Alva N. Aldrich Biography


	This biography appears on pages 1600-1601 in "History of South 
	Dakota" by Doane Robinson, Vol. II (1904) and was scanned, 
	OCRed and edited by Maurice Krueger, mkrueger@iw.net.

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	A photo of Alva N. Aldrich faces page 1600.


	ALVA N. ALDRICH, mayor of the city of Aberdeen, South Dakota, 
where he is also proprietor and manager of the Wisconsin House, one of 
the leading hotels of the city was born at Ionia, Michigan, on August 
29,1866, the son of William E. Aldrich, who was born near Buffalo, New 
York, February 23, 1840, the son of Warren and Sarah Aldrich, both born 
near Buffalo, New York. William E. Aldrich went to Indiana in 1856, 
where he followed farming. He served ten months as a member of Company 
E, Thirtieth Regiment Indiana Infantry, as a private. He removed to 
Michigan in the fall of 1857, and his death occurred February 2, 1877. 
He married Amelia E. Stedman, who was born at .Spencer, Medina county, 
Ohio, in 1848, the daughter of Nelson and Roxana (Parrent) Stedman, 
natives of New York state, the former born in 1809, the later in 1810. 

	The subject was reared to manhood in and about his native place, 
and attended the public schools. In 1887 he came to South Dakota and 
took up a homestead in Frederick, Brown county, which he at once 
proceeded to improve and upon which he resided for the following two 
years. Owing to the stringency of the times and the difficulty 
experienced in obtaining a livelihood from his land, he disposed of the 
same at the expiration of the above period, being obliged to sell at 
such a low figure as to cause the loss of nearly all of his labor and 
improvements. For some time after disposing of his homestead Mr. Aldrich 
clerked in a clothing store in Aberdeen, and it was while thus engaged 
that he decided to go into the hotel business, and in May 1896 with 
borrowed capital, he purchased the Wisconsin House, which he at once 
remodeled and refurnished throughout, making of it one of the leading 
hotels of the city. The hotel contains forty commodious rooms, with 
accommodations for a hundred guests, is modern in its appointments and 
supplied with all the comforts and conveniences found in any first-class 
hotel. Mr. Aldrich has proven a model landlord, his companionable and 
congenial nature having won him a host of friends among the traveling 
public. Not only is he popular with his guests, but he stands high with 
his fellow citizens who esteem him highly as a man and citizen and have 
honored him in electing him to important places in the city government. 
In April 1898, he was elected as a Republican to the board of aldermen 
at Aberdeen, and was re-elected to that body in 1900 and 1902. In 1898 
he was made chairman of the committee on fire department and remained at 
the head of that important committee as long as he was alderman. During 
that period the Gamewell fire alarm system was installed. In 1902 the 
board of aldermen honored him by electing him acting mayor. In March, 
1904, Mr. Aldrich was nominated by the Republicans for the office of 
mayor, and in April, following, he was elected. His administration began 
with the inauguration of needed reforms, among which was the strict 
closing of all saloons on Sunday, and causing the proprietors to comply 
with the law forbidding them to obstruct the public view of their bars 
by the placing of palms, signs, etc., in the front windows. He also 
closed all the gambling houses, and began the vigorous enforcement of 
other ordinances, among the same being the one forbidding spitting upon 
pavements and sidewalks. And those who know the mayor feel certain the 
public can rest assured that these reforms are not spasmodic, but will 
continue as long as he remains at the head of the city's government. Mr. 
Aldrich is a member of the Masonic fraternity, belong to the blue lodge. 
the chapter and commandery at Aberdeen. He is also a member of the 
Knights of Pythias order. 

	On June 5, 1895, Mayor Aldrich was married to Miss Louise Wylie, 
of Aberdeen, and to this union one son has been born: Louis Wylie, who 
is now in his sixth year.