to  open  a  gate,  cross  the  gulch  and  take  to  the  hills. 
That  was  the  last  of  the  old  road.  Thereafter  I  had  to  lead  the  wheel  in 
cattle  and  sheep  pastures  and  lift  it  over  fences,  for  a  bicycle  is  not  of 
much  account  in  a  hurdle  race. 

At  the  Wallace  ranch  I  crossed  the  "draw"  by  the  side  of  the  old 
bridge  built  by  the  county  twenty-two  years  ago.  There  was  no  water 
near  it,  so  the  crossing  was  easy.  I  leaned  the  wheel  against  the  wire 
fence  and  went  to  the  well  for  a  drink.  I  am  not  disposed  to  praise  that 
well  very  much,  but  the  water  was  wet.  The  ranch  is  one  of  the  best  in 
the  county,  affording  abundance  of  grass  in  the  summer  and  natural  pro- 
tection from  all  storms  in  the  winter,  while  the  bubbling  springs  furnish 
plenty  of  water  for  stock.  This  place  is  historic  in  many  respects.  Two 
townships  were  named  here.  The  returns  of  the  election  in  1883,  separ- 
ating Jerauld  county  from  Aurora,  were  brought  to  this  place  by  mes- 


382 

sengers  from  all  parts  of  the  county.  H.  J.  Wallace,  who  owned  the 
ranch  for  many  years,  was  probably  the  most  popular  man  the  county  ever 
had.  At  his  tirst  election  as  county  treasurer  he  received  more  votes  than 
any  other  candidate  ever  voted  for  in  the  county — only  two  votes  being 
cast  against  him.  He  served  three  terms  as  county  treasurer,  two  terms 
as  county  surveyor  and  when  the  office  of  state  surveyor  was  created  in 
1893  he  was  appointed  by  Gov.  Sheldon  to  fill  the  position. 

The  next  stop  was  at  W.  F.  Yegge's,  who  is  clerk  of  the  civil  township 
of  Chery.  He  owns  the  N  half  of  21.  The  NE  quarter  which  Frank 
Simons  abandoned,  after  seven  years  residence,  Mr.  Yeggt  took  as  a 
homestead  in  1896.  He  afterwards  purchased  the  NW  quarter  which  was 
homesteaded  by  Joe  Geopfert  in  1883.  A  small  stock  of  well  selected 
groceries  is  kept  by  Mr.  Yegge,  who  for  several  years  was  the  master  of 
Stock  postoffice.  I  worked  at  the  civil  township  records  until  near  sun 
down  and  then  leaving  the  job  unfinished,  I  started  on.  I  followed  the 
section  line  until  I  got  lost  and  confused  among  the  hills  and  gulches  and 
after  much  leading  and  pushing,  but  no  riding,  arrived  with  the  wheel  at 
the  McCloud  farm  on  section  18. 

No  one  ever  knew  the  hospitality  of  Aaron  jMcCloud  to  fail.  A  hearty 
welcome,  a  good  supper,  and  a  splendid  night's  rest  banished  all  remem- 
berance  of  the  evening's  experience  in  taking  the  bike  through  the  deep 
ravines  and  monstrously  heavy  grass  of  that  hilly  region.  Nine  years  be- 
fore I  had  visited  this  place  in  company  with  J.  R.  Eddy.  Then  nothing" 
but  blackened  ruins  marked  the  places  where  his  buildings  had  stood.  A 
prairie  fire,  driven  by  a  furious  wind,  had  devastated  his  farm  and  left  him 
houseless  and  destitute  so  far  as  personal  property  is  concerned.  No  one 
is  destitute  in  the  worst  sense  of  the  word,  who  has  the  pluck  shown  by 
this  old  settler  and  his  wife.  The  old  man's  story  surely  had  in  it  much 
of  the  pathetic.  He  and  his  wife  had  together  climbed  the  hill  of  life, 
toiling,  struggling,  always  ready  to  extend  a  hand  of  willing  helpfulness 
to  another,  and  just  as  they  could  see  an  easy  road  before  them,  they  had 
to  stand  helpless  while  the  earnings  of  a  life  time  went  up 
■  in  smoke.  Then  came  the  wonder  part  of  it.  For  a  moment 
only  they  seemed  dazed  with  their  loss.  Then  realizing  that 
once  more  they  were  at  the  foot  of  the  hill,  they  touched  shoulders  and 
began  to  climb.  Today  the  old  hero  and  his  hero  wife,  have  a  house  of 
which  they  are,  and  the  county  may  well  be,  proud.  I  picked  grapes 
from  his  vineyard,  saw  him  gather  as  fine  vegetables  as  can  be  found  in 
the  county,  went  through  his  comfortable  house  and  barn,  and  looked 
over  his  480  acres  and  was  astonished  to  find  that  in  nine  years  they  had 
(lone  what  many  have  taken  a  life  time  to  do.  and  all  that  after  passing 


3f^3 

the  age  of  60  years.  Possibly  they  could  not  have  done  it  in  any  other 
country. 

Bidding  the  McClouds  good  morning  I  peddaled  north  until  1  had 
passed  the  homesteads  of  Gene  Lewis,  Dave  Lewis  and  Silas  Kinney,  and 
then  turned  west,  passing  the  claims  of  Benjamin  Drake,  Hiram  Crosby 
and  D.  V.  K.  Funk,  the  latter  having  married  the  widow  Berger,  whose 
husband  was  killed  by  lightning  on  this  claim  the  SW  of  i,  in  the  sum- 
mer of  1883.  I  did  not  stop  again  until  I  had  reached  the  lakes  of  north- 
ern Harmony.  Ever  since  the  first  settlement  of  the  county  these  lakes 
have  been  the  resort  of  sportsmen  in  the  duck  shooting  season.  In  the 
early  days  a  number  of  expert  marksmen  lived  in  this  vicinity,  who  spent 
many  pleasant  hours  on  the  banks  of  these  ponds.  Among  them  were 
Jeff  Sickler,  now  in  California,  Will  Miller,  whose  present  address  I  do 
not  know,  Wm.  Titus,  now  of  Wessington  Springs  and  Joe  Collier,  now 
a  resident  of  Alpena.  Among  the  many  others  who  enjoyed  the  sport 
was  one  who  was  known  and  loved  by  all  who  lived  on  the  west  side  of 
the  county.  A.  N.  Alward  was  a  true  gentleman  and  a  true  sportsman. 
He  was  with  me  at  the  time  he  lost  his  famous  hunting  dog,  "Sport." 
For  16  years  the  dog  had  been  his  constant  attendant,  but  on  that  occa- 
sion was  too  infirm  to  make  the  trip.  We  spent  the  day  on  the  banks  of 
Ponton's  lake.  The  old  man  was  constantly  talking  of  the  fine  qualities  of 
his  dog  and  finally  quoted  all  of  Eliza  Cook's  splendid  poem  about  the 
Indian  king  and  his  dog.  He  said  he  had  not  thought  of  it  before  for 
thirty  years,  yet  so  good  was  his  memory  that  he  repeated  it  all  without 
missing  a  line.  Ducks  were  thick  that  day,  but  neither  of  us  got  a  bird, 
although  each  of  us  shot  away  two  boxes  of  shells.  Want  of  skill  could 
account  for  this  lack  of  success  on  my  part,  but  some  other  reason  must 
account  for  Alward's  failure.  Wlien  he  returned  to  Templeton,  where  he 
was  then  living,  the  old  dog  was  dead.  It  was  the  last  dog  he  ever  owned, 
and  during  the  balance  of  his  life  he  hunted  but  little. 

The  lake  by  which  we  spent  that  day  is  on  the  south  half  of  SW  of  3. 
That  80-acre  tract  was  taken  as  a  pre-emption  by  August  Ponto  in  the 
spring  of  1884.  He  lived  there  working  hard  and  "keeping  bach."  until 
the  $100  mortgage  he  gave  when  he  made  proof  took  it  and  he  moved 
from  it,  putting  a  homestead  filing  on  the  NE  of  2,  where  he  died  a  few 
years  later. 

Section  2.2  of  Harmony  township  has  had  considerable  to  do  with  its 
history.  The  first  religious  services  were  held  in  Peter  Welfing's  sod 
shanty  on  the  northwest  quarter.  The  preaching  was  by  Wm.  Marshall . 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Huntley  and  others,  as  occasion  offered. 

Close  to  the  southw^est  corner  stake  of  this  section  a  meeting  was  held 
in  April,   1884,  to  determine  the  course  to  be  pursued  in  regard  to  the 


384 

public  schools  of  the  township.  It  was  held  in  the  open  air.  I  do  not 
remember  all  who  were  present,  but  among  them  were  O.  O.  and  C.  W. 
England,  T.  N.  Rich,  C.  W.  and  C.  Mills,  O.  J.  Marshall,  Daniel  Mitchell, 
Louis  Nordyke,  James  Grieve,  Clayton  Brown,  and  his  son,  William,  H. 
A.  Peirce,  J.  R.  and  Siegel  Eddy,  George  Brady,  W.  T.  Hammack,  John 
Murphy,  C.  G.  Smith,  Peter  Welfing  and  myself.  As  a  result  of  this 
meeting  one  of  the  school  houses  was  located  at  the  northwest  corner  of 
the  SW  of  26,  James  Grieve,  who  owned  that  Cjuarter,  donating  the  use 
of  the  ground  needed  for  that  purpose.  The  land  upon  which  this  im- 
portant meeting  was  held  was  then  a  tree  claim  owned  by  Col.  Geddes 
of  Huron.  He  tried  several  times  to  get  the  required  number  of  trees 
started  but  failed  utterly'.  This  quarter  with  the  Welfing  claim  north  of 
it  afterward  became  the  home  of  H.  T.  Gilbert,  who  married  Marion 
Grieve  and  together  they  made  of  it  one  of  the  best  paying  farms  of  the 
township.  The  northeast  quarter  of  this  section  was  in  later  years  the 
scene  of  a  terrible  tragedy.  Alba  Eddy  who  had  been  one  of  the  school 
boys  of  the  township,  had  when  he  became  of  age  obtained  this  quarter 
section  as  a  homestead.  He  married  Francis  Andrews  and  here  they  lived, 
prospering  more  than  any  other  young  settlers  of  the  township.  He  be- 
came the  owner  of  all  the  east  half  of  the  section  and  also  of  the  SE  of 
21.  One  morning  he  went  out  to  shoot  a  dog  that  had  become  a  nuisance 
'about  the  place.  The  report  of  the  gun  was  heard  by  ]\Irs.  Eddy  and  the 
children  who  were  in  the  house.  A  few  moments  later  his  lifeless  form 
was  found  with  his  head  terribly  mangled.  The  charge  had  entered  the 
back  ])art  of  the  brain  and  death  was  instantaneous.  How  it  happened 
will  never  be  known. 

The  meeting  above  mentioned  was  held  in  the  open  near  where  the 
section  lines  cross.  A  few  feet  to  the  west,  on  section  21,  was  G.  W. 
Titus"  sod  shanty.  To  the  south  of  that  was  the  residence  of  Wm.  Titus, 
while  a  few  rods  east,  on  the  NW  of  27  was  the  sod  house  of  James 
Grieve  in  which  he  lived  while  holding  his  pre-emption.  He  afterward 
moved  onto  the  SW  of  26  where  he  had  placed  his  homestead  filing. 
Upon  that  he  built  a  more  comfortable  home,  and  there  lived  until  his 
death  a  few  years  later.  His  son,  Walter,  still  occupies  the  old  home- 
stead and  this  year  has  built  a  splendid  8-rooni  house  that  excels  any  other 
farm  liome  in  that  part  of  the  county.  At  the  time  of  my  visit  he  was 
the  township  clerk  and  from  his  books  I  obtained  the  story  of  the  organ- 
ization of  Harmony  township. 

From  Mrs.  Fee,  school  clerk,  I  obtained  the  school  records  of  Har- 
mony township,  and  taking  them  to  the  Templeton  school  house  I  spent 
a  half  day  in  making  extracts  from  the  entries  made  by  the  clerks  during 
the  last  24  years.     School  houses  in  Jerauld  county,  like  its  post  offices 


385 

and  postmasters  have  b.een  subject  to  removals,  and  the  Grieve  school 
house  was  no  exception.  In  the  early  '90s  it  was  moved  from  its  original 
site  to  the  southeast  corner  of  the  SE  of  26,  where  it  has  remained  to  the 
present  time.  It  is  kept  locked  and  is  one  of  the  few  school  houses  in 
the  county  that  are  well  protected  from  prairie  fires. 

Over  in  Marlar  township  I  found  George  Scofield  on  section  25.  A 
part  of  this  farm  was  once  owned  by  Mr.  De  Lap,  who  now  lives  out  in 
Oregon,  and  part  by  Mr.  Lamb,  who  has  a  railroad  contract  out  west 
somewhere.  When  the  first  school  census  was  taken  in  1884,  the  name 
of  George  Scofield  appeared  among  the  children  of  school  age.  He  is 
now  clerk  of  the  school  township  of  which  he  was  then  a  pupil.  George 
has  seen  the  ups  and  downs  of  frontier  life  since  his  boyhood  days,  but 
has  stuck  by  Marlar  township  in  which  he  has  prospered. 

My  next  objective  point  was  the  home  of  W.  W.  Yates  on  the  S  half 
of  31.  Before  reaching  there,  however,  I  stopped  for  dinner  with  J.  J. 
Groub  on  the  SW  of  33.  When  the  railroad  follows  the  telephone  into 
this  region  this  farm  will  be  as  desirable  as  any  in  the  county.  Without 
being  rough  it  has  an  elevation  that  enables  its  occupants  to  see  all  over. 
Gann  Valley  and  the  country  away  off  toward  Kimball  and  Chamberlain ; 
the  location  of  the  old  town  of  Waterbury,  once  a  thriving  prairie  vil- 
lage, but  now  reduced  to  one  lone  residence  and  that  occupied  by  a 
bachelor,  and  then  across  Crow  Creek  into  Logan  township  and  beyond 
that  across  Smith  Creek  toward  White  Lake  in  Aurora  county.  I  was 
as  well  pleased  with  the  beautiful  view  from  the  farm  of  John  Groub  as 
any  I  have  seen  in  the  county.  But  the  view  is  not  all.  One  branch  of 
Crow  Creek  heads  at  a  big  spring  on  one  part  of  this  farm  that  affords 
abundance  of  water  for  any  number  of  animals.  It  is  one  of  the  com- 
paratively few  really  big  springs  of  the  county.  The  land  has  a  gradual 
slope  to  the  south  and  is  of  good  soil  and  nearly  all  tillable,  but  John  and 
'Trix"  are  devoting  their  attention  mainly  to  cattle  and  horses,  of  which 
they  have  some  splendid  specimens.  The  residence  of  the  Groub  family 
on  the  SW  of  33  dates  back  only  to  1900.  Prior  to  that  on  the  6th  day 
of  May,  1883,  they  settled  on  sections  19  and  20  of  this  township.  The 
familv  had  come  from  Harrison  county,  Missouri,  and  while  driving 
about  over  the  section  upon  which  they  made  their  home,  they  met  an- 
other man  who  was  also  looking  for  land.  A  greeting  and  a  few  mo- 
ments talk  revealed  the  fact  that  the  stranger  was  also  from  Harrison 
county.  Missouri.  Their  first  meeting  was  on  section  19  in  the  township 
that  was  afterward  to  bear  the  stranger's  name ;  he  was  Mr.  B.  F.  Mar- 
laur.  The  first  settlers  in  range  67,  which  in  Jerauld  county  includes 
Marlar,  Crow  and  Logan  townships,  supposed  they  were  taking  homes  in 
Buffalo  county.     This  erroneous  idea  continued  until  after  the  election  of 


386 

delegates  to  the  constitutional  convention  that  met  that  summer  in  Sioux 
Falls.  The  township  in  which  the  Groubs  took  their  claims  was  then  un- 
surveyed  and  the  settlers  could  only  guess  at  the  lay  of  it,  or  hire  a  sur- 
veyor to  run  the  lines  for  them.  From  the  lines  in  the  township  south 
that  had  been  surveyed,  they  were  enabled,  generally,  to  locate  their  claims 
so  as  to  avoid  trouble  when  the  plats  were  finally  published.  The  same 
condition  prevailed  in  most  of  the  western  townships  of  the  county.  John 
Groub  placed  his  filing  on  the  SE  of  19.  Geo.  Groub  took  the  S  half  of 
the  SW  of  20  and  the  N  half  of  the  NW  of  29  and  their  father  secured 
a  homestead  right  on  the  NE  of  30.  The  John  Groub  house  still  stands 
on  the  SE  of  20.  The  father,  Z.  Groub,  was  for  several  years  one  of  the 
magistrates  of  the  county.  When  the  family  decided  to  do  stock  raising 
instead  of  farming  they  removed  to  their  present  location  on  section  33. 
Among  the  amusing  things  connected  with  their  first  few  weeks'  ex- 
perience in  their  Dokato  home  was  that  of  John  in  trying  to  send  a  letter 
to  friends  back  in  Missouri.  He  wrote  the  letter  and  w^ent  to  the  town 
of  Waterbury,  about  six  miles  away  to  get  an  envelope  and  stamp.  When 
he  arrived  at  the  village  he  was  directed  to  the  postoffice.  He  found  ]\Iiss 
Francis  Waterbury,  now  Mrs.  Mount  of  Wausa,  Neb.,  in  charge.  He 
asked  for  a  stamp  and  envelope  but  was  informed  that  she  had  none  and 
that  she  did  not  know  where  he  could  get  them  unless  it  was  at  the  black- 
smith shop  kept  by  Mr.  Dement.  Wondering  at  the  "slackness  of  Uncle 
Sam"  in  not  keeping  his  postoffice  supplied  with  stamps  he  went  to  the 
place  indicated  and  found  that  the  blacksmith  had  a  bunch  of  envelopes 
and  50  cents  in  postage  stamps,  all  there  was  in  town.  He  obtained  what 
he  wanted  and  then  learned  that  there  was  no  postoffice  in  the  town. 
Twice  a  week  E.  S.  Waterbury,  who  founded  the  village,  went  to  Kim- 
ball, twenty-four  miles  away  and  Ijrought  up  the  mail  for  the  people,  who 
had  settled  in  this  locality.  This  service  was  rendered  free  of  charge. 
People  got  their  mail  at  his  residence,  hence  it  was  called  the  postoffice. 
Another  experience  in  which  John  Groub  and  his  neighbors  of  that 
day  took  an  active  part,  serious  and  earnest  enough  at  the  time,  but  after- 
ward the  subject  of  many  a  jest,  was  digging  for  coal  on  the  Morris 
Curtis  homestead  in  section  4  of  Crow  township.  For  some  reason  Mr. 
Curtis  became  convinced  that  a  stratum  of  coal  could  be  found  at  a  reason- 
able depth  below  the  surface  of  his  claim.  He  succeeded  in  getting  his 
neighbors  and  some  of  the  business  men  in  the  village  of  Waterbury,  in- 
terested in  the  matter  and  they  began  drilling  for  coal.  A  small  derrick 
was  built  and  to  it  was  attached  what  they  termed  a  "jerk-pole"  drill. 
Nearly  all  the  neighbors  contributed  a  day  or  two  at  "jerking"  the  pole. 
For  rods,  John  Snart,  one  of  the  Waterbury  merchants,  furnished  several 
hundred  pounds  of  iron,  which  S.  T.  Leeds  joined  together  in  his  black- 


587 


Mr.  and  Mrs.  A.  S.  Fordliain. 


John  McDonald. 


Geo.   JV.  Burster. 


Mr.  and  Mrs.  Duanc   Toorlices. 


Mr.  and  Mrs.  Dcindorfer. 


28S 

smith  shop.  The  steel  point  had  been  driven  into  the  ground  nearly  three 
hundred  feet  when  one  evening  Leeds,  Dr.  Miller,  Joe  Herring  and 
George  Light  grew  tired  of  the  effort  and  between  them  concluded  it 
would  be  just  as  well  to  ''strike  oil"  as  to  strike  coal.  The  next  morning 
when  work  at  the  drill  was  resumed  the  smell  of  kerosene  was  strong. 
The  dirt  and  water  brought  up  by  the  drill  was  so  strongly  impregnated 
with  the  oil  that  it  could  be  easily  seen.  The  excitement  became  great, 
and  a  stock  company  was  formed  to  develop  the  "find."  Some  one,  to 
ascertain  the  true  value  of  the  "well"  sent  some  of  the  stuff"  brought  up 
by  the  drill  to  the  government  assay  office  at  Chicago  and  received  a 
reply  that  "if  the  fellows  that  poured  oil  in  that  hole  had  used  crude  in- 
stead of  refined  oil  they  might  have  carried  their  joke  farther."  That 
ended  the  excitement  and  also  the  drilling.  It  was  years  afterwards  that 
Leeds  and  the  other  jokers  told  the  real  story  ,of  the  "oil  find"  at  Wa- 
terbury. 

John  Groub's  dwelling  on  the  SE  of  19  was  a  sod  house,  built  after 
the  custom  of  those  primitive  days.  In  it  was  held  the  first  school  meet- 
ing of  the  township.  The  Groub  family  still  own  the  land  first  taken  by 
them  besides  the  farm  upon  which  they  now  live,  which  includes  the 
Heaton,  Endicott  and  Curtis  land  in  section  33.  In  the  great  blizzard  of 
the  winter  of  '88  John  Groub  saved  the  lives  of  all  the  children  in  the 
school  which  his  sister,  Anna,  was  teaching  in  a  school  house  then  located 
about  twenty  rods  southeast  of  his  house,  but  was  in  turn  himself  saved 
by  a  scream  from  his  sister  after  he  had  become  confused  and  lost  in  the 
storm. 

In  the  early  '80s  a  slight  change  in  a  U.  S.  tariff  schedule  caused  a 
small  rolling  mill  in  a  New  York  town  to  discharge  its  workmen  and  close 
its  doors.  At  that  time  the  attention  of  the  whole  civilized  world  was 
directed  to  the  great  fertile  plains  of  the  Missouri  valley.  The  discharged 
workmen  and  their  foreman  caught  the  fever  and  a  hundred  of  them 
came  west.  One  evening  a  man  driving  a  span  of  horses  hitched  to  a 
spring  wagon  stopped  in  front  of  the  hotel  at  Waterbury  and  asked  the 
first  man  he  saw  if  there  was  any  government  land  vacant  in  that 
vicinity.  The  citizen  who  chanced  to  be  Mr.  E.  S.  Waterbury,  replied 
that  there  w-as  lots  of  it.  Without  asking  any  more  questions  the  stranger 
drove  on  out  upon  the  surrounding  prairie.  He  wandered  about  over 
several  miles  and  at  length  returned.  "I  can't  see  any  difference  between 
vacant  land  and  that  that's  occupied,"  he  remarked  as  he  again  stopped 
at  the  hotel.  "There  isn't  any  difference,"  was  the  answer.  "You  must 
get  some  one  who  is  familiar  with  it  to  point  it  out  to  you."  The  stranger 
decided  to  wait  until  morning  before  searching  further,  and  drove  around 
to  the  livery  barn,  then  kept  by  Geo.  N.  Price.     He  jumped  out  of  the 


3«9 

wagon  and  began  to  unhitch  the  team.  "I  don't  know  that  I  understand 
how  to  undo  this  gearing,"  he  remarked  as  the  man  in  charge  of  the 
barn  came  out  to  help  take  care  of  the  horses.  He  had  commenced  by 
pulHng  out  the  lines,  taking  oft  the  crupper,  unbuckling  the  tugs  and  was 
trying  to  take  out  the  back  piece  \Yhen  the  hostler  came  to  his  assistance. 
The  next  morning  in  company  with  a  locator  he  renewed  his  search  for 
vacant  land.  He  finally  succeeded  in  finding  some  land  that  suited  him, 
and  put  a  filing  on  the  SW  of  30  in  Marlar  township,  taking  some  more 
across  the  line  in  Buffalo  county.  He  went  to  work  with  a  vigor  that 
under  other  conditions  would  have  insured  success.  For  a  time  he  did 
well.  He  opened  a  small  store,  established  a  creamery  and  secured  a  post- 
office,  which  was  supplied  by  the  Waterbury-Miller  route,  and  to  it  his 
own  name  was  given.  He  became  very  popular  because  of  his  sterling 
integrity  and  general  good  nature.  He  was  active  in  all  public  enterprises 
and  fond  of  all  kinds  of  field  sports.  The  old  Waterbury  ball  nine  that 
lost  but  one  game  in  seven  years,  owed  much  of  its  success  to  his  encour- 
agement. He  was  a  man  who  had  never  been  in  school  a  day  in  his  life, 
yet  probably  no  man  in  the  county  had  wader  general  information  than 
he.  Especially  was  he  good  authority  on  all  matters  concerning  the  Amer- 
ican tariff.  The  hard  times  compelled  him  to  close  his  store  and  the  post- 
office  was  abandoned  for  want  of  patrons.  He  moved  to  Wessington 
Springs,  then  to  Artesian  and  finally  to  Rome,  N.  Y.,  where  he  still  re- 
sides. Jerauld  county  never  had  a  better  citizen  than  J.  C.  Longland.  the 
old-time  rolling  mill  foreman. 

Another  among  the  sterling  men  who  settled  Marlar  township  was 
Ambrose  Baker.  He  placed  his  homestead  filing  on  the  S  half  of  the  NW 
and  the  N  half  of  the  SW  of  20,  adjoining  Geo.  Groub  on  the  north. 
His  son,  Herbert,  took  the  160  acres  directly  east  of  him,  and  together 
they  had  one  of  the  finest  half  sections  in  the  county.  This  farm  of  Am- 
brose Baker  is  now  owned  by  Walter  Hyde,  who  has  recently  purchased 
the  Templeton  store." 

The  southeast  80  of  section  20  was  taken  as  a  homestead  by  S.  T. 
Leeds,  now  of  Wessington  Springs  and  as  such  he  made  proof  for  it. 
Sam  was  among  the  first  comers  to  the  western  part  of  Jerauld  county 
and  I  shall  have  more  to  say  of  him  before  I  am  done  with  these  western 
townships.  His  hearty  good  nature  has  helped  many  a  poor  discouraged 
fellow  to  throw  off  the  blues. 

Then  a  long  jump,  ten  miles  and  a  half  to  the  Waterbury  postoffice, 
for  it  has  been  moved  from  where  it  was  when  John  Groub  wanted  to 
buy  a  stamp  and  an  envelope.  On  April  i,  1902,  it  was  moved  three  miles 
east  and  three  quarters  of  a  mile  south  to  the  residence  of  Clark  \\'eth- 
erell,  on  the  NW  of  25.     It  is  housed  in  a  building  10  by  12  feet  in  size 


390 

that  is  an  "old  timer."  In  1883  a  young  lady  named  Annie  Salter  came 
out  from  Germania,  Iowa,  and  put  a  homestead  entry  on  the  N\V  of  30 
in  Pleasant  township,  adjoining  Clark  Wetherell's  farm  on  the  east.  She 
was  of  firmer  character  than  most  girls  and  went  at  work  to  make  a  home 
and  a  farm  on  her  quarter  section.  She  had  her  shanty  made  10x12  and 
so  strong  that  it  could  be  rolled  about  over  the  prairie  and  not  fall  to 
pieces.  The  next  thing  needed  was  breaking  and  she  had  about  20  acres 
of  that  done.  Thereafter  she  plowed  and  cultivated  it  herself.  A  well 
was  needed  and  at  it  she  went.  A  young  lady  named  Inghram,  a  niece 
of  Mrs.  Wetherell,  assisted  by  lifting  the  dirt  out  of  the  hole  while  Aliss 
Salter  dug  and  filled  the  bucket.  Twenty-eight  feet  down  into  the  ground 
a  vein  of  water  was  found.  She  then  placed  kerosene  barrels,  one  above 
the  other,  for  curbing,  making  them  solid  with  dirt  packed  about  them. 
The  well  is  still  there  and  is  pointed  to  by  the  old  settlers  as  the  work 
of  two  slender  girls  but  little  more  than  twenty-one  years  of  age.  Miss 
Salter  afterward  sold  her  farm  and  went  back  to  Germania,  where  she 
married  a  druggist  and  still  resides.  The  shanty  she  sold  to  ^Mr.  Weth- 
erell, who  uses  it  as  before  stated.  After  the  disastrous  prairie  fire  of 
April  2,  1889,  two  families,  Frank  Smith's  and  another  whose  name  I 
have  not  learned,  found  shelter  for  a  time  in  this  little  building.  Four 
postal  routes  now  go  out  from  this  country  office — one  to  Gann  Valley, 
one  to  Hyde,  one  to  Wessington  Springs  and  one  to  Crow  Lake.  It  has 
40  boxes  and  about  75  patrons. 

Again  I  mounted  the  wheel  and  started  for  the  west  side  of  the 
county,  determined  that  this  time  I  would  avoid  telephones  and  so  escape 
Ibeing  called  in  to  help  a  "day  or  two"  in  the  home  office.  It  was  in  the 
middle  of  September  and  the  hottest  week  of  the  year.  I  was  again 
strongly  reminded  of  the  wisdom  of  the  old  toper  at  the  temperance  meet- 
ing. When  the  lecturer  asked  "someone"  to  tell  him  "what  caused  more 
misery  in  the  world  than  drink"  the  toper  yelled  out  "thirst."  I  had 
taken  the  road  to  Templeton  and  the  first  well  I  found  after  leaving  the 
Springs  was  on  section  four  of  Media  township.  Harry  Holmes  stood  by 
the  pump  sending  a  beautiful  stream  of  clear,  sparkling  water — it  cer- 
tainly did  look  beautiful  that  hot  day — into  a  water  trough,  from  which 
a  span  of  splendid  horses  were  leisurely  drinking  their  fill.  I  followed 
their  example — drinking  from  a  cup  instead  of  the  trough — while  Harry 
worked  the  pump.  Nothing  ever  tasted  better,  for  the  water  in  that  well 
is  good.  He  took  me  about  the  place,  showing  me  the  buildings,  the 
sheep,  the  hogs — fine  Durocs — and  among  other  things  the  alfalfa  pas- 
ture where  his  hogs  can  almost  reach  maturity  without  grain  of  any  kind. 
The  farm  contains  577  acres,  all  inclosed  with  a  woven  wire  fence,  45 
inches  high  and  all  in  section  4.     The  sheep-barn  is  made  of  galvanized 


391 

iron  with  i6  foot  posts  and  arranged  for  a  hay  stack  in  the  center.  The 
other  buildings  are  in  good  repair,  some  of  them  new  and  all  newly 
painted.    The  farm  is  owned  by  Frank  McGuire  of  Defiance,  Iowa. 

Two  miles  west  of  the  farm  upon  which  Harry  Holmes'  resides  the 
four  townships,  Media,  Pleasant,  Harmony  and  Chery  corner.  When  I 
reached  this  point  I  stopped  and  made  a  few  notes  of  25  years  ago.  At 
that  time  the  government  surveyor  had  filed  his  plats  of  ]Media  and 
Chery  townships  and  they  had  been  published  in  the  U.  S.  land  office  at 
Mitchell,  but  Harmony  and  Pleasant  were  then  known  as  misurveyed 
lands,  though  the  engineers  were  busily  at  work  runnmg  the  lines.  The 
townships  were  then  only  known  by  their  numbers.  Media  being  107 — 65. 
Chery  107 — 65,  while  Pleasant  and  Harmony  were  not  even  numbered. 
The  settlers  on  these  unsurveyed  lands  were  simply  "squatters,"  ready  to 
move  at  a  moment's  notice  when  the  surveyor's  lines  should  be  run.  if 
they  found  they  had  made  their  "improvements"  on  the  wrong  quarters. 

On  section  6  of  Media,  all  four  quarters  had  been  taken.  The  south- 
east quarter  had  a  very  substantial  farm  house,  where  Mrs.  Lydia  G. 
Swatman  lived,  so  as  to  be  near  her  daughter,  Mrs.  J.  N.  Cross,  who 
lived  in  the  big  two-story  grout  house  on  the  NE  of  7  across  the  section 
line  south.  On  the  NE  of  6  Lydia  Swatman's  son,  Ben,  had  a  sod  house 
and  stable,  but  lived  with  his  mother  most  of  the  time.  Once  a  month 
he  went  to  his  sod  house  and  "lived  there  over  night."  This  was  what 
was  called  "holding  down"  a  claim  and  was  the  "custom  of  the  country." 
Every  old  settler  can  recall  instances  of  this  kind.  The  sod  or  frame 
shanty,  with  a  single  one-sash  window,  through  which  the  stove  and  table 
could  be  plainly  seen.  On  the  stove  could  be  placed  the  pancake  griddle, 
and  on  it,  always,  a  halfbaked  cake,  which  v/ith  the  dishes  on  the  table 
would  indicate  that  the  owner  had  been  suddenly  called  away  and  was 
liable  to  return  at  any  moment.  I  have  known  instances  where  the  half- 
baked  cake  would  rest  upon  the  griddle  until  it  was  removed  by  the  mice. 
Many  a  settler  proved  up  on  his  claim  on  a  five-year  residence  who  had 
not  spent  a  month  on  his  land  in  the  whole  time.  That  practice  was  not 
peculiar  to  that  time  nor  to  this  country.  It  is  done  today  wherever  there 
is  public  land  open  to  settlement  and  will  be  continued  until  the  domain 
of  Uncle  Sam  is  all  deeded  to  private  individuals. 

But  mv  pencil  has  been  running  off  by  itself  again  and  it's  time  I 
brought  it  back  to  section  6 — 107 — 65.  On  the  SW  of  this  section  R. 
S.  Vessey  filed  his  tree  claim  right,  then  little  dreaming  that  a  quarter  of 
a  century  later  he  would  be  the  candidate  of  the  majority  party  for  gov- 
ernor of  one  of  the  great  states  of  the  Union.  He  was  then  mighty  busy 
o-etting  himself  established  as  a  settler  on  what  was  afterward  marked 


392 

on  the  chart  as  the  SE  of  12 — 107 — 66.'  On  the  NW  of  this  section, 
6 — 107 — 65,  F.  S.  Coggshall  had  placed  a  pre-emption  filing. 

To  the  northeast  of  me  lay  section  31  of  108 — 65,  the  southwest  sec- 
tion of  that  township.  On  this  section  was  settled  David  Paxton,  Wm. 
Taubman,  Geo.  Homewood  and  J.  F.  Bolton,  while  G.  S.  Eddy  had  a 
timber  culture  right  on  the  NW  quarter. 

To  the~  northw^est  of  where  I  stood  lies  one  of  the  sections  that  the 
wisdom  of  the  U.  S.  congress  had  ordered  set  apart  for  the  education  of 
the  future  generations  of  children  that  should  dwell  upon  these  great 
plains. 

Upon  the  section  lying  to  the  southwest  the  northeast  section  of 
Pleasant  township,  two  brothers  and  their  brother-in-law  squatted  in  the 
early  spring  of  1883,  S.  O.  McElwain  was  on  the  SE  quarter,  Henry  Mc- 
Elwain  on  the  SW  quarter  and  D.  C.  Hewitt  on  the  NE  quarter.  These 
three  made  the  beginning  of  the  settlement  on  that  portion  of  the  un- 
surveyed  land  afterward  known  as  107 — 66  and  later  as  Pleasant  town- 
ship. On  the  NW  quarter  of  this  section  Frank  Coggshall.  once  county 
treasurer  of  Jerauld  county,  placed  his  soldiers'  homestead  right  and  there 
he  lived  for  a  number  of  years.  When  the  surveyor  had  completed  his 
work  and  107 — 66  came  upon  the  market,  Henry  McElwain  put  his  filing 
on  the  NE  of  3  and  Robt.  M.  Hiatt  took  the  SW  of  i  as  a  homestead. 

Nearly  all  of  section  2  was  taken  by  squatters  before  it  was  open  for 
filings.  J.  D.  Powell  got  the  SE  quarter,  A.  R.  Powell  the  SW  and  An- 
drew Faust,  for  whom  Fauston  was  subsequently  named,  settled  on  the 
NW  quarter.  When  the  land  became  subject  to  filing  F.  S.  Coggshall 
made  a  timber  culture  entry  for  the  NE  quarter.  A  few  years  later,  in 
the  stress  of  hard  times,  F.  S.  Coggshall  was  one  day  sitting  in  the  door 
of  his  barn,  talking  with  some  of  his  neighbors,  among  whom  was  J.  D. 
Powell,  afterward  auditor  for  two  terms,  when  Coggshall  remarked,  "I 
tell  you  boys,  I  am  broke,  busted.  The  $7000  I  brought  to  this  county  is 
gone  and  I  haven't  a  cent.  J.  D.  buy  that  tree  claim  over  there."  "Good 
Lord,  Frank!"  remarked  Powell,  'T  could  not  raise  a  cent,  if  it  would 
buy  the  township."  "Yes  you  can,"  said  Coggshall.  "Give  me  four 
hundred  dollars  for  it,  it's  the  best  quarter  in  the  township.  Get  me  $100 
down  and  pay  the  balance  when  you  can."  J.  D.  borrowed  the  $100  and 
soon  after  paid  the  remainder.  Coggshall  moved  away  and  Powell  stayed. 
Today  Powell  owns  the  S  half  and  the  NE  quarter  of  2,  every  acre  of 
which  is  cheap  at  $35.  The  Coggshall  homestead,  where  the  above  con- 
versation occurred,  is  now  owned  by  Harry  Thompson,  who  came  here 
last  March  from  Merrill.  Iowa.  In  these  later  days  things  are  different. 
Prices  are  better,  and  crops  arc  better.  It  almost  seems  as  though  good 
])rices  make  better  crops. 


393 

The  early  settlers  on  sectioa  3  were  Henry  McElwain,  as  before  men- 
tioned, on  the  NE  quarter,  A.  G.  Swanson  on  the  SE,  Perry  Eddy  on  the 
SW  and  S.  F.  Huntley  on  the  NW.  The  latter  was  a  squatter,  building 
his  sod  house  and  stable  and  establishing  his  residence  there  before  the 
land  was  subject  to  filing.  After  living  the  required  length  of  time  on 
this  quarter  he  moved  across  the  township  line  to  his  soldiers'  homestead 
on  the  SE  of  33 — 108 — 66.  There  the  caller  will  find  him  today  the  same 
true,  cultured  gentleman  that  lived  in  the  sod  shanty  on  the  "unserveyed." 

Henry  McElwain  lives  in  Wessington  Springs,  doing  as  much  for  the 
convenience  of  the  people  as  any  man  in  the  town.  Perry  Eddy  has  gone 
back  to  Illinois,  but  Andrew  Swanson  yet  remains  on  the  SE  of  3.  He 
has  prospered  well  with  the  passing  years  and  is  contented. 

After  passing  the  NW  of  3,  T  turned  southwest  across  Geo.  Strong's 
pre-emption,  the  NE  of  4,  and  trundled  along  until  I  reached  the  resi- 
dence of  Samuel  Marlenee,  on  the  SW  of  4,  tired  and  thirsty.  My !  but 
Sam  has  a  good  well. 

Probably  no  one  man  in  Jerauld  county  has  been  more  essential  to  its 
improvement,  or  development,  than  Sam  Marlenee.  I  venture  to  say  that 
the  only  court  house  in  the  state  that  had  not  one  penny  of  graft  to  any- 
body, in  its  construction,  was  built  by  him,  by  contract,  on  the  hill  in  Wes- 
sington Springs.  A  more  capable  or  honest  carpenter  never  swung  a 
hammer  or  shoved  a  jack  plane.  Possessed  of  a  high  degree  of  mechanical 
skill  his  interest  in  his  work  has  often  led  him  to  do  the  work  so  well  that 
the  profits  of  the  job  were  absorbed  in  the  extra  work  that  he  did.  In 
one  instance,  the  building  of  C.  W.  Lane's  house  in  Wessington  Springs, 
Mr.  Lane  voluntarily  added  $100  so  that  Mr.  Marlanee  should  not  really 
lose  money  on  the  work.  One  would  think  that  the  old  verse  had  been 
his  motto : 

"In  the  ancient  days  of  art 

The  builders  wrought  with  extreme  care, 
Each  minute  and  unseen  part 

For  the  gods  see  everywhere." 

He  has  put  up  more  buildings  in  the  county  than  any  other  two  car- 
penters in  it,  yet  today  he  is  comparatively  a  poor  man.  His  indepen- 
dence of  spirit  and  speech  has  made  life  on  the  farm  peculiar  fascinating 
to  him.  He  lives  today  among  the  hills  on  the  SW  of  4 — 107 — 66,  where 
he  homesteaded  in  1884.  In  the  civil  war  he  was  twice  a  soldier  and  twice 
honorably  discharged.  Quiet  and  unassuming,  yet  the  Rock  of  Gibraltar 
is  not  more  firmly  set  in  its  place  than  he  in  his  opinion,  where  he  thinks 
he  is  right.  He  has  represented  the  republicans  of  Pleasant  township  and 
been  a  member  of  more  conventions  than  any  other  man  in  the  county. 


394    . 

On  section  five  of  Pleasant  township  which  I  passed  on  the  south  Hne 
the  early  settlers  were  George  Knieriem,  on  the  NW  quarter,  a  brother 
of  Henry  Knieriem  of  Franklin.  George  came  fom  Germany  after  he 
became  of  age,  but  had  learned  to  speak  English  so  perfectly  that  only 
his  name  would  cause  one  to  suspect  that  he  was  of  foreign  birth.  He 
was  in  the  artillery  with  Sherman  and  delighted  in  telling  of  a  duel  be- 
tween one  gun  of  his  battery  and  a  Confederate  field^  piece  on  Kenesaw 
mountain.     He  is  now  somewhere  on  the  Pacific  coast. 

The  NE  of  5  was  taken  by  Kate  J.  Knieriem,  a  sister  of  George  and 
the  SW  by  Sam  Marlenee  as  a  tree  claim. 

The  SE  quarter  of  five  was  taken  by  J.  J.  Snyder,  who  married  a 
daughter  of  Hiram  Blowers,  of  Wessington  Springs.  He  stammered 
badly  in  his  speech.  At  one  time  he  entered  the  office  of  the  True  Re- 
publican in  the  county  seat  and  after  many  gutteral  sounds  and  facial 
contortions  said  something  to  George  Havens,  one  of  the  printers. 
Havens  was  afflicted  with  stammering  as  badly  as  Snyder  and  when  ex- 
cited could  scarcely  speak  a  word.  His  first  thought  w^as  that  Snyder  was 
niaking  fun  of  his  impediment  and  instantly  became  very  angry.  In  his 
attempt  to  reply  he  "went  Snyder  one  better."  Snyder  thought  he  was 
being  mimicked  and  was  furious  with  rage  before  Havens  had  said  a 
word.  Blosser,  the  editor,  became  so  convulsed  with  laughter  at  the 
ludicrous  scene  that  he  was  hardly  able  to  interfere.  Both  Havens  and 
Snyder  were  large  men  and  an  encounter  between  them  would  not  onl}- 
have  made  "pi,"  but  would  have  turned  the  whole  office  into  a  "hell-box." 

The  NE  of  6  is  where  Herman  Hinners  took  a  quarter  section  of  land 
on  the  public  domain.     He  now  lives  on  a  farm  near  Humbolt.  Iowa. 

South  of  Hinners,  on  the  SE  of  6.  lived  Wm.  Toaz,  another  early  set- 
tler who  succumbed  to  the  hard  times  and  left  the  state.  He  now  lives 
at  Grand  Ledge,  Mich.  , 

.  Down  in  the  valley  west  of  the  Toaz  quarter  I  found  the  residence  of 
John  Youtcey.  The  beginning  of  this  farm  was  made  by  a  man  named 
jNIcConnell,  who  was  told  about  a  deep  water  hole,  now  dry,  near  where 
the  buildings  are  located,  by  the  old  stage  driver,  who  in  those  days  car- 
ried the  mail  from  Mitchell  to  Ft.  Thompson.  The  trail  led  through  this 
valley  and  McConnell  rode  up  from  Mitchell  to  look  at  the  place.  It 
looked  like  an  ideal  place  for  a  ranch.  Plenty  of  water,  unlimited  range 
for  then  there  was  no  one  west  of  the  hills,  and  the  high  knolls  to  the 
north  and  west  to  keep  off  the  severe  winds  of  winter.  McConnell 
squatted  there  in  the  spring  of  1882  and  began  his  preparations  for 
ranching,  laying  claim  to  a  strip  a  mile  in  length.  When  the  surveyors 
stalked  off  the  country  this  claim  proved  to  be  the  east  half  of  the  west 
of  section  6.     For  some  reason  McConnell  seems  to  have  grown  tired  of 


395 

his  project  and  sold  what  right  he  had  to  a  young  carpenter  named  John 
iMurphy,  who  placed  his  homestead  filing  there  when  the  land  became  sub- 
ject to  entry.  Afterwards  James  Foster  purchased  this  land  of  Murphy, 
added  more  to  it,  put  up  good  ranch  buildings  and  for  several  years  made 
money  out  of  it  as  a  cattle  ranch.     He  now  lives  at  Ridgeway,  Mich. 

When  I  had  crossed  the  west  line  of  section  6,  of  Pleasant,  I  was  on 
the  south  side  of  i  in  Crow.  David  King  on  the  XE  quarter  and  W.  W. 
King  on  the  SE  quarter,  obtained  the  east  half  of  this  section  from  the 
government.     The  SW  was  a  timber  culture  entry  held  by  Jas.  Fogen. 

The  NW  of  I  in  Crow  township  was  held  as  a  homestead  by  Miss 
Minnie  Stanley,  now  Mrs.  S.  W.  Boyd,  of  Pleasant.  She  is  one  of  the 
many  women  who  have  done  their  full  share  in  the  upbuilding  and  devel- 
opment of  Jerauld  county.  The  claims  were  held,  the  schools  were  taught, 
churches  and  Sunday  schools  kept  going,  mainly  by  their  unceasing  and 
untiring  efforts.  Many  a  man  who  came  through  the  hard  times  tired, 
but  successful,  would  have  failed  utterly  in  the  effort  but  for  the  help  he 
received  from  his  brave  and  steadfast  wife. 

One  of  my  objective  points  in  this  trip  was  the  Burger  homestead  in 
section  12.  This  farm  includes  the  W  half  of  the  NE  quarter  and  the  E 
half  of  the  NW  quarter,  and  also  the  SE  quarter  which  was  taken  as  a 
tree  claim.  Mr.  Burger  has  been  one  of  the  long-time  residents  of  the 
county.  This  place  was  at  one  time  used  for  school  purposes,  most  of 
the  school  children  being  residents  of  this  corner  of  the  township  and  a 
long  ways  from  the  school  house.  Mr.  Burger  now  lives  in  Wessington 
vSprings  and  the  farm  is  occupied  by  J\Ir.  Traylor,  the  school  clerk  of  the 
township.  The  examinations  of  the  records  of  his  office  was  my  purpose 
in  coming  here.  The  first  school  census  of  this  township  has  not  been 
preserved  among  the  records. 

The  east  half  of  the  NE  of  12  was  taken  by  Wm.  Hern  as  a  pre-emp- 
tion. The  balance  of  the  section,  the  SW  quarter  and  the  W  half  of  the 
NW  quarter  was  taken  by  E.  D.  and  S.  E.  Herman. 

A  postoffice  is  generally  a  good  place  to  look  for  news  so  I  again 
directed  my  course  toward  the  Waterbury  P.  O.  on  Clark  Wetherell's 
farm  in  25.  Clark  isn't  much  of  a  gossip,  but  he's  a  jolly  good  fellow 
and  a  good  deal  interested  in  the  job  I  have  undertaken.  He  and  his 
resolute  wife  are  among  those  who  can  tell  you  from  their  personal  ex- 
perience what  was  summed  up  in  the  expression  "hard  times  in  Dakota." 
But  never  a  whine  or  a  whimper  from  either,  and  I  imagine  that  her  up- 
per lip  was  a  little  the  firmest.  When  the  crop  was  short  and  the  prices 
low  Clark  joined  several  of  his  neighbors  in  an  expedition  to  some  north- 
ern counties  where  crops  were  better  and  help  needed.  The  women  folks 
stayed  at  home  and  kept  things  in  order  until  the  men  came  back. 


396 

Down  in  Fairchild,  Wis.,  in  1887  there  lived  a  man  whose  hobby  was 
growing  mangel  wertzels.  No  one  in  that  vicinity  could  raise  beets  as 
large  as  those  that  grew  in  his  lot,  and  he  was  very  proud  of  the  fact. 
In  that  town  the  meat  market  w^as  the  place  where  people  displayed  any 
unusual  production,  and  this  man  would,  every  fall,  put  in  a  conspicuous 
place  in  the  market  the  largest  mangel  he  had  grown.  That  year  Clark 
Wetherell  came  out  to  the  territory  to  look  at  the  NW  of  25  in  Crow 
township,  which,  without  seeing  he  had  bought  of  James  Fogarty  for 
$1000  in  1884.  In  a  garden  on  the  SE  of  23  Capt.  Vrooman  had  a  large 
number  of  very  large  mangel  wertzels — larger  than  was  even  grown  by 
the  man  at  Fairchild.  Wetherell  immediately  formed  a  plan  to  discomfit 
his  old  neighbor.  He  took  one  of  Vrooman's  largest  beets  and  when  he 
got  back  to  his  home  town  he  place  the  vegetable  in  the  meat  market. 
Shortly  afterward  his  neighbor  came  around  wdiere  Wetherell  was  telling 
of  the  wonders  of  Dakota  and  said,  "Clark,  where  did  you  get  that 
mangel?"  "Mangel!"  exclaimed  Wetherell,  "that's  not  a  mangel,  that's 
a  breakfast  radish,  I'd  have  brought  you  a  mangel,  but  I  couldn't  get  one 
in  the  door  of  the  car."  That  year  Wetherell  homesteaded  the  NE  of  25, 
buying  a  reliquishment  from  Wm.  Austin.  The  N  half  of  25  has  been  his 
home  ever  since. 

One  day  in  the  summer  of  1883,  E.  S.  Waterbury,  his  son.  Will,  and 
a  party  of  land  seekers  from  one  of  the  eastern  states,  were  driving  about 
the  country  in  the  vicinity  of  what  was  then  the  thriving  town  of  Water- 
bury.  About  the  center  of  section  i8- — 107 — 67  they  saw  a  claim  shanty 
and  went  to  it.  It  was  located  on  the  W  half  of  the  E  half  of  the  section. 
Near  by  was  a  prosperous  prairie  dog  "town,"  the  inhabitants  of  which 
barked  and  chattered  at  the  intruders  as  they  drew  near.  Close  about  the 
door  of  the  shack,  picketed  with  strings  tied  to  pegs  driven  in  the  ground 
were  numerous  rattlesnakes.  The  settler,  Abel  Scyoc  assured  the  visitors 
that  the  reptiles  were  harmless,  but  the  sight  was  too  much.  The  land 
seekers  went  back  to  Waterbury  and  the  next  morning  started  for  home. 
They  never  came  back.  Mr.  Scyoc  was  probably  the  first  white  resident 
of  the  township,  although  H.  B.  Farren,  now  of  Gann  Malley,  established 
himself  in  bachelor  quarters  on  the  same  section  Sept.  16,  1882.  Scyoc 
was  from  the  south  and  an  ex-confederate  soldier.  He  proved  up  on  his 
claim,  sold  it  to  Chas.  Platner  and  went  "back  to  Dixie"  where  he  mar- 
ried and  died. 

The  town  of  Waterbury  was  on  the  west  side  of  section  21.  part  in 
the  NW  quarter  and  part  in  the  SW  quarter.  On  the  SW  quarter  of  29, 
near  the  center  of  the  section,  only  a  mile  and  a  half  away,  was  the 
rival  town  of  Sulphur  Springs.     Between  the  sites  of  the  two  towns  and 


397 


Dan.  C.  Needham. 


Joseph  Ponsford. 


Mr.  and  Mrs.  Isaiah  McWilliams. 


\ 

0% 

Mtm^.^ 

S|«^*^ 

^HfJhII 

^.!||kr\      ^^H 

^^Hb^^^^H 

OPr*^   ^^^1 

IF 

/.  M.   Corbin.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  0.  F.  Kelogg.  Clayton   Broi^ni. 


398 

about  equi-distant  from  each,  is  a  deep  valley,  that,  in  those  days,  was 
a  favorite  camping  ground  for  the  Crow  Creek  Indians. 

A  couple  of  fellows  had  started  a  saloon  in  Sulphur  Springs  and  after 
running  the  business  a  few  weeks  had  dissolved  partnership  and  m  liqui- 
dation of  accounts  the  hotel  man,  Conrad,  had  seized  a  couple  of  barrels 
of  whiskey.  He  placed  it  in  a  shanty  down  on  the  flat  southwest  of 
Sulphur  Springs,  on  land  now  owned  by  A.  G.  Kayser.  The  whiskey 
soon  disappeared  but  the  barrels  remained  in  the  shanty  for  some  time. 

Among  the  people  who  settled  in  and  about  Waterbury  and  Sulphur 
Springs  were  many  from  the  eastern  states  who  came  heavily  armed  ready 
for  combat  with  the  savages,  of  whom  they  lived  in  constant  dread. 

One  evening  in  the  fall  of  1883  both  towns  were  thrown  into  a  fever 
of  excitement  by  the  news  that  the  old  chief  White  Ghost  with  about  four 
hundred  followers  had  camped  in  the  valley  between  the  towns. 

Waterbury  and  Sulphur  Springs,  like  all  towns  had  some  young  fel- 
lows who  loved  fun  more  than  they  feared  anything.  Sam  Leeds,  with 
one  companion,  whose  name  I  have  forgotten,  procured  some  of  the  liquid 
assets  of  the  defunct  saloon  and  after  dark  set  out  for  the  Sioux  encamp- 
ment. They  found  that  some  of  the  lodges  had  been  placed  on  the  hills 
and  some  in  the  valley.  Sam  and  his  companion  seated  themselves  on 
the  hillside  in  the  light  of  some  camp  fires  and  were  soon  trying  to  con- 
verse, by  words  and  signs,  with  the  Indians  of  both  sexes.  The  red  peo- 
ple could  understand  but  few  of  the  English  words  but  the  sign  of  looking 
at  the  stars  through  a  telescope  was  at  once  understood.  It  was  not  long 
until  pandemonium  reigned  in  the  valley.  The  warriors  danced  and 
shouted  while  the  squaws  rolled  like  great  balls  down  the  side  of  the  hill, 
laughing  and  shouting  with  glee.  The  noise  was  heard  in  both  towns 
and  the  whites  began  immediately  to  get  under  arms  and  barricade  the 
houses.  In  Waterbury,  while  the  rumpus  in  the  valley  was  at  its  height, 
some  one  fired  a  gun.  The  report  at  once  spread  through  the  town  that 
the  Indians  had  commenced  an  attack  on  the  village.  Commotion  was 
supreme.  Men  ran  shouting  through  the  streets,  while  women  and  chil- 
dren screamed  with  terror.  Sam  Leeds  and  his  chum,  down  in  the  val- 
ley were  getting  nervous.  The  warriors  had  stopped  their  demonstrations 
and  were  sitting  sullenly  around  one  of  the  largest  fires,  while  the  squaws 
continued  their  rollicking  sport.  Sam  watched  the  conditions  anxiously 
for  some  time  and  then  turned  to  tell  his  companion  he  thought  it  was 
more  seemly  for  them  to  be  among  their  own  people,  but  found  that  he 
was  alone.  The  other  fellow  had  evidently  read  Sam's  thoughts  and 
acted  upon  them.  In  a  few  moments  Leeds  discovered  a  safe  way  of  re- 
treat toward  Sulphur  Springs  and  took  advantage  of  it.  The  excitement 
in  the  towns  and  in  the  valley  soon  after  subsided.   In  the  morning  the  In- 


399 

dians  were  gone.  But  one  lasting  result  came  from  the  escapade. 
Whether  it  was  from  the  impression  he  made  upon  his  savage  acquain- 
tances of  that  night,  or  the  effect  of  mature  reflection,  the  fact  remains 
that  Sam  Leeds  is  known  among  the  Crow  Creek  Sioux  to  this  day  as 
"the  beautiful  blacksmith." 

Among  other  things  that  greatly  amused,  and  sometimes  annoyed  the 
people  of  Waterbury  in  the  summer  of  1884,  was  a  crane  caught  by 
Will  Dunlap.  The  bird  soon  became  a  general  pet  and  went  every  where. 
No  door  was  left  open  that  he  did  not  enter.  No  house,  church,  or  place 
of  business,  was  safe  from  his  intrusion.  Guests  at  the  hotel  table  were 
often  startled  to  see  the  long  bill  of  the  crane  come  sliding  into  their 
plates  and  taking  away  some  morsel  that  suited  the  fancy  of  the  bird. 

A  young  man  came  out  from  Ohio,  armed  with  all  the  weapons  of 
war  to  fight  Indians  and  incidentally  shoot  buffalo  and  deer.  After  be- 
coming thoroughly  disgusted  with  a  country  in  which  he  could  stand  no 
chance  of  satisfying  the  cravings  of  his  ambition  he  traded  his  beautiful- 
rifle  to  Dunlap  for  the  pet  crane  and  took  it  back  to  the  Buckeye  state. 

I  spent  nearly  two  weeks  with  Will  Waterbury  at  his  residence  on  the 
old  townsite,  going  over  with  him  the  days  when  the  ground  upon  which 
he  lives  had  the  largest  town  in  the  two  counties  of  Jerauld  and  Buffalo. 
He  kindly  furnished  me  with  a  few  copies  of  the  newspapers  published 
in  Waterbury  in  1885.  From  one  of  them  the  "American  Home,"  pub- 
lished by  M.  B.  McNeil,  under  date  of  January  6th,  1885.  I  copy  the 
following  item  concerning  the  neighboring  town : 

"Sulphur  Springs  has  no  land  mark  now.  The  old  hotel  was  burned 
last  Wednesday.  The  building  was  owned  by  Chas.  Conrad  and  was  in- 
sured, though  if  for  enough  to  cover  the  loss  we  do  not  know.  It  was 
occupied  by  Mr.  Wheeler's  family,  who  lost  all  of  the  clothing  and  furni- 
ture.    The  furniture  was  insured  for  about  $300." 

From  the  same  paper  of  date  February  3,  1885,  I  quote  this: 

■      CARD  OF  THANKS. 

Frank  P.  Blair,  Post  No.  46,  Department  of  Dakota,  G.  A.  R. :  Do 
hereby  tender  their  thanks  to  Comrade  Stevens,  Mr.  H.  E.  Rex,  Mr. 
Wm.  Dunlap  and  ^liss  Minnie  Waterbury  for  their  kind  assistance  during 
our  first  annual  camp-fire.     A.  E.  White,  Com. ;  W.  A.  Rex,  Adj." 

Sections  28  and  29  dip  down  into  the  valley  of  the  east  branch  of 
Crow  Creek,  while  30  and  31  are  almost  wholly  in  the  valley  of  the  main 
stream.  The  SE  of  29  was  obtained  from  the  government  by  U.  E.  Babb, 
who  was  one  of  the  prominent  citizens  of  the  township.  Near  the  south- 
east corner  of  this  quarter  the  county  has  constructed  across  this  branch 


40C 

of  the  creek  one  of  the  most  expensive  bridges  in  the  county.  It  is  used 
but  little,  and  in  fact,  it  is  unsafe  for  a  heavy  team.  The  planks  are  rot- 
ted and  badly  broken  and  any  attempt  to  take  a  loaded  wagon  over  it 
would  be  to  invite  the  disaster  that  would  almost  certainly  follow.  At 
the  time  it  was  built  it  was  the  only  steel  bridge  in  the  county.  The  abut- 
ments of  stone  were  built  by  Pat  Brady,  a  carpenter,  then  living  in  Wes- 
sington  Springs,  and  are  apparently  as  solid  as  they  were  when  placed 
there  fifteen  years  ago.  When  built  it  was  a  necessity  for  the  people  of 
the  southwest  part  of  the  county  who  did  their  trading  at  the  town  of 
Waterbury.  Now  the  roads  on  both  sides  of  the  valley  have  been  so 
badly  washed  by  the  heavy  rains  of  the  past  few  years  as  to  be  almost 
impassible  for  anything  more  cumbersome  than  a  bicycle.  The  railroad 
station  at  Wessington  Springs,  however,  has  changed  the  line  of  travel 
so  that  this  now  remote  bridge  is  used  but  little.  This  condition  will  not 
be  for  long,  I  think,  for  the  railroad  so  confidently  expected  and  so  long 
looked  for  by  the  people  of  Waterbury  and  Sulphur  Springs  will  yet 
traverse  Crow  township  and  the  engine  will  whistle  for  Waterbury  sta- 
tion. But  no  one  should  get  excited  about  it,  for  all  will  have  plenty  of 
time  to  get  out  of  the  way. 

Across  the  creek,  south,  lie  sections  32  and  33,  both  owned  by  A.  G. 
Kayser,  whose  ranch  of  3000  acres  includes  also  the  S  half  and  NW 
quarter  of  34,  the  E  half  of  31,  all  of  29  and  the  S  half  of  28.  I  followed 
down  the  stream  across  29,  looking  in  every  pool  for  ducks.  Just  be- 
fore entering  the  big  valley  of  Crow  Creek  I  stopped.  Of^  to  the  right 
was  the  big  sulphur  spring,  and  up  on  the  point  of  hills  above  it  the  site 
of  the  town  of  that  name.  The  spring,  the  hills  and  a  few  cellar  holes 
are  there  yet.  This  half  section,  the  west  half  of  29,  was  taken  as  a  pre- 
emption and  homestead  by  John  R.  Miller,  who  located  the  town  and 
cemetery  on  it.  For  some  time  he  masqueraded  under  the  name  of  Scott, 
and  none  of  the  settlers  knew  his  real  name  until  he  advertised  in  the 
Sulphur  Springs  newspapers  that  he  would  make  proof  for  his  land.  I 
went  on  west  to  the  corner  section.  Here  they  built  school  house  No.  3, 
when  the  township  was  organized  for  school  purposes  and  named  in  1884. 
It  was  the  home  at  one  time  of  the  largest  school  in  the  county.  The  first 
teacher  in  this  building  was  Miss  Minnie  Stanley,  now  Mrs.  S.  W.  Boyd, 
of  Pleasant  township,  and  among  her  pupils  was  Miss  Dunham,  now 
Mrs.  J.  L.  Coram,  of  the  Oliver  hotel  in  Wessington  Springs.  They  two 
are  all  that  remain  in  the  county  to  represent  that  term  of  the  Sulphur 
Springs  school. 

Across  the  creek  from  where  I  stood,  but  near  the  location  of  the  old 
scholl  house  is  the  home  of  A.  G.  Kayser,  on  the  northeast  corner  of  the 
NE  of  31.     Mr.  Kayser  came  to  this  farm  from  Parkston,  S.  D..  about 


401 

three  years  ago  and  now  is  the  owner  of  one  of  the  best  cattle  ranches  m 
the  county.  The  quarter  upon  which  the  ranch  buildings  are  placed  passed 
into  the  possession  of  several  different  persons  before  the  government 
finally  parted  with  the  title.  Geo.  Gilbert,  Frank  Rogers,  Swartwout  and 
a  man  named  Hubbard,  held  it^  each  in  turn,  until  the  latter  made  final 
proof  for  it  and  sold  it  to  Herman,  who  made  up  the  ranch  nearly  as  it 
is  now.  Up  to  the  time  Herman  purchased  it  this  quarter  had  remained 
practically  unimproved.  He  came  out  from  Mason  City,  Iowa,  to  go 
into  the  business  of  raising  cattle,  his  first  move  was  to  get  a  house  to 
live  in.  Over  on  the  hill  in  29  was  the  foundation  of  the  old  Sulphur 
Springs  hotel,  much  as  it  was  when  that  building  was  partially  destroyed 
by  the  fire  in  the  early  part  of  1885.  The  stone  from  this  spot  were  taken 
to  the  site  selected  for  the  new  farm  house  and  placed  in  a  wall  where 
they  still  remain.  The  next  move  was  for  a  superstructure.  The  first 
real  frame  house  built  in  that  part  of  the  township  was  still  standing 
where  Frank  Rogers  built  it,  on  the  SE  of  28.  This  was  transported 
bodily  and  placed  on  the  wall,  where  it  forms  the  east  part  of  the  house  in 
which  Mr.  Kayser  lives.  What  now  constitutes  the  east  wing  of  the 
cattle  shed  was  also  brought  from  the  Rogers  place.  When  the  Glen 
creamery  went  out  of  business  and  was  sold  the  ice  house  was  brought  to 
the  Kayser  ranch,  where  it  is  doing  service  as  a  granary. 

South  of  the  Kayser  house,  but  a  part  of  the  ranch,  is  SE  of  31,  the 
old  Chas.  Conrad  pre-emption.  He  figured  for  some  time  as  landlord  of 
the  Sulphur  Springs,  hotel. 

In  the  spring  of  1883,  Chas.  Marvin  came  to  Dakota  Territory  from 
Bremer  county,  Iowa,  to  "look  around".  By  the  time  he  reached  Mitchell 
he  was  so  well  pleased  with  the  appearance  of  the  country  that  he  made 
a  homestead  entry  for  the  NW  of  18 — 106 — 67,  now  Logan  township. 
In  the  fall  of  that  year  he  came  out  again  and  built  a  claim  shanty  and 
established  his  residence.  Early  the  next  spring  he  moved  his  family  out 
from  Iowa  and  began  in  earnest  the  life  of  a  frontiersman  on  the  plains. 
He  still  owns  the  land  upon  which  he  placed  his  first  filing,  although  he 
has  changed  his  dwelling  place  to  the  SE  of  6  in  the  same  township.  He 
now  owns  the  S  half  and  NE  quarter  of  6  and  the  NE  of  7,  making  800 
acres  of  as  good  land  as  any  one  could  wish.  It  has  not  been  all  "smooth 
sailing"  for  him,  however.  In  the  blizzard  of  1888  he  lost  all  the  cattle 
he  had  and  eleven  years  later,  in  1899,  his  house  on  the  place  where  he 
now  lives  was  destroyed  by  fire.     Yet,  for  all  that,  he  has  prospered. 

No  man  in  the  county  is  better  or  more  favorably  known  than  Joe 
Ponsford.  His  land  holdings  includes  the  N  half  of  30,  the  east  half  of 
19.  the  west  half  of  31  and  the  NE  of  17.  One  of  the  1883  settlers  he  still 
retains  his  residence  in  Crow  township  on  the  farm  with  which  he  has  been 


402 

identified  for  over  a  quarter  of  a  centuiy.  In  fact,  he  was  the  only  one 
of  those  who  took  government  land  in  Crow  township  in  "83  to  vote  there 
at  the  last  election,  Will  Waterbury  being  the  only  other  person  who  was 
a  resident  of  that  township  twenty-five  years  ago  to  vote  at  the  election 
of  1908. 

One  morning  in  October,  I  set  out  from  W.  E.  Waterbury's  for  a  run 
down  through  Logan.  The  old  road  along  which  E.  S.  Waterbury  and 
his  son,  Tom,  groped  and  floundered  on  the  evening  of  the  great  blizzard 
in  1888,  is  now  fenced  off  and  no  one  travels  it.  So  I  took  another  road 
through  the  same  pasture  and  reached  the  highway  on  the  north  line  of 
28  where  A.  E.  McCall,  with  his  steam  thresher,  was  shelling  out  the 
tremendous  crop  of  wheat  and  flax  that  had  been  grown  on  the  old  Dan 
Waterbury  claim,  the  NW  of  28,  now  owned  by  Gotlobb  Krueger.  The 
machine  was  doing  good  work  and  both  McCall  and  Krueger  wore  satis- 
fied smiles  that  were  Taft-like  in  their  expressiveness.  Krueger  sold  his 
flax  crop  for  a  little  over  a  thousand  dollars,  for  which  he  received  a 
check  before  he  had  drawn  more  than  a  sample  to  market.  He  declared 
he  would  never  do  that  again,  for  he  was  deprived  of  the  pleasure  of  re- 
ceiving the  money  when  he  dumped  a  load  into  the  bin  at  the  elevator. 

The  road  on  the  section  line  was  ideal  for  wheeling  and  the  spin  down 
to  Waterbury  P.  O.  was  a  delightful  one.  After  chatting  a  few  mirut:'s 
with  the  genial  P.  M.,  I  headed  south.  I  soon  crossed  the  extreme  north 
line  reached  by  the  prairie  fine  on  the  28th  of  April  99.  The  change  of 
wind  that  sent  the  flames  into  Main's  buildings  and  wiped  out  the  old 
town  of  Waterbury  turned  the  fire  southeast  at  this  point  anil  saA'cd  liie 
homes  of  Clark  Wetherell,  Capt.  Vrooman  and  several  others  that  I'ty 
directly  north  of  it.  Had  it  reached  the  Wetherell  farm  it  would,  in  all 
probability,  have  destroyed  a  number  of  buildings  that  are  associated  with 
the  early  settlement  of  that  vicinity.  Wetherell  has  gathered  ^ip  quiie  a 
nu!i-.l,er  of  the  old  landmarks  and  preserved  them.  These  old  buildings 
wiiich  Clark  has  gathered  into  a  really  comfortable  home  have  a  story,  in 
the  aggregate  that  is  worth  telling. 

The  north  half  of  the  house  was  brought  by  Ed  and  Dan  W^aterbury 
from  Pole,  111.,  r'nd  probalby  has  more  white  oak,  ash.  and  hemlock'  in 
it  than  any  other  iiouse  in  the  country.  .  That  lumber  was  cut  in  the 
woods  near  Polo,  sawed  into  boards  and  dimensipn  stuff,  stored  av  ay  in 
a  dry  place  and  seasoned  for  about  fifteen  years  and  then  shipped  to  Kini- 
ball,  S.  D.,  by  vad  and  hauled  by  wagon  to  Waterbur}-,  where  it  was  th.e 
first  building  erected  on  the  townsite.  The  south  h:^lf  of  Wetherell's 
house  was  built  by  S.  T.  Leeds  for  a  residence  in  the  town  of  Waterbury 
in  1884..  He  sold  it  to  Harley  Barnum,  now  mail  carrier  at  Crow  Lake, 
who  moved  it  to  the  NE  of  30  in  Pleasant  township,  to  use  in  "holding 


403 

down"  ills  hoinestead.  He  kept  it  there  five  or  six  years  and  then  sold 
the  building  to  George  Wicks,  who  took  it  to  his  homestead  on  the  XE 
of  35  in  Crow  township.  Wicks  lived  in  the  house,  which  seems  but  little 
the  -Nvorse  for  its  travels,  seven  years.  About  1902  Wetherell  purchased 
the  claim  shanty  from  Wicks  and  gave  it  a  permanent  location  by  the 
side  of  the  Waterbury  building.  Wetherell's  barn,  a  good  substantial 
structure,  is  made  of  the  lumber  once  contained  in  one  of  the  two-story 
buildings  in  Waterbury.  The  chicken  house  was  at  one  time  a  barn  on 
one  of  the  farms  in  Crow  township,  but  whose  I  have  forgotten. 

On  the  SW  of  .25,  where  K.  Kelley  once  had  a  tree  claim,  John  Wicks 
now  has  a  good  farm  and  farm  house.  He  also  has  the  SE  af  26  across 
the  road. 

The  SW  of  26  is  a  part  of  the  farm  of  Geo.  W.  King  and  in  the  '80s 
was  owned  by  E.  J.  Gray.  He  also  has  the  SE  of  2^,  which  was  "proved 
up"  by  Mittie  G.  Kellogg,  and  the  NE  of  34,  where  John  Plank  had  his 
homestead.  Mr.  King  has  been  in  Jerauld  county  since  1883.  His  whole 
time  of  residence  here  has  been  in  Pleasant  and  Crow  townships.  The 
NW  of  31  in  Pleasant  was  his  pre-emption  and  the  NW  of  the  same  sec- 
tion was  his  tree  claim.  He  moved  onto  his  present  farm  in  Crow  in  1894 
and  has  prospered  as  have  all  the  others  in  that  part  of  the  county,  who 
came  through  the  hard  times  and  hung  on. 

On  the  NE  of  35  of  Crow  township  Geo.  Wicks  made  a  homestead 
entry  in  189 — .  This  quarter  had  been  held  by  E.  J.  Gray  as  a  tree  claim, 
but  being  abandoned  Geo.  contested  Gray's  entry  and  made  it  his  home. 
It  is  a  fine  quarter  and  what  makes  it  more  attractive  is  the  neat  and  trim 
condition  of  the  grounds  about  the  house.  Xo  city  lawai  shows  greater 
care.  George  is  preparing  to  erect  a  large  barn  and  has  had  a  good  deal 
of  trouble  to  get  the  stone  for  the  foundation,  for  the  reason  that  "nigger 
heads"  are  not  common  in  that  vicinity. 

At  the  northwest  corner  of  35,  I  turned  south,  ran  along  the  west 
side  of  that  quarter,  once  held  by  C.  E.  Lucas,  and  past  the  SW  of  35 
with  the  old  Xorin  quarter  in  the  distance,  past  the  spot  where  Lyme 
Goodrich  had  his  residence  and  which  was  the  first  place  at  which  Solo- 
mon stopped  after  killing  Rohbe.  The  Goodrich  quarter  is  now  owned  by 
Harvey  King,  who  has  been  living  there  during  the  last  two  years.  From 
the  King  house  the  Combs  hill  is  in  plain  sight. 

I  entered  Logan  township  on  the  line  between  sections  2  and  3.  the 
old  Combs  &  Harris  ranch  on  the  east,  now  owned  by  Henry  P.  Will  and 
Joseph  O'Brien,  and  the  August  Johnson  pre-emption,  of  20  years  ago, 
on  the  west.  Ahead  of  me  on  the  SE  of  3,  I  could  see  the  home  of  Z. 
P.  De  Forest,  or  De  La  Fray,  which  was  the  name  of  his  Hugenot  an- 
cestors in  France,  and  I  dismounted  at  his  door  just  in  time  for  dinner. 


404 

Pie  is  one  of  the  earliest  of  the  early  settlers  in  Logan  township.  While 
eating  the  midday  meal  he  gave  me  considerable  information  about  the 
early  settlement  of  Logan,  and  incidentally  something  of  the  story  of  his 
life  and  of  the  interesting  history  of  his  family.  The  De  La  Frays,  like 
many  other  Hugenot  families,  escaped  the  massacre  of  St.  Bartholomew, 
by  changing  their  names  and  succeeded  in  escaping  to  America.  Here 
they  assumed  the  English  form  of  the  name  which  is  the  one  by  which 
their  descendant  in  Logan  township  is  known.  Z.  P.  De  Forest,  ex- 
druggist  and  ex-telegraph  operator,  lives  alone  on  the  land  he  obtained 
from  the  government  25  years  ago.  In  my  ^  two  hours  visit  with  him  he 
made  no  boast  of  his  ancestry,  yet  the  easily  correct  form  of  his  speetch 
was  proof  positive  of  the  gentility  and  refinement  of  the  family  of  De 
Forest.  A  man  living  so  long  alone  will  certainly  drop  into  the  forms 
of  speech  of  the  people  by  whom  he  was  surrounded  in  his  childhood. 
Yet  during  our  whole  conversation  I  did  not  detect  one  ungrammatical 
expression. 

From  De  Forest's  place  I  went  over  to  the  Combs  hill  to  look  about 
the  spot  that  was  the  center  of  so  much  excitement  in  November,  1885. 
The  buildings  are  all  gone,  and  nothing  but  the  cellar  hole  and  tall  weeds 
tell  where  the  house,  barns  and  corrals  were  located.  After  climbing  the 
hill  and  looking  about  the  premises  I  walked  out  to  the  old  trail  leading 
across  country  from  Waterbury  to  Crow  Lake,  and  along  which  Solomon 
rode  when  he  went  to  surrender  himself  to  the  authorities. 

A.  E.  Hanebuth,  now  of  Wessington  Springs,  was  one  of  the  early 
settlers  of  the  township  and  for  many  years  had  his  residence  on  the  S\\ 
of  I.  The  farm  is  now  occupied  by  Chas.  Segar,  who  was  busy  putting 
lip  hay  in  the  vicinity  of  Combs  hill. 

A  mile  south  of  the  Hanebuth  farm  is  the  farm  home  of  D.  B.  Pad- 
dock, for  several  years  one  of  the  commissioners  of  the  county.  The 
Green  Mountain  school  house  was  located  on  this  farm  and  in  it  one  of 
the  first  Sunday  schools  of  the  township  was  held.  The  farm  is  now 
owned  by  J.  F.  Jones,  who  purchased  it  of  Mr.  Paddock  a  short  time  be- 
fore he  was  killed. 

The  school  records  of  Logan  township  having  been  destroyed  by  fire 
at  the  time  Chas.  Marvin's  house  was  burned,  but  little  could  be  gathered 
concerning  the  township  schools.  The  data  of  the  school  organization, 
and  of  what  occurred  in  the  early  years,  I  will  have  to  get  from  the  county 
archives,  and  from  the  memory  of  the  settlers  of  that  time. 

Mr.  Jones'  farm  includes  the  NW  of  T2.  Freeman  Paddock's  claim. 
the  SW  of  12,  D.  P>.  Paddock's  homestead,  and  the  SE  of  11.  where  John 
Sleighter  had  his  pre-em]ition  right  in  the  '80s. 


405 


Geo.  H.   YoiiJig. 


Mrs.  D.  A.  Hall. 


Mr.  and  Mrs.  E.  K.  Rohcson.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  JJ'.  H.  Robeson. 


4o6 

From  the  Jones  residence  I  took  an  "angling"  road  southwest  across 
section  14,  crossing  Mrs.  Wheelock's  claim,  the  NE  quarter,  August 
f3uckholtz'  homestead  and  timber  culture  claims  on  the  SE  and  SW  quar- 
ters and  Andrew  Wilson's  homestead  on  the  NW  quarter. 

On  this  NW  of  14  Andrew  Wilson  performed  a  feat  that  was  one  of 
the  most  remarkable  things  accomplished  in  those  early  days.  In  his 
effort  to  get  water  on  his  claim  he  dug  a  well  155  feet  deep,  doing  all 
the  digging  with  a  shovel,  while  his  wife  and  the  girls  drew  the  dirt  to 
the  surface  with  a  common  windlass.    He  got  good  water  and  plenty  of  it. 

Across  the  section  line  west,  on  the  NE  of  15  lived  H.  A.  Robinson, 
at  one  time  a  merchant  of  Lyndale.  His  son,  Roy,  was  the  first  white 
child  born  in  Logan  township. 

After  crossing  section  14,  I  walked  along  the  north  line  of  22  for  one 
of  my  bicycle  tires  had  sprung  a  leak,  until  I  reached  the  home  of  An- 
drew Pflaum  on  the  NE  quarter.  Here,  since  the  spring  of  1884.  has 
lived  this  veteran  of  the  Civil  war,  or  what  is  left  of  him — he  lost  one 
arm  in  the  fight  at  Champion  Hill.  The  loss  of  his  arm  was  the  second 
wound  received  that  day.  The  same  grit  that  kept  him  in  the  firing  line 
as  a  soldier  has  served  him  in  good  stead  as  a  settler.  He  has  endured 
drought,  hot  winds  and  prairie  fires  in  the  years  gone  by,  but  he  can  now 
look  with  pride  about  him  at  his  pleasant,  comfortable  home  and  sharing 
the  credit  with  his  wife  who  has  been  his  true  helper,  say  "mother,  it 
paid  us  to  stay."  He  is  not  only  proud  of  his  home,  but  he  is  proud  of 
his  family,  and  well  he  may  be.  They  have  not  only  been  successful  in 
what  they  have  undertaken,  but  in  all  the  years  they  toiled  together  in  the 
prairie  home,  they  never  failed  him — not  once. 

I  passed  the  night  wath  Andrew  Pflaum  and  the  next  morning  took 
the  road  west  through  the  pasture  to  where  John  Boeson  lives  on  the 
NE  of  21.  He  is  clerk  of  the  civil  township,  but  like  the  school  clerk, 
his  records  are  not  old,  for  the  fire  that  burned  Mr.  Dykeman's  house  a 
few  years  ago  destroyed  the  township  books.  This  NE  of  21  was  taken 
by  Squire  Atkins  in  April,  1883,  and  was  his  residence  until  he  died  a 
few  years  later.  It  is  now  owned  by  John  Wicks,  who  also  owns  the  SE 
quarter  of  the  same  section. 

John  Wicks  w^as  one  of  the  early  settlers  in  that  township,  holding  the 
west  half  of  22  as  a  homestead  and  tree  claim.  Mr.  Wicks  was  for  a 
number  of  years  closely  identified  with  the  schools  of  Logan  township, 
and  the  county.  An  account  of  his  experience  with  his  school  through  the 
night  of  the  great  blizzard,  will  form  a  chapter  in  the  history  of  the 
county. 

From  Boeson's  residence  I  ran  south  to  section  27.  On  the  N\\'  of 
this  section  was  located  what  was  known  in  the  old  times  as  the  Pleasant 


407 

Hill  school  house.     In  it  Sunday  school  and  church  services  were  held 
twenty  years  ago. 

On  this  same  quarter,  the  NW  of  27,  is  located  the  Pleasant  Hill 
cemetery.  This  section  was  considerably  cut  up  by  the  early  settlers  who 
took  it  from  the  government.  John  C.  Ferris  had  a  160  acres  out  of  the 
center  of  the  north  half,  taking  the  two  center  eighties  running  north  and 
south.  The  east  half  of  the  NE  quarter  was  taken  by  Henry  Krum- 
vaed,  who  is  now  a  member  of  the  Omaha  police  force.  The  NE  quar- 
ter of  the  SE  quarter  of  this  section  was  taken  by  Henry  Geffiki,  who 
had  a  blacksmith  shop  here  and  did  work  for  a  large  circle  of  settlers. 
The  SE  quarter  of  the  SE  quarter  was  owned  in  the  '80s  by  Henry  P. 
Will,  who  for  years  has  been  one  of  the  most  successful  ranchmen  of  the 
county.  The  west  half  of  the  SE  quarter  and  the  east  half  of  the  SW 
c[uarter  were  a  tree  claim  whose  holder's  name  is  not  on  the  chart  that  I 
have,  while  the  west  half  of  the  west  half  was  a  claim  held  by  H.  A. 
Frick. 

Near  the  north  line  of  the  section  and  on  the  mile  long  strip  held  by 
Mr.  Frick,  is  the  cemetery.  It  is  a  beautiful  spot  and  for  a  country 
churchyard  is  well  kept,  though  I  can  see  no  reason  why  people  who  live 
in  the  country  should  not  take  as  great  care  of  the  little  plat  of  earth 
where  their  friends  are  at  rest  as  people  in  the  towns  or  cities.  But  may- 
be the  beautifying  of  a  grave  yard  has  nothing  of  love  for  the  departed 
in  it  and  is  only  a  matter  of  vanity  like  the  parks.  However  it  is,  there  are 
several  cemeteries  in  the  county  that  should  receive  attention.  In  this 
acre  are  ten  graves  without  headstones  and  eight  with  headstones.  One 
stone  bears  this  inscription:  "Mary  Carrol  Frick,  born  Aug.  20th,  1809. 
died  June  30th,  1894.''  A  span  of  life  that  endured  while  civilization  was 
crossing  a  hemisphere.  In  that  time  the  arts  and  sciences  had  advanced 
more  than  in  all  the  six  thousand  years  gone  before;  in  that  time  one 
race  of  men  was  destroyed  and  another  made  free.  The  little  plat  of 
ground  is  fenced  and  well  protected  from  prairie  fires. 

At  the  NE  corner  of  27,  I  turned  south  and  had  a  nice  run  down  to- 
ward one  of  the  most  pleasant  valleys  I  ever  saw.  The  road  was  good 
and  the  weather  fine.  Off  to  the  left  was  the  house  of  Peter  Schleder, 
to  the  right  lay  the  old  time  residence  of  H.  A.  Frick.  I  turned  another 
corner,  ran  down  to  where  the  creamery  once  stood,  the  buildings  of 
which  are  now  scattered  over  the  township,  and  entering  what  is  some- 
times called  "Buttermilk  Street,"  I  was  at  Glen,  really  the  loveliest  spot 
it  has  been  my  good  luck  to  see  in  the  state. 

Glen  is  certainly  a  beautiful  place.  Why  it  is  more  lovely  than  other 
places  or  what  makes  it  so,  I  can  not  tell.  The  grass  is  no  greener,  the 
soil  no  better,  the  crops  no  more  abundant,  the  sun  no  brighter,  the  hills 


4o8 

no  higher,  nor  the  valley  any  smoother,  yet  all  these  things  are  combined 
in  such  a  way  that  one  can  not  help  saying  ''delightful."  Some  day  when 
the  railroad  reaches  it,  tired  men  and  women  will  go  there  to  lounge  in 
the  shade,  fish  in  the  pools  and  rest. 

At  Glen  there  is  a  spacious  town  hall,  but  no  town ;  a  postmaster,  but 
no  post  office,  an  R.  F.  D.,  but  when  I  was  there  the  carrier  had  not  been 
seen  for  three  days. 

Glen,  in  a  mercantile  sence,  and  as  known  to  the  U.  S.  Postoffice  De- 
partment, is  one  acre  in  size,  located  in  the  northeast  corner  of  the  SE  of 
33  and  owned  by  William  Barker. 

In  1893  the  people  in  that  vicinity  petitioned  the  government  for  a 
postoffice.  The  request  was  granted  and  they  were  told  to  select  a  name 
for  the  new  office.  Dift"erent  persons  handed  in  names  to  H.  A.  Frick, 
the  new  postmaster,  and  all  the  suggestions  were  forwarded  to  Washing- 
ton, where  the  name  Glen,  which  had  been  suggested  by  Harry  Frick, 
now  a  druggist  at  Wessington  Springs,  was  adopted  by  the  department. 
The  postoffice  was  kept  in  Mr.  Frick's  residence  until  the  next  year  and 
then  it  was  moved  into  Grandma  Frick's  house,  across  the  line  on  sec- 
tion 34.  This  old  landmark  is  now  used  as  a  chicken  house  on  the  Cable 
ranch. 

The  name  Glen  followed  the  postoffice  as  it  was  moved  from  one 
building  to  another,  until  in  February,  1908,  when,  the  postoffice  being 
suspended,  the  name  became  attached  to  the  store  in  which  the  office  had 
been  kept.  Mr.  Barker's  store  and  residence  is  now  Glen.  The  building 
is  a  commodious  one  and  the  store  room  well  .stocked  with  such  goods  as 
are  liable  to  be  wanted  in  rural  communities.  Outside  of  his  store  Mr. 
Barker  amuses  himself  with  thoroughbred  chickens,  of  which  he  is  a 
fancier.  The  breeds  that  have  attracted  his  attention  for  some  time  are 
the  Ringlet  Barred  Plymouth  Rock  and  the  Rhode  Island  Reds.  He  has 
attended  a  number  of  South  Dakota  poultry  shows  and  never  failed  to 
have  his  birds  decorated.  He  expects  to  attend  the  Mitchell  show  as  an 
exhibitor  this  winter.  Near  the  poultry  yards  and  doing  duty  as  a  granary 
is  an  old  claim  shanty,  once  owned  by  Frank  Rogers. 

A  good  deal  of  the  land  about  Glen  is  included  in  a  ranch  owned  by 
Mr.  Cable  of  Hudson,  Lincoln  county,  S.  D.  The  ranch  is  occupied  by 
Mr.  D.  B.  Orear,  a  cultured  gentlemna  of  extensive  information.  One 
of  the  attractive  features  of  this  ranch  is  the  great  spring  that  flows  into 
a  walled  room  at  the  foot  of  a  gravel  hill.  The  water  is  cool  and  free 
from  everything  objectionable,  the  supply  would  be  sufficient  for  an  army. 

A  half  mile  east  of  Glen  lives  Peter  Schleder,  who  has  a  splendid 
farm  of  520  acres,  most  of  which  is  in  section  34.  Years  ago  this  land 
was  owned  by  E.  R.  Burgess.    Mr.  S.  came  on  to  this  farm  from  Aurora 


409 

county  in  1894  and  has  added  to  the  imporvements  until  he  now  owns  one 
of  the  best  in  the  township. 

I  enjoyed  Mr.  Orear's  hospitaHty  for  the  night  and  the  next  morning 
started  west  from  Glen.  The  section  line  between  33  and  28  has  been 
vacated  as  a  highway,  because  it  would  require  three  bridges  in  one  mile 
to  make  it  passable.  The  road  has  been  located  on  the  half  section  line  in 
SS,  where  but  one  bridge  would  be  required  and  that  one  has  not  been 
built.  The  only  means  of  crossing  this  branch  of  Smith  creek  on  this 
road  is  a  great  pile  of  large  and  small  stones  thrown  into  it  and  over 
which  people  can  pass  without  getting  into  the  mud.  The  crossing  is 
dangerous  and  but  little  used,  the  travel  being  around  by  the  county  line 
in  preference  to  the  risk  of  driving  over  the  stone  crossing.  These  people 
have  a  right  to  complain  of  the  neglect  of  the  county  in  not  providing 
them  with  the  one  bridge  over  the  creek. 

A  mile  west  of  Glen  in  section  32  is  Mike  Liesh's  farm  residence.  The 
farm  includes  800  acres,  a  part  of  which  is  in  Brule  county.  Mr.  Liesch 
lives  in  Kimball  but  he  holds  onto  this  land,  a  part  of  which  he  has 
owned  a  quarter  of  a  century.  I  have  seen  many  farms  sold  for  $100 
per  acre  that  were  not  as  good. 

Turning  north  from  the  Liesch  place  I  ran  north  to  the  old  Byers 
farm  to  which  has  been  added  the  NW  of  32,  the  S  half  of  31  and  the 
E  half  of  30.  A  branch  of  Smith  creek  forms  a  chain  of  pools  across  the 
NE  of  32  where  Joseph  Byers  had  his  buildings.  It  was  while  trying  to 
water  his  cattle  at  one  of  these  pools  that  Mr.  Byers  got  lost  and  perished 
in  the  great  blizzard  of  1888.  The  farm  now  comprising  960  acres  is 
owned  by  a  man  in  Sioux  Falls,  but  is  occupied  by  Louis  Range,  who 
moved  here  from  Winnebago  county,  Iowa,  in  the  spring  of  1907. 

From  the  residence  of  Louis  Range  I  took  the  road  west  to  the  NW 
corner  of  section  32  just  to  look  at  the  lands  where  the  early  settlers 
lived.  H.  H.  Moulton  took  from  the  government  two  claims  in  the  south 
half  of  29,  each  a  mile  long.  The  old  shanty,  vacant  and  deserted,  stands 
on  the  southwest  quarter  of  the  section.  The  only  building  west  of  the 
Moulton  shanty  in  this  county,  that  is  in  use  is  on  the  NW  corner  of  2,2. 
I  leaned  the  wheel  against  the  fence  and  went  in  to  look  at  it.  Some 
school  room  furniture  was  lying  on  the  floor,  so  arranged  to  form  a  bin 
in  one  corner  of  the  building.  A  part  of  the  furniture  was  held  in  place 
as  part  of  the  bin  by  the  heating  stove  that  was  also  lying  on  the  floor. 
The  door  was  kept  shut  by  the  bin  which  was  partly  filled  with  wheat. 
The  window  glass  and  sash  were  broken  and  gone,  the  birds  were  making 
good  use  of  the  room  as  a  haven  of  "roost."  It  was  the  old  Dan  Sleigter 
school  house  of  20  years  ago.  It  reminded  me  of  the  story  of  the  wan- 
dering Indian,  who  said  that  it  was  not  he  that  was  lost,  'twas  his  wig- 


4IO 

warn.  It  would  cost  more  to  repair  it  than  to  build  a  new  one  and  it  will 
probably  never  again  be  used  for  school  purposes.  It  was  first  placed  on 
section  17  but  has  moved  about  since  then  until  the  land  upon  which  it 
was  finally  located  became  a  part  of  the  great  pasture  in  which  the  build- 
ing is  now  situated,  and  it  seemingly  has  been  forgotten  as  a  school 
house.  The  wanderings  of  Logan  township  school  houses  will  be  given 
next  week. 

The  NW  of  32,  the  quarter  on  which  the  old  school  house  is  located, 
was  obtained  from  the  government  by  Ira  Ellis,  who  afterward  drove  the 
mail  stage  between  Waterbury  and  Wessington  Springs. 

A  number  of  the  quarter  sections  of  land  in  the  southern  part  of 
Logan  township,  were  settled  upon  by  railroad  men  from  Amboy,  111., 
who  came  to  the  territory  in  1883.  Among  them  was  H.  H.  Moulton, 
who  for  35  years  had  been  a  clerk  in  the  Illinois  Central  freight  office  at 
Amboy.  He  was  accompanied  by  his  daughters,  Helen,  Florence  and 
Lizzie,  each  of  whom  made  the  required  filings  and  residence.  Mr. 
Aloulton  obtained  the  SW  of  29,  while  Florence  took  the  east  half  of  that 
section.  Lizzie  Moulton  placed  a  filing  on  the  south  half  of  28  and  Helen 
on  the  NW  of  the  same  section. 

Wm.  Hale  was  a  conductor  on  the  Illinois  Central.  He  also  lived  at 
Amboy,  but  made  a  tree  claim  entry  for  the  NW  of  31. 

For  the  NE  of  31,  Ed  Coalman,  a  baggage-master  on  the  C.  B.  & 
O.,  at  Amboy,  made  a  pre-emption  filing  and  "lived"  on  it  the  required 
number  of  times  to  make  proof. 

Timothy  Chase,  also  a  railroad  man  from  Amboy,  got  the  NE  of  30. 

Ed  Blakesly  and  J\I.  Butterfield,  both  Illinois  Central  conductors  and 
W.  H.  Fox,  conductor  on  the  C.  B.  &  O..  got  the  west  half  and  the  SE 
of  19,  while  W.  Patten,  another  railroad  man,  all  from  Amboy,  filed  on 
the  SE  of  17. 

John  Rogers,  who  had  the  NW  of  30,  was  yardmaster  for  the  Illinois 
Central  at  Amboy.  This  claim  was  finally  purchased  by  ]\Irs.  Dykeman, 
now  i\Irs.  Barker  of  Glen,  who  made  proof  for  it  and  still  holds  the  title. 

None  of  these  railroad  men  had  anything  to  do  with  the  subsequent 
development  of  the  township.  They  were  simply  claim  holders  who  came 
out  from  Amboy  and  "lived"'  once  in  thirty  days  or  once  in  six  months 
according  to  the  filing  they  had  on  the  land  and  after  making  proof 
abandoned  the  country  entirely.  The  land  laws  of  the  L\  S.  at  that  time 
provided  that  the  holder  of  a  pre-emption  claim  should  not  be  absent 
from  his  land  longer  than  30  days  at  one  time  and  a  homesteader  must 
not  be  absent  more  than  six  months  in  succession. 

These  uncertain  settlers  caused  a  good  deal  of  trouble  in  after  years 
in  ^retting  the  school  houses  located    so  as  to  be  most  convenient  for  the 


411 

actual  settlers.  Logan  township  was  probably  bothered  more  than  any 
other  township  in  the  county.  The  itinerary  of  the  school  buildings  of 
this  community,  if  the  term  may  be  properly  applied  to  a  building,  may 
be  of  interest  to  later  settlers. 

School  house  No.  i,  known  as  the  "Green  Mountain"  school  house 
was  built  on  section  12  and  never  moved  but  the  others  had  a  roving 
existence. 

School  house  No.  2  was  built  on  the  south  line  of  the  SW  of  17. 
Draw  a  line  on  the  township  plat  from  that  point  to  the  center  of  the 
east  line  of  the  SE  of  6,  then  to  the  center  of  the  NW  of  9,  from  there 
to  the  northwest  corner  of  the  NW  of  32  and  you  have  the  line  of  travel 
given  to  the  house. 

Then  draw  another  line  from  the  center  of  the  north  line  of  the  NW 
of  27  to  the  center  of  the  west  line  of  the  NW  of  15,  thence  to  the  center 
of  the  south  line  of  the  SE  of  21  and  you  have  the  course  followed  by 
school  house  No.  3. 

No.  4  is  the  old  Sulphur  Springs  school  house  purchased  in  1899  of 
Crow  township.  Draw  a  line  from  the  southwest  corner  of  29  in  Crow 
township  to  the  center  of  the  south  line  of  the  SW  of  27  in  Logan,  then 
east  80  rods  to  the  center  of  the  north  line  of  34  and  you  will  have  the 
laughable  outlines  of  the  wanderings  of  these  institutions  up  to  the  present 
time.  Yet  these  removals  were  necessary  to  accommodate  the  changing 
settlement,  and  more  will  be  made  in  the  future  or  new  houses  built. 

From  the  old  and  deserted  school  house  on  the  NW  of  32,  I  took  the 
section  line  north,  some  of  the  time  riding  but  walking  most  of  the  way, 
for  this  road  has  not  been  traveled  enough  to  keep  the  grass  down. 

There  was  little  of  interest  until  I  reached  sections  18  and  17.  The 
v;est  half  of  section  18  was  taken  as  homesteads  by  Eugene  Rowe  and 
Chas.  Marvin,  about  the  former  of  whom  I  could  learn  but  little.  The 
SE  quarter  was  taken  by  some  one  as  a  tree  claim.  The  NE  of  18  was 
a  pre-emption  taken  by  James  Long  in  April,  1883.  The  quarter  across 
the  line  east  was  taken  by  A.  S.  Fordham,  now  of  Wessington  Springs. 
Mr.  Long  and  Mr.  Fordham  were  brother-in-laws,  and  so  as  a  matter 
of  economy  they  put  one  shanty  for  the  two  families,  building  it  across 
the  section  line.  The  two  families  numbered  ten  persons,  but  they  were 
getting  a  beginning  in  their  new  homes  and  anything  would  do,  for  a 
time,  even  though  it  was  crowded.  Wliile  the  shanty  was  being  built  the 
families  found  shelter  with  Hiram  Woodbury  down  on  the  SW  of  32. 
Probably  no  two  families  in  this  county  saw  more  of  sorrow  and  hardship 
than  these  two  during  the  years  that  followed. 

All  were  full  of  hope  and  they  laughed  at  the  discomforts  of  their 
situation.     Mr.   Fordham  put  a  timber  culture  entry  on  the  SW  of   17 


412 

and  his  soldiers'  declaratory  on  the  SE  quarter,  for  he  was  a  veteran  of 
the  civil  war.  The  first  great  sorrow  came  a  few  weeks  after  they  were 
settled  when  Mrs.  Long  was  taken  suddenly  ill  and  died  on  the  20th  of 
July,  1883.  She  was  buried  on  the  hill  north  of  the  shanty.  This  was 
the  first  death  in  the  township  and  spread  a  visible  sadness  over  the  whole 
community. 

Life  was  not  all  sorrow  and  trouble,  however,  in  the  new^  settlement- 
Crops  and  prospects  were  fair  and  three  years  after  coming  to  the  ter- 
ritory Miss  Belle  Fordham,  on  the  25th  of  April,  her  17th  birthday,  was 
married  to  Frank  Dykeman.  This  was  the  first  marriage  in  the  township. 
One  day  Hiram  Woodbury,  who  had  now  obtained  a  filing  on  the  SE 
of  7,  came  to  the  shanty  on  17  and  they  took  him  in.  He  was  suffering 
from  inflammatory  rheumatism  and  the  people  he  had  sheltered  while 
they  were  building  their  new^  home  several  years  before,  now  cared  for 
>  him  in  his  extremity.  All  that  tender  care  and  nursing  could  do  for  him. 
was  done,  but  his  malady  was  fatal  and  in  a  couple  of  weeks  he  died. 

The  period  of  hot  winds  and  hard  times  came  and  struck  the  Ford- 
hams  as  hard  as  any.  The  crops  were  poor  and  the  prices  low,  but  they 
stayed.  At  length  the  tide  turned,  with  better  prices  came  better  crops. 
The  cattle  had  increased  in  number  and  by  1899  Mr.  Fordham  and  his 
wife  determined  to  leave  their  farm  and  move  to  Kimball,  where  they 
could  take  life  a  little  easier. 

On  the  morning  of  the  28th  of  April  Mrs.  Fordham  and  her  daughter, 
.  Mrs.  Dykeman,  started  out  from  Kimball  to  drive  to  the  farm.  A  terrific 
wind  was  blowing  from  the  south  and  the  air  was  full  of  dust  and  debri 
blown  up  from  the  prairie.  They  had  driven  but  a  few  miles  w^hen  they 
saw  a  dense  volume  of  smoke  ahead  of  them.  Some  one,  heedless  of  the 
damage  that  might  be  done  by  a  fire  driven  by  such  a  wind,  had  applied 
a  match  to  a  field  of  dry  weeds.  The  fire  soon  passed  beyond  the  limits 
of  the  small  field  and  was  at  large  in  the  great  limitless  prairie  of  dead 
grass.  The  wind  was  steadily  widening  the  head  fire  and  driving  it 
straight  toward  the  center  of  Logan  township.  The  two  women  urged 
on  the  horses  in  the  faint  hope  that  the  fire  would  be  at  least  checked  at 
Smith  creek,  then  a  full  running  stream.  But  the  creek  was  no  obstacle 
to  the  progress  of  the  flames. 

At  home  on  17,  Mr.  Dykeman  was  in  the  house  preparing  the  midday 
meal  for  himself  and  the  children.  One  of  the  little  boys  rushed  into  the 
room  shouting  the  alarm  that  a  fire  was  coming.  Mr.  Dykeman  hurried 
out  to  find  a  long  stretch  of  head-fire  close  upon  them.  The  house  and 
stables  were  protected  by  fire-breaks,  but  the  granary  was  more  exposed 
and  was  soon  in  flames.  The  fire  passed  leaving  the  house  and  stable 
unharmed.     Mr.  Dvkeman  and  the  children  gathered  near  the  house  and 


413 

watched  the  burning  granary  and  the  smoking  prairie.  A  crackHng  noise 
at  the  window  attracted  his  attention  and  he  saw  that  the  whole  inside 
of  the  building  was  in  flames.  Not  a  thing  was  saved  from  the  burning 
house. 

In  a  short  time  Mrs.  Dykeman  and  her  mother  drove  up.  Only  the 
stables  and  the  animals  were  left  of  all  the  fruits  of  their  years  of  toil. 
Dykeman  and  the  boys  were  exhausted  with  their  efforts  to  fight  off  the 
fire- and  their  lungs  were  filled  with  the  smoke  and  dust.  That  night 
Mr.  Fordham  came  up  from  Kimball  and  both  families  took  up  their 
abode  in  the  stable. 

On  the  third  day  after  the  fire  one  of  the  boys  became  seriously  ill 
and  soon  showed  unmistakable  signs  of  scarlet  fever.  A  move  from  their 
lodging  place  was  then  imperative  and  the  two  families  moved  over  to 
the  school  house  on  the  north  line  of  27.  There  a  couch  was  fixed  up 
for  the  sick  boy,  the  rest  of  the  group  sleeping  on  the  benches  until  bed- 
ding could  be  procured  and  more  comfortable  arrangements  made.  In  a 
few  days  Mr.  Dykeman  was  taken  sick  and  it  was  soon  evident  that  he, 
too,  had  the  dread  disease.  Then  the  county  health  officers  stepped  in 
and  quarantined  the  school  house  and  its  occupants.  A.  S.  Fordman  was 
the  only  man  about  the  place  able  to  do  anything  and  he  was  suffering 
from  the  effects  of  a  carbuncle  on  his  knee  upon  which  an  operation  had 
been  performed  a  few  days  before. 

The  cattle,  among  which  were  28  milch  cows,  were  at  the  home  place 
on  ]/.  Twice  Mr.  Fordham  went  over  and  milked  the  entire  number, 
but  the  milk  could  not  be  sold,  and  must  be  poured  out.  Mr.  Andrew 
Pflaum  kindly  volunteered  to  take  the  animals  and  care  for  them.  Ford- 
ham now  gave  his  entire  attention  to  the  sick  ones  in  the  school  house. 
The  needed  groceries  were  obtained  at  Mr.  Frick's  store  at  Glen.  To  get 
the  supplies  needed  Fordham  would  go  to  a  spot  near  the  store  where  he 
could  be  seen  and  wait  until  some  one  came  to  the  door.  He  then  made 
his  wants  known  and  retreated  to  a  safe  distance,  when  the  articles  wanted 
had  been  brought  out  and  placed  where  he  could  get  them,  he  would  pick 
them  up  and  go  back  to  the  school  house.  This  continued  day  after  day. 
The  sick  child  began  slowly  to  recover,  but  the  sick  man  was  evidently 
getting  worse.  Then  the  other  little  boy  was  taken  ill.  On  the  15th  of 
May  Mr.  Dykeman  died.  S.  T.  Leeds.  H.  A.  Frick,  John  Pflaum.  August 
Miers  and  Dr.  Smith  came  for  the  body  and  laid  it  away  in  Pleasant  Hill 
cemetery.  The  boys  recovered  and  at  length  the  quarantine  was  raised, 
the  bedditig  and  all  articles  used  in  the  school  house  burned  or  fumigated, 
the  building  cleaned  and  the  two  old  people  stepped  forth,  destitute  of  all 
personal  property,  but  rich  in  the  consciousness  that  they  had  done  their 
best.     Thev  still  own  tlie  S  half  of  17,  which  is  one  of  the  many  good 


41.4 

tracts  in  Logan  township.  The  old  veteran  and  his  wife  now  Hve  in  Wes- 
sington  Springs,  in  a  house  of  their  own  which  by  hard  work  they  have 
bought  and  buih,  Httle  by  httle  and  paid  for.  The  house  on  17  was  not 
rebuilt. 

The  east  half  of  18  has  had  numerous  owners.  One  of  them  was 
Henry  ]McElwain,  now  of  Wessington  Springs,  who  made  substantial 
improvements.  Then  it  passed  into  the  hands  of  a  man  named  Carlson, 
then  IMahnke,  then  W.  T.  ]\IcConneIl,  who  last  spring  sold  it  to  Mr. 
iJayne.  At  the  time  of  my  visit  ^Ir.  Bayne  was  hard  at  work  getting 
moved  on  to  the  place  and  settled. 

The  SE  of  18,  the  SW  of  17,  the  XW  of  20  and  the  XE  of  19  were 
all  tree  claims,  making  a  square  640  acres  of  timber  culture  entries,  but 
not  a  tree  is  in  sight. 

On  the  XW  of  21,  adjoining  the  school  section  A.  P.  Pflaum,  son  of 
Andrew  Pflaum,  has  resided  since  1904.  This  was  the  homestead  of  C. 
C.  jNIeyer,  who  made  proof  for  it.  It  was  swept  by  the  prairie  fire  that 
destroyed  so  much  propert}'  in  Logan,  Crow  and  Pleasant  townships  on 
the  28th  of  April,  1899.  A  loan  company  foreclosed  a  mortgage  that 
Meyers  had  given  and  which,  at  the  time  of  foreclosure  amounted  to 
$700.  Mr.  Pflaum  purchased  it  from  the  company  for  $400.  Today  it 
could  not  be  bought  for  $3200.  A  new  house  and  barn,  a  good  well,  90 
acres  in  cultivation  and  excellent  crops  have  placed  the  young  man  in 
comfortable  circumstances.  He  was  one  of  the  boys  that  passed  the  night 
of  January  12th,  1888,  in  Pleasant  Hill  school  house  with  the  other  pupils 
of  John  Wicks'  school.     He  has  a  vivid  recollection  of  that  storm. 

On  September  ist.  1906,  Mr.  Solomon  Radke  came  up  from  Yankton 
county,  S.  D.,  and  took  possession  of  the  S  half  of  8,  which  he  had  re- 
cently purchased  of  S.  C.  Scott,  speculator,  of  Lyons,  Iowa.  The  improve- 
ments are  good,  the  buildings  being  located  near  the  center  of  the  section 
on  the  XW  corner  of  the  SE  quarter.  One  hundred  and  forty  acres  are 
in  cultivation,  the  balance  is  in  pasture.  In  the  early  '80s  the  SE  of  this 
section  was  taken  by  W.  J.  Burnette  as  a  pre-emption,  and  a  man  named 
Boyce  took  the  SW  quarter  as  a  tree  claim.  X^either  Burnette  nor  Boyce 
perfected  their  entries  for  the  land  they  had  taken  in  this  section  and 
later  John  Pfaff  filed  a  homestead  entry  for  the  SE  quarter  and  a  pre- 
emption for  the  SW. 

From  Radke's  farm  I  rode  and  led  the  wheel  alternately  in  a  north- 
easterly direction  until  I  was  again  on  the  old  trail  from  Waterbury  to 
Kimball.  I  went  north  between  sections  4  and  5,  certainly  a  fine  country. 
The  approach  down  the  hills  from  the  south  to  Crow  Creek  bridge  is  no 
better  than  from  tlie  north.  At  one  time,  when  the  bridge  was  built  this 
was  one  of  the  best  traveled  roads  of  the  west  part  of  the  county.     It  was 


415 

the  outlet  for  all  that  region  to  Kimball  twenty-five  miles  south.  But 
that  was  before  the  railroad  came  to  Wessington  Springs.  Xow  the  main 
course  of  travel  is  eastward  and  this  old  thoroughfare  but  dimly  visible  in 
the  rank  growth  of  grass.  At  the  bridge  I  stopped  a  few  minutes  to  catch 
a  mess  of  fish  and  then  climbing  the  hill  north  of  the  bridge  I  rode  on 
to  the  old  townsite  of  W^aterbury  again.  I  was  hungry  and  the  fish 
were  fine. 

One  morning  in  the  latter  part  of  October,  I  was  at  the  Waterbury 
P.  O.  and  finding  the  wind  favorable,  determined  to  take  a  run  down  into 
Crow  Lake  township.  I  followed  the  star  route  that  is  traversed  by  Jehial 
— commonly  known  as  "Hiley"  Barnum  every  day  in  the  year.  Numer- 
ous small  tin  boxes,  each  decorated  with  the  name  of  some  farmer,  were 
stationed  along  the  way.  On  some  of  them  the  little  tin  "flag"'  was  stand- 
ing up  to  notify  the  carrier  that  some  mail  was  there  for  him  to  take. 
About  20  families  have  boxes  on  this  lO-mile  route,  where  they  receive 
and  deliver  their  letters  and  papers  each  day. 

When  a  great  convenience  is  new  people  express  their  appreciation  by 
saying,  "thank  you,"  but  when  it  gets  old  enough  to  be  common  they 
show  their  sense  of  the  "favor  only  by  saying  " — you''  when  a  miss  accurs. 
The  veteran  carrier,  who  travels  this  route  has  for  21  years  been  doing 
the  work  that  Uncle  Sam  requires  of  his  servants  in  this  line  of  duty. 
Yet  he  is  only  one  of  those  who  day  after  day,  summer  and  winter,  in 
sunshine  or  in  storm,  have  traveled  the  bare  Dakota  prairies  since  the 
postal  stations  were  established  here  so  long  ago.  Mr.  Barnum,  of  Crow 
Lake,  Howard  Pope,  now  retired  from  the  service,  and  Mr.  Spayn,  who 
for  years  has  carried  the  Wessington  Springs-Miller  mail,  have  each 
gone  over  miles  enough  in  their  work  for  the  government,  to  have  en- 
circled the  globe  a  half  dozen  times,  and  all  that  in  Jerauld  and  adjoining 
counties.  Many  other  men  attract  far  greater  attention  in  positions  more 
spectacular,  and  called  more  honorable,  yet  not  one  in  ten  thousand  of 
them  render  such  useful  service  to  the  public,  or  receive  so  little  compen- 
sation or  honorable  mention  as  the  faithful  carriers  who  make  life  so 
much  more  pleasant  in  the  prairie  home. 

On  the  NE  of  i,  in  Logan  township.  Johanan  H.  Riegal,  a  splendid 
fellow,  well  known  to  all  the  early  settlers  of  the  southwest  part  of  the 
county,  settled  in  1883.  He  remained  until  about  1900  and  then  sold  out 
and  went  to  Pennsylvania,  but  has  not  prospered  by  the  change.  The 
place  is  now  owned  by  J-  W.  Coffin,  who  lives  on  the  old  C.  S.  Barber 
farm  in  Pleasant  township. 

Across  the  road  east  and  I  was  on  section  6  of  Crow  Lake  township. 
Of  the  first  settlers  of  this  section  B.  F.  Drown,  on  the  NE :  Robt.  Heble 
on  the  SE ;  Joseph  Gibisch  on  the  SW  and  Frank  Kaas  on  the  NW,  none 


4i6 

are  there.  The  land  is  of  excellent  quality  but  they  seemed  to  think  they 
could  do  better  elsewhere  and  sold  for  a  trifle  of  what  the  land  is  now 
worth.  Three  quarters  of  this  section,  the  S  half  and  NW  quarter,  are 
now  owned  by  H.  B.  and  J.  B.  Reese,  two  brothers  who  have  operated 
one  of  the  best  paying  farms  in  the  county  during  the  past  four  years. 
In  addition  to  the  land  above  mentioned  they  have  the  west  half  of  5  in 
Crow  Lake  and  a  few  quarters  across  the  line  in  Pleasant,  making  two 
sections  in  all.  Of  this  farm  the  SW  of  5  was  taken  in  June,  1882,  by 
C.  S.  Jacobs,  now  of  Wessington  Springs,  who  came  here  from  his  birth 
place,  A'^ictor,  Ontario  county,  N.  Y.  He  returned  to  New  York  that 
summer,  but  the  western  fever  had  him  and  he  has  it  yet.  The  next  June 
he  came  back  to  the  territory  and  filed  a  pre-emption  on  the  NW  of  the 
same  section.  He  built  a  house  near  the  northwest  corner  of  his  pre- 
emption and  began  the  life  of  a  pioneer.  In  building  the  house  on  his 
pre-emption  a  few  little  articles  dropped  between  the  studding  and  were 
not  noticed.  This  summer,  in  repairing  the  building  Mr.  Reese  brought 
forth  a  Victor,  (N.  Y.)  newspaper,  dated  March,  1884;  a  gold  plated 
harness  buckle  and  a  stamping  outfit.  They  were  of  interest  only  because 
of  the  length  of  time  they  had  lain  there.  The  house  has  been  enlarged 
until  it  is  now^  sufficiently  commodious  for  the  help  required  to  push  the 
work  on  so  large  a  farm.  Some  idea  of  the  work  done  by  the  present 
owners  can  be  formed  from  the  fact  that  when  they  took  possession  of 
the  farm  four  years  ago  there  were  but  35  acres  on  the  whole  tract  that 
had  been  in  cultivation  the  previous  year,  and  their  first  crop  of  small 
grain,  all  told,  was  but  390  bushels.  This  year  they  cultivated  450  acres 
of  which  70  acres  was  planted  to  corn.  This  they  were  husking  at  the 
time  of  my  visit  and  the  quantity  and  quality  w^ere  excellent.  The  crop 
of  small  grain  this  season,  as  it  came  from  the  machine,  was  7000  bushels. 
Three  hundred  acres  are  in  pasture,  where  120  head  of  cattle  have  grazed 
during  the  summer.  Half  a  hundred  hogs  would  be  ready  for  market  in 
a  short  time.  The  place. has  that  evidence  of  prosperity  that  makes  it 
noticeable,  even  to  a  man  on  a  wheel.  H.  B.  Reese  came  here  from  Yank- 
ton county  in  1904,  while  J.  B.  Reese  was  for  some  time  the  pastor  of  the 
Congregational  church  at  Wessington  Springs.  It  was  during  his  pas- 
torate that  a  church  was  established  at  Fauston,  in  Pleasant  township, 
and  also  in  Anina  township. 

1'he  east  lialf  of  section  5  was  held  by  Joseph  Gibisch  and  Thos.  TI. 
Null.  The  latter  Ijegan  life  as  a  Dakota  pioneer  on  the  NE  of  this  sec- 
tion. Reading  law  was  more  congenial,  however,  than  farming.  Among 
other  things  that  he  had  for  amusement  and  profit  was  a  dozen  hens  that 
he  purchased  from  a  young  couple  that  had  become  homesick  and  were 
going  back  to  Michigan.     A  few  days  after  getting  the  fowls.  Null  took 


417 

a  dozen  eggs  and  carried  them  to  Waterbury.  Henry  Herring  saw  the 
eggs  and  inquired  if  they  were  fresh.  Null  replied,  "very."  Herring 
bought  them  and  took  them  home.  A  few  weeks  afterward  Herring 
again  met  Null  in  town  and  complained  that  the  eggs  were  not  good.  He 
said  he  had  set  them  under  a  hen  but  not  one  had  hatched.  Null  replied, 
■'I  couldn't  help  it."  Null  soon  after  sold  the  land  and  entered  upon  his 
career  as  a  lawyer.    Since  then  all  farming  operations  have  been  by  proxy. 

From  the  Reese  farm  I  ran  south,  using  the  coaster  brake  most  of  the 
way  until  I  reached  the  southwest  corner  of  section  8.  Here  were  two 
more  mail  boxes,  one  bearing  the  name  of  Thos.  Paulson  and  Christ 
Sorenson,  the  other  Christ  Aistrup. 

In  miaking  this  run  I  had  passed  the  S  half  of  7,  taken  by  Robt.  and 
Sam  Hible  when  the  rush  of  settlers  came  in  1883,  giving  them,  with 
SE  of  6,  three  as  good  quarters  of  land  as  the  "sun  shines  on.  But  like 
many  others  the  Hibles  never  realized  what  a  gold  mine  was  lying  among 
the  grass  roots,  waiting  for  some  one  to  turn  it  up  and  gather  the  treas- 
ure. The  SE  of  7  was  Artel's  tree  claim,  while  the  SW  quarter  was  held 
by  Anton  Rendl. 

Of  the  men  who  received  section  8  from  the  government,  not  one 
remains  in  the  county.  Joseph  Vanous  had  a  pre-emption  on  the  NE 
quarter  and  Matt  Ruppert  the  same  on  the  NW.  The  SW  of  8  was 
Reeve's  tree  claim.  This  quarter  is  now  owned  by  Mr.  Fagerhaug,  who 
came  here  three  years  ago  from  near  Irene,  in  Yankton  county  and  pur- 
chased the  ^^^  half  and  the  SE  quarter  of  this  section.  The  last  mentioned 
quarter  was  a  pre-emption  claim  held  by  John  Klaker.  Mr.  Fagerhaug 
has  evidently  discovered  the  aforesaid  gold  mine  and  is  working  it  to 
good  advantage.  He  is  not  alone  in  the  discovery,  however,  for  all  the 
new  settlers  in  this  neighborhood  seem  to  have  made  the  same  find.  It 
is  being  successfully  worked  by  Mr.  I.  Moen,  who  came  in  last  spring 
from  Yankton  county  and  began  to  open  up  a  farm  on  the  old  D.  R. 
Hughes  quarter,  the  NW  of  17.  Across  the  road  west  from  him  Mr. 
Christ  Sorenson,  also  from  Yankton  county,  certainly  knows  how  to  mine 
the  golden  stream  from  the  black  soil.  All  this  section  of  country  is 
rolling  prairie,  fertile  in  the  extreme.  The  new  settlers  are  not  of  the 
"get-rich-quick"  kind,  but  are  going  at  work  right  on  their  new  posses- 
sions. 

Many  of  the  newspapers  of  the  old  territorial  days.  25  years  ago,  cau- 
tioned the  settlers  of  that  day  that  the  most  productive  soil  was  from  8 
to  10  inches  below  the  surface.  They  were  laughed  at  by  some  as  "news- 
paper farmers"  and  their  advice  ignored.  One  farmer  in  Crow  township 
took  a  few  turns  on  the  sod  with  a  pulverizer,  sowed  some  flax  seed  and 
harvested  ten  bushels  to  the  acre.     What  was  the  sense  of  turning  up  ten 


4i8 

inches  of  dirt  when  such  results  could  be  obtained  by  just  tickling"  the 
bosom  of  mother  earth  with  a  pulverizer  without  plowing  at  all?  Until 
very  recently  it  was  a  common  thing  for  farmers  to  "burn  off"  the  stubble 
and  weeds  of  a  preceding  crop  and  on  the  ground  so  cleared  "put'  in" 
the  grain  with  a  pulverizer  and  harrow.  In  fact  I  have  known  land  to 
be  "farmed"  seven  years  in  succession  with  but  one  plowing.  One  old 
farmer  remarked  that  "people  will  some  times  get  a  crop  here  in  spite  of 
themselves." 

But  my  wires  must  have  got  crossed,  for  I  have  been  talking  a  long 
ways  from  the  SW  of  8 — io6 — 66.  Near  the  southwest  corner  of  this 
quarter  a  good  substantial  school  house  is  located,  well  protected  from 
prairie  fires  by  a  cultivated  field.  Arrangements  have  been  made  for  a 
church  and  cemetery  near  the  school  house  by  the  Lutheran  denomination 
which  has  a  society  organized  here.  The  lot  will  be  surrounded  by  a 
woven  wire  fence,  the  material  for  w^hicli  is  already  on  the  ground.  Near 
the  school  house  stands  a  horse  stable  for  the  use  of  those  who  ride  to 
school.  This  school  house  is  one  of  the  few  in  the  county  that  is  kept 
locked. 

At  the  corner  by  the  school  house  I  turned  east  and  passed  the  old 
home  of  Wm.  Shultz  that  joins  the  school  section  on  the  west.  On  the 
north  side  of  1 6  is  section  9,  where  John  A'anous,  James  Counscel  and 
George  Deindorfer  held  government  land  with  the  rest  of  the  early  set- 
tlers. ]\Ir.  Deindorfer  took  the  E  half  of  the  E  half  of  the  section  and 
another  strip  a  mile  long  on  the  south  side  of  section  10.  One  of  these 
strips  he  took  in  June  '82  and  the  other  in  the  spring  of  1883.  In  the 
spring  of  1883  he  was  a  candidate  for  the  position  of  postmaster  at  White 
Lake,  relying  to  a  great  extent  upon  his  record  as  a  veteran  of  the  Civil 
war.  His  popularity  was  attested  by  a  petiton  containing  between  400 
and  500  signatures,  but  politics  controlled  in  those  days  and  he  was  not 
sufficiently  identified  with  the  controlling  faction.  Mr.  Deindorfer  has 
sold  his  land  and  now  lives  in  Wessington  Springs.  That  part  of  his 
land  which  was  in  section  9  is  now  owned  by  Mr.  B.  Sailer,  but  is  being 
rented  by  S.  Sorenson. 

At  the  northeast  corner  of  the  school  section  I  turned  south  follow- 
ing the  stage  route  toward  Crow  Lake.  On  my  left  w-as  the  home  of  R. 
Y.  Hazard,  established  nearly  26  years  ago.  before  the  affairs  of  Jerauld 
county  had  begun  to  take  definite  shape.  To  him  more  than  to  any  other 
man  is  due  the  good  work  done  in  establishing  the  school  system  of  the 
county,  for  he  was  the  man  selected  by  the  first  board  of  county  commis- 
sioners on  the  first  day  of  their  first  session  to  get  the  schools  started. 
So  well  and  so  conservatively  was  the  work  done  that,  though  nearly  all 
of  the  townshi])s  issued  bonds,  there  is  today  but  one  township  in    the 


419 

county  that  has  bonds  outstandmg  and  those  are  held  by  the  state  school 
fund.  Mr.  Hazard's  land  comprises  the  NE  quarter  and  the  N  half  of 
the  NW  quarter  of  the  section.  The  S  half  of  the  NW  quarter  of  this 
section  was  held  by  Anna  Daum,  the  SW  quarter  by  August  Bachmore, 
while  Chris  Daum  had  the  SE  quarter  as  a  tree  claim. 

South  of  the  Bachmore  quarter  is  the  NW  of  22,  a  quarter  owned  for 
several  years  by  Joseph  O'Brien,  now  of  Wessington  Springs.  One  of 
the  first  branding  committees  appointed  by  the  first  board  of  commis- 
sioners at  the  instance  of  the  stockmen  of  the  county,  a  member  of  the 
first  school  board  of  Crow  Lake  township,  always  possessed  of  a  li^■e!y 
interest  in  politics,  Mr.  O'Brien  is  probably  as  well  known  as  any  man  in 
the  county. 

Section  21,  once  held  by  James  H.  Baker,  Albert  Allyn,  E.  L.  Sawyer 
and  Fanny  Heintz  is  now  embraced  in  one  farm  owned  by  G.  A.  Gra}" 
of  Coleridge,  Neb.  To  section  21  Mr.  Gray  has  added  as  a  part  of  his 
farm  the  W  half  of  27,  the  E  half  of  28  and  also  the  NE  40  acres  of  the 
SE  of  28.  This  gives  him  a  continuous  body  of  land  from  the  school 
section,  16,  to  the  town  of  Crow  Lake.  A  new  house  and  barn  have  been 
built  near  the  northeast  corner  of  21,  and  at  the  time  of  my  trip  a  founda- 
tion had  been  built  and  lumber  was  being  hauled  for  a  new  house  in  the 
old  town.  Of  the  land  owned  by  Mr.  Gray  in  2J,  the  S  half  of  SW  quarter 
was  at  one  time  owned  by  Dr.  Melcher,  the  N  half  of  the  SW  quarter  and 
the  SW  of  the  NW  quarter  by  A.  M.  Allyn,  and  the  SE  of  the  NW  and 
the  N  half  of  the  NW  quarter  by  Frank  Broz.  That  lying  in  section  2'!^ 
was  a  part  of  A.  M.  AUyn's  tree  claim. 

Approaching  Crow  Lake  on  this  road,  the  country  lying  along  the 
south  shore  comes  into  view  first.  A  mile  away  is  the  grove  on  the  P'rank 
Spinier  tree  claim,  probably  the  first  piece  of  cultivated  land  in  the  town- 
ship. Spinier  didn't  stay  long.  The  old  tree  claim  is  now  owned  by 
Vaurin  Dusek.  who  took  the  land  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  lake  in  the 
fall  of  1882  and  has  lived  there  ever  since. 

On  top  of  the  hill,  northwest  of  the  old  town,  I  dismounted  and  stood 
beside  the  wheel  a  few  moments  to  catch  a  glimpse  of  the  quarter  of  a 
century  that  has  gone  speeding  past. 

Off  across  the  valley  is  the  old  home  of  Dr.  Melcher,  now  tenantless 
and  surrounded  by  tall  weeds.  The  farm  upon  which  it  stands  is  com- 
paratively level  and  is  one  of  the  most  fertile  in  the  county.  The  road 
leading  from  the  deserted  house  to  the  village  is  plainly  visible,  though 
used  but  little  at  present  as  compared  with  the  days  when  Melcher,  Allyn, 
McGlashan  and  Alward  were  trying  to  make  the  town  one  of  the  im- 
portant points  of  the  county.  A  walk  over  this  level  road,  during  the 
summer  time  was  a  daih'  event  for  the  doctor,  always  accompanied  b}-  Ir's 


420 

little  daughter,  Anina,  for  whom  he  named  one  of  the  townships  of  the 
county  when  he  was  a  member  of  the  first  board  of  county  commissioners. 
The  road,  as  traveled  by  Mr.  Melcher  and  Anina,  led  from  the  farm 
house  to  McGlashan's  store,  where  the  post  office  was  located,  on  the  east 
side  of  the  street.  Occasionally  he  would  stop  at  the  store  kept  by  Vessey 
Bros.,  on  the  west  side  of  the  street. 

At  the  point  on  the  hill  where  I  first  caught  sight  of  the  Melcher  house 
the  lake  became  also  visible  over  a  good  part  of  the  southwest  corner.  The 
lake  covers  700  acres  and  at  the  time  the  early  settlers  came  it  was  in 
places  from  ten  to  twelve  feet  in  depth.  They  believed  it  never  had  been 
and  never  would  be  dry.  When  Mr.  Peter  Barrett,  an  older  settler  of  the 
country,  told  Dr.  Melcher  that  he  had  driven  across  the  lake,  and  with  a 
shovel  had  dug  down  two  feet  in  hope  of  finding  water  for  his  team,  but 
"vvas  disappointed,  the  doctor  replied  that  "surely  he  must  be  mistaken  in 
the  lake." 

A  number  of  crafts  of  different  styles  floated  on  the  lake  in  those  days 
and  boating  was  a  pleasant  and  common  pastime.  The  appearnce  of  the 
body  of  water  then  was  not  the  same  as  now.  There  were  no  rushes,  and 
the  tall  grass  that  now  almost  hides  the  water  over  a  large  portion  of  it, 
did  not  mar  the  beauty  of  the  lake.  It  was  a  broad  sheet  of  clear  spark- 
ling water. 

One  warm,  summer  day,  when  old  Crow  Lake  was  a  shimmer  of 
liquid  lovliness  Dr.  Melcher  took  his  little  daughter,  then  but  two  years 
old.  for  a  boat  ride.  The  doctor  was  not  a  most  skillful  boatman,  and  in 
some  manner  the  little  craft  was  upset.  For  a  minute  there  was  extreme 
danger.  His  eyesight  was  just  verging  on  the  blindness  that  soon  after 
prevented  his  moving  about  without  assistance,  and  it  was  more  by  the 
sense  of  feeling  than  seeing  that  he  was  enabled  to  rescue  the  little  girl 
from  the  water.  The  lake  where  the  accident  occurred  was  about  five  feet 
deep,  and  the  shore  fully  two  hundred  yards  away.  He  held  the  child  in 
his  arms  a  few  minutes  until  she  had  recovered  from  her  fright  and  then 
placing  her  upon  his  shoulder  he  made  his  way  towards  the  shore.  He 
came  out  of  the  adventure  safely,  and  it  is  doubtful  if  he  was  at  any  time 
as  badly  scared  as  were  some  of  the  neighbors  who  saw  the  accident  from 
a  distance. 

Off  to  the  right  from  the  hill  top  on  which  I  stood  the  old  Mentzer 
ranch  buildings  were  plainly  visible.  The  buildings  are  on  the  south  side 
of  the  vallev  of  Smith  Creek,  the  natural  outlet  of  Crow  Lake.  This  val- 
ley, before  it  was  crossed  by  fences,  afforded  a  fine  course  for  racing,  and 
was  used  for  that  purpose  when  the  people  from  all  over  the  country  cele- 
brated the  Fourth  of  Ji-ily  at  the  lake  in  1887.  The  racing  that  day  was 
notable.     Bovs  and  girls  came  in  with  their  ]:)onies  from   herding  cattle 


421 

and  each  one  was  confident  his  or  her  pony  was  the  best.  One  of  the 
ponies  was  ridden  by  Mary  Detlef.  From  the  top  of  the  hill  I  could  see 
the  whole  of  the  course  over  which  they  ran. 

The  ponies  with  their  riders  were  ranged  up  side  by  side  at  the  west 
end  of  the  track,  a  half  mile  away.  I  have  not  been  able  to  learn  the 
names  of  all  the  riders.  Among  them  was  True  Vessey,  then  a  lad  of 
14  years,  who  was  herding  cattle  for  Jim  Weddle. 

It  was  a  large  and  eager  throng  that  gathered  on  the  prairie  south  of 
Vessey's  store  to  watch  the  outcome  of  the  race.  The  starters  could  be 
seen  trying  to  get  the  little  horses  in  line  for  a  fair  start.  How  long  it 
takes ;  one  little  fellow  starts  oi¥  and  has  to  come  back ;  then  two  or  three 
start  and  are  called  back ;  both  riders  and  ponies  are  anxious  to  get  the 
advantage  of  a  few  feet  in  the  start ;  all  are  off,  but  the  starters  shout  and 
yell  "whoa"  and  all  must  get  back  into  line  again,  while  the  crowd  down 
by  the  store  "wonder  what's  the  matter."  Suddenly  from  the  starters,  far 
up  the  valley,  the  breathless  throng  hears  the  signal  word,  "go." 

They  are  too  far  away  to  tell  who  has  the  best  of  the  start,  and  half 
the  track  is  covered  before  the  race  takes  tangible  shape  to  the  waiting- 
people,  who  are  already  beginning  to  yell.  Then  it  is  seen  that  Alary  and 
True  are  in  the  lead.  Nobody  cares  for  those  behind ;  all  interest  is  cen- 
tered in  the  two  leaders.  Three-fourths  of  the  distance  is  covered  and 
the  boy  is  half  a  length  ahead.  Mary,  riding  in  modern  fashion,  begins 
to  urge  her  pony  to  greater  effort,  pounding  his  sides  with  her  bare  heels 
and  calling  him  to  go  faster.  True  begins  to  apply  his  whip,  and  under 
the  sting  of  the  quirt  his  steed  gains  another  half  length.  Mary  has  no 
whip.  The  goal  is  but  ten  rods  ahead  and  the  other  pony  is  leadmg  by 
a  length.  In  desperation  she  clutches  the  sun  bonnet  from  her  head  and 
using  it  for  a  whip  seems  to  make  her  animal  realize  how  much  in  earnest 
she  is.  His  ears  drop  a  little  further  back,  his  nose  points  a  little  further 
ahead,  his  body  drops  a  little  closer  to  the  ground,  and  with  a  magnificent 
spurt  he  carries  his  little  rider  into  the  yelling,  frantic  throng  and  over 
the  line  a  good  half  neck  ahead.  How  the  crowd  yelled  and  jumped  and 
hurrahed !  Standing  there  on  the  hill  it  almost  seemed  I  could  hear  the 
echoes  from  those  happy  celebrators  of  twenty  years  ago.  Then  came  the 
tub  races  and  the  egg  races,  but  at  length  I  realize  that  the  October  air  is 
getting  chilly  and  so  I  get  on  the  wheel  and  coast  down  to  the  old  Mc- 
Glashan  store,  now  kept  by  his  grandson,  Harry  Bogardus,  where  I  ob- 
tain good  lodging  for  the  night.  The  balance  of  the  celebration  will  be 
told  next  week. 

The  town  of  Crow  Lake  was  platted  at  the  southwest  corner  of  the 
body  of  water  after  which  it  was  named.  Since  the  settlement  of  Crow 
Lake  township  there  have  been  two  lakes  in  the  same  hollow,  the  old  and 


422 

the  new.  Old  Crow  Lake,  the  one  that  was  there  when  the  white  people 
came,  wholly  disappeared  in  1893  and  nothing  was  left  to  show  where  it 
had  been,  but  the  hollow,  the  town  and  the  name.  The  hollow  was  filled 
again  in  1897,  but  it  has  never  had  the  same  clear,  brigh|  appearance  that 
characterized  the  old  lake. 

It  was  to  the  bank  of  the  lake  near  the  town  that  the  crowd  gathered 
on  the  Fourth  of  July,  1887,  to  see  the  tub  race.  Ernest  and  Alex  A'essey 
and  another  young  man  whose  name  I  have  not  learned,  were  the  con- 
testants. 

Three  common  wooden  wash  tubs  were  obtained  from  one  of  the 
stores  and  everything  made  ready  for  the  race.  Ernest  Vessey,  never  a 
man  of  great  size  was  still  smaller,  when  he  was  young,  and  this  proved 
of  advantage  to  him  in  the  contest.  His  two  opponents,  being  too  large 
to  get  into  the  tubs  had  to  lie  across  them,  while  Ernest  sat  like  a  Turk 
on  the  bottom  of  his  little  circular  craft. 

The  race  began.  Ernest's  position  made  a  ballast  for  his  vessel  that 
enabled  him  to  keep  it  steady  while  he  worked  it  through  the  water.  As 
soon  as  the  tubs  were  well  started  Ernest  began  splashing  water  in  the 
faces  and  eyes  of  his  opponents,  at  the  same  time  pushing  himself  well  to 
tlie  front.  His  opponents  could  not  retaliate  without  upsetting.  Their 
onl}-  course  was  to  get  out  of  reach  of  the  flying  water,  and  while  they 
were  moving  sideways  Ernest  was  going  straight  toward  the  pole  that 
marked  the  end  of  the  race.  The  fun  was  great  and  so  was  the  cheering 
when  the  little  fellow  won  the  prize. 

Then  came  the  egg  race.  The  arrangement  for  this  contest  consisted 
of  placing  a  dozen  eggs  ten  feet  apart  in  a  line  extending  from  a  starting 
point.  There  being  three  contestants,  three  lines  were  formed.  The 
runners  were  required  to  go  out  from  the  starting  point  and  bring  in  the 
eggs,  one  at  a  time,  and  place  them  on  tJie  ground.  To  win  was  to  bring 
in  all  the  eggs  first  and  have  the  fewest  broken  ones  in  the  pile.  Ernest 
and  True  Vessey  and  Chas.  Detlef  were  in  this  race.  It  was  mainly  a 
matter  of  speed  and  dexterity.  So  close  was  the  race  that  all  three  of  the 
runners  were  going  in  with  the  last  egg  at  the  same  time.  The  crowd  had 
done  a  vast  deal  of  yelling  that  day  but  they  had  yells  enough  left  to  wake 
the  echoes  from  all  the  surrounding  hills  when  Charley  Detlef  placed  his 
last  egg  by  the  starting  pole  first,  and  was  declared  the  winner. 

Then  came  some  foot  races  and  other  sports,  the  celebration  closing 
with  fireworks  in  the  evening.  It  was  a  jolly  day  for  every  one,  so  mucli 
so,  in  fact,  that  it  was  repeated  the  next  year. 

T  had  come  to  Crow  Lake  to  get  the  school  and  civil  township  records. 
Ilarrv  r)Ogardus,  being  the  clerk  for  both  organizations,  I  was  enabled 
to  examine  the  books  without  further  traveling. 


423 

It  was  while  searching  these  records  for  whatever  might  be  of  interest 
that  I  discovered  the  origin  of  the  South  Dakota  Township  Fireguard  law. 
At  the  annual  town  meeting  held  on  the  tirst  day  of  March,  1892,  S.  H. 
Melcher  proposed  this  plan  for  Crow  Lake  township,  in  all  respects  the 
same  is  that  imbraced  in  the  Cleveland  bill  that  passed  the  legislature  the 
next  winter.  The  plan  was  not  adopted  fully  until  the  next  year  when  a 
tax  of  ten  mills  was  voted  to  carry  it  into  effect.  Having  completed  the 
examination  of  the  records  I  spent  a  day  looking  about  the  old  town  and 
vicinity. 

Changes  in  an  old  community  are  often  interesting  only  because  of 
their  suggestions  of  previous  conditions. 

From  1893  to  1897  Crow  Lake  was  as  dry  as  the  proverbial  "powder 
house" — or  rather  the  hollow  where  the  old  lake  had  been — and  during 
those  years  a  well  traveled  road  ran  east  straight  across  the  valley.  1 
•followed  the  old  road  from  Bogardus'  store  to  the  bank  of  the  lake  and 
looking  off  across  the  water  an  open  way  through  the  grass  and  tall  rushes 
was  plainly  visible,  though  water  from  two  to  ten  feet  in  depth  has  cov- 
ered the  old  road  during  the  past  twelve  years. 

This  like  the  other  old  trails  is  fenced  up,  now,  only  one  of  the  cross- 
country roads  being  still  in  use.  There  is  nothing  that  more  eft^ectually 
impresses  one  with  the  thought  that  he  and  things  about  him  are  growing 
old,  than  the  sight  of  an  old  road  with  a  fence  across  it.  This  possibly 
had  something  to  do  with  the  old  common  law  road  by  prescription.  That 
fence  cuts  the  old  oft'  from  the  new.  Beyond  it  lies  the  great  field  of 
memory.  It  was  this  that  caused  Gault  to  write  to  his  brother  in  the 
stanzas  of  that  beautiful  poem  "Twenty  Years   Ago." 

"I've  wandered  to  the  village,  Tom, 

I've  sat  beneath  the  tree, 
Upon  the  school  house  play  ground,  Tom, 

That  sheltered  you  and  me. 
But  none  were  left  to  greet  me,  Tom, 

And  few  were  left  to  know, 
Who  played  with  us  upon  the  green, 

Just  twenty  years  ago." 

]Many  other  changes,  besides  the  old  roads  have  occurred.  The  house 
once  occupied  by  Jack  Vessey,  the  resident  partner  of  the  firm  of  A'essey 
&Albert,  has  been  moved  to  the  Anton  Reindl  farm  on  section  20.  The 
old  store  is  now  a  sheep  barn ;  the  building  that  was  once  the  office  of 
the  Crow  Lake  "Homesteader"  and  the  residence  of  its  editor,  Mr. 
Pooley,  is  now  some  where  in  Buft'alo  county;  the  school  house  that  stood 
on  the  west  side  of  the  street  has  been  moved  to  the  northeast  corner  of 


424 

the  township ;  the  frame  building  with  its  sod  addition,  at  one  time  the 
village  restaurant,  is  now^  a  stable,  but  minus  the  sod  addition.  I  spent 
the  night  with  Mr.  Barnum,  the  mail  carrier,  in  the  house  built  by  A.  M. 
Allyn,  the  first  settler  in  the  town,  and  where  Mrs.  W.  R.  Annis,  now  of 
Viola  township,  taught  the  first  school  in  the  old  village.  The  old  black- 
smith shop  of  Fred  Wood  was  moved  to  Wessington  Springs.  The  old 
store  building  and  residence  of  J.  T.  McGlashan  is  still  where  he  built  it, 
has  just  received  a  new^  coat  of  paint  and  contains  a  stock  of  goods  that 
proves  a  great  convenience  to  the  people  who  go  there  for  their  mail  and 
■groceries. 


N.  J.  DUNHAM, 

The  Author. 


42/ 


APPENDIX. 


The  following  articles  belong  in  this  volume,  though  not  history  in 
the  strict  sense  of  the  term.  The  first — "The  Evening  Glow" — is  a  beau- 
tifully told  story  of  early  life  in  Wessington  Spring,  the  characters  in 
which  will  be  readily  recognized  by  all  old  settlers.  The  author,  Mrs. 
Maude  Campbell  Cotton,  of  Lake  Bluff,  Chicago,  is  a  daughter  of  Rev. 
J.  G.  Campbell,  for  many  years  a  resident  of  Jerauld  county. 

The  last  article  is  an  attempt  to  trace  one  of  the  old  roads  that  led 
from  the  town  to  the  seminary  and  on,  northwest,  into  the  countr}-,  in 
the  old  days,  before  the  railroad  came  to  Wessington  Springs. 


THE  EVENING  GLOW. 

Maude  Campbell  Cotton. 

The  County  Commissioners  had  a  problem  before  them — what  was  to 
be  done  with  Granny  Smith.  Uncle  Jimmie  Smith  had  been  suddenly 
released  from  his  hard  and  unecjual  struggle  with  the  world,  and  was 
having  the  first  quiet  rest  of  the  whole  seventy  years  of  his  life,  so  poor 
old  Granny  was  left  entirely  alone,  with  no  one  of  kin  nearer  than  her 
old  home  in  England. 

Some  strange  fate  had  tempted  these  two  childless  and  friendless  old 
people  some  ten  years  before  to  come  to  the  new  country  of  South  Dakota, 
where  "land  was  to  be  had  for  the  taking  and  all  the  dreams  of  a  care- 
free existence  realized."  It  had  been  a  hard  struggle  all  along — there 
had  been  crop  failures,  misfortunes  with  the  stock,  the  cattle  and  horses 
which  had  not  succumbed  to  the  rigors  of  the  new  climate  and  the  in- 
sufficient food,  had  been  taken  to  satisfy  mortgages,  so  that  Uncle  Jim- 
mie's  widow  found  herself  with  a  partially  cultivated  quarter-section  of 
land,  two  horses,  four  cows,  a  few  chickens,  and  various  pieces  of  ma- 
chinery needed  in  carrying  on  the  work  of  the  farm.  Plainly  enough  she 
could  not  care  for  herself— -there  was  no  one  to  care  for  her.     This  new 


428 

county  in  a  new  state  had  nothing  in  the  nature  of  poorhouse — beside, 
she  was  not  a  pauper,  but  the  owner  of  a  farm,  and  its  equipment,  however 
meager. 

Accordingly  the  suggestion  had  been  made  to  the  county  authorities 
that  her  farm  be  turned  over  to  them  under  condition  that  she  be  cared 
for  during  her  lifetime.  After  much  discussion  and  many  trying  visits 
from  the  old  lady,  the  decision  was  made  to  accept  the  bequest,  and  work 
was  immediately  begun  upon  a  suitable  dwelling  within  the  borders  of 
the  town  of  Walsington  Falls,  the  county  seat.  One  room,  12x14  f^et, 
comprised  the  house,  but  what  a  paradise  it  seemed  to  Granny.  She 
could  scarcely  be  called  prepossessing,  yet  the  little  old  face,  crisscrossed 
by  many  wrinkles,  the  faded  blue  eyes,  with  no  trace  of  softening  brow 
or  lash,  seemed  to  grow  youthful  as  she  watched  over  the  building  of  this 
new  home.  Here  for  the  first  time  in  her  life  she  was  to  experience  the 
joy  and  freedom  of  being  mistress  of  a  home.  Jimmie  had  been  master 
and  mistress  both  all  these  years,  and  while  she  had  grown  well  accus- 
tomed to  that  state  of  afifairs,  there  was  considerable  excitement  over  the 
new  era. 

Now,  also,  for  the  first  time  in  her  life  she  was  allowed  to  handle 
money — actually  to  make  purchases  upon  her  own  responsibility.  A  small 
sum  was  allowed  her  each  month  for  her  living,  and  while  at  first  the  joy 
of  possession  with  privilege  of  spending,  involved  her  in  difficulties — 
even  in  financial  embarrassment — yet  what  could  one  expect  of  a  child  of 
sixty-eight,  with  those  years  of  repression  behind  her. 

The  tiny  home  was  soon  arranged — bed  in  one  corner,  table,  holding" 
her  Bible  and  one  or  two  other  books,  beside  it,  with  the  two  rocking 
chairs  disposed  at  the  foot,  beside  the  south  window, — this  end  was  parlor 
and  bed  room.  The  stove — a  range — occupied  the  middle  of  the  room, 
giving  heat  to  the  parlor,  and  furnishing  opportunity  for  the  necessary 
work  of  the  kitchen,  which  was  in  the  opposite  end  of  the  room.  The 
dining  table,  with  its  lonely  chair,  stood  beside  the  north  window,  on  the 
line  between  the  divisions,  and  through  windows  and  door  to  east,  south 
and  west  streamed  the  warm  prairie  sun  and  the  fresh  prairie  breeze. 

The  new  situation  brought  many  pleasures  and  undreamed  of  privi- 
leges to  the  little  old  lady,  but  her  chief  delight  soon  grew  to  be  "going 
to  church."  The  little  home  was  near  church  and  parsonage,  and  the 
sound  of  the  bells  always  found  her  ready,  and  her  seat  the  first  one  filled. 
The  minister,  however  stormy  the  day,  was  always  sure  of  one  good  lis- 
tener, and  soon  grew  to  depend  upon  that  wrinkled,  upturned  face, 
puckered  with  anxiety  as  she  tried  to  follow  him  wherever  he  wandered. 
Unconsciouslv,  in  his  effort  to  make  his  message  clear  and  simple  for  this 
untutored  soul,  he  grew  into  greater  strength,  and  his  people  remarked 


429 

upon  a  steady  improvement,  little  dreaming"  that  it  came  about  through  the 
presence  of  the  little  black  figure,  well  to  the  front  of  the  room,  and  al- 
ways there. 

She,  in  turn  grew  to  feel  the  importance  of  her  positon  and  to  as- 
sume a  responsibility  in  the  direction  of  the  church  affairs  to  an  unwonted 
degree.  At  one  of  the  minor  meetings  in  the  absence  of  the  pastor,  she 
had  even  pronounced  the  benediction,  but  after  a  quiet  explanation  from 
the  preacher,  she  had  not  again  attempted  that,  confining  herself  to  mat- 
ters more  closely  within  her  sphere. 

She  had  many  years  to  make  up — Uncle  Jimmie  had  never  approved 
of  church  going. 

"What's  the  use  a-wastin'  time  that  away,"  he  would  growl,  "horses 
that  'ave  been  worked  'ard  h'all  the  week  shoudn't  ort  to  be  druv  on  Sun- 
day— h'anyow  don't  see  what  you  want  to  go  fur. — Notice  the  folks  that's 
so  hanxious  to  go  to  church  're  no  better  'n  them  'at  stay  at  'ome.  Didn't 
h'old  Bill  Lawson,  who  was  alius  going  to  church,  sell  me  seed  flax  as  was 
more'n  'alf  mustard,  chargin'  me  fur  the  best  flax?" 

All  these  things  were  forgotten  now,  however,  and  Granny  often 
sighed  and  wished  "poor  Jimmie"  could  have  been  with  her  to  enjoy  the 
church  meetings. 

Next  to  church  going  she  most  delighted  in  visiting — spending  the 
day  with  her  new  acquaintances  of  the  town  or  country  near  by.  Her 
ten  years  residence  within  a  few  miles  of  the  town  had  not  made  for  her 
as  many  friends  as  the  first  year  in  her  new  home.  She  believed,  without 
having  heard  it  said,  that  she  who  would  have  friends,  must  show  herself 
friendly,  and  so  much  of  her  time  was  spent  in  "visitations." 

One  bright,  brisk  morning  in  December,  while  the  most  of  the  town 
folks  were  still  leisurely  breakfasting,  the  quaint  little  figure  in  black 
shawl  and  hood  started  for  a  long  day  at  the  home  of  Mrs.  Douglas.  It 
was  a  hard  walk — two  miles  over  frozen  country  roads,  with  no  chance 
of  a  ride,  for  all  the  teams  were  bound  for  the  village.  It  was  a  breath- 
less old  lady  with  red  cheeks  and  blurred  eyes  who  surprised  Mrs.  Doug- 
las's as  she  was  skimming  the  milk  for  the  calves'  breakfast. 

"Goodness,  Grandma  Smith,  how  you  stratled  me.  You  must  be 
frozen  after  that  long  walk  against  the  cold  wind.  Come  in  and  sit  by 
the  fire — put  your  feet  right  in  the  oven  and  get  them  warm,  Avhile  I 
make  you  a  cup  of  tea,"  said  Mrs.  Douglass,  as  she  bustled  about  helping 
remove  the  old  lady's  wraps,  getting  a  newspaper  to  shield  her  face  from 
the  too  ardent  fire,  and  bringing  out  tea  pot  and  caddy. 

"You  came  just  in  time — yesterday  I  made  a  big  batch  of  doughnuts, 
and  I  guess  they're  good  the  way  they  have  been  disappearing." 


430 

Grannie's  face  fairly  beamed  as  she  thawed  under  the  influence  of 
warm  kitchen,  hospitable  greeting  and  the  refreshing  tea. 

"You're  right  "arly  this  mornin',  Mis  Douglass, — thought  sure  hid 
be  down  'fore  breakfast  dishes  wus  washed.  Anything  special  h'on  to- 
day, you're  so  smart?" 

"O,  we're  early  birds  down  here,  grandma,  and  today  Malcolm  is 
going  up  north  for  seed  corn,  so  he  wanted  to  be  off  in  good  season.  You 
know  how  short  the  days  are." 

Good  Mrs.  Douglass  said  nothing  of  her  plan  to  accompany  Malcolm 
and  visit  a  distant  neighbor  on  the  way.  She  was  accustomed  to  Gran- 
ny's unexpected  appearances. 

"I  declare,"  she  had  said  to  a  friend  whom  Granny  was  also  fond  of 
visiting,  "sometimes  when  the  day's  plans  are  so  upset  I  feel  like  telling 
her  she  must  send  me  word  before  coming,  but  that  face — so  unconscious 
that  there  can  be  anything  more  important  than  her  entertainment — 
closes  my  lips ;  I  cannot  bear  to  see  the  joy  die  out.  Think  how  few  her 
pleasures  are  at  best." 

So  not  a  hint  of  frustrated  plans  appeared  in  her  cordial  manner,  and 
when  Malcolm  rushed  in  with  the  cry,  "All  ready  soon's  I  hitch  ur>,"  on 
his  lips  her  warning  glance  and  shake  of  the  head  told  him  his  journey 
must  be  made  without  her. 

Malcolm  was  a  prime  favorite,  and  his  gay  greeting,  "Hello,  grandma, 
where'd  you  get  those  dandy  red  cheeks?  The  girls  don't  stand  any 
show  when  you're  around,"  met  with  broad  smiles  and  a  "Just  'ear  that 
now.    Don't  'e  love  to  flatter  the  h'old  ladies  though?" 

"No  sir!  I  never  flatter.  You  know,  grandma,"  sitting  down  close 
be^uie  her,  'T  always  thought,"  but  the  rest  of  the  sentence  was  finished 
m  her  ear  and  lost  to  all  others.  The  eft"ect  was  overpowering,  for  she 
laughed  until  she  coughed  and  choked  and  wound  up  in  a  wild  gale  of 
cackles  "and  gurgles. 

"Go  on  now,"  she  gasped,  with  tears  streaming  down  her  face,  as 
^Malcolm,  seizing  a  doughnut  in  each  hand,  kissed  his  mother  goodbye  and 
v\'as  off  with  a  parting  wave  to  her.  "Aint  'e  the  greatest — alius  'as  the 
gay  word  for  h'everybody — sech  a  pranker." 

Then,  and  her  eyes  took  on  a  faraway  look,  she  said,  "You  know, 
JMis  Douglass,  that  dear  boy  do  make  me  think  o'  my  poor  dear  Jimmie 
more  and  more  h'every  time  I  see  'im." 

Mrs.  Douglass  looked  amused,  for  Uncle  Jimmie,  the  gruft',  surl}'  old 
man,  wasting  few  words,  pleasant  or  otherwise  on  anyone,  seemed  end- 
lessly remote  from  her  bright^faced  boy,  whose  cheer)^  presence  and  quick 
wit  brightened  not  onh-  the  home  l^nt  the  whole  neis'hborhood. 


431 

"Yes,''  granny  went  on  reflectively,  "  'e  cerinly  do  make  me  think  o' 
Jimmie  in  'is  talk  and  hactions.  Yes,  hand  in  'is  looks  too — that  red  'air 
do  remind  me  of  Jimmie's  ginger  whiskers." 

Mrs.  Douglass  laughed  heartily.  "Well  Malcolm's  hair  is  inclined  to 
be  gingery,  and  he  is  certainly  the  spice  of  our  family.  We  will  miss  him 
sadly  when  he  is  off  to  school  next  month." 

"Poor  granny,  how  quickly  all  remembrance  of  disappointment  and 
hardship  has  vanished,"  thought  Mrs.  Douglass,  "she  is  enjoying  Uncle 
Jimmie  more  in  his  death  than  she  ever  did  in  his  life." 

It  was  true, — ^the  great  alchemist  Time  had  cast  a  pleasing  glow  over 
the  past,  eliminating  all  the  gloom  and  shadows.  To  his  widow  now  Jim- 
mie Smith  had  grown  into  the  likeness  of  all  one  could  desire,  and  Mal- 
colm's attractive  face  and  m.anner  personified  to  her  all  that  she  would  ask 
for  her  husband. 

Mrs.  Douglas  broke  into  her  reverie  by  saying,  "Now,  grandma,  shall 
we  go  into  the  other  room  and  get  to  work?  I  have  a  comforter  on  the 
frames  and  while  we  visit  I  will  try  to  tie  it  off.  Yes,  you  may  help  if 
\ou  wish,  if  it  is  not  too  hard  for  you." 

A  big  base  burner  made  this  room  comfortable.  The  bright  sunlight 
flooded  it  through  the  south  windows,  and  added  almost  a  feeling  of 
summer,  which  could  only  be  dissipated  by  a  glance  at  the  wintry  land- 
scape outside.  An  organ  brought  from  the  east  stood  in  one  corner,  neai 
it  a  bookcase,  fashioned  by  Mrs.  Douglass'  own  clever  hands,  and  filled 
with  well  selected  works.  A  roomy  table,  holding  the  big  lamp,  was  well 
littered  with  books  and  magazines.  Neighbors  said,  "Those  Douglasses 
will  never  be  rich.  Look  at  the  money  they  spend  for  books  and  papers. 
Why  their  magazines  must  cost  them  $io  a  year.  Think  of  getting  a  dif- 
ferent magazine  for  each  of  them  six  children.     It's  reckless  waste." 

Grandma  seized  upon  some  of  the  recent  publications — J\Irs.  Douglass 
noticed  she  selected  those  belonging  to  the  younger  children — and  looked 
through  the  pictures,  but  talk  was  more  to  her  taste,  and  soon  needles 
were  threaded  and  she  prepared  to  do  her  share  of  both  talk  and  work. 
Mrs.  Douglass  was  a  safe  companion.  Under  her  kindly  thought  and 
suggestion,  harsh  criticism  and  unneighborly  gossip  were  changed  into 
harmless  and  friendly  feeling. 

"Well,  Mis  Douglass,  did  you  'ear  'ow  cut  up  Mis  Jack  Thompson 
was  when  she  got  to  church  last  Sunday  mornin',  a  leetle  late  o'  course, 
and  found  that  Mattie  Garraway  up  playin'  the  orgin  in  her  place?  You 
know  Mis  Thompson  thinks  that  Mattie's  tryin'  to  git  in  as  organist,  and 
all  them  Garraways  are  jest  pushin'  her  for'd.'' 

"Why  no,  grandma,  that's  a  mistake.  Mrs.  Thompson  is  a  very  busy 
woman  and  with  all  her  family  cares  it  is  not  strange  she  should  occa- 


432 

sionally  be  late  to  church,  and  I  know  she  is  glad  to  have  ]\Iattie  there  to 
take  her  place  when  she  is  detained.  It  is  so  kind  of  her  to  give  her  talent 
freely  and  we  should  appreciate  it." 

"Well  now,  mebbe  that's  so,  'course  I  don't  know  nothin'  about  it, 
but  that's  the  way  it  was  handled  to  me,"  said  granny,  her  mind  easily 
diverted  and  ready  to  t'hink  good  will  to  men,  if  somebody  would  only 
suggest  it  to  her." 

"Didn't  you  think  Brother  Norvell  preached  a  powerful  sermon  week 
ago  on  the  mistakes  o'  Cain?  I  tell  you  I  couldn't  help  a  thinkin'  o'  Mr. 
Miller  and  the  spite  he  holds  agin  that  good  Mr.  Grayson.  You  know 
for  a  long  time  'e  wouldn't  come  to  church  at  h'all,  'e  was  so  mad.  'I  went 
right  hup  to  im  after  meetin'  and  said  'h'l  tell  you  that  ort  to  be  a  strong 
example  to  h'us  these  days,  sez  I,  not  to  hate  our  brotherin,  but  before 
h'l  could  say  h'anything  more  'e  jest  grunted  and  walked  h'away.  H'l 
tell  ye  Mis  Douglass,  that  man's  powerful  sot,  and  if  'e  haint  watchin'  i's 
steps  e'll  fall  in  the  mud,"  finished  granny  with  a  pious  look. 

"Well,  we  must  remember  that  Mr.  Miller  has  not  had  the  advantages 
of  some  and  while  he  is  very  decided  in  his  opinions  and  does  not  easily 
forgive,  yet  he  is  a  kind  neighbor  and  thoughtful  of  those  less  fortunate 
than  himself." 

"That's  so,"  agreed  granny  again,  reminded  of  his  many  visits  to  her 
door  with  vegetables  from  his  well  stocked  pit,  a  chicken  or  a  fresh  piece 
of  meat,  "H'l  alius  did  say  that  man  'ad  a  good  'art  in  'is  stummick. 
There's  something  good  about  h'anyone  as  has  a  warm  thought  for  the 
widders  and  fatherless." 

The  day  wore  pleasantly  away,  granny  enjoying  to  the  utmost  the 
atmosphere  of  the  well  ordered  home. 

"My  land.  Mis  Douglass,  h'l  must  be  gittin'  'ome.  Time  h'l  git  my 
water  and  coal  for  the  night,  'twill  be  supper  time,  tho  I  dunno  's  I'll 
need  much  arter  that  'earty  dinner  I  et.  But  h'l'll  'ave  a  cup  o'  tea  and 
get  somethin'  for  Moses." 

"Who's  Moses?  Well  now  you  knew  I  named  that  cat  Moses,  didn't 
ye?  Didn't  h'll  tell  ye  'bout  findin'  'im  down  in  the  Big  Gulch  sort  o' 
caught  in  an  old  basket  right  in  the  runway?  His  yowls  was  gettin'  feeble 
an'  guess  'e  begun  to  give  up  'ope.  I  wonder  I  never  told  you  abouL  that. 
Anyhow,  cause  o'  findin'  h'im'thr.t  wa}-  1  called  'im  Moses,  and  'es  as 
much  comfort  to  me  as  h'ever  the  real  Moses  was  to  old  Pharaoh  way 
down  in  Egypt.  'E'll  be  at  the  door  waitin'  for  me  when  i  git  'ome.'" 
continued  the  old  lady  as  she  fastened  the  tliick  black  shawl  about  her. 

"Here,  grandma,  is  somethirg  I've  been  intending  for  you  and  I  think 
it  will  be  a  comfort  during  the  cold  trip  home.  I  noticed  your  face  was 
not  well   protected  this  n^orning  and  this   thick  veil   you   will   find   ver\- 


433 

warm."  So  saying  Mrs.  Douglas  proceeded  to  wrap  the  veil  about  gran- 
ny's head. 

"Jest  wait  a  minit,  Mis  Douglas,  'fore  you  tie  that,  there's  something 
I  want  to  speak  about.  You  know  they've  decided  to  have  another  tree 
Christmas  eve  in  the  church  like  they  did  last  year.  Now  if  you  really 
want  to  give  that  veil  to  me,  and  I  certainly  would  be  hawful  thankful  for 
it,  would  you  mind  'angin'  it  hon  the  Christmas  tree  instid?" 

Then  as  Mrs.  Douglas  did  not  immediately  reply,  she  went  on :  "You 
know  every  year  it  seems  all  the  folks  gits  somethink  on  that  tree  but  me, 
and  its  right  lonesome  settin'  there  jest  lookin'  on.  I  had  some  thought 
o'  makin'  up  somethink  and  'angin'  a  little  parcel  h'on  fer  myself.  Of 
course  no  one  would  a  knowed  I  done  it,  but  seein'  's  your  givin'  me  this 
so  near  Christmas  I  reely  would  enjoy  it  a  heap  more  if  it  came  on  the 
tree.'^ 

Mrs.  Douglass  showed  no  amusement  at  the  odd  request  and  assured 
granny  that  she  could  quite  understand  the  feeling,  but  insisted  upon  her 
wearing  the  veil  home. 

The  sudden  appearance  of  Mr.  Douglas  with  the  announcement  that 
he  found  it  necessary  to  go  to  town  and  granny  could  ride,  cut  short  the 
conversation  and  nothing  more  was  said  about  the  Christmas  tree. 

"Poor  old  grandma.  The  Christmas  joy  is  for  the  children,  and  what 
is  she  but  a  child.  Her  life  really  began  when  she  came  to  town  to  live, 
so  she  is  pretty  young  still,  and  there  are  few  of  us  who  would  think 
her  existence  held  much  to  be  happy  over.  I  wonder  I  never  before 
thought  she  might  better  enjoy  her  Christmas  things  if  they  came  by  way 
of  Santa  Claus  and  the  tree,"  mused  Mrs.  Douglass  as  she  went  about 
preparations  for  the  supper  and  made  everything  cozy  for  the  home  com- 
ing of  the  children  from  school.  Her  warm  heart  could  understand  and 
sympathize  with  the  longing  of  children  of  whatever  age,  and  between 
that  time  and  Christmas  she  made  several  quiet  suggestions  to  her  friends. 

The  great  night  came  at  last  and  the  church  was  crowded  with  people 
of  all  ages.  Every  seat  was  taken,  all  standing  room  filled.  Even  the 
high  window  sills  each  held  two  venturesome  boys  who  could  not  under 
ordinary  circum.stances  have  kept  still  enough  to  sit  on  such  uncertain 
perches.  In  her  usual  Sunday  seat,  second  from  the  front,  sat  Grandma 
Smith  among  the  children.  Christmas  songs  were  lustily  sung,  Christ- 
mas recitations  given.  From  the  tiniest  member  of  the  primary  class  who 
lisped,  "The  Bells  of  Christmas  Ring,"  and  then  too  much  overcome  to 
finish  his  couplet  ran  to  hide  his  face  in  his  mother's  lap,  to  the  almost 
young  lady,  who  read  of  the  Star  and  the  Shepherds  from  Ben  Hur.  all 
ranks  of  the  Sunday  school  were  represented.  But  the  crowning  joy 
came  with  sudden  and  dramatic  entry  of  Santa  Claus  from  the  cunningl}- 


434 

devised  fire  place  and  chimney,  who,  after  a  bright  speech  of  greeting 
proceeded  to  distribute  the  gifts  about  the  tree  and  in  his  pack. 

Granny's  face  was  as  eager  as  any  about  her,  and  she  had  quite  for- 
gotten the  disappointment  of  past  years  when  Santa.  Claus  in  loud  tones 
announced  "Grandma  Smith,"  holding  high  a  large  white  parcel.  Then 
a  moment  later  another,  this  time  a  tiny  one.  The  old  lady's  surprise  and 
delight  were  touching.  At  each  call  she  would  rise  and  bow  her  thanks 
to  the  princely  benefactor,  greeting  the  bearer  of  the  gift  with  out- 
stretched arms.  By  the  time  the  tree  was  stripped  she  was  almost  hid- 
den beneath  her  gifts  and  so  overcome  she  could  only  sit  quietly  with 
tears  running  down  her  withered  cheeks. 

The  young  men,  headed  by  ]\Ialcolm,  escorted  her  and  her  treasures 
home,  and  after  giving  three  cheers  for  "Grandma  Smith,  the  most 
popular  girl  in  town,"  left  her  table  piled  high  to  spend  the  rest  of  the 
night  opening  and  enjoying  her  parcels.  Even  Moses  was  not  forgotten, 
for  one  little  packet  bearing  the  inscription,  "For  Moses, — Merry  Christ- 
mas," proved  to  be  a  beautiful  red  bow  for  his  neck. 

The  next  Sunday  as  soon  as  the  sermon  was  ended  Grandma  rose  in 
her  place  and  said  'T  hask  your  pardon.  Brother  Norvell,  for  gittin'  up 
now,  but  if  I  don't  tell  these  folks  my  thanks  I  can't  stand  it.  Nothink  1 
can  ever  say  will  let  you  know  wdiat  my  feelins  'as  been  sence  Christmas 
eve.  I  know  now  'ow  the  Prodigal  Son  felt  when  'e  came  'ome,  and  I 
jest  wish  I  'ad  a  fatted  calf  to  give  h'every  one  o'  ye.    God  bless  ye." 

The  joy  of  the  Christmas  time  remained  a  never  failing  delight  as  the 
days  went  by,  and  everyone  she  met  must  needs  hear  of  the  comfort  and 
pleasure  she  had  enjoyed.  Different  ones,  however,  noticed  as  time  went 
on,  and  the  bracing  cold  Avinds  yielded  to  the  milder  breath  of  spring  that 
grandma  was  not  as  active — seemed  content  to  be  dreamily  at  home  with 
the  faded  blue  eyes  fixed  upon  the  waving  grass  growing  green  upon  the 
hillside.  To  all  inquiries,  however,  she  returned  the  same  answer: 
"Never  was  sick  in  my  life — don't  know  why  I  should  be  now.  Jest  a 
leetle  tired  's  all,  or  else  I've  got  spring  fever." 

One  Sunday  evening  she  was  not  in  her  accustomed  seat  at  the  service 
the  first  time  she  had  missed  in  her  four  years  of  town  life,  and  Mrs. 
Douglass  went  to  learn  if  she  was  sick. 

"No,  not  a  mite  sick.  Mis  Douglass,  jest  a  bit  tired,  and  somehow 
tonight  when  the  bell  rang  it  said,  'set  and  rest,  set  and  rest.'  instill  of 
'come  to  church,  come  to  church,'  as  it  alius  'as  afore.  Ben  thinkin'  a 
'eap  o'  poor  dear  Jimmie  tonight.  You  know  I  believe  that  poor  man 
used  to  git  hawfu]  tired  with  'is  work,  but  'e  never  said  nothink  about  it. 
I've  worried  some  about  'im  sence  I've  ben  a  livin'  here,  the  way  'e  used 
to  go  on  about  things,  never  went  to  church  nor  took  no  intrust,  but 


435 

settin'  here  tonight  it  come  to  me  that  it's  all  right.  Poor  Jimmie  never 
ad  no  chance  at  h'anythink  but  "ard  work  sence  'e  was  born,  never  had 
anybody  to  look  arter  him  till  'e  got  me,  and  praps  I.  want  much  'elp.  I 
was  jest  a  wishin'  'e  could  ha  ben  'ere  to  'ave  enjoyed  this  Christmas  with 
me.     I  know  there  never  was  a  Christmas  like  it  afore." 

"No,  there  haint  nothink  you  can  do  fer  me.  I  haint  sick — jest  a 
leetle  tired.  I'll  be  all  right  in  the  mornin'.  Good  night.  Miss  Douglas, 
I'm  comin'  down  one  of  these  days  for  a  good  visit." 

The  next  morning  the  neighbors,  noticing  an  unusual  quiet  about  the; 
little  home,  went  in — the  door  was  never  locked.  Granny  was  lying 
quietly,  still  resting,  with  a  smile  of  great  content  upon  her  old  worn  face. 

They  carried  her  to  her  beloved  church,  in  accordance  with  her  oft 
expressed  wish  and  the  minister  spoke  simply,  telling  of  the  inspiration 
her  faithfulness  had  been  to  him,  drawing  lessons  of  courage  and  help- 
fulness from  the  simple,  homely  life  for  all  his  people.  "These  closing 
years,"  he  said,  "have  been  like  the  golden  glow  of  the  sunset,  breaking 
through  the  clouds  after  a  gloomy  day,  casting  its  softening ,  reflection 
over  the  day  that  is  past  and  forecasting  the  glory  to  come." 


A  PvEVERIE 

///  JJ'hich  a  Burgomaster  is  Shozvn  Some  of  the  Old  IJ^ays  of  JFessing- 

ton  Springs. 

Twelve  o'clock — midnight,  and  all  was  well.  The  street  presented  the 
appearance  of  a  city  in  the  night  watches  when  the  police  are  asleep.  The 
last  tired  laborer  had  gone  to  his  couch  and  to  the  refreshing  slumber 
earned  by  honest  toil. 

The  full  moon  from  behind  great  banks  of  fleecy  clouds  was  flooding 
the  earth  with  a  faint  light  that  slightly  relieved  the  darkness  of  the  hour. 
Large  objects  were  dimly  visible  a  few  feet  away. 

Insomnia,  superinduced  by  heat  and  the  manifold  cares  of  city  govern- 
ment, caused  the  burgomaster  to  leave  his  bed  and  wander  forth  upon  the 
deserted  streets.  The  air  was  still,  and  listen  as  he  might,  not  a  sound 
could  his  overwrought  nerves  distinguish ;  yet  there  was  vibration,  noise, 
sound,  something  like  the  moaning  of  the  forest,  or  the  sullen  indisting- 
uishable roar  of  the  ocean  in  calm.  B.  was  feeling,  rather  than  hearing, 
the  great  speechless  voice  of  the  prairie — the  never-still  noise  of  silence. 

A  half  hour  the  B.  stood,  resting  his  hand  against  the  liberty  pole  that 
stands,  and  has  stood  for  years,  in  the  center  of  the  square  at  the  crossing 


436 

of  the  main  streets  of  the  town.  His  head  was  bent,  his  gaze  fixed  upon 
the  ground  at  his  feet.  He  was  absorbed  in  thought  of  the  many  cares 
laid  upon  him. 

Sudden!}'  B.  felt,  rather  than  heard,  that  someone  was  approaching. 
He  raised  his  head  and  looked  about.  From  the  direction  of  the  Willard 
Hotel  a  man  was  approaching,  distinguishable  through  the  darkness  by 
his  long  beard  and  flowing  locks,  both  of  which  were  snowy  white.  The 
stranger  made  no  sound  as  he  came  along  the  street.  He  advanced  with 
rapid  steps  straight  to  the  waiting  magistrate  and  when  almost  within 
reach  of  arm,  came  to  a  sudden  halt. 

"Who  are  you?"  said  the  alderman,  in  wonder  at  the  appearance  of 
the  stranger. 

"Don't  know  me,  eh?  Forgotten  me  so  quick,  have  you?  Well,  sir, 
I  at  one  time  knew  you  very  well,  and  you  knew  me  very  well,  too.  I 
was  once  the  best  friend  you  had,  but  so  is  the  way  of  the  world.  A 
good  friend  is  forgotten  so  soon  as  he  is  powerless  to  help." 

"But,  really,  I  do  not  recall  you ;  your  appearance  must  have  changed 
greatly.     Tell  me,  who  are  you,  I  would  not  appear  ungrateful." 

"Don't  worry,  Mr.  Aldeman,  I  am  one  of  a  very  large  family,  and  but 
few  of  us  are  remembered,  except  by  an  individual,  now  and  then.  We 
are  hailed  with  joy  and  bell  ringing  when  we  come,  but  the  bells  peal 
just  as  loudly  at  our  funerals,  for  another  member  of  the  family  is  always 
at  hand  to  try  what  he  can  do  for  men." 

"But  who  are  you?"  repeated  the  burgomaster,  "from  your  aged  ap- 
pearance you  must  be  tired  and  in  need  of  rest.  Why  did  you  not  stop 
at  the  hotel  yonder?  Where  are  you  going?  Why  are  you  out  at  this 
hour?" 

"I  might  put  the  same  question  to  you,  for  it  is  the  time  when  you 
and  your  family  are  wont  to  take  their  rest.  But  as  for  me  and  my  fam- 
ily, no  one  of  them  ever  yet  was  tired,  though  they  have  been  numbered 
by  thousands.  They  never  sleep  and  never  rest.  I  have  come  to  look  over 
the  place  where  I  lived  and  to  see  what  my  brothers  have  done  for  the 
people,  every  one  of  whom  I  knew  so  well.  Will  you  pilot  me  about  the 
place?  I  see  many  changes  have  occurred  since  I  left.  I  came  in  on  the 
old  stage  road  that  George  Pratt  traveled  when  he  carried  the  mail  for 
Bert  Orr  from  Plankinton  to  Huron.  Bert  Orr  had  a  livery  stable  here, 
you  know,  and  Pratt  rode  in  an  open  buggy  summer  and  winter,  carry- 
ing an  umbrella  over  him  to  keep  off  the  sun  in  hot  weather,  and  in  front 
of  him  to  keep  off  the  wind  when  it  was  cold.  I  think  there  are  some 
here  yet,  who  rode  with  him  in  that  old  buggy." 

"Where  is  your  team  and  vehicle?"  asked  the  magistrate,  still  peering 
in  the  darkness  at  his  singular  companion." 


437 

"Didn't  have  any,''  said  the  stranger.  "Makes  too  much  noise.  To 
carry  me  they  take  Time,  and  go  too  slow." 

"Do  you  tell  me  you  came  on  foot  and  are  not  tired." 

"No  matter  how  I  came,"  said  the  mysterious  stranger.  "I  got  here 
on  the  old  stage  -road ;  I  came  through  the  Bateman  gulch,  that  is  what 
we  used  to  call  it  before  the  Chicago  preacher  got  hold  of  it.  I  climbed 
over  or  crawled  through  wire  fences  that  now  cross  the  road,  till  I  got 
up  on  the  hill.  I  find  that  the  cemetery  has  spread  out  and  increased  in 
population,  as  well  as  the  town.  It  is  but  a  few  rods  east  of  the  old  road, 
so  I  went  over  there  to  look  about  a  bit.  It's  a  sightly  spot  and  could 
be  made  very  beautiful  but  will  never  be  attractive.  A  few  houses  about 
forty  rods  west  of  the  road  have  been  built  since  I  was  here.  Then  I 
followed  along  this  way  till  I  came  to  a  woven  wire  fence.  I  climbed  that 
a  couple  of  times  and  finally  bumped  up  against  the  southwest  corner  of 
a  lumber  yard  that  has  the  name  of  Fullerton  painted  on  the  long  build- 
ing which  forms  part  of  the  inclosure.  Then  I  went  to  the  hotel  built 
by  Mrs.  Spears  and  Jesse,  away  back  there  in  the  '80s.  I  saw  a  nice 
thrifty  bush  of  yellow  roses  growing  on  the  south  side  of  the  hotel.  I 
remember  when  the  good  woman  put  the  little  sprout  there  and  gave  it 
the  name  of  the  great  president  of  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  Mrs.  Spears  always 
called  it  the  Willard  rose.  I  wonder  how  many  of  your  people  remember 
the  bush  and  its  name,  though  I  warrant  you  all  admire  it  and  its  blos- 
soms at  the  return  of  each  June  time.  But  I  want  to  visit  the  Barrett 
gulch,  where  Uncle  Peter  and  Aunt  Sarah  kept  the  Elmer  postoffice.  be- 
fore the  town  was  large  enough  to  claim  an  office  and  change  its  name. 

"But  you  will  not  think  of  going  on  tonight;  you  cannot  find  the 
way." 

"Ha!  ha!"  laughed  the  stranger;  "don't  worry,  but  go  with  me  and 
I  will  show  you  that  I  can  follow  the  old  trail  in  a  night  darker  than  this." 

"But  its  all  changed  and  fenced,  and  buildings  erected  in  the  old  way," 
exclaimed  the  alderman. 

"Never  mind  about  that,"  said  the  strange  old  man,  as  he  clutched  his 
long  bony  fingers  about  the  Squire's  arm  and  urged  him  on. 

Starting  from  the  liberty  pole,  the  stranger,  with  wonderful  strength 
for  one  so  old,  hurried  the  alderman  west,  dowai  Main  street  a  few  yards, 
remarking  that  the  hill  was  not  as  steep  as  when  he  lived  in  W'..  then 
turned  to  the  right. 

"They  didn't  have  any  stones  in  the  street  when  I  lived  here."  said 
the  old  man,  as  he  stumbled  on  to  the  cement  sidewalk.  "But  what's 
this?"  he  exlaimed,  as  he  ran  against  a  building.  "I  am  in  the  road.  sure. 
Has  some  one  put  a  building  in  the  road?     'Tisn't  the  post  office?     No. 


438 

that  stands  right  where  Uncle  Peter  built  it  when  he  came  down  town." 

"This  is  Frick's  drug  store,"  said  the  burgomaster. 

■'Built  right  in  the  road,"  said  the  old  man ;  "why  don't  you  make  him 
move  it?" 

"We  moved  the  road." 

"That  ye  couldn't  do.  You  might  have  laid  out  a  new  one,  but  the  old 
one  can't  be  moved.  That's  why  I  know  I  can  follow  it.  Come  on,  we'll 
go  round  the  house  and  get  in  the  road  beyond  it.  Now,  turn  to  the  left," 
he  said,  as  they  got  to  the  northeast  corner  of  the  drug  store,  "and  we'll 
find  the  road-  again.  Thunder !"  he  exclaimed,  as  he  and  the  magistrate 
plumped  together  down  against  another  building.    "What  they  got  here  ?" 

"Pfaff's  bowling  alley,"  said  the  squire. 

"It's  in  the  road  and  we've  a  right  to  step  on  it,"  said  the  old  man, 
testily.  "Come  on,  what  next?  Is  the  bridge  gone?"  he  asked,  as  he 
plunged  into  the  creek,  dragging  the  burgomaster  after  him. 

"People  don't  cross  the  creek  here  any  more,"  said  the  alderman,  as 
he  lifted  his  muddy  boots  and  stood  beside  the  old  man. 

"Moved  it,  I  suppose.  Why  don't  they  put  their  buildings  by  the  side 
of  the  road,  as  they  did  in  Boston,  instead  of  making  a  new  way  every 
time  a  man  wants  to  build  a  house.  Now  what?"  the  stranger  inquired, 
as  they  came  to  the  corner  of  a  good  sized  structure. 

"Bushnell's  electric  light  plant,"  replied  the  squire. 

"W^ell,  I  vum !  Took  pains  to  put  everything  in  the  road,  didn't  they. 
I  remember  that  Alf  Thompson  put  up  a  barn  just  beyond  here,  once, 
and  put  the  corner  of  it  in  the  usual  traveled  road.  He  made  a  bath  house. ' 
too,  but  he  had  the  good  sense  to  put  that  on  the  east  side  of  the  creek 
behind  the  barn.  He  made  the  bath  house  of  stone,  but  it  fell  down,  flat 
as  the  walls  of  Jericho.  Frank  Whitney  bought  the  barn,  and  also  a 
house  that  Wm.  Bremner  had  built  on  the  west  side  of  the  highway.  They 
haven't  been  moved  out  into  the  road,  have  they?  No?  Well  they  seem 
to  have  been  the  only  people  who  had  any  regard  for  the  rights  of  the 
traveling  public.  But,  now,  look  there !"  exclaimed  the  old  man,  when 
they  had  gained  the  top  of  the  creek  bank,  "if  \Aniitney's  haven't  run  the 
corner  of  their  fence  across  the  old  wagon  track. 

"But.  wait  a  minute,"  he  said,  "I  want  to  tell  you  of  a  funny  thing 
that  once  happened  in  that  barn  back  there.  A  couple  of  young  ladies 
went  into  the  barn,  looking  for  eggs,  I  guess,  and  after  looking  about  the 
barn  floor  they  dropped  through  a  small  hole  in  the  floor  down  into  the 
basement.  After  they  got  done  hunting  they  tried  to  go  out  at  the  cast 
end,  but  found  that  the  basement  door  was  fastened  on  the  outside,  and 
no  way  to  open  it.  One  of  the  ladies  was  smaller  than  the  other  and  got 
back  up  through  the  hole  in  the  floor  without  much  trouble  :  but  the  largest 


439 

girl  fitted  the  place  pretty  snug  and  it  took  the  combined  efforts  of  both 
of  them,  pulling,  wiggling,  lifting  and  puffing  to  get  her  up  on  the  barn 
fioor  again.  Then,  with  a  look  of  blank  amazement  on  her  face  the 
smaller  one  said,  "Why  didn't  I  think  to  go  down  outside  and  open  the 
basement  door  and  let  you  out  that  way.'  " 

Then,  not  stopping  to  laugh,  the  old  man  hurried  the  squire  around 
the  corner  of  the  fence  and  diagonally  across  the  street.  "Another  barn 
right  across  the  track.  Whose  is  this  ?  O,  yes !  this  belongs  with  the 
pretty  house  that  Alf  Thompson  built.     Who  lives  here  now?" 

"Thomas  Mead." 

"And  who  lives  in  that  house  to  the  right,  there.  You  see  the  old 
way  runs  between  these  houses." 

"That  house  is  where  Miss  Alice  Moulton  lives.  It  was  built  by  Z. 
S.  Moulton,"  replied  the  alderman. 

"Stop  a  minute,"  said  the  old  man;  "do  you  see  that  house  over  there, 
on  the  corner,  to  the  left,  across  this  newfangled  street  of  yours?  Who 
lives  there?" 

"Mrs.  R.  M.  McNeil." 

"Well,"  said  the  stranger,  "that  house  was  brought  over  the  hills  from 
near  old  'Tumbledown'- — Templeton,  they  called  it  until  the  walls  caved 
in.  It  was  moved  over  by  a  young  lawyer  named  Ed.  Nordyke.  He 
came  along  with  it  all  right  until  he  got  part  way  down  the  hill  up  yonder, 
when  one  wagon  broke  and  the  building  remained  up  there  quite  a  while. 
The  owner  was  unable  to  get  it  up  or  down.  He  finally  gave  Alf  Thomp- 
son $25  to  bring  it  down  off  the  hill  to  where  it  now  stands.  But  we  must 
hurry  on  or  we  won't  reach  the  gulch  tonight." 

With  an  accuracy  that  seemed  almost  instinctive,  the  old  man  led  the 
way  across  Fourth  street  until  he  arrived  in  front  of  a  fine  looking  resi- 
dence. "Well,"  he  said,  "this  man  has  been  considerate,  anyway.  He 
has  put  a  gate  in  the  road.  I  don't  like  to  go  through  the  house  at  this 
time  of  night,  so  we'll  go  around  and  take  the  road  beyond.  Whose  place 
is  this?"  said  the  stranger  when  they  had  reached  the  alley  fence. 

"Lewis  Jacobs'." 

"Why,  yes,  I  remember  him,  a  good  chunk  of  a  boy  when  I  lived 
here.  And  this  next  place  was  built  by  Dave  Moulton,  who  had  gumption 
enough  to  put  his  buildings  beside  the  road  and  not  in  it.  Got  to  climb 
another  fence,  I  see,"  as  they  arrived  a  few  feet  east  of  the  northwest 
corner  of  the  yard.  "What's  that  over  there  to  the  right,"  the  stranger 
inquired  as  they  got  into  the  street  again. 

"That's  the  Congregational  church  and  parsonage,"  said  the  alderman, 
trying  to  keep  along  with  the  old  man  who  hurried  across  the  street. 


440 

Didn't  put  that  in  the  road,  for  a  wonder ;  but  I  expect  they've  run  a 
fence  across  it.     Yes,  sure,'' — 

The  old  man  had  vanished.  His  disappearance  was  followed  by  a 
splash  of  water  and  the  alderman  heard  him  crying  out,  "Say,  Mr.  Burgo- 
master, give  me  a  hand,  please.  I'm  in  it,  whatever  it  is.  What  do  you 
call  it,  anyway?" 

"It's  a  ditch  for  the  water  main.  There  is  more  than  a  mile  of  it  open 
in  the  town.     I  cautioned  you  against  going  on  in  the  dark." 

"But  I  didn't  look  for  things  of  that  kind  in  the  road,"  replied  the  old 
fellow  as  he  shook  the  water  from  his  garments.  "What  ye  have  water 
in  it  for?" 

"They  tapped  a  spring  near  here." 

"Well,  I  heard  the  folks  talk  of  water  works  when  I  lived  here  long 
ago.  but  I  didn't  think  it  would  ever  come.  I  didn't  think  they  would  ever 
get  further  than  a  "comical"  engine. 

They  passed  the  ditch  and  entered  the  parsonage  grounds.  "What's 
this,  now,"  said  the  stranger,  as  he  stopped  to  examine  something  in  the 
track.  I  declare  if  it  isn't  a  bunch  of  flowers  growing  right  in  the  old 
road." 

They  got  into  the  street  again  and  the  old  man  led  the  way  straight 
north  for  quite  a  distance.  Suddenly  he  stopped  and  again  grasped  the 
squire  by  the  arm.  "The  Seminary!"  he  exclaimed.  "Where  is  it?"  The 
alderman  told  the  story  of  the  disaster,  and  the  plans  for  a  larger  and 
better  building,  the  walls  of  which  were  already  going  up. 

"Look  here,  burgomaster.  You  may  go  on  with  your  new  town,  made 
by  new  people,  and  built  on  new  plans.  You  may  erase  every  old  land 
mark,  and  build  new  and  costly  edifices  in  place  of  the  old,  but  you  can 
never  get  into  Wessington  Springs  a  people  of  more  sterling  worth  and 
higher  enterprise  than  the  men  and  women,  boys  and  girls  who  for  fifteen 
years  traveled,  summer  and  winter,  over  the  old  road  we  have  followed 
tonight,  to  get  knowledge  at  the  feet  of  J.  K.  Freeland  and  his  successors ; 
to  listen  to  the  words  of  wisdom  from  the  great  intellects  that  were 
brought  here,  Joseph  Cook,  Littell,  Sanford,  Copeland,  Hoar,  and  a  hun- 
dred others;  to  attend  the  commencement  exercises  that  sent  many  young 
men  and  women  forth  into  the  world  to  make  it  better  because  of  what 
those  few  hardy  pioneers  struggled  for  and  accomplished.  I  lived  among 
these  people  and  I  knew  them.  You  may  gather  more  of  wealth  and  far 
more  of  modern  improvements,  for  they  were  a  simple,  unpretentious 
folk,  but  you  will  never  gather  a  population  with  higher  ideals  of  the 
duties  of  citizenship  than  those  who,  though  few  in  number,  sustained 
the  old  town. 


441 

The  old  road  you  and  I  have  followed  tonight,  should  be  emblazoned 
with  bright  monuments,  for  it  was  the  road  the  old  town  traveled  to  fame, 
honor  and  greatness.  This  institution  will  rise  higher  and  continue  in 
growth  and  influence,  but  you  must  never  forget  that  its  foundations,  laid 
deep  in  honor,  virtue  and  sobriety,  were  planted  by  the  people  of  another 
era.  I  have  seen  enough.  I  am  content.  I  am  one  of  the  3'ears  of  time. 
My  number  was  1890.     Good-bye.'' 


%1 


INDEX. 


Page. 
Alpena. 

Town  platted  68 

Post  Office    68,   148,   156,  252 

Railroad  ....69,  156,  229,  282,  314,  320 

Livery 69,  274,  282,  314 

Billiard  Hall 149,  328 

Hotel 149,  274,  291,  308,  314 

Lumber  Yards   150 

Journal   69,  223,  254,  262,  273 

Meat  Market 152,  292,  328 

Hardware 199,   267,   280,   291 

Sham   Inaugural    200 

Race  track  200,  212 

Incorporates    .    . 215 

Presbyterian   Church,  222,  229,  273, 

274,  278,  317,  328 

City    Scales    234 

Creamery 244,  254 

Graduates 245,  250,  309,  317,  321 

Flag  Staff 257 

Brass    Band    273,    283 

Out    of    debt    283 

Independent   School   District 283 

Artesian   Well 291 

Rebekah    Lodge    291 

Drug  Store    292,  321 

Calaboose    292 

Millinery    302,   330 

Home   Guardians    309 

Jewelry   309,  321 

Improvement   Association 321 

Poney   race 328 


Aurora   County 20,   55,   "^2,  90 

Anina  Twp 27 

Allun 27,  47,  i7S 

Arne   28,  224,  235,  356 

Albert,   S.  H 45 

Ahart    59,    Si,    53- 

Arnold  and  Housel   58 

Applegate    Building    59 

Arnold,  W.  L.    .  .69,  150,  221,  230,  233 
Appointment  of  Officers...  82,  85,  86 

Auction    Sale,    first    114 

Ayers   I33 

Ada  P.  0 192,  'z.Tz 

Artesian  Wells    221,  236, 

243,  24s,  264,  278,  293,  301,  307,  7>Z^ 

Aid  to   Russian  poor    228 

Alpena  School  Twp.,  out  of  debt.  .263 


Page. 

Allen    292 

Ausman    310 

American  Society  of  Equity 316 

Anina  Twp 325 

Among    Review    Readers    

Assessment 97 

Annis   367 

Alward 383 

Appendix 447 

B. 

Barret    10,  23,  66,  223,  294 

Burr,    C.    S 18,   30,    57,   200 

Brown 18,  19,  30 

Bateman/  19,  23,  24,  30,  55,  57,  82, 

183,  297 

Blowers,  H 19,  23,  55,  60,  82 

Barber,  Mary  28 

Buffalo   County    34,   ^2,  73,   78 

Barber,  C.  S 46 

Blank    54,   150,   182 

Bolton 54 

Bourne 60 

Bridges  79,  94,  228,  231,  234,  260 

Beals   96 

Banks,   105,   150,   190,   199,  224,  229, 
24s,   246,   278,   288,   294,   295,   304, 
306,    310,    314,    320,     321,     372,    328 

Baseball 115,  211, 

242,  253,  264,  289,  295,  317,  324 

Brand    Committee    129 

Bechtold 158 

Blizzard 164 

Beadell 174 

Byam   181 

Byers   183 

Bearg 184 

Binford 188 

Barber,   Ray    199,  274 

Burger    214,  242,  314,  395 

Blosser    225,  242 

Brodkorb.  .233,  262,  263,  308,  313,  334 

Bachus 245,   262,   294,  310 

Brown,   F.   M 258 

Bradford    298 

Blackrust 304 

Brandenburg    313,  322,   356 

Bushnell    314,  322 

Burns   328 

Butterfield 353 

Baker 389 


Page. 

Boyd 395 

Byers   409 

Barnum 

C. 

Chapin,   Rev 16 

Chery,    C.   M 16,   25,  275 

Church,  M.  E.,  23,  60,  62,  102,  148, 
15s,   211,   244,'  257,   278,   294,   298, 

306,  309 
Campbell,  J.   G.,  24,  25,  45,  52,  65, 

70,    102,    S22 

Converse,  27,  62,  141,  163,  188,  202,  224 

Combs   &  Harris    27 

Cook,  John   28 

Crittenden,    B.    F 28 

Chapman,  John   28 

Cooley,   F.   M 33,  44 

Conrad 33 

Church,    Congregational,     34,     222, 

233>     257,      263,     307,     308,      313, 

320,  324,  328 

Corbin,  J.  M 45,  354 

Conley 46 

Coors    47,  80,  350 

Crow    55,   92,   349 

Castleman    ..56,   150,  289,  292,  300, 

302,  308 

Carlton  House 59,  266,  274 

Constitutional   Convention,    61,  62, 

132,  202 

Cemetery  69,  142,  148 

Commissioner      Districts,    78,     loi, 

203,  311,  336 
County  Seat    ....80,  81,  82,  85,  91,  92 

Corbin  .  .  . 93 

Crow  Lake,  106,  127,  106,  308,  415,  420 

County   Convention    117 

County    Fair,    115,     131,     150,     154, 

188,  244,   312 

Court  House 129,  130,  250,  270,  276 

Court,   first   term    142 

Creamery,  155,  221,  230,  245,  247,  252, 

254,    256,     262,     292,     295,    297,    314 

Cady    185,    367 

Circuit    Court    .217 

Coggshall    218,  392 

Coop  of  1891 220 

Cowman    245,   297 

Cattle    256,    262,    307,    310 

Coursey,  O.  W 245,  250,  258 

Chamberlain   274,  291,  302 

Collins    283,  286,   293,   309 

Cooper 298 

Catholic  Church   ....307,  310,  313,  334 

Creighton 309 

Census 311,  312 

Cutler 316 

Coram 324,  332 

Civil  Townships 99 

Curl    369 

Clodt    .   .    . 374 

Christiansen  ...    ., 376 


Page. 

Chapman 378 

Crawford 380 

D. 

De  Ment,  W.  E '. 33 

Dean 46 

Davenport 50 

Dolton 52 

Drake 55,  56,  57,  58,  157 

Dunn 58 

Davis 68,   184,  352 

Democratic   Party    120,  203,   217 

Dividing   Jerauld    County 131 

Dolton   154,  192 

Dusek 182 

Dunham 295,  310,  332 

Drouth 238 

Doubenmier    282,   292,   302,  320 

Dodge 282,  298 

Dougan   370 

Daleske   378 

De    Forest    403 

E. 

Elmer,   P.   0 24,  47 

England,  28,  230,  234,  267,  278,  293, 

295,  306,  307,  313,  316,  334,   352,  353 

Eastman 51,  54,  201,  224,  259 

Election  precincts,  64,   73,  84,    100, 

145,  163,  202,  22s 
Elections,   65,  87,   88,  95,    134,    146, 

163,    193,  202,   204,   236,  247,   268, 

275,  304,  318,  336 

Eberhart 185 

Epworth    League,     200,     235,     258, 

283,  307,  308 

Easton 274,  309 

Eastern    Star    310 

Eddy 350 

Eagle 364 

Eberhart 367 

"Evening    Glow,    The" 447 


Ferren,  H.  B 27,  396 

Ferguson,  J.  T. 46 

Ford 61,  64,  78,  81,   176,  369 

Fisher 73,    77,    78,    144 

Friends'  Church   ....102,  129,  278,  320 
Farmers'  Alliance,     131,     189,     198, 

205,  215,  220 

Franklin  Twp 145 

Fish,    Sarah    175 

Francis 176,    192,    365 

Free  Methodists,  200,  236,  252,  257, 

267,  293,  320,  334 

Fauston   Church    229,  273,  278 

Freeland,  J.  K 246 

Farmers    Club    273 

Franzwa 280,  290,  301,  313,  330 

Frick  292,  301,  407 

Farrington    309,  334 

Fish  in  rainfall   328 


Page. 

Fee 350 

Fordham 412 

G. 

Gold,  in  the   Black  Hills    8 

Grant 19,   187,   190,  211,  217,  365 

Grant,   Newell    19 

Goodwin,  W.  W 24,  30,  243,  366 

Groub    44,  385 

Gaf  fin 47 

Gray,  J.  0 49,  78 

G.    A.    R.,    61,    141,    142,     15s,    232, 

250,  267,  273,  307 

Gough 92 

Grain  houses,  no,  in,  156,  189,  221, 

290,  292,  29s,  298,  314,  324 

Gordon  P.  0 114,  308,  310 

Gunderson    132,   199 

Gun  Club   157,  283,  289,  295,  300 

Groub 174 

Gregory    1 75 

Grisinger    ....175,    300,    301,    306,    320 

Gingery    185 

Griggs 224 

Grade  up  the  hills   240 

German  Church,  252,  256,  263,  273,  301 

Glen    Creamery    256,   301 

Good    times    269 

George    274,  283,  294,  316 

Gleim 283 

Gotwals 288,  295 

German   Lutherans,  301,  302,   306,  313 

Glen,    P.    0 325,   407 

Gilbert 384 

Grieve 384 

H. 

Hain.    Levi    7 

Hill,   W.    N 16 

Hill,    C.    W.,    19,    20,    23,    131,    132, 

242,  244 

Hawley,   H 16,   17,  20 

Hawley,  B 16 

Horse  thieves   14,  16,  25,  272 

Hanson    County    20 

Holcolm,  J.   A 24 

Hudson   45 

Huntley    45,  47,   129,  132,  203 

Hazard,  R.  Y 47,  74,  92,  418 

Harmony   Twp 47 

Herald 55.  59,   189 

Hoes  &  Phillips   56 

Hackett   58,  154,  295,  297 

Herring    78,  211,  212,  218 

Hewitt    91 

Hawthorne 93,  244,  332 

Harden 133,  176,  192 

Hall,   Mrs.   N.   C 133,  230,   244 

Hot  winds    147,  201,  214 

Holden I73 

Harness  business 191 

Hard  times   205,  218,  238 

Horse  show   211 

Hull   212,  214,  223,  225 


Page. 

Hill,   W.   N 232 

Healey   250,  258,  267,  295,  316 

Hall,  A.  V 314,37s 

Hyde   P.   0 328 

Hoar 352 

Hanson 352 

Hasz 354 

Hournes 355 

Hillis 356 

Henebuth 404 


Immigrants  10,  18,  31 

Ingham 91 

I.  O.  O.  F 127,  190,  220 

Independent   party    121,   2x6 

Insanity,  board   of    129 

I.  O.  F.  T 204,  215 


Jordan,    J.    W.    P 19,    23 

Jacobs,  C.  S 2-j,  252,  280,  294 

Jones,  Dr 33 

Jerauld  County,  56,  71,  72,  -J2>^  129, 
130,    154,   203,   275,  294,   295,   304, 

305,  311,  325,  336 

Johnson    Sarah    54 

Johnston 74,  ■  156 

Jail 130,  145,  264,  270 

Jenkinson    282,   291,   298 

Jenkins    298 

K, 

Kieser    48,  371 

Kinney 59,   106 

Knudtson 140 

Kneiriem    School    168 

Kutil   181,  239,  301 

Kugler 183,  349 

Knieriem    187,   394 

Kitchurn 191 

Kline .214,  230 

Kint   231 

Kinsman •• 234 

Kieffer  .  .  .   .  ;> 275 

Dr.  Keene •  • 332 

Kleppin 355,  366 

Krueger ■• 359 

Klink 372 

Kayser •• 400,  402 


Lane: 

Ladies  Aid •  • 290 

Pioneer   News    290,   300 

Blacksmith    290,   300,  307 

Restaurant    290,   300,   306,   321 

Artesian   well    •• 290,   301,   306 

Barber  shop   307 

Railroad ■  ■ 290 

Livery   300,  306,  307 

Hardware •  • . .  .300,  z^^ 

McCurdy    300,  306,  313,  321 


Page. 

Machinery    301,   306,   313 

Depot •  • 301 

Dr.  Martin   306,  313 

Dr.  Burleigh 316 

Lutherans •• 320 

Incorporates 321 

Hotel   321 

I.  O.  O.  F ■• 321 

School  house  322,  328 

Leeds,   S.  T.,  28,  33,   107,  224,  230, 

334.  389,  398 

Litchfield,  Miss   Betsey   28 

Loomis 68,   141,    190,  257,  282 

Lawton    family    . .  •  ■ 96 

Legislation   Council    132,   146 

Local    option    153,    162,    164 

Lyndale  P.  O •  • 192 

Lecture   Course    200,  211 

Longland    2122,   235,   388 

Literary   Societies    256 

Lane  .   .   .    288 

Labor   Union    •  • 293 

Lane,   T.   W 301 

Le  Valley •  • 370 

M. 

McCarter,   John    10,    16,   17,   366 

McDonald,    C.    W.,    23,    30,    55,    62, 

64,   72,  74,  80,  82,   320 

Motle,  Joseph 27 

Moore,   S.   S •  • 27 

Mail   routes,    11,   30,    148,    156,  214, 
254,   262,   266,.  276,   309,  310,   321, 

322,  328,  330 

Marlar  Twp 44 

Marlence,  S 46,  129,  130,  393 

Marshall,  O.  J 47,   189,  223,  266 

Monclova   .    .    .    •  • 55 

Morse  &  La  Pont  61,  214 

Melcher "jj,,  74,  93,  419,  420 

McNamara •  •  91 

Mentzer 93 

McDonald,  J.  A •  • .  .  131,  244,  299 

Miles    112,   132,  244,  297 

Muskrats •  • . .  135 

Milliken,    150,    190,    243,     282,    302, 

308,  320 

Masonic  lodge 152 

Mathias •  • 187,  230 

Marvin 183,  401 

Moss 186 

McGlasham    189 

McDonald,,  Pat  201,  224,  228,  234,  309 

McDowall 201,  234,  249,  275 

Mellette,  Gov •  • 209 

Military   company    258 

McNiel   258,  309,  316 

Miller,   C.   W.    •• 274,  291,  321 

McConnel    274,  364,  394 

May 275 

Mercer    282,    302,    378 

McMillan    282,  336 

Miles  &  Hunter   ••294,  309,  316 

McDonald,  Mona   299 


Page. 

M.  W.  A 301 

Martin  .  . 306,  310 

Mead   316 

McLoud 352 

Mees   .  .   355,   382 

McElwain 393 

McCall   402 

N. 

News,  Jerauld  County,  92,  157,  289,  290 

Null    no,   157,  187,  415 

Nelson 297 

Nordlie 310 

Nesselroad 314 

Nesmith 367 

O. 

Osgood,  C.  W.  P 19,  20,  23 

Orent 45 

Orr.. 47,    59,    70,   355 

Official  papers    82,  129,  144,   153 

Opera   house 310 

Oscar 409 

O'Brien 419 

P. 

Prairie    Fires    14 

Patent  Land 30 

Price,    G.    N.,    47,    156,    189,    214,    245 

Posey,  Wm 50,  51,  54,  70 

Parquet 52 

Powell 56,  392 

Prohibition 64,  65 

Pearce 69,   199 

Phillips 174,  212,  224,  243,  359 

Pressy 184 

Pope. 186,   262,   267,   274 

Prairie  fires    201,  260,  278,  340 

Poor,  201,  2g8,  220.  228,  231,  240,  270 
Prices   on   farm   produce,   212,  221, 

230,  266,  270,  325 

Panic  of  1893   321 

Paddock,  D.  B 231,  240,  308 

Photography 262,  292 

Ponsford  ' 264,  401 

Parsons,   P.   0 293 

Pfafif 308,   2,Z2 

P.   E.    0 316 

Pinard 318 

Panic  of  1907 325 

Ponto 383 

Pfaum 406,  414 

R. 

Railroads,  8,  22,   157,  203,  217,  228, 

232,  284 

Rich,  L  N 47,  61 

Ray,  L  P 50,  51,  54,  56 

Ryckman 52 

Richardson   6r 

Royer 69 

Robinson    92 

Roads 93,  94,  95,   145,  270,  296 


Page. 

Roth  Bros 126,  190,   199,  212 

Republican  party. ...  118,  119,  202,  216 

Rainmakers 228 

Refvern    306 

Reid 306,  313 

Reindl 308 

Russell 310,  318,  364 

Richard 316 

Retrospective 349 

Pummelhart  .  .  . 349 

Rott '. 349 

Reese    415 

"Reverie  A," 435 

S. 

Saloons,  87,  290,  291,  301,  306,  313,  2>^2 
Salaries,  90,  92,  129,  153,  262,  264,  295 

Strong 92 

School  text  books    112 

Stock  P.  0 114,  246,  278 

Salomon  trial    135,  I53 

Sullivan,  J.  E I44 

Seminary,  159,  191,  200,  230,  232, 
235,  242,  246,  252,  257,  263, 
272,  283,   29s,   298,   311,   316,   324, 

330,  332 

Stanley,    Minnie    I73 

Shutz,  W.  P 181,  236,  301 

Shaefer.  .  .  .182,  218,  231,  232,  238,  267 

Sailer 182 

Sheep 189 

Spelling  Contests,  197,  211,  222,235,312 

Statehood 202 

Seed  Grain    210,  220,  234,  240 

Smith,    Mary    218 

Sieve 223,   225,   233,   267,   310 

Sunshine   makers    22,2 

Stuart,  J.  W 246,  258,  297,  310 

Steeve 250,  275,  293 

Smith,   A.   F 252 

Shull    264,  266,  283,  320 

Stickley 276 

Sutton 282,  297 

Smith,  W.  L 290,  305 

Starkey 298,  310 

Smith,   R.    B 301 

Schubert 35,3 

Shucy 365 

Simmons 375 

Schmidt 379 

Stearns,  W.  H 10,  18,  30 

Snow,   i88i' 17 

Smart,  A.  B.,  16,  18,  19,  20,  23,  47, 
54,    72,    72,,    74,    77,    loi,    159,    105 

Shrayock 16,  19,  20 

Solberg 16,   18 

Shultz,  P.  H.,  19,  238,  245,  260,  262,  275 

Sod   houses 24 

Swan,  Jule 27 

Scyoe,    A 27,    396 

Snyder    28,   47,   352,   394 

Sheffield  28,  52,  377 

Scott 30,  57,  66,  80,  380,  381 

Sulphur    Springs,   31,   32,   33,    102,    128 


Surveying   the   Twps 35 

Settlers,    List    of    36 

Settlers,   first    43 

Scofield 45 

Stetson 47,  127 

Steichen 52 

Schell 53 

Scofield 57,  385 

Smith,  57,  60,  217,  230,  235,  247,  283,368 

Stephens 58 

Sickler 60,  153 

Sunday   Schools,  65,    104,    133,   155, 
211,  212,  222,  229, 
232,  235,  243,  275,  293,  320 

Starkey,    P.    0 69 

Spears    78,  214,  275,  298 

School   townships 81,  83,  90,   142 

School    buildings    87 

Salter   390 

Stanley 395,   400 

T. 

Thornton,  M.  J 10,   11,  25 

Tofflemier    23,  30,  78,  375 

Todd  .  .  46 

Township  names 96 

Teacher's  institute, 129,  157,  211,  222, 
226,     235,     244,     250,     254,     262, 
266,  273,  275,  295,  302,  311,  312,  322 
Taxes,   99,    130,    145,   201,   211,  253, 

260,  266 

Traveling   men    131 

Tarbel 142,  190 

Tryon    180,    l8l 

Taylor 183 

Thompson,  A.   C I99 

Thayer,  C.  E 200 

Templeton,  P.  0 246,  293,  302,  325 

Telephone,   loi,  256,  260,  268,  274, 
291,   293,   304,   306,   309,   310,   312, 

713,  322,  324,  332 

True  Republican 294,  3^2,  332 

Theeler   295,  310 

Tracy   296,  376 

Titus 302,  353 

Turkeys   314 

Taylor 320 

Temperance  Medals 334 

Tiede 354 

Dr.  Turner 361 

Tyner 370 

U. 

Up-to-time    211 

Universalists.  .  .241,  253,  257,  262,  273 

V. 

Vrooman 27 

Vessey,  45,    106,   126,    156,   I99,  203, 
214,    233,   264.   274,   276,    283,   288, 

294,  325,  391 

Voorhees,   Esra 184 

Vandervene 283,  294 

Villbrandt  . 374" 


Page. 
W. 
Wessington  Springs. 

P.    O.,    lo,    24,    115,    223,   230,    254, 

294,   300,   332 

Platted    30 

Tarbell   and   Woodburn   Hotel,   57, 

59,  191 

Band 150 

State   Capital  move    203 

Board  of  trade    214 

Public    School,   223,   263,    295,    316, 

324,  334 

Given  part   of  Media    228 

Incorporates 233 

Grain  Company   246,  252 

Railroad    284,  296 

Telephone  exchange    293 

Out   of   Debt    294 

Main    Street  extended    294 

Fullerton's 294 

Waterworks   loi,  297 

City  of  3rd  class    310 

Electric   lights    314,  322 

Oliver  Hotel   324,  332 

Cozy    Cafe    332 

Rebekah    332 

Esmay 334 

The   Town  in   1883    359 

Wessington 7 

Williams,    Chas 12 

Walters,    Chas 19,  48,   311,   372 

Wallace,    19,    24,    55,    56,     88,     154, 

257,   263,   275,    293-    302,   361,    381 
Wilson,   19,  20,  27,  30,  48,  92,    153, 

185,   198,  406 

Weems,    Mrs.    N.    C 23 

Williams,  N.  E 27,  176 

Waterbury,  E.  S.,   ....27,  31,  180,  396 

Waman  settler,  first    28 

Woodhouse,   S 30 


Page. 

Waterbury,  Town,  31,   32,  33,    102, 
106,   107,  108,  III,  234,  235,  278,  396 

Whitney,  Edson    49 

Wright,   C.   C 52 

Wheeler    52 

Wentworth 56 

Woodburn.  .60,  106,  156,   182,  214,  266 

Whaler   62 

Whitney    69,    156,   201 

Warrants •  ■  78,  221,  250 

Williams,  W.  J 79,  153,  154,  240 

W.  C.  T.  U.,  104,  los,  132,  133,  200, 

204,  229,  272 

Willard  Hotel  114,  127,  282,  316 

Woodruff   133 

W.  R.  C 140,  232,  302 

Waterbury  newspapers   150,  155 

Wicks    166,   188,  403,  406 

White    165,   282,   298,   309,   334 

Weddle   214 

Weather  reports    223 

Waterbury,  W.   E 252,  278 

Weast,  Jas 262,  297 

Waterworks    284,  297,  324,  330 

Wood   288,  321 

White,  Malcolm  E 299 

Will   314,  407- 

Williams,  T.  D 352,  354 

Wetzel 371 

Wahl 377 

Winter 380 

Wetherell    ....\ 395,  396,  402 


Yegge. .  .  .242,    245,   292,  297,   280,   382 

Yeoman 302 

Young 378 


Zink,    282,    294,    298,    309,    312,    324, 

334,  355 


INDEX  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


Page. 

Alpena,  Bank  of 237 

Alpena   Graduating  Class    255 

Alpena  Farmers  Elevator   151 

Alpena   1899    271 

Alpena  Band    271 

Ausmand,   L.  E 299 

Bateman,  Guldi   9 

Big    Spring    13 

Barrett,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  P.  R 15 

Bateman,  Robt  S 15 

Barber,   Mrs.   Mary    29 

Blank,  T.    L 75 

Bateman,  Mrs.  Geo.  R 151 

Byam,    Isaac    P 151 

Brodkorb,    Wm 227 

Bateman,    Geo.   R 103 

"Bluejays,"  The    251 

"Bobolinks,"  The    251 

Barber,  Ray 103 

Bradford,   J.    G 287 

Brown,    Clayton    397 

Bushnell,  R.  A 3^5 

Burger,    Geo.  W 387 

Brandenburg,   Otto 315 

Campbell,  Rev.  J.   G 21 

Castleman,   L.   W ^7 

Conley,  John    373 

Cady.    Rolla    151 

Corbin,  J.  M 397 

Collins,   Mrs.  J.   B 277 

Converse,    A 241 

Cowman,    M.    S 279 

Cutler,    Alden    3i9 

Court   House    ZH 

Collins,  J.  B 339 

Dalton,  Mrs.  and  Mrs.  Richard.  ..  161 

Dye,   R.   E 265 

Doubenmier,  J.  W 303 

Deindorfer,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Geo 387 

Dunham,   Fred   N 31S 

Dunham,  N.  J 425 

Dalton,  Jas.  R 339 

Dean,   Theo    339 

Eagle,  Will  and  Frank    363 

Eberhart,   A.   G 151 

England,   C.  W 213 

Eddy,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  J.  R 213 

England,   O.    0 265 

England,   G.  T 277 

Easton,   Mrs.   Minnie    277 

England,  N.  B 303 


Page. 

Fronticepiece 2 

Fordham,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  A.  S 387 

Frich,  H.  A.  and  Sons   287 

Fisher,   H.    D 103 

Farren,   H.   B 315 

Ferguson,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Jas.  T 319 

Freeland,    Prof,    and   Mrs.   J.    K...    ^i 

G.   A.   R 63 

Gingery 151 

Grisinger,  L.  J 299 

Hain's   Log   House    13 

Huntley,   Rev.   and  Mrs.   S.   F 67 

Hanebuth,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  A.   E 37^ 

Hazard,    R.    Y '75 

Harden,   J.    W 193 

Hotel,    Willard    219 

Hotel,    Woodburn    219 

Hill,   Mr.  and  Mrs.  C.  W 21 

Hall,   A.    V 241 

Hackett,    C.    E 125 

Healey,   Bert 241 

Hall,   Mrs.   D.  A 405 

Hyde,    Chas.    R 315 

Hubbard,  W.  R 331 

Inhabitant,    First ,     6 

Inhabitant,  Second 6 

Jacobs,   C.  S 255 

Kellogg,   Mr.  and  Mrs.  O.  F 397 

Kint,  Daniel   15 

Kinsman,  Mr.  and  Mrs.   E.  G 213 

Leeds,   S.   T 21 

Lindeijak,   O.   O..  Res 357 

Litchfield,   Miss  Betsey   29 

Longland,   J.    C 241 

Lyle,   H.    C 241 

Loomis,  L.  N 265 

McNamara,  J.  E 7.=^ 

McWilliams,    Mr.   og  Mrs.   Isaiah  397 

Melcher,   S.   H 75 

Miles,   Mrs.  E.   V 125 

Marlenee,    Samuel    161 

Miles,  E.  V 103 

Moulton,  D.  F 213 

McDonald,  John 387 

Milliken,   J.    R 237 

Mitchell,   Daniel    241 

May,  Joseph  H 265 

McConnell,  A.  R 279 

McDonald,   Chas.  W 103 

Maris,    E.    B 279 

McConnell,    W.    T 287 


Page. 

Morehead,  Mr.  and  Mrs.   O.  W...299 

Manning,  F.  E 303 

May,  Sam.  H 303 

McMillan,  W.  H 2,72, 

Mounsey,  John    315 

Miller,   Chas.   W 33i 

Nesmith,  M.  W 363 

Null,  T.   H 161 

Needham,  Don.  C 397 

Nesmith,  E.  E 272 

Orr,    E.    B 63 

Old   Settlers'    Picnic 326 

One  of  the  Springs   327 

Pearce,    Isaac    67 

Pearce,   Mrs.    Isaac    67 

Ponsf ord,  Joseph    397 

Pope,  Howard  151 

Praff,  C.  J 287 

Pinard,  L.  A 299 

Posey,   Mr.   and   Mrs.  Wm 405 

Price,  G.  N 299 

Public  School   Building   329 

Public  School  Building   335 

Russell,  L.   F 315 

Robeson,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  E.  K 405 

Refvern,  H.  0 3i5 

Reservoir 337 

Sheffield,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Thos 29 

Robeson.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  W.  H 405 

Scott,  D.  A 63 

Smart,    Rev.   A.    B 75 

Smart,  Mrs.  A.  B 103 

Sickler,  Jefiferson    213 

Smith,  J.  N 213 

Schaefer.   M.  A 227 

Shultz,    P.    H 227 

Smith,  Mrs.  and  Mrs.  A.   F 241 

Snart,   J.    W 241 

Shull,   Dr.  J.   E 265 

Stickley's  Sod  House   .281 

Stickley's   Martial   Band 281 

Shryock,    Thos    315 

Shaw,   M.   A 363 

Shull,  Miss  Dora   319 


Page. 

Shaw,    Mrs.    M.   A 363 

Seminary    331,  227 

Shultz,  W.  P 339 

Smith,  S.  F 373 

Spring,    Where     Wessington     was 

Burned 

Stage    Coach    193 

Shoot,  H.  A 363 

Toffllemier,   F.   T 213 

Tofflemier,  Mrs.  F.  T 213 

Turrill,   A.    E 103 

Theeler,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  L.  R 299 

Taylor,    W.    F 277 

Titus,   Geo 405 

Wheeler,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  L.  R 299 

Vrooman,  E.  H 405 

Voorhees,   Mr.  and  Mrs.   Ezra.... 151 

Vessey,   F.    G 279 

Vessey,   R.   L 323 

Vessey,   Earnest    331 

Vessey,  Rev.  and  Mrs.  Chas 272 

Voorhees,    Mr.    and   Mrs.   Duane..387 

Vrooman,  S.  S 227 

Wilson,    L.    G 15 

Wallace,    Geo 15 

Whitney,   F.  W 67 

Williams,   N.    E 151 

Wicks,   John    F 161 

Wallace,    H.   J 193 

Webber,  Wm 213 

Williams,    Geo.    0 241 

Wright,   Mr.  and   Mrs.   C.   C 241 

White,  T.   L 255 

Wilson,   W.    B 277 

Wallace,   Dale   C 277 

Woodburn,  J.  H 279 

Wood,   Mr.   and   Mrs.   E.   H 287 

Weast,   James    299 

Will,    H.    P 319 

Wessington       Springs       Band       at 

Alpena 125 

Young,   Geo.   H 405 

Yegge,  W.   F 213 

Zink,  J.  A 315 


9  872 


m