Potter County Biographies
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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