Potter County Biographies
Compiled by Cece and Ruth Stilgebouer, Gettysburg, South Dakota 75th Anniversary: Through 75 Years 1883-1958, p. 134.
Transcribed by staff of the Potter County Library, Gettysburg, SD.
Col. H. C. Bolinger
Col. H. C. Bolinger, a member of Meade Post No. 32, G.A.R., was born in Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, May 30, 1828 and died in Gettysburg, South Dakota, July 21, 1902.
During the Civil War he served three years and three months in the 7th Pennsylvania reserves, going in as first lieutenant and coming out a full colonel. He was twice wounded during the war and endured three months of prison life at Charleston, South Carolina.
He was twice elected clerk of courts for Potter County, in which capacity he was serving at the time of his death.
Potter County Library Bookmarks, information compiled by Potter County Library staff, 2009.
Transcribed by Peg Williams
The first non-native settler in Potter County, South Dakota, was Eli Vincent, who was born in Ohio in 1850 and graduated from Michigan University Law School in 1873. He then moved to Iowa where he practiced law for a time, but starting a law practice proved to be too slow for him, so he pulled up stakes and moved west again. This time he landed at Fort Sully, and afterwards at Fort Bennett across the Missouri River from Fort Sully. The year was 1875.
For four years after that he worked for the US government as the Boss Farmer at the Cheyenne River Agency. The native people nicknamed him Enochenee which meant “Hurry up” because hurrying to get things done was his principle of life.
He then bought 700 acres on the Missouri River bottom and tried his hand at ranching, but by 1884 he had sold out and returned to his hometown in Ohio where he married and raised his children. He died there in 1939.
Potter County Library Bookmarks, information compiled by Potter County Library staff, 2009.
Transcribed by Peg Williams
FRANK M. BYRNE
South Dakota Governor
Frank M. Byrne (1858 – 1928) 8th Governor of SD
Byrne, born and raised in Iowa, drove a team of oxen to eastern Dakota Territory in 1879. By 1883 he had moved west to Faulk County to sell insurance and by 1888 he was representing his firm in Potter County as well.
Byrne became involved in politics when Forest City refused to surrender the Potter County records to Gettysburg during a dispute over the site of the county seat. Byrne was one of several men who organized the raiding party, which successfully brought the records to Gettysburg.
In 1889, Byrne became the state senator from Faulk and Potter Counties. He served as Lt. Governor of South Dakota under Gov. Robert Vessey. In 1913, Byrne became Governor of South Dakota after a hard-fought campaign. He served two terms after which he returned to Faulkton. Later, poor health forced him to move to Calif. where he died and is buried.
History of Dakota Territory, Vol. 5, George Washington Kingsbury, 1915
Transcribed by Peg Williams and Regan Everson
HON. FRANK M. BYRNEHon. Frank M. Byrne, serving for the second term as governor of South Dakota, is a statesman with a knowledge of the science of government and with a grasp of practical affairs that enables him to so perform the duties of his position as to render important service to the commonwealth. His entire life has been an expression of the spirit of western enterprise. He is of Irish ancestry and a native of Iowa, born October 23, 1858. His parents were both natives of Ireland.
He was reared in the usual manner of the farm lad and educated in the public schools. The studious habits of his early life have continued with him and he remains today an omnivorous reader. From his earliest youth he has been a student of public affairs, intelligently interested in the leading questions and issues of the day.
In 1879 a little while before he attained his majority, be came to Dakota territory and secured a homestead claim in McCook county, upon which he took up his abode, meeting the usual experiences, privations and hardships incident to pioneer life. In 1883 he removed to Faulk county and engaged in the real-estate and loan business for two years. He spent the years 1885 and 1886 in North Dakota, where he gave his attention to the real-estate and insurance business and in 1888 he returned to Faulk county, where he took up the occupation of farming in connection with real-estate dealing, carrying on both lines extensively.
The year which witnessed the admission of South Dakota into the Union was the year in which Mr. Byrne was elected a member of the first state senate. Later he served four years as county treasurer of Faulk county. In 1906 he was again elected senator to represent Faulk and Potter counties in the South Dakota general assembly. His legislative record is an enviable one. Through his efforts were secured the enactment of much progressive legislation that worked a complete revolution and much needed improvement on the old order. He introduced and secured the passage of an anti-pass law, which at the time, was the most stringent and effective ever enacted in the United States; he was also instrumental in securing the passage of the two cent fare law; the reciprocal demurrage law; the law requiring railroad companies to pay taxes on terminal property buildings, grounds, side and passing tracks, etc.; a law that has reduced express rates sixty-five per cent; and important insurance legislation leading to the reorganization of the insurance department. He also was active in bringing about the enactment of the anti-lobby law, which is most effective. He was recognized as one of the most active forces in the upper house and the course which he pursued always indicated a comprehensive study of the question under consideration. He actively supported the passage of the primary election law, the corrupt practice act, the law relating to corporation contributions to campaign funds and other important railroad legislation, beside that already mentioned. His course received strong indorsement in his district in his reelection to the senate in 1908.
In 1910 he was elected lieutenant governor of South Dakota for a two years' term and at the general election of 1912 was chosen chief executive of the state, in which office he so wisely directed the affairs of the commonwealth that he was re-elected in 1914. His administration is notable for his furtherance of progressive legislation and much constructive work leading to the development of the state and to the adoption of higher civic standards and ideals. Important features of his administration are the creation of a tax commission, the passage of an inheritance tax law, the railroad rate legislation, the bank guarantee act, etc.
In politics he is a republican. While he holds to the old principles of the party, he is ever ready to take a forward step, knowing that legislation and political service must keep abreast with the advancement of the times and meet the changing conditions brought about by an expanding civilization. Since 1889 he has been a member of the republican state central committee and has been most active in the work and councils of the party.
In April, 1888, Governor Byrne was married to Miss Emma Beaver, of Kenton, Ohio; they have five sons: Carroll Beaver, Francis J., Malcolm, Joseph D. and Emmons. The first named is a graduate of the Annapolis Naval Academy of the class of 1912 and is now an ensign in the United States navy.
Governor Byrne is a Congregationalist and belongs to the various Masonic bodies, the Knights of Pythias and the Elks. Those hours which are usually termed leisure are devoted to reading as a means of recreation and such is his broad general information that association with him means expansion and elevation. His record as governor marks a most constructive period in the history of South Dakota and along all lines he has been an advocate of progress and advancement.
Perhaps no man in public life has had so few enemies. Even his political opponents entertain for him the warmest personal regard and admiration, recognizing the honesty of his convictions and the loyalty of his course. One of his pleasing traits is that he never forgets a friend, among all those whom he has known, the playmates of his boyhood, the associates of his early manhood, those whom he has met in business connections and his later associates in legislative circles. His life record finds embodiment in the words of Pope:
"Statesman, yet friend to truth; of soul sincere,
In action faithful and in honor clear;
Who broke no promise, served no private end,
Who gained no title and who lost no friend."
History of Dakota Territory, Vol. 5, George Washington Kingsbury, 1915
Transcribed by Peg Williams and Regan Everson
In this age of great commercial enterprise and business activity, invention is constantly placing upon the market utilities which meet the demands of the hour and which indicate the constantly changing conditions. Among those whose contributions to the world of invention have been of great value is Menzo M. Benster, of Gettysburg, whose "All Inside Safety Window" has attracted the widest attention and the most favorable comment. It was demonstrated at the Huron State Fair and is coming into general use.
Mr. Benster is a native of Michigan, his birth having occurred in Wayne county, near Detroit, on the 17th of April, 1840, his parents being Wendell and Jane (Giles) Benster, the former a native of the state of New York, while the latter was born in England. The father was a contractor and railroad builder and was awarded a contract in connection with the construction of the Michigan Central and other railroads. Subsequently he turned his attention to farming, in which he engaged extensively. He afterwards became identified with the sawmill business, devoting his time to the manufacture of lumber for a considerable period. In the fall of 1862 he enlisted for service in the Civil war as a member of Company A, Twenty-fourth Michigan Regiment, and died when on his way home in 1864, as the result of exposure and hardships which he had endured at the front. His widow long survived him, passing away in 1895, at the age of eighty-four years.
Menzo M. Benster had but limited opportunity for attending school, pursuing his studies in a school room for only about three months. In the school of experience, however, he has learned many valuable lessons, and reading and observation have greatly broadened his knowledge. When he was twenty-one years of age he and his two brothers took over a sawmill in Michigan owned by their father and operated it for about three months when it was destroyed by fire. In August, 1862, Menzo M. Benster, then a young man of twenty-two years, enlisted as one of the defenders of the Union cause, becoming a private of Company A, Twenty-fourth Michigan Infantry. He was promoted to the rank off corporal and served for six months, after which he was honorably discharged because of disability occasioned by paralysis. He raised a company of twenty-two men but lost his commission. The entire regiment was raised in ten days.
When he returned from the south, Mr. Benster was unable to engage in any kind of work for three or four years but at length, having somewhat recovered his health, he became interested in the sewing machine business in Detroit, continuing in that line for twelve years. He next went to Chicago, where he was in business until he sustained another stroke of paralysis in 1879. He afterward resided in Maywood, a suburb of Chicago, until 1883, when his physician advised him to seek a change of climate and he came to South Dakota, making his way direct to Gettysburg, which was then called Meade. He lived retired, although he took up a claim, which he proved up, securing his title. He was appointed postmaster by President Garfield and occupied that position for two years, during which time he engaged in the grocery business until forced to withdraw on account of his health. Since that time he has lived practically retired but is now devoting his attention to perfecting a number of patents. He possesses marked inventive genius and has patented a wireless staple, also a shill coupler for putting in shills or tongue in a buggy. He has likewise patented a window and casing. The window can be removed from the casing for cleaning and replaced in a very short time without danger to the window washer, while the glass is held in place without the use of nails or putty. The operations of this invention are so simple that a woman or child can remove and replace the sash and screen. It has been termed the "window without a fault," and it will be hailed with delight as a great invention notable for its ease of operation, its simplicity, durability and cheapness. It can be built as cheaply as the old style window, Mr. Benster's latest improvement having greatly reduced the cost of manufacturing. He has also patented a flying machine with reversible engine. The machine is different in every respect to other machines and with the rotary engine is much lighter and more powerful, which makes the machine more practicable. Mr. Benster is a land owner of Potter county but he devotes his entire time to the perfecting of his invention, his window requiring eight different patents for the completed window.
On the 20th of October, 1870, Mr. Benster wedded Miss Mary C. Munson, a native of Detroit, Michigan, and a daughter of Carlos and Almira (Shirley) Munson, who were born in Connecticut and Ohio respectively. Her father was an engineer on steamboats on the lakes for a long time and also occupied positions as a stationary engineer. He died before the beginning of the Civil war and his wife passed away in 1897. Their daughter Mrs. Benster was educated in the schools of Detroit and by her marriage she has become the mother of three children. Frances, the eldest, is the wife of Charles C. Krieg, a stone cutter, who is also engaged in the land business at Gettysburg, and they have four children:, Frances, Willard B., B. Neola and Stanley. Edna, the second member of the family, is the wife of Anderson Michael, who is cashier of the bank at Philip, South Dakota, and they have three children, Marjorie Ruth, Doris and Maryellen. Altha, the youngest of the family, is the wife of Charles Bowers, wire chief for the Western Union Telegraph Company at Spokane, Washington, and they have one child, Richard Charles.
Mr. Benster maintains pleasant relations with his old army comrades through his membership in the Grand Army of the Republic, and his wife is a member of the Woman's Relief Corps. They attend the Congregational church, and in political belief Mr. Benster is a republican. He has never been a politician in the sense of office seeking, serving only as postmaster. He has given valuable aid in public affairs, however, since the time when he made great sacrifice to aid his country in the Civil war. The spirit of loyalty is one of his strong traits and he cooperates in all those forceful and effective movements which have to do with the general welfare.
From Lamb’s Biographical Dictionary of the United States
By John Howard Brown, 1900
transcribed by Karen Seeman
BULKELEY, William Henry, statesman, was born at East Haddam, Conn., March 2, 1840; son of Eliphalet A. Bulkeley, and a direct descendant of the Rev. Peter Bulkeley, founder of Concord, Mass. He received a public-school education and learned the dry goods business in Brooklyn, N. Y., from whence, in 1861, he went to the war as a private in the 13th regiment, N. Y. S. M., and the next year raised a company for the 56th N. Y. volunteers, was elected captain, and served in General Smith's division until the regiment was ordered home during the New York draft riots in 1868. He returned to Hartford in 1868, organized and became president of the Kellogg and Bulkeley company, lithographers; was a member of the common council of Hartford five years, and vice-president and president one year each. He was commissary-general of Connecticut from 1879 to 1881, lieutenant-governor from 1881 to 1888, and state commissioner to the Yorktown celebration in 1881. He was the Republican candidate for governor in 1883, being defeated by Thomas M. Waller. At this election he declined to take advantage of eight thousand black ballots, which would have made him governor, the courts declaring them illegal The general assembly by joint resolution validated the black ballots before declaring Mr. Waller elected governor. He then removed to South Dakota, where he founded Forest City, Potter county. He was president of the Forest City and Sioux City railroad, and of the Forest City land and improvement company.
History of Dakota Territory, George W. Kingsbury, Vol. 4, 1915
transcribed by Karen Seeman
BEN P. HOOVER.
Ben P. Hoover was born in Wayne, Wisconsin, in 1854; came to Dakota territory in 1871; and located permanently at Fort Bennett, in 1876. He engaged in stock-raising and government contracts until 1879, when he moved to Fort Sully and was in charge of a post trader's store until 1883. He held the office of county commissioner of Sully county from 1883, until January 1, 1885; was a member of the constitutional convention held at Huron in 1883; was appointed United States court commissioner by Judge A. J. Edgerton and held the office until Cleveland was inaugurated in 1885. He continued in stockraising until 1893, located in Gettysburg, was reappointed United States court commissioner by Judge Edgerton and resigned when John E. Carland (democrat) was appointed United States circuit judge for South Dakota.
After the defalcation of W. W. Taylor in 1885, Mr. Hoover was appointed receiver of the Gettysburg State Bank. From 1891 to 1910 he was employed as legislative representative for the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul and the Chicago & Northwestern Railway Companies; and the American and United States Express Companies and the Western Union Telegraph Company. He was presented with a gold watch by the members of the legislature at the close of the session in 1901, and a diamond ring at the close of the session of 1903.
Of his legislative work the correspondent of the St. Paul Dispatch has the following to say:
"His effectiveness is in his ability to pick up the strings from other men's broken packages, restore the wreckage to the hand of its owner and in some way to weave into the meshes of the string the ties of a common interest. Ben Hoover knows the purposes of the most secretive men by knowing the humblest of men, bell boys, hack drivers, janitors, clerks and chief clerks, senators and representatives, boards and state officers are all alike to him, and from each he learns something about the other fellow.
"A word uttered here has a bearing on something there, and Ben Hoover gets that word, associates it with another word or an idea or a desire some other place; he pieces the segments of string together; it finally becomes the one important string, it touches all interests.
"Knowledge, not force, is power, and that is where Ben Hoover is more powerful than some men In the vocation of a professional lobbyist which he has reduced to a science. By his method of picking up here a little and there a little he knows more of the characteristics of the membership of the legislature on the opening day than any other man, and he has probably saved more new and untried members from embarrassment through their own inexperience, than has any other man.
"More than this, he protects the men who favor his interests as well as those of the corporation which he represents. It is claimed that no one ever beard a threat pass Ben Hoover's lips. He is not a, destroyer, but s builder. There is scarcely an educational or other institution, or an important act of legislature, or a public policy in the realm of the state that does not bear some mark of his indefatigable labor, his effort as a builder. Ben Hoover is a lobbyist, perhsps the most effective legislative agent now or ever in the state, but among 133 members of the legislature, and seventy-five elective and appointive officers, clerks and chaplains there is no personal enemy."
He is a member of the Masonic blue lodge and Eastern Star Chapter at Gettysburg, South Dakota; the Royal Arch Chapter at Faulkton, South Dakota; the Knights of Pythias, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and Rebekah and the Woodmen Lodges at Gettysburg. From 1907 until the present date, 1915, he has been engaged in the mercantile business at Gettysburg.
History of Dakota Territory, George W. Kingsbury, Vol. 4, 1915
transcribed by Karen Seeman
REV. PATRICK T. MONAGHAN.
Rev. Patrick T. Monaghan, pastor of St. Christina's Roman Catholic church at Parker and director of the Sioux Falls apostolate, was born in Jamesville, Pennsylvania, October 20, 1876. He is a son of John and Margaret (Dempsey) Monaghan, natives of County Monaghan, Ireland. The mother came to the United States at the age of eleven and the father at twenty-five and their marriage occurred at Audenried, Pennsylvania, where the father worked as a miner. In 1893 the family went to Iowa and in-that state John Monaghan passed away in 1897. His wife survives him and makes her home in Iowa. To their union were born twelve children, of whom Father Monaghan is the tenth.
Rev. Patrick T. Monaghan acquired his early education in the public schools of Pennsylvania and at the age of seventeen entered St. Joseph's College at Dubuque, Iowa, where he spent three years, finishing his classical education at St. Viateur's College, Kankakee, Illinois, in 1900. In the same year he entered St. Mary's Seminary at Cincinnati, Ohio, and there completed courses in philosophy and theology. He was ordained to the Roman Catholic priesthood June 17, 1905, and was placed in charge of the congregation at Gettysburg, South Dakota, where he remained for eight months. Following this he spent one year at the Catholic University in Washington, D. C, and then came to Parker, South Dakota, where he began work with Father O’Hara on the Sioux Falls apostolate or mission band. Upon the retirement of Father O'Hara one year later Father Monaghan was given charge of the apostolate and was also appointed pastor of St. Christina's church, a position which he has since filled. He is assisted by Rev. John Brady and Rev. John O'Mahoney, who are his associates on the mission band. Father Monaghan is indeed doing a great work in Parker among the Catholic people and he has their love in large measure. He is a man of scholarly attainments and most earnest and consecrated in his work.
History of Dakota Territory, George W. Kingsbury, Vol. 4, 1915
transcribed by Karen Seeman
ADAM RICHARDSON.
Adam Richardson, the able president of the First National Rank of Gettysburg, was born in Toledo. Illinois, on the 24th of October. 1861. a son of William and Nancy (Miller) Richardson, natives respectively of England and of Ohio. When sixteen years of age the father emigrated to the United States and after residing in New York city for a time made his way westward, locating in Illinois. Subsequently he became a resident of Ohio but returned to the Prairie state, where he passed away in 1899. He devoted the greater part of his life to agricultural pursuits but was at various times engaged in milling and also gave some attention to merchandising. The mother of our subject passed away when he was but an infant and Mr. Richardson was married a second and a third time. One child was born to his second marriage.
Adam Richardson, who is the youngest of the four children born to William and Nancy (Miller) Richardson, received his education in the district schools of Illinois. He remained at home until he was twenty-one years of age and the following year his marriage occurred. He followed agricultural pursuits in Illinois for about ten years and then engaged in the mercantile business in Toledo, that state, for eleven years. At the expiration of that period he came to South Dakota and located at Gettysburg, purchasing the First National Bank, which was founded as a state bank but was reorganized as a national bank in 1906. Mr. Richardson is president of the institution and the excellent condition of its affairs is due in no small measure to his sound business judgment and executive ability. He devotes the greater part of his time to his duties as bank president and has gained a high standing in local financial circles. He also owns land in this state.
Mr. Richardson was married in February, 1884, to Miss Carrie Stewart, who was born near Charleston, Illinois, and is a daughter of William and Telitha (Beavers) Stewart. Her parents, who were born respectively in Kentucky and Illinois, are now living in Cumberland county, Illinois. The father is by occupation a farmer. Four children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Richardson, namely: Claude, a carpenter and contractor residing at home; Bessie, the wife of Thomas Carroll, cashier of the Greenup State Bank at Greenup, Illinois; Lola, who married R. L. Vanderhoof, agent for the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad at Edgeley, North Dakota; and Ross, who is cashier of the First National Bank at Gettysburg and resides with his parents.
Mr. Richardson is a republican and for four years served as mayor of Gettysburg and while living in Toledo, Illinois, was for twelve years a member of the city council there. Fraternally he belongs to Gettysburg Lodge, No. 11, Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He is characterized by energy, business insight and integrity and these qualities have gained him both the respect and the good will of all who have been brought into contact with him.
History of Dakota Territory, George W. Kingsbury, Vol. 4, 1915
transcribed by Karen Seeman
JOHN F. WEAVER.
John F. Weaver, now serving for the third term as treasurer of Potter county, has been a resident of the county during the past three decades and was long and successfully identified with general agricultural pursuits here. His birth occurred in Pioneer, Williams county, Ohio, on the 15th of October, 1861, his parents being John M. and Caroline (Snow) Weaver, who were natives of Pennsylvania and New York respectively. The father, who followed farming throughout his entire business career, removed to Ohio with his parents when about eighteen years of age and was married in the Buckeye state. Subsequently be established his home in Michigan, where his demise occurred in January, 1900, while his wife passed away in March, 1905. John M. Weaver served in the Civil war as a ninety-day recruit in an Ohio regiment. He held some local township offices but never sought nor desired the honors and emoluments of public preferment.
John F. Weaver, the second in order of birth in a family of three children, acquired his education in his native town and also attended country schools. When nineteen years of age he secured employment as a farm hand in Ohio but at the end of about six months returned home, subsequently spending a part of his time under the parental roof and being engaged for about three years in railroad work. He was married when a young man of twenty-two years and devoted his attention to farming on the homestead place until the spring of 1885, when he came to South Dakota, locating on a farm six miles south of Lebanon. In the operation of that property he was busily engaged until elected to the office of county treasurer in 1904 taking office January 1, 1905, and since that time his attention has been given to duties of a public nature. He served as county treasurer for two consecutive terms and was then employed as deputy treasurer until again elected treasurer in 1914, being the capable incumbent at the present time. He is likewise the vice president of the First National Bank of Gettysburg and still owns the land on which he settled when he came to this state.
On the 4th of October, 1883, Mr. Weaver was united in marriage to Miss Josephine L. Ennis, a native of Iowa and a daughter of Isaac and Harriet (Russell) Ennis, both of whom were born in New York. They came to South Dakota in May, 1884, and took up their abode on a farm six miles south and one mile east of Lebanon, whereon the father passed away in the fall of 1896. The mother now makes her home in Gettysburg with our subject. Mr. and Mrs. Weaver have six children, as follows: Ethel, the wife of Henri S. Klein, who is employed as clerk in a hardware store of Gettysburg; Blanche, the wife of Louis Klein, who is proprietor of a restaurant in Gettysburg; May, living at home, who was formerly engaged in teaching school and has also served in the capacities of deputy county treasurer and deputy county auditor; Fay, also living with her parents, who formerly taught school and is now serving as deputy register; Roy, who assists his father in his official duties; and Lloyd, who is attending school.
Mr. Weaver gives his political allegiance to the republican party and has served as school treasurer and in other public positions in addition to that of treasurer of the county, ever making a most commendable record as a faithful, reliable and trustworthy official. Fraternally he is identified with the Masonic order, belonging to the blue lodge at Gettysburg, in which he is now serving as junior deacon. He also acts as treasurer of the local organization of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and is likewise affiliated with the Ancient Order of United Workmen. His life has been upright and honorable in every relation and he has long been numbered among the prosperous, representative and valued citizens of his community.
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