Jerauld County, South Dakota - The whole text, 1909 (part 4 of 10)

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.

When 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 Harmony township, while the chairman brought forward the name of H. J. Wallace, of Chery. This occurred on the 9th of July. At the next meeting, July 1 2th, the board elected Mr. Wallace county treasurer to succeed Williams.

On July 13th the board published a statement showing the financial condition of the county. The public debt above the amount due from unpaid taxes, etc., was $10,153.27.

The territorial tax in 1887 was three and six-tenths mills 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 off 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 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 M. B. McNeil, in January by O. P. Hull, who changed the name of the paper to "Jerauld County Messenger." In October Mr. Hull bought the Buffalo County Sentinel, and about the middle of December he bought W. R. Pooley's Crow Lake Homesteader. Both papers were consolidated with the Messenger. April 1st, N. J. Dunham rented the Jerauld County Journal for one year.

Among the churches, of course, some changes were made in the pastorates. 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. V. Martin had been employed by the people to preach for six months, commencing in March.

The Weslyan Methodists held their last quarterly meeting for that conference year in a large tabernacle erected at Lyndale, Sept. 17th and 18th.

I have been unable to obtain the roll of the G. A. R. Post at Waterbury, but it is probable that at this time it contained the following members :

A. E. White,' H. Merwin, W. A. Rex, E. S. Waterbury, Geo. N. Price, J. M. Corbin, H. M. Rice, H. Herring, H. A. Jones, D. F. Jones, Henry Fogarty, James Long, A. S. Fordham, H. Herman, R. S. Russell, T. J. Hunt and Flavins Curtis.

A creamery had been established in V oonsocket and the managers were anxious to secure the trade of Jerauld county. In May of 1887 an arrangement was made with Mr. A. B. Smart to gather cream from the 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 continued through the summer and fall, the cream checks being cashed at the local stores. It was so successful that a move began Oct. 29th toestablish an institution of that kind in Wessington Springs.

In April, 1887, the Woodburn Hotel changed hands and Air. 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 Air. Price, Aug. 16th, and A. G. Eberhart 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 ATiller line and Belford line. Rolla Cady drove the mail to Miller, Gehial Barnum to Crow Lake and Will AIoss was on the Belford 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 frequent in November and December, blocking the trainsand obstructing the mails on all railroads.

The first "special delivery" letter to arrive at the Wesington Springs P. O. came on Alonday, Oct. 3, 1887. It was addressed to C. W. AIc- 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 effect July 1st, at which time Air. 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 r AL Mellette, Renshaw, A. Amundson, C. G. Boom and Mr. Buechler.

In the same year that Whitney took the Alpena post office J. A. Crawford, who with his blacksmith shop had been "holding down his claim, ,r 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 warehouse to McMichael, who made an elevator of it in 1901. Soon after selling his warehouse Johnston became interested in baseball. He took: charge of the team at Alpena and arranged for a game with the Woonsocket nine at Wessington Springs, during the fair week in September. An immense crowd gathered to see the game and cheered itself hoarse when the Alpena boys won the game.

Some business changes were made in Wessington Springs. In the forepart of bebruary Allan Ransom and J. H. Vessey, 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.

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

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 Mix 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 grading 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 with 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 prosecuted for violating the law.

The new superintendent of schools began early in his term to organize the teachers of the county for professional work. In February, 1887, township institute work started in Pleasant township to which Media and

With the beginning of the next school year the work was revived and much enthusiasm put into the meetings which were held on the 3rd Saturday 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 institute began at Dale Center school house for Alpena, Dale and Chery townships. At the northwest school house of Blaine township a similar meeting 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. Williams, 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 bv Mr. Binford and it was a very pleasant affair.

The year 1887 was a year of abundant harvest. Some authentic reports were made of yields that were astonishing. There is a strip of country along the east part of Alpena township that has never suffered 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 Monroe, who produced their books to show that the yield was forty-three bushels per acre.

The local papers at Wessington Springs 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 committee 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 newspaper 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. Men from several cities and towns were there urging the advantages they could offer to the committee. Many places could offer 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 institution at Wessington Springs. True, those conditions were hard for a 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 full 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. Coffee 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. Coffee 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. 1st 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, 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 coim 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 off the day of opening.

The faculty secured for the seminary was Rev. J. K. Freeland, principal, Mrs. J. K. Freeland, preceptress, Miss Mary Freeland, teacher, and Mrs. A. B. Smart, teacher 'of m*usic. The board of trustees was composed 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, I. N. Rich, and D. M. 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.

The legislature of 1887 passed an act providing for a vote on the subject of division of the territory, the election to be held on the usual election day - the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November.

A non-partizan delegate convention had been called to meef at Huron in July, and on July 7th a mass convention was held at the coprt 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 follows: 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 democrat 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.

The petition with 471 signers asking for submission of the local option 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 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. W0- The officers were: A. Sturgis, C. T. ; Lillian Bateman, V. T. ; J.

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 republican convention to nominate a candidate was called to meet Oct. 29th. It was a delegate convention and nominated Alonzo Converse, of Anina. township. On the surface everything seemed to be satisfactory. The candidate was known to be both honest and efficient. He had been identified with the "bolting" movement of 1886.

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 to encompass the defeat of Judge Converse. The first essential, of course, was an opposing candidate. After much discussion they decided upon Air. John Grant, a farmer, living a mile south of Wessington Springs. Mr. Grant had not been in any way connected with either faction, but was known to be a firm believer in Republican principles. They determined 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 result was the election of Mr. Grant by a vote of 129 to 100, and the election of almost the entire democratic ticket a year later.

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 any 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 10th was slightly warmer, but with a stronger south wind. On the nth the wind was blowing a gale still from the south and the snow was drifting badly. On the morning 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 twenty miles wide rested across the prairies from the vicinity of the Black

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. & X. \\ . R} ., 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 102 5 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.

1 . 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 off over the Jim River valley, enjoying 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 by 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 had 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 difficulty 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 frozen; in Hand 6; in Jerauld 5; in Bon Homme 19; in Lincoln 20; in Turner 23, 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.

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 cemetery 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:

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.

The day preceding it snowed and drifted all day, wind 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 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 arrangements 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 without 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 and 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, several pretty badly, so much so that fingers, faces and feet were blistered.

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 1 A. M. 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 registered 30 degrees below zero, with a stiff wind blowing from the north west. 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 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. Mr. Byers (C. H. will remember him) was found four miles from home frozen stiff. John F. Wicks."

The experience of Miss 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 the 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, written a few years after the storm to a friend in New York, is before me

"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 country 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, 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 inward 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. When 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. 1 was warming my feet at the stove expecting then to go after the children, when the door was opened and in rushed a neighbor 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?" 1 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 almost 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, suffered permanent injury; she lost one foot and the toes of the other. Our children escaped most easily. Mary 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 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 33 in Harmony township, on what was then known as the Clapham 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 discernable 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 Hinners 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 defined 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 section 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 northeast of the school house.

blizzard was Miss May Hunt, a sister of Mrs. J. H. Vessey of Wessington Springs. The pupils were Fred and Charles Weeks, Mary, Ernest and Mabelle Huntley, and Frank and Addie Knieriem.

On the morning of the 12th 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, sifting it onto the floor, seats and desks. The children's clothing and books were powdered white and the stove gave off a constant hissing sound as the moisture fell upon it. The school work continued until the hour for dismissal, 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 effort 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 b0yS - Fred, Ernest and Charles now endeavored to find the Hinner's residence. Some of the girls had worn aprons to school and these were torn 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 reaching, or at least getting in sight of the house. It was no use. He could 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 preparations 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 entrance. 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 bringing 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 Fred 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.

At the Young school house in Crow township Mrs. C. V. Martin 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 getting 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 staying all night at the school house they were none the worse for the storm.

township. The pupils in attendance on the 12th of January, 1888, were Emery, Richard, Amelia, Emma and Cora Barber and Sarah and Anna Elmore. A young man named Frank Harrington took Mr. Barber's team that morning to take the children 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 Minnie Stanley, (now Mrs. S. W. Boyd of Pleasant township) was teaching in the Waterbury school. This school house 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, Della, 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 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 Mr. 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 bewildered and could not find the others. He wandered about until he ran into a trench that had beeen cut through a drift to E. N. Mount's barn east of the street.

At the Needham school house in Anina township W. L. Holden was teacher. The pupils were Ada Needham, Alex. Truman and Ernest Vessey. 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

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 1 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 effort 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. Wni Wagner was teaching. The children at school on the day of the blizzard, were Frank Jonker, Karl Kruse, George Kruse, Frank and Florence Wagner, Ferdinand, Anna and Celia Clodt. The teacher retained the whole school all night, and the next morning Louis Jonker took all of them to his residence 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 Grace, Allen and trank McLean, Ed and Glen Ketchem, Zacharia Groub and Arthur Colley. 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 Thornton, 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 Center school. At the school on the 12th of January, 1888, were the teacher's three children, Bert, Laura and Francis ; Amanda and Lillabelle Chapman; Mary, Dan and James Tracy; Rosa Youngs; Matie, Nellie and Robert Mercer. In the afternoon Mr. Mercer, 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.

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 Viola township. The pupils were Howard and Susan Phillips ; Lillie Ford, and Mable Rhodes.

Miss Nellie White, who was employed in the Hawthorne district of Wessington Springs township, retained her pupils at the school house until Friday morning.

Miss Nettie Miles, who was teaching the Rock Valley school in Franklin township that winter boarded with David McDowall'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, Will 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.

Mrs. J. W. Harden, during the winter of 1888 taught the largest school in Franklin township in what was then called the Larson school house. Many 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; Wm. and Robt. Brownell; Oscar and Christ Linclebak ; John Volke ; Emma and Lizzie Forst ; Henry and Christ Refvem ; John, Angeline, Christ, and Anna Burg; Emma, Dora, Lydia, Henry, Martha and John Goll ; Selma Newman.

"The blizzard of 1888 was one of those convulsions of nature that can only occur when there is a certain combination of circumstances and conditions.

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 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 leplenish 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, surrounded 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 pandemonium 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 which 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 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 not 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 atterhpt 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 making 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 Mr. 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 lowT 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 morning 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 the knees and was almost as hard as ice. With the first streak of dawn, b\ 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 me when I got to the top of the ridge which divides Hawkeye Valley 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 bv gfettine in the lee of the house as they drifted aw:ay with the storm. I first got my half frozen wrife 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. 1 he cattle that wrere saved wrere 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 off 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 w^ere frozen and afterward dropped off. I think there wrere more bob-tailed and crop eared cattle in Jerauld county after the blizzard than ever before or since.

My 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 wrould 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 w^ere small, but in the aggregate the losses were immense. Dead cattle were

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.

Mr. 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 Mike 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 operations, cripples, fingers with first joints gone, ears without rims, and some like 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 equal 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 hope that such may not happen again any time or anywhere.

The narrow escapes of individuals in the county, if told with fulness of detail, would fill a volume. I have gathered a few that can be verified, but many experiences, equally hazardous must necessarily remain untold.

In the winter of 1888 E. S. Waterbury was residing on his homestead, the NE of 28 in Crow township. On the morning of the 12th of January he drove to the village, of Waterbury, taking his children, Minnie and Elmer, to the public school. After the storm set in Mr. Waterbury took the two children and Rasmus Nelson and started for home. Mrs, Waterbury was in poor health and at the homestead alone. Soon after starting the team got off 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.

Mr. 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. Moulton's house in Crow Lake township and was rescued, but badly chilled.

Isaac Byam, who lived on the NE 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 granary 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 sufficientl}' 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 sound.

On the NW of 13 in Franklin township lived Frank Kutil, on land he had purchased from Joseph Sucha. Sucha was at Kuril's house 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 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 they 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 in 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 that 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. Coffee in the north part of town. The animals were sompletely covered with snow and nearly suffocated 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 them, 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 were found after the storm suffocated 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 through 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 steps 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, Mary, now

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 immediately 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 way between the barn and the lake. Together they made their way from one object to another until they reached the house. The cattle, 18 in number, all crossed to the south shore of the lake and smothered in the storm.

C. S. Marvin lived on the NW of 18 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. Marvin 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 watering 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 Hawthorne residence near the Firesteel creek.

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 pail of water from his well during the storm, but wandered five miles, returning home the next day.

Mr. William Davis, an elderly gentleman living in Viola township, started just before the storm to go southwest across a quarter section to the residence of J. N. 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 Media 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. V.'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.

The Mail Carriers

Thursday, the 12th day of January, 1888, was strenuous for the stage drivers of Jerauld county, all but two of whom were in the employ of G. N. Price. His drivers were A. G. Eberhart on the Woonsocket line ; Rolla Cady on the Miller line ; William Moss 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 Wessington Springs and Waterbury, during the week preceeding the 12th of January, by going but one way each day. On Wednesday he made the trip from Waterbury to Wessington Springs, and on Thursday morning started back. He was near the residence of I. S. Binford, when he encountered the

^ The route driven by Charles Gingery took him from the village of Waterbury to Gann Valley, thence to Lyonville and from there to Kimball. He left Waterbury on Thursday morning about 7 o'clock accompanied by Miss Addie Quim 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 effort 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 position. 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.

Rolla 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. A1 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 morning 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.

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 Parsons 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 Castalia in Charles Mix county. While the event about to be related occurred 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 floundering in a snow drift. Howard left the sleigh and went 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. While under the fence he was protected 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 intention when he stopped. His next sensation was of a pressure pressing upon him. He struggled and finally threw off the weight. He rose to his feet.

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.

Efforts were made in different parts of the county to assist in a financial 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 philantrophist 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. Cummings, in Media $37.50 was raised, $7.50 of which was sent by people of Franklin township.

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.

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 $15-842.0/. In that statement no account was taken of uncollected taxes.

attorney, and a few weeks later moved to Huron, where he had formed a law partnership. On the ioth of July the board appointed A. Converse to the position made vacant by the resignation of Mr. Null.

The county tax levy made by the county board in 1888 was: County fund, 6 mills ; road, 1 mill ; bridge, 1 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.

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 reelected, 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 work among the teachers. The third annual county institute was held Nov. 12 to 16, 1888, with C. J. Pickhart as conductor and S. F. Huntley, assistant. At that institute the Jerauld County Teachers' 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 quality, 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 assessor's reports, while at work, at that time in the county clerk's office, show the amounts of the various farm products.

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 candidates for capital of the coming state.

Some changes were niade this year in the management of the newspapers in the county. The firm of Blank & Blank leased the Plerald 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 Viola 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 com pan v 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 Messrs. May, Worrall and Teasdale on the part of the farmers and a representative of the railroad, about the first 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 April 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 12th, 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.