Jerauld County, South Dakota - The whole text, 1909 (part 3 of 10)

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 against 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, she made the beginning of organized temperance work in the county. On that day, in persuance of a call previously issued, she entertained a number 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; Mrs. A. O. Jordan, vice president; Mrs. L. S. Shryock, recording secretary; Mrs. R. J. Smart, corresponding secretary ; Mrs. Jane E. Bateman, treasurer.

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.

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. B. 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, 1884, 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 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 Main street paying therefor a rental of $6.00 per year, but reserving 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.

J. H. Yessey 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.

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.

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 Wessington Springs enticed their band away from them.

By 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 July her newspaper, "The Buffalo Llerald," was sold to M. B. McNeil, who moved it to Duncan in Buffalo county and merged it in the American Home,

On August 15, 1884, occurred the first death in Waterbury. A young man named John Murphy was digging a well on Henry Herring's residence lot east of Main street. When he entered the well in the morning he 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.

It was a curious and anxious company that gathered about Dement & Feed'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. Having 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 winding and then put a third winding over about a foot of the breach of the cannon, making the gun 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 ordinary kindling wood after the gun was once fired. The thing was securely chained to a heavy saw-horse, when some one suggested that 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 building, 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.

The main, or business street of the town, ran north and south. Starting at the north end of Main 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 Mrs. 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 Buffalo county. On the south side of this street and at the northeast corner of the block was a building put up by Maj. 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 Mr. Wilbur Doughty, who moved it to the old C. V. Martin 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.

Next came Allan 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, 1899. It was two stories in height.

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 Mr. 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 Vrooman 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 off into the valley, J. A. Paddock and Rufus Wilson had a livery barn, built into the side hill.

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 eventually 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

June, 1883. This paper had several owners in the next few years, among them being, Remington, Cross, Dunlap and C. V. Martin, the latter combining 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 abundance 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. Waterbury 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. Waterbury'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 Home 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 M. 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. V. Martin, a year later had his printing office. What finally became of the building is not known.

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.

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 Milham. Both these warehouses were afterwards changed to elevators.

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

Educational work in the county began in 1883, with the numerous* private, or subscription schools that were started in the various townships 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. Dunham 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.

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, Mina 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 Mrs. Wm. Fry of Aberdeen, Grace De Ment and children from the Prue, Rowe, Herring and Merwin families.

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.

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 books to be used in the public schools :

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 Temperance Lessons for the Young" and "Steeles Hygienic Physiology," which were adopted. The committee then selected, "Robinson's Arithmetic," "Swinton's Geography," "Harvey's Grammar," "Ridpath's History," and "McGuffey's Readers and Spellers."

The first civil action brought in a Jerauld county court was the case of T. H. Null vs. P>. 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 branding committee held its first meeting April yth, 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 appointment 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 & Southwestern 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 Waterbury to Fort Thompson.

In the summer of 1884 Mr. M. 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. 10th, 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 Wessington Springs, by Robert Johnston, who offered for sale 1 cow, 100 chickens, 1 Champion mower, some carpenter tools and house-hold goods. N. D. Wilder was auctioneer.

The first coroner's inquest in the county 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 May 23rd, 1884. The verdict was, death by accidental shooting.

Several changes were made in the mail service of the county during the year 1884. On the 1st of March 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 Moon on section twenty-six in Anina township. It was supplied by the Elmer-Plankinton line.

On May 1, 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 Waterbury, on July 1st, with 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 the 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 people had petitioned for the change without success. Many 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 offer of twenty-five dollars to anyone who would get the change effected. Air. 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 by 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, with 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 1, 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 winter of 1883 - 84, Mr. Stetson, who' kept the Stetson P. O. in 106 - 66, proved up on his land and then resigned his position as postmaster. The office was then moved to Chancy Barber's house on the NW of 35, where 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 1, 1885.

In May 1884, the people of Wessington Springs and vicinity began to make preparations for a Fourth of July celebration. Mr. 1. 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 L niversalist 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.

A county fair association was organized June 4th, 1884, with O. G. Woodruff, of Alpena, president and M. D. Crow, of Media, 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 organization twenty-six shares were sold at $10 each. This amount was increased to sixty shares on July 16th, 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. FI. Melcher and J. F. Ford. After incorporation the association elected permanent officers as follows :

The dates set for the fair were Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, October 14th, 15th, and 16th, 1884. For exhibition three hundred and forty-one entries were made. First premiums were awarded as follows :

Politics, like the buffalo, the Indian and Coyotes, seems to be indigenous 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 territorial 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 township. 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.

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

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 by filling the vacancies in the county committee and appointing a committee of three for each township. J. F. Ford was elected chairman of the county committee and M. D. Crow, secretary. The township committees were as follows :

On August 1st the committee called the first delegate republican convention to meet at the county building in Wessington Springs on the 6th day of Sept., 1884, at 1 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:

Franklin three; Wessingten Springs two; Media two; Dale two; Pleasant three; Crow three; Alpena three; Harmony two; Chery two; Marlar two ; Making a total of thirty-eight.

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 committee, and organized by electing Thos. H. Null, of Waterbury as both temporary and permanent chairman, F. B. Phillips, of Alpena and E. J. Mentzer, of Crow Lake, were elected to attend the congressional convention, 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 :

The result of the convention was very unsatisfactory to a large number 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 personel 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.

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 every 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 impossible. The defeated candidates went out of the meeting firmly determined 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 township, as follows :

"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 Viola, 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 democratic nominating convention, to meet at Wessington Springs on October nth.

A mass convention of those opposed to the Republican ticket nominated 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. Marshall, William Bremmer, J. O. Grey, E. A Sowerwine, Gordon McDonald, N. E. Williams and M. W. Nesmith.

The Democrats met in mass convention persuant to the call issued by the committee chairman. The W aterbury brass bano 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 :

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 :

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

Resolved, The people of Jerauld county, in mass convention, do hereby 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.

The candidates were now all in the field and the issue fully understood by everybody 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 fulfilment of the "combined proposition" that had 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.

and the result declared, the chairman of the board of commissioners, on motion of Mr. Melcher, was instructed to proceed to secure title to the county of the property specified in the "combined proposition/' Nothingfurther 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.

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.

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.

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 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. Yessey began excavating for his house in the county seat.

About the 1st 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. 1 of Wessington 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 impassable during the cold weather.

On June 18th, 1885, Yessey Bros., Ransom & Co. began digging the cellar for a new store building on the southwest corner of Main and 2nd streets. A few days later Mr. Marlenee began work on the building, which the firm occupied Sept. 1, 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 purchased the stock of the N. D. Wilder store and a week later the advertisement of Roth Bros, appeared in the local papers.

The county commissioners on July 24th let to W. S. Scofield the contract 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.

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 & Arnold building, which had been recently vacated by Yessey Bros., Ran-

In November, 1885, Thomas Drake put up the building on the north side of Main St. in Wessington Springs, now occupied by Ausman and Wallace.

About the same time Mrs. 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 Mr. Derrick and formed business relations with Chas. Ferguson. This continued until June 3rd, 1885, when the firm sold out to J. T. Glasham, who conducted the store for many years. About 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 May of that year Mrs. Allyn and Mr. 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 in the year he sold to W. A. Pound.

J. T. Johnston, County Supt., built the third grain warehouse and continued to do grain business in it until he sold to McMichael in 1887. This warehouse was changed to an elevator in 1901.

On the 10th day of December occurred one of the most important events in the social and business life of Alpena. This was the organization of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. The charter members of the lodge were seven in number: Daniel F. Royer, Wilmot W. 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. Manwarning, J. R. Milliken, E. J. Makemson, W. A. Linn, L. H. McCarger, R. Davenport, L. J. McWilliams, Lewis Fenstemaker, and Frank Adams. Of the men present at that meeting only Ray Barber

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 Mr. Loomis rented the Journal office, paper and all, to L. H. McCarger, 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 1st, 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 disappeared.

At Alpena, L. C. Burch, the conference appointee for reasons best known to himself and the church left his charge in March and was succeeded by Rev. W. H. Hoadley, who remained until the close of the conference 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 equaled in the county.

W. D. Luther, appointed by the conference in October, 1884, to succeed 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 16th, 1885, put shortly after resigned. He was followed by Mr. W. H. Jordan, who supplied the place until Mr. Trewartha came at the beginning of the conference year in October.

The church at Waterbury had lost their church building, but the public school house afforded them ample accommodation. They were fortunate, however, in receiving Rev. Paganhart as the appointee from the conference.

At the residence of C. G. Smith on the NE of 35 in Harmony, the Friends began holding religious services and Sunday School February 1st, 1885.

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, Gertie and Ollie Knowlton, and Anna Titus.

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, township 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 15th the county clerk's (register of deeds) salary was increased 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 offered 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 10th the board requested Judge Edgerton to make Jerauld county a judicial subdivision. The request 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.

On the 7th of Sept, the tax levy was made as follows : County general 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 appointed, the contract was let to Sam Marlenee. 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 Wessington 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 Marlenee of Waterbury, J. E. Sullivan, of Lvndale.

The commissioners about the 10th of December ordered a steel cell that, when put together in the county jail, 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:

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 11 130 A. M., 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 Shenkberg Co., Martin Jaquemai, salesman for Hornick, Hess & Moore, wholesale druggists since 1887, and Geo. Rew, for Knapp & Spencer, a wholesale hardware firm, all of Sioux City. During near to a quarter of a century they 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 territory 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 county 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 comprehended the annexation of Buffalo county to Jerauld. The move aroused quick and furious antagonism in both Jerauld and Buffalo counties. A meeting was held at Alpena in January, 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 Wessington Springs, January 6th, 1885, and elected, B. G. Cummings, president; H. E. Merwin, vice-president; Allan Ransom, secretary, and S. H. Melcher, treasurer. The board of directors was composed of Richard

The legislature that adjourned in the fore part of March, 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 seriously 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 announcement 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, Mr. Huntley received 237, Air. Gunderson 181 and Mr. 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 prohibitionists 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 minority representation were submitted 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 counties were placed together as a senatorial district, while Jerauld stood alone as a representative district.

A senatorial convention held at Plankinton, October 26th, nominated E. V. Milles, of Jerauld Co. as the Republican candidate for senator. For representative, S. F. Huntley, of Harmony township, was nominated at

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 democratic 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 Airs. 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 Wessington Springs and were taken to Woonsocket for a pleasant day with the organization there. Meetings 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, another 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 Airs. A. D. Cady president.

A Band of Hope was organized in Wessington Springs, July 5th, under the superintendency of the Pioneer W. C. T. U. Air. John Kugler was engaged to make twenty wooden guns and thirty wands for the children 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.

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 Airs. C. D. Worral, treasurer. August 16th was a notable day because of the large crowd that gathered to witness the dedication of the M. E. Church building.

On the Sabbath evening preceding election clay a temperance concert was held at the M. 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 lunch 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 326 to 302, but was defeated in the following townships :

That is all of the state officers who were elected when the state was admitted in 1889. C. H. Dillon, of Mitchell, was elected Judge of the Circuit Court, but was not a candidate in 1889.

A natural phenomenon occurred in the late summer and early autumn of 1885. Up t° 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 furbearing animals were absent from the county.

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 valey. For a long time in the years 1883 and 1884 it served as a land 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 washed and faded the colors until finally it was only a white cloth, whipped 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 something 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 mattresses 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.

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 nien 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

One evening a party, including 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 threatened 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 "expected he would have to kill that Swede."

On the evening of the 16th 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 squarely in the eye and remarked, "that is a lie." Solomon's face flushed, but he controlled himself and the incident passed.

On the morning of the 18th 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 appearance 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 Waterbury.

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 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 county 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 Springs and lodged in the county jail.

The county officials who had to do with the trial were, Albert Gunderson, district attorney; Chas. W. McDonald, clerk of courts, and J. M. Spears, sheriff. As Mr. Gunderson, though he had been appointed district 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 legal battle was long and hard. At the term of court called for the i /th 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. Solomon5 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 convicted 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 crossexamination, yet in no particular was any change made in his account of

My name is Benjamin Logan Solomon. I am 27 years old. I reside 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. I first met him about two years ago while he was working for Jacob A or in. I have been intimately acquainted with him since he hired to Mr. Harris, which was about last May or June. Since that time Mr. 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 18th 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.

"I arose in the morning as usual, built a fire in the stove and went out and gave the mule^ some millet. When I left the house Rohbe was in bed. I was gone, I suppose, from 20 minutes to half an hour. When I came in Rohbe was cooking breakfast. Mr. Comb's pup followed me out of the house and went to the stable and followed me back. I entered the house, threw off 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 dropped the dog it was bleeding at the mouth and nose. I said, 'Combs will 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 where he had been cutting meat for breakfast. About the time his hip struck the table lie 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 off. He paid no attention to it. I jerked the shell out as quick as I could, then dropped the gun and backed into the northwest corner of the room and he after me with the knife uplifted. 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 ah 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 Waterbury and gave myself up to Mr. 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.

In the ist commissioner district the republicans had nominated Mr. O. A. Knudtson of Franklin township, to succeed Mr. Fisher as county commissioner. The democrats had nominated Mr. Richard Dalton, of Blaine township. Mr. Knudtson was elected.

Until the summer of 1885 the only water used on the townsite of > Wessington Springs was from the big spring. - Then L. H. Tarble had a well bored on the R. M. Magee property (now owned by James Barr). The water from this well was so excellent that other wells were put down.

Union Cemetery is on the west side of the south-west quarter of section 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 Viola, 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 association. A board of trustees was elected composed of J. N. Smith and J. A. Tyner of Viola, and S. S. Moore 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 consists 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 Mr. 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 Viola 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 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

This order required the drawing of twenty grand jurors and twentyfour 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. Farnha.m, 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,

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. I. Churchill, R. J. Hughes, Frank Augustin, W. J. Houmes, Thomas Henning, J. B. Xeal, C. C. Wright, D. M. Black, M. H. Martin,

Of the grand jurors drawn all appeared but J. H. Farnham 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.

Before the trial of cases began Mr. J. F. Ford was admitted to practice 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. I. Churchill, W. S. Scofield, C. C. Wright, Jos. Ponsford, Thos. Henning,

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 1st 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. Waldron, 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. Mentzer.

The jury disagreed on the 10th 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.

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.

"Sirs : - I hereby agree to publish the proceedings of your Hon. body fiee of charge for one year, in consideration of the Wessington Springs Herald being named as the official paper of Jerauld county.

"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.

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 northwest corner of section 6 - 108 - 67 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. 1, Franklin No. 6 and Blaine No. 11, numbering west across the county.

At the September session, 1886, the board established a road on sections 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.

Politics, as usual, was a matter of interest to afl. The eighth council and representative district, composed of Beadle, Sanborn and Jerauld counties was entitled to two representatives and one membet of the territorial council. Beadle county being designated by the apportionment act as the senior county, claimed the position of councilman, and nominated John Cain as the republican candidate. Sanborn county republicans 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 Wessington Springs, against L. N. Loomis, who was a candidate for re-election.

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 defeated in his home county by a vote of 475 for Frost to 377 for Royer.

The first month of the year 1886 was one of intense cold. The average 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 10th 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 May 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 morning 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.

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 Minnesota 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 settlers. 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 times the value of the loan, and must pay interest at the rate of from three to< six per cent a month. In addition 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.

I11 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.

Rev. Geo. F. Bilber was appointed by the conference to the Alpena M. E. Church, Oct. 18th, 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.

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 M. E. Church at Wessington Springs since Mr. Paganhart, have been:

The second pool and billiard hall in Alpena was run by Thos. Baldwin, in a building erected by him in 1886, until the summer of 1887. Mr. Baldwin then went to Minneapolis, 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 enlarged 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 addition onto the east side of the store room. The building is now occupied by Mr. Schamber, son of a former state treasurer.

On November 1st, 1886, Mrs. Barber and Miss Litchfield sold the hotel in Alpena to Ray Barber, who remained as proprietor until May 29, 1894. Mrs. Barber and Miss Litchfield then took charge of it again and retained control until Sept. 1st, 1901. It was then sold to Chas. Miller, who run it about a year and sold to J. T. Fleming. A year later Mr. Miller again took the hotel, but in March, 1903, sold it to Mrs. A. B. Smith. February 1st, 1905, Mrs. Smith sold tlie property to W. W. Hillis. In the spring of 1908 Hillis sold it to Mrs. Niested of Huron.

In the spring of 1886, Wm. Voss sold his interest in the lumber yard at Alpena to Chas. R. and D. S. Manwarning. They conducted the business 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, purchased it from Mr. 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. Milliken, retaining the position of postmaster. It was at the northwest corner of Main and 2nd Streets. Milliken kept the store until the next year and then sold the stock to Roth Bros., of Wessington 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 Presbyterian 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 Mrs. 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 Mr. B. G. Cummings, president, and R. Vandervene, vice-president, H. J. Wallace, secretary, and W. T. Williams, treasurer.

On January 20th a bra^ss band was organized in Wessington Springs. A. E. Turrill, leader. The other members of the band were A1 Sturgis, drum major, Jake Rosenthall, Augustin La Point, G. R. Bateman, W. I. Bateman, Ed Campbell, Bert Campbell, Omar Schryock, Chas. Schryock, Tommy Schryock, Geo. Wicks, Ed Andrew and Will B. McDonald.

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. Tournal, McDonald and Bateman sold the Wessington Springs Herald to T. L. Blank on the 5th of February.

O. P. Hull became owner of the Waterbury Messenger, successor to the Waterbury News. N. J. Dunham became editor of the Jerauld County Journal April 1st.

B. B. Blosser, who had been a compositor on the Woonsocket Times for several years, bought the True Republican Dec. io, 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 Wessington Springs from Waterbury. During the same month Delos Klink and F. G. Vessey bought the implement business from Vessey Bros., Ransom & Co.

On June 10th, 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 controlled in succession by Ed. Hinchliff, J. J. Hillis, Geo. Marsten & J. Venables, John Woods (who put up the building since used as a market), Andrew Mercer and his son Robert, W. H. McMillan & John Chamberlain, W. H. McMillan, L. W. Castleman, L. W. Castleman & C. C. Rohr, C. C. Rohr, and F. Mann, who took possession March 25, 1908.

In 1886 a masonic lodge yvas organized at Wessington Springs. The number of the lodge was 87 and the name "Frontier." The charter was granted June 10th. The charter members were:

Jefferson Sickle r 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, before Mr. Sickler was sworn in. Ever since then the settlement has been made by the new board.

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, without the aforesaid conditions.

In January 1887 several townships moved for civil township organization. The petition in all but one (Blaine), were granted and elections called for February 1st 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.

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 appoint C. E. Thayer in his place. The commissioners refused and Mr. 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.

people at the next November election which was granted. A territorial law required that the matter of division of the territory be also submitted.

On July 9th, 1887, H. M. Rice resigned his office of Probate Judge and C. E. Hackett was appointed to the vacancy. Mr. Hackett resigned his position as a county Justice and on the 14th Richard Dalton, of Blaine township, was appointed to that place.