Richard Franklin Pettigrew Biography This biography extracted from "Biographical Directory of the American Congress 1774-1961", published by the U. S. Government Printing Office. Pages 1449-1450. Information transcribed by Joy Fisher. This file may be freely copied by individuals and non-profit organizations for their private use. Any other use, including publication, storage in a retrieval system, or transmission by electronic, mechanical, or other means requires the written approval of the file's author. This file is part of the SDGENWEB Archives. If you arrived here inside a frame or from a link from somewhere else, our front door is at http://www.usgwarchives.net/sd/sdfiles.htm PETTIGREW, Richard Franklin, a Delegate from the Territory of Dakota and a Senator from South Dakota; born in Ludlow, Windsor County, Vt., July 23, 1848; moved with his parents to Dane County, Wis., in 1854 and shortly thereafter to Evansville, Rock County, Wis.; attended the public schools and Evansville Academy; entered Beloit College, Beloit, Wis., in 1864; spent one year teaching school and studying law in Iowa; entered the law department of the University of Wisconsin at Madison in 1867; went to Dakota in July 1869 in the employ of a United States deputy surveyor; settled in Sioux Falls; was admitted to the bar about 1871; practiced law and engaged in Government surveying and the real- estate business until 1875; member of the Territorial house of representatives in 1872; served in the Territorial council in 1877 and 1879; elected as a Republican a Delegate to the Forty-seventh Congress (March 4, 1881-March 3, 1883); unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1882 to the Forty-eighth Congress; again a member of the Territorial council in 1885; upon the admission of South Dakota as a State into the Union was elected as a Republican to the United States Senate in 1889; reelected in 1895 and served from November 2, 1889, to March 3, 1901; unsuccessful Republican candidate for reelection in 1900; delegate to the Republican National Convention at St. Louis in 1896, but left the convention and supported Bryan for President; engaged in the practice of law in New York City; moved to Sioux Falls. Minnehaha County, S. Dak., and was active in politics and business until his death in that city October 5, 1926; interment in Woodlawn Cemetery.